Garden Fence Accent!

Find old shutters that aren't used anymore. They are common near building sites or renovations of new homes.

Remove the shutters (closing part) with a hammer.

If you have bright colored paint, go around the rim with it. It'll look way too bright after-wards, so I "dulled" the bright colors (which reminded me of a kid's finger paints) with a wood varnish. (I always use Minwax).

This made everything much more tolerable and more 'Mexican-looking' for my mission-style garden. Notice that the shutter parts have been replaced with pieces of plywood, screwed on with tiny screws.

         Nope, that's not my blood on the back,  just paint from the front side.

You'll want to mix your Polymix (for tile jobs) and have the nice, glass pieces ready to put in place. They are easy to find at Michael's or Hobby Lobby craft stores.

I simply spread the Polymix with an old stick to give it a rough appearance. Then, I carefully placed my glass pieces randomly within the panes.

Here's the finished project and they will hang on my new fence to give it some "sparkle."

I had a lot of fun doing this and it all cost me a whopping 30 bucks for all materials. Something like this is considered "art" and would run in excess of $75.00 each at a garden or nursery store. ( coming soon--picture of project hanging on the fence!)



Signs of Spring!

                  I choose pots from second-hand shops and hardware stores! I brought them inside so the cool weather wouldn't kill them tonight.

       So, here are the pots waiting to receive new cactus plants! I could only manage 6 after work, then my back gave out and I fell down for awhile.

               These are some of the new cactus plants I ordered from Arizona. Let's hope that Colorado doesn't kill them! The one in the front is a Christmas Cactus, but it came from a florist, so it'll probably croak.

Landscaping for Spring!

Okay...so we wanted a "New Mexico look" and choose New Mexico Stone.

 We really like the irregular patterns and colors of this stone. Then we put in the stone bench.

We also wanted a few trees places around the patio so we chose Colorado Blue Spruces.

The larger rock in the back in a waterfall but it isn't on yet because it's still going to snow and freeze at night.

There's still some snow on the ground, but that'll soon be a thing of the past. Next, we'll line a 100 foot lane in front of our home with Western Corronwoods. It's going to be beautiful and I'll post a picture as soon as we get them in the ground.                                                               
                                             

Got guests coming over soon?

Wonderful *platter suggestions!*

Creamy Chicken and Sweet Potatoes!

                                         Pre-heat oven 400 degrees

First, cut your sweet potatoes in length-wise strips and place on foil.

I assembled the following mixture in a bowl, and spread it over he potatoes before placing them in the hot oven: spreadable butter, oil, cinnamon, chicken bullion granules, and sugar-free STEVIA crystals,

salt.

 It'll look like this when whisked together:

Spread over taters with nice grilling brush.

Ready for the oven now.

Now, you can start on the delicious, chicken dish!

Spread the chicken into a large glass dish, and rim with Brussel sprouts.

I sprinkle it with white pepper and salt. I cut the Brussels open so they can catch the cream. I'll cover them with foil after I add onions, then make the creamy sauce.
Use sour cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic puree, and a teaspoon of sweetened-condensed milk.

Cover with foil, and now the sweet potatoes can be turned as you open the oven. Place chicken into the oven and cook for an additional 30 minutes. The potatoes should be done in 15 and have already been in the oven for 20 minutes.

Ready to gobble:

                      The different colors and textures make this a very enjoyable dinner!

The Ultimate Manly Breakfast Burrito!

This is the finished product:

Now, I will guide you through the delightful process of creating it!

Ingredients necessary for the Ultimate Burrito:

Green chili powder of your choice, or be lazy and buy Mark Schlereth's Stinkin' Good Green Chile.

Large yellow Onion

Sausage

Green Peppers

cream cheese

Velveeta

Instant rice

Frozen Peas

Eggs

Mushrooms

Large Tortillas (Softer the better)

First step: Combine your rice, 1/4 cup chopped onion, frozen peas, and a dash of chicken bullion with 1/2 cup of water.

The rice mixture is in the back, round pan. Make it by throwing together your instant rice, the peas and onions..you can "improv" on what you want in it. My friend adds black beans too. I add corn.
While it is simmering, saute your sausage, onion and green pepper with mushrooms on flat pan (the one shown in the front.) Let cook for about 6 minutes on low.

