Depression Meals

We might these.

My home

My home
Originally uploaded by Le Butterfly

We are renting this house in Northern Ireland. I like that there is not too much lawn, in the back there is wnough space to play.

Its a bit bigger than I expected, though the bedrooms are very small.

Got 4 bedrooms upstairs. We use one for a study, one for my daughter, a small guest bedroom with a double bed and the main bedroom. No space for dressing tables or exercising.

The lounge has a lovely Gas fireplace.

The kitchen is open plan including the dinning area which is the second photo above.

It has a small conservatory which brings in lovely sun in the Summer - when its not raining. At the moment we just use it to hang washing but we would love to turn it into a reading room with some nice comfy couches - hope we can get some through Freecycle.

We have been living here now for 8 months26 Feb 2009

Unconcious Mutterings for this week

Hosted by Luna Nina.

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Carpet ::Burn
2. William :: Shakespeare
   
3. Oh! :: No
   
4. Board game :: Monopoly, CSI
   
5. Sunlight :: Sun glasses
   
6. Delay :: waylaid, another bump in the road
   
7. Winner :: takes all
   
8. Concubine :: King Solomon, Don Jon de Marco
   
9. Comatose :: unconscious, zombie
   
10. Satisfy :: fully
    

Unconscious Mutterings Swap

1. Cups: and saucers
2. You’d better : watch out, you'd better not cry........
3. Daily: bread
4. Weighed :down, "..... measured and found wanting"

5. Upright :walk tall

6. Race: South African coloured, Comrades Marathon (89km from Pietermaritzburg to Durban)

I am SA coloured and proud of it.

7. I feel : nothing at times

8. Blog: Simone's Butterfly (hehehehehe), I am definitely going to blog that...

9. Verse: chapter and verse, the Bible, a part of a song

10. Thirty:something, that's me

"Rules are, there are no rules." There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head. taken from LunaNina

Free Starbucks coffee (UK)

Free Starbucks Fairtrade coffee.Newspaper based voucher.

	What: Free Starbucks Americano	When: Mon - Sat after 2pm
	How: Bring in Guardian voucher	Ends: Thurs 5 Mar
	Where: Nearest Starbucks	Food: Coffee Shop
Restrictions:One coffee per person. Only valid for a tall cup of Cafe Estima Blend Fairtrade americano coffee, doesn't include lattes, cappuccinos or other specialist coffees.

Every day until Thursday 5 March The Guardian (90p) will come with a voucher for a free Starbucks Fairtrade coffee. Just bring along the voucher to Starbucks and use it after 2pm

READ about more specials at the Money Saving Expert
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-restaurant-deals#freestar

My Favorite Blogs Swap

Here are some of the blogs I enjoy reading:

Weight loss & Health:


1. Fertile healthy (http://www.fertilehealthy.com/blog/)
I met her through the Healthy You challenge. I love the way she expresses herself and the encouragement and care she gives in her comments. Her blog post are very informative.

2. Claudelle's Weightloss Challenge (http://weightchllenge.blogspot.com/)
Claudelle is one of my best friends. Her blog is fairly new. She is inspiring me to get back on track with my weightloss program. I am really proud of the progress she is making.

3. Scale Junkie and the Healthy Challenge You (http://scalejunkie.com/)
She host the HYC , she is an inspiration and great encourager. She writes honestly.

Inspirational Blogs:


1. Artful Life (http://artfullife.ca/)

"share bits of my life and document my attempts at living an artul life. I am trying to reconnect with my creative spirit after a long absence."

I absolutely love her photography. I get e-mails of her latest blog post. They truly resonant with me.

2. Abbey of the Hearts (http://abbeyofthearts.com/blog/)
I don't read this blog everyday but whenever I feel the need to be soulful or introspective. The poetry, photography and writings are very meaningful. It is also quite different to my normal religious "food".

3. Lite Mind (http://litemind.com/) Explore ways to use our minds efficiently.
The blog has inspire my 100 list swaps, blog and group on Swap-bot. Very interesting topics.

Recipes:
Photo take by Claudelle's Photography (http://claudellephotography.wordpress.com/)

1. Elise's Simply Recipes (http://www.elise.com/recipes/)
"The first thing you should know is that Simply Recipes is a blog or a personal website, created and maintained by me, Elise Bauer. Unlike most of the large recipe sites that you might find on the Internet with tens of thousands of recipes, Simply Recipes is my personal website, with only a few hundred recipes, all tested by me, my family or my friends...."

