ROBOCOP - Official Trailer (2014) [HQ]

Well I just can't help myself!  My oldest son Trevor is in the official trailer for the Robocop 2014 movie!  I am so excited and proud for him!

You can check it out!  PS he is one of the 13 targeted murderers.  He is the big tall guy in center screen with the sunglasses on!

Weight loss Challenge

Hello all!  Most of you know that I have struggled with weight ever since I came to Las Vegas.  I could go into reasons why I have struggled but I am not going to go there today.

I am challenging myself to lose weight and I want to invite all of you my friends to lose weight, or to learn to eat healthy, or develop a workout schedule and get busy!  One way you can do this is to be part of a community that helps you to meet some of the goals by giving you the tools and support to meet some of these goals.

I want to invite you all to join me and support each other in these goals by checking out and signing up at SparkPeople!







You can build major momentum when challenged!  Please check it out!

Here is where you can visit the weight loss challenges!  Search for me and add me when you sign up and we can encourage each other!  You will find me under the name of Silverstash!

Spark People Challenge Central

Here is a link to a free calendar download that will help you get more fruits and veggies in your diet over the next 30 days!

30 days to more fruits and veggies

Good luck!  Hope to see you on SparkPeople!

Cooked up a storm the other day.  You know one of those days where you cook up more than one meal.  One of my favorite ways to prepare my meat is to let it marinate.  What's so different about that?  Well I got hooked on Emeril's Essence and tweeked it a little bit and it is really a nice dry rub or everyday seasoning and you can control the salt.

Here is how I make my version!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2  tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme

Directions

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Mine has a little more of the herbs and black pepper.  The first time I used this was on Independence Day in 2010 and I used it on a couple of racks of ribs.  They sat in the dry rub for 24 hours and then I slow cooked them on indirect heat on the BBQ.  They were so awesome that everyone snapped them up and I was lucky to get one rib!  Really? 

I learned my lesson that day.  Now I make sure I stash away a few so that I don't miss out!

My friend Nikki loves this spice mixture that I keep her supplied every time that I make it!

Hope you give it a try!  Share your experience with this spice mixture or share your favorite recipe with us!

I feel like a grandma. Again.

My dear friend Nikki recently became a grandma.  Her beautiful granddaughter Kaylee made me melt and I just had to start making something.

I have been playing around learning how to make crochet animals, or Amigurumi.  So I found this great tutorial on YouTube and set out to make Kaylee a teddy bear.

Here are the results!  I think I did a pretty good job!   I am hooked!  What do you think?

If you want to learn more you can find the video tutorial here!

Roasted Radishes... Really!

I grew up eating radishes and I love them.  I know a lot of people don't.  The problem is that most of us only know of one thing to do with radishes.  Eat them the way they are.  Of course, we can always make radish roses but they can be kind of boring after awhile.

About a year ago, I saw a recipe in a magazine for roasted radish greens but what about the radishes themselves?  Well I did a search and low and behold I found a few recipes on places like Epicurious and Food Network for roasted radishes.

Of course, I had to give it a try.  I had three bunches of radishes and I am the only one eating them.

This is what I did.

2 bunches radishes, trimmed and washed, them quartered (or halved)
1 bag baby carrots
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste

Toss altogether in a bowl and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with pan spray.  Place in preheated oven at 400 degrees.  Roast until they are crisp tender and golden.  I roasted mine for about 30 minutes.

They are surprisingly good!  My husband Tony even enjoyed eating them!

BTW, you can also roast the greens!  So if you love greens of any kind, try keeping your fresh radish greens and roasting them for something different!

Pico De Gallo with Hearts of Palm......

You know when your fridge gets on the empty side and you have to try to make something with what's left.  Well I had a pint of golden yellow cherry tomatoes and some onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lemon juice.  I thought this would make a kind of pico but it would be different.  I was planning on using this as a side to dinner.  I also had a can of hearts of palm. They are sort of lemony and I thought they would go together well.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it all went together.  Here is what I used:

1 can hearts of palm
1 pint of golden yellow cherry tomatoes (sub red cherry tomatoes)
1/2 white onion finely diced
1 jalapeno (ribs and seeds removed, finely diced)
1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 lemon squeezed
Emeril's Essence
1 tbsp olive oil

Toss all together in a bowl and serve on the side.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how good it is with the hearts of palm!