Next, Make the sauce for the top:

I use a very good green chili powder (or Mark's if I want it easy!) and combine the water, 1 Table. of flour, cream cheese and Velveeta slice on low as they mix together!

Using a whisk is helpful on this step. When it melts together, it'll be like this:

Creamy and delicious with a tad of a "bite." I added some of the cooked sausage to it. (It really is EASIER to use Stink's Stinkin' Good Green Chile!)

Now, Add the eggs to your sausage, onions and green pepper/mushroom pan:

Notice how the back pan has the tortillas sitting on top of the hot rice, steaming!

Now assemble by placing mixtures inside of warm tortilla and ladle the creamy cheese sauce on top!
 Here ya go!

You can always let your friends clean up for ya!
Hahahaha!

Max and Sadie!

Momma Mia's Spinach/Chicken Lasagna!

 Momma Mia’s Chicken/Spinach Lasagna

Purchase:

No-boil lasagna noodles

Sauce

Chicken strips (a package)

Onion

Garlic

Spinach (frozen) (two boxes)

Ricotta (large)

Eggs

Parsley

Mozzarella Cheese

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Steps:

1) Make ricotta sauce:                       

Mix together two eggs

One large container of ricotta

Parsley

Salt and Pepper

Parmesan cheese                                                 

2) Slice mozzarella in thin strips or shred

3) sauté chicken in onion and garlic with

       Tbls. of olive oil

4) Have sauce ready with spoon to ladle over

5) Boil spinach in water/drain well

Pre-heat oven to 350 now.

Assembly:

From the bottom up:

¼ cup of olive oil in bottom

place one layer of hard noodles on top

slather ricotta mixture (spooning it over thinly)

add chicken with spinach, onion and garlic on top

finish with sauce, then shredded or thinly sliced mozzarella

Repeat this step until you reach a half inch to the top of your long pan. 

Cover with foil, bake for 40 minutes tops.   

Finished product!                   

Sun Bird Logo

So, A friend asked me to design a logo and I must say, I had a lot of fun doing it.


Here is what I was given to work with. She is Lutheran Pastor and wanted to have something more stylized made from this picture:

The drape symbolizes a dove with it's head turned down....use your imagination now!

I knew I wanted to incorporate the bird into the logo. After studying it for three days. I thought of the logo name, "SunBird."

So, after a few sketches and many hours of deliberation, I came up with this:

 I like it because it's stylized and the sun's rays depict the logo name with bird. It can be used as a gray-tone, or black and white, without any color as well.

Making a FOOL out of Myself-Professionally!

My Latest Singing Telegram!

Yes, I'm a children's entertainer, but I also do singing teles for numerous local events. Check this one out and leave any message you'd like, nothing bothers me. LOL!

Oh MY! Facebook, blogs and twitter too?

I have SO much on my notes from FaceBook. I can't even fathom re-writing them all to a blog now.
Some of my better recipes, I'll go ahead and transfer over.
Name on facebook: Karen Mary Castranova!

Consequences!

The mark of the superior thinker is his or her ability to accurately predict the consequences of doing or not doing something. The potential consequences of any task or activity are the key determinants of how important it really is to you and to your company. This way of evaluating the significance of a task is how you determine what your next frog really is.
Okay, let's pose this question to Cutler. Your knee hurts, but it's a championship game....do you take yourself out or stay in?
Oh, and what do we suppose the consequences will be if we wussy out?
"Scent of a woman..quote..."The consequences will be dire and by dire I mean...." Cutler didn't want to "wussy out." He wanted to be there. He was hurt, broken, and disappointed. Not at all a quitter.
How do I know this?
I was married to a professional athlete for close to 20 years. I watched him get back in the game with a split knees-cap. When the leg swelled to enormous proportion, he was taken out by his coach. Culter knew he couldn't play anymore. For Christ's sake.....a 2nd degree MCL is close to being torn. I bet no one reading this can know what that must feel like. (Unless you've been a professional athlete and unless you've been hurt in that way.) Walk a mile in someone elses moccasins. Then go whine to the world, fans.

Guilt

Guilt is a self-imposed, negative emotion that is coupled with regret. To be completely guilt-free, one must not regret anything from his/her past. Is this too difficult to do for most?