Scraps and Snippets ~ Easy Thai Dressing

I was in a creative mood yesterday and had lots of veggies hanging out wanting to be eaten. The snow was falling and I have a column coming up soon that will require some recipes. So. I went for it. One recipe (which I won't be able to share til after March 10th or so) required Coconut Whipped Cream. I love Trader Joe's brand. It's almost fully coconut cream and little to no water so it doesn't require days of chilling to separate. However, I didn't have TJ's on hand and had another brand in my fridge where it had been for months. No issues with separation there. But there was probably four ounces of water in the can. 

I hate to waste it, I gave half to the dogs. They totally love it. And I made a dressing for a gourmet salad blend. 

Easy Thai Dressing

2 ounces of coconut water or light coconut milk

1 TBSP peanut butter

1/2 to 1 tsp siracha sauce or hot pepper sauce of choice

1/2 to 1 tsp of lemon juice

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Nice and flavorful. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Yes, No ?

I follow a blog called Lil Blue Boo. Ashley, the blog owner started out as we bloggers do, with an idea. She crafted herself into a huge following. Then she got cancer. 

She will sometimes post about the recovery process, she's in that wonderful phase. Her Friday post left me a weeping mess on Saturday. But it's a beautiful post and proof that who we are, how we treat people, the little glimpses of light that we beam around us in the smallest of ways matters. 

It hurts to love, but I think it hurts even more not to. Feel like an uplifting cry? Here's the link.  

Life is so messy and complicated and short. But, this time, this place, this now, this life is ours to either embrace or give away. To choose to follow light, or succumb to darkness.  To say yes, or to say no. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Connectivity and Stuff...

The connectivity of social media and the ability to reach out and touch just about any one in the world is freaking me out a bit. 

I bought a tiny kitchen appliance to make my life easier with some Amazon sweet deals and gift cards and etc. The darn thing worked twice, half worked twice and then, well, didn't. Color me annoyed! Are you like me? When something needs to be shipped back do you do anything you can to avoid that process? I'm so cheap. I use Amazon for loads of things because I can get free shipping most of the time. But I don't know how their return policy works. So, I contacted the manufacturing company asking if there was a local place I could trade this sucker in. I mean, the cost of the item was $30.00. If I have to spend $8.00 to ship it somewhere I'm just going to be really crabby. (Imagine that if you dare!)

I did this customer service request via email because that's an option. (Oh, bunny trail, I also did this with a company recently that shorted me on an order...one I had placed with a Groupon and got way more than I wanted to get free shipping....do you see a common theme? They answered back and mailed me the missing items plus a few more. Uh. Okay. I'm good with that.) Back to the appliance snafu... the customer service people asked a few questions. I provided answers. They then had me cut the cord (ha,ha I love this, they did tell me to unplug it from the wall first) off the unit, take a picture of the disabled unit and email it to them. Then they will ship out a replacement. 

SWEET! I'll reveal the company name when the replacement comes and works consistently. (Also, did you guess that I ordered this one because it's red?  Ding, ding, ding, what do we have for them, Johnny?) 

The one that shorted me items and made good on that was Go Picnic. I can honestly recommend them. They run sales frequently and the stuff I've had of theirs is great. They have vegan and gluten free options and I've begun taking one or two any time I travel because they are easy to pack and way tastier than an iceberg lettuce salad with a slice of cucumber and a mealy tomato. Yo. They sell them at Target, too. 

The other random connectivity issue is over the past week two people have told me or someone else that they read my blog regularly. 

Weird. 

I know I put it out there for the whole world to see, but honestly, writing it feels anonymous to me on some level. And it's one of my resources to find my recipes when I need them. And to get up on a soap box now and again, or just play around and have a good laugh, ya know? 

So. If you read my blog and you know me, a big hi, and a sorry for not knowing you hang out with me in cyberspace. I also hope I've never used you as an example ever. Ha. Ha. Just kidding, I don't ever use real people in my stories and examples. :  )  To my friends, coworkers, former coworkers and ???,  thanks for reading my thoughts about life and stuff. (Bonus take away...your vocabulary word for the day, stuff, use it at least four times to impress those around you. It will, trust me.) 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Furry Fun

Cute Animal Alert

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Fun with Photos!

 http://photofunia.com

My friend posted some photos she'd tweaked on a photo website. So. You know me...I had to try. Here are some of my photos tweaked into coolness. 

Yep. It's a lot of funia.  

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Ha Ha for Hump Day

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Looking Within...

I ran across this yesterday. http://www.blogher.com/everything-we-leave-behind (I tried to post the video attached to this article and it didn't work, sorry about the snafu. So you will have to go to the link and watch it from there. )

It made me stop and think. (It will for you, too. Be forewarned there's a word to two that may offend.) 



This story is told in so very few words, and it's the story of a life. This girl breathed, loved, lived. Had Amanda not gotten the news that she did at the doctor, she'd be like a million other people who post quippy statuses and go on day after day sweating the minutia, griping about the government, the traffic, their love lives. Or sharing links, what they ate on Wednesday, details only a grandma could love, promoting a book, a song, a service. 

Every last one of us has zero guarantee that we will be here tomorrow. A doctor's grim pronouncement, a distracted driver, even a virus could change things forever. 

What we leave behind is the evidence of the decisions we've made. Or the impact in lives we've smeared our fingerprints all over. And our words that carry weight because they paint a picture of who we were. 

What word pictures, what legacy are you leaving for the world to read?