Sunday Supper - Spaghetti Squash Meatball Casserole

So, we're on a diet.  I don't think I've mentioned it before but my A1C levels hit full blown diabetes in early February.  And my doctor, being the meany that he is, is making me 'fix' it with diet rather than pills.  And yes, I know that that's best.  I know if he gave me pills, I'd continue to eat the cake and cookies and just keep taking more and more pills.  

I know this way is best.  In fact, it's already working.  I'm sticking to the diabetic diet and have already lost 7 pounds in 15 days.  But I'm also still seriously jonesing for cookies and cake and I'm mean.  I mean, I am MEAN!  Sugar/carb withdrawl is not for the faint of heart and it doesn't help that I'm working at a grocery store and surrounded by carts full of cookies, cakes and Little Debbie products.  So yeah, I'm a little mean at the moment.  And I'm blaming my poor doctor instead of blaming myself for allowing myself to get to this point.

The point is, Sunday Suppers are about to get slightly more healthy.

photo courtesy of tasteofhome.com

Today's Sunday Supper recipe is for a spaghetti squash meatball casserole from Taste of Home.  The photo makes it look like yummy comfort food.  We will see.

And yes, I realize I'm struggling with a bit of an attitude.  I really don't know why.  I've eaten within my carb limits every day since I started the diabetic diet (15 days ago) and I have enjoyed every single thing I've eaten so far.  I like zucchini 'noodles' and I'm enjoying all the vegetables I've been eating.  I'm actually a little bit proud of myself and the way I've been eating for the last 15 days.  Heck, the diet is even helping my finances.  According to my credit card statement, my grocery bill for February was $190 less than normal.  My body feels better.  I already have more energy and just feel better in general.  Or at least my physical body does.   But mentally, I really do miss plates full of mounded up mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, not to mention all those cookies and cakes.

If any of you are on diabetic diets and have cookbooks or websites you recommend, please send them my way.

As Promised

As promised, I present...

The Pumpkin Sweater.

The pattern was great.  Well written and fun to knit.

The problems came in with my knitting.  Or more like, my decision not to fix the knitting problems as they occurred.

Whoever invented the saying, "That'll block right out." should be shot.  Botched increase rows and major gauge issues rarely block out.

I ended up with a slight 'ruffle' running down the back due to the botched increase rows.  I kept being a stitch short when I got to the end of the increase rows so I'd just throw an extra one in... and it caused a ruffle effect.  My solution is to never cut my hair and always wear it down whenever I wear the sweater.  Problem solved.

The other issue is the sleeves.  They feel like I'm wearing compression sleeves.  Very, very tight compression sleeves.  

I used the same size dpn on the sleeves as the circular needle I used for the body.  Same manufacturer, needles made from the same material.  But for some reason, the sleeve gauge is WAY tighter than the body's gauge.  I noticed the gauge difference after only knitting an inch or two of the first sleeve but rather than do something about it, I decided it would block right out.

Yeah.

But that's okay because I get to try again.  This sweater was for my daughter but after this one had so many problems, I promised I'd knit her another one and keep this one for myself.  So lucky you!  You get to watch Pumpkin Sweater #2 being knit sometime in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

Sunday Supper - Baked Parmesean Spinach Balls

 

photo and recipe courtesy of foodlion.com

I bet even the kids will like these baked parmesean spinach balls since they can eat them with their fingers.  I'm also thinking that if I get really lazy, I could probably bake the ingredients in a baking dish rather than taking the time to make the balls.  But spinach balls would be much more fun to eat than spinach casserole. 

Enjoy!

Winterfest

Why am I talking about Winterfest on the day we break a February heat record?  I'd planned to show off/laugh at the completed pumpkin sweater this week but I never got around to taking photos.  The weather has just been so spring-like and beautiful on my days off, I haven't been able to force myself into a worsted weight sweater.  So...

Instead of modeling the pumpkin sweater, I've been knitting on my Winterfest sweater.  If you don't remember (and why would you??,) I started the Winterfest sweater in November, 2021.  I was a vendor at Kings Dominion's Winterfest that year and decided to knit a sweater with the help of the kids who came through the booth.  I'd ask them their age and pull that many yards off the skein of their choice and then I did my very best to knit them in the order they were chosen.  It was a fun way of entertaining and including the kids while the parents shopped and it made for a, let's call it, exciting sweater.  

It's definitely colorful!

The sweater is a simple ragland, knit with a zillion different colors of Palette on US 1 (2.50) needles.  The sweater was pretty loose on me in 2021 and I pray it still is.  I haven't tried it on since pulling it out of the UFO pile.  At this point, the goal is to finish it, not necessarily wear it.  Part of me thinks the sweater is too colorful and hideous while another part of me is hopeful that the asphalt gray waist ribbing and sleeves will calm down the wild colors.  Winterfest ended and I ran out of kids to choose the next color so I decided to go wih a neutral dark gray, again, hoping the gray will calm the sweater down a bit.  The third part of me just wants this beast finished. off the needles and off my To Knit list.

