Vegan Tex-Mex Pasta Salad!

I cooked! Amazing. Everyone thinks I love to cook cuz I have parties with lots of food, but the truth is, if it's just gonna be C and myself for a meal, I'm pretty lazy. I grew up cooking with my dad (an incredible cook) and volunteering on the La Cuisine "A Team" at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. So I learned to cook for huge crowds at a young age (we're talking eight years old.) Then I was the Hospitality Coordinator at The West End Cultural Centre, a popular music venue here in Winnipeg. It was well known for treating its musicians with love and care. 

My job as Hospitality Coordinator was mostly cooking for the bands and making sure they were taken care of. And no, I don't mean scoring them weed and dating them…because weed is ILLEGAL. But I digress. The point is, I'm better at cooking for a crowd. (I'm a Leo, the more praise I can get, the more likely it is that I'm gonna cook. Just how it is.) And while my husband knows that I'm only going to cook if he's SUPER complimentary, it just isn't the same…he has to praise me or he's gonna be stuck with bread sandwiches or pizza toast (his specialties. Ask me what a bread sandwich is. I bet you can't figure it out.)

But today, I freakin' cooked! And took a picture. (Mostly to show you the amazing Villeroy & Boch Acapulco bowl it's in.)

Hope this inspires you to make something delicious for dinner. Or just to praise me. Whatever works.
 

  

Gluten-Free-Vegan-Tex-Mex Pasta Salad!

Ingredients:

Your choice of pasta (I used a corn flour penne.)

1 bell pepper

1 tomato (I used a handful of baby toms)

1 can of black beans (or pinto, or kidney beans.)

2 cups spinach

1 avocado

s&p to taste

For dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

juice from 2 limes

1 tsp. cumin (or just wing it.)

½ tsp minced garlic, or a tsp garlic powder

hot sauce of your choice

a pinch of raw sugar, if desired. (Honey would be nice if you’re not making a vegan dish)

s&p to taste

“Instructions” (Do whatever you want, I don’t care.)

I used corn flour pasta for this recipe, which I’d never had before. I thought it might be too corn-flavoured for a traditional Italian style dish, so I thought I’d try out something else with it first. (As it turns out, it’s not very corny –unlike myself- and could easily be used in any pasta dish.)

As I was boiling the water for the pasta, I filled a bowl with frozen corn kernels, (which is what I had on hand-fresh scraped would be excellent) an entire can of rinsed black beans, some sliced orange baby tomatoes and a red bell pepper. 

For the dressing I combined about 1/3 cup of olive oil with the juice of two small limes, a bit of finely minced garlic, pepper, sea salt, a couple of dashes of sriracha and about a teaspoon of cumin and a pinch of raw sugar. You could use honey, but I wanted to keep this meal vegan. If you didn’t want a vegan dish, some soft crumbled goat cheese or any Mexican cheese would be nice.  

When the pasta was cooked I left it to drain and threw the bean and veg mixture into the cooking pot on low. I wanted to let some of the natural sugars release from the veggies. Then I added half of the dressing, the pasta and some fresh spinach to the pot and let cook for a couple of minutes. (I like a slightly wilted spinach in pasta, but you may prefer to put it in after everything has cooled.) I refrigerated the whole shebang for an hour or so, then added salt and pepper to taste, a bit more dressing and added sliced avocado.

It was GOOD, y’all. And it took longer for me to write the instructions than it did to make the meal.

Provecho!

It's just not complete without my new Day of the Dead s&p shakers that J picked up for me in Austin

Before and After: Living & Dining

Things have been happening over here! You may remember seeing photos of my living and dining rooms in the past. The dining room was at the back of the house and we used the attached living room as an art studio. Our living room was on the second floor, in what is now C's hang out/reading room. It made sense at the time. Kinda.

We bought this house about 8 years ago as a starter home. We planned to stay for 5 years then move to a bigger place in a nicer neighbourhood about a 20 minute walk away. But the neighbourhood started to grow on us and then more young couples and families started moving in, knowing they couldn't afford that nicer neighbourhood 20 minutes away. It was a sketchy neighbourhood when we moved here, but we've seen our street transformed in the last 8 years. The day we moved in a friend said "Well, it's not without its cars parked on front lawns, but it's a good start." Look, D! No more cars!

When we decided to stay in this house instead of "upgrading" to a larger one, we knew we'd only be able to stay comfortably if we renovated. Since the neighbourhood is still up and coming, we couldn't invest TOO much, since we'd never recoup the money. Also, we hardly HAVE any money, so that was a factor…

A light reno was in store, and at least half of it was spent waterproofing and insulating the basement, so that my studio and C's office could move down there, freeing up the rest of the house for living.

Here are the living room and dining room before and afters!

Former dining room.

The former dining room is now the living room.

Living room.

Living room looking toward the new dining room. (Formerly the art room. Are you confused yet?)

Former art room.

The former art studio is now the dining room/library. 

Dining room. 

We love the new spaces. They're still over the top and bold, but more coherent and a little more grown up. Which I guess is what happens over the course of eight years!

