Shopping Candy for my first home.

A New Year 2012

2012-01-10T08:49:00.000-05:00

It's a new year and new opportunities await! I am looking forward to some new changes that will be going on. This is the last year I will be working at the telecommunications business, I am planning to go back to school this year to get a degree in Elementary Education.

Also if you've followed my blog, you may know I rededicated my life back to God, our loving Father. I am happy to be back in right relationship with him and back involved with church again.

I know I haven't been blogging much, I apologize. I've just been pursuing new things and not decorating much. I may post some book reviews soon, though. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you be blessed this new year.

-Jolie

:)

Vacation in Georgia

2011-09-21T08:42:00.000-04:00

I just spent some time down in Georgia visiting relatives on my dads side of the family. We visited where my dad grew up, the lady that raised him (my 89 year old aunt) still lives here. It's an old farm and has a bunch of old barns all over the property. Most of them are not in use anymore and just used as storage, but I still love old barns.

The house below is the house my dad grew up in back in the 40's. The house is over a hundred years old now. Noone lives in it and it's sort of abandoned, but it is sentimental to me.

When my dad was little, they use to pick cotton. He has a lot of cotton pickin' stories, just glad to say that I don't! The only cotton pickin story I have is this one...

I went out into the field and picked some cotton

and made a pretty arragement in a vase with them to decorate my living room.

The end.

There was also a pretty peacock there that I was going to get some of the feathers from it that they collect, but I forgot to bring them home! (They don't pluck the peacock, they fall out naturally.)

And have you ever seen white peacocks?

Mule

From the butterfly garden.

It was really nice visiting all my relatives. I was raised in Florida so I didn't get to grow up with them. My dad left Georgia when he was in his teens, moved to Canada, then to FL where he met my mom. My mother grew up in Louisiana, I would love to go visit there some day.

The trip was really nice, I had country viddles, rocked on a rocking chair on front porch with family, reminisced about the good ole days and got lots of hugs goodbye until we visit again! :)

Got A Bistro Set!

2011-08-24T08:45:00.000-04:00

Remember how I liked this bistro set and wanted to find one like it or similar to it?

I found it!!!

I had been to every place I could think of in town that would have a set like this, but found nothing. Plus, a lot of the stores have already put their patio furniture away I guess to prepare for winter already, so much for fall. lol
I went to Lowe's and I didn't see anything there either, so I never thought to look on their website since I had been there already, but something made me check anyway. I was getting desperate. A search turned up this exact set on the Lowe's site and it said they were in stock at my local store. I called and the guy there told me it showed they were in stock, but must have sold them all because he couldn't find them. After hanging up with him, I kept thinking, how could they still show they have 6 in inventory, but not have any. So I called back in my persistence and talked to a girl this time. I asked her to look for me and lo and behold she found them! Yay

If your gut is telling you something, always be persistent. :)

Here is the netting I got to drape over my umbrella.

Now maybe I can enjoy my deck instead of being chased away by all the mosquitoes!

The deck floor dried nicely. It actually darkened after it dried instead of getting lighter like I thought it would. I'm glad though, I love the color. I still have more work to do, paint the railings white, get lounge chair, etc.

Here is my list of cross offs and what I still need to do.

1. ~~Stain the deck floor. I'm using Olympic Maximum stain in the color Oxford Brown. It's a dark stain almost the color of walnut. From Lowe's. It's the stain and sealer in one to save money.~~

2. Paint the privacy fence and the rest of the railings around the deck white. I'll use Olympic exterior white.

3. Attach a shower to the deck, since I don't have a pool and can't jump in the pool, it's the next best thing to jump under the cold shower outside to cool off on these humid days. It's the AquaSource Chrome double handled outdoor shower from Lowe's.

4. ~~I got the mosquito net I said I wanted, to put over the umbrella because of the horrible mosquito problem I have here.~~

5. Find and purchase a bistro set. I've been looking everywhere and can't find one I like for a decent price. I checked all the thrift, furniture and antique stores around town and nothing. I checked Amazon, Overstock, and some department stores and still nothing. If anyone knows of a nice little bistro set please let me know!

6. Put towel hooks on the privacy fence.

7. Thinking about attaching a shelf to the fence to put plants on, but still not sure about that yet.

8. Get a lounge chair.

9. Paint side table for lounge chair white.

10. Make a wood shower mat for the shower area.

Finished Staining the Deck

2011-08-23T13:41:00.000-04:00

I tackled staining the deck today. What's funny is I was told not to stain it using a paintbrush by a couple of people because it would be too hard to do it that way and would take forever. Well, once I got started, it seemed to go along pretty fast and I was actually done before I knew it. One of the rare times it took me less time to do than I thought. I decided to use a paintbrush because I just didn't want any weird streaks or blotches from a roller or sprayer, so I was stubborn and used the paintbrush anyway and am glad I did. It turned out wonderful.

I used a big bulky cheap paintbrush I got from Big Lots for $2.00.

They have really great prices on all their painting supplies if you want to save some $$ in that area. Paints and stains alone can already cost so much as it is.

Oh and I bought 2 gallons of stain and I only used a little over half of one can. It's non-refundable so I messed up there. I'll just save it to use some more on it next year if it needs it again.

It will most likely dry lighter, but so far I love it!

I have a surprise about the bistro set so I will post that tomorrow! :)

Deck Project - Part 2

2011-08-21T19:33:00.000-04:00

I spent the last 3 days working on my deck. Like all the projects I have tackled in the past, this one also took much longer than expected. I can't get over how off on time I am in predicting how long things take. lol
Anyway, the first thing I did was use a pressure washer to wash the deck floor, it really took off a lot of years of dirt and grime. Looks brand new now! That's my sweet dad back there washing more flooring in front of the shed.

Floor is so clean.

Here is what the pressure washer looks like, you just screw the water hose into it and it runs on gas.

I felt like The Terminator carrying this thing around!

Next I started putting the privacy fence up. It's going to be painted completely white when it's done. It took me almost all day yesterday to put up that little white part of the fence by myself, much much harder than I expected (I had to cut grooves in the wood where the chain link fence ran into it, the hardest part). I ended up calling my dad to the rescue to help me finish putting it up today.

Here is the deck after the floors are washed and the fence is up, it is starting to really come together.

So cozy and private now. :-)

My next steps are:

1. Stain the deck floor. I'm using Olympic Maximum stain in the color Oxford Brown. It's a dark stain almost the color of walnut. From Lowe's. It's the stain and sealer in one to save money.

2. Then I'll paint the privacy fence and the rest of the railings around the deck white. I'll use Olympic exterior white.

3. Attach a shower to the deck, since I don't have a pool and can't jump in the pool, it's the next best thing to jump under the cold shower outside to cool off on these humid days. It's the AquaSource Chrome double handled outdoor shower from Lowe's.

4. I got the mosquito net I said I wanted, to put over the umbrella because of the horrible mosquito problem I have here.

5. Find and purchase a bistro set. I've been looking everywhere and can't find one I like for a decent price. I checked all the thrift, furniture and antique stores around town and nothing. I checked Amazon, Overstock, and some department stores and still nothing. If anyone knows of a nice little bistro set please let me know!

6. Put towel hooks on the privacy fence.

7. Thinking about attaching a shelf to the fence to put plants on, but still not sure about that yet.

After I'm done with the deck, I'm going to attack the sheds and start on giving them a little makeover.

I can't wait for this to all come together!

He Loves Me!

2011-08-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading this book called He Loves Me!, by Wayne Jacobsen. Katie, from the blog Radiance From Ruins, left me a comment suggesting I read this book. Thanks Katie, it was so worth the read!

I have been away from the Lord for the past 10 years and have just recently come back to him and renewing our relationship together. As much as I thought I understood how much God cared about me back before I fell away, I still apparently missed it, because I would have never run from him if I truly grasped how deep his love is for me. During my prayer time at Catalina Island a few weeks ago I totally surrendered to God and his beautiful presence filled me and he spoke to me telling me he loves me. He explained if I will come close to him, he will come close to me and reveal even more of himself to me. The more time I will spend with him, the more he will reveal. And I need all the love revealed to me that I can get!

I have always had a bad feeling inside when I hear certain preachers standing on street corners and yelling out to everyone that they are going to hell. My first thought and probably most everyones around me is get this guy away from me! We as humans long to feel love, we don't need anyone shouting our flaws and faults at us because let's face it, we are full aware of all our many failings and flaws already. I know I am! I long more to be loved and I know we all do. This book opens our eyes to the many ways God is always reaching out to us in love. He is never trying to hit us over the head with a bible, he gently calls us to him.

I almost don't even know how to put this book into words, but it takes our misconceptions of who we thought God was and shows us the softer side of God, the huge heart he has, the deep love he does everything out of. Wayne tries to point us to the direction of a loving relationship, not a works centered religion that makes us feel like unless we are doing something special for God he isn't happy with us. He shows us that trying to follow the laws and rules that we may find in the bible will only leave us frustrated. We just don't have what it takes to live a perfect life. Wayne does an awesome job going really in depth about grace, because this is where grace comes in. God loves us already, we don't have to do anything to get him to love us, he just does. When we truly learn to love him back and learn about his amazing and huge love for us personally, out of that stems a longing to do what is right. Religion can get it backwards. "No wonder Paul said that to really love like God loves will fulfill every bit of the law without even trying." p.187.

One of the things I really liked in the book was his teaching on what Jesus said in John 14:23 "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." He shows how this verse can be taken 2 different ways. One way is the idea that if you say you love God you would keep his commands as if keeping them will be the way you prove your love. The teachings and actions of Jesus' interpretation really reveals a different way, which is if we get the loving right, the keeping will take care of itself. Paul said love will fulfill the whole law. The book points out the difference in the way we take this is critical in how we invest our efforts... in keeping or loving. (Some of this can be found on page 187)

If you have found God's love and want to read a book that will awaken your soul to seek out even more of God's love, this is a great book to point you in that direction. If you aren't really sure about God's love this is also a book that can open your eyes to the truth of how loving our heavenly father really is.

This is hands down one of the best books I've ever read, I really recommend it. It reads easy and is a page turner.

I got mine from Amazon He Loves Me!

California Vacation - More pics!

2011-08-09T20:32:00.001-04:00

I put together a little video of more of the pics I took in California. I've never made a photo video before so I really had no idea what I was doing, but I think it seemed to turn out okay. Maybe I can post pics like this more often in video form since I know I can do this now.

I have tons of pics, so I tried to pick out the ones that I liked most, it came out to 3 minutes long. The photos are from Venice Beach, Rodeo Drive, LA, Long Beach, Huntington Beach and Beverly Hills. I already posted pics of Hollywood and Catalina Island a couple of posts down.

My pics of California.

I just redid the video and copied it from YouTube to make it bigger.
The little dog belongs to my friends niece that we stayed with. He was so adorable, he looks like the dog I had before I got Little Foot. We all had a great time and I packed a lot of stuff in just one week!

Now to start figuring out where I want to go on vacation next! :)

Tackling the Deck - Part 1

2011-08-09T12:27:00.001-04:00

I knocked down the railing on the back of my deck this past weekend. I am ready to start fixing up the outdoor area. I love how open it is now, it doesn't feel all closed in. I have a fence around my yard, so I didn't really see the need to have this little area fenced in also.

Here is how it looked before.

In the photo below, this is looking to the left. This side faces my neighbors house and my neighbor is a little close, so I'm wanting to put up a privacy fence on this part of my deck.

In the photo below, I like how this privacy wall looks on the deck. This is sort of the goal I am trying to reach.
I wouldn't mind if the view looked out to the ocean, but I am happy with all the beautiful green lush trees towering all around me and shading me from the harsh sun and heat we've been having. :)

I also adore this little set up to sit and eat at. I had a little table and chair on my back deck when I lived in Melbourne, FL, wish I hadn't got rid of it. I may invest in a little seating area like this though, the picnic table is too bulky so I have that back in the carport and will only pull it out when I have company over.

It doesn't look like much now, but I have a vision. I'm going to reseal the floors, maybe stain them, not sure. I might paint the new privacy fence and remaining rails white, add the bistro set and put some flowers around. Can you see the vision?

Hollywood

2011-08-05T08:18:00.000-04:00

This was the only photo I got of the Hollywood sign on the mountain. I was hoping to see it again while I was there to get a better pic of it, but we never did see it again.

I had to go check out Hollywood Blvd while I was there. When you think of CA, the first thing that comes to mind is Hollywood. So I had to go see what all the fuss was about.

Okay so it's a very crowded street with thousands of tourists taking photos of everything! LOL The person we were staying with kept saying, you don't want to go there! He lives there and knew how it was, but I'm stubborn and had to see for myself.

While I was there, I had to be the ultimate tourist, too and check out the footprints from the stars. I hunted down my Johnny Depp and found him! My, what big feet he has.

You know what is funny, I was so excited about finding Johnny's prints, I didn't even notice I was sitting right next to Richard Gere's prints until I looked back at this photo.

Pantages

and that was all of that I could handle! haha

I'll continue to post more pics of my trip soon!

Catalina Island

2011-08-01T08:37:00.000-04:00

I've been on vacation to California and had a wonderful time. I've always wanted to visit CA since I was a little girl and it was really exciting to get to see! I will start with my favorite part of the trip, which was a ferry ride over to Catalina Island.

This is the ferry we rode over on.

I went with a couple of friends.

I was really surprised to see how it looked there.

It actually reminded me of Greece.

Isn't this beautiful?

I've never been to Greece, but from what I have seen of it in the movies, this is what it reminded me of.

This place was absolutely amazing! My friends I went to the island with had to go back early, but I stayed an extra day there by myself and explored more of the island.

For those that have been following my blog or who know me, have heard me talk about how I want to get back close to God again. I use to have a strong relationship with the Lord, but fell away about 8 or 9 years ago.

While I was at the island, I began praying again and had an amazing prayer time with the Lord.

