Heart Health

One of the EtsyBloggers blog carnival themes in in regards to February being Heart Health Month.
"What is your best heart healthy recipe. What do you do to stay heart healthy. How do you promote heart health?"


Here's a recipe that we came up with a while ago. I have posted it before, but here goes again. It is a vegetarian main dish featuring the super healthful tomato and eggplant.


Vegetarian Eggplant Stacks Recipe
1 large eggplant, sliced thick

1 or 2 large tomatoes, sliced thick

salt

olive oil

lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, crushed

handful of fresh basil, chopped

2 sprigs of fresh oregano, chopped

2 stems of rosemary

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
Sprinkle with salt and lay eggplant slices between layers of paper towels. Allow to sit for 15 minutes (this helps draw out the bitterness). While waiting add crushed garlic to 1/4 cup olive oil and let sit. Rinse and pat the slices dry. Brush with a bit of olive oil. Bake for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees.
Remove the eggplant from oven and begin layering with the tomato slices, parmesan cheese and sprinkle some basil & oregano between each layer. One eggplant should make 2 stacks.When you get through layering, drizzle the stack with garlic oil mixture, a squeeze of lemon juice, and top with mozzarella cheese. To hold it all together, strip the bottom 3/4ths on each rosemary stem and stick it through the top of each stack like a skewer. Bake in the 359 degree oven until the cheese is melted.

January birthday?

A birthstone is a gift of a precious material that symbolizes the month of birth.This month the birthstone is GARNET.  According to the  Gregorian calendar, each month even has a poem:

"By her who in January was born

No gem save garnets shall be worn

They will ensure her constancy

True friendship and fidelity."

Along with birthstones, which we are all familiar with, there are birth flowers. Who knew? Not me! But I love flowers so this just adds another layer of fascination! Yay! The first month of the year is all about the carnation.

January is the month of my mother's birthday, so Happy Birthday, Mom!!
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Here are a few birthstones and flowers for the month of January:

One day sale

To make room for NEW items in my Etsy shop, I am having a one day sale (50% off!). Starts at 12:00 pacific time. See the great deals here:
http://www.etsyonsale.com/shop/SunshineDaydreamz

Welcome 2011!

I've been waiting for you! What a year it was. Stress, drama, health and financial issues... Good riddance. I'm ready for a new year, bring it on!

As you might have noticed, I have changed the look around here. It's a work in progress, but so far it feels happier to me.

Keep an eye out for some new monthly features. Personal stuff of course, plus I plan on highlighting birthstones for my jewelry collection. I'll showcase other people and places that inspire me. And who knows what else. I just want to get back at it!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011!!

I'm still here... I think!

Really, I am. I have been having a difficult time finding, well - TIME!

My "real job" has been getting in the way of my real life, lol. I'm working extra hours - great for the bank account, but not so much for me personally. You probably think I'm a wimp. Millions of moms work. Well, after being a stay at home mom for thirteen years, I took a part-time job that allows me to work when the kids are in school. I have all the same days off, I see them off in the morning and I'm home when they get home. But the extra hours leave me with very little time to do things here at home. It's supposed to be temporary. I hope so.

Besides the time issue, I was diagnosed in August with severe arthritis - in my neck! That explains the constant pain in my neck, shoulder, arm, and even the numbness that I have had in my hand for the last five years. So to help with the pain management my doctor has me seeing a physical therapist twice a week. At first I had my appointments before heading to work - after the kids were off to school. With the new schedule - I now have to take whatever appointments I can get in the evening. And they are hard to come by! That's an hour and a half away from my family,usually at dinnertime. And to top it off, the therapist thinks that any progress I make in therapy, I am un-doing the very next day with the work I do (lifting, repeatitive motion, etc.). On the positive side, my kids are stepping up and helping more around the house. The boys are stronger than I am, so they do whatever lifting needs to be done (laundry, carrying heavy grocery bags)and my husband is realizing that I am in quite a lot of pain most of the time, I am crabby for a reason - not just a crab! I am even trying to take time for myself (!) to relax with a heating pad and do the stretches and exercises I have learned.

So here I am, somewhat confused and surprised at my outlook on life. It is an eye opening experience. I will be fine, and so will the family. We are just taking a while to get used to it all.

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August Featured Artist

The featured Etsy Blogger artist is... Patch!! What a wonderful teammate she is. Always helpful with great ideas and willing to share information!

A busy gal, she has THREE Etsy shops & TWO blogs! Such energy :)

How about a little sample of her items?

Jewelry shop - http://patchfirstshop.etsy.com/ 

Vintage shop - http://patchvintageshop.etsy.com/

Supply shop - http://patchsupplyshop.etsy.com/

(These are my favorite!)
Patch's blogs:
Blog - http://patchfirstshop.wordpress.com/
Wedding Guide Blog - http://patchfirstshop.blogspot.com/
 
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Is it over yet?

Summer, that is...

I swear, this has been one hell of a summer. And not in a good way! Stress, turmoil, injuries, and so on! The weather hasn't even been that great - in California! Sure, it's getting nice now. We have only a week left of vacation.

Getting back to a daily routine might just be a good thing for me. I really don't have any sense of time management when left to my own devices...

So, back to school, back to work and looking down the road to better times.

(painting courtesy of Emma)