Eating better

Ramen noodle coleslaw
1 Head of cabbage, shredded (I used a half bag of pre-shredded coleslaw)
1 bunch green onions, cut fine (I keep sliced green onions in the freezer)
5 oz. slivered almonds, toasted (I used about 1/2 bag and don't skip toasting them!)
2 c. broccoli florets ( I used about 1 cup from a veg. package of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots)
1 pkg. chicken roman noodles, uncooked & broken into sm. pieces ( I used oriental that I had on hand)

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Toss with dressing just before serving.

Dressing
packet from Roman noodles
1/2 c. oil
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. sugar

I added the dressing as desired......
This made two lunch salads for me and I added some store bought grilled chicken strips....delicious!

Showing off

I usually post my knitting/crocheting projects on Rambling Rae on my side bar but these booties came out so cute I just had to show them off....

Completes this set to give to Charity

The Eagle

Often times I am asked why in the world did I post about a certain subject......

"Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spreads his wings to take them up an carried them safely on his pinions"............ Deuteronomy 32:11

This is what inspired this post....first off I had to look up pinions and found that it was a very fancy name for wings.

Borrowed from http://2011susansdailydose.yolasite.com/6-2.php  you must visit this awesome site.....


 After my research I found that no, eagles don't carry their young on their wings and this was more of a metaphor often found in the Bible but in the process,  I learned some amazing things about the eagle!
The eagle is one the largest and most powerful birds of prey and they are notable for their powerful set of eyes. Even though their eyes are just slightly larger than human eyes, they can see up to 3½ times better than a person with perfect vision. An eagle can see a moving rabbit from a mile away from an altitude of 1,000 feet, and can see a fellow eagle soaring 50 miles away! It can also spot one of it's favorite food sources, fish swimming below the surface of the water. They can reach speeds close to 190 miles per hour and can and can glide from 35 to 55 miles per hour. They can rotate their head almost 270 degrees.

The eagle carries some 7.000 feathers from head to tail (now that's a lot of preening) and they can regulate their body temperature simply by changing the position of its feathers. It  has a wingspan of up 7 feet

 and the weight of  its feathers are about twice as much as its skeleton!

They mate for life

 and unlike many birds, which abandon their nests after their young ones are hatched, the eagle keeps building upon her old nest, remodeling it year after year.


An eagle’s nest, or eyrie, is started with a lot of large sticks, thorns and odd and ends to build the base. Next they get smalled sticks, twigs and grasses. Finally, just before they lay their eggs they pull down and feathers from their own bodies to line the nest.  It is repaired every year with additional sticks until it eventually becomes a heavy structure weighing more than a ton! One eyrie in Florida measured 10 feet wide and 20 feet high. Another in Ohio contained two tons of material when a storm knocked down the tree that held it for 35 years.


They tuck their powerful claws in to keep from hurting the eggs as seen in this Abc video
http://abcnews.go.com/US/decorah-eagle-live-camera-draws-webs-attention/story?id=13291412

When the chicks hatch (by a hook on top of their beaks to poke through the egg) they are small, featherless and ugly and weigh only three ounces but quickly they grow feathers and in only 45 days the eaglets will weigh 40 times their birth rate. They are enticed out of the nest due to outgrowing it and because the parents begin to withhold food. It has been stated that only 40% of the eaglets survive their first flight.

The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782, when it was placed with outspread wings on the Great Seal of the country.

It is  the symbol of strength, courage, freedom.  

Click here for an amazing inspirational video

Movie Review

I haven't done a movie review in a long time because hubby and I no longer go to the movie on Friday as we did in the past but it came to me that I do still watch movies I get from netflex and if I watch one that I think it really good  I should share it....
Taking Chance


Great movie...get your box of Kleenex....
I  learned a lot from this movie that had never crossed my mind before.

A Jaunt

Saturday hubby and I took another one of our little "jaunts".  Living here we are afforded a totally different terrain in as little as two hours so we left our dry 1.000 ft. elevation and drove north in time for breakfast at the Cliff Castle Casino. It is about  3300 ft. elevation and we spotted a tree I had never seen before..

The little sign said it was a smoke tree.

The casino entry had this pretty little view....

zoomed into the back

There are people who oppose the casino's on the Indian reservations but for me...I think they exhibit good taste and provide many, many jobs. What do you suppose this is?

Just a little ceiling decoration......

Had a great breakfast for $5.00 with no tax with and many wonderful pictures to see.

On the gambling note....our usual...hubby won, I lost.......... It is a good thing I stick with the penny machines:)

On north we drove until we were in pines of Flagstaff at 6900 feet but we turned south to Oak Creek Canyon and in a very short time we were at 7200 feet and just in time for lunch at the Hideaway restaurant. We have eaten here several times over the years. The first time we had lunch here (many years ago) we had hiked the west fork.

