Collecting

For some reason, a lot of people start collecting things that have similarities or are just special to them.  Eventually our homes are full of a lot of 'stuff'......

I started (about 3 decades ago) a collection of unusual salt and pepper shakers:

My first set was the birds here near the bottom. They belonged to my Grandmother and I think I just wanted to be a part of her past somehow. I didn't get very far as you can see here...........but somehow, I wont ever throw this tiny group away for the sake of saying, 'I collect salt n pepper shakers' Which obviously, I don't or I would have a lot more sets than 4.

Maybe someday I'll get a few more?

One of two walls we have of Sports Memorabilia

I was a little more successful at collecting sports items for my husband.  Mostly because it gave me something to give him as gifts that I knew he would actually appreciate instead of  say.....socks!   But this collection was much more expensive and now we have to 'worry' about it anytime a repair guy or stranger comes in the house.

                                                                                            

Starfish Collection?

Then at some point, I tried collecting Star Fish. 

I do have a lot more of them all around the house.

 But they don't really make up a "collection" and


I can't tell you where or when I got almost any of them so....

My most successful 'Collection' is ongoing still today.  It's extremely inexpensive.  About $1.50 per item.  I can get new items at most of the places we visit it seems and other people have also enjoyed adding to my collection when they go somewhere too.

 My Sand.  24 bottles so far, and growing. 

I have favorite bottles, like the one from a first date with my husband, and I have bottles that I collected the sand really just to be increasing bottles but I can't really remember the trip.  And then there are bottles that I like to look at because they stand out from the others.

It's moved with me 4 times now and will most likely move again someday.  The house we are in now has a shelf that we said was just made for the sand.  Until it began to outgrow the shelf.  Anyway, I do like collecting sand and its interesting seeing how really different each color is and remembering when and where I got each one.  

I think a collection should be like the sand.  Cheap, memorable, and nice to look at.

I'm really interested to know what you all collect?

What's the most unusual collection of things you've ever seen in some one's home?

Do you have any 'collections' that are really just junk you don't want to throw away?

I have things that I've always "wanted" to have a collection of even:

Like certain artist's photographs, and teapots maybe.  I think I should stick with making all the ones that I've started into actual collections though.

What do you think about collecting stuff?

Thanks to everyone who's entered the Coconut Oil Giveaway.  Winner will be announced Monday

Ginger Snap Truffles

Winner of the Best Price Nutrition Probiotics Giveaway was Courtney.

This is a quick and easy recipe from Kraft Foods for tasty little ginger bites.

They only took 30 minutes to make and will probably be gone before I finish posting this if I'm not more controlled. They're wonderful!

I've adapted it to be Dairy Free:

1 8 oz. tub of Toffuti Non Dairy Cream Cheese (or TJ's or other non dairy)

40 + Organic Ginger Snap Cookies ( I used Nature's Promise)

finely crushed to make about 2 1/4 cups, divided

8 Oz. of Non Dairy Chocolate, melted

MIX cream cheese and 2 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

CHILL the mixture until it is firm enough to roll in your hands.  I had to work fast here.

SHAPE into 30 (1-inch) balls; place in single layer in shallow pan. Freeze 10 min. Dip in chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Keep refrigerated.

Here's the Kraft Foods version for regular Dairy Cookies:

Ginger Snaps Cookie Balls recipe

Thanks for all the Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil Giveaway Entries

Burdock Root Flat Bread

These little flat bread / crackers are based on a very old recipe from the Irish.  They use one of my favorite plant flours - Burdock Root.  You can read more about the original uses of this wonderfully nutritious plant here http://www.naturalherbsguide.com/burdock.html  and you can find the original Celtic recipe for biscuits here:  http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-burdock-root-flour-biscuits.

No Bake Nut Butter Cookies

These no bake cookies are fabulous, healthy and a great project to make with kids (a little messy in the making so little hands would have a ball patting them out)

Sunday Spring Rain

The infamous DC Cherry Tree Blossom

New Chapter Probiotic Immunity 90 Vege Caps Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed

 

Best Price Nutrition is giving away 1 box (90 caps.) of it's

Probiotic Immunity Vege Caps to one of my readers!   