He revealed to me how much He still loves me and that He's still here for me. God came through for me and I pray that I never stray from Him again. All He longs for is a relationship with us. :)

There's so much to do on the island, but not enough time to do it all in. I would need to stay there at least a month to accomplish half of what they have to offer!

I took hundreds of pictures, so I will try to post more throughout the week of Los Angeles, Venus Beach, Hollywood, Long Beach, etc.

I really needed this vacation, but it does feel good to be back home again. :)

Summer Squash Soup

2011-07-18T15:35:00.000-04:00

My dads garden is giving us a lot of squash right now so I've been making squash soup with it. This is sort of my own little recipe that I put together, so here is the recipe in photo form. :)

First I get 4 or 5 medium squash and a large leek,

then chop up the squash in small pieces.

Cut the leek up real thin.

Then add some oil to a pot.

Any kind of oil, I cook mostly with unrefined coconut oil,

but you can use whatever you like.

Then add the leeks and cook for a few minutes,

then add broth. You can use vegetable or chicken broth.

Don't put a lot of broth because the squash will make plenty of it's own liquid because squash is mostly water.

Then after the leeks have softened up some, add all of the chopped squash.

You shouldn't see any of the broth that is at the bottom after you add the squash.

Bring to a boil, then bring the heat back down to a low simmer and cover with a lid.

Let cook around 20 minutes until the squash gets softer.

Add the whole pot to a blender and blend, you may have to blend half the pot at a time.

Then I add some salt and shredded cheese for more flavor.

Then you have delicious Summer Squash Soup!

This stuff is so addicting, I've been eating it almost every day.

I am going to try to freeze a batch of it to see how it freezes, not sure if that would work or not, but boy would I love to have some of this on hand throughout the year, especially in the winter months.

A Green Bean Day

2011-07-15T11:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we spent the whole day canning green beans. Talk about having fresh home veggies, we started out first thing in the morning picking them from the garden. We had so many huge bowls of beans I wish I had taken a picture, but I completely forgot to take pics of the processes until the very end when we had them all canned. So these cans are from all the hard work we did yesterday. Canning them involved...

Picking them from the garden
Filling sink and soaking to wash off dirt
Snapping each bean (snap off each end, then snap into bite sizes)
Then filling sink again and re-soaking to wash off remaining dirt
Sterilizing Mason and Ball jars
Fill each jar with beans
Add pinch of salt
Sterilize lids
Add lids
Set pressure cooker and put jars in cooker (this sterilizes any contaminants or bacteria in beans)
Remove and put on table and wait for that POP sound when the lid seals

We finished with 61 cans of green beans.

It was a fabulous and fulfilling day, now we have lots of green beans to get us through the winter.

Here is my post from last year when we were - Canning Green Beans.

Garden Progress #3

2011-07-11T16:47:00.000-04:00

I was having a hard time with my garden because of the weeds. When I would try to weed I was getting attacked by mosquitoes so I gave up on it. I have just figured out, if I weed around 3pm in the afternoon, there are no mosquitoes out there. They can't take the heat, but I can! So I have started weeding my garden and now it looks so much better and is growing better now. I guess the weeds can suck the nutrients from the plants or something, I'm not sure. Here is the progress in the photo above. Click links to see when I first started it at month 1 and month 2.

Bell Peppers

I planted a ton of bell peppers because they are just so pricey in the stores and I can't bring myself to buy them all the time. Thought I would grow my own and freeze what I can't eat.

Bell Peppers - Already growing and looking good.

Below is all the basil I planted. This stuff grows like crazy. Last year my basil did really good, so I figured I would grow it again and make pesto and freeze what I don't use now. The back is Thai Basil and in the front is Sweet Basil. (To the left of them are cucumbers that are growing out of control.)

Thai and Sweet Basil

I always have to grow Banana Peppers so I can have peppers for my authentic homemade salsa.

Banana Peppers

I haven't done real well with my herbs, but I must say, between the basil and the dill, they are very hardy and strong herbs that managed to grow very well, despite my limited gardening knowledge. I could not for the life of me get my cilantro to thrive. It did horrible, just puney little shoots that didn't last but a couple of weeks then poof. My mint didn't last long either. Cilantro is my favorite herb and I use it almost daily. I would give anything to be able to grow it.

Dill

I got 3 Blueberry bushes and planted in the garden a couple of weeks ago.

I am not sure if I'm going to have my garden in this spot next year is why I put them here, but now that I can weed the garden in the middle of the day without the mosquitoes, I am questioning if I should have put them here, because they will grow too big to have a garden around them. Did any of that make sense? lol

Blueberry Bush

Here is my patio, things are growing okay here, too. I'm not getting as many cayenne peppers from the potted plants as I did when I planted them in the garden last year though. I may need to replant them in bigger pots.

Patio garden

One of my tomato plants on my patio finally started giving me some tomatoes! I'm so excited.

I've been regularly going out in the garden and grabbing me some cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes almost on a daily basis. It is so fun to eat veggies when you grow them yourself! If you have a child that is a picky eater and doesn't like veggies, this would SO encourage them to eat them if they grew them themselves. :)

My Topsy Turvey has been giving me lots of little cherry tomatoes.

That is my progress for now. I want to find a pickle recipe and pickle my cucumbers.

If I get enough cayenne peppers I want to pickle those, too. I am going to can some green beans at my dads farm this week, his garden is amazing! He has squash like there is no tomorrow, so I've been making summer squash soup lately with it. I will have to post the recipe for it later. We've been eating a lot of food from his garden, so I'll post that soon, too.

Last but not least, I also planted 2 new rose bushes. One in front of my house next to my front door and one in the back yard. Pretty eh?

Happy gardening to all my fellow gardeners!

Friendliest Town in America

2011-06-30T15:24:00.001-04:00

Mount Airy, NC

Here is a video that was taken this past weekend of the town I live in, Mount Airy, NC (Mayberry). It truly is one of the most comfortable places I've lived. I love that there is never any rush hour traffic here, since I am use to living in big cities, this is a blessing. It's easy to navigate and find your way around and you never have to worry about getting lost somewhere.

Watch video

Best of the Road Mt. Airy NC from Gone With the Wynns on Vimeo.

Right now they are judging which cities are the friendliest in America and so far, Mt. Airy is in the top three. If you watch the video, they take you around to different places around our town. They show some of Trio restaurant, my favorite restaurant in town. It's where you can find the healthiest food among the sea of grease joints here. They also take you to another one of my favorites, Thailand Cafe. They show our parks, Main St, shops, dancing, etc. Hope you enjoy!

Here are some photos the judges took while they were here.

Mount Airy photos

Small town charm and nothin' more.

Picnic without being Bugged

2011-06-28T15:34:00.000-04:00

I just stumbled across this while looking around at some blogs. I love this and must have it!
I have been getting ate up by mosquitoes on my deck and this would be great to drape some netting like this over my umbrella. I wonder where I can find something like this. Any ideas?

I found the pic from this blog. Aiken House & Garden. She got hers at a thrift store.

Misty Morning

2011-06-24T08:59:00.000-04:00

Happy Summer!

2011-06-21T14:43:00.000-04:00

Today is the first day of summer!

My favorite time of year.

I love the heat, humidity, sunshine, I live for it!

It's been raining since April, but hopefully it will let up a little and we can get outdoors more. Today is beautiful.

I even decorated my mantle for summer.

I'm going to have the photo of the beach I took above blown up and frame it and put it on the mantle, too.

I know, I haven't been doing anything to my house this year, I have been enjoying all that I did to it last year, though. :) I'm just taking a little break from it, maybe I will work on it more after summer.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T19:12:00.000-04:00

Love You!!!

Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe

Had a wonderful day with my dad on Father's Day.

The cupcakes I made him were delish!

Check out the recipe above.

Lil' Veggies

2011-06-17T13:14:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to make a post to remind myself that I fertilized the garden today. I use my blog as sort of a diary so I can go back and keep track of things.

Here is all the new growth I have got from the garden so far.

I think I'm most excited about all the cherry tomatoes on my Topsy Turvy, there must be almost 50 tomatoes on it!!

Cherry tomatoes

My strawberries didn't do well at all, not sure if I will try to grow these again. I don't like the strawberry planter, there is no hole in the bottom for water to drain out, so the bottom 2 plants died that were the farthest down since the soil was too wet for them. They only gave me little tiny strawberries, not a good size either.

Strawberries

I think cucumbers are the cutest to see growing. I love how they grew up the wire holder and they wrap their little hands around to hold on as they grow up it.

Cucumbers

I grew banana peppers last year and they did really well, so I am growing them again this year, too.

I love making salsa out of these.

Banana Pepper

Cayenne Peppers

I don't think I could kill these chives if I tried. The purple flowers at the top sure are pretty.

You can use these flowers to make Chive Vinegar, too.

Living The Frugal Life and Calendula & Concrete show beautiful photos of their vinegar.

Chives

This is the biggest moth I have ever seen in my life! It is 3 inches long if not longer. I did some research and I found that it's called a Regal Moth (Hickory Horned Devil-larva form). Those horns do creep me out a little, but I think it is actually really pretty. It has fur on it that looks like velvet. It was on my deck and scared me when I first saw it. They apparently are harmless though, so I am gonna just let him hang out there. :)

I'm hoping in another 2 or 3 weeks I should be having a nice supply of veggies I can finally pick and eat!

This is definitely a learning experience with a lot of trial and error.

I'm having fun though and if the mosquitoes weren't so bad here, I would probably be completely obsessed with my garden and stay in it all day!

Lost Island Food

2011-06-15T15:15:00.000-04:00

Chef Robert Irvine cooked an amazing meal for the cast and crew of Lost. He went to Hawaii where the show is filmed and he had to prepare this meal right on the beach with no kitchen. They let him go to a hardware store where he came back and built his own kitchen. They gave him the food that was only found on the island, but later they gave him a dahrma drop where he got to use extra goodies to cook with. He had to build a kitchen and cook a huge meal for 90 people in only 7 hours. He also had to take the food all the way to the set after he cooked it all. Needless to say, he passed the test with flying colors.

I was blown away by all the amazing things he came up with off the top of his head. One thing in particular he made that really caught my eye was his cooked shrimp inside pineapple bowls. He didn't have anything to put the shrimp in, so he got creative and carved out the pineapples to make bowls with them. I scoured the internet looking for this recipe and couldn't find it at all. So I finally found a video that shows him making it, and I took notes as he told what all he put in it and how he made it. So I wrote it down and had to try to make this one myself!

He used chard, so I happen to have some of that growing in my backyard, so I pulled some chard up

and washed it really well in the sink.

Next was the part I wasn't sure how to do. He didn't say how to hollow out the pineapple really, so I just used a knife and started cutting away. Cutting out the core part helped the most, the rest of it just came right out.

I had some shrimp in my freezer that my dad had brought back fresh from Florida, so I cooked that.

I had to peel and devein it myself, so if you buy the shrimp already done for you, it really saves a lot of time in the preparation.

Robert cooked his chard in butter, but I cooked mine in olive oil, garlic and crushed red peppers.

Then I filled up the pineapple half full with the cooked chard.

Put the shrimp on top and then poured the sauce over it.

I'll tell how to make the sauce in the recipe below.

Then bake it in the oven.

Then the best part of all... eating it!

Wow, just wow! This turned out amazing!!!! It took some time to put it together, but it was worth every minute. He served this to go along with other food, but I just ate it as a single meal for my lunch today. It was filling and very satisfying.

Here is some of the episode where Irving is making the food for the Lost crew.

Here is the recipe, it doesn't really have a name or anything. I guess I could call it pineapple shrimp surprise. :)

Pineapple Shrimp Surprise
Water
Peanut butter
Steak Sauce
Fish Sauce
Chard
Olive oil
Garlic
Crushed red pepper
Pineapple
Shrimp (peeled and vained)

Sauce:

Water
Peanut butter
Steak sauce
Fish Sauce

Mix water and a few Tbsp of peanut butter together. Flavor with a tad of the fish sauce and steak sauce. I poured some of the juice from the pineapple in it, too.

Cook olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper in a skillet. Add chard and a small amt of water. Cook til desired tenderness.

Hollow out a pineapple and fill it half way with the chard. Boil abt 15 shrimp and put on top of the chard. Pour some of the sauce on top of the shrimp. Bake in oven at 400F between 10 and 15 minutes.

Garnish as desired. Add the leftover pineapple to the plate. Enjoy!

You will automatically be transported to a tropical paradise as you eat this!

The Farm Garden - Progress

2011-06-14T10:44:00.002-04:00

Here is the garden over at my dads farm. I came over here today and a friend and I were weeding it. It's doing really good. I think the soil here is much better than the soil at my house. Things just seem to sprout up in no time and he even planted his things after I did.

That is the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background.

The views around his farm are beautiful.

He's got a lot of Boxwood on the farm, too. Some of it's mine, I planted it about 10 years or so ago. We are selling it, so if you need any Boxwood bushes, just let me know!

[Boxwood bushes]

The grapes are even growing already. Last year I bottled my own grape juice, so I'm hoping to do it again this year, too. My dad makes wine with it.

These grapes are sooo delish,, too!

I think these are the Muscadine.

Little Foot's been having a ball running around on the farm all morning. He was even wanting to go after the cows and staring them down in his Border Collie stance. I'm so proud of him!

Garden Progress

2011-06-12T15:02:00.000-04:00

My garden is doing pretty good so far. Minus the weeds! I don't weed like I should because of all the mosquitoes I get attacked by. My plan was to buy a larger and higher fence to put around the garden this year to keep Little Foot out, but I never got around to it, so I just used what I had here and tied string around it. He dug a big hole in it and messed up a few things, but I tried to fix it and now keep a better eye on him when he's out.

It's grown a lot in just 1 month!

Here is how the deck plants are doing.

I'm so glad my chives lived!