I don't have any personal pictures of that hike but here are a few from other hikers.

This area is beautiful and the only way to truly appreciate it is to hike.

Typical for this area, this time of year...the place was packed with visitors and heavy traffic.

In less than 20 miles of this lush green looms the famous red hills of Sedona at 4400 ft. elevation.

Sedona is well known as a power spot - metaphysical spiritual. There are many resorts that cater to this type of experience. As you drive through the town you will see most anything that will attract the tourist......

All to soon we were back on the freeway and headed home but I still had a little yearning so we headed back west to what I call a jaunt......

Where the roads turn to dirt....

rough and washboardy and you can stop to go tinkle without intrusion...

So where in the world are we going?  Cherry, Arizona. A little mining ghost town between Dewey and Camp Verde that now is home to those who are retired and want a secluded life style at 5000 ft. elevation. There are old places that you wished could talk...

and new pretty places off in the distance with (no trespassing) signs and those close enough to the road to get a glimpse...

We rounded the corner to see this sign....

Cherry Creek Bed and Breakfast

Just might have to come and stay sometime....would be a great way to learn more about the area. In no time were were headed back to the dreaded freeway but not before hubby spotted these!

As far as I am concerned...this was the highlight of the jaunt!


 Saw these along the road....

Some wild daisy's

Dropping back down into the desert.....

 In all, it was about a 300 mile jaunt and a perfect little day get away....

Thanks for coming along.



Around home

I am attempting to make myself some different and more healthy lunches so yesterday I fixed myself

This pork and bean salad

I don't know why I thought it might be good but it was.......fantastic! I cut the recipe in half since it was just for me and I ate the whole thing! Go here for the recipe.



Aluminum foil

Does it matter if you cook with the aluminum foil shiny side out or facing into your food?

Does it cook faster? slower? Does it matter?


"The difference in appearance between dull and shiny is due to the
foil manufacturing process. In the final rolling step, two layers of
aluminum foil are passed through the rolling mill at the same time.
The side coming in contact with the mill's highly polished steel
rollers becomes shiny. The other side, not coming in contact with the
heavy rollers, comes out with a dull or matte finish."

So the answer is that shiny or dull has no affect on the cooking or storing of food but....
now the real question....how do you use it.....shiny side out or facing the food?

I didn't forget

 I posted a lot about our Costa Rica trip but forgot to add that I did indeed bring home a thimble

Fits just fine in the collection:)

Box sealing tape

My hubby ships lots of packages so he has one of these box sealing tape dispensers....

It is quite fun to use but it never fails that I get it twisted before I get it smoothed out on the box.......


 so how in the world can Mark Jenkins create his street installations with it?????

Ends

A the end on of a rainbow

is a pot of gold.

At the end of the brick walkway

is a pot of pretty red flowers.

I can't believe it but it seems they might survive the heat...

Costa Rica (cont).

Our third tour was to the Arenal Volcano &  Baldi Hot Springs; remember when I said I needed to learn to read more about the tour? This was definitely a lesson. Yes, we got to see the Arenal volcano and here it is

It is active and supposedly at night you can see the embers and yes the hot springs heated by the volcano were nice but this ended up being a 13 hour tour with 7 hours of it driving. Not just driving but miles and miles of climbing on a curvy road. Now, you have to trust me on this but on the trip back I seriously thought I might die. The roads are narrow and winding and on top of it there was fog so thick we could barely see the taillights of the car in front of us and a full size bus passes us and the car in front of us! The people of Costa Rica drive absolutely crazy (they say they are aggressive). More than twice cars passed on double yellow lines. I can't begin to tell you how relieved I was to get to our hotel. This was not a good day in paradise.

For our last day in Costa Rica we decided to experience downtown where they have 5 blocks for pedestrians only, it is called Avenida Central.






But not without another haring ride....

This gives you an idea of the width of a one way street and  motorcycles drive in between the cars. The right of way if not controlled by a light was whoever could push in. They do not move to the right for a ambulance; they have a special lane for bus's in town and we passed several of them trying to make their way through the traffic with their lights on. The police ride motorcycles and make their way through. This was the worst part of Costa Rica and the one tour guide told us they are trying to improve it.

We finally made it close enough we could walk after a horrid traffic jam in which  we had a bus merging in front of us and motorcycle trying to get ahead of the bus and stuck almost in my lap in the back seat...whew!
Once we got to the central I felt very welcome

We walked and walked and finally stopped for lunch in a little open air restaurant....this was the view as I returned from the restroom in the back..

Yes, all those ferns are alive

and we enjoyed the little downpour from the inside.

Our plane left at 7:30 A.M the next morning and driving to the airport at 4:30 A.M. it was peaceful...................A good ending.