frugal food

refried bean, pepper& onion fajitas with guacamole & greek yogurt on whole wheat tortillas

2 delicious dinners from 1 recipe - serves 2

fajitas 1st night

4 whole wheat tortillas
1 each red, green, yellow pepper sliced
1 spanish or vidalia onion sliced
1 large avocado
juice of 1/2 lemon
low or 0% fat greek yogurt
2-3 garlic cloves minced
1 recipe homemade refried beans (or use 2 cans refried beans from the grocery store)
large handful of fresh cilantro (leaves & stems) rough chopped
2 green onions chopped
canola oil

In a wok or large frying pan add a few tsp of canola oil, heat pan to med-high add garlic, peppers and onions and stir fry on fairly high heat until vegetables begin to caramelize remove from heat add cilantro and chopped green onion.

Combine avocado with 1 clove of garlic and juice of lemon, mash well leaving some chunks

Brush small frying pan with canola oil, heat slightly toast whole wheat tortillas on each side.

Spread 1/2 cup of bean mixture on toasted tortilla, top with pepper & onion mixture, guacamole and a big blob of Greek yogurt (which tastes better than sour cream). Yummy !!

enchiladas - 2nd night

4 whole wheat tortillas
1 cup (or to taste) of grated extra old cheddar, Monterrey jack or pepper jack cheese
1 jar of red or green salsa
leftover refried beans
leftover pepper & onion mixture

Preheat oven to 350. Oil an 8x8 square casserole. Add a few spoonfuls of salsa and spread around bottom of dish. Place 1/4 of leftover beans and pepper mixture down the centre of each tortilla, sprinkle with a few tbsp cheddar cheese. Roll up tightly and place seam side down in the casserole. Repeat with the remaining 3 tortillas. Spread salsa over everything, top with remaining cheese, bake uncovered for 30 mins or until cheese begins to brown and everything is bubbly. We always have enchiladas with creamy coleslaw.

sweet creamy coleslaw

4 cups grated cabbage (or 2 bags coleslaw mix)
1/2 grated onion
1/2 grated small green pepper
1/4 cup low fat may
stevia (sweeten to taste) or sugar 1tsp or so
red wine vinegar

Mix well and let sit for at least 30 mins before serving.

In Canada Presidents Choice has both a delicious red & a green salsa. Also the new pc greek yogurt is amazing !!!

fear less

fear less No.1 & No.2 - 5 x 7 - collage, gouache + ink - Susan Black - soon in my etsy shop

fear less,
hope more
eat less
chew more
whine less
breathe more
talk less
say more
love more
& all good things
will be yours

Swedish proverb

price less
Jon Stewart doing his show as Glen Beck - in Canada watch the entire, too funny, episode here

solitude

Sam, Miss D, Doug & I walk late in the afternoon in the hay fields behind his former house

Being solitary is being alone well:
being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice,
aware of the fullness of your won presence rather than of the absence of others.
Because solitude is an achievement.

Alice Koller

To choose solitude is so completely different than to feel lonely, however I had to be desperately alone to final realize this. How amazing it is that we are continually getting to know ourselves in brand new ways. Sighing.

We sure do love the wide open space of the hayfields & we love the solitude.

Hey !! we're having a federal election here in Canada (place exaggerated eye roll here). Uh Huh ! Tres exciting - the first televised leaders debate is tonight - Oh Boy !! ya know I'll be watching. I am serious, I take this freedom business pretty seriously, though' it's all pretty funny 'cause Canadian politics is just a tad boring (compared especially to the big ol' USA - but boring in that really good way) - we're Voting for Tomorrow Go Greens Go !!

simple joy

assorted Cavallini butterfly calendar pages

it's funny the simplest things in life that give us endless joy

For example - my collection of gorgeous Cavallini calendars. They hang by a nail on most doors of this old brick house, I change the month - I change the art. The best $21.99 US you'll spend although they can be slightly difficult to obtain in small town Canada. I have my own fab US broker in Shammy Sham, lucky me merci !! I never grow tired of their timeless beauty.