2. Laaloosh (http://www.laaloosh.com/)
She shares wonderful Weight Watcher recipes with their points.
I am not on WW but I find the recipes useful. the desserts are just delicious.

3. Start Cooking (http://startcooking.com/blog/)
I discovered the blog recently. I have been trying to improve my cooking skills and atempting new recipes. I love the step by step picture instructions.

GOING GREEN . . . WHAT CAN I DO?

GOING GREEN . . . WHAT CAN I DO?
February 2009
Submitted by Lady T


I love the idea of taking something OLD and turning into something NEW. And have been
fighting with myself to USE recyclable shopping bags. I have them in my car but forget to
take them in until I get there, so hence my Eco-Craft Idea: Pillowcase Bag

It seems like most stores, whether they are big-box or local grocery stores, offer their own
brand of reusable bags which is wonderful. But if you have some leftover pillowcases in
your linen closet you can easily re-purpose them into your own reusable bag. In eight
simple steps, you can make a pillowcase bag.

Here's what you will need for this eco-craft idea: scissors, needle, thread, a flat-surface,
and pillowcase -- a sewing machine isn't necessary for such a small project but if you have
one I am sure it would be useful. You can always embellish the bag with a message or
other doo-dads and really make it your own

Directions
1. With pillowcase inside out, stitch the open end closed.
2. Cut off bottom third of case (which will be your strap).
3. From the strap, cut off 1/2 inch of one side and the bottom and discard.
4. Holding the open side of the bag, fold over the fabric 4 inches, making sure to turn under
the raw (or cut) edge. Press and hem (be careful not to stitch through or you will seal the
bag closed).

5. With two hands, hold the bag on both sides, pull out, and lay flat. (You will have a
triangle on each side.)
6. Sew along the base of each triangle (about 3 inches below the corner).
7. Grab the strap piece. Unfold it with the seam facing out, so you have one long strip.
Fold over the top and bottom edges about an inch and press. Fold the top and bottom
edges again so they meet in the center and press. Stitch each side down the center.

8. To connect the strap to the bag, fold under the raw edges of the strap 1/4 inch.
Match one edge of the strap to the seam of the bag and stitch in a square. Sew other
end of strap to the bag the same way. Turn the bag inside out and enjoy!

Flickr Mosaic - Think Spring!

Please click on picture to enlarge

South African oversea voters

Hello all!

Wow, this has been a week of good news. To begin: the High Court of South Africa ruled in favour of an applicant who sued with the assistance of the DA and the FF+ to receive the right to vote. The applicant, a South African living overseas in the UK, claimed that sections of the Voting Act were unconstitutional, and the High Court agreed.

However, as this is a constitutional matter, the case was referred to the Constitutional Court. Because the High Court agreed with the time-sensitive nature of the issue, the case will be heard on Monday.

Yesterday, an official election date of 22 April 2009 was announced. For now, that is the official date of the South African general election. However, the constitutional court can declare this date invalid if it finds that there are significant logistical issues involved with establishing a mechanism to allow South Africans overseas to vote.

What does this mean for South Africans living overseas? For right now, nothing. The legal situation of South African expatriates has yet to change. I have received hundreds of messages asking about the process to go about registering to vote/voting from abroad/polling locations, etc. As of today, not only has this not been established, but it will not be until the Constitutional Court rules on the issue.

So we must remain patient. As soon as any regulations have been announced, I will contact the group immediately. But to reiterate: as of today (11 February 2009), South Africans living overseas have not yet been granted the vote.

I hope this clarified some of your questions. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Best,

Paul

My Summer Romance

HEADS OR TAILS

(true story)

My brother so irritates me. He just goes with the flow. Maybe if was putting as much effort as I was in the youth programs it would be different. My mother says I am getting too old to sulk - I will be 16 soon. ARGHHHHH

OMG, I have just seen the boy of my dreams, okay he does not have blue eyes but oh- I could just scream. I have to meet him.

Eugene is refusing to go with me. I will just have to introduce myself.

His name is Jeremy Duncan and his going to be at the youth camp at the end of the year. Said he hopes to see me there.

I was planning to go to the camp but now I am definitely going. Got to find a way to make money.

6months later - the bus broke down 3 times it took us a day and half.

I got off the bus and saw Jeremy he greeted me by name. Can you believe !! 6 months - we met once and he remembers my name.

3 Days later - Jeremy has not said a word to me, we have chosen different activities. tonight his friends said he wanted to talk to but he was shaking his head. Its his loss.

