Chicken Divan...healthified !

So, I'm supposed to be on a salt restricted diet. Which means no more added salt. Which means no more picking up the salt granules from the bottom of the 'big salted pretzel' bag with a saliva wet finger and munching on every crunchy particle with delight.

Getting older sucks.

So (sigh) here is my Mom's recipe for Chicken Divan-made healthy.

I love this recipe.

This is how I do it.

Use 3 Cups (or a little more) shredded chicken. I cook mine at supersonic speed in the microwave in chunks and then I shred it by hand. You can chop it instead, but I like it shredded.

Cook one bunch of broccoli, and sorta chop it somewhat.

Place broccoli in bottom of greased 9" x 13" pan. I used PAM spray to grease.

Spread shredded chicken on top of the broccoli.

Put 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup into a small bowl. (I used the sodium restricted one.)

Stir in 1 Cup Mayo. (I used Smart Balance Omega Plus mayo) (It's not bad, really !)

Also mix in 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 1/2 tsp. curry powder and Mrs. Dash Table Blend to taste. (this is the salt substitute.)  :-(  (Although, Mrs. Dash has tons of other flavors which I use a lot. I carry one in my purse and use it on salads in restaurants along with Olive Oil and Vinegar that I put on by myself.) (From the restaurant.) (Yes, they have it.) (Just ask.)

Spread this mixture on top of the chicken and broccoli.

Shred 1/4 lb. of sharp cheddar cheese. I used Monteray Jack Cheese. Spread the shredded cheese over the top of the soup mixture.

Next, melt some butter. (I just eyeball it, probably around 2 tablespoons) I use Smart Balance 'butter'. Add some breadcrumbs to it until you get a nice crumbly texture with the 'butter' mixed in. (I make my own whole wheat bread crumbs from the heels of whole wheat bread that I keep in the toaster oven tray. It gets the residual heat from whenever I make toast.) Spread over the top of the Chicken Divan.

Bake at 350 º for 1/2 hour.

Serve over rice.

This is soooo good. I hope you enjoy it! (you can unhealthify it if you want.)

Portrait process...

I've decided to show you the process in doing a pastel chalk portrait. These usually average about 8 hours to do. I don't work on it 8 hours in a row, of course. I may work on it for 2 minutes or 1 hour in a work session. Sometimes I walk by it and see something that needs change and pick up a chalk and spend 20 seconds on something. This one was done over the course of 3 weeks, working on it off and on.

Here I've just started the eyes and applying some of the skin color around them. You can see (maybe...the photo is kinda dark)  the drawing part of it...that's half the battle!

I work from the top down because the chalk dust falls downward and can get stuck on finished areas below it. I often work turning the picture sideways or upside down to keep the dust going where I want it to go. The skin is a mixture of about probably 6 or 7 colors.

I've just started work on the shirt and jacket. The face is pretty much done. At the end I did lighten some of the shadows in the face.

Here I'm working on the clothing. Usually I have to mix colors to get the right color. The jacket was a mixture of 3 colors, and then the highlighting and shading.

_________________________________________________

Here is the final piece.***OOPS ! I forgot to photograph it before I put it in the frame with glass, so there are all kinds of REFLECTIONS the camera picked up,  that's what all those weird shapes are. I lugged this thing all over the house to find a place where there were no reflections...other that in pitch black... there were reflections everywhere. sorry.

So that's it. I never spray my portraits afterward with a fixative. I have never found one that I have liked. They always seem to darken the picture somewhat and there's invariably the blob of fixative that flies out of the spray can and lands right in the center of the person's forehead and never dries. They need to be put behind glass anyway, but there are some tense moments twixt the completion of the work and it's final home behind the glass. 

My Sunday Picture....

Ah, yes, ice fishing in Maine! What is the key word in that sentence that indicates loss of brain activity? I'll let you answer that.

(proof)

(more proof)

(even more proof)

Teeny pin-cushions !

These are a couple of pin cushions I made. The base of them is just a bottle cap! So, as you can see, they are quite small, but do the trick.