Let me know what you think!

Stash busting.....

If you are a crafter, you can identify with having tons of craft supplies around the house.  Since I do all kinds of crafts such as crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilting, embroidery and kids crafts, I have a lot of stuff for making gifts.

Recently, my friend Nikki was given some really pretty decorative silver pieces.  Some of them have really decorative work either on or in the metal.  Now Nikki's home is basically black & white with some bits of color here and there.  I have a stash of black crochet cotton and saw a really pretty doily on pinterest.  I thought okay, I could make one or two of those for Nikki.

So here is the finished doily and I will be giving this to my dear friend Nikki.

Thanks Mom for teaching me so many things!

Well I haven't been here to post for quite awhile.  That doesn't mean I haven't been busy.  I have worked on several projects which I will share with you.

I am a pinterest.com junkie and of course there are tons of really beautiful needle crafts there and all over the internet.  I was inspired to do something when I found my mother's embroidery tin.  Full of supplies, added to my stash of felt, I got my inspiration from some really nice felt hearts that I found at this website:

http://indulgy.com/post/VLKCk2EHE1/lovely-embroidered-felt-hearts



Here are my hearts, they kept my hands busy and I really like the results.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos.  I haven't used my camera in at least a year and I really need to learn the settings all over again.  I also need to learn how to take better photos.  It was easy to do and made me remember watching my mother do embroidery.  I remember her teaching me and some of the beautiful stuff that she made.

Hope you like these as much as I do!

Creating a treat stand from found treasures

I spend quite a bit of time looking at Pinterest.  It provides a lot of inspiration for me.  There are so many talented people out there.  I especially love recycled or upcycled projects for home dec, clothing makeovers and of course different types of crafts and of course food ideas.

I kept seeing this one popular post of a cupcake or treat stand made out of plates and candle stick holders, found at thrift stores and glued together.  I love spending time in thrift stores and miss spending Sunday afternoons with my BFF Nikki at Goodwill or Salvation Army thrift stores looking for hidden treasures.  You know that saying one mans trash = another mans treasure!

So I found these three beautiful plates at the Salvation Army store on Durango a few weeks ago and put them together.  Here they are!  Let me know what you think!  I love it!  I might be hooked because you can do so much with the idea but using different items.  For example, pie plates could be stacked this way and you could use it in your bathroom for makeup, or on your dresser for jewelry.  How about entry table with one level for each person for their keys, wallet etc.....  I know I have stuff around the house that just sits and collects dust that could be put to good use!

Choosing to have a great day!

I am in sales, telephone sales as many of you already know!  It can be a struggle and when times are tough your confidence takes a big hit.  So I have some great influencers in my life who have shown me time and again that you can make your day what you want it to be!

So with that in mind I have been working on my attitude!  As if!  No seriously, with feeding myself positive messages and paying attention to successful people at work I am S L O W L Y working on my outlook and it is affecting my performance.  (When I am at work!)

Enough of that!

I didn't cook today!  It was too late and besides I had lots of leftovers from Memorial Day so I didn't have to worry!

What are my latest at home projects?  Well I still knit booties for charity and I have a bag of about 30 pairs.  Gonna have to make delivery to the Women's Resource Center soon!  Since my camera has killed my batteries I don't have any pics to offer yet.

I created an Etsy shop and uploaded my "Lost My Marbles" beaded marbles tassle necklace pattern for sale and immediate download.  Now I have to get it together and photo all the great little things that I knit, crochet, sew, bead etc for sale!

Know anyone who is having a baby?  I have a beautiful hand knitted blanket, bonnet and bootie set for baby!  I have some lavender sachets, some knitted IPhone covers/cases and will be getting them up on the site!