Thursday - his sitting next to a cute girl from Cape Town. Also heard Cape Town girls are fast. I am so mad.

Friday - played soccer with the guys, Jeremy was playing too. His so good. His just built for the game.

Friday night- I was asked to pray in front of over 300 youth and our guest speaker from the USA. I accidentally sniffed over the microphone , it sounded like such a loud snort, I was so embarrassed I continued to pray until I felt i could finally open my eyes 9so much for praying short in public like my mom taught me).
Jeremy and i held eye contact - it was so intense - i have never experienced anything like it before or since.

Jeremy is motioning for me to come out to him, I am telling him to come in. Finally I go out to him. He asks if I want to go for a walk.

Oh man, his so easy to talk to, we walk and talk for what felt like a life time. There is full moon out. It does not get any better than this. Why isn't he kissing me?

finally the tug o war in my mind draws to end and i share with my favourite poem Love's Philospophy whish ends with the line .....what are all these kisses worth if thou kiss not me.
He doesn't make a move. i ask hime, "Would you like to kiss me?" and he answers, "very much so"

The next two days were bliss.

When he got back to the island he made up with his girlfriend and few months later I started dating again.

We continued to write to each for 5 years and he just stopped.

The last I heard is that he married the same girl and moved to England.
When Weiers proposed to me I was so happy I wanted to share that news with Jeremy - I sent an e-mail to someone I knew on the island. Didn't hear from him.

Valentines Menus part 3

Photos from Busy Cook at About.com


DINNER

STARTER:

Cucumber Cups

	6 medium cucumbers
	1 (8-ounce) container red pepper hummus
	1(8-ounce) container lemon hummus
	Chopped chives for garnish

1. Create decorative stripes on the sides of the cucumbers using a vegetable peeler (for wide stripes) or a citrus zester (for thin stripes). We did a combo of the two, as shown above.

2. Cut the cucumbers crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick rounds. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop out the seeds to form a well, about 1/3 inch deep, in each slice. (A great job for kids!)

3. Spoon about 1/2 tablespoon of the red pepper hummus into the wells of half of the cucumber cups, mounding it slightly. (For a fancier look, use a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe in the filling.) Repeat the process with the lemon hummus and the remaining cups.

4. Sprinkle all with chopped chives. Serves 20 (makes about 64 cups).

Obviously you can make less depending on whether its just dinner for two, a family dinner or a dinner party.

MAIN COURSE:

Simple Feta Cheese Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 30 g crumbled feta cheese
• 12 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 0.5 onion, diced
• 15 ml olive oil
• 15 ml lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix the feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, onion, olive oil, and lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Chicken and mushroom pasta

Ingredients

- 4 Chicken breasts (or if you're really poor packaged sandwich chicken slices)
- Pasta
- A tin of condensed mushroom soup
- Chopped mushrooms (as many as you want)
- A bag of plain ready salted crisps
- Cheese

Method

Cook your pasta. Chop up then fry your chicken until cooked. Add your pasta, chicken, mushrooms and tin of soup into an oven dish, stir it all together. Crush your crisps and sprinkle them over the top, grate your cheese and spread it over the crisps. Cook in the over for about 15 minutes.

If you want to add more veg you can, try adding some garlic and celery. It's up to you.

DESSERT:
(Planning to make my daughter's Birthday cake like this - she turns 8 on 13 Feb)

How to Make a Heart Shaped Valentine Cake by Jane Lake

You don't need a heart shaped cake pan to make a heart shaped Valentine cake - just improvise with more readily available square and round cake pans.

You will need:

8 or 9 inch square cake pan

8 or 9 inch round cake pan

homemade or purchased cake mix and icing for two cakes

Valentine cake decorations - heart shaped sprinkles, chocolate kisses, cinnamon hearts, conversation heart candies etc.

What You Do:

1. Prepare and bake a square cake and a round cake. Let both cakes cool.

2. Cut the round cake in half.

3. Following our diagram, place the square cake on a plate or serving board so that it becomes a diamond shape.

4. Position the two half circle cakes, as shown, on either side of the top part of the diamond to form a heart-shaped cake. Cut and trim, if needed, to make the cake sections fit together properly.

5. Cover the cake with icing and decorate as desired.

Lindsay Larson's Step by Step guide with photo instructions is SO simple to follow - I am still deciding whether to make a chocolate or pink cake .......

Rose Cubes

Rose Ice Cubes

Valentines Menus Part 2

LUNCH

Starter

A friend from Italy introduced me to this recipe:

Grilled Ciabatta

Ciabatta sliced in half -

Slice garlic and tomato in half : rub on garlic , sprinkle on olive oil and then rub the tomato spreading the olive oil.

