Put a Neck Scarf On

It's winter and it's not that chilly here in the great Southwest.  I have been knitting up a storm and have four scarfs ready to go, but it has not been cold enough to wear them!  It has however been cold enough to make some warm comfort food!

Wanting to try something new I went on foodnetwork.com and they offered to plan healthy weeknight dinners.  I let them plan away and they suggested Pasta Puttanesca.  It took 17 minutes to make, it smelled great, and it was really tasty.  The only downfall in my opinion is the lack of protein.  To make this a well rounded meal some protein and a side of veggies would make it perfecto!  In terms of looks I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

8 ounces whole wheat thin spaghetti
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup pitted chopped Spanish or Greek olives
2 tablespoons capers
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves of 1 teaspoon dried
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped fresh arugula
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

I substituted spinach for arugula and left out the olives.

Mmm . . . Pasta.

Parmesan cheese; I could eat it straight.

Mama Mia Pasta Puttanesca, Magnifico.
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Truly Scrumptious,

Felicity

Last Semester

Today is the very first day of my last semester of school!  I went on a super shopping spree to stock up on backpack friendly snacks that meet my dietary needs.  I have a lot of allergies and am very aware of the need to eat properly which is difficult on the go.

One of my dietary restrictions is no chocolate due to migraines.  I was also told to limit my sugar intake and focus on proteins, fruits, and veggies.  This is more difficult than I thought due to my love of baked goods.  I just love oatmeal cookies!

Sooooooo, in my desperation I found a sugar free oatmeal cookie recipe at cooks.com!

The recipe is pretty much the same as regular oatmeal raisin cookies.  Oatmeal, raisins, (I put in Craisins too), flour, the usual; but the twist is applesauce.

1 cup flour

1 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients and bake cookies 10-15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Being the classy blogger that I am I took the picture of the cookies when they were in some Tupperware.  Thus the picture is super close and does not capture the deliciousness of these sugar free cookies but I was lazy and didn't want to wash any more dishes.

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These oatmeal cookies are not textured like the traditional cookies.  They are soft, not crunchy, but they are hardy cookies, definitely not a fluff dessert.

Eating right and loving cookies,

Felicity

Glow

Once I started blogging I discovered the giant, wonderful, creative time trap called Pinterest.  I am now addicted (sigh).  Anyway, during my journeys through this creative realm I came upon a do-it-yourself microdermabrasion recipe.  It was really easy to concoct at home.  All you need is baking soda and water.  Everyone should probably having these two ingredients lying around the house since I did and I am a college kid.  I whipped some up in the kitchen and it looked pure and silky white, almost like Elmer's glue.

I rubbed it on my face in a circular motion and it felt so nice.  I did this after coming home from a run so I did not look quite as nice as the lady in the picture below but I sure felt like my skin looked like hers.  It was a lovely little spa moment in my very own home.  I highly recommend treating yourself to homemade microdermabrasion once in a while.

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Take care of yourself for "do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" -1 Corinthians 3:16

Pleased to be pampered,

Felicity

I Need Your Help

I have a dilemma.  Do y'all remember the pictures of the knit poncho last week?

I still need to make the turtleneck portion of it, which is supposed to be in the brown yarn {Oatmeal} but I completely ran out.

Oatmeal

Grey Marble

I have tons of grey {Grey Marble}

Claret

and red {Claret}

















left over and do not want to go out and buy a brand new skein of yarn just for the turtleneck.  So I am taking a poll which will be located on the right side of my blog at the very top.  Which color should I use to finish the turtleneck: Claret, or Grey Marble?

Please help me out!

Thanks a bunch,

Felicity

Me in Love

I received this gift for Christmas and now I am in love with it.  True love.

It's Lutheran.  It's cowgirl.   It's beautiful.  It's ador(able).  It's me.

A gorgeous embroidered Luther rose.

Durable jean fabric outside (perfect for me, who uses purses to death).

American flag and cowboy boot purse lining!  It's a light color so you can find stuff and it's AMERICAN!

Oh!  Did I mention it was AMERICAN?!  LUTHERAN?!  BOOTS?!  Oh yeah.

God bless America,

Felicity

Sleek Striped Poncho

I have been knitting up a storm to create this cute poncho.  The pattern says it is sleek which, as so kindly pointed out to me by a friend, is sort of ironic since it is the polar opposite of sleek since it is knit and heavy and would fail at repelling rain.

So, with all of that being said here is a poor quality picture of the pattern:

This is what I have knit so far.  I have yet to knit the turtleneck but it is now in the process and I am sure the big reveal of the finished poncho will appear in the next couple of weeks.

Photos courtesy of Samantha (Thank you!)!

Knitting in a new year,

Felicity

For the Love of Scrabble

Scrabble seems to have taken the world by storm.  My friends are addicted and creating personalized scrabble blocks for them seemed to be the ultimate Christmas gift.  I picked up some scrap wood from Home Depot - you can usually find it in a box by the wood cutter for 51cents.  Then I cut them into squares with a saw and sanded them and they were ready for some paint.

I used a paint sample from Home Depot and printed out images of scrabble blocks and sized them to my pieces of wood.  I used (something like) an X-acto knife, cut out the letters and numbers, traced it onto the wood with a pencil, and painted it.

I did initials, and spelled words that have meaning to my friends, but really these scrabble blocks are great to personalize for whatever there purpose is!

To finish them off I took them outside and gave them two coats of varnish.  If you can varnish them outside because, man-o-man, varnish is smelly!

Every word's a winner,

Felicity