Sandra's Sun-Dried Tomato Salad

Looking for a tasty, healthy delicious salad with a bit of kick...Here is the perfect one. This is a "Sandra" special...Keep in mind that you can leave out the peppers if spicy is not for you. You will still enjoy all the different flavors and textures in this salad...Happy healthy eating! (I hardly ever measure when I cook, so these are estimations...This will serve 1-2 people)




Sandra's Sun-Dried Tomato Salad
1/2 cup of finely chopped Spinach
1/2 cup of finely chopped Romaine Lettuce
1/4 to 1/2 chopped Avocado
1/4 cup of frozen peas (thawed)
1/4 cup of frozen corn (thawed)
1-2 chopped mushrooms
1 peeled and chopped Kiwi
1/4 cup of Sun-dried Tomatoes
Chopped Jalapeno (according to taste)
Handful of slivered Almonds or nuts of your choice
Handful of Raisins
A squeeze of Lime
Garlic Powder, (or chopped Garlic Clove), Black Pepper
A little low-fat Sesame Ginger Dressing (or other of your choice)
1-2 Tablespoon of Mango Salsa (Or regular mild or hot salsa)

I like to layer all the ingredients on my plate (toss everything in a bowl if you are making salad for several people)...Next squeeze on a little Lime (Lime is pretty tart so only a little), then sprinkle on Garlic and Black Pepper, and Sesame Ginger dressing...Finally add Mango Salsa on top...This makes a beautiful and tasty salad...Enjoy

Tips...Substitute different veggies like Bell Beppers, Zucchini etc...Use Pineapple or Oranges instead of Kiwis...try different seasonings...Add Black Beans or Kidney Beans.

Love and Blessings
Sandra

A Fun Place to Visit - Gig Harbor

In Gig Harbor...Posing for the girls!

We all have our favorite kinds of places to visit. Some people like big cities, lots of lights, activities, crowds, noise and lots of things to see. Some people like the water, sand on the beaches and solitude...some like the mountains, forest, quiet and isolation.

Erica, Lisa, and myself getting ready for our drive to
Gig Harbor

I believe that it is important to get out and see the world around you...And the world around you is not necessarily across the country or across the globe. It can be checking out the beauty in your own town or the areas, towns, and cities right next door. 

A local Gig Harbor art gallery...We visited several

If beauty is inside you...If it is a part of your perspective and it is the lens that you see the world through, then you'll find beauty no matter where you are. 

Lisa and Erica

This is an incredible and beautiful earth that God has given us to live on, and I want to visit lots of different places in it. I have places near and far that are favorites for me...big and small cities...but my favorites are small, quaint, cozy, unique places...quiet with just enough people, places, and shops to be interesting...I like eclectic places and things...

One favorite place near me (In fact there are a lot of beautiful and cool places near me) is a city called Gig Harbor...What a fun cute place...Great boutiques, antique shops, galleries, restaurants...It's quaint, with unbelievable water views, walkable and easy to get around...Great for a quick get away, down time etc...David and I have driven there several times just to hang out and have fun...I also took my daughter there for an overnight birthday stay at a cute B&B...

Lisa and I at the Harbor...Cold and beautiful

A few weeks ago when my friend Lisa was visiting me, I took her and Erica over for a few hours of fun... If you live in this area and are looking for a cute, fun, quick place to visit and unwind then Gig Harbor could be the place for you...

What's your favorite sort of place to visit? Go take a trip and check out the beauty all around...Whether it's far away or right in your own backyard!

love and blessings
Sandra


P. S. One more day!!...(I know...I'm like a kid right!!) My birthday is tomorrow, Friday...Got some birthday goodies today from hubby and a friend...Flowers and a camera stand that I REALLY wanted...You're never too old for gifts:) More pics below

Having some Java!!

Gig Harbor art gallery...Sorry but I can't remember the name of this one

Erica enjoying  a sit-down

You have to stop at this cute little place...A coffee and pottery shop called
"Java & Clay Cafe"

"Go enjoy your world!"

Friends and Creativity

Lisa and I out to lunch

OK as you can see I am still catching up with posting some holiday stuff here...Took a little break but hope to stay on top and up to date (ha ha).

