Happy Birthday to me..

Yesterday was my 25th birthday. Yay! I had a surprisingly relaxing and good day. I got to go out to eat at one of my favorite Italian restaurants and completely pig out. Unfortunately, my blackberry decided this would be a good time to go on the fritz. I had to upgrade the operating system and lost ALL contacts that I had been collecting for the past 10years. I am super bummed out about this. Actually I am still in shock and disbelief. In any event, I have no ones contact information anymore. So please feel free to email me your contact information to: creationsbycate@gmail.com

I am asking for emails not texts because I think I am finally going to make the switch from my blackberry bold 9700 to an iphone 4S and I don't want to lose my contacts twice.

Thanks!

Green Smoothies?

I'm not sure how many of you have heard about green smoothies/drinks but I am a pretty big fan. I never thought I would be because honestly, I don't like to eat my greens. I'll admit it. For the longest time you couldn't pay me to eat lettuce unless it was buried in a cheeseburger or drenched in Caesar salad dressing and cheese. But the older I get the more I seem to change my taste buds and food choices. I also seem to be having a terrific time keeping my weight at a reasonable number. Its unfortunate that I can no longer eat all the junk food I want and not gain a pound.

Right now my weight has peeked again. I'm at that point where I'm not the heaviest I've ever been but my current pants are getting tighter and I am refusing to go up a size. Down is the only direction my pants need to go. So I decided to get back into the only thing that seemed to help me, adding more greens to my diet. I am not the type of person who likes to sit there and enjoy a salad. I have never been that way. Maybe it's because I'm a New Englander and everything has got to be faster paced. Or maybe it's because I'm always on the road. Either way, liquifying my greens makes them easier and faster for me to consume. And I definitely consume more in a smoothie than I would in a salad.

I first started doing green smoothies when I was on a huge semi vegetarian raw vegan sort of kick. (If you are ever interested in exploring that lifestyle more thoroughly I highly recommend reading Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis. Truly delightful.) Obviously I have come to terms with the fact that I can not devote myself entirely to that lifestyle because I love to nom on chicken and beef. But I can incorporate elements into my life. The Green Smoothie is one of the things I am going to work to incorporate into my diet more. It's surprisingly filling, tasty, and gives me the extra boost of energy to get through the day. Sure in the beginning my coworkers were like, "what are you drinking?" But once they saw the benefits in my skin and weight the stopped with the comments.

You can add to it whatever you want. The one in the picture above, which I must admit was my first one in a long time was the following items:

• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 banana
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 cup water

Throw it in the blender. Blend well and drink. The faster you drink it the more nutrients you get from it, because as you will notice, the bright green color will turn brown if its left out. You can mix and match whatever you want in the drink and find a combination that works well for you. Dark greens are the ones most rich in nutrients and work best in this type of drink. (Kale, spinach, cilantro, etc) You can add things like agave nectar or honey to it to sweeten it up if you need to, but I find most fruits you add do the trick. Cilantro has great benefits for your health and is fantastic to add in this drink. But it's all up to your personal taste. Trial and error.

Don't be surprised if the smell of the first one you make is kind of startling. This was the first one I had made in a while and let me tell you, I was a little taken a back. I don't usually add protein powder but figured why not this time. I promise you, it was not as disgusting as it probably sounds. My mom loves to add mangos to hers and I really love adding pears or apples.

If you try it or have tried this before, what's your favorite things to throw in a green smoothie? I'll share some more of my smoothies and I'd love to try your combinations so feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Take care!

12 Things to do in 2012

I decided I'd do a short list of things I'd like to do in two-oh-one-two. Feel free to share some of your goals in the comments. =]

1. Bake more
2. Join a local knitting group
3. Take a lampwork class
4. Eat a vegetarian diet for a month
5. Start a hydroponic garden
6. Get a tan
7. Go to local art galleries more
8. Use food coloring like it's going out of style
9. Lose some weight
10. Use more holistic remedies 
11. Read more
12. Eat less processed food.

Chicken Stuffing Bake

Pardon the terrible cell phone picture but this is by far the best chicken dish I have made in a long time. It's super easy and reheats well. Also it combines my favorite things: chicken, cheese, and stuff. I mean come on, who doesn't love stuffing. I got the recipe from a diet cook book, but I don't always use the reduced fat ingredients. So feel free to fatten it up or down. Also I find it really doesn't matter if your broccoli is cooked before or not. It will soften up enough when you bake it, but please do rinse it well.

Chicken Stuffing Bake

• 1 can (10-3/4oz) condensed reduced-fat reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup undiluted
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1 package (6oz) stuffing mix
• 2 cups cubed chicken breast
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets, cooked (uncooked if you like it on the crunchier side)
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups (60z) shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese, divided

1.  In a large bowl, combine soup and milk until blended.
2. Add stuffing mix with contents of seasoning packet, chicken, broccoli, celery, and 1 cup of cheese and mix.
3. Transfer to a greased 13in x 9in baking dish.
4. Bake uncovered at 375degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through.
5. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Yields: 8 servings
Nutrition facts: 1 cup equals 247 calories, 7g fat (4g saturated fat), 42mg cholesterol, 658mg sodium, 24g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 22g protein
From Comfort Food Diet

Moving..

As some of you may know, in my home I have my studio where I make my jewelry and other such items. This past week I decided it was time to move it to a larger room. So needless to say my house is in shambles because I'm switching my guest room to my new studio room and such. I am hoping to have it all done by today but who knows! I just can't wait to have it all set up again and begin making all kinds of new stuff.
So I have not forgotten about you already, just simply in the middle of chaos.
=]

Happy New Year!

Papeeerrrr!

Did I get a chance to show you all some of my paper bead bracelets yet? Probably not.

A few years ago I commissioned Angela's Paper Beads to make me a custom order. Even though I love the time consuming and rewarding process of rolling your own super tiny paper beads, I was too busy at the time to bother. So I bought a ton from her and have been making all kinds of paper bead projects since.

Can I tell you? Up-cycled crafts are my favorite and they always get the most attention where ever. People always look at your pieces and are like, "what is that?!" Then are completely blown away when you tell them what it is. The only downside to these beads is that if you don't seal them right, you can ruin your piece in an instant. Obviously they aren't waterproof. If you stick your hand in a sink full of water or go swimming, you are obviously loosing you're hard work whether its sealed right or not. But you shouldn't be swimming with jewelry on anyways RIGHT?

Good ole Modpodge will do the trick, but if you want to go all out, and can do it outside, a polyurethane finish spray/varnish spray is mint. Other people like to use resin or nail varnish. It really is all personal preference.

Let me know your preference in the comment section below. I always love to hear whats working best for other people.

I'm back!

I know it's been forever since I posted and I have been seriously slacking but it's been a hetic year. Let hope things slow down and I can get back to the things that truly matter.

CRAFTS! <3