My lawnboy had mowed them down and I didn't know if they would make it after I uprooted them from the garden. They are hefty little plants.

[Before]

My Topsy Turvy is also doing better than I expected.

I didn't know if these things really worked or not, but I actually think it's doing better than the tomatoes in the garden or in the pots. Still have to wait to see how many tomatoes it gives me, there are lots of tiny little green ones on it already.

Here is my first tomato I got to pick, it grew from one of the potted plants. It looks real pretty, but it didn't taste that great and it had a really funny texture to it. So sad. :(

The plant I got this tomato from is dying, looks like it has some sort of fungus attacking it.

Little tiny black dots all over the leaves. I have no idea what to do about that, if anyone knows what it is or how to treat it, please let me know.

Photo of plant here.

The flowers are coming back nicely this year, too.

Here's the Hydrangeas.

The rhododendron that was here when I moved here.

Last year it didn't bloom really, but this year it is in full bloom!

Well, that's what I got so far.

How is your garden or plants doing this year?

Clean Chicken Divan

2011-06-07T19:52:00.000-04:00

Chicken Divan
Source: Clean Eating Magazine, May/June 2009, page 58
Serves: 4 to 6

2 cups low fat, low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks, sliced very thin and cleaned
1/2 pound cremini or button mushrooms (8 ounces, about 15), sliced and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 pound broccoli, florets and stems cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup cooked cannellini beans, or 1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, freshly grated
2 tbsp fresh chives
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 ounces reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a wide, medium saucepan with a tightly fitting lid, bring broth to a boil. Add chicken, cover pan and reduce heat so broth and chicken simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove pan from heat (do not uncover) and poach chicken in hot broth for 12-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

While chicken poaches, heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add leeks and mushrooms. Cook stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender and liquid has cooked out, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds before removing pan from heat and setting aside.

When chicken is done, lift from the both and transfer to a cutting board. Cover saucepan and return broth to a boil. Cut chicken into 1/2 inch cubes and set aside, keeping warm. Add broccoli to boiling broth, cover pan again and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook broccoli until it is fork tender, not mushy, about 5 to 7 minutes. Lift broccoli from broth with a slotted spoon and distribute it onto the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Set aside. Reserve broth.

Add beans, cottage cheese, parmigiano-reggiano cheese, chives and thyme to a blender or food processor. Add cooked leeks, mushrooms and garlic. Carefully pour broth into blender or food processor and puree mixture until very smooth, taking care to avoid escaping steam or hot liquid splashes.

In a bowl, mix lemon juice and pepper together with chicken. Pour half of puree over chicken and stir to combine. Spread chicken across broccoli in baking pan and then pour remaining puree over top. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and transfer to oven. Bake for 15 minutes and then, if desired, broil for 5 additional minutes to brown the top of the casserole.

Serve a heaping spoonful of casserole on top of steamed grains, like brown rice or barley pilaf. Be sure to ladle the flavorful juice from the bottom of the pan onto hot cooked grains.

______

This time Lou's husband Todd picked the recipe. Today is his birthday, so she wanted him to pick what he wanted to eat for tonight.

Happy Birthday Todd!!!!

You can go and see her Chicken Divan here.

I copied this recipe from Sparkpeople website when I made it. There was a slight problem though, they never said to put the beans in the recipe anywhere, so after I made the sauce and poured it over the broccoli and chicken, I assumed the beans went in the puree. It was too late, so my puree was a little watery. To see how the photo of this recipe was suppose to look, check out this blogger at Proceed with Caution. Wish I would have found her recipe instead of the one I used. Oh well, seems I make quite a few cooking mistakes, so I won't quit my day job! lol

All in all it had a great flavor and I really liked it. I'd never had this before, but Lou said it's a favorite of hers and Todd's from way back. Thank you Todd for the recipe idea! :)

Cherry Smoothie

2011-06-05T08:57:00.001-04:00

After we picked all the cherries, then comes the task of pitting them. So I borrowed this fancy pitting contraption from my dad to pit the cherries. You just put them in the little cup part of it, they roll down into the shoot, then you press down on that black lever and it knocks the pit out of it into a little tray at the bottom and the pitted cherries fall into the bowl.

Next I just laid the cherries on a bunch of cookie racks so they don't touch each other, then freeze overnight.

This morning I got up and threw them all in freezer bags.

Then made myself a cherry smoothie for breakfast!

Mmmmmm

Cherry Smoothie

-Frozen cherries

-Plain Yogurt

-Frozen Acai

-Almond milk

I'm not sure what else I will make with the cherries, this is the first time I've frozen cherries like this, so I need to come up with some ideas for them. If you have any, just throw them my way. :)

My dad is going to use his for his breakfast in the mornings. Every morning he makes a little concoction of cottage cheese, Flax oil, nuts, seeds, and fruit.

Someone commented on my last post asking what I was going to do with the cherries, so I thought I would post this little smoothie recipe. Enjoy! :)

Cherry Pickin'

2011-06-04T16:21:00.000-04:00

I went cherry pickin' with my dad yesterday and we got a bunch of cherries!

A lady not too far from me has a huge cherry tree farm and she lets people come to her farm and pick as many cherries as they want. She only charges $2.00 a pound.

This was the first time I have ever picked cherries before, so it was a fun experience. I even got to climb up a ladder and pick the ones at the top that you can't reach.

Here are our 3 buckets!

They taste delish and of course we were eating a bunch of them as we were pickin' 'em!

Nope small town life ain't all that bad.

Vegetable Rosti with Tomato-Corn Relish

2011-05-31T20:15:00.001-04:00

This is a recipe I found in Vegetarian Times Magazine. It was my turn to pick the recipe this week and this looked great in the book. Right before I went to make it, I went online to see if I could find the recipe to print out so I didn't have to type it all out and on the web site, I noticed there were some comments about this meal. Every single person that left a comment didn't like it and said it was bland and no flavor, all sorts of horrible comments about it. So I tried to get a hold of Lou in a frantic worried I had picked a horrible dish to make and tell her abt the negative comments! We decided to go ahead and make it anyway.

Well Lou had a great experience. She loved hers and so did her husband Todd. She said it was flavorful and everything about it turned out perfect. You can go to see Lou's review of the meal here. Lou Girl Plus Tea

I didn't have as much luck as Lou. When I first started making mine, they were falling all apart and it was frustrating me. So I added some more flour and egg. Then the egg helped it stay together a little better, but they still weren't very sturdy. I took a bite of it and didn't like it. The potatoes were still crunchy even after cooking it the amount of time it said. I hate potatoes that are still crunchy and not completely done.
Then for the relish. I made that and didn't like it either. I used the basil and so I picked all the basil out thinking that was why I didn't like it and I added cilantro instead, it was still blah. So I added some lime juice and more salt. It was okay but nothing great. So there I sat eating my crunchy falling apart meal with relish that I could live without. Sorry, but I just didn't like this meal either. :(

Well, if I have wet your appetite to want to try this amazing meal, you can go get the recipe here at the Vegetarian Times website. haha

Vegetable Rosti with Tomato-corn Relish

I really wanted to like this meal, I tried the best I could, but it just didn't work out. I even tried a few of the tricks the commenters suggested on that page, but still, no.

The picture looks real pretty though, doesn't it?

This Quaint Lil' Town

2011-05-24T10:34:00.000-04:00

You know, I rant sometimes about the weather here and how I long for a tropical climate year round ... long for there to be a beach close by, but I must admit... this IS the nicest and friendliest town I've ever lived in and I've lived in quite a few different places over the years. There are so many positives about living here and a small country town really warms the soul.

Today I saw a link that said Mount Airy is the 3rd friendliest town in the top 211 towns in America.

Here's a link where a lot of friendly folks had nothing but nice things to say about this quaint little place.

Click the link below to either vote or read comments.

bestoftheroad.com

Just thought I would share because sometimes the grass looks greener somewhere else (Hawaii, Bahamas, Island off of Thailand), and sometimes we are already in green pastures if we just look for it where we are.

And for you trouble makers thinkin' of givin' this town a bad name,

don't forget Barney Fife keeps everyone in line around here.

Hot Weather Treats

2011-05-23T20:00:00.000-04:00

I posted in my No-Buy post that I was going to try to also spend less on my groceries. I was going through the grocery store the other day and was looking for a treat to buy. I get the coconut ice cream a lot that's made with coconut milk instead of dairy and sometimes I like to buy the frozen fruit bars. They are so pricey though! So as I was looking at the high price tags on all these items the thought occurred to me that I should try to make my own.

I have no idea how to make my own, I didn't even Google how to do it, I was just playing around and came up with my own fruit bars. I found some frozen peaches in my freezer from my dads farm that I had frozen. So I threw them in a blender. Added some coconut milk and Agave to sweeten...

...then filled up some Popsicle trays and popped them in the freezer.

I had a little left over so I filled up some ice trays, too.

Then after they freeze, take them outside on a hot sunny day and I have a yummy homemade treat!

Peach popsicle

I was also playing around trying to make a Coconut popsicle. I used coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut flakes, coconut extract and agave. The only thing weird that happened with that is all the coconut flakes floated to the top and when I ate the popsicle, it was coconut ice milk at one end and frozen flakes at the other. Maybe I will keep working on my coconut recipe or just Google how to do it.

Coconut popsicle

I'm sure you could probably take almost any smoothie recipe and pour them into popsicle or ice trays and get a nice frozen treat. I was also thinking if I have leftover fruit I could always juice them and make them that way, too.

Hey, ya gotta cut corners any way you can! These cost only a small fraction of the price I would have paid in the store. :) Share your money saving ideas for yummy summer treats, I would love to hear them.

Shrimp Ceviche & Mango De Gallo

2011-05-20T18:45:00.002-04:00

I made this for dinner tonight, it's called Shrimp Ceviche. I found it from the blog I Love Feta Cheese. It was really delicious and super easy to make and it only takes about 5 minutes to throw together!
(My dad brought this shrimp back with him fresh from the coast of Florida.)

Shrimp Ceviche

1 lb of shrimp (around ~ 40 shrimps), cooked. I buy them frozen and cooked from Whole Foods.
2 lemons
2 limes
2 small tomatoes
1/2 an avocado
1/4 cup, or 1 handful, of chopped cilantro
sea salt and pepper to taste
drizzle of EVOO

Start by rinsing frozen shrimp to defrost and take tails off. Chop tomato and avocado into about 1 inch pieces and add to shrimp. Top everything with the juice of lime, lemon, some chopped cilantro, a drizzle of EVOO, sea salt and pepper. So easy and delicious!!

*You can also chop these ingredients up real fine and serve it as a dip or a topping.

Mango De Gallo

You make this just like Pico De Gallo, except you use mango instead of tomatoes.

Mango De Gallo:
Red onion
Mango
Cilantro
Lime juice
Salt
Garlic

I put the Mango De Gallo on my scrambled eggs this morning. Oh so yum.

I thought I had some blue corn chips here I was going to finish off the rest of it with and when I went to get them, they were nowhere to be found! Guess I ate them, don't you hate it when that happens? Anyway, I am sure they would be great with chips.

My garden is really taking off with all this rain we've had. I sure am glad I planted the rows down hill this year or they probably wouldn't have survived. It's been rainy and gloomy all week, but this weekend is suppose to clear up and get up to 80F degrees. About time!

Just like last year, my thai basil it growing like wild fire. I already cut off a bunch of it today so I can freeze it. I just rinsed it off under water, let dry on counter and freeze. I can add it to soups and meals later, I really regret not freezing a bunch of it last year. This year I learned my lesson, I'm freezing as much as I can.

My Thai Basil from the garden.

I'll probably take some pics next week to show how well the garden and deck plants are doing. My tomato has almost doubled in size, I had no idea these were going to get so big, maybe it isn't such a good idea to try to grow them in pots, but they are doing fine so far. I just know last year my tomatoes did horrible out in the garden, so I didn't want a repeat of that.

Lou and I have decided to only do our Tuesday night dinners every other week as the summer is approaching since this time of year is busier for the both of us. It's my turn to pick and I have a yummy recipe already picked out. Sorry for those of you that hate seafood, we seem to keep picking seafood recipes. Seafood is one of my favorite foods on the planet. Growing up in Florida I had access to more fresh seafood there, so I just grew up on it and can't imagine ever giving it up. My dad went on a deep sea fishing trip this year to FL and brought me back a bunch of fresh fish they caught and a bunch of fresh shrimp caught fresh that day. He froze it that day, too, so it would be the freshest it could be. It doesn't get better than that. Well, I guess me catching it and living on the coast myself WOULD be better than that, but I'm going to try not to have those daydreams! haha

Tuesday Night Dinner

2011-05-17T17:08:00.000-04:00

Lou picked the meal this time. The meal turned out nice, but it would have turned out so much better had I been able to find crepes. I walked all over the store looking for them and even asked the people who worked there for help. When I asked them where the Crepes were they looked at me like I was from Mars, although, I knew that would be the case before I asked. lol At first they thought I was saying grapes, one girl said she would go look and I never saw her again. Oh the drama of finding crepes. So I used flatbread instead.

I know I can make my own crepes, so maybe I will try to do that in the future.

Anyway, here is how my Creamy Ham and Arugula (flatbread) Crepes turned out.

Creamy Ham and Arugula Crepes

1/2 cup reduced-fat tub-style cream cheese
2 Tablespoons fat-free milk
2 scallions (green part only) thinly sliced
8 Crepes
8 (1 oz) slices lean Black Forest ham
1 small bunch arugula, trimmed

Whisk together cream cheese and milk in small bowl until smooth. Stir in scallions.
Place 1 crepe on work surface, prettiest side down. Spread 1 rounded Tablespoon of cream cheese mixture over half of crepe closed to you. Top with 1 slice of ham and 1/4 cup of arugula; roll up jelly roll style. Repeat, making a total of 8 filled crepes. Cut 2 of the crepes in thirds. Serve and enjoy. For a side item tomato wedges go well :)

This is how they were suppose to look with the crepes.