Getting items together for my project...Wood frame, glue, grout
sponge, assorted colored glass gems, big chunk of broken glass bowl 

During the holidays I had a good friend (Lisa) from Texas to come and stay with me...Friends are great and the one thing that I love about Lisa is that she totally inspires me to creativity. She is an artist and painter and is crazy creative. I love being around people who inspire me. While she visited me for the holidays we had a ton of fun and made some cool art projects.

Lisa working on her project...Didn't get a picture of the start before she
painted everything. This is midway through the process.

I love creating...painting, repurposing and remixing items, and I love the idea of having things in my home that I did with my own hands. That really excites me...Make me feel all warm and happy when I walk through my house.

One of the projects that we worked on was a glass mosaic using grout. This was my first time doing a mosaic and working with grout...It was no small project but I got it done. Lisa also made a piece and left it at my house! A Lisa original! Happy about that...

My paint supplies...Just finished painting my frame this beautiful
metallic green color

For my piece, I bought some glass gems from the store, but I also had a big chunk of glass from a beautiful bowl that was given to me several years ago as part of a gift after speaking at a conference. It was a really gorgeous piece but got broken in an accident. 

I have kept the broken pieces for many years because I knew that I would find something creative to do with it. I named my mosaic project "Redemption." It reminds me of how God is so great at taking the mistakes, broken pieces and fragments of our lives and recreating something amazing and beautiful in spite of it all. Don't ever think that He can't do something great with your mess...I have personal experience that He can!! I am so glad about that. 

Lisa has added more paint and glass tiles to her piece

I still have one more piece to finish with my project...I am going to make some sort of tag to hang with it on the wall that has the name "Redemption" on it and a short story of the meaning...Just like you find in some art museums...I think that  will be cool!

Adding glass gems and I also added a picture of
David and I in Mexico

How about you? What's your area of creativity? Hope your New Year is going great so far...

Love and Blessings
Sandra

P.S. By the way...I celebrate my birthday THIS Friday, January 25...Yea! Gonna have a fun birthday celebration with some of my dear friends...Very excited!! Very thankful to my amazing and wonderful God to still be here enjoying peace, life and love...Yes very grateful indeed! More pics below.

Lisa's finished art piece! Beautiful!

The cool thing is she finished this and gave it to me
for Christmas! I love it!

Tada!! And here is my piece..."Redemption" I really like it.
 I will get a better pic of it for the blog when I finish the
 name tag. Not to bad for first timer!

Here is another piece that we worked on. I already had this
piece. It was a plain brown and white so Lisa spiced it up
with some color and I added some gemstones on it.

Fun Fun Fun

My Favorite Scripture!

I thought that I would share one of my favorite scriptures with you...This particular one is great any time but especially as we enter into a new year...

A good friend shared this with me about 15 years ago and it has since become an important part of my life...I frequently sign it on greeting cards, letters, and emails...Here it is:



I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)

This verse of scripture has brought encouragement and hope to me in times of challenges and trouble. It reminds me to believe and be confident that no matter what I am currently facing, I am headed into more of God's goodness. It's a reminder to me that God wants to be good to me on this side of heaven, while I live...I love that!

Because of this scripture I learned to expect to receive good into my life.

When I come across a scripture, quote, or 'saying' that moves or inspires me, I love to write it down and put it someplace where I can constantly see it...My mirror, refrigerator, kitchen cabinet etc. So write this one down and put it somewhere to remind yourself of all the good things that lie ahead.

I hope that you are expecting to see God's goodness in your life in 2013!!

Love and Blessings
Sandra

Holiday Fun!

Ready for a fun evening together!

 Each year my husband and I attend his company's Holiday Party. The company does a great job of making it special for the employees and their spouses. I look forward to connecting with and  getting to know the people that work with my husband. Interacting and socializing with people is something that we both love to do. It has become a fun part of our Christmas Season...And David has been blessed 2 years in a row to win great prizes: an Ipad last year and a Target giftcard this year...Love fun surprises. Whenever he wins I win!

My makeup artist...Pretty cute!

Part of this yearly event is also having my daughter Erica come to my house and apply my makeup. She is very good at special occasion makeup and does a great job. Although I love the way she makes me look, the real treat is that we get to spend several hours together girl talking and she shares her skill and love of makeup with me. We all feel special and valued when we know that what we have to offer blesses and helps another person. Parents are always doing for their children and blessing them and thats great. 

