About The Birds

   Hi all! I hope for those of you that celebrated Mother's day this past Sunday it was a lovely one. We went to see my Mom Saturday because she was leaving for a week long bus trip to see the tulip festival in Michigan. And son and DIL are away in the Fingers Lakes in New York so my celebration will be in two weeks. It was a beautiful day Sunday so hubby and I just stayed home and enjoyed being outdoors.

 This is the card I made for my Mom and I will join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with it for the theme of "Feminine": 

White cardstock and Etched Layered Daisy die set are from Simon Says Stamp. Pink, brown cardstocks are Recollections. The patterned paper is an oldie from my stash. Pink pearls are Queen and Co. And the sentiment (Inkadinkado) was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black ink.

 I have no photos yet (although I have been trying) but the nest of finch eggs on our porch roof corner have hatched! Our hummingbirds are here and visit throughout the day from morning til dusk, and they are relaxed and thoroughly entertaining, but very difficult to capture on my phone cam! 

 Speaking of birds I made this journal page for Art Journal Journey (theme is "birds"), and I will also link  to Rain's Thursday Art Date later this week. Rain hosts this each week on her blog and provides prompts but they are optional to use. Everyone is welcome and you will be delighted by her inspiring posts of art, nature, and delicious food! I will also join Try It On Tuesday (add a stencil):

 The bird card, sentiment, flower, and stencil are all Tim Holtz. The page is in my Dina Wakley white media journal and I used her Gloss Sprays for paint drips and spatters.

 Time to break for T Stands For Tuesday hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth with a beverage related photo, and Food Wednesdays (anything related to food- recipes, books, meals) hosted by Kathy:

  As I mentioned in an earlier post I am trying new recipes that are vegan. I don't see us ever being solely vegan but am enjoying it several days a week, along with more vegetarian meals. After all, we do love our eggs, cheese, and fish😁

 

 This recipe "Mama's Meatballs" came from the Veganize It! cookbook I had gotten from our local library. They were very easy to put together, and very easy to make into meatballs- 20 of them. Edited in: you can find the recipe at the bottom of this post.

 Here's how they came out of the oven:

 They can be refrigerated up to a week, and they freeze well too. We both loved them so much that next time I will double the batch and definitely freeze them. They would be excellent for meatball sandwiches or with pasta and tomato sauce but I made a recipe in the same cookbook using these meatballs:

 Piccata Meatballs With Penne and Asparagus - positively delicious!!! I made the pasta dinner a few days after I made the meatballs. It consists of scallions, capers, white wine, lemon juice, parsley, olive oil with the penne, grilled asparagus, and prepared, cooked meatballs. The meatballs have such a wonderful Italian like flavor that complimented this pasta dish really well. The best part is that there is a cup of mushrooms (albeit finely chopped) in the meatballs - and hubby hates mushrooms! He had NO idea 😂! I will definitely make this dish on a regular basis. And have a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with it 😉. Cheers!

 And here is another lesson I did from the Sketchbook Revival free online classes (sorry, they are no longer available):

 

 This lesson "Watercolor Warm Ups: Gathering Color and Pattern Inspiration" with host Faith Evans- Sills on Day 10. We were to find a magazine photo with colors/shapes/patterns that appealed to us. Then we were to start by just painting a variety of sizes of washes across the page using color inspiration from the photo. Next was to add patterns we saw. Can you see where I got all my inspiration? 

Here is each individual page:

 I enjoyed this one so much!! Very meditative and calming for me so I will without question be creating more of these in my watercolor sketchbook.

 And there you have it for this week. Wishing you a sunny, warm, and wonderful week ahead!

    "Simply be who you are, do what you do best, be where you are called by joy, and let life work its magic on your behalf."            Alan Cohen

                         Mama's Meatballs (from the Veganize It! cookbook)

Ingredients:  1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed    3 tbsp. hot water   2 garlic cloves, crushed

                     1 cup coarsely chopped mushrooms     1 Tbsp. olive oil     1 Tbsp. tomato paste

                    

                     1 Tbsp. tamari (or soy sauce)    1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed, drained

                     2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten      3/4 c. dried bread crumbs   1/4 c. nutritional yeast

                     2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley    1 tsp. dried basil      3/4 tsp. dried oregano

                     1/2 tsp. paprika      1/2 tsp. salt       1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl combine the ground flaxseed and hot water, stirring to mix. Set aside 5 - 10 min.

2. In a food processor process the garlic til finely minced. Add the mushrooms and pulse til finely chopped, but not pureed. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushroom mix and cook a few min., stirring until the mushrooms release their liquid and it evaporates. Stir in tomato paste and tamari and remove from heat.

3. Pulse cannellini beans in same food processor (no need to clean it out), then add to the mushroom mix. Sprinkle on the vital wheat gluten, than add the breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, parsley, flax mixture, basil, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper and mix well. Allow to cool a few min.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a large baking sheet or line with parchment paper, or line with non stick foil. Use your hands to press the mixture together to form about 20 meatballs. If the mix seems too wet, add a bit more bread crumbs, if it's a little dry add a bit of water. Arrange the meatballs on the baking sheet and bake 25-30 min. or until nicely firm and browned, turning once about halfway through. If not using them at once, transfer to a container , cool, then cover thightly and refrigerate or freeze until needed.

These meatballs are very flavorful and moist!