Grill oven until lightly browned

Serve with a slice of (mozzarella) cheese and fresh basil leaf.

Main Course

Pizza

Savory rosemary-crust pizza (you can put on your own favourite toppings). Simply shape the homemade dough into a heart for a Valentine's Day pizza that's made with love.

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 1-1/4 cups warm water
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 (14 ounce) can pizza sauce
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 15 slices vegetarian pepperoni
• 1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives

Cooking Instructions

1. Place bread flour, yeast, water, and 2 tablespoons olive oil into the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select the Dough setting. Press Start. When the dough is finished, knead rosemary into the dough.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Divide the dough into three portions. Shape each piece into a heart shape about 1/2 inch thick. Brush with remaining olive oil, and spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on each pizza. Sprinkle cheese over pizza sauce, and arrange tomatoes, zucchini, pepperoni, and sliced olives on top.
4. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese has melted and crust is browned.

Dessert

Cheesecake

Quick, easy and delicious!

• 10 digestive biscuits
• 1oz butter or margarine
• a small tin of condensed milk
• 125g Cream Cheese
• Juice of 1 lemon

Get 10 digestive biscuits and crush them to a powder (place them in a bag or cloth and hit repeatedly with a rolling pin. Add 1 oz of butter and press it together with the crumbs to make a dough for the cheesecake base. Press the dough into the bottom of a greased 9 inch Pie Dish.

Mix together a small tin of condensed milk with a small (125g) packet of cream cheese whisk for two minutes and Squeeze in the juice of one lemon. Whisk for another 20 seconds and then pour in to the pie dish. Now just leave your cheesecake in the refrigerator to set.

Homemade Instant Flavored Coffee Recipe - Cafe Viennoise

Ingredients:

Part 1:

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Part 2:

3/4 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup non-dairy powdered creamer (Coffee-Mate)
1/2 cup skim milk powder
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

• Step 1: Mix the sugar with both the almond and vanilla extracts (Ingredients Part 1). Stir with a fork until there is no more moisture.
• Step 2: Stir in the rest of the ingredients (Ingredients Part 2). Sift everything together to blend thoroughly.
• Step 3: Store in an airtight container and use 2 to 3 tsp per 1 cup of boiling water.

More Tips You May Like to click here.

Valentines Menus Part 1

BREAKFAST

Starter:

Granola served with yoghurt
(Adapted from Market Manila)

• 2 cups old fashioned oats (not instant or “quick”)
• 1 1/4 cups nuts (I used a combination of walnuts, cashew, and fresh pili)
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 1/2 cup dried fruit (I used a combination of dried figs, raisins, and dried mangoes)

- Mix the oats and nuts in a bowl – I used my hands.

- In a separate bowl mix the oil and the honey. Whisk briskly with a wire whisk until oil and honey become a homogenous, sticky syrup.

- Pour the honey/oil mixture onto the oats/nuts mixture and stir well until thoroughly blended.

- Place mixture on a foil-lined cookie sheet and spread out flat and even.

- Place pan in a 180-190C oven and roast for about 30 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, stir the mixture. Stir again once or twice before it’s done. Remove from the oven to cool (I transferred the granola to another cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to cool).

- When cool add the fruit and toss until combined. Store in a clean, dry, and airtight container.

photo from 80 Breakfast

Main Course: (2 options)

Cinnamon Toast

Here's what you will need to make it:

• bread


• butter


• cinnamon


• sugar

Here's what you have to do:

1. Mix up some cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Use about twice as much sugar as cinnamon.

2. Toast some bread.

3. Spread butter on the toast. It's best if you spread the butter when the toast is right out of the toaster, so that the butter melts.

4. Sprinkle on some cinnamon and sugar.

OR

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH A KICK

4 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 small onion
1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
butter (melted)
Mix together egg, milk, season salt, garlic powder. Chop and dice onion and add to egg mixture. Melt butter, add egg mixture and then scramble.

Serve toast and slice cucumber, baby tomatoes and lettuce (for color/decor)

"Dessert" : Cappuccino with chocolate Shortbread

Homemade Instant Cappuccino Recipe

1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup instant coffee (granules)
1 cup instant hot chocolate (powder)
1 cup non-dairy creamer (powder)

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients well. Store in an airtight container.
• Use 2 to 3 TBS per mug of boiling hot water, stir to dissolve.

