Meatless Monday - Fennel

Roasted Fennel With Zucchini

1 fennel bulb, with greens and base removed (sliced)

1 zucchini (cut in half, then  cut in quaters)
1/4 cup  powdered vegan Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoon pine nuts
Thyme, to taste
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat the bottom of a 8" baking dish with olive oil. Layer zucchini sticks and fennel slices in a baking pan. Drizzle with  some additional olive oil. Sprinkle on  thyme, salt,  pepper, vegan  Parmesan  cheese and pine nuts. Cover with foil. Bake for 30-45 minutes. I like to let it cook until the small pieces crisp-up and nearly burn, and the large pieces are tender. Serve immediately. Makes two generous servings. This stuff is so good!

Flowers On A Friday - Succulents

Thankful Thursday - The Riches Of Freedom

Last week I participated in the Miss Match Project, with Diane aka The Shutterbug Eye, and our prompt was "Riches Of Freedom". I found it to be a really challenging prompt (the above photo is what I came up with). So, I spent some time thinking about the freedoms that I enjoy, and richness that those freedoms add to my life. It proved to be a valuable exercise, and it really helped me to value something that I have had the privilege to mostly take for granted. So on this Thursday, I will say

~ I am sincerely grateful for all the vast freedom that I feel in my life.

How about you, what are you thankful for on this Thursday? I would love to hear, if you feel like sharing.

fPOE Slide Show

Female Photographers of Etsy Monthly Slideshow January 2011 from Art By Amarose on Vimeo.

One of my photo's is part of this lovely slide show featuring the fPOE (Female Photographers Of Etsy). The theme is The Human Experience. I think it is really beautiful.

Flowers On A Friday - Pretty Pink



For those of you buried in snow, I apologize for this lovely photo. I took this picture today at the Botanical Gardens. It was a gorgeous day with clear blue skies. Sorry. I hope you enjoy the flower and have a wonderful weekend. 

Thankful Thursday - Drudgery Or An Opportunity For Gratitude?



It's time to pay the bills and do the taxes. There was a time, not so long ago, when these "chores" would really get me down. Lets face it, when money is scarce, and the bills are sitting on the table giving you the ole stink-eye, it's easy to allow it to get you down. Am I right? Well, no more, I tell you. In my quest for "happy", I have decided to look at it from another angle. How about this:

~I'm happy that I have the money to pay all these bills.

~I'm grateful for all the pretty security envelopes I am collecting.

~I'm so happy to have my own business, and for the opportunity to take a really good look at it.

~I am very, very thankful for the sales that have created some of this paperwork.

OK, your turn, do you have any "chores" that you could turn into an opportunity for gratitude. I'd love to hear about them!



Meatless Monday - Manna Bread



I am a big fan of Manna Bread. When I was a kid, my mom would take us to Du-pars Restaurant, and we would have fresh baked date nut bread. If any of you ever lived in the Hollywood area, you probably know what I'm talking about. It's a bit legendary. Manna Bread hits all those same delicious notes. My favorite is the Fruit and Nut variety. "Made entirely from sprouted organic grains, fruits, & nuts, and contains no salt, leavening, yeast, oil, or sweeteners." It's baked in low temp ovens to preserve nutrients. It is a cake like treat that is super good for you. How can you beat that?! You can find it in the frozen food section of good health food stores. I highly recommend it as a fast-food breakfast, can't be beat!

Flowers On A Friday - Lichen

OK, not technically a flower, but there isn't much flower action in my yard right now.  So, in the meantime, enjoy this lichen, and better luck next Friday. I hope all of you have a lovely weekend.

Thankful Thursday - Three Silly Things

1. I'm thankful for dogs that ride in motorcycle sidecars, because they make me giggle.
2. I'm grateful for people that snort when they laugh, because it makes the laughing last so much longer.
3. I'm thankful for pink and brown, striped, knee high, socks that make my feet want to dance.

What silly little things are you thankful for today?