This year I'm going to get Vintage Travel & Botanica - seriously you can't have too many.
& a few plates from my 2011 Cavallini 2011 Bird calendar - sighing

our view

oh my, our view - from this stunning morning's walk avec adored photography assistant D.

Almost every day I think to myself ...
I can't believe I live here
this morning was certainly no exception - wow ! what a view

today it's more yard work, seed planting, book reading, chatting with my sister, tea drinking and lots & lots more happy contented sighing - happiest Sunday

drab

poppies & peonies will bloom together soon here in the gardens of 29 Black - hardly drab

Our scenery is still drab, brown, beige, crisp & dried. A mostly sunny warm weekend lies ahead of us and the Prince and I will be out in our terra cotta gardens pruning, clipping, cleaning, mulching, digging, weeding, loving & getting things ready for the anticipated explosion of green.

chez susan

bruschetta & panko parmesan crusted chicken on a bed of greens with zucchini & asparagus

chez susan
subtitled - bragging ... just a little

I say almost every night as we sit down to dinner who needs restaurants ??
tooting my own horn, I confess but we really do eat delicious food (& healthy too) here at
29 Black Street - thank goodness Mama sure does love to cook !!

panko parmesan crusted chicken (serves 4)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts*
flour for dredging
1 egg
1 cup panko crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
garlic powder
salt, pepper


Set up three shallow bowls - one for flour mixed with garlic powder, salt & pepper, a second for egg beaten well with a fork, and the third for panko crumbs & grated cheese. Half each breast so you have 4 equal sized pieces of chicken (trim any fat or sinew). Dredge chicken in flour, then in egg, then in crumb mixture. Place on an oiled cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for approx. 1o minutes. Slice and place chicken atop your favourite green salad which has been tossed with an oil & vinegar dressing (we happily have a source for amazing zesty, spicy organic greens a combo we plan to grow in our own garden this year). I also sauteed sliced baby zucchini and asparagus in olive oil with loads of fresh garlic and added this to the salad just before topping with chicken.
* optional - marinate chicken breast in Buffalo Wing Hot Sauce for 30 mins prior to coating also makes fantastic chicken fingers with a honey dijon dipping sauce and oven baked fries. ;-)

Bruschetta

1 large tomato
2 cloves of garlic minced
6-8 big leaves of fresh basil finely minced
drizzle of good olive oil
let these flavours meld for 30 mins or so

slice pieces horizontally from the best chewy french style baguette you can find, drizzle with olive oil and stick under the broiler til browned slightly. Spoon on chopped tomato mixture. Yum.

certainty

hydrangea

We turn not older with years,
but newer every day

Emily Dickinson

Early last night, while tucked into the nest of down & flannel, a cup of orange pekoe, a cat and my new great book I stopped to ponder (ya know I love to ponder) the day, the year ... my life. It occurred to me that my dreams & goals, wishes, desires & hopes haven't really changed much in almost 20 years, since I made the big move from the big city back to the ocean and back to a more rural existence. I've always wanted a simple tiny life. One with a garden, trees, dogs, cats, the ocean, quiet, nature, stars, books, darkness. In the time this blog has existed (nearly 4 years) I came to realize, rather late in life, that I also wanted - needed a partner in this life I'd so meticulously conjured up. Someone to share & love this tiny life with, someone to grow old with.

And oh my, over the past 4 years I've lost my way so many times. I'd forgotten my dreams and often it felt like I didn't care enough to even have a dream. Most things felt pointless to me, I felt smothered in my own sadness, grief & loneliness. Lost. Floundering around in a life half lived.

Not any more ... I'm back on the road of my life and I realize now ... I never really left it, I just couldn't see it for the longest time. I couldn't see who I was or what I wanted & frankly I didn't care. I can't believe how many of the tiny, well imagined, pieces of my big dream(s) are falling into place, have fallen into place. I feel completely blessed. I feel so grateful. I feel certain again.

motivation

dream big - 5x7 collage - Susan Black - I've gotta thing for pink lately, the brighter the better ??

