In the Kitchen ...

Veggie stir fry is one of those 'go to' recipes I like to make when you come home tired & hungry and not sure what to make for dinner.  So quick and easy to prepare & I always have the ingredients needed on hand.

Veg Stir Fry

 (serves 4)

***

1 TBSP vegetable oil

1 can Tomato soup

3 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP vinegar

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 large white onion, thinly sliced

1 large bunch fresh broccoli, chopped

2 or 3 carrots, sliced

4 cups hot cooked basmati rice

 

Cook rice according to package directions.

Steam broccoli and carrots until tender crisp.

  In skillet over medium heat, add oil and saute white onion and garlic.  Add soup, soy sauce, vinegar and pepper flakes.  Add steamed broccoli and carrots.  Stir well and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve over rice.

 

I always like a small salad with my meal, and this is another really quick one to make.

Wash a bunch of fresh baby spinach leaves.  Add a handful of walnuts and dried cranberries.  Sprinkle some blue cheese on top & dress with a simple oil & vinegar dressing.

 ~Enjoy~

♥

Thankful {things I love} Thursday ...

My friend Jen recently held a giveaway on her blog 'the cottage nest'. 

Her friend Jerusalem had written a book called "A Homemade Year - The Blessings of Cooking, Crafting and Coming Together" ~ What a gorgeous title!

I was thrilled to find an email from Jen telling me I was the lucky winner & found my book poking out of my mailbox yesterday.

It is filled with wonderful recipes ( I can't wait to make Cranny Pom Pom Jelly, Farmers' Market Savory Bread Pudding & Brown Sugar Lemon Apple Pie), projects, stories of home & traditions and lovely, lovely, photos.

Thank you so much Jen & Jerusalem ♥



Texture Tuesdays ...

Your soul knows

Kim Klassen Texture: Embrace

***

This weeks theme @ Texture Tuesdays is Wise Words.

I love this John O'Donohue quote & sat this morning with my watercolours & glued, painted & wrote merrily.  A gorgeous, sunny day as we say goodbye to April.

Earth Day xo ...

 

We must protect the forests

for our children,

grandchildren

and children yet to be born.

 

We must protect the forests

for those

who can't speak for themselves

such as

the birds

animals

fish

and trees.

~Qwatsinas~

 

***

A photo of the woods we walk with Archer superimposed with an older photo I'd taken of a gorgeous, majestic hawk . I thought the two photos belonged together for Earth Day.

~D~

♥

Thankful {things I love} Thursday...

It began as rain...

then freezing rain...

then sleet...

One of those days when you are so happy to be back home

safe & sound, kettle on, sheltered.

The wind is whistling & rain pellets hit the window.

The birds are arriving, bit by bit.  I have missed seeing them.

The feeders are emptying quickly.

As usual, the squirrels arrive first, and manage to tip most of it out ...

last night we had 3 bunnies happily nibbling at the scattered corn :-)

In the morning I hear the soft coos of the doves.

They are so gentle & not skittish like most doves, allowing me to walk right up to them ♥

I wonder where they will choose to build their nest this year ?

And then there's the squirrels who keep us laughing with their looking in the window stares which always results in me spreading peanut butter on crackers or bread :-)

***

But the true lover of rain ...

 has a deep inner enjoyment of the rain,

 as rain, and his  sense of its beauty

drinks it in

as thirstily as does the drinking earth.

It refreshes and cools his heart and brain;

he longs to go forth into the fields,

to feel its steady stream,

to scent its fragrance;

to stand under some heavy-foliaged

chestnut-tree, and hear the rustling music

on the crowded leaves.

~John Richard Vernon

"The Beauty of Rain"

1863

Weekend Walk ...

Warm, windy, spring day ~ 17 degrees ...

perfect for our hike today

where the tiniest of patches of snow could still be spotted here & there ...

 

I dressed

and went for a walk -

determined not to return

until I took in

what Nature

had to offer

~Raymond Carver~

 

Texture Tuesdays ...

Let go

Kim Klassen Texture: Let Go

Fun at the park with new pail & shovel.

Thanks to my Grandson, I now have a new stone collection ♥

 Will find a little shadow box to display them.

***

It is a happy talent

to know how to play

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

 

Joining in with Texture Tuesday.