Disappointed in Balsalmic Vinegar

So today I made extremely tasty, although time consuming to make, Rosemary Tofu Balls from Vive le Vegan!. I was preparing the sauce and Iooked at my balsalmic vinegar to see if it had to be refrigerated. It had a warning that said it contained lead. I reread it. Yep, lead. So I did some research online. Here is a good article on it.
http://tangergreen.com/proposition-65-lead-in-red-wine-and-balsamic-vinegar/

Cold Brewed Coffee Love

When I was living in New Orleans, I fell madly in love with cold-brewed coffee. I'd pack up my laptop and walk a few blocks down to the local PJ's and drink whatever flavor appealed to me that day. My favorite is still Southern Pecan.
I worked at PJ's once for a short while, but I was never privy to the secrets of cold-brewing. I saw huge white buckets covered by large filters filled with coffee grinds and I wasn't so sure how that made coffee. As far as I knew, one needed hot water and a machine to make coffee. It all seemed a little mysterious to me.

One day, at the grocery store,I saw Cool Brew, a cold-brewed coffee concentrate. Just add milk or water, pour over ice and magically, you had a delicious iced coffee. Cheaper and quicker than going to your local coffeeshop. Yummy.

When we moved to North Carolina, I had a difficult time finding anyone who'd even heard of cold-brewed coffee. Finally, I came upon it one day at a Caribou Coffee in Traingle Town Center. What Joy! It tasted just like home! Only problem was that the closest Caribou is 30 minutes away from my home by car. Not very convenient.

As I was looking for a solution to create my own cold brews, my mother-in-law bought me a Toddy Maker Cold Brew Coffee Maker.

I was quite skeptical at first, but after the first time, I was hooked! The concentrate will stay good in the refrigerator for 14 days, but it never lasts that long for me.

My standard recipe for an iced-coffee is:
1/3 cup coffee concentrate
1 cup water
creamer to taste(I use almond milk)

Mix these together then pour over ice.

Leftover Soup Risotto

My husband isn't a big fan of eating the same dinner 2 nights in a row, unless it's pizza. So, in an effort to stretch our food, I decided to try to make risotto. Before I swore off packaged foods, it was something we really enjoyed often. Surely, I could make my own. So, I put on my swanky 50's style apron and got to work.


Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups leftover vegetable soup, puréed, depending on how creamy you'd like it. More soup makes it more creamy.
  
• 1 cup Arborio rice
  
• salt to taste
  
• Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning to taste
  
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.

2. Add the rice. Sauté until brown.

3. Add the soup, 1 cup at a time, and cook rice for 20 minutes, stirring very often.

It turned out pretty good. My husband and I really liked it, however our 18 month old rejected it after one taste. I am not sure what sort of grudge she holds against broccoli.

Leftover Vegetable Soup

2 Nights ago, my husband and I made vegetable slow cooker soup to use up frozen and fresh veggies we had to use up. Any type of soup can be used, and ours was super simple.


Ingredients:

• 1 bag frozen butternut squash
  
• 1 bag of frozen broccoli
  
• 1 large Onion, chopped
  
• 5 cloves of garlic (we love garlic)
  
• 1 large russet potato, chopped
  
• pinch of salt
  
• water to cover the veggies

Directions:
1. Chop the new potatoes and onions. Place into crockpot.

2. Open frozen veggies and pour them into the crockpot.

3. Pour enough water in, about an inch over the veggies.

4. Cook on low at least 8 hours.

My husband and I really liked it, however my 18 month old, did not. Perhaps she dislikes broccoli.

I finally finshed my apron!

It only took me 27 hours, but at last I have finished my apron. It came out pretty well, considering I knew almost nothing about sewing and considering my teacher was a little confused at where I was in the directions at times and often told me conflicting things. All in all, I love it.

Adventure August Mondays

It's finally August in North Carolina, and with temperatures reaching into the high 90's, I am looking for cool activities with my 18 month old daughter. So I came up with the idea of Adventure August Mondays. It's very easy and lots of fun too.

What You Need:

• A child
  
• A camera
  
• A sketchbook or blank journal (optional)

What To Do:
1. Pick a few Places to go
2. Take your child, camera
3. Lose your inhibitions and take pictures anywhere and of everything.
4. If you decided on buying a blank sketchbook, print out some pictures and record your adventure.

Some ideas of places to go:

• the Library
  
• a Museum
  
• a Mall
  
• a Coffee Shop
  
• a Bookstore
  
• If possible, let your child decide

Ideas to Make your Adventure More Exciting

• Decide on a color that days and see how many things you can find that color.
  
  
• Invent a new word to use during Adventure Time that day. Something akin to the way the Smurfs would use "Smurf" for a lot of words.
  
  
• Take self-portraits of you and your child.
  
  
• Wear funny hats when you go out.

What We Did on our First August Adventure Monday:
It was nearly nap time, and Rooney was fighting sleep. So, I decided to get in the car to put her to sleep. Since I hate to use up gas with no goal in mind, I decided to go to Trader Joe's to get milk-free bread for her. I also like their bread because none of their choices ever seem to have high-fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oil, both of which I avoid. Next to Trader Joe's was a Staples, which was convenient since I needed pen refills.

So we went to Staples first and although I felt a little nervous at first, I took out my camera and snapped a few pictures of her in the store. She loves when she gets to hold anything "adult", so she was pretty happy holding the refill packages while we waited in line.


Then we went to the grocery and snapped a few pictures there, too.


On the way home, we stopped at a Barnes and Noble. She loves to pull books off of the shelf and play on their stage used for story time. She also enjoys climbing in and out of the chairs.
On the way home, she took a wonderful, exhausted nap.


This week I will print out my pictures and write the details of our adventure. And I will start all over again next Monday.