Good [Art/Blog] Intentions Gone Wrong

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  good sunday morning!!!  I had such good intentions to get back into the Blog life again and it went horribly wrong... as in none existent.  moving, work stresses, and the need for solitude just took over...
  I'm adjusting my thought processes in regards to my art journaling and creativity to see where it will take me next.  I have been slowly getting back to working in my journals and have made a new one.  I'm thinking that by writing my intentions down that I may inspire me to work on them.  Lets see how it goes... wish me luck!!!

Intentions:

respond to my Penpals
art journal more frequently

Get art messy

practice lettering styles

catch up on 2014 Project life

finish 2013 Project life...(I've actually ordered photos)

photo a day...

Mellow Mushroom Copycat Maui Wowie Chicken Pizza Cauliflower Casserole Recipe!

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I found the recipe for Supreme Pizza Cauliflower Casserole on Peace Love and Low Carb.com several months ago. Needless to say that my husband, The Bink is a Turtle Lovin' Pizza Eaten maniac through and through!  I try to eat very clean even though The Bink is a connoisseur of breads and breadlike products.  I look for recipes that will satisfy both of us. The Supreme Pizza Cauliflower Casserole recipe was an outrageous hit when I put it on the table.  The recipe feeds 6 potentially, but it fed 3 with no left overs the first time I made it.  At only 250 caleries a serving, what an awesome substitution for take out Pizza.  The flavor alone is a convincer.  

 After realizing that it was such a hit, I set out to recreate my Bink's favorite Pizza.  The Maui Wowie Chicken Pizza from Mellow Mushroom!  This Pizza comes on pretzel pizza dough, with jerk chicken, ham/canadian bacon, banana peppers, bacon, pesto...  The flavors explode on your tongue when you take the first bite of this pizza.  So, I knew I had my work cut out on trying to recreate this masterpiece.

INGREDIENTS:

Large Head Cauliflower – Trimmed into Small Florets

½ Cup plus 2 Tbs. Parmesan Cheese – Grated, Divided

1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning – Divided

3 Cloves Garlic – Minced

4 Tbs. Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper – To Taste

¾ Cup Mozzarella Cheese – Shredded, Divided

½ Cup Pesto Sauce – Divided

2 oz. Canadian Bacon – Sliced

2 oz. Bacon – Crumbled

1 oz. Banana Pepper Rings

4 oz. Jerk Chicken - cooked and crumbled/shredded * (I used skinless chicken tenders)

3 oz. Pineapple Chunks - Drained

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium sized bowl mix Jerk Seasoning (eyeball according to your tastes; 2 teaspoons) with 1 tablespoon Olive Oil.  I let sit in fridge overnight or during the day while at work.  Minimum 1 hour.  Grill or bake according to your prefered method.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°

1.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cauliflower, ½ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 Tbs. Italian seasoning, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss until ingredients are well combined and cauliflower is coated.  Line in a single layer, on a rimmed baking sheet and bake on the top rack for 30 minutes.                       2.  Transfer cauliflower back to mixing bowl.  To the mixing bowl add ¼ cup pesto sauce and ¼ cup mozzarella cheese.  Toss until ingredients are well combined and cauliflower is coated.

Coat your casserole dish with Olive Oil or cooking spray.  Transfer cauliflower mixture to the casserole dish.  Layer on remaining pesto sauce and mozzarella cheese. Take cooled cooked jerk chicken and shred or chop to bite sized pieces. Top with Canadian bacon, Jerk Chicken, banana peppers, bacon and pineapples.  Sprinkle remaining 2 Tbs. Parmesan cheese and 1 tsp. Italian seasoning over top.

Reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake 30 minutes.

This was an even bigger sensation when I delivered it to the table, it is featured regularly on our menu plan.  The Bink declares that He's never eatting it from the Shroom again.  Doubt I'll hold him to that, but score one for me!!!

Settling In...

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We're beginning to settle in to our new digs.  The weather has been perfect the last couple of weekends allowing us to get outside and putter around the house.  The flowers here are abundant; some I know, some I don't. I'm on a mission to figure them out.  The Forsythia is amazing. The Bleeding Heart is gorgeous.  There is peppermint in the flower beds and seed trays in the greenhouse. The decks have been cleared of the winter debris.  We spent the majority of this past Saturday taking apart the gas grill that was with the house and cleaning it.  It was a little difficult, since I over did it with the weights on Thursday and I've been walking around feeling like a monkey, because I can't fully extend my arms.  Even though it hurt like crazy I did what ever I needed to to work those arm muscles.  Kinda the hair of the dog recovery, can't just let 'em seize up or muscule recovery takes a whole lot longer.  Working on that grill was a job, but well worth the result.  We acquired another feline.  Well... more like he's adopted us.  His name, we've discovered, is Rebel.  Cute orange tabby, quite the cuddler.  He's here when we are and gone when we're not, but always manages to beat me home.  

Went to see Captain America: Winter Soldier.  GOOD MOVIE!  Spent some quality time with our peeps, which the Bink and I needed.

The art space is just about done and I can't wait to show you.  

I've got a receipe to share with you this week, so be on the look out for that! 

I'm definately going into creative withdrawals and plan on setting aside some quality time in the new art space. I'm so behind on Project Life! and I can't remember the last time I opened my art journal.  

So Stay tuned art fans... wherever you are.

Redbird Musings...on The move...

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Good Morning Ya'll!!!

     Our move is finally over; except for some boxes still lingering!  That's right the future was so bright because The Bink and I exchanged scenery.  We didn't move that far from our old digs, its just a little closer to the gym and work for me and slightly farther for the hubby.  He says he doesn't mind.  Its been a rough month. Neither of us were able to take time off from work to get the move over with quickly, so it seemed to drag on forever!  The irony of the the move that this here Redbird moved to a house on Redbird.

