WORKING LIKE A DOG!

Actually, I haven't been really working all that hard, but it was a good excuse to post a picture of Georgie, our little dog.  He feels left out because I never show him off like other Corgi moms.  He's practicing his survival skills by scavenging in the garbage can for butter wrappers.  Where did that saying "working like a dog" come from anyhow?  Most dogs I know sleep and eat.  Don't see much hard labor coming from their camp.

While Georgie has been sleeping and eating, I've been busy organizing.  After offering Matty (hello Matty!) some yarn, I had to locate it, which led me to the realization that I have skeins of yarn hidden all over the house.  There was a bin in the attic, some in a basket on the landing, more in my yarn bowl, some tucked away in a knitting bag and I even found a bunch that I had shoved into a blanket chest when  I was trying to clean up a mess quickly before some unexpected visitors arrived. Speaking of unexpected guest, my grandmother's one piece of domestic advice was to always make your bed first before doing the breakfast dishes.  That way if an early visitor should stop by you can always be filling the sink and look like you were about to do the dishes, therefore avoiding looking like you spent the morning lollygagging  about which is what you truly had been doing. Now back to the yarn and organizing, after all was gathered I was horrified to see that it filled an entire trunk!  You know how it goes, better buy an extra skein just in case.  My stash was no longer a stash, it was a hoard!  I slightly assuaged my guilt by giving a huge boxful to charity.  There's plenty of charities that do knitting for the homeless and chemo and premies that are happy to take your extras, so if you find yourself in the same predicament you might consider it.  You can find them on the internet easily enough. Now that I have it all in one place, I'm excited about knitting again.  Seeing it all together, I see possibilities.

As I mentioned earlier, I also organized my clothes and put them all in one wardrobe.  Having everything in one place, helped me see why I can never seem to put an outfit together.  Problem was, that while I have lots of nice cardigans and skirts, I have nothing to wear under those cardigans.  And there lies the problem; it's hard to find a decent t-shirt as they are either all cotton and lose their shape after a few hours or they have so much Lycra in them, they feel like your wearing a girdle all day long.  Blouses have always been a problem, to get them big enough so the buttons don't pop, they are too broad in the shoulders and the waist area.  Have taken a few in at the shoulders and added darts to make the waist more fitted, but boy that's a lot of work! Does anyone else have such problems getting dressed? Nothing like seeing all your possessions in one spot to make you realize that enough is enough. Like the little kid that gets too many things at Christmas, after a while the excess becomes overbearing.  Organizing is a helpful tool for being thrifty.

Well, I'll come down from my soapbox now, to bring you a recipe that I made today.  The new year means back to eating vegan again and I would like to post at least one vegan recipe a month.  Here's what we made today:

Picadillo with rice and beans

Used to make Picadillo as a young bride, but had forgotten all about it.  It's a great recipe to use with those meatless crumbles because they are a bit bland on their own.  You can also make this with ground beef for those that are inclined.   The reason I made it today, was to use up the last of the olives in the jar, left over from Christmas.  Use it up!  One of the thrifter's mottoes to live by.

Picadillo with rice and beans

1 pkg. meatless crumbles (or 1 lb. ground beef)
1 med. onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp.  cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2  sweet pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with jalapenos, drained  (or the ones with chilis if you don't like it too hot)
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 C. raisins (golden or regular)
about a dozen olives chopped (green or black)
2 tbsp. tomato paste (didn't have any, used ketchup, worked fine)
salt and pepper to taste
rice and beans (recipe follows)

Brown the crumbles, peppers, and onions  in a stockpot with  a small amount of oil.  Add the cinnamon and cloves. Add the remaining ingredients.  Simmer while you make the rice and beans:

Rice and beans

Saute  the other half of the sweet pepper and 1 clove of minced garlic in a med. sized saucepan.  Add a pinch of turmeric and 2 C. water.  Bring to boil and stir in 1 C. rice. and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook until all the water is absorbed  and rice is soft.  Stir in 1 can of drained and rinsed pinto beans.  (I skipped the rice step and just made some packaged saffron rice and stirred the beans in.)

So that's about it for today.  Later Tater!