Stay tuned, there's more renovations to show you!

Home

There are certain things that make a house your home. And while I'm quite the maximalist and freely admit to loving (subjectively!) nice stuff, there's no item I couldn't live without, and I imagine that most of you feel the same way. When people are asked "What would you save if your house burned down?" everyone says their family and their pets (of course.) That's all that matters. I like lots of things about this old house, but what makes it a home is my husband and our cats; Bug, Squeak, Cobra, Noches and Gringo.

A month ago, my best cat friend passed away. Yukon was 17, and I'd had her since she was a baby (and so was I! I was 19 when I brought her to our first home together.) Yukie and I lived in six different apartments before my husband and I bought the home we live in now.  She was what made each place home. I always looked forward to walking in the front door and preferred her company over almost anyone's (sorry, humans!) She and I truly loved each other. This past month there have been days when it's hard to come home, knowing she's not going to be there. There have been other days when it's been hard to leave, since I have a warm and snuggly brood who hem me in under the bedcovers. AND they set a bad example with their lazing about.

Yukon was Queen of the Cats in this house and her presence is incredibly missed, but still keenly felt. 

I hope that your home is filled with all kinds of love, and that your pets are healthy, happy and know you love them.

Here's to them. 

And to Yukon.

Before & Afters!

I haven't posted in forever, cuz instead of writing about working on my house, I've been ACTUALLY WORKING on my house! I'm in the home stretch as far as renos go. It's been over a year, but that's what happens when you're doing a lot of the work yourself. My fella and I only have Sundays off  together, so that's really the only time there can be two of us working on a project, and some of these projects aren't one person jobs. I'll post more about that stuff later, but for now, here are some one-person projects that I've completed this week.

BEFORE: My friend J's mom gave me two of these great side tables, saying she figured I could do something with them. So I did.

I took a wire brush to the worst of the rust, then sprayed the table with a Rustoleum anti-rust primer. After that dried, I sprayed it out with my spray gun(!) in Thai Curry by Behr Marquee. Then I handpainted the details all around the top edges. 

This wee nook in my kitchen needed a boost.

I slapped up these custom-sized decals from  Bleucoin , who I found on Etsy. It took about half an hour and may be my favourite kitchen project ever.

These Sears-catalog chairs belonged to my great-grandmother. I was going to get rid of them since they don't match my new teak table, but my mom said I had to keep 'em. She didn't say anything about painting them, though.

I sanded these down, then used the same navy on these chairs (Behr Marquee Bon Nuit) that I used on my dining room walls. I still need to spray lacquer them for a hard n' glossy finish, but I'm waiting for a less humid day. The fabric is an outdoor polyester, which I figured would be easy to clean up. These will be the head chairs of the dining table. The other chairs are Eames-style Eiffel base chairs in white.

And there ya have it. I think I'll take a break from projects tonight, since the first Anthropologie to grace my fair(ish) town just opened today. I may have to go there after work. Also, I haven't made dinner in two weeks, so I should see if I remember how to work the oven. More to come, my three faithful readers.

xoAA

New Spray Gun = New Projects!

I bought a spray gun for painting out my basement ceiling, but the ceiling is so daunting (I'll work on it tomorrow, I promise!) that I needed to do an easy home project to get me back in the swing of things.

I've been hanging out on the front porch a lot and it's on my list of summer projects to fix it up. It needs jacking up, new screens and a power wash, but it's very colourful and cozy. Yukon (the world's greatest cat) loves it, so I sit out with her and read anytime it's nice out.

I had a blank space in the seating area, just calling out for a table, but with looming house projects coming up, budget was an issue. I was gonna have to brush off the ol' DIY skills and make something.

I've had an old crate for a couple of years, which I picked it up at a friend's yard sale. I loved the faded Cascade pears label on the side, and thought it'd fit perfectly in the space. It was a little too short, so I went looking for legs. My original thought was to use retro hairpin legs, but I didn't see any in town, and I don't like waiting, so I had to come up with other options. I was at a hardware store and looked at castors, but didn't want to spend $40 on 'em, and I didn't need the table to roll. I looked at replacement bed legs, but they just weren't right. I looked at plumbing fixtures, thinking I could use short pipes and flanges, but they weren't what I really wanted for the project. Then I accidentally walked down the home organization aisle and found an interior cupboard organizer. Stainless steel, sturdy, simple...and 10 bucks. Just what the decorator ordered.

I went home, dug out some yellow exterior paint from an old project, hooked up my new spray gun(!) and went to work. All in all, the project cost less than $20. Here are the before and afters! (And yes, I KNOW I need to sweep the porch...)

Dusty old peach crate

Love the label, so covered it with plastic before spraying.

Your basic shelf organizer...made for a perfect set of legs.

Nice and cheery!

Starting to see it come together.

Staple gunned the organizer to the base....

And done!

Bug likes it, anyway.

Yukon couldn't care less. She just wants to nap on the couch. 

Bathroom Redo....again!

