Quick Meal for a Hungry Thrifter

I've become rather lazy about cooking. Don't know what it is, but lately the easier, the better. Rather than berate myself, I'm taking this as a opportunity to eat more simply. When even a sandwich sounds like too much work, I'll have cheese and triscuits (like the tomato/olive oil ones) with fruit. Another favorite (you gotta try this) is cottage cheese, strawberries, sliced almonds sprinkled with a teaspoon of raw sugar. Marscapone cheese with blueberries and a light sprinkle of raw sugar is the bomb! Lest you think I'm miss healthy, I confess a serious weakness for sweets, especially chocolate. 


Last Saturday after going to a book sale and a couple garage sales I made the Yakisoba soy sauce flavored noodles by Maruchan (sorry I don't have the package to show). This is the brand that makes the ramen noodles, but these are supposed to be Japanese noodles. It comes in it's own container that you microwave it in and two packets, one with a minute amount of dried vegetables and the other a seasoning packet.  I was hungry and broke my rule about not microwaving in plastic, but next time I won't. Anywho, after cooking the noodles I added my own culinary twist: a few squeezes of juice from a lime and chopped peanuts. Voila! It was good, easy and cheap. 

Nutrition facts were not as pretty, I'd like to find a little healthier version of it. This post is a part of hey what's for dinner mom?

Thrifting Finds, Thrift Share Monday 6/06

This past weekend was pretty busy. I managed to score some thrift finds and did a ton of yard work.It felt good to be outside, we've waited for summer since, well, last summer. On to the pics!

I went to a library sale on Saturday and bought most of these books there. I'm always on the lookout for children's picture books that have good art in them. I use them for my other blog, The Art of Children's Picture Books. My recent post shows one of the books I got at the library sale.

I found a pair of nice curved spoons with wood handles for .50 at a garage sale. They will be nice in the crate and barrel bowls (one shown on left, previous thrift find) that I like to use for salsa or guacamole. Stainless steel bowl in middle has groovy round feet on it. Bowl on right is a pantone bowl, thought it looked summery.

At Goodwill I found this bar set to put in my bar cabinet - to see previous post about this, click here. Also found a nice set of 8 contemporary wood handles. Not sure what I'm going to put them one, but they will be nice for adding contemporary style.

Two nice metal boxes to add to my collection

My favorite find of the weekend are these mid century candle holders. Need to get candles to fit.

This owl picture is a little out of my comfort zone and different from any other pictures I have. Beautifully done and that's why I got it. Will probably get a different frame for it.

Closer view, the details are incredible. Artist is Simon Calburn, print has date of 1975 with signature. This print may be signed, but I can't tell for sure until I take the glass off.

Close up of moth in owl picture. Another thing I liked about this picture is that there is information on the back about the artist, which is always nice.

Just trying out the owl picture here, it would have to go more to the left if I kept it here.It is not faded/reflected as it looks in pic. Bought this mid century dresser last fall at an estate sale and paid $50 for it. Label inside drawer says Phoenix Chair Co. of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I like the smoky candle holders on it. I bought the galvanized tray at the UW-Madison swap shop. Lamp bought a goodwill last year, it was shiny black and scuffed. I spray painted it a gray matte. Found the burlap shade and round black finial thrifting too.

The picture is not hanging straight, need to add wire, sawtooth hangers don't do the job. So what do you think, is this picture a aye or nay here? I'm starting to think something abstract would be nice with a pop of color.

I'll be showing more thrift finds this week. This post is a part of Thrift Share Monday with Apron Thrift Girl

My baby is 17 today. This picture is from last summer when we took a family trip to the Alabama coast and drove there from Wisconsin. John and my grandson Grayson, (John's nephew) sat in the back. They both look pretty psyched for our trip to the ocean.

Unfortunately there wasn't enough of this

And a lot of this

It was a long trip

John was much happier when we arrived at our destination. Here with sister Patti.

My Kokeshi and Asian Collection

Selena of Apron Thrift Girl has asked fellow bloggers to show a collection they have and link it back to her site. Selena has shared her lovely vintage umbrellas. Recently I did a post on Kokeshi Dolls and I didn't show any that are mine. So here are mine along with other Japanese/Asian collectibles that I have. Hope you like it!

Above are my three traditional Kokeshi dolls and two creative Kokeshi dolls. You can refer back to my post on Kokeshi dolls for the difference between the two. On the top shelf are two pieces of lacquerware which I also collect. I also have some chopsticks which you can't see very well. The black ceramic pieces are also from Japan. I also have books about Japan, a bamboo/glay tray. The item in the right hand corner on the bottom is something I don't know the name of. There are four small glass panels framed in wood. Inside each panel is a scene carved out of a material I can't identify. Everything on these shelves are thrift finds, including the books and bookshelf.

Closer view of creative kokeshi and lacquer style tray.

Closer view of lacquerware, last pic is dark

This cabinet was given to me by my dad, it used to be my mom's. I would like to paint it someday. Had to shoot it in a tight space, the cabinet is on the landing at the top of our stairs.

I bought the crane at Goodwill awhile back, it is iron on a marble base.  I found the two Asian figures at a garage sale, the print at the top was from an estate sale and the picture on the bottom is a thrifted frame that I put some beautiful cards in from a trip to Washington, D.C.

Better view of inside cabinet - Top shelf has my little kokeshi family, japanese bowl and larger creative kokeshi. In the back is a black glass holder for flowers? incense? chopsticks? and a lacquer heart box. Middle shelf has lacquerware figure canisters, tea cups to match bowl, fans and an iron kettle. Bottom shelf has some cloisonne, which is from china. The cloisonne bowl holds cloisonne eggs. I got the bowl for a song at Goodwill. It was sold with that styrofoam stuff glued to the inside, so they probably figured it was wrecked. But it came off completely without any damage! Eggs are mostly from ebay. (This is part of my collection of cloisonne, will have to show that on another post.) Plastic covered Asian dish in back and fabric covered box. Ceramic thongs came from a garage sale.

I don't remember when I started liking these things, but I think there were a few influences. When I sold on eBay, I came across the kokeshi dolls and that sparked an interest which led to other items. Also, when I was going to school for Graphic Design I was exposed to different types of design. Then there is the collector in me, which I got from my parents who loved to collect things.

I have found that a good way to decorate with these items is to give them their own vignette. A cabinet works really well for this.