Keeping Hydrated during Summer

Summer’s here and in most parts of the country, it’s the hotter part of the year. School’s out, vacations or staycations are widespread during these next few months. It is very important to keep hydrated while doing any kind of outside activity. A person can get deyhydrated as soon as 30 minutes of being exposed to extreme heat. Illnesses from heat exposure can cause serious damage to our bodies. Those in the know say that we should start increasing our fluid intake about 2 hours before partaking in any kind of outside activity and continue taking in fluids as we go along.

Water bottle holder

By taking in fluids, that usually means water - not soda, juice or energy drinks, which have sugar and empty calories that don’t benefit our bodies. It isn’t always convenient to carry a water bottle wherever you go, so I have designed an over-the-shoulder water bottle holder, which leaves your hands free for participating in any activity.

I’ve even designed one that has a pocket on the outside for your keys, notebook and pen or whatever you need to keep handy.

It will hold a 500 ml. bottle as well as a 1.25 pt. bottle; it is lined w/Insul Brite which has been quilted to help keep your water cool. The fabric is cotton and should be handwashed. The strap is adjustable w/the longest measurement at approximately 60".

Approximate water bottle dimensions are:

Water bottle hold w/a whatever pocket

7 1/4" long for bag
2 3/4" wide
10 1/2" around

Approximate pocket dimensions are:
5” long
3” width
1” side pleat

This would be great for family trips where walking is necessary, this would also great for hiking or traveling.

For more pics and details of how to purchase one, click on My Etsy shop. I can also custom make these in any color you would like, just email me to discuss.

So this summer, always have water on hand to prevent dehydration and carry your water in style with my water bottle holder.
 
Stay cool!

Repurposing Fabric

Ever see something in a store like a man's shirt or shorts and liked the fabric, but didn't like what it was made to be? I did - I was in Goodwill (a thrift store) and I was in the little boy's section, and I saw this shirt and really liked the print, I had to buy it.


Little boy's shirt

 

This was months ago and knew I had to make something with it, but didn't know just what. Well, with recently making my pursellet bigger, I thought this print would work great and I was right.

Large Pursellet

Inside view

I like the lining fabric, I was lucky to find a blue that matched the accents of the main fabric. It's kind of fun thinking of things that can be made from other pieces of clothing. I once took a ladies large gaucho pants (really wide legged cropped pants) and made a bag out of part of the leg, I had lot's of fabric left over.  It came out kind of cool.

So next time you're out thrifting, be sure to check out the clothing section to see if there is anything that calls to you, begging to be made into something else.

Happy Crafting!

Chicken Adobo Recipe Plus Adobo Flavored Fried Rice

**I am sorry - the pics for this post was accidentally deleted and cannot be retrieved**


I grew up in Chinatown, Honolulu, Hawaii. Where I lived, there was a melding of several different cultures: Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Caucasian and a few others. Along with learning about these different cultures and how they lived, I learned about their foods. I ate Filipino food a lot growing up and enjoy eating it.

Adobo means to stew, marinade, or season and is a Filipino dish that is very simple to make, yet is very tasty if you like vinegary dishes. Basically, it’s stewing your meat in a vinegar/soy sauce mixture that comes out tender and delicious due to the cooking process in the vinegar.

Other cultures have adobo too and each has different spices and methods of cooking their meat. The Filipino version is very easy to make and takes no time to cook.

Simple Chicken Adobo



4-5 lbs. chicken thighs (pork can also be used) ½ c. white vinegar
½ c. shoyu (soy sauce), I use wheat free tamari sauce
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 tsp. black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
Oil

Brown chicken on both sides in a large pot with some oil (I always like to brown my meat before stewing).

Combine the rest of the ingredients the rest in the pot along with the chicken. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer for 1-3 hours stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened, and chicken is tender, about 20 more minutes.

Serve with steamed rice - macaroni salad makes a nice side dish or serve your favorite salad. Add some of that sauce to your rice - it's really good. Save some chicken to make the fried rice recipe below.

You can also bake the chicken in the oven. It takes 45 minutes with less tending, and yields a different texture to the chicken:

- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil that’s been sprayed with cooking oil.
- Put in your chicken (I take the skins off ½ of the chicken, you can take them all off).
- Pour in the vinegar/shoyu sauce mixture then add the other ingredients.
- Turn the chicken to coat well and place skin side down.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and turn chicken over, then place back in the oven to bake for another 20 minutes.
- If you left some of the skin on, you can broil for about 3 minutes to get the skin nice and crispy.

Serve as above. Both methods make 6-8 servings.

While the adobo is cooking, cook your rice (make extra) and also make your salad - I made a broccoli, pea, and onion salad.

Usually when you make dishes that simmer in their own sauce or marinade, you end up with a lot of leftover sauce. Don’t throw it out - along with the flavor of the marinade, you now have extra flavor from the meat that was cooked in it. Even if you don't make the fried rice recipe, save the sauce - put it in a container and freeze it. You can use it the next time you make adobo or use it anytime you need a little bit of shoyu or want additional flavor in another meal. Here is a simple and flavorful recipe to make with the leftovers from your adobo.

Adobo Flavored Garlic Fried Rice

3 tb. oil
½ to 1 head garlic, peeled and diced
4 c. cooked rice, refrigerated overnight
Leftover adobo sauce (maybe 1/4 c.)
Leftover chicken, I had 2 and 1/2 pieces of chicken (chopped finely)
Frozen peas or mixed veggies

Rice from the frig will be clumped and hard, break it up so the grains are seperated and set aside. In a nonstick pan, heat oil over medium heat and gently brown garlic for about 30 seconds - also use the garlic you put in the sauce.

Add rice and mix thoroughly until rice is evenly coated, then add the chicken and a handful of peas and stir till combined and peas have thawed.

Pour in the adobo sauce (not too much, you want just enough to flavor everything - not drown it) - it'll be gelled from being cooked with the chicken.

Cook until heated through. If there is not enough sauce, make more - equal amounts of shoyu to vinegar. Serve warm with leftover salad.

**Note: these are not my recipes - they were retrieved from the Internet and adapted by me.**

Enjoy!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this recipe or any of my other posts. Thanks!

A Real Coupon Holder

The one I made a few days ago was a little too small so I decided to make another one that was bigger. I also thought about putting in dividers that can't come out, so I came up with this idea.

Basically, on the inside, I made open bottomed pockets. It creates enough of a divider and, it actually works. I have 3 sections: food, toiletries, and everything else. I don't have to worry about the coupons slipping under because it's only paper. It looks pretty good, don't you think? The dividers were done on an impulse and I think I did pretty well.

Here's how the whole thing looks - pretty much like the other one:

It measures about 6-3/4" x 3-3/4" - still small enough to throw in your bag. I made it in a solid color so that it wouldn't detract from your bag. I think it's pretty neat.

What do you think?

A Random Rose

I have 2 rose plants that are growing nicely - had 3, but 1 got sick and died. Well, in the vicinity of where the 2 are growing, this one started growing. I did not buy this, I did not plant this - it just started growing and now here it is, there's even another one. How cool is that?



Comments are appreciated. It helps me to know whether I’m on the right blogging track or not.