Alrighty, so although I really, really need to be working on finishing the basement, I spent the afternoon repainting my bathroom. I know I just redid it recently, but that was when I thought we'd be selling the house. So I set it up to look all home-stagey and normal. It was very pretty, and the farthest thing from anything even close to my aesthetic. When we decided that we would renovate instead of sell, I knew that colour had to go. It was a nice Robin's egg blue, but it just seemed so out of place (because it was...) that I had to start again. Frankly, I'm surprised I waited this long. Then again, I'm incredibly lazy. So, here's Bathroom Redo Number Two. Haha, NUMBER TWO! And it's a bathroom redo! Get it? I totally went there! (In addition to being lazy, I am also immature. I am quite a catch.)

First the "Before" photos (i.e.. Home Stagey)

"Aerial View" paint. (A CIL colour that I had done in Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint.) I still like the colour of the cabinets, but if I were to do it over again,  I'd never get a flat bottom sink. It gets soap scummy very easily, and I'm always cleaning' that thing.

The tree shower curtain, while really pretty, was a little too bleak for me, so I replaced that too, and am passing on the tree to a friend for her future bathroom update.

The floor (Allure Trafficmaster) has held up very well, and I love the grey.

If you know me, you understand how ridiculous it is for me to have anything so pretty. Passing the Laura Ashley (Yeah. I somehow own Laura Ashley items) baskets on to my cousin who I think will like them.

The faux art AKA  "Faaaaaaaaart" is long gone. The cabinet is IKEA. This is the best photo of the former colour.

And now for the "After" shots! (MUCH more my speed.)

That's a heck of a blue (Gem Turquoise, Behr)

Gringo likes it, but he likes everything.

Purple tub!

Crazy shower curtain (from Bed, Bath & Beyond a few months ago. I don't think they have it anymore.) IKEA chandelier, that my husband just noticed. ("That's been up for a year, dear." "Oh. Well, the blue really makes it pop.")

Now I'm happy.

The Good, The Bad and the Basement

I sure haven't been around here in a while! Looks like my last post was in May...it's February now, so it  would appear that I'd given up on the house and the blog entirely. Well, let's just call it a sabbatical.

2013 wasn't without moments of joy, but the loss of many loved ones made for a sorrowful year. I didn't feel a lot of creative spark, or much desire to write, at least not about furniture and paint colours. I  don't believe that any creative pursuit is frivolous, but for some reason any time I thought about posting to the blog, it felt somehow insensitive. Of course I know that those that I've lost would never want me to stop doing things I enjoy, but hey, I enjoyed watching TV and stress-eating, too.

The aforementioned moments of joy included spending time with my friends, family, pets and fella, reading 101 books and spending three weeks in Mexico. The traveling was like all traveling is for me, 70% "This is awesome!" and 30% "Why the f*cK do I keep doing this?" Okay, maybe 60/40. But it did kind of get me back into the swing of things, and being surrounded by beautiful colours, friendly people and incredible artwork never hurts. We spent some time in the jungle, rented an apartment in my favourite town and spent a few days in Mexico City (where I only got pickpocketed on the subway once!) Well, out of all the times I've been in Mexico City, once ain't bad, and the guy was a total PRO. I mean, talk about a craft.

I came home to my basement renovation (still ongoing!) My Uncle M has been working on it (with a least a little help from us) any time he gets the chance. Of course, this means that everything that was in my basement has been in my living room (floor to ceiling, wall to wall) for 5 months. That's getting a bit old, but I'm happy it's getting done at all. This isn't a rec room type reno, more of a bonus-space spruce-up. Once we're done, my studio, C's office and the laundry will be down there. We stripped out all of the disgusting old insulation, and the ceiling coverings (that's a whole other post!) We've had the foundation fixed, 3 windows installed and M has rewired the entire basement, installed rigid insulation and is nearly finished framing. Once that's done, there's some plumbing to tackle, the stairs to repair, walls to put up, a floor to epoxy and an incredible amount of painting to do. So, hardly anything....

I can't wait to be able to show you before and after photos, but it'll have to wait til the 'After' occurs.
For now, here are some of my photos from Mexico, which will at least make me feel a little better, after suffering through this painfully long Winnipeg winter.

Toucan

Guacamaya Rojas (Scarlet macaws) in Chiapas.

Palenque Ruins, Chiapas

Baby monkey!

Resting mariposas at the Palenque ruins.

Talavera house numbers from the Mexico City Artisans Market (one of my favourite shopping destinations...)
Although the numbers look black and blue, they're all blue.

Huichol skull, talavera skull and two amber skulls with articulated jaws.

La Sirena nicho.

Dia de los Muertos painting with clay skulls.

Embroidered Otomi pillowcases.

Ink drawing.

Small beaded hummingbird.

Guillermo y Lupita, my beaded lizards from Chiapas.

My second favourite thing about Mexico City, the churros at Churreria el Moro. Best ever. And the hot chocolate is perfection in a mug.

My very favourite thing in Mexico City, Frida Kahlo's house, Casa Azul.