Snippets and Scraps ~ Cilantro Lime Brown Rice and Quinoa

I discovered something pretty fabulous. I think I'll share. 

I make cilantro lime rice whenever we are going to do a feast of sautéed veggies and guacamole etc. etc. 

It's pretty easy. I use the Trader Joe's quick version of organic brown rice. Good enough ehhh?

But I was needing to make a huge batch and noticed that next to my skimpy bag of brown rice lay a bag of quinoa. Hmmm. The cook times and ratios were similar. And the nutritional boost. Win. Win. 

Take equal parts of brown (quick rice) and quinoa. (I used a cup and 1/2 of each)
Liquid you need to make the amount you want. I went a bit shy on the liquid because drier is better than gummy. Ya know. I used veggie broth and the juice of a lime for my liquid (about 6 cups). I dumped in the rice and quinoa and let it simmer up til the liquid was absorbed and the quinoa grew tails (about 20 minutes give or take). I added the juice of another lime and chopped cilantro. And that's it. Easy peasy delish. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Ha,Ha,Ha Sad Cat Diaries

Scribbles and Scrambles Beautiful Day

Sometimes Iowa looks like the rolling, green hills the pictures of Irish hillsides

.  Today is one of those days!  Sigh!  And see how my garden grows.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Fleeting Thoughts

I've not been a "good" blogger this week. My weekend and Monday were consumed with moving/schlepping/prepping and painting two bedrooms and intentions to paint a sitting area, hallway and bathroom. (Yes. I do have something planned at my house....this weekend...that's how I roll. You wouldn't want to show up one second early, trust me.)

And while I was beautifying my house, people in Oklahoma were losing theirs...or worse, people they loved.

The tragedies feel like waves that just keep crashing, coming closer together. It feels like we can't even mourn or grasp the horror of the things that happened yesterday because something is looming on tomorrow's horizon.

My heart goes out to those in Oklahoma who've lost someone or every shred of their physical definition of home. On a small scale, I've decided to help by sending some helpful Arbonne products to aid the victims and workers over the next few months. So little in the scheme of things and it does feel a lot like the starfish story that so many use to illustrate how one choice, one person can make a difference. A kid walks on the beach as the tide ebbs, throwing one of thousands of beached starfish back into the ocean. An old man scoffs. "Kid, trying to save the starfish is futile...look at them, they line the beach for miles. Why bother, go on with your life, do something that matters?" The kid bends over, grabs a starfish and wings it into the ocean. "It matters to this one."

One choice. One person at a time. Each life is precious and earth-shatteringly important. Regardless of how it begins or ends. One person at a time, I want to do something that matters. A cold drink, a smile, a meal, a kind word, clothing, prayer, those add up, especially if we all set out to consider one step at a time we can make a difference. (If you want to help fling starfish (or provide meal replacement protein drinks for victims and workers in Oklahoma) email me and I'll give you the details and let you help this way if you'd like. kelly.klepfer@gmail.com.)

Scribbles and Scrambles - Really???

So I thought I might be able to tell you all sorts of funny stories about my wild hair.  Sorry!  I still have it!

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Oh, So Not Cool

So I learned something very important today. Apparently, I'm not up and hip and cool after all. 

Here is a text conversation I had with my violin teacher. I offered to postpone my lesson because a) he mentioned being exhausted and b) I've done so little practice this week I knew for a fact that I'd be simply practicing the same old, same old.

So he responded that I should still show and then ended the our conversation with "word". Hmmm. Word? Thinking he may have the cursed autocorrect on his phone, but not 100% sure that our communication was clear I wanted to clarify... "Word???" I said. 

Before he responded I called my mom to chat. And while talking I mentioned the exchange I had with my teacher. I said, "I don't know if his phone autocorrected the word good or what? I'm like what does "Word" means?" My mom. My mom who doesn't really like the idea of cell phones or texting or any such nonsense says. "Word is slang, it's rapper or hip hop or something meaning okay, yes, amen, that's true...something along those lines."

Then I get his response confirming my mom's awesome coolness. "Word Yo"

Really? My mom knows this and I don't. So, of course, I had to share that possibly embellished tidbit with the teach. He responded with a hearty...LOL...at least I know what that means. I think. And today in my lesson, he actually said beautiful...sigh...either a sympathy for the batty old idiot or his exhaustion pushed him into delirium. Word!

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Mactacular

I bought a MacBook. My seven/eight/nine year old Sony laptop is about on it's last leg/gig. So, spurred on by my friends and family who are Macfans (do you suppose McDonald's has issues with Mac, it's awfully close, but maybe they just own the Mc combo and the super sized version, too, ) I visited Mac of All Trades and purchased a refurbed MacBook.

But. I don't really know what I'm doing. And I'm not patient enough to read and watch tutorials and so I'm working with two computers. A slow-as-molasses-in-January-Sony that holds all my pictures and documents, and a new one that challenges me and has nada in the form of documents or pictures.

And I'm being a HORRIBLE violin student this week. HORRIBLE. I've only practiced three times. And my lesson is tomorrow. I keep hoping that when I pick up the violin that some how, some way, I'll have gotten rhythm. So far that hasn't happened.

So. There it is. My current reality. Oh, and I just took this picture on Photo Booth so I now have 7 pictures on my MacBook. That's a huge relief. Maybe I can just used the confused and dazed me in all my posts so I think I can now blog from my MacBook. Hopefully, I'll figure out documents soon.