Photo from Weight Watchers Cookbook.

Note to Lou: The new rule is you must mail me the ingredients that are hard to find in a small town first before we make the meal!! Haha

Still Saving Money

2011-05-11T09:25:00.000-04:00

I went on a No-Buy last month and so far, so good. I've been focusing on just purchasing the basics and trying to cut down in those areas, too. Such as trying to save on electric, grocery bills, etc. I usually spend a crazy amount of money on groceries a month and it's just me. You would think I had 3 mouths to feed with what my bill costs! So this week I spent only half of what I usually spend at the grocery store and will try to make that last throughout the whole week. I bought mostly fruits and veggies, some fish and chicken, tortillas and oyster sauce to make some thai stir fry. I love drinking coconut milk, so I found a coupon online for that. I just Googled coconut milk coupon and found one. You can find a lot of coupons for things you regularly buy by doing this.
I have a friend that's really into coupons and she even invented her own coupon organizer. It is set up by Aisle, so if you shop the same store all the time, this could come in handy. You can get them from her at Coupon Compass. There is a link to her site on my sidebar, too.

What I am most excited about the warm weather is things are coming back in season and it's salad eating time again! I hate not eating salads in the winter, nothing is in season here in the winter to make a good salad with. I never had that problem living in Florida and it's hard to get use to not being able to eat things during certain times of the year here. I have recently become obsessed with something called the Caribbean salad! I first had one at a restaurant and I just tried to mimic what was in it and it turned out great.

Caribbean Salad

I just threw in some leaf lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, pineapple, oranges, chicken with Caribbean seasoning and topped it off with poppy seed dressing. There are a variety of ways to make these types of salads, I just used what I had on hand. The salad was so big I got full before I finished it, but Little Foot was happy to finish it off for me. He loves veggies! I love this so much, I'll be eating this for lunch all week. I cooked up 2 chicken breasts to cut off of and throw in and they had pineapples on sale for $1.98. I know sometimes they sell them for $4.00 or more which seems insane.

Although I'm excited about the new fruits and veggies coming into season, we still don't have too much yet like we will in the summer. The Mount Airy Farmers Market still looks a little sparse right now because of it, but they had lots of strawberries!

Mount Airy Farmers Market

[In the parking lot of the Andy Griffith Theatre.]

Ok so this post is just me rambling about saving money, but I love a challenge and the only non-essentials I spent money on this month so far is Mother's Day and going to the movies twice (and you know my Johnny is coming out in Pirates of the Caribbean this month, too). Okay after this month I will try to stay away from the movie theater! A movie theater diet? :p

Oh and one more money saving thing I wanted to share. The electric company I use is giving away FREE fluorescent light bulbs to help people save on energy. So I signed up and I now have 15 free light bulbs coming to me! Pay attention to your bills when they come in because they advertise things like this sometimes. I would have missed it if I hadn't looked through my bill this month. I have all of my bills deducted automatically from my bank so I never have to worry about late fees, so it's easy to ignore the bills. My electric bill was also twice as cheap as the month before this time, too, but probably because we haven't had as many cold days. I've kept my windows open almost everyday the past month, minus the little cold front we got last week.

Coming May 20!
Argh! Argh!

Movies

2011-05-10T06:52:00.002-04:00

Water For Elephants

I read the book, Water For Elephants, before I went to see the movie. To see my review of the book, you can read it here. The movie, like the book, was not disappointing. Most of it was everything I pictured it to be.

There were some things about the movie that were better than the book.... they left out all of the porn scenes. Yay! I mean, I really couldn't see them including some of the things they mentioned in detail without it being rated X, haha. They also left out all of the harsh cussing, so no F bombs and using the Lords name in vain like in the book. So I highly recommend watching the movie if you chose not to read the book for these reasons.

The book was better than the movie in that it helped you connect with all of the characters much better. The movie only made you feel connected with the 3 main characters. So when people were getting killed and tossed off trains, you didn't feel that same since of loss like you did when you read the book. If that makes any sense. The book obviously goes into more detail and I understand they can't fit the whole book into a 2 hour movie. So you lose a connection with the rest of the characters because of this.

All in all, the movie was magnificent!

Soul Surfer

[The real Bethany Hamilton on the left. Actress Annasophia Robb, on right, played her in the movie.]

I remember watching all the news stories on tv when this really happened. It touched my heart and I remember thinking what amazing strength this girl had, how she said her faith in God is what keeps her strong, and her accident has never held her back. I was so excited when I heard they were making a movie out of her real life story.

This movie touched me in such a deep way, even days after I have watched it, I still can't stop thinking about it. The movie is about Bethany Hamilton and what happened to her when she was out surfing with some friends. A shark bit off her left arm and they rushed her to the hospital to save her life. She had been competing in professional surfing championships and even after the accident, she carried on and continued to compete. What amazing strength this young lady has. She gives all the credit to God though. Her and her family are strong Christians and live their life serving the Lord.

[Carrie Underwood plays Sarah, her Youth Ministry Leader.]

Carrie Underwood played Bethany's Sunday school teacher, who was always there encouraging Bethany no matter what life may throw at her. She also was involved in doing missionary work overseas and Bethany really had a heart for missions work, too. After her accident, she went to Thailand to do outreach work after the Tsunami. This part also really touched me since I use to live in Thailand and also do missions work there. I really felt this movie speaking to me in so many ways and I'm glad they left in how involved God was in their lives and didn't try to water it down to make it more * palatable* for some viewers.

I highly recommend the movie, for anyone of all ages. One of the best movies I've seen in years.

Mother's Day :)

2011-05-09T08:52:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful time yesterday with my mom on Mother's Day.

We went to church, then to Gondola Italian restaurant.

I hope everyone had a wonderful time on this day to celebrate one of the people that is most dear to us.

The Start of This Years Gardens

2011-05-04T09:41:00.001-04:00

We got our gardens started this week. I love gardening! My dad plowed the field over at his house and a friend and I planted all the seeds and plants for him. I'm not sure if I can remember everything we planted for him or not, but here's the list...

Green beans
Tomatoes
Corn
Bell peppers
Banana peppers
Chard
Hot peppers
Onions
Potatoes

I'm sure I forgot something. We are going to have tomatoes coming out our ears this year.

My friend and I planting the garden.

And now we have farmers tans. haha

It took us most of the day to plant everything, it's a pretty big garden.

Here is my tiny tiny little garden I planted behind my house.

That is the plum tree at the end of my garden. See how much it's grown? :)
I paid my lawnboy to come plow it for me with his tractor. He charged me 10 dollars. What a bargain!

It didn't take me most of the day to plant mine of course.

What I planted:

Thai basil
Sweet basil
Dill
Cilantro
Mint
Tomatoes
Bell peppers (A LOT of them)
Chard
Cucumbers
Cherry tomatoes
Leeks (I replanted the smaller ones left from last year)

Bell peppers are just so over the top expensive in the stores, so I figured I would plant me a bunch of them this year and freeze what all I don't use. I'm planning on freezing a lot this year, even the tomatoes.

The things on my deck are doing really great, too.

Look! I already have a tomato!

I can't wait for it to ripen.

I did the Topsy Turvy thing like I said I was. It will be interesting to find out how this works.

I planted a cherry tomato plant in it, I figured they wouldn't weigh it down as bad.

The chives survived from last year.

Well, ALMOST.

My lawnboy mowed them down, so I went out in the garden and dug them up and put them in pots to save them.

I feel I have learned some things from last year that will help me this year. I planted the rows facing down the hill so the garden can drain better. I made little drainage areas on each side of the row that is lower than the plant so the garden can drain. My tomatoes didn't do well in the garden last year at all, that is why I am growing them in pots on my deck instead. I did more herbs this year than last because I use a lot of them to cook with. Here's hopes to a successful garden this year!

Mexican Salad with Avocado Dressing

2011-05-03T18:16:00.000-04:00

So Delicious!

This salad turned out absolutely amazingly fabulous.

The flavors are so perfect and flavorful.

Mexican Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

For the dressing:

1 large avocado

1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cover and refrigerate. Toss salad with dressing right before serving.

For the salad:

1-1/2 to 2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped

2-3 large tomatoes or 6-7 small tomatoes

2 cups corn chips, crushed into pieces

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

15 ounce can pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed

5 green onions, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a big serving bowl and toss well with dressing. Serve immediately.

______

Okay so my dressing curdled a little, but once you mix it all together you can't tell. I'm not really sure why mine did that, I followed the directions to a T. Here's the website I got the recipe from, it has photos of each step you take to make it. Their dressing looks real creamy. I used the Olive oil mayonnaise for mine instead of regular mayo, not sure if that is what did it. Anyway, the flavor was awesome.

I didn't use canned beans for mine. I made my own beans. I let dry beans soak over night, then cooked my beans this morning and added some salt, garlic and cumin for flavor. Left them in the frig all day until I was ready to make the salad this evening.

I picked the dinner for our Tuesday dinner across the miles. Here is Lou's site and she should have her photos of her dinner up soon.

TV Diet

2011-04-30T16:45:00.000-04:00

My friend Lou and I (my friend I do the Tuesday dinners with) were talking the other night and we decided we're going on a TV diet. I have so many things on my To Do list that I thought it would be better to just keep the tv off most of the time and only watch every now and then. It's a diet, not starving ourselves to death! My guilty pleasure is the show Survivor. I'll also watch the news. :)

Little Foot is also on a TV diet, he needs to take it easy on the Animal Planet!

Another No-Buy

2011-04-28T14:33:00.000-04:00

I did this a couple of years ago and it felt good to try to use up the things I had and only buy the basic necessities. I think it's about time for me to go on another one. It just dawned on me recently that I did end up spending a lot getting my house fixed up last year and this year I need to slow down and make up for it without making a bunch of huge purchases for my home. I'll probably be posting some frugal posts for a while because of it.

Here are some areas I want to work on:

1. Make sure I use up every bit of groceries that I buy and not let anything go to waste. I have learned by doing some research there are things you can freeze to keep them from going bad that you ordinarily wouldn't think of.
   a. celery
   b. milk
   c. butter
   d. bananas
   e. tomatoes
   f. eggs
I can freeze that?

2. Use up all my toiletries before I purchase anymore. I've actually been pretty good about this over the past couple of years, but there is still room to improve.
Things such as
   a. shampoo & conditioner
   b. soap, shower gels
   c. hair products
   d. facial products, cleanser, moisturizer, masks

3. And just the miscellaneous things, stuff I don't really need, but think would be fun to buy. Work on projects that I already have here instead of buying more things for new projects.

I am not going on a super strict No-Buy, but in a way that will cut back 85% of what I now spend on non-essentials. Like I want to go see Water For Elephants real bad, so I won't 100% deprive myself. :-D

To get started, I just now made a big pot of soup to get things cleaned out of my refrigerator that might have gone to waist.

Please share frugal tips, tricks or websites that help you lay low on spending dough.

It's Time to.. Get Away...

2011-04-24T20:56:00.000-04:00

I finally got to get away to the beach this weekend.

It was so nice and relaxing.

I went with some friends and we stayed for 3 days. A 5 hour drive to Myrtle Beach.

Worth every minute of the drive!

We also got to go to Sunrise Service on the beach, this is a shot of it in the photo below.

And this is how over the moon excited and happy I was to be there!!!

"Now I'm going to pack my things and go!"

(Soft Cell-Tainted Love)

Lobster Salad

2011-04-19T12:59:00.001-04:00

1 pound cooked lobster meat cut into chunks

1 pink grapefruit, peeled, sectioned and coarsely chopped
1 navel orange, peeled, sectioned and coarsely chopped
1&1/2 cups cantaloupe balls
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
2 cups lightly packed tender water cress sprigs
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives

Mix together lobster, grapefruit, orange, cantaloupe, and mango in a large bowl.
Line platter with watercress; mound lobster salad on top
To make dressing, whisk together all ingredients except chives in a small bowl until blended. Spoon over salad; sprinkle with chives.

291 Cal per servings ( about 2 & 1/2 cups per serving) Weight Watchers Points Plus value: 8
Makes 4 servings

A funny little story that happened when I was buying the lobster. The guy that was ringing up my food grabbed the lobster tail and pulled his hand back real fast and said, AAhhh what is that? LOL It was so funny. I told him lobster and he said, how do you cook and eat that thing? I said you can boil it or bake it. He said, oh well I've only been to Red Lobster a couple of times, but I never really had the lobster.

I get that with a lot of the food I buy, since I don't buy your typical soda pop, frozen pizza and chips like they are use to seeing. haha

It was Lou's turn to pick the meal for our dinner across the miles. The Lobster Salad turned out great! It was delish, but I love lobster and I love fruit, so this recipe was hard to go wrong. I know the recipe called for a pound of shrimp, but I just bought a tail. I don't know where I could buy cooked lobster by the pound around here anyway. I couldn't find any water cress sprigs in the stores here, so I just used leaf lettuce. Everyone knows my issues with trying to find ingredients in a small town, so I won't go into that again. I did use my own chives from the garden. It was my first time cooking lobster, so that was fun. I stuck a skewer through it so it wouldn't curl up while it cooked (only takes 5 minutes). A very fun learning experience, I am too scared to try to cook a live lobster, though!

This was a refreshing meal and I highly recommend it. Very easy to make, too. Two thumbs up!

The First Fruits of my Crop

2011-04-14T13:47:00.000-04:00

Ok, I don't know if you want to call it a crop or not, but what little bit I have started this year has really been doing great so far! My strawberries are already turning red and ready to eat. That was fast! It only took a couple of weeks. It was delicious, too! I love gardening!

I was at the gas station the other day and they were giving away free squash plants, so I got me a little box of them.

Little Foot enjoying the spring weather, I can't get him to come in the house anymore.