I found the directions for these at a site called craftstylish, wonderful directions posted by Jen Segrest. As she says, these are very addictive and make fabulous little gifts.

Here are the detailed directions: Click here.

Thank you, Jen !

I plan on making a few more in different sized caps, from different things. I even saved a Fancy Feast cat food can to try and make a bigger one, if I can figure it out.

Aren't these sweet ? Hey, we all need a cushion for our pins. We also need cushions for other things, but I don't know how to make those.

No school today!

why?  WHY?? ....because of THIS !!!!

Here we go again...more white stuff.

One foot of it and H-E-A-V-Y !!! Like cement.

Even the snowblower, the one my fingers never touch, was having an extremely difficult time of it. Snowblowers don't like blowing cement.  

But it was beautiful, nevertheless, as you can see.

But even the most beautiful rose has it's thorns. We lost power 17 hours ago and counting.

160,000 customers without power at the moment. (Update: 20 hours 14 minutes) (Another update: 29 1/2 hours and no power)

THIS:
is what's keeping us semi-sane. (Along with the wood stove and a BOTTLE of wine....)

God bless generators.

My Sunday Picture....

  Yes, I'm back in Maine. It is 40º outside currently, but a big snow storm is developing off the coast. Could be a foot of the white stuff by morning. (At least it's 'white'...there's some purity in that.)

  As for my Sunday Picture...my favorite hubby and my little kitty from Siam. Getting in some reading. (Actually the kitty is staring at the shut off TV, wishing it to turn on.)

  The calm before the storm. Just being with these guys is the calmness I need. (And a glass of wine in a couple of hours...)

  Happy Sunday.

Strawberry Fields Forever.....

  I LOVE strawberries! I love the taste, I love the smell and I love what they make. (click)

  I especially love what they make...poolside. (see previous post) Top it with a little whipped cream and I'm in heaven.

  So when my aunt suggested to go strawberry picking, I was IN THE CAR !  "Let's go!"

  So off we went. We didn't have far to go, just through the center of town to the other side. I could SMELL them already.

SIDEBAR: Center of Town.

  As we're cruising through downtown, my aunt was wondering outloud where all the chickens were? I said, 'what?' She said that usually there are  chickens just roaming around, taking in the sights. I said, 'WHAT??' She said 'yup'. Apparently people take them in stride, stop to let them cross and just co-exist with them! Roosters, too. Talk about the ultimate hen-pecking ! 

  I asked, 'why?' She said, 'Dunno'. So we proceeded to the Strawberry fields. (We did actually see the chickens, pecking away on a grassy knoll next to the mini-shopping center parking lot!!)

  We parked next to the strawberry fields. There weren't too many pickers there, so we grabbed a basket each and headed off to the recommended sections '1 to 3'. It was a little slim picking, as many were recently picked over and the green ones weren't ripe yet, but there were plenty.

  A BIG sign out front said not to eat the strawberries before paying. MY TIP: Pick a big, fat, juicy berry, turn your back to the farm stand and serreptiously slip it into mouth. Chew very slowly so that no satellite  from above will capture you masticating on an illegal berry. Truth be told, I only did this once. I'm paranoid about stuff like that, but I needed to know if the berries were worth my valuable time. (I kept getting distracted, mentally, tho....thinking 'bout those chickens!)

We picked 2 baskets full and paid for them. But we couldn't leave yet because I ALWAYS have questions that need to be answered, the sooner the better. 

  ie. 'Do machines plant all these plants?' (No, machines make the holes in the black plastic....Mexicans come and plant them physically.)

       'When are they planted?' (October-ish)

       'How many plants?' (188,000 ish) 

BUT, my chicken questions remained unanswered...until I got to my buddy, the internet.

(This is actual poultry walking through town...probably going to make a deposit.)

  This is what Wikipedia says about the chickens (and their boyfriends)....