Red Grapefruit Marmalade

I found this cute little tea set today at the Asian market.  $4.99 for the steeper and the little bowls were just .89 so I picked up two of those for

dipping bowls.                                                                     

Chocolate Donuts with Key Lime Frosting and Toasted Coconut, Oh My!

Makes about 15 Mini Donuts
Donuts:

Coconut Milk

The Perfect Sugar Free Fudge with the Perfect Giveaway

Anyone want a gigantic bucket of the best Coconut Oil made?  For FREE?

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil.htm

Tropical Traditions is offering another great giveaway to my wonderful readers:

A ONE GALLON Jug of Tropical Tradition's Virgin Coconut Oil

WOW!  That's a $120 value at their website http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/

While you're waiting to see if you'll be the lucky one to win you can think about using your Tropical Tradition's Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to make the perfect sugar free fudge........

Compliments of  Chocolate Covered Katie, this is a simple and perfect base for any chocolate fudge you may want to make.

Check out Katie's post to get the simple recipe for this perfect Chocolate base.  I changed my fudge here by adding in 1 Cup of my Flax Milk and added a little more Stevia but the rest is per her recipe, check it out.

To Enter the Giveaway:

1. You must Facebook "Like" Canned Time.

After you’ve done that, leave a comment telling me your favorite recipe using coconut oil or your favorite way to use it, or how you would like to use it?

2. For a second entry, Twitter Follow Canned Time and then tweet the following:
“I want to win Free Coconut Oil in the @CannedTime @troptraditions Coconut Oil Giveaway"

3. For even better chances to win, do one or more of these things and leave a separate comment for each (that’s seven total chances to enter)

Facebook Like Tropical Traditions

Pinterest Follow Me & Re-Pin Something of Mine

Sign up for the Tropical Traditions Newsletter

Twitter Follow Tropical Traditions

or post this Giveaway on your blog or post about it on your own Facebook wall.

Note: if you have already FB, Twittered these options previously, just leave a comment letting me know you're already signed up for that

(Remember, your comments are your entries, not just clicking to sign up for each)

Contest ends Sunday, April 1st, 2012 and winner will randomly be chosen.
Open to Continental U.S. & Canadian Residents

Tropical Traditions sells so much more than just their awesome Coconut Oil, like tools to make using their products easier.      Be sure to check out their website after you leave your giveaway comments to win the gigantic 1 Gallon tub of Tropical Tradition's Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to see all the products they have available like this handy lid remover for the

larger tubs of Coconut Oil.

For more information  on Tropical Tradition's Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h6eycjf29M.
o       How to Use Coconut Oil: There are hundreds of uses! http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/how-to-use-coconut-oil.htm
o       Where to Buy Coconut Oil? http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/buy-coconut-oil.htm
o       What is Virgin Coconut Oil? http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/what_is_virgin_coconut_oil.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h6eycjf29M
Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/lid-off-plastic-pail-opener.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h6eycjf29M

Mustard Seed Sprout Salad

Spicy Mustard Seed Sprout Salad with Asian Dressing

Mustard Seeds are one of the easiest sprouts to grow and really add a great flavor to salads, smoothies, soups, etc.  They are packed with nutrition:  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=106#healthbenefits

Coco - Nut Bars

Combine ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender and blend until you have a smooth batter like texture:

Pistachio Ice Cream w/ Macadamia Nuts dairy free

This is my 'green' recipe for St. Patrick's Day. I looked at so many wonderful recipes for cookies and treats to bake for the holiday and I just didn't want to repeat that this week but I do have a wonderful new very Green dessert treat to share:

Looking for Spring.......