I pulled my kitchen table into the area I want to turn into my dining room to see how I like eating in there. When you sit at the table you can see out the windows and all, but the windows are up higher than I would like. I wish I could just put some doors on one side of the room to get a better view out. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect dining room table. Just checking out thrift stores whenever I can.

Hope you're enjoying the Spring, this weather is so beautiful!

Grilled Vegetable Panini

2011-04-12T19:23:00.000-04:00

Ingredients
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 small Japanese eggplants or 1 medium to large regular eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 2 zucchini, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 small red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 baguettes (each about 2 feet long)
• 1/2 cup Basil Pesto, recipe follows
• 8 ounces fresh water-packed mozzarella cheese, drained, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers
• 8 large basil leaves, optional

Directions
Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle the oil over the eggplant, zucchini, and onion slices, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Working in batches, grill the eggplant, zucchini, and onions until they are tender and grill marks appear, about 4 minutes per side. Cool completely.

Cut each baguette into 6 pieces. Working with one baguette piece at a time, slice in half and spread both sides with the pesto. Working with the bottom slice of the baguette, stack 2 slices of eggplant, 2 slices zucchini, 1 slice onion, 1 slice tomato, 1 slicemozzarella, and 1 slice of roasted pepper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place top half of baguette on top and continue with remaining baguette. (The sandwiches can be made 4 hours ahead. Wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)

Basil Pesto:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup (about) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
In a blender, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until finely chopped. With the blenderstill running, gradually add enough oil to form a smooth and thick consistency. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of cheese. Season the pesto with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The pesto can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Yield: 1 cup Prep Time: 10 minutes

Recipe by Giada

I got this recipe from the DVD above by Giada. She has some really great recipes on it. She's my favorite Food Network cook!

Lous turned out really great, too! Go see the one she made here. This was our Tuesday night dinner across the miles.

Very easy to make when you just want to throw something together.

Nickel and Dimed - Book Review

2011-04-10T11:04:00.000-04:00

I just went to the library yesterday morning and got this book to read and finished the book in one day. It's really an easy read and very interesting. You've heard people say, the reason people live in poverty in America is because they are too lazy to work or too this or too that, but this book explores the topic in depth. Barbara Ehrenreich walked away from her upper class life and stepped into the work force at poverty level to see if she could work her way out of a dead end job and make ends meet on poverty level salary. Her findings were interesting.

I thought the book would be more detailed about the end results of her ventures throughout the whole book, but she actually just wraps everything up in the final chapter. The first 3 chapters are her jobs she works in 3 different states and what she goes through trying to find a job with no skills/experience and find housing and everything she needs.

The first chapter told of her job as a waitress and how she was treated at her job.

The second chapter tells of her job working as a maid, which I use to work at Merry Maids and can relate to everything she went through, bringing back memories I don't care for. She also worked a 2nd job at a nursing home, something I have also done.

The third job was her job at Wal-mart. I've never worked there, but I completely believe what she says about it by the way I hear some of the employees from Wal-mart talk.

In her conclusions she states some facts:

"Something is wrong, very wrong, when a single person in good health, a person who in addition possesses a working car, can barely support herself by the sweat of her brow. You don't need a degree in economics to see that the wages are too low and the rents too high." (p. 199)

"So if low-wage workers do not always behave in an economically rational way, that is, as free agents within a capitalist democracy, it is because they dwell in a place that is neither free nor in any way democratic. When you enter the low-wage workplaces- and many of the medium wage work places as well- you check your civil liberties at the door, leave America and all it supposedly stands for behind, and learn to zip your lips for the duration of the shift. The consequences of this routine surrender go beyond the issues of wages and poverty. We can hardly pride ourselves on being the world's preeminent democracy, after all, if large numbers of citizens spend half their waking hours in what amounts, in plain terms, to a dictatorship." (p. 210)

And you know the saying, "Treat someone like a criminal and they become a criminal",she sums it up by saying...

"Any dictatorship takes a psychological toll on its subjects. If you are treated as an untrustworthy person- a potential slacker, drug addict, or thief- you may begin to feel less trustworthy yourself. If you are constantly reminded of your lowly position in the social hierarchy, whether by individual managers or by a plethora of impersonal rules, you begin to accept that unfortunate status." (p. 210)

I have always hated stereotypes of any kind and when I hear people complain that all poor people are poor because they don't try hard enough it bothers me. It's just more complicated than that. There are so many different equations that fit into it. Barbara realized that as a single person, it was much harder for her to try to survive out there on her minimum wage alone, she said that most of the people she worked with were having to live with relatives, boyfriends or get married to have more than one income to keep them afloat. Throw in having to feed and raise children and it's alarming. By the time she got to Minnesota, she found it the hardest to live there of all, where she eventually had to leave her *experiment for her book* because she ran out of money.

She met many people along the way during her experiment that touched her life. She found things within herself, depths of compassion, anger, strength that she didn't know she had. Her story really touched me and I am glad she wrote this book for others that may have not ever had to go through any of these situations themselves, to read what it is like living day to day in a low paying dead end job. I highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of their situation.

While Barbara worked at poverty level, she still saw those around her giving out of their poverty. They even encouraged her to do the same. Maybe the poor have found a secret that some wealthy people haven't to the secret of happiness. Dipping into their own tip money to buy food for out of work friends, throwing on extra croutons when the manager isn't looking because you care more about the people than the rules... regardless of how little you get, giving has more rewards than receiving any amount of income.

"If you seek happiness for yourself you will never find it. Only when you seek happiness for others will it come to you." (p.20)

Strawberries!

2011-04-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

Since spring has come and it's time to start getting ready to plant fruit and veggies again, I thought I would get a kickstart on things. A week ago I went out and bought this strawberry pot and some strawberry plants. When I got the plants they had little flowers on them. That night on the news they were interviewing some local farmers who had strawberry fields and they said that once you see the flowers, then you will usually get strawberries 30 days later. We had a cold front come in and the farmers here were afraid they were going to lose their crop, so they turned their sprinklers on that night to protect them from the weather. We've had quite a few more nights where it's got down to freezing temps, so I have to keep bringing my little strawberry planter inside the house at night before I go to bed.

This is how much the strawberry has grown in just 1 week after the bloom.

The tomatoes didn't do well in the garden last year, so this year I'm going to grow them in pots on my deck.

I got one already to get me started, I've also had to bring this in at night to keep it from the freezing temps, too.

Hopefully they will do better than they did in the garden.

Then there is this contraption...

Do these things really work? Hanging tomatoes and growing them this way?

If so, I would be interested in trying it out.

I pulled some old clay pots out that I had in storage and was thinking of planting things in these, too. My past experience with using clay pots is that the soil drys out really fast in them. Are there just certain types of things you're suppose to grow in them? What grows best in them? I'm new to all this gardening, so any advice would be great.

I'll still do my garden this year, too, but I'm going to experiment with different things this time.

My dad also said I could use some of his space to plant things over at his farm this year since he won't be doing any gardening himself this year.

What is the easiest thing you've ever grown?

I think my parsley is probably the easiest, it seems nothing can kill this stuff!

My Thai basil grew amazing, too! That is definitely on my list again this year.

Chicken and Rice - (with Saffron)

2011-04-05T19:11:00.000-04:00

1 1/2 lb of bone in chicken parts (breasts, drumsticks, thighs) skinned
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 tsps olive oil
1 red bell pepper chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves. minced
1 (14 1/2 oz can) diced tomatoes
1/2 cut reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup long grain white rice
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp saffron threads, crushed
1 cup frozen green peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 350*F
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to lidded 2-quart casserole dish.
Add bell pepper, celery, onion and garlic to skillet; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice and broth; bring to boil. Stir in rice, oregano and saffron; add to the chicken.
Bake, covered 25 minutes; sprinkle with peas. Bake, covered, until chicken is cooked through, rice is tender, and liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Serve sprinkled with the cilantro.

Weight Watchers
Per Serving (1/4 of casserole) 321 cal. PointsPlus Value *
4 servings

____

Lou picked the recipe for this Tuesday nights dinner across the miles. It is Weight Watchers Chicken and Rice dinner. It turned out perfect! I made sure I had all of the ingredients for it this time.

The thing I liked most about the meal was the saffron in it. I had to drive all over town looking for this stuff. One of the setbacks of living in a small town is you can never find things that are the least bit out of the ordinary. I had never bought this before and couldn't wait to learn how to cook with it.

I've had Saffron rice many times when I've eaten out at restaurants, but have always wanted to learn to make my own. I found a Mexican store here that sells the crushed saffron flower pedals, but this recipe called for the threads of the saffron, which I finally found at Lowe's grocery.

Here is how they looked when I opened it.

Just like little threads.

They are hard and crispy feeling and break apart very easy.

[Photo from Flickr]

Those 3 red stigmas sticking out of the middle of the flower, that is what they take from each flower to make a blend of the saffron threads. It's the most expensive spice in the world because they are hand plucked from each flower. Tens of thousands of strands goes into just a single ounce.

I was doing my research on this today and was so intrigued to find out all of this.

The meal turned out delicious and I am definitely making this again. I may substitute the bell peppers for hot peppers next time though because I love really hot and spicy food. :)

Go here to see how Lou's Chicken and rice turned out.

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

2011-03-29T10:31:00.000-04:00

Ingredients
1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
1/4 cup cholesterol-free egg substitute
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 Pepperidge Farm® 100% Whole Wheat English Muffin, split and toasted
1 tbsp. salsa fresca
directions
Heat the oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the jalapeño pepper and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the egg substitute to the skillet. Cook and stir until set but still moist. Season with the black pepper. Stir in the cilantro.

Divide the egg mixture between the English muffin halves. Top with the salsa fresca.

Salsa Fresca Recipe

Ingredients
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, minced
8 cilantro sprigs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients together. Toss thoroughly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

________

The photo of my eggs didn't turn out so hot this time. Plus the avocados, like everything else here, aren't in season so they don't look too swift either. I always add guacamole or avocado to anything Mexican I make, I just have to.

This is what the recipe was suppose to look like in the photo above.

This is the Tuesday Dinner across the miles I do with Lou, today I picked a breakfast one instead. It's very quick and easy, takes 5 minutes to prepare. It's really yummy, so even though my photo didn't turn out so hot, it really tastes delicious! You can of course use real eggs instead of egg substitute, I did. SShhhhh

Spring Mantle for a new year

2011-03-28T07:38:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I'm decorating my mantle for Spring again! The time goes by so fast, but I love being able to be creative with each season to do something different with my home. The mantle is one of my favorite things to decorate. If I ever move and don't have a mantle, I will miss it so much!

All I did was go out and buy some tulips! Nothing freshens a room the way flowers do.

I didn't go all out or anything, I just wanting something simplistic.

I used my chalk board I made, candles I already had and some artichoke tea lights I got from Ebay.

I threw a green throw blanket over my chair and added an old pineapple pillow I had.

Put some yellow tulips in my Ikea vase and purchased some pillow covers from Pottery Barn for another dash of color. I am still looking for some new curtains, too!

Another pillow cover from PB on my wicker chair.

The flowers are blooming like crazy outside everywhere, the green on the trees are coming back and so is everyones grass. I have heard everyones lawnmowers start back up the past week and that smell of cut grass in the air. Beautiful breezes so perfect for open windows. We even had a couple of warm days that got all the way up to 80 degrees. Aaahhhh It's cooled back off again though.

I love spring so much, it makes you feel like you are coming to life again, so I love the quote I found to write on my chalk board for the new season...

"The beautiful Spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also." -Harriet Ann Jacobs

Water For Elephants - Book Review

2011-03-23T14:36:00.001-04:00

What a wonderful story! A lot of people were telling me that this was one of the best books they have read and I have to agree, it was a page turner!

I was told that it starts out slow, so you have to push on and then it picks up. I noticed this as I was actually trying to force myself to read it up to the first 4 chapters, but once I got past them, I couldn't put the book down.

The author has a way of making you feel like you are right there experiencing almost everything that is happening. You get really attached to the characters because they come to life in this book.

When I read the prologue, it sort of leaves some details out, and I was misled on who killed who at the end, so I was on the edge of my seat worrying the whole time what was going to happen. I don't think saying this gives away any clues since it comes right out and tells you this before you even get to chapter one. I was surprised in a good way though.

I can't wait to see the movie next month. When I heard Reese Witherspoon was going to be playing the part, it was really hard for me to see her as that character, but after watching the trailer for it, I can see she's going to do a great job. I love Reese! And you gotta love Robert Pattinson who plays the lead roll in the movie. :)

The book was really good, but I do have to point out some of the cons of the book to be fair. I found the sex scenes to be way too detailed, the author really didn't need to go into that much graphic detail, I almost felt a little traumatized! TMI for sure. There was also a lot of F bombs dropped and a lot of the using of the Lords name in vain. Thought I would throw that out there in case that might be a deal breaker for some of you.

Another con was, I wish the book would have went into a little more detail about what happened after the huge event at the end. I know it is easy to say they rode off into the sunset and lived happily ever after, but it leaves you a little hanging after the author just put so much time and effort into the details of what happened before the happily ever after. You know? I almost feel like I need a sequel to fill me in on their happily ever after. haha I guess you never know, maybe it could happen.

Overall I do recommend the book because the story was amazing! I have a huge love of animals, so I would get a little choked up with a lot of the talk about the animals in the circus and what they went through. It was a very touching book. I loved how the whole story was told by the lead character when he was 93 years old. He was probably the funniest part of the book. He sure had me laughing! I'm glad he had a happy ending, too.

