Farmers Market Dinner

willie decided that he wanted to go to the farmers market today to pick up some stuff to make dinner. i've been wanting to do that for awhile. we wound up getting some sugar snap peas, chicken, mozzarella, sourdough bread, carrot fettucini, some pickled red peppers (a tad pricey, but soooo good!), blueberries and strawberries.
and here's the result:



slim pickins for the tomatoes, so i wound up just getting some at the store.

then for dessert i made a fruit and yogurt parfait with the blueberries and strawberries.
all in all, a very yummy dinner! good idea hubster!

Boooo netflix!!!

ok netflix customers! netflix is planning on taking away the option to have a separate profile and queue's. so basically, if there are multiple users on your account...i hope you both think EXACTLY the same! and watch EXACTLY the same movies!! because come september, one of your opinions isn't gonna count anymore!
so if you're as irritated as i am...please sign this petition.
thanks! and back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Confetti Chili

it's hot outside! let's have chili!
not the most logical thinking, but so darn good!
this came from ellie krieger's cookbook. very very good. i substituted ground turkey for the ground beef. i figured whatever help i could get in the fat department, the better. this turned out really yummy. i used a little less coriander also, just cause i'm not a huge fan. but i figured there were enough flavors going on, i could overlook it. and yes, cheese and sour cream....a must.

Confetti Chili

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 lb lean or extra lean ground beef
One 28 oz can no salt added crushed tomatoes, with their juices
2 cups water
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced, plus 2 tsp of the sauce
1/2 tsp dried oregano
One 15.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
One 15.5 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and carrot, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, and oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes.
Stir in the beans and continue cooking, partially covered, 20 minutes longer, until the chili is nicely thickened. Stir in the corn and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

One really awesome thing about this cookbook, is that not only does ellie put the nutritional analysis, but she also tells you what each recipe is a good source of (fiber, iron, protein, vitamin a...etc). just alot of really great info!

i've been brainstorming trying to come up with something small i can make for my shop to supplement the gaps between the large pieces. i've got a couple ideas. hopefully i'll get to toy around with them this week. would also like to get some small pieces for the people that don't necessarily want to spend $60 or higher.
i also bought my etsy purchase for this month. yes, i know, i missed buying something last month. i'll just make up for it this month with 2 purchases! oh darn. i'll space them out and buy something next week. can't wait to show off this piece i just bought though. i've been wanting to buy this one since april.

Newness

hi!!! check out my new digs! thank you hubster!! he's so awesome!
so along with the new bloggy address...i have a new etsy address too! startin' totally fresh. it's really nice to have everything come together and look so cohesive.
this fits so niiiiice.

Swirly Cue

see i told ya i was almost finished! this one came together pretty quickly. there are a few airbubbles that popped up, but nothing i can do about that. i might make a smaller version later on. i like this little guy!

Dreams are weird!

here's a little something from one of my sketchbooks that i'm FINALLY doing something with.

i started it yesterday and i'm almost finished. i really don't know where the creative energy came from but i'm certainly not complaining. notice the date of the sketch on the bottom left....10/12/06.

on a totally different topic. i had the most upsetting dream last night! it's silly to me now. but then again, aren't alot of dreams pretty silly when you look at them in the light of day?
i had a horrible dream that i had a baby girl (no that's not the bad part), but for some reason i wasn't awake during the birth or anything, and they needed a name...NOW (why, i have no idea..so impatient!), so some genius took it upon themselves to name her milton! what??? i was devastated when they told me. i tried to console myself by saying i could just call her milly. but then i thought of the name i really really wanted to name my first girl. and i became hysterical. screaming, crying...truly upset! running around trying to find someone who could change my baby's name. apparently, there were alot of hoops you had to jump through to change the name. that's about all i can remember. i don't think i got to change the name. boy what a silly dream.

Pizza pizza

willie talked me into making mexican pizzas last night. i really was trying to avoid cooking because it was just insanely hot. buuuut...mexican pizza DID sound good. so i made ellie krieger's mexican pizza using her recipe for black bean dip. it turned out super yummy! and of course, not horribly unhealthy as well. i still need to work a bit in the food photography department....you should be proud of me! i actually remembered to take a picture!



here's her recipe for both the pizza and the black bean dip. i really didn't follow the recipe for the pizza much because i didn't feel like cabbage and can't stand cilantro. also, hello! no cheese?? yeah right. we used weight watchers cheese though so it was still point friendly.

Black Bean Mexican Style Pizza

Serves 4

Four 6 inch corn or whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup Black Bean Dip (recipe follows)
1 medium ripe tomatoe, seeded and diced
1 cup shredded green cabbage
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400.
Place the tortillas on a baking sheet and spread 2 tablespoons of the black bean dip on top of each. Top with the tomato and cabbage and bake until the tortillas are crisp and the cabbage is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the pizzas from the oven and sprinkle with the cilantro. Let cool slightly, then cut each into 4 wedges and serve.