From tipnut.com

Click here for step by step instructions on

How To Make Valentine's Day Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Vintage Valentines: Free Download

Valentine's Day Breakfast Made Easy

Weekend Quote

Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them. ~John Shirley

February Pay It Forward Book Exchange

Read more about by clicking on the link below

Hosted by Springmont Cottage

Black or White

e-scavenger hunt

1. A site you find useful: Google , Wikipedia (A free encyclopedia with millions of articles contributed collaboratively using Wiki software, in dozens of languages) and http://www.ehow.com/ ( How To Do Just About Everything),
   

2. A site that's funny: Comedy Zone
   

3. A favorite video clip: I don't really have a favourite video - but two adverts do come to mind.
   

4. A favorite place to shop (or a favorite place where you wish you could shop if you had a bazillion dollars): amazon (almost anything - electronics; books and toys) , lovefilm (movies) and Mariosta (clothes)
   

5. A link to something beautiful- can be poetry, pictures, anything: Artful Life http://www.artfullife.ca, Abbey of the Arts and My Pen My Pain
   

6. A blast from the past (hamster dance, anyone?)- any site you used to frequent but no longer do: http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/ and http://www.sparkpeople.com/
   

7. A link that tells something about you- this can be your personal blog, etsy store, deviantart site, etc, or a site that has to do with one of your interests:http://simonesbutterfly.synthasite.com and 4 DAY WIN blog
   

8. A "how-to" link, this can be to a craft project, recipe, etc.: Visual Recipes, about.com

9. A link to a favorite game- this can be to an online game, or to the instructions for playing an offline game: Word Twist and Scramble World Wide (excludes USA and Canada) on Facebook.
   

10. A link that, after reading their profile, you think your partner would find particularly interesting: Learn how to knit video , Some cool Knitting patterns from the DIY network, Envelope for Artist Trading Cards (3.75 x 2.5) or Credit-Card-Sized Gift Cards, http://digifree.blogspot.com/ ,ATC's - Exploring Art In Minature (loads of different techniquies), http://www.heritagescrapbooks.com/,

Things that help me calm down

Head or Tails : Theme Three's

MUSIC

I don't identify with the actually story of the song Two Beds and a coffee but I do identify with the sentiments and love the message to keep moving on. The chorus really appeals to me and I have always taken it in a positive. When I feel down or rejected then this is the song I like to listen.

The word of Life is Precious, life is good almost speak for themselves. This emconpasses who I have been, who I wish I was again - someone living life to the fullest. Its a song I like to listen to when I am celebrating and when I am down. In sense its my theme song - my song for all seasons of my life.

Wes King Lyrics

PHOTOS

I really love sunrise,sunsets, water, nature, all shades of blue and my daughter. Looking at photos of them bring back happy memories, help me contemplate, gives me hope for the future and reason to continue.

This demonstrated in the blog header I created and in the flickr mosaic in the blog post below.

More of my favourite things - in a slideshow to the music - song from the Sound of Music

BUTTERFLY

Quote:

"Butterfly: metamorphosis and transformation

Scientific research has shown that the butterfly is the only living being capable of changing entirely its genetic structure during the process of transformation: the caterpillar's DNA is totally different from the butterfly's. Thus, it is the symbol of total transformation.
Butterfly represents a need for change and greater freedom, and at the same time it represents courage: one requires courage to carry out the changes necessary in the process of growth. Its Medicine is related to the air and the mental powers. It teaches us to find clarity in the mental processes, to organize projects or to figure out the next step in our internal growth.
If Butterfly is your Power Animal or if you feel in any way attracted to it, this means you are ready to undergo some kind of transformation. Examine which stage calls your attention the most: the egg is the beginning, the birth of some project or idea. The larva's decision to manifest something in the physical world. The cocoon has to do with "going inside", either through insight or the development of the project or idea. The breaking of the cocoon deals with sharing the splendor of your creation with the whole world.
Once you understand the stage you are on, you can discover which is the next step.

Emailed by Standing Elk."

"The most amazing thing to me about the butterfly is in the cocoon stage. The body of the caterpillar totally liquefies. To me that is the ultimate surrender. There is no going back. There is just a period of reconfiguration, that looks like a blob of goo. All you can do is hope and pray everything comes out ok. But there really is nothing you can do to hurry the process. It happens in it's own time. Even when the butterfly is formed, she has to struggle to come out of the cocoon. If she doesn't struggle and get that exercise her wings wont be strong enough to fly. To me the butterfly is the ultimate in surrender, trust, transformation and freedom."

Joanne