A Little Pretty

Meatless Monday - Tahini Asparagus

Tahini  Asparagus

1 bunch Asparagus

Tahini (I prefer to use raw)

A light squeeze of lemon juice

Earth Balance Margarine

Dill, dry or fresh, a generous amount

Salt and pepper


Trim the tough ends off the asparagus. Cut the spears into thirds. Cook in gently boiling water until tender. Drain. While warm, toss with the remaining ingredients. Taste, and adjust flavors.
Super simple, delicious, and very good for you. Tahini is rich in calcium, iron, and vitamin B.

Flowers On A Friday - Multicolored

Thankful Thursday - My Word

Thank You Card for sale here

There are a couple of things that I wanted to talk about. First, I wanted to tell you the word that I picked as my special word for 2011. I decided to go with "happy". I think happy is a really interesting word when you stop to think about it. One of my greatest life lessons came when I was a teenager, and it revolved around this word. I was really seriously depressed at the time, and feeling like there just wasn't any point to anything anymore. That's a sad place to be. I happened to be taking a psychology class at the time, and the teacher had a lecture about happiness, and it is quite possible that lecture saved my life. In a nutshell, he said that happiness is a choice. Life will throw stuff at you, but ultimately, one of the few things that you have control of is how you choose to react to it. You can choose to be a victim, and let the world beat you up, or you can react another way. Maybe choose to be grateful for the learning experience, be inspired to make a change, be motivated to help others going through the same thing, etc. This totally changed my life for the better.

Now this seemingly simple word is making a powerful impact on my life again. I have really been thinking a lot about how living life in a state of happiness can help you to create more happiness. Law of attraction and all that. If people are bummed out and expecting the worst, that is probably what they will get more of. Conversely, if you come at things from a place of happiness, people (and good stuff) will be drawn to you. We like to support and be around happy folks. 

So for this year, I choose the word "happy" as my guiding inspiration word. I'm going to use it as my GPS. I am going to actively seek out situations, events, and people that make happy easiest to find. Of course it's always a choice, but some situations make it come a little easier than others. I'll be looking for the easy, carefree road towards it. I will make an effort to feel it as often as I can, and I will welcome it, as I draw more of it towards me.

OK, along those same lines, I want to be consciously aware of the good stuff  that surrounds me, so that I can focus on being happy about it. To this end, I want to start doing a Thankful Thursday, and I welcome you to join in if you are so inclined. I'd love to hear what you are thankful for (big stuff, little stuff, trivial stuff, I don't care). So feel free to write your thankful thoughts in the comments. So without further ado, here are some of the things that I am thankful and happy about today.

1. I'm thankful for the friends I have made through this blog.

2. I'm grateful that I discovered how much I enjoy expressing myself through photography.

3. I'm happy that I can look out the window and see an orange glow on everything, as the sun sets. It is so beautiful right now!

Meatless Monday - Flirting

It's the beginning of a new year, and a new decade, and I want to gently make some changes. As I mentioned before, I'm not especially good with resolutions, but being inspired by a fresh start, that sounds good to me. So here is one of the things that I'm going to be working on. I want to get back to the basics, more often, with regard to eating. I want to treat myself to simple, delicious, nutritious, unfussy foods. I'm talkin' radical, sexy, food like grains, beans, veggies, and fruit. I want to dust off the pressure cooker and cook big pots of beans and grains, and pre-chop vegetables so that this good food becomes the convenience food. I can do this, not at the last minute when I'm hungry, but with some planning, I can do this.

I've been reading The Kind Diet, and I must say, I am inspired to eat more like a Superhero. I like the way the book takes you wherever you are at, and encourages you to just gradually do a little better. She calls it flirting, which makes it sound like fun. So I'm going to flirt with being more prepared with the foods I want to enjoy more often. How about you, would you like to flirt with any changes in your food choices?

Happy New Year

DOWNLOAD 1280x800 pixel version here

DOWNLOAD 1024x768 pixel version here

Happy New Year everyone. I wanted to thank you for all your kindness and support, it means so much to me. I'm wishing all of us a happy, healthy, successful, and bliss filled 2011.

I hope you enjoy the desktop.