Hats!!!!

So I love beanie hats, they're cute and fit my head perfect! So last night I made a few. Super excited about them. I wore one today and a random man at a car show we were at actually stopped me and said I love your beanie! Can you believe it.  I said thanks I made it last night and he said no you didn't. Yeah I did. He says well you are a very talented young lady.Thanks random man!

Here is a link to the adult hats, the pattern maker calls them modern flapper hats.

Here are the pics of my finished hats!

I even made a baby hat, for a very special little girl! That pattern is from a fellow blogger Alli Crafts

Here is picture of that one!

Hope ya'll enjoy my creativiness!!

Being a Veggie is not cheap!

So we went shopping today and since becoming a vegetarian it seems that our grocery bill went up a bit and things don't last as long. Fresh stuff seems to spoil faster than I can eat it. The already frozen veggie stuff is too expensive. So I gotta figure out something right. Well tonight I may have done just that.

I love the black bean burgers at Chili's have tried Wegmans version and they were ok, but for 5 bucks you get two. Well tonight for 3.00 I made four giant black bean burgers. GIANT! The recipe goes something like this. Change as you see fit.

Spicy Tex-Mex Black Bean Burgers

1 can of black beans (I bought mine at Aldis for 69 cents) rinsed and drained
1/2 of yellow bell pepper diced
1/2 of red bell pepper diced
1/4 sweet onion diced
1/2 cup (dry) quinoa
2/4 cup corn meal
1 egg
4 tbsp of bar-b-que sauce
1/4 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsbp minced garlic
1 packet Lipton savory herb seasoning (you could substitute taco seasoning)
1 cup frozen corn kernels

So you cook the quinoa, it cooks the same as rice, it takes about 10-15 minutes. While that is cooking take the onion and peppers and put in the food chopper. Place them in a large bowl. Place black beans in the food chopper until they are paste like. Place those in bowl with pepper. Add in quinoa and stir. Put in egg, spices and corn meal. Stir together. Add in bar-b-que sauce and corn kernels, stir until the mixture is sticky. I snuck in a little shredded cheese.
The next part is messy, depending on how big you want your patties, shape your patties the same way you would regular burgers. I placed mine in the freezer in the hopes that they won't fall apart when cooking. You can bake or grill .

Serve with a salad

Hope you enjoy....

Is being nice to hard?

So I was thinking the other day is it to hard to be nice? I was researching for articles to write for examiner and as a crime examiner I find an article about two woman (both African American) arrested for harassing and physically assaulting a woman of Pakistani decent in Niagara Falls. A week later the articles and comments I'm reading on the Buffalo News website about the marriage rights of gay couples is for the majority negative. There was even a few people arrested protesting at weddings not only in Buffalo but also in Niagara Falls. While I'm not preaching and attempting to change anyone's views on gay marriage, or start a race war but really is it too hard to be nice and accepting of others around us. 


It seems that in today's world it's easier to be mean, being nice to someone is to much work. The problem is that this generation of kids is learning that being mean is better and almost easier to get attention with.  In our wired lives (yes adults are culprits too) it seems that children need to do something to get the same attention from their parents as their smart phones do. Many researchers have been saying for a long time that any attention (negative or positive) is still attention. Cyberbullying, physical bullying, name calling, even the teasing is not the same as when I was a kid. Times have changed, and not for the better. 


We as parents need to be more vigilant and if we're going to be connected at all times maybe cruise on over to Facebook and check up on your kids or better yet set time limits after eight no technology. There's an old saying saying it takes more muscles to frown than to smile.  It's really not that hard to be nice, try it you'll see.


Happy reading....