Whether the sweater fits or not, I just want it done.  I've knit on it too much to quit now.  I can't fathom how many stitches this giant, beast of a sweater already has in it nor do I even want to think about how many more stitches I still have to go.  Once that waist hem is completed, I still have the sleeves to knit.  I'll probably still be knitting this thing in 2024.

Good grief!

I hope that wherever you are, you are also experiencing beautiful spring weather, although maybe not as warm as it is here today.  We hit 81 degrees, beating the previos record by six degrees!   Of course tomorrow will bring normal temperatures and it will be back down below freezing by tomorrow night.  Nothing like spring in Virginia!

Anyway, hope you are having nice weather and your knitting is going faster than mine.

Sunday Supper - Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

 

photo and recipe courtesy of foodlion.com

Today's my son's birthday and since he loves chicken alfredo I thought it would be fun to try this chicken alfredo lasagna recipe.  Actually, he loves shrimp alfredo and likes chicken alfredo, but I'm allergic to seafood so....  But hmmm, I wonder if I could make two lasagnas - one with chicken and one with shrimp.  And, since I know nothing about cooking seafood (it's a Bad allergy!) perhaps I could talk my girl child into doing the baking.  Now, that sounds like a plan!

Enjoy!

Capretta

 

Yes!  We've had a few warm, spring-like days recently and one of them happened to be on my day off.  You know I spent the entire day outside, sitting on my butt and knitting.  It was glorious!  Okay, I did get up a few times to do about 40 loads of laundry, but otherwise, I spent the day sitting and knitting outside.  It was awesome!

I finished the pumpkin sweater and started a shawl.  I'll show you the sweater next week.  The fit is... well, let's just say, the sweater has a few problems.  (My problems, not the designers.)  I'll explain more when I show you a photo.  Before I model it, I need to gain about 20 pounds in the bust area and loose about 20 pounds in my arms.  I had a slight issue with my dpn vs my interchangeable needle gauge.  It's a good thing the pumpkin sweater is for Halloween becuase its fit is frightful.

But this shawl....

Oh my!  I'm using Capretta from Knit Picks and it's Heaven!  Pure Heaven!  The yarn is a merino, cashmere and nylon blend and, I just noticed it's also a superwash.  And now that I've noticed that, I'm headed straight to Knit Picks to buy more.  I desperately  need to knit a few more pairs of socks for myself.  Cashmere socks.  How decadent! 

Oh, and the yarn  is currently on sale!  Woo-hoo!

But back to the shawl.... I'm not following a pattern, just making it up as I go.  I knit a while, get bored with a color, add a thin light gray stripe, change colors and repeat.  My plan is to do some kind of lacy edge with the light gray and to knit each color until I run out of yarn.  Each skein has 230 yards so it should be a fairly large shawl.  

The yarn is so nice to knit with and feels so good in my hand, knitting a large, garter stitch shawl shouldn't be a problem.  It's quite meditative.

Sunday Supper - Valentine's Day Cocktails

 Today's recipe is a little different and only for the adults.

photo and recipe courtesy of bbcgoodfood.com

Forget Valentine's!  I think I could happily drink one of these cocktails every day!  The recipe sounds delicious and refreshing.  And hey, there's fruit in there so it's healthy and good for you too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Better Week

Thank you all for the get well wishes.  They worked!  The z-pack from the doctor helped too.  Man, that z-pack antiobiotic is some serious stuff!  It knocked the mucus part of the respitory infection right out.  Now I'm feeling 1,000 times better and only cough when I talk.  The doctor promises the cough will go away in two to three weeks, once my airways are no longer inflamed.  

Anyway, thank you for all the good health wishes.  I much appreciated them.  And, while I'm saying thanks, thank you for sticking with me and this blog.  I realize it has not been exactly titalating reading lately.

Since I've been feeling better, I've been able to get some knitting done.

I finished the Selbu hat.  It obviously hasn't been blocked yet, but the knitting is done.  I'm pretty pleased with it.

The hat has a hemmed brim and I guess you could consider it reversible, except I'm not sure I like the way the sewing line looks.  I used a regular cast on and picked those cast on stitches up and knit them together with the stitches already on the needle when I hemmed it.  It's a super simple process but it does leave that line.  How do you handle hemmed hats/items?

Remember the pumpkin sweater?  It's been in the UFO corner for a long time.  I pulled it out and am determined to get it finished.  All that was left was the waist ribbing and the two sleeves.  Now, it only has half a sleeve left to go.  That one sleeve seems to be taking for eeeeeever to finish though.  After the z-pack and before I was allowed to return to work, I got the waist ribbing and first sleeve done.  The second sleeve however.... I've been working on it for almost a week and it still has a few more inches to go before the wrist ribbing starts.

Do they make z-packs for second-sleeve-itis?

Sunday Supper - Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

 

photo courtesy of aheadofthyme.com

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and what better way to say I love you than with a homemade, made from scratch, molten chocolate lava cake?  The recipe, from aheadofthyme.com, looks simple enough and uses ingredients you probably already have in the pantry.  Yum! 

Enjoy!

A Slow Week

 It's been a slow week knitting wise.  Everything wise, really.