Chicken Tikka with Cucumber Raita

2011-03-22T20:14:00.000-04:00

1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Pinch cayenne
1 Cucumber
1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cucumber
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
pappadam or other flatbread, toasted (optional)

Combine 1/3 cup of the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the garam masala, coriander, turmeric, sugar and cayenne in a food processor and puree. Transfer the mixture to a large zip-closed plastic bag and add the chicken. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag; turn to coat the chicken. Refrigerate, turning the bag occasionally, at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

Remove the chicken from the marinade; discard the marinade.
Thread the chicken on 8 (12 inch) metal skewers. Place the skewers on the prepared baking sheet. Broil 5 inches from the heat until the chicken is browned and cooked through. about 4 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, to make the raita, stir together the remaining 2/3 cup yogurt, the cucumber, mint, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. in a serving bowl. Serve the raita with the chicken and pappadam, (flatbread) if using.

2 skewers per person ( 4 servings) 181 Cal. 3 g Fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 0 Trans Fat WW Point Value 4

This Cucumber Raita turned out really good.

But I made a big oops when I made the chicken. The recipe called for garam masala and I had no idea what it was, so I left it out. Come to find out, it is a blend of many different spices, soooo my chicken turned out a little bland in taste. Lou's turned out great because she put in the garam masala, she said hers was extremely flavorful. So I'm going to make this again in the future and put this in it so I can taste how it really was suppose to turn out.

Here is how to make garam masala.

I will say this smelled amazing when it was cooking though. To go and see how Lou's turned out, click here.

(Lou is my friend in FL and we do dinner across the miles every Tuesday)

Spring Has Sprung

2011-03-22T10:08:00.000-04:00

Oh look at the beautiful plum tree in my back yard!

It's looks amazing, I had no idea it flowered like this.

When I bought it last year, it just had leaves on it, then in the winter they all fell off.

Now they sprouted new little blooms on them.

It's a Dwarf Superior Plum.

I can't wait to eat the plums from it this year.

Last year, the beetles attacked it and ate every leaf off and the plums went bad before they could be picked.

This year I am ready for those darn beetles, I am going to put some netting or something over it when the bugs start to come out. Unless someone else knows of any other non-toxic way to keep the beetles off.

Here is how my plum tree looked last year when I first got it.

This is a little less than one year later.

So it did grow a smidge.

Something that was a little shocking to me is that some stuff in my garden actually survived the winter with below freezing temps.

One was my Parsley.

Another was leeks.

(I know I was suppose to separate them, but I didn't)

Does anyone know if I can separate them now without killing them and replant them in rows?

And chives.

Here is a little something to put a smile on your face.

My next door neighbor got another dog.

Little Foot likes to run out and play with him on the other side of the fence. It's so cute.

Berry Good Chocolate Cupcakes

2011-03-18T09:09:00.000-04:00

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 cup Sugar in the Raw)
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup frozen wild blueberries, thawed (but not drained)
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Frosting …
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons buttery “spread” (we used Smart Balance Buttery Spread with Flax)
2 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside or use cupcake papers.

2. Place the sugar and oil in a large bowl and beat at medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, blueberries (and their juice), milk, and vanilla extract, and continue to beat on medium until the blueberries are broken up a bit and well incorporated, 1 more minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. At low speed, gradually beat the flour mixture into the liquid mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups, filling almost to the top. Bake for 15 minutes for mini cupcakes and 20 minutes for the regular size, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and cool completely before frosting.

5. To make the frosting, place the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, buttery spread, milk, and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat at low speed until blended. Raise the speed to medium once the sugar is incorporated and continue to beat until creamy. Spread the frosting over the cupcakes, and garnish as desired.

Makes 24 Mini Cupcakes or about 12 regular cupcakes

I love cupcakes and I love chocolate, but I also love to eat healthy. So I searched around google trying to find a healthy chocolate cupcake recipe and stumbled upon this one.

Chocolate is actually heart healthy! Chocolate contains flavonoids which act as antioxidants. It can lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Did you know that it stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure and contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant? The darker the chocolate the better.

Blueberries are also a main ingredient in this cupcake. They are also an antioxidant powerhouse! They have cardio-protection, benefit vision (protect against macular degeneration), protect the brain from oxidative stress, and can protect against certain cancers. http://www.whfoods.com

These tasted wonderful. I loved the cake part of them the best. They had a great texture and flavor. The icing was a little sweet for me, so if I make these again, I may search for a different frosting recipe for them. I had so much fun making them. My favorite part is decorating the tops. One thing I learned is if you're going to use any type of sprinkles or anything, you must sprinkle them the moment you put the frosting on, or the frosting starts to set and the sprinkles won't stick to it. I also had to put these in the refrigerator for a little bit to harden the frosting up more.

This was my first attempt at making chocolate cupcakes and they didn't turn out bad at all. I think making cupcakes can become addicting. I absolutely LOVE the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Just from me making cupcakes a couple of times now, I must say, it takes great skill in order for those people on the show to be able to make cupcakes with no exact recipe to follow, crazy ingredients to pick from, try to be the most unique and all under a certain amount of time. Those people on the show are very talented! :)

You will probably see a lot more cupcake recipes on here in the future.

If you have any must try cupcake recipes, please pass those along, too.

Guest Room Redo, Done

2011-03-16T15:49:00.000-04:00

I've been working on redoing some things in my guest room because I started sleeping in here. I just wanted to tweak a few things to make it more functional. The little light on the right side of the bed swivels back and forth so I can put that over me while I'm reading in the evenings.

The main thing that catches your eye is the big tobacco basket I moved into the room. Don't worry, it won't fall. I went out and bought a stud sensor to make sure I secured the screws into the wall very well. I used a metal wire for extra sturdiness to hang it with.

Zircon Stud Sensor from Lowes.

The neat thing about this is, it has a regular stud scan and a deep scan. My house is close to 50 years old, so it doesn't have your typical soft drywall like you find in houses today. It is almost like a hard cement that the walls are made out of and I was having trouble using a regular stud finder on them. This Zircon one worked like a charm. Just a little fyi for those of you that have a hard time finding where the studs are behind your walls.

This desk is great to have so I can sit and work on non-work related projects apart from my work desk that I spend most of my day at. I painted the chair white, see the before here.

Wire caddy is from Pottery Barn, it was on clearance super cheap. My friend brought me back the blue antique vase with little studs all over it from California. Thanks L.!

It is hard to tell in this photo, but I also painted the desk blue. The outer parts around the drawers are Sherwin-Williams Tradewind.

Desk was originally all white from LLBean.

My armoire looks marvelous in the room now!

I got a new photo put in my walnut frame my dad made me with wood from the farm.

Photo print from art.com

So the room originally started from this...

Then turned into this...

And finally has become this...

Of course I will never be done with it. I'm going to try to sew my own burlap bedskirt for the bed and do a few other little things to the room. There is no telling when I will get around to any of it so I figured I would go ahead and post what I have so far.

Lentil Soup with Parmesan Toasts

2011-03-15T19:44:00.000-04:00

1 1/2 oz butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced leek (white part only)
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 small red chili (finely chopped)
13 oz tin of chopped italian tomatoes
32 oz vegetable stock or water
2 bay leaves
2 Tbs chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup lentils du Puy
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

Melt butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and leeks and cook for 10 min., stirring occasionally. Add celery, garlic and chilli and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, stock (or water), bay leaves, oregano and lentils and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 min. Season with salt and pepper, and stir through parsley.

Parmesan Toast
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 baguette
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup finely grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 400F.
Place oil and garlic in blender and process until smooth.
Slice baguette into slices. Lay the slices in one layer on baking tray. Using a pastry brush, bursh each piece of baguetter with the garlic oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake the toast 15-20 min or until brown and crisp. Makes 20 pieces.
Note: Toast will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

This is my Tuesday Dinner Across the Miles recipe. Lou and I make the same dinner every Tuesday night together from different states. (Go see Lou's here.) I picked this recipe from the Bill Granger cookbook Sydney Food. A friend of mine told me about Bill Granger and talked me into getting this cookbook! I'm so glad I did, thanks T.! It has some really nice recipes in it and I highly recommend it, too.

This recipe called for Puy Lentils, but you won't find such a thing in the lil' town of Mayberry. So I just used the regular brown lentils you get at the grocery store. Maybe I will try to find some online and order them to see what the difference is.

Sydney Food

The soup has a ton of flavor. It calls for a chili pepper, so I put in one of my big cayenne peppers from my garden that I had stored in the freezer. It made it nice and spicy!

I just couldn't get over the flavors in this. It called for Italian tomatoes, but I just used my canned tomatoes I canned this past summer. I also had a friend over and she said she loved the soup, too. The toast was also a hit.

2 Thumbs Up!

Saving Money

2011-03-14T12:58:00.000-04:00

Last year I looked all over for a basket like this, but they started at around $25.00 and I just thought that was too much for a wire basket, so I found this one at an antique flea market this past weekend for $5.00. If you just hold out you will find that perfect piece for the perfect price. The shells inside were free, one of my friends gave me those! :) Don't cave in and pay double what you're willing to pay!

I LOVE getting magazines, but as you know, they can get costly. I have even seen some magazines as high as $10.00. I found a section at the local Habitat store that sells magazines and books for reasonable prices.

They had all sorts of magazines to pick from! So now I can get magazines for 50 cents instead of spending all that money on them in the stores.

They have great articles and inspiration pics, regardless of how old they are. Although this one wasn't really that old, just August of last year. I love Mental Floss magazine so I got me a couple of those, too!

I love going out to eat, but that can get costly, too! It saves money to eat in, so invite friends over and take turns cooking for each other instead of going to that steak restaurant where you're going to drop $$$$.

My friend's 13 year old daughter made us this spaghetti dinner. How adorable is that!

Her special biscuits were the bomb.

I'm going to try to start taking a lot more shortcuts to save money this year. I had posted that I wanted the burlap bed skirt from Ballard Designs in the post below, but I have some burlap material, so how hard could it be to sew my own? Hopefully not too hard. haha I will try to work on that and post the results.

Feel free to share your favorite budget friendly idea,

I would love to hear about it.

Delicious Tostadas

2011-03-10T21:51:00.000-05:00

I had the most yummy tostadas and rice tonight! I learned to make this meal from my friend that I invited over for dinner this evening. For the tostada shell, I bought soft corn tortillas and fried them in a pan of canola oil until they hardened. Then we mashed up some canned pinto beans with a mashed potato masher. I made some homemade authentic Mexican salsa and topped it with lettuce and cheese. YUM!

I made some mexican rice to go with it. I just cooked some onions in oil, then browned the rice a little. Then added 2 cups of chicken broth and one small can of tomato sauce. Bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes. Bueno!

This is my favorite salsa. I had posted a recipe on how to make it last year. It really does give any Mexican meal that perfect little kick. Authentic Mexican Salsa Recipe (I used a food processor instead of a blender this time, I like the chunky texture the processor gives it.)

Sorry the pics don't look very appetizing tonight, the lighting in the kitchen was horrible. I need to remember to turn the light above the table off for them to turn out better.

A Clean Bedroom

2011-03-09T21:34:00.000-05:00

I'm in the process of finishing up my guest bedroom. As usual, it's just one of those things that end up taking a lot longer than anticipated. When I first moved in, I just threw the room together enough for it to be a nice room for a guest to sleep. After living here for a while, I started sleeping in my guest room. They say to always sleep in your guest room once so you will get a feel for what your guests feel when they stay over. Well, I did and I liked it better than my own master bedroom! It was because it was much more quiet, the windows aren't facing the road or a neighbors dog that likes to bark all night. I've spent a lot of time sleeping in the guest room since then, so I decided to fix it up for me to live in, instead of sleeping in the master bedroom, which is why I'm in the process of giving it an over haul. I do however, sleep in my master bedroom and allow my guests to sleep in the guest room when they're here. :)

About 10 years ago I found out I had allergies (the typical dust, pollen, etc. kind). My doctor gave me a pamphlet that tells how to keep your room clean and keep the allergies under control. I scanned a picture from the pamphlet (below).

So in the process of doing a few changing touches to the guest room to make it more comfortable, I'm trying to keep it as clean and organic as possible.

I have an old mattress on the bed in this room right now. It's encased in an allergy proof cover, but it's not the most comfortable mattress in the world. Plus since it's old, I am wondering if it would be healthier to invest in a new mattress. The thing is, it wasn't used that much, it's been down in the basement of my parents house being stored away for a long time. So since it doesn't actually have many years of wear to it, I was wondering if I should just get a thick topper for it like this to make it more comfortable. Does anyone know if these things work?

Gaiam CleanDown

It would definitely be the cheaper way to go, since I would want an organic mattress and I'm sure they are pretty pricey.

10 Steps to an Organic Bedroom

[Click here for a detailed list]

Purchase a natural mattress
Add a wool or natural topper to mattress
Use all natural linens made from untreated cotton
Use an air purifier
Purchase furnace filters to reduce allergens
Remove wall to wall carpeting
Use window treatments made with organic fibers
Use VOC free paints, stains and sealants
Open windows and air out the room
Wash bedding often

I'm trying to use all organic materials in the room and use VOC free paints. I am scared of air purifiers. I had one once and something in it exploded somehow and all the black carbon or something got all out in the air and I had a black film on everything in the house. I know I just a had a faulty one or something, but I skerd of those things now! haha
I did remove all the carpeting in the house and had hardwood installed, so that also helps to keep the house cleaner and more allergen free.

I like this burlap bed skirt from Ballard Designs, I've been eyeing it for a long time.

Right now I have a lace one on it I am borrowing from my mom until I can find one I like. I think the burlap would work perfect for the organic rustic look I am aiming for in the guest room.

I'm still working things out and thought I would let you know some of my concerns when trying to put this room together. I can't wait for it to be finished. It's really starting to feel so cozy in there.

Here's a little something I'm working on. I'm painting this chair white to put at the desk in the guest room. I used VOC free Olympic primer first. Now I am putting 2 coats of paint on it and also would like to find a good sealer for it to make sure the paint doesn't scrape off during use.