Black Bean Dip

Serves 4

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced (about 3/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp seeded and minced jalapeno pepper
one 15.5 ounce can black beans, preferably low sodium, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp water
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and jalapeno and cook for 1 minute.
Place the beans in a food processor. Add the onion mixture and the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

I'm just crazy about tiffany's!

oh my. i'm so exhausted. i think it's just the weather that's draining me. it's so hot! we finally had to break out the air conditioners over the weekend. had to be done.
i managed to finish my tree wood piece i've been working on.


which i've listed on my NEW etsy shop! yeah, i set up a new account. i wasn't feeling very attached to the other one. plus i had originally set up the account to buy, so the username didn't match my shop name. i figured now would be the best time to change with the shop being so new.
i'm really happy with this new shop. after agonizing over what i should name it, and me and willie brainstorming, we finally came up with....Curious Mess.
it just suits me so well. willie's working on the new design now. so at the moment, no banner. but eventually, the blog will also be moving with a new design. ch-ch-ch-changes!

Memes are fun!

i think these types of memes are so fun!




1. homenaje a starla, 2. Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, 3. Cuba, the Paradise, 4. Dragonfly, 5. Josh Holloway, 6. Drink Dr. Pepper!, 7. turtle, 8. eye candy!, 9. Children, 10. family day out, 11. shy kokeshi, 12. Polka Dot Egg Hatchling

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Starla
2. What is your favorite food? pizza
3. What high school did you go to? Cuba
4. What is your favorite color? yellow
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
Josh Holloway...Jason Statham close second
6. Favorite drink? Dr Pepper
7. Dream vacation? nice looooong stay in the caymans
8. Favorite dessert? chocolate
9. What you want to be when you grow up? a mother
10. What do you love most in life?
my family
11. One Word to describe you. shy
12. Your Flickr name. starlawill

If you'd like to do it too here's what you do:

Open three windows. One with the list of questions, another open to Flickr ready to do an image search, and a third to Big Huge Labs' Mosaic Maker (create a mosaic with 4 columns and 3 rows). Answer the first question, put your answer in the search field on Flickr and choose one of the images from the first page to represent your answer. Click on the photo then copy and paste the url into the #1 spot on the Mosaic Maker. Do that for all 12 questions, then click create and post the results to your blog!

Button button, who's got the button?

buttons buttons! i got my buttons from the embroidered buttons swap!!! yay!! they are all super super cute!

this cute lil panda is from kristin.


adorably adorable elephant and giraffe from michelle



monkey!!! awwwww. this one is from cheryl.


a cardinal...love! this is from Sarah


puppy dog foot print from anina!! this one reminds me of my nor!


and a cutesy little ladybug from Dallas!


thanks so much for the awesome buttons everybody!! and thank you thank you thank you michelle for organizing this!
sorry about the crappy pictures but ya know...pictures at night and all.
tomorrow i'm hoping to have some great stuff to show. i'm going to a book fair a local church is having.

I like cheese!

well willie and i are back on weight watchers....strict. we kinda fell off for a bit. so last night i made mac and cheese! healthy mac and cheese. this recipe came from the food you crave by ellie krieger. if you haven't checked out her show healthy appetite on the food network, you really should. she makes the most delicious, good-for-you food!
now, before you see the recipe, the base of the cheese sauce is frozen pureed winter squash. but don't let that scare you. you can't even tell! willie is not open to eating squash. he just isn't a fan. so i just didn't tell him and kept him out of the kitchen while i was cooking. he usually does that anyway. after a few bites, and him telling me how much he liked it, i broke the news to him. he already said he liked it! can't take it back! i'm really amazed at how yummy this is! i was a little worried myself. i was actually prepared to have to run out and pick up boston market if it didn't turn out. and of course, i forgot to take a picture. so here ya go...

Macaroni and Four Cheeses

Cooking spray
One 16 oz box elbow macaroni
Two 10 oz packages frozen pureed winter squash
2 cups lowfat milk
1 1/3 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
2/3 cup grated monterey jack cheese (2 ounces)
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp plain dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375. Coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Meanwhile, place the frozen squash and milk in a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon until it is defrosted. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheddar, jack cheese, ricotta, salt, mustard, and cayenne. Pour this mixture over the macaroni and stir to combine.
Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan, and oil in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake until the cheeses are bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes** so the top is crisp and nicely browned.


**I don't know if it's just my broiler, but it really only took about 30 seconds to brown the top. if it had left it in for the 3 minutes, it would have been so burnt!

Enjoy!!