Destiny, fate, coincidence...? maybe... maybe not...

There're still so many things to do and get done, but the furry children have settled in and the stove/oven and I are still getting aquainted.  Most of the books are out of the boxes and the new art room is ready for some creative action!  During the last stages of our move I had my first ETSY sale followed a day later by my second sale!!! Of course it was things that were not created by me... but I have faith that day will come.

I now have a small greenhouse to figure out, which should be an awesome adventure.

I flipped out a little bit when they started the Controlled Burn in the Cherokee National Forest, 'cause I could see the fire from our dining room window and there was nothing, NOTHING! about it on the news or the web until the next morning.  Apparently, they do this every spring to reduce the number of uncontrolled fires for the rest of the year.  Dang! scared the CRAP!!! out of me.

Second Night at the Redbird house we were officially welcomed by one of the "neighborhood" cats.  His name is Rebel. He's orange and white and cleans our windows pawing at them to come in. Not gonna happen little buddy.  Course, the Bink has already adopted him. Push over!!!

It has been overwhelming, exhausting, exciting, and a liberating thing...  enjoy some pics that have been snapped this month and now that we've been reconnected to the grid you and I can get back to our scheduled programming!!!

The Future is Exciting!

Pin It Now! Thise life changes are really happening!  It's super exciting and scary, but the Bink and I are ready for the adventure. So commences Moving Day 1

Machinarium - 5 Star Review

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  I've turned into a pretty serious coffee drinker.  Used to drink it occassionally, but in recent years more and more.  Of course, my version of coffee was often called "Candy Coffee" due to the insane amounts of cream and sugar I added to it.  Present day finds my coffee black and drinking your coffee black really makes the flavors pop.  I've spent my share of time and cash haunting Starbucks, but now my favorite coffee go to is Dunkin Donuts. I haven't found anything quite like their Hazelnut Coffee anywhere else.  Starbuck's Hazelnut coffee is made by adding Hazelnut syrup, which is packed with sugar. Why oh why?  I'll admit that I really enjoyed and have gotten some kick ass music from their Song of the Week cards they have hanging by the register; now they have App of the Week as well.  

      Haven't really gotten any screen time recently with the xbox 360. The Bink has recently gotten the Commander Shepard bug and has been spending quality time defending the universe against the Reapers. 

   My game time has been solely on my iPhone. Mostly in short bursts, which brings me to this game review of Machinarium.  A friend of mine picked up the App of the Week card from Starbucks for me and Machinarium was it.  I'm very picky when it comes to adding apps to the phone so I check it out in the app store look at reviews and screenshots.  I really enjoyed what art I could make out in the screenshots so I deleted a game that I wasn't playing so it could take its place and I'm really glad I did.

Its a puzzle game rendered in stunning phone graphics and sound. Here are some screenshots to wet your whistle.

The concept is that you piece a robot back together and engage on an epic journey, but there are obstacles and puzzles that you must figure out before continuing your quest.

You can interact with the environment and pick up items, which you can combine with other objects that will aid in solving the puzzle.  It offers a hint and a solution book.  The Solution Book is a mini game itself.  One of the feature that I like is that you can save and it offers 6 slots, which means that The Bink and I could have two games going at once.

I'm giving this game 5 stars for stunning graphics, great music, and interesting puzzle environment.  If you've picked up Starbucks App of the Week card for this game Download it!  It is available in the App Store for $2.99.

That's my down and dirty review of Machinarium hope you enjoyed!

I'm toying with the idea of doing a Walkthrough of this game with pictures, what do you guys think?

Enjoying the Journey of Life!!! or Rollercoaster with no seatbelt...

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The Bink and I have been having one of those weeks where you go from one emotional extreme to the next. He's new to the whole "management" role that has developed with the family owned business that he works for.  Bad days are rare for him and this week was a pretty bad day and mostly because of Bink beating up on himself rather than the work ramifications.  Of course my job there's ALWAYS something going on, its the deep dark dirty side of healthcare that no one thinks about.

We reached a pretty high peak mid week with some crazy life changes going on... Only to have it temporarily put on hold and so even more stress stressing over that... Felt a little like the Wicked Witch screaming, "What a world, what a world."  More on that later when things are more set in stone.  Needless to say that Friday spent with my homies in my kitchen  where I know if I screw up I can still right the wrong so to speak was a big stress reliever; and I made myself an incredible Chocolate Cake, which there's none left.  I did share, especially since I didn't eat it all myself.  Neverness did indulge in some Chocolate Cake breakfast. So, not too shabby... I've got so much chocolate icing left over that I'm going to make cupcakes in order to get rid of it or else I'll gain 500 pounds eating it out of the bowl.

Journey Trio, Recipe for being happy, and
preview of Maui Wowie Pizza Casserole

Of course trying to distract myself I started another project, rag rug!!! The Possibilities!!! the mess... I did start the Maui Wowie Cauliflower Pizza Casserole last night.  Went to grab the trusty phone to take pictures to share with you and guess what...  my phone was sans battery life... dead, caputs, nothing.  The Bink says that's okay, you'll just have to make it again.  So, apparently it was a hit and has been approved for additional dinners.  Yeah, makes him happy and I can continue to eat clean, except for the stress canceling Cholocate Cake...  right...

Anywoooo...

I have opened an Etsy Store (link located in the side bar), the Gauntleted Creative!!! Named after my most popular and first ever Blog Post!  You can find my Angel of Winter Recovery Painting there along with a few more items.  Go check it out.  Its awesome!!!

alright art fans enough of my rambling woes today catch ya later in the week and 

don't forget to DREAM BIG!