I got this chair for free. Actually I ordered it from Overstock.com. It's their Wooden Bankers Chair. It arrived sort of scratched up because the box was damaged during shipping. I called them and asked if I could return it and they said yes, they would refund my money. They told me to not bother shipping the chair back though, that I could keep it. So I have a free scratched up chair! :) I'm painting over it in white so you won't be able to see the scratches anymore. Good thinkin' eh? I really had no idea they would tell me to keep the chair. Pretty decent customer service.

I've painted something else blue in the guest room, too! It's all coming together. I used Sherwin Williams Tradewind. A beautiful muted creamy blue!

Soon, very soon!

It will finally be finished.

Pecan Rice with Stir-Fry

2011-03-08T18:49:00.002-05:00

Pecan Rice:

1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup white rice (If using brown, follow bag directions)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Heat the oil in a nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the rice stirring to coat well and cook until it begins to turn golden about 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer until the broth has evaporated and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the pecans and parsley.

For the stir fry, I didn't really use a recipe, I just tossed together a bunch of my favorite veggies in a wok. Lou and I both decided to make the same rice, but use our own toppings.

Here's what I used:

Scallions

Mushrooms

Zucchini

Celery

Pineapple

Snow Peas

Shrimp

Just toss it all together in some soy sauce, sugar in the raw, dried cilantro and the secret to get that clear glaze is at the very end after you have cooked the veggies, mix a mixture of 2 tsp of cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of water or chicken broth together, then pour and cook in with stir-fry until it thickens up.
Don't cook the veggies too long, just a tad or they will get soggy.

This was our Tuesday night dinner across the miles, Lou picked the Pecan rice and we both chose our own topping. She made an herbed shrimp to go over her rice. You can see hers here.

New book to read - Water For Elephants

2011-03-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

I just purchased this book from Amazon today. I've heard it's a really good book, so this is going to be my next read. I'll write the review after I've read it. Water For Elephants : A Novel

Sorry I have been out of commission for the past few days. I caught a little head cold on Saturday, but I'm feeling great now. Lou also caught a cold on Saturday (what are the chances), so we decided to postpone our Tuesday night dinner across the miles until next week.

My next project is finishing up my guest room!

Sea My Cabinets?

2011-02-23T20:04:00.001-05:00

Photo from Rosanna, Inc.

After I painted my kitchen the Benjamin Moore Bone White, I really loved it, but with the yellow gone, there is no color in it now. I started thinking, what if I painted my cabinets a pale sea blue, like in the photo above? I know, I know, but it is just a thought. I'm just throwing ideas around and not really sure if I will do it or not. I love my all white kitchen and I can always use accents to color it with instead of doing something drastic like painting the cabinets. I searched the internet trying to find a pale blue like what I am picturing and the photo above comes closest to it. I really love the creamy blues in the photo to the right. This photo of the bottles is sort of my inspiration of the blues that I like and would use in my kitchen.

Photo from 25 Beautiful Homes Magazine

The photo above would be a much bolder blue than I had in mind, but it still doesn't look bad at all. It looks great with the butcher block counters, too!

Photo from Coastal Living

I have had the photo above in my inspiration folder on my computer for what seems like forever. I just LOVE this kitchen! I know the cabinets aren't blue, but I love the blue door. I don't have a pantry that I can do a screen door like this with, but I do have a door in my kitchen, which leads me to my next idea!

What about a bold blue door?

The door in my kitchen leads out to the carport, so it wouldn't matter if I went bold with it or not from the outside. Not many people would see it, but I was thinking of painting the interior of the door blue, too. My original plan is to get a french door like the one on the front of my house, so this is still up in the air, too!

Photo from Brian Vanden Brink

I love how the door adds just the right amount of color to the room.

Ok, so what do you think?

Keep the cabinets an antique white like they are now?

Paint them back white the way they were?

Paint them blue?

Photo from House to Home

Or just paint the door blue? Leave the door alone?

I sort of have a feeling of what I want to do, but wanted to hear if anyone else had any input, too. :)

And like I said, I'm not working on a lot of projects right now, especially compared to when I first moved in, but when the weather warms up, I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

2011-02-22T20:10:00.002-05:00

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

9 lasagna noodles, cooked (I used 8)
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and fresh pepper (I used a little garlic too)
32 oz tomato sauce
9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Recipe from Weight Watchers

Servings: 9 • Serving Size: 1 roll • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 6 ww pts

Calories: 224.9 • Fat: 5.1 g • Fiber: 3.4 g • Protein: 13.0 g • Carbs: 31.5

________

This recipe was a lot of fun to make!

It is soooo much easier than it looks.

They rolled right up with ease, no fuss or anything. The hardest part is waiting for them to bake!

Right after I took them out of the oven.

All the ewy gooey goodness inside of them!

What a treat!!

Don't forget to stop by Lou's blog to see how her Lasagna rolls turned out!

This is from our Tuesday night dinner across the miles.

Lou Girl Plus Tea

This was really delicious! I would make it again for sure. I would probably make more filling next time so it will be dripping all out of them! haha

Just a Country stroll

2011-02-18T08:34:00.000-05:00

Day 58

This photo is from the day I went snow tubing in West Virginia.

This is a view we saw when we were walking back to the car to go home.

Day 59

A motel in Virginia.

Just 6 miles north of the North Carolina state line off of the Andy Griffith Pkwy.

Day 60

This is a park I take my dog to a lot.

Look at the crystal clear water in that creek!

Day 61

Cute little calf!

Day 62

From a bouquet of tulips I got for my dining table.

Spring already feels like it's in the air!

For those that don't know, these photos are from the 365 Day Project I'm doing. I'm still hanging in there!

Panini!

2011-02-17T13:15:00.000-05:00

I made a Panera Bread Turkey Artichoke Panini the other day, but I don't have a good photo of it. I ran out of the ingredients for it (I've been going a little crazy eating paninis lately), so I'll post that recipe for you later.

For my panini, I put...

Deli Turkey
Olive oil mayo and sprinkled some dill in it
Havarti cheese
Red onion
Spinach

Here's my new panini maker. I've been wanting one of these for a while, but just never got around to getting one. So Lou (who lives in FL) and I just went out and bought them. I wasn't able to post my Tuesday night dinner so this is what this is. My computer was down.

The panini maker above I got at Kmart for only $15.00. It's actually called a sandwich maker on the box. It makes great paninis though and for only fifteen bucks, you can't beat it.

Here is Lou's panini she made. We both did different recipes. Hers sounds really delicious with coconut and ginger in it. Tuna Melt Panini

It was delish Lou! I'm glad we got these!

Tobacco Box

2011-02-14T19:15:00.000-05:00

I got this tobacco box at an antique store a little while back. I love it.

I figured, since I have a tobacco basket, why not a tobacco box, too?

The stamping on the side of the box.

I moved my coffee table out of the living room for the time being.

It's been out on the carport for about a month.

I moved it out of the way so I could workout with my DVD's.

I keep my workout things in the box next to the tv with pillows in it.

Oh and I forgot to show a shot of the hallway after it was painted.

Still not a good representation of the paint color it is now.

I have tried to adjust the white balance on the camera, everything I can think of!

I'm going to put photos all up and down the hallway some time this year, too.

Also still on the hunt for the perfect office desk so I can finish up my bedroom and the guest room.

Re-Painted Kitchen

2011-02-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

I repainted my kitchen to a cream color. I decided to go with Benjamin Moore Bone White. I'm really sad that you can't tell from these pictures how it looks in real life. The photos look so washed out. I've never been able to get my camera to pick up the colors how they really look. I'm guessing it has something to do with all the funky florescent and incandescent and natural lighting all playing against each other in the room. I don't know?

I like the warmth of how the room looks now compared to the yellow.

I can't wait to redo my kitchen. I'm getting rid of that table, chairs and small hutch. I'll put a large hutch where the mirror is so I'll have more storage space. Plus I'm adding an island.

It's just still not the way I want it to look yet.

Here is how it looked yellow.

Shephards Pie - Light

2011-02-08T18:53:00.001-05:00

Potatoes:

1-1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced

3/4 cup fat free chicken broth

2 tbsp fat free sour cream

salt and pepper

paprika

Filling:

1 lb 95% lean ground beef

1 tsp oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

8 oz mushrooms, diced

10 oz frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans, baby lima beans)

2 tbsp flour

1/2 cup fat free beef broth

2 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves

1 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves

salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in water until cooked and soft. Drain and mash with chicken broth, sour cream, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400°.

In a large saute pan brown meat. Season with salt and pepper. When cooked, set aside on a plate. Discard any fat in the pan, add oil, onion and garlic and sauté on medium heat about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and celery and sauté another 3-4 minutes. Add flour, salt and pepper and mix well. Add frozen vegetables, beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, chopped meat and mix well. Simmer on low about 5-10 minutes.

Spread the meat mixture on the bottom of a 11x7 glass baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes, using a fork to scrape the top to make ridges and sprinkle with paprika. Bake 20 minutes or until potatoes turn golden. Remove from oven and let it cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Recipe from Weight Watchers

Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 10.5 oz • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 7 pts Calories: 290.5 • Fat: 11.1 g

•Protein: 16.8 g • Carb: 31.5 g • Fiber: 4.9 g

__________

Tonight was my night to pick the meal for Lou's and my Tuesday Night Dinner Across the Miles. (She's in FL and I'm in NC and every Tue night we make the same meal and post it on our blogs.)

It turned out really good, I ate about a forth of the whole casserole by myself! I can't believe I just told you all that! haha I like that it's a whole meal and you don't have to add any extras with it. It didn't take very long to make either.

Lou actually made a different WW recipe by accident, that is similar to mine. Hers called for chicken and spinach instead of beef and mushrooms.

Lou said she tried to make this once before but it came out soupy, so she was willing to give it another go. We decided we weren't going to put as much broth as it called for so it wouldn't be soupy. The original WW recipe called for 1 cup of beef broth, but I only put 3/4 of a cup in mine and I think it was still a tad too watery, so I changed the recipe to only put half a cup of broth in it. I would definitely make this again. I may experiment with turkey instead of beef or something else next time. Lous didn't turn out as watery this time either. I'm not sure why all the WW recipes call for so much broth or water to be added to it. We tweaked it to fix the problem. :)

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2011-02-07T17:05:00.000-05:00

2 CUPS WHOLE-WHEAT PASTRY FLOUR
1 CUP ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
2 TEASPOONS BAKING SODA
1 1∕2 TEASPOONS GROUND CINNAMON
1 TEASPOON GROUND GINGER
1∕2 TEASPOON GROUND NUTMEG
1∕2 TEASPOON KOSHER SALT
1 CUP LIGHTLY PACKED BROWN SUGAR
1∕4 CUP CANOLA OIL
2 EXTRA LARGE EGGS
1∕2 CUP PLAIN YOGURT
1 POUND CARROTS, GRATED (ABOUT 4 CUPS)
1∕3 CUP GOLDEN RAISINS

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside. With an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar and oil for about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the yogurt, carrots, and raisins. Mix in the flour mixture until just combined.
Using a 3-ounce ice-cream scoop or a 1/3 cup measure, spoon batter into paperlined muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

I found the recipe for the cupcake part from Katie Lee.

For the frosing:

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2 Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.
3 Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cake or cupcake.

Walnuts to sprinkle on top.

____________

This is the first time I ever made cupcakes from scratch!

I am not a big sweets eater, so I figured I would try to do a healthy version of a cupcake.

These are my cupcakes straight out of the oven.

I forgot to let my cream cheese and butter sit out at room temperature, so these sat for a while before I was able to put the frosting on. Make a mental note if you're going to make these to set this stuff out ahead of time before making these! Now I know! lol

My little carrot cake secret...

I love carrot juice and drink it all the time.

Since I got my Jack Lalanne juicer for Christmas, I've experimented with a lot of different drinks.

This one is just pure carrot juice and nothing added. It takes 5 large carrots to make one glass or if you can't find large carrots, you can get a bag of the regular carrots, stores should have them for about .99 cents a bag. You can juice the whole bag, which is roughly between 8 to 10 smaller thin carrots.

Anyway, here is what the pulp looks like that is left over from the juice.

Then you can store it away in a baggie in the freezer until you need it.

Which is where my secret comes in, I made my carrot cupcakes with the leftover pulp I froze from my carrot juice.

Amazing something like that can turn into something so delicious and yummy like this!

I know my blog looks like it's turned into a recipe blog instead of house decor blog. Sorry about that! I'm just not really working on any projects right now. Hopefully I will get my kitchen painted soon.

Sweet and Tangy Scallops

2011-02-01T19:14:00.001-05:00

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Pinch crushed red pepper
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup dark raisins
1 T lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound sea scallops (about 24)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, raisins, lime juice, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer about 5 minutes.

2. Add the scallops to the skillet and simmer, covered, until just opaque in the center, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.

Serves 4
Per serving (about 6 scallops and 1/2 cup broth with vegetables); 136 Cal, 3 g Fat, 0 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 32 mg Chol, 580 mg Sod, 13 g Carb, 1 g Fib, 14 g Prot, 98 mg Calc. Points value: 3.

_________

Lou picked the meal this week. She got it from her Weight Watchers cookbook. This is our dinner across the miles we do every Tuesday night.

The dinner was delicious! Thank you, Lou, for the great recipe! You can go see Lou's dinner she made here.

Lou Girl Plus Tea

A Winter Place of Fun

2011-01-31T08:07:00.000-05:00

I got to go to West Virginia this past weekend and go snow tubing!

That's me going down the slope!

It was beautiful weather, too.

There's an escalator you ride to get to the top so you don't have to keep walking all the way back up the hill.