I'm working on my Pistachio Ice Cream recipe so it's an easy dinner tonight w/ the help of

Trader Joe's and some of the Spicy Plum Dipping Sauce I made up last month:

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Vegan Creme Brulee

HEALTHY DECADENCE

Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil Giveaway

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil.htm

Spinach Italian Bread

Cinnamon Bun Mini Donuts

These donuts were my first attempt at using my new Bella Mini Donut maker.  I picked a recipe from Averie Cooks for 'Baked Cinnamon Bun Dunuts w/ Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze'.  Please check out her post for the recipe and baking instructions for these and so many more yummy treats!

Apple Cider Syrup

I found several recipes for this project on line.  Probably the best, but not the one I used today would be at Food In Jars so I'll leave the canning process up to the post there for all the details but it's not much more than reducing down the cider and then canning the syrup left over with the water bath method.

Bird Watching

There's no help from my friend Floydy today.  He's busy watching for a nest building birdie who continues to peck her beak on a ledge of this window.  I held him up to the window right next to the bird at one point (the glass has a reflective shield on it so the bird can't see in) and Floydy thought he would die because the bird wasn't reacting to his paws clamoring at the glass.

Busy times.

Chicken Artichoke Vegetable Soup

Rosemary Paprika Sea Salt

Ingredients:
2 Cups of cooked Chicken cubed
1 28 oz. Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 Cup Vegetable broth
1 Yellow Squash sliced
1 Can of Artichoke Hearts, drained
1 Cup of Sprouted Beans, your choice
1/2 Cup Black Lentils
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Black Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes to taste
2 tsp. of Rosemary Paprika Sea Salt

Combine everything in a pot and heat..............serve with chips, crackers, bread.




I would recommend these gluten free chips to go along as well:










I also used the Rosemary Paprika Salt on some cubed white and red potatoes.
Fried them up in some Olive oil until they were nice and browned. 

Sometimes it really surprizes me how 'leftovers' can turn into a whole new dish.......

 

Dairy Free Raspberry Mocha Cream Cookie Dough Cake

" Averie Cake "

I'm calling this one 'Averie' cake for short.  Months ago, I read about this magical spread,
Cookie Dough Butter, that Trader Joe's kept selling out of.  Well I never was able to get my hands on a jar until today.  Inspired by the wonderful recipes that Averie at Love Veggies and Yoga has given us all:

I came up with this Dairy Free Cake:

Dinner with the Boss

A few months ago, my husband won first prize in a charity golf event at his office.  The prize was dinner at his Boss's Boss's Boss's house in Washington DC.

The dinner turned out to be not quite is daunting as we thought it might be.  And our host spent the night frying, braising, grilling.........preparing all of our courses throughout the evening, really an amazing night of fabulous food and talk. 

Here's a snapshot of our dinner courses:

The weather wasn't so bad for the first week of March, mid 50's with a breeze.  A little more breezy on the roof of his apartment building but the view of the city made up for the chill. 

Our main course included beautifully trimmed and grilled fillets so we got to look out at the city while our host grilled away on the roof. 

We thought we'd had our fill until dessert which really topped off the night.

Chocolate Cake with the biggest Raspberries I've ever seen!

Next Saturday night when we open a can of soup and some leftovers for dinner, it's really going to bring back the fond memories of last night looking out on the city!

Back to reality today....

Working on a Dairy and Sugar Free Chocolate Cream Pie that should help with the doldrums though.

Congratulations to Dawn for winning the Joie Great Gadget Giveaway!!

Brazil Nut Brittle w/ Sugar Free Options

Flavored Sea Salts

So easy and can really jazz up a simple chicken or fish meal with some extra flavor, great for popcorn even!

Proportions are 1/2 Cup of Sea Salt to 2 Tbs. of flavor, ground and mixed well. Here I made a Citrus Red Pepper Fennel.

I had already dehydrated some Blood Oranges so I just ground up a couple slices of those first then added in the red pepper and fennel to blend everything.

And this one is
Rosemary Paprika  Sea Salt. 
Same proportions but you could adjust to your own tastes of course. 

Be sure to store the Salt in an sterilized, air tight container. 

What flavors can you think of to try?

Thanks for all the Great Deal Gadget Giveaway entries, just 2 days left to comment.