If you would like to visit my Etsy shop you will find it here  http://www.etsy.com/shop/EarlasBeadsNSuch

That's enough for now!  See you in my next post!

Incredible pork chops

Today was a homey, lazy kinda day.  I struggle though with getting on here and writing.  That has never been my strong point.  I was never any good at journaling either.

Visited a few friends for short periods to say hi and get caught up.  I have been helping a friend organize for a trip and help her get her schedule organized.  She feels overwhelmed with all the details and I tried to give her some tips to help her remember all the things that she has to do and the timeline to do it in.

I got to see "my daughter" today.  This child who is my daughter is being raised by Gramma because Mom got in trouble.  She spent the afternoon at the pool and then hanging on the couch, texting away.  I remember when she got her first cell phone and it had a keypad and her fingers would fly on that phone.  Not so anymore with her new touch screen.

Dinner was an every day kinda day.  But I have to tell you I made this marinade for some boneless loin pork chops and put them on my little electric grill.  OMG!  They were to die for tender and juicy and full of flavor.

I can't give you any amounts but this is what went into my marinade:

Olive Oil
Worcestershire Sauce
Soy Sauce
Dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt
powdered thyme, oregano and sage (generous amounts)
parsley

The majority of the marinade was the olive oil, dijon and the herbs.  When the meat was done it was very herby but incredible.

I forgot to take pics but we sliced them thin and they are all gone!

Just getting started

Well I have never done this before.  I have found lots of great blogs with lots of really great information out there and I thought well I have stuff I can share.  Why not?

I love food!  I love to cook, search for interesting recipes and ideas.  Most of the time, when I find a great recipe I won't follow it.  I will use it for inspiration though.  That was how I learned to cook lasagne.  I found several different recipes, compared notes and then did my own thing.

My most recent do my own thing was to make my version of what a lot of people will call a monkey bread.    I wanted to mimic those cinnamon melts that McDonalds makes.   My husband and son love them.  They are pricey though.  I wanted a lower fat version.  I have seen similar versions but all of them use butter or margarine, but I wanted to reduce the fat because the biscuit dough has plenty already.   So using a package of buttermilk biscuit dough, cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice, powdered sugar, vanilla and 3tbsp milk, I created 8 single servings for less than the cost of one serving at McDonalds.

Here's how:

Open and separate your biscuit dough.  Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces.  In a 1 qt or larger bowl, place 1/3 C of lemon juice and toss the biscuit dough pieces in the juice.  In another 1 qt bowl mix 1/2 C sugar with 1tbsp of cinnamon and stir until well mixed.

Using a muffin tin for 12 spray 8 of the muffin wells well with pan spray or baker's secret.  I prefer the baker's secret for baking.  Set aside.

Toss 5 pieces of the biscuit dough in the cinnamon sugar until well coated and pile into one of the muffin wells.  Repeat until you have all of your dough pieces in the muffin pan.  You should have 5 pieces in each of 8 cups.

Bake following the directions on the package for the biscuits.   While baking you can make the icing.  Place 1 cup of powdered/icing sugar in a  bowl and add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 3tbsp milk.  Stir until smooth and you can set aside.

When your biscuits (cinnamon melts) are done remove from the oven.  You will want to give them a few minutes.  Place your icing in the microwave and heat for 30-45 seconds.  This also depends on your microwave.  You want it to be very warm, this will also loosen it and liquify the icing for pouring over your cinnamon melts.  Using a tablespoon pour the warm icing over your cinnamon melts, re-warm your icing as needed.

Enjoy!

I don't remember how much my hubby spends on the cinnamon melts but I am guessing they are around $1.69 and the servings are quite large.

I paid $1.39 for store brand buttermilk biscuits.  So for close to the cost of one serving I have at least 4 of equal size (serving 2 per person) or 8 smaller size portions.  The best thing of all is they only take maybe 10 minutes to put together.

An alternative is to double the ingredients and put all of the biscuit dough into a loaf pan.  You have to bake it longer but it works!  Leftovers toast well!

Let me know what you think!