"This little town is known for a population of chickens that roam the downtown area (ironically) near the restaurant "Popeye's Chicken". There are so many of them roaming the area that often traffic stops as they cross the roads. The chickens have been featured on t-shirts and coffee mugs and posters. 

  Contrary to that which some believe, there are no specific laws or statutes surrounding the chickens, neither for their protection nor for their removal-the latter being something some residents would like to see due to the danger they pose with traffic in the congested town center. For others, however, the chickens add an element of fun and provide the town with a uniqueness that can be boasted by no other neighboring town."

I have no more questions.

Ah, yes, it's snowing out?????

I hear it's snowing out. There's a winter storm warning. What month is this?

Here I am in Florida. It was 77 degrees today. (DANG...I don't know how to type a 'degree' symbol !) It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. After several days of this type of weather, I don't even know how anyone that lives here knows that it's actually February or even winter.
(huh, CAM ?)

Sitting around the hotel pool, everyone is acting like it's summer out: swimming, sunning, slathering sunscreen, sipping soda (wow, alliteration or what?)
HELLO! It's FEBRUARY !
........Nobody listened. So I had to have a strawberry daiquiri and join the club, feet in pool.

Ah, this is the life. Read a little of my book, Water for Elephants, sipped my drink and soaked in some sun.
Notice I said, 'the' hotel and not 'my' hotel. Well, it once or twice actually once WAS 'my' hotel...several years ago, but today I just borrowed it. Hey, they got my eight + bucks for the drink and I didn't use a towel or anything. The Disney world has mucho, mucho bucks from this family's bank account over the years. I'm sure they wouldn't even be in business without our business over the last 20 years.

Whatever...
It's just nice to see things alive.



Back to the my real world soon...*%#@*!^%$

Valentine's Day gone amok.

So I'm flying south for a few days, ending up in Baltimore airport for a layover. Leaving Portland I noticed that Southwest airlines had lots of cut-out hearts plastered all over it's venues. Like giant candy hearts with heartfelt messages inscribed on them just for me.
So I think to myself, "that's nice."
Then I get to Baltimore and had a little time. THIS is how Baltimore decorated their gateways and podiums ! Methinks someone had too much time on their hands!



I guess it's kinda nice, too.

My Sunday Picture....

This is a photo in the early morning sun up on the Eastern Prom in Portland. The ocean is off to the left, out of shot. Not much action up there on this cold, calm morning.

(click on the link to see how close the ocean is in this sledding video someone made!)(Hope they can swim!)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !!!!!

(click)

A PIN-KEEP !  for people who sew....or are into keeping pins.

Here is a little gift I made for a friend for Valentine's Day. I started one for myself, but it's not finished yet.  (It's small, only 3 " high.)

  It's a little case to hold needles and pins. You could probably hide a couple of peanut m&m's inside, too. 

  Here are some quick directions. 

  Cut felt to the sizes shown. The bottom strip is the case. The top is the inside pages. Cut the tab to any size to any size or shape, as long as it's big enough to snag a button later.

Here is the felt cut.

Fold the case in half up to the tab. Mark off with a pin or something to know where the fold is. Fold in half again and mark off the creases. This will separate the piece into four panels. Then you can figure out on which panel you will decorate.

  If you are going to embroider, applique or decorate the cover, you should mark off which panel it should be done on. AND DON'T DO IT UPSIDE DOWN LIKE I DID ON ONE ! Figure out ahead of time which way is up !#$%^&

  The whole reason the little book is double thick is to hide the back of the stitching. If you aren't decorating, you can actually make this a single thickness piece.

Do the decorating of the cover.

Here is the one I'm making for myself. (below) This shows where to pin the 'pages'. (click on it to enlarge so you can actually see the applique I'm doing on this one.)

Stitch the pages in....

Fold felt 'book' in half again. Pin together. Blanket stitch the two layers together. Cut slit in tab to accomodate a button of your choice. That's it!

'Pages' with and without pins and needles. It's easier than looking for a needle in a haystack.

MJN....

Best of luck to my sweet BIL today.....

(That's the Amarylis you gave me !)