Spring Ride trail hiking, September 2016

When we reached the Spring Ridge trail head at Windy Hill preserve, the sun already started shinning brightly. Many of hikers were already coming back. I thought, our timing was not appropriate. Might be it was going to be burning hot. Though it was near Pacific ocean, but the  Windy hill mountain were sheltered from the prevailing cool weather coming from the Pacific Ocean.

The youngest member of the group

 

Five on Friday

Monday(01/23/2017)

Monday was a real busy day. After two days relaxation, again the Monday we started with big rush. I listed down a plenty of jobs to be done on Monday. I told you last week, that I was really working hard on a school project. Our plan was to finish within Thursday. Anyway, that day school was scheduled to be dismissed at 12:00. So, I had to finished other household chores also in the between that time. My son I decided to visit library, we rented a handful of books I yet to start reading those books.

Library visit

Monday to-do list

Tuesday (01/24/ 2017)

I yet to upload pictures of the handmade cards in my Etsy shop. I won't tell that I've no time, it was rather my lethargy. Anyway, as I planned my to-do list ahead I could at least finish the small Valentine's box on Tuesday.

Handmade little box

Wednesday (01/25/2017)

Our school project was going on full swing. Still we were far behind from finishing. So, we decided to stretch the work to home.

My love for owl

Thursday(01/26/20017)

Yes, we finished our school project. After coming back from school I sat down and started uploading the pictures of the Valentine's day card on my Etsy shop. Oh my!!! It took me forever. Actually, every card is different from each card. So, I had to write description individually on each card. However, I couldn't finish all of them. I yet to upload many of the cards and boxes.

Here is my Etsy shop link. Please visit: FromMindofaGirl

Friday (01/27/2017)

At last the weekend!!! Though I ad a very busy morning, still I had a very nice coffee time with best friend. Since Thanksgiving we didn't get time to sit together and chat. 

Yummy rice noodles

Love Made My Home

Garbanzo bean chicken soup

I have written down many recipes. However, I haven't shared any of them in recent time. So, I think it is the time to share. In December I rented one recipe book from library on chicken recipes. Actually I wanted to cook different recipes on chicken. I know I can get millions of recipes on Internet. However,  when I found the book in library, I just wanted to give a try. This is one of the recipes. I improvised many of the ingredients with whatever was available in my pantry. At the end it turned out good. Here is the one I'm sharing with you.

One cup dry garbanzo beans

One pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

One small onion

Two tsp of garlic powder

Two tsp tomato paste

One tsp dry basil leaves

One tsp. dry oregano

One cup grated parmesan cheese

One tbsp. of oil

Salt and pepper to taste

One cup boiled spaghetti

Soak garbanzo beans for 6 hours, or overnight. I usually soak them overnight, so that, I can cook in the morning.  Pressure cook the beans until soft. It usually takes about fifteen minutes to cook. You can also use canned garbanzo beans. Cut the chicken into small cubes. Finely chop the onion. Heat oil in a deep pan in medium. Add the onion, and sauté for few minutes. Add the chicken and mix well. Let it covering the pan, about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato pastor, ands garlic powder, mix well. Let it cook another 10 minutes. Then add the cooked beans. Add one-two cups of water. Bring to boil. Let it cook covering the pan in low-medium heat. Meanwhile cook spaghetti according to the instruction on the package. About ten minutes uncover the pan, simmer it. Cook until chicken is tender. Add all the herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Switch off the stove. Add the hot cooked spaghetti. Mix well, and serve hot.

Five on Friday

Monday:

Monday was holiday. I didn't want to do anything. I was in a total resting mood. None of us went outside home that day. In fact I didn't even go in our backyard. Only Mr. Man went to backyard to clean our pool. Most of the I spend reading "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah. Though I read halfway, but I must say that the book worth reading. The book is about situation of France under Nazi rules. How the people suffered at that time really gives goosebumps.

Valentine's day card

Hello My lovely blogging friends,

Valentine's day is very near. Even we don't have one month in our hand. I thought of making some cards for this occasion. I also have some things to make,but I don't know whether I'll be able to make the other things. On the top of that I also have a very big list of crafts for my home. All the cards are handmade from scratch. I did everything with just a pair of scissors, and glue. Just take look. I'm also giving my Amazon Handmade link. Soon I'll post them there.
Thank youKrishna 

Eating out in Wente Vineyard

It was  our Anniversary Day. Mr. Man had been asking what I want from him. In fact I didn’t want anything. I have enough of everything. So, why to buy? When he didn’t get any satisfactory answer he declared that, I must not cook anything, and we would go for lunch. He kept secret where we about to go. 

Visit to Charlie Brown Museum

I know Charlie Brown, rather the Peanuts through the comic strips on the Sunday newspaper since my childhood. However,I never introduced my son to Charlie Brown. When he was four years old, somehow he managed to find out ‘Charlie brown Thanksgiving’ from Youtube, and from there he came to know about those bunch of big head kids. Anyway,after that he stopped watching until recently when I told him about how he discovered Charlie Brown. Since then, again he has become a huge fan of that little guy. 
He had been watching all the videos whatever available in Youtube on every weekends. One day I had been talking with my friends about his addiction to Charlie Brown. At that time, one of them suggested me taking him to Charlie Brown museum. The name of the museum is  actually Charles Schulz Museum, who was the creator of the character ‘Charlie Brown’. However, I would love to call it Charlie Brown Museum. 

Journey back from Lake Tahoe

Usually I wake up early, whether it is weekday, weekend, or holiday. As usual on second day of January   while we were still in Tahoe, I woke up early in the morning. It was still dark outside. I heard dripping sound of water from outside. I thought that water was dripping from the heater of the cottage. 

Junior's ski lesson

Two days already passed of the year 2017. No,I’m not lamenting by telling that I didn’t do any fruitful thing on these two days. I don’t want to do that, as I enjoyed those two days a lot. First day of the year kiddie had his first ski lesson for the entire day. We woke up early in the morning. The sky was clear. Soft golden sun of the morning filled up the top of the dark green conical pine trees. Though, the temperature was showing 22 degree fahrenheit, we couldn’t exactly figure out how could the cold bite us. As soon as we stepped out of the cottage we could realized the strength of the cold.  We realized the how Tahoe winter is. All of us blanketed ourselves with heavy jackets, heavy gloves, and boots. 

New Year's Eve in Tahoe, 2016

Unlike other years, this year we decided to have a quiet New Year Eve. We wanted a white new year. It was my dream to spend either New year or Christmas amid white snow. So, this year we  booked a cottage, and packed things on 30th and came to Tahoe Vista. 

Morning view from the window of our cottage