RHUBARB PIE FOR BREAKFAST

  A healthy, non-fattening version of it, naturally... =)
  Eat as much as you desire, no need to feel guilty!

I figure I use up all of the energy I eat for breakfast during the day. So there is no need to hold myself back for seconds, or thirds.

Initially I meant to serve the pie with a dollop of plain soy yogurt and a swirl of honey, but I found that my son had eaten all of our yogurt! So I had to improvise. This one is topped with home-made apple sauce and shreads of coconut. Really yummy like this too.

  Rhubarb is the first produce from my garden (if you don´t count the stinging nettle, which manages to grow there  every year =).  I don´t mind the sour taste, it just needs a little something to tame it. Some sweetener and soy products do the trick.

  The recipe:

5 dl whole grain wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp soy flour
3 Tbsp water
1 dl sugar
2 dl orange juice
2 dl oat bran
on top: about 5 dl chopped rhubarb and sugar

+ Mix the dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients. Combine the two mixtures. Spread on a baking sheet covered oven tray, and sprinkle the rhubarb and little sugar on top.
  Bake at 200 Celsius for about 30 minutes.
  Serve with plain soy yogurt and honey on top.

  Have an energetic day!

AT SEA- FASHION: THE LITTLE BLUE DRESS

  This little dress is just made to be worn by the beautiful, deep blue sea, glistening in sunlight.

The dress simply matches with the scenery, and creates harmony to the eye.

Dancing out of joy! I´m on a mini-holiday, a long weekend at our summer cabin. The place is magical. The perfect getaway.

The modest person in me told me to make the neckhole smaller than in the original pattern. I did that by adding a piece of the same fabric as the dress itself, but using the reverse side to create contrast. An easy little trick to use for those of us, who don´t own a fabric factory, ready to spit out any kind of material we would like... A little lace and decorative, mismatch, off-white buttons to give the garment femininity and steer it away from the usual marine-look.

White stitches give the dress a subtle contrast, and brightens it up.

This fabric was a real find. It is stretchy yet firm, warm, soft, and very breathable (and can tolerate hard wear and hot washes, as I have noticed with my little girl´s pants that I made from the leftover piece of this fabric =).

   The best accessory to go with this dress is warm sunlight!

  P.S. This dress is made using the same pattern as The Little Grey Dress in my Freedom- collection.When I find a good, fitting, pattern, I stick to it tightly. One pattern turns into numerous different looks by choosing different fabrics and accessories.

MODERN PANTALOONS

  The secret to a successful everyday wear of skirts and dresses is pantaloons. I never knew this when growing up, so I found skirts difficult and unpractical. What a waste of time!

  These days I always wear pantaloons underneath all of my dresses and skirts. They can be ankle- or knee-length, depending on the temperature outside.

  The word itself, pantaloon, could be translated to modern English by saying "leggings". I never wear leggings as pants (I think they look like long johns =), so I refer to pantaloons when worn underneath a dress/skirt. They are an old invention, but to me this modern version came about ten years ago. And it opened a whole new world of dressing to me.

  These pantaloons are the latest ones I have made, for my Pure Nelland- collection:

This picture is an exception to my very strict rule of never showing myself in public in leggings alone! I just want to show what the pants are like as a whole. They end right at the most narrow part of my knee. The pants are made of swimwear-like fabric, and are very stretchy to all directions. Thus extremely comfortable. I find I´m fond of fabrics with print or pattern on it, and I was glad to find this one.

Even at home it can be risky not having pantaloons on. Here I am picking wild greens in our back yard. Can you see the risk, what if I didn´t have the pants on...? I want to protect the neighbors from an obscene sight.

Innocent, but very dangerous business without modesty pants! Oh, and yes, modest I am!

Even something as simple as ordinary relaxing would be a problem without pantaloons. Or sitting on a chair, if your dress was on the shorter side. Or getting out of a car. Or lacing up shoes. Or picking up a dime from the ground... The list is endless.

   So as you can see, the modern pantaloons wipe away all of  my worries about wearing dresses and skirts!

NELLAND FASHION: AT SEA- COLLECTION

  When at our summer cabin, I want to wear clothes that suit the life there the best. Naturally. Both the scenery, and activities.
  The cabin is located on a tiny island right off the coast. I´ve always been fascinated by the sea, and felt at ease and at home when by it. Now I´m incredibly lucky to own a little hideaway place right in it´s arms.
  The most important thing to do, when spending time at the cabin, is to relax. Do anything that takes my thoughts off the usual everyday life at home (which I love too, but a change is always welcome). Often it includes boating, swimming of course, eating out (literally =), sitting and just adoring the scenery, some yard work I choose to do, and playing with my kids. Minimum cooking and cleaning, please!

  To be able to concentrate in all the fun, I need clothes that give me a peace of mind. Clothes that allow me to move around freely, not even noticing I´m wearing them. Clothes that look like they belong there, and add to the beauty of nature there. It took a while to understand what the ideal beauty of that place meant to me, but now it has clarified. I want to create a feeling of the old(er) times, when men and women rowed around in small wooden boats, fishing for living. Like my great-grandfather did (okay, he had a motor in his boat, but still =).