It's only when you make the process your goal
that the big dream can follow

Oprah

One thing I've learned over the years is the best way to feel motivated is to begin ...

to start, to just dive in. I can almost guarantee myself that once I've begun, even the most dreaded of tasks - I will stick with it. I really believe with creativity, being prolific is key - the more you do the better you get, the more time you spend creating, the more ideas come flooding in & as difficult as it is, the ultimate secret is to be attached to none of it. That's one I struggle with constantly, an area of my life where perfectionism rules the roost. I'm always trying to come up with the best idea in my head when most often the very best ideas emerge from the process of "doing" not from "thinking"- god knows that darn thinking gets me into enough trouble as it is.

Dream big ... and then dream bigger still


more lovely inspiration - I love Mati Rose's paintings - love, love

so happy together

still quite drab here, so - a tres cheery, mostly yellow, bouquet from les plentiful photo archives

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

the Turtles - So Happy Together

That darn Prince spent the whole of yesterday out in our backyard forest with his assortment of pruners, clippers and various saws (including a chain saw) lovingly limbing, trimming and cutting trees. Sigh. Today he will load up the black '97 Ford Ranger pick up truck with load after load of yard debris, taking each well packed truck load to the yard debris depot. More sighing.

Madam Invincible arrived out of nowhere a day or so ago, who knows how long she'll stay, who cares - we just love having her around. Things are great I'm gradually making a salary again (phew!) things are exciting, new plans, new goals + dreams. Those good things ...
just keep on a comin'. Hooray !

Started a great new book last night, can't wait to get back to it (bedtime) - Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes after recently reading & enjoying her second book Strangers at the Feast.

every little thing

oh my, Miss D and I had such a lovely frosty, bluest sky walk just as the sun was coming up

Don't worry about a thing
every little thing gonna be all right

Bob Marley

this frosty beautiful early April morning
something has shifted in me & in us ... in our life together
and quite suddenly every little thing does feel all right
we're scheming & dreaming some big new dreams
it feels amazingly wonderful ... and very exciting

worry pas ...

tulips

tulips from the photography archives - top polaroid photo available as a giclee print here

We've had a weekend of snowy, slushy, freezing rain, grey skies, windy wintry weather. March has left us roaring but things in the garden are sprouting & budding and it won't be long now.
'Til then I'm thankful for the colour & blooms of les archives. Happy Sunday - the very best day.

truly, madly ... crazy

Fear Not - 8 x 10 original collage - Susan Black - now available in my etsy shop - uh huh !

I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish
I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope, I'll be your love
Be everything that you need
I'll love you more with every breath
Truly, madly, deeply do

Savage Garden - Truly Madly Deeply

I like quite a variety of music. This has been my inner hopeless romantic song since I first heard it way back in 1997. In my secret, imaginative world (which of course is vast) it would be the song played at my back garden wedding. You know some very casual affair, with homemade food and dogs romping about everywhere. I've never told anyone this secret fantasy of mine. Oh how I have loved this song, I always knew, tucked away in my heart, that if I couldn't find this kind of love (the kind of love Savage Garden sings about) I'd be tres content to live my life with a house full of dogs, cats & lots of books, a library near by, enough money to get by, an ocean to stare at, a beach to walk on each & every day ... and I'd be fine. Or so I tried to convince myself, but really I longed for that big love.

I have that kind of love now and still all these months, nearly years ... later, I almost can't believe it. Lately I've been feeling like this again. I'm truly, madly ... crazy in love.

lost + found

Tattoo - hand painted 8 x 10 giclee print - Susan Black - new in my etsy shop today

Not until we are lost
do we begin to understand ourselves

Henry David Thoreau

Doug (that darn Prince of All Things Good) has been away. He returned last night, he'd been gone a week. Almost as soon as he left I began to feel lost, I relapsed instantly into that person
I was in the time before I met him. That struggling person, that un-enthused person, that lump, that slug, that tired, defeated feeling person ... that lost person. The one who loved winter, darkness, rain & silence. I feel so very lucky that we found each other ...