Day 8 - Tomato shoots transferred to bigger pot, sowed some more seeds

I started the day today with a structured list. I had a plan. I had spent most of my Thursday constructing a pair of pyjama bottoms using an old pair of Topshop jogging bottoms as my template for helping me draft my paper pattern. I found an old 100% cotton sheet I had obtained from hospital which I have to say was perfect for using for my toile construction. I set up my work station in the back room with both the ironing board and steam generator iron out along with my much loved sewing machine at the ready. I tried to remind myself to not rush this project, considering how slow my body seems to be responding recently which has at times been frustrating; knowing what it is that I want to do but unable to allow my body to achieve the action that I am intending to perform. However, despite my frustration to do things at a quick pace I have learnt a lot today in terms of learning to accept it is okay to make mistakes during the construction process as it allows you to learn and grow wiser in understanding the ways to make the, what seems to be a ‘disaster’, right. =] It has been quite a different approach that I am use to thinking but one I have found quite useful in hindsight as I believe by accepting that things may go wrong and being okay with this, I was able to feel a touch relaxed. As a result, I managed to complete this project which had been playing on in the back of my mind for quite a while now.

I got my mother to try on my toile which was considered to be a size ‘8’ yet as I watched her put on the pyjama bottoms, I noticed the extremely tight squeeze she had when pulling them up. Oh dear. They do not fit her. Yet, I took this situation as one I can learn from. It was identified that the jogging bottoms I had used for drafting my pattern were constructed from a double jersey fabric which obviously provided to some degree a good amount of stretch, hence the tight fit. In addition, my mother had added that they were too very tight on anyway dispite there stretch. I felt defeated a tad as yet again I got not produce a garment that has actually fitted my mother =[ However, I took this opportunity to try on the pair of trousers myself and found that they were small enough to fit me! =] Perfect! They were also made to the right length and the hem looked fine compared to some difficulty I had found in the past with previous projects. Perhaps if there is any fabric left over from the pair I make mum I could make some myself =]. Therefore, I was highly motivated to follow the pattern I had found free online by simplicity for pyjama bottoms stated XS. Now I know the instructions as to how to construct each piece I may not take half the time in making the toile.

I woke up today to finish off hemming the toile for the XS PETITE pyjama bottoms and then continued to XS SIMPLICITY paper pattern. I started this project this morning from 9.10am – 13.00pm to which I had completed all except the hem which I had planned to continue after lunch as I felt my little brain getting a tad tired and frazzled – not recommended if I am to avoid any mistakes in the project. Therefore I cleared up the bits of thread scattered around the back room and made my way to the kitchen to attend to my second task of the day – ‘Transfer my tomato seed seedling to a bigger pot’. The sun was shining brightly this afternoon which was lovely and uplifting – definitely a feeling of spring in the air – at time of ‘new growth’ so to speak =]

Tomato shoots – day 8

This didn’t take me too long to complete despite the thoughts in my mind telling me otherwise that this was just going to be ‘too exhausting’ and ‘time consuming’ – but it wasn’t. And I felt better for getting outside and taking a slight ‘breather’. Done.

Tidied the kitchen – all clean =]

Got my normal Friday lunch with both apple and orange and attended to look at the next thing on the agenda for the day. ‘Make Lemonies’ for my family as I know they liked them. However I couldn’t help but notice the bananas I had left in the wired basket in the corner of the kitchen – Ah Ha, perhaps it may be a good opportunity to try out the ‘Banana Bread’ recipe my mum seemed quite keen to try. Plus it was nutritionally acceptable whilst classed as ‘grain-free’. I got ahead to make this new little recipe.

I had a bit of time and completed the rest of the errands...

# Clean out the rabbit

#Hoover the house (kitchen, backroom, hallway, lounge)

#Finish hemming mum's trousers ready for her to try on later

#Make the drawstring for the trousers

#Make Supper

#Bath night

#Waitrose shop online

#Blog!

Heard that my brother has a job interview in London this weekend which is promising =] This could be perhaps due to the retrogrades returning back to normal over the next coming days? I am so happy for him as I understand that on an emotional level things have been hard for him recently. I wish him well but what will be will be =]

Wow, well I have to say today was a very productive day yet I somewhat feel not like my normal self =/ My head hurts with all the questions but with no energy to answer them like I am usually able to do =/ 

Really Lovely Oatmeal cacao nib cookies with chia seeds! - My first vegan baking attempt - HIT!

Lovely healthy Oatmeal cookie!

Made Six Cookies

Hey hey good looking, What you got cooking...

Oh my! Well I would love to say I created this wonderful recipe all by myself but I have to admit that I did not! It was a recipe I had only stumbled upon whilst browsing on pinterest and the photography of the cookies was so beautiful I just had to try them!

Oatmeal Cacao nib cookies with chia seeds - ~adapted from cooking malangery 

I chose to half the original recipe as I just wanted to try them out. In addition, I didn't have any hemp seeds available so I omitted them from the original recipe - but I was quite excited that this recipe gave me an excuse to try baking with flaxseeds! =]

Ingredients:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 Tbsp corn starch
1 1/2 Tbsp water, cold
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cups Plain organic flour
1/2 cup jumbo rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 Tbsp flax seeds
1/2 cup chocolate cacao nibs

Quoted Healthy Fact of Chia Seeds: 
"Long recognized as an excellent source of nutrition and energy, hemp foods have been used by humans for over 12,000 years all around the world, and continue to be one of the top-rated superfoods."

Method

1. Heat your oven to 180'C.

2. In a large bowl combine the peanut butter, coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla.

3. In a separate small bowl combine the ground flax seed, corn starch, and water (or soy milk). The corn starch will want to get kind of clumpy. Stir it up a bit to keep that from happening. 

4. Then add the vinegar, let it sit for just a second or two and pour it into the peanut butter mixture. Stir well.

5. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients: 
flour, oatmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until combined. 

6. Add the chia seeds and give the dry ingredients another little stir.

7. Now stir together the dry and the wet ingredients. If the mixture seems a little bit too dry, feel free to add another tablespoon of water (or soy milk). Then add the Cacao nibs and stir everything one last time.

8. Make 1 – 1 1/2 inch balls (I used a ice cream scoop for ease) and placed them an inch or so apart on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. 

9. Bake anywhere from 10 – 12 minutes depending on your desired crunchiness. (Due to the size of my cookie dough I left mine to brown in the oven for ~ 20-25 mins.

"Note: The cookies come out of the oven on the puffy side, but just wait a minute or so and they’ll deflate. After they cooled they were the perfect cookies – crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside." --> Oh how these were a success =]

I packaged them all up with labels and ready for the family to try when they came home.
My mum had one before she went running training due to the goodness of the chia seeds and she could not believe they were vegan!
"They taste so good Bee!" - She took one with her for her friend who had text her later on that night to say "OMG those cookies are amazing!"
I'd say that's good for my first try of vegan baking =]