But God taught me that it blesses our kids when we let them help us in an area where they are skilled or have talent. We communicate value and worth to them by receiving something that they do for us. So I get Erica to do my makeup for special occasions (and she does a great job of making me look fabulous) and I also let her look through my closet occasionally so she can say to me "Mama, get these old folk clothes out of your closet!!!" What can I say? Sometimes I get in a rut!

Loving this dress! Thanks friend; you know who you are!! Kisses!

Make sure that you make room in your life to receive something from your kids...And take advantage of every opportunity to share life to those around you. Enjoy the pictures below...We had a ton of fun!

Pretty handsome!

Enjoy your Life

Sandra

Thanks for Visiting...Leave a Comment! Pics below.

My holiday glam bag...name tags and gifts...I'm sorry but I am not
putting that name tag on my dress...No way!

Dessert bar...Beautiful but I stayed away!

I really like this chandelier...Beautiful!

Holiday blessings and Happy New Year to you all!

New Years Wisdom

Happy New Years guys! I'm really believing that this will be an incredible year for you, filled with God's love, peace, blessing, and adventure. And can I just say THANK YOU very much...I am almost at 1000 views of my blog...I'm excited at the possibility of interacting with people I know and some that I don't know from  all over the world...I love it! Thanks again...If you are enjoying my blog so far please share it with those of your friends and family that you think would enjoy it...

 


 I was talking with my daughter just last night and discussing our plans and thoughts for the New Year. She made the statement that "Having a better and different year begins with You, the person deciding to be better and different." Isn't that great insight! It is so true. So I want to share a couple of my own personal insights into having a great year...Also a couple of holidays pics to check out.
 

A day trip to Gig Harbor with Erica and Lisa...
More on that later!

1. Decide to have a positive faith filled attitude...Simply put, attitude is the difference between having a great year or a terrible year. You can't control everything that happens or the actions of everyone around you, but what you can control is your response, reaction, and attitude towards them or the situation. Make a decision right now that no matter what happens in this year you're gonna have a great attitude. A great attitude means that you have a positive outlook...You believe that ultimately situations work for good and you focus on the positive...
 
2. No comparing yourself to others...We waste so much time comparing our lives, bodies, finances, careers, talents etc to those of others. That only leads to frustration and depression. Pursue growth, development, change and advancement in the areas of your choice, but learn to be okay with who you are and where you are right now, while you head towards your dreams...Be you and allow others to be themselves...We are all unique and different. Give people the freedom to not have to be like you...

Christmas Dinner...Turkey, Green Bean Casserole,
Collard Greens...Yum!

 
3. Be kind and treat others well...I firmly believe that it increases joy, peace, and a sense of goodness in my own heart and soul when I am kind and treat others well. We were created by God to release goodness in the world around us. Now that doesn't mean that everyone will be kind to you. And it doesn't mean that you should be someones's "doormat." But don't allow someone else's unkind behavior and attitude dictate who you are. Make up your mind that kindness and goodness will define who you are. Be intentional about being kind and good.
 

This tree was so beautiful...Took this at my husband's
company Christmas Party...Details and pics later

4. Be thankful...Waking up everyday and thanking God for who He is to you and for the blessings that are in your life is absolutely life changing...It takes your mind off of your problems...It pushes  depression, negative emotions and thoughts away from you...It makes you feel better about yourself and your life...It attracts joy and peace to you. It attracts more of God's goodness and blessings to you...How cool is that!! Besides that God loves and enjoys your praise! Make up your mind this year to be a thankful person...
 
5. Learn to love you...Don't go around feeling bad about yourself, your looks, where you are in life, where you come from, your past etc...If you find yourself thinking negatively about you or beating up on yourself, stop it! It gets you nowhere! Make a decision to work on loving and accepting yourself this year...Accepting yourself doesn't mean that you no longer work to better yourself...It means that you give yourself grace and permission to love and accept yourself today, even though you don't have it all together. Focus on the great attributes that make you who you are.

Dinner with friends at my home

 
These are just a few of the lessons that God has taught me over the years...I remind myself of them constantly throughout the year, but especially at the beginning of each year...Living this way has absolutely brought great joy, peace, and strength into my life...Looking forward to sharing a great year with you!
 

Gotta walk off this holiday food!

Love and Blessings
Sandra

Leave a comment about your hopes for the New Year!

Thanks for Visiting!