The most knitting I've done this week was while I was at the doctor's waiting for my Covid, Flu and Strep tests to come back.  Mostly, I've spent the week staring blankly at the wall, blowing my nose and coughing up a lung.  

Thankfully, all the tests came back negative.  It's just a simple respirtory infection and I'm now the proud owner of a z-pack and some prescription cough syrup.  I haven't been able to sleep all week because of the coughing and choking on mucus (TMI??) so I'm really looking forward to the cough medicine tonight. It promises to make me sleepy and it must be pretty strong stuff.  Instead of coming with a tiny dosage cup like most liquid medicines, it comes with a baby syringe becuase the dosage is so small.  I can't wait for bedtime!

Sunday Supper - Beef Birria Tacos

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it but a while back, not long after we moved in here, my InstantPot was put in the oven and baked until it was a very smelly and unrecognizable blob of melted plastic.  It was tragic and I've been upset over its loss ever since.  My Instant Pot was finally replaced this Christmas and I couldn't be happier.

And so....

photo courtesy of foodlion.com

Beef Birria Tacos made in a pressure cooker.  Tacos and getting to use my Instant Pot - what could be better?

I'll admit, the recipe sounds like a lot of work and I'm likely to skip the whole cooking the tortillia part, but the meat and sauce part sound excellent.  I'll just make it with store bought taco shells and if it tastes as good as it sounds, maybe I'll cook the taco shells next time.  Maybe.

I'm also curious what 12 servings means.  Is that 12 tacos, or is it enough meat for 12 people to eat tacos? I'm fairly certain it's 12 tacos and as a large, taco loving family, we probably won't have a lot of leftover meat, but if we do, I'm sure it's easily freezable.

Enjoy!

What a week!

This has been quite an exciting week!

I finished the Mimosa sweater for Sarah.  I even sewed it all up and she's worn it.  Of course I forgot to take a phot of it.  Next time she wears it...

I finished knitting the Squish blanket and bound it off.

I even wove in all the little ends and have been enjoying snuggling up under it the last few nights.  The blanket really is aptly named because it is incredibly thick and squishy.  If I can stand that many long-term projects, I may have to knit one for each family member.  I love it that much!

And, most exciting of all....

The Cadbury eggs are stocked and on the grocery store shelves.  This pleases me to no end.  My weight-loss doctor, probably not so much.

Sunday Supper - Maple Baked Butternut Squash

 

photo courtesy of thecookierookie.com

I was searching for January vegetable dishes and this maple butternut squash recipe from thecookierookie.com popped up.  I actually have real maple syrup on hand (a rareity around here) and so...

You'll find the actual recipe for this dish way, way, way down in the link but, before you get to the recipe, the website has some great tips on how to cut and peel butternut squash.  I found that information to be quite helpful.  I've mentioned before, I'm pretty unadventerous in the kitchen and have never cooked butternut squash before.  It's probably excess information that most of you will have to page through to reach the recipe but for those of us who can barely boil water, I was glad the information was provided.

Enjoy!

Continue-itis

You've heard of start-itis.  Well, I'm suffering from continue-itis.  I just keep knitting on the same items and never seem to finish them.

I'd forgotten how much I dislike having mutliple projects on the needles at once.  I mean, one simple, knit while I read type project and one complicated, gotta pay attention project on the needles at the same time is okay.  It's a good thing actually.  But more than that.... and it's just a bad case of continue-itis.

I did finish the knitting part of Mimosa and one side seam is sewn.  But that other side seam....  I really neeed to finish it before Sarah beats me over my head with my knitting bag but....

But when given the choice between sewing seams and knitting....

Even when the knitting is slightly boring and never ending, I'll choose knitting over seam sewing any day of the week.  There may actually be an end in sight for Squish.  I guestimated its length this morning and it looks like I only need to add four more color stripes.  And that means, by next Friday, I should, hopefully, be showing off a finished Squish.  Fingers crossed!

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but my husband gave me this book, Selbu Patterns, by Anne Bardsgard for Christmas.  How he knew I wanted it or where to find it is beyond me but he really came through this year! 

 

And of course I had to immediately cast on a hat.  It's not a true Selbu designed hat, but it is using a Selbu design element.  This is the one knitting project without a deadline or a waiting receive so of course, it's the project I want to knit on most.

I could have knit this hat 16 times by now but I'm struggling with the chart color vs my yarn colors.  See how the chart is black and white?  Actually, it's charcoal gray and white.  My yarn is charcoal gray and yellow.  On the chart, the background stitches are white and the pattern is gray.  But my yarn, the background is gray and the pattern is knit in yellow.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to tink back and switch my colors.  

I'm at the halfway point of the chart though so 16 more tinks and reknits .... and I'll be back to solid color knitting.  If I focused, I could have this hat finished by next Friday too!

Wish me luck and happy knitting!

Sunday Supper - Chocolate Carmel Self Saucing Pudding

 

photo courtesy of delicious.com

Mmmm... yum!  

Chocolate carmel self saucing pudding from delicious.com.

(FYI, caster sugar is the Brittish version of super fine sugar according to Google.)

Enjoy!