  This outfit is the first one I have made in the spirit of our marvelous getaway place, a cabin  by the sea:

A sleeveless tunic with leggings. Sleeveless because then it is easy to match with any temperature. Either wear it alone like this, or add a cardigan over it if chilly. The top is attatched to the mini skirt in order of the skirt to stay in place (I find regular skirts nice, but difficult to wear because they tend to twist around). Leggings are easy to wear, they don´t drag in the ground when I walk with flip-flops on, or flutter in the wind.

A cotton lace finishes the look in the hem. I wanted to add a bit of delicate femininity, although I don´t find there being a lot of room for it in this collection.

The top part I made from a sports fabric, which removes any excess moisture from the skin. I trimmed the neck- and sleeve holes with the reverse side of the same fabric. And buttons again, of course, add slight detail.

Pssst... don´t tell anyone, but here´s my little secret: I choose not to wear a bra when relaxing at sea. It feels so liberating! A true holiday. Also I want to comfort my fellow sisters with itsy bitsy boobs, that we are lucky not having to carry that load around with us! I know some women who even have to sleep with a bra on. I´m not sure I could tolerate that... Small boobs have never been a problem to me, on the contrary! I love the freedom they give me when moving, and in my opinion having a small chest also makes one´s overall appearance more youthful. So worry not sisters, we are beautiful regardless of our cup size!

It is breathtaking to wake up to this view.

This sailing ship cruises regularly in the waters of our cabin. It is a replica of an old ship, and was built using traditional old methods. A true pleaser to the eye. (My non-impressive-snapshot-camera couldn´t zoom in closer to it, sorry.  =)

This cute little fellow lives under the rocks at our shore.

Sunsets are always a humbling sight.

  The nature here is so strongly dominated with the presence of water, that the colors of nature don´t seem to change that much during the course of the year. Therefore the same colors in clothes go well here year-round. Blue, grey, and white. Handy!

STAY SLIM- WEEKEND GETAWAY LUNCH

  We are starting our summer cabin season this weekend! That means minimal cooking for two days, yipee. =)

  It is tempting to buy unhealthy takeaway lunches and dinners on the go, but I whipped up this easy and cheap main course in advance:

Whole grain jasim rice with a sauce made of whatever veggies I happened to have in the fridge.

This not only will keep me away from the nutrient-low takeaway foods in stores, but also keep me satisfied, and prevent weight gain. Me like!

  If there´s one thing I´ve learned from having a diabetic kid in the house is, that carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our bodies. They are used up first, and only then come protein and fat.
  I´ve never been a fan of extra protein, so I´m more than happy to shove complex carbs and veggies in me when hungry! This lunch does the trick for me.

  The recipe for the sauce:

veggies, any kind you have in handy, and in any combo you like (this time I used four tomatoes, a green onion with the white parts too, and a big bunch of dandelion leaves)
vegetable broth
soymilk
corn starch mixed with little water

+ Chop the veggies roughly, put in a kettle with the broth and simmer until soft(ish). Puré in a food processor, adding some milk. Place back in the kettle, and thicken with the starch. If too thick, add more milk.
  Enjoy!

  This is a lovely recipe because you can really use any veggies you like. Last time I made this with summer squash, green onion, and goatweed. Delicious that way too.

SNEAK PEEK TO SUMMER

  Today was the first summery day of Beltane. Now I believe summer is just around the corner!

I´m no sunbather, but after such a long winter like this past one, I couldn´t resist throwing my clothes off to get some sunlight!  I´m in my veggie garden. Since I can enjoy the weather virtually naked there, perhaps the seeds I´m going to plant this year wouldn´t freeze themselves either...Clearly time to do a little sowing shortly.

The temperature rose up to 18 Celsius, and when it wasn´t blowing, it felt like a hot summer day!

The first flowers have awoken in nature. Lovely.

It seems there is life in my strawberry patch as well. Yipee!

Rhubarb is also lifting it´s head. Shouldn´t be long before I can collect the first stalks!

RAGSHION: TODDLER BONNET AND MITTENS

  There were still little pieces of the old fleece jacket and pajama pants left! A little does seem to go a long way...
  But now I managed to use it all up by making my girl these little accessories:

A basic bonnet made of fleece. I left the seams on the outside for her comfort.

To tie it under the chin, I used a short strip of elastic band. I sew it on on one side, and on the other I placed a snap button. To cover up the ugly snap on, I sew a large button over it. Now the dressing on is easy, yet looking at it is still easy. =)

Since this bonnet is for a girl, it needed a girly touch. What would be better than a good old bow? This time made of leftover cotton lace, and topped off with a button.

Another angle of the bonnet, to get a better idea.

My favorite mittens! These are something I have not managed to find at stores. Fleece beats knit mittens big time! Sand and other dirt can´t get through, plus these babies keep the wind out too. To make them, I simply drew the outline of my little girl´s hand on a piece of paper, added 1cm seam allowance, and cut them out. I stitched the mittens as close to the edge as I could (not 1cm from the edge), to leave more space for hands. Voilá! Done.

There is no need to decorate the mittens in any way. They will be dirty from the first minute when in use. =) When paired with the bonnet, it makes a pretty little set. I managed to make three pairs of mittens from the leftover fleece.

  The summer is on the way (or actually started already, since it´s Beltane), but there are always those chilly days when it either rains or blows, and that´s what I had in mind when making these mittens and bonnet. Plus we will start our summer cabin season shortly, and it is always cool at sea. I expect her to need these accessories up until June.