Coffee Monday

February 29, 2016August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

Good morning!

Don’t you just love happy endings? 😉

Dragon Thursday

February 25, 2016August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

My friend has shared some of her Zentangle drawings on Facebook. I did not have a clue what it was. Then I came across a Zentangle Dragon on The Dragon Obsessed Facebook page that linked back to Pinterest and It started my search for what this is all about.

Here is what I found on my Pinterest search Zentangle Dragons

There are so many lovely drawings!

I found a website for the Zentangle Method. It seems to be a meditative drawing method. Here is the link if you would like to explore this more

I am not sure I will ever have time to try this but it looks interesting. Please let me know if you use this method and what you enjoy drawing.

Melyna

Coffee Monday

February 22, 2016August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

Good morning!

Love this website: http://sweatpantsandcoffee.com/

Spring? Already?

February 21, 2016August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

I suppose that I should be used to having spring like weather in February. It is central Texas. We have had very little cold weather this fall and winter. I always worry that the trees will start budding out and the daylilies will emerge, then a freeze will swoop in for the kill. I’m a worrier. Until then, I will enjoy the spring like weather and the spots of color against the mostly gray and brown that make up most of the landscape.

coreopsislanceolata

This little flower has been blooming in the center of our backyard for over a month.It is like having a little spot of sunshine.

We have dill plants everywhere. I had one in a pot last summer and when it went to seed, I scattered them around for the butterflies to enjoy the plants next spring. The weather has been so mild they came up about a month ago. Below, one of my kitties is helping protect the dill against a butterfly attack. 😉

Preparing to fend off a butterfly.

Emerging daylilies. These are approximately 1/2 to one inch tall plants.

The same daylilies three days later. now 2-4 inches tall.

The redbuds are starting to bloom too.

Redbuds blooming.

Melyna

Living low carb – Guilt free low carb chips.

February 19, 2016August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

Since adopting a low carb lifestyle, I have missed having chips and salsa and chips and guacamole. I made some from baking low carb tortillas but they were not really satisfying and I got very few chips for the carbs. Pork rinds do not fill this gap, so I went looking for an alternative.

I found a recipe for Paleo Dipping Chips on Pinterest from a site called beautyandthefoodie.com

The article states that the chips are more like crackers. These are not the thin, light restaurant tortilla chips I used to eat but they are very tasty. I have made them twice. The first time I rolled them out to the thickness of a thin cracker. The second time I rolled them out even thinner and they baked fine and were not overly delicate. To achieve a hardy chip for dipping, I would leave them a little bit thicker. That said, they satisfied my craving for chips, salsa and guacamole. The nutrition information states that the recipe makes four serving with a net 2.5 carbs per serving. I split the entire batch with my husband and felt pretty good at having only 5.0 net carbs for the chips. It makes a lot of chips.

I gathered my ingredients and got busy! (forgot the olive oil in the pic)

Everything is mixed in one bowl (which is nice) It doesn’t look like it makes much, but remember it is rolled out pretty thin.

Place the dough on a sheet of parchment the size you will be baking it on. Place another sheet on top and roll out to desired thickness.

Carefully remove top sheet of parchment from the dough. Mine stuck in some places. I found that if I lightly wet my fingers with water, I could ease the dough off the parchment and put it back in place.

Next, score the dough into the shapes your want with a pizza cutter or knife.

Place on baking sheet and either spritz with an olive oil mister or use a pastry brush and lightly oil the top of the dough (this is what I used). The recipe states to make a mix of the spices and salt again then sprinkle on top before baking. Bake in a preheated oven (350 F) for 10 minutes. Check to see if it is browning. If not continue to bake and check frequently until it is a golden brown. (Some of the thinner edges were a little crispier but tasted fine)