You know how I always say I love the warm weather and give me the beach because I'm such a Florida girl? Well, I think I could really live farther north where snow stayed on the ground all winter long! Where I'm at in NC, we only get snow a few days out of the whole winter. So we don't have any sort of winter sports like skiing or anything you can do here. Which leaves you with just freezing cold weather and no outdoorsy stuff to do. I seriously liked playing in the snow this weekend as much as I love the beach! That is crazy talk coming from me! Something about the snow that makes me feel exhilarated, I love being outdoors and with things to do in the snow like, sledding, tubing, skiing, snowboarding, etc. I wouldn't have to deal with the cabin fever like I get here. Next I would love to learn to ski, next time we go, we may try the skiing instead. I watched the skiers and they looked like they were having a ball.

The place we went is Winter Place Ski Resort. They have something for everyone here. It's only an hour and 50 minutes from where I live. The video below shows more of the ski resort from their website if you'd like to watch.

Winter Place Ski Resort

Mexican - Chicken Posole Soup

2011-01-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (8-ounce) package prechopped onion and celery mix ( or 2 stalks celery, chopped, 1 large onion, chopped )
4 canned tomatillos, drained and coarsely chopped
2 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium organic / natural chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can white hominy, rinsed and drained
2 cups chopped skinless, boneless cooked chicken breast
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 ripe peeled avocado, diced
4 radishes, thinly sliced
Cilantro leaves (optional)

Preparation
1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oregano and next 4 ingredients (through onion and celery mix); sauté 2 minutes. Stir in tomatillos; cook 1 minute. Add broth and hominy; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook 8 minutes. Stir in chicken; cook 1 minute or until heated. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper. Divide evenly among 4 bowls. Top with avocado and radish. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

(This is a clean eating recipe from evewaspartiallyright.blogspot.com)

__________

This soup was really easy to make, all you do is chop a few things up and throw them in a pot and cook them! Here are the ingredients I used. The recipe called for canned tomatillos, but none of the grocery stores I went to had them, so I bought the fresh ones instead.

Throw in the first 6 ingredients and cook 2 minutes. Then throw in the tomatillos and cook for a minute.

[Skip this step if you buy the canned tomatillos]

I simply blanched them.

Put them in boiling water for up to 5 minutes.

Then put them in ice cold water quickly to stop the cooking process.

If the skins are easy to remove you can take those off, if not, don't worry about it.

Just cut the middle hard top part out like you would a regular tomato.

After blanching the tomatillos, then...

...add the broth and hominy and cook 8 minutes. Put in the chicken and cook another min.

Add lime, salt and pepper.

Top with the garnishes and you're done!

Muy delicioso!

You can make this as a side dish or as the main course.

______

I was making a recipe every Tuesday night last year with my friend Lou that lives down in Florida. When I lived in FL near her, we always use to make dinner on Tuesday nights together, but now since I moved to NC, we have decided to continue doing it. We're starting it up again now that the holidays season's over and I can't wait to see all the yummy recipes we end up with this year. You can go to the recipe section of my blog to see some of the ones from last year.

Here's how Lous soup turned out, she said it was really delicious, too. She couldn't find tomatillos, so she just substituted canned tomatoes instead (I sent her a can of my canned tomatoes I canned myself last year). Go see Lou's post here.

2011-01-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

365 Day Project
Info on the project

Day 54

This is the clock on Main St. downtown. When ever I walk by this, I always think how neat it looks so I finally snapped a photo of it while I was out the other evening.

Day 55

This is the playhouse in the yard next door to me.

You know how I love little sheds.

Day 56

This is a beautiful church I pass by all the time, it sort of reminds me of a castle.

It's made out of granite.

There are so many beautiful churches all around this town,

we're definitely in the Bible Belt! (Mostly Baptist)

Day 57

I found a wonderful place to take Little Foot out on the outskirts of Mt. Airy so he can run leash free as much as his little heart desires. There are trails to go romping through and creeks to jump in and swim and splash, his little piece of heaven.

Pancakes with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

2011-01-22T11:10:00.000-05:00

1 cup raspberries
1/4 cup sugar + 2 Tbs (I substitued with Agave)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I substituted w/ half whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 (8oz) container plain fat-free yogurt
1/2 cup milk (I substituted with coconut milk)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon canola oil

Step One: to make the raspberry sauce, combine the raspberries, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice in small saucepan and set over med. heat. Cook. stirring occasionally, until a chunky sauce forms about 6 min.

Step Two: to make the pancakes, combine the flour, 2 Tbs sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the yogurt, milk, egg and oil in a small bowl. Add the yogurt mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until combined.

Step Three: spray a nonstick griddle with nonstick spray and set over med heat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle. Cook until bubbles appear and edges look dry. Turn and cook until golden brown. Transfer the pancakes to a plate and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter to make a total of 12 pancakes. Serve with the sauce.

______

The fresh raspberry sauce was the star of the show! It was so delish!! I was so proud of myself for making my own raspberry syrup for my pancakes. This was the first time I've made pancakes from scratch, so I didn't know what I was doing and wasn't sure if my substitutions would ruin it or not. Next time I make it, I may look for a recipe that actually calls for whole wheat pancakes, so I can get the mixture of the right amount of baking powder and such. One mistake I made was I made the pancakes too big, I should have made them a little smaller because they were still a little dough-ey inside the middle part. Just make sure you get them cooked really good all the way to the inside! They should be fairly thin for that.

They look real yummy in the photo I took of them, I wish I had made even more of the raspberry sauce though. I did the raspberry sauce MUCH different than how the recipe says to do it. I can't stand to eat anything with seeds in them, that's one of the reasons I hardly ever eat blackberries, raspberries, etc.
In a pot I took just a couple of Tbs of water and put the raspberries in with it. I cooked it on medium, just a slight boil and mashed them with a mashed potato masher as they cooked. Then after it got more liquified, I poured the mixture into a different pot using a strainer to strain all those seeds out. I added 2 Tbsp of the Agave and the lemon juice and then cooked on medium (slight boil) until it turned thicker, like a syrup. That was it, I threw a few whole raspberries back in it just to warm them up with the sauce then quickly poured the raspberry sauce all over the pancakes. Delish!

This was one of the Tuesday night dinners I was suppose to do with my friend Lou. I'm just now making it for breakfast this morning! We're going to start our Tuesday night dinner recipes back up starting this coming Tuesday, now that the holiday season is over.

To see how Lous pancakes turned out, you can go to her blog, Lou Girl Plus Tea. She followed the original recipe correctly with no substitutions and made her pancakes much smaller than mine. She said they turned out really great.

Blue Like Jazz - Book Review

2011-01-20T07:40:00.000-05:00

Blue Like Jazz is a really great read. The author is very creative with his writing. I think he has a very unique style, a very artsy and poetic way to his writing. This book is Christian based. (Nonreligious Thoughts On Christian Spirituality) After reading the book I couldn't believe how much we think alike, especially concerning God.

This book seems to be geared toward a younger crowd, mostly for people under 30. That's not to say that people over 30 won't enjoy it. I really enjoyed reading this and God did speak to me in many ways as I read it. I'd also like to say that this book seems geared more toward someone who has never found God before, not for someone who already has found that close relationship with him.

I thought the book was going to be about someone who found God, then fell away from God, then came back to him again, which was what I was wanting to read about. It was more about the author giving the testimonies of his friends and his friends experiences with God. He does talk about his own journey, too.

His message in this book is more about a down to earth relationship with God, not all the fancy church talk and Christianese that you would expect from a spiritual book. It focuses on how real God is in our day to day lives in the least little details of what we do. It goes in a different direction from the feel good books that try to teach you a bunch of ways to be holy in order to get a move or experience from God.

He gets to the raw and simple truth which sometimes people can lose sight of that and try too hard. Even turn others away from Christianity because standards can sometimes seem set too high for others to live up to.

All in all, I liked his message. I would recommend this book for someone who is searching for God, but is turned off by the hypocrisy that can be in the church today.

Featured Armoire

2011-01-19T10:18:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to make a little post to thank WhisperWood Cottage for featuring me over on her site.

My armoire was one of the ones picked for the Fabulous Furniture Makeover.

Thank you!

A Fresh New Look for the Kitchen

2011-01-18T07:50:00.000-05:00

I'm in the process of making over my kitchen a little because it's not exactly how I want it. I spend a lot of time in my kitchen because I love to cook. I make most of my meals from scratch... breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts... so I need it to be more functional than what it is. The best thing I could do is add an island to the kitchen. I had decided against the island for a while because with the kitchen table in there, too, it would be too crowded for an island. Since I've decided to turn my laundry room into a dining room, I will be taking the kitchen table out of the kitchen, hence, enough room for a nice little island! :)

Of course I need something rustic! Like the old table above used as an island. I think I may just scout some used furniture stores around here and find a table and rough it up. I've always got the wood from the farm I could use on it. I like that black kettle in the background of the photo above, too. The photo is from apartmenttherapy.com.

More inspiration photos of islands

Photo from Coastal Living

Photo from Country Living

Photo from myhomeideas.com

The island above is interesting. Is that cast iron? I wonder what that base is from? I will have to do some research.

Once I move the table I will have room to put a storage cabinet along that wall. I want something pretty big that can store all of my kitchen stuff ... because I have lots of stuff. I'm usually pretty minimal in all of my other rooms, but my love of cooking turns me into a maniac for cookware.

Right now I'm working on a new paint color for the kitchen, too. I know, I know, I really loved the yellow color when I first painted it. Just recently I decided I want something more neutral for the kitchen. I found a paint color I think I like, but am not 100% sure yet.

It's called Coconut Milk by Valspar.

I know it's hard to actually tell what a color is going to look like on the computer screen, I don't think this swatch does the color any justice. I was thinking it may not be as light as I wanted, I was hoping for just a nice pale cream color. Then I remembered I had some leftover Bone White by Benjamin Moore.

This is the Benjamin Moore Bone White

color sample.

Yes, that's right, they are almost identical in color.

I had no idea. The color looks so different in my library closet.

It's so funny how a color can look so different in different rooms.

Here is a little sample area I painted of the Coconut Milk. I know it's hard to tell from a photo, plus I have a hard time trying to get the colors to turn out on my camera how they look in real life. I have had this paint on my wall for a few days now just staring at it and trying to decide if I can live with it for longer than a year or two.

My kitchen now, with Sugar Cookie by Valspar

What do you think of the cream color instead of this pastel yellow on the walls now? Is there another color you would recommend for my kitchen?

Cold Weather Relief

2011-01-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

I am loving all this snow! I know people who live farther north have probably had enough and would be happy if they never saw snow again, but me being a Florida girl, I still get so excited when there's snow all over the ground. I admit I could live without all this cold and I wouldn't mind being on a tropical beach somewhere, but I am making the best of what I've got. I had to go out and get me some cold weather arsenal to prepare for this winter battle! That means lots of scarves, hats, gloves, and look at my new snow boots! They are so warm and they have grips on the bottoms to keep me from slipping all over the place.

I thought I would do something a little different with this post instead of my typical home decor stuff. I am seeing a lot of fun snow pics and snow talk on other peoples blogs and thought I would make a special snow post, and the things I use for winter, with all this snow we're having.

Here are a few things I get to help me through winter.

Marisa Tomei Workout DVD

I purchased the Marisa Tomei workout DVD. I usually walk a lot and get a lot of exercise outdoors during the summer, but since I have a tendency to hibernate in winter, I figured working out indoors in my home would be my best option.

If exercising isn't fun, then I don't want to do it! So, I found a DVD that I like better than any others that I've tried. I really like Marisa's personality (she's not real serious and sort of giggly like me), and I like the calmness of the workout. It's not a lot of loud music or crazy moves that are hard to do. I just recently started this DVD last week and I was so sore the next day I could hardly walk. It barely felt like I worked out, so that is why I was so shocked at how sore I was. You get a REAL good workout and you don't feel like you did anything. That's my kind of workout!

It comes with this toning band, so you don't need weights to work your muscles. You're using your own weight against yourself to work your muscles, which is another reason why it feels like you're not working out real hard.

Another thing to help me get through winter is keeping my skin really moisturized.

My skin is starting to feel parched already this winter, so I'm trying a new shower wash and moisturizer. It's by 100% Pure. Their name says it all, there are no synthetic ingredients, but has a lot of antioxidants to keep your skin nourished and youthful.

I got the blueberry shower gel.

And the Pomegranate Body Cream.

So far I like them and the scents are absolutely delectable. My skin feels quenched.

I have this huge addiction to lip balms and lip glosses. I have to have balm on my lips at all times, there is just no way around it. I usually use Badger Cocoa Balm and I highly recommend it. I also just recently received this tinted lip gloss from 100% Pure and love it. It's the Pomegranate Wine color.

Since it's winter, I'm not getting my Vitamin D from the sun like I do in the summer.

So I'm taking a Vit D3 supplement this winter.

It's also suppose to help your mood against the winter time blahs.

So there are some of my little secrets that help keep me going in the winter. I'm new to this living in the snow stuff, so I would love to hear any of your tips that help you press on through these freezing cold temperatures.

Snow boots are North Face Abby III from Endless.com
Marisa Tomei DVD and workout band, Badger balm, Vit D3 from Luckyvitamin.com
Shower gel, moisturizer and gloss from 100percentpure.com

*Shopping Candy* for my first home.

A New Year 2012

Vacation in Georgia

Got A Bistro Set!

Finished Staining the Deck

Deck Project - Part 2

He Loves Me!

California Vacation - More pics!

Tackling the Deck - Part 1

Hollywood

Catalina Island

Summer Squash Soup

A Green Bean Day

Garden Progress #3

Friendliest Town in America

Picnic without being Bugged

Misty Morning

Happy Summer!

Happy Father's Day!

Lil' Veggies

Lost Island Food

The Farm Garden - Progress

Garden Progress

Clean Chicken Divan

Cherry Smoothie

Cherry Pickin'

Vegetable Rosti with Tomato-Corn Relish

This Quaint Lil' Town

Hot Weather Treats

Shrimp Ceviche & Mango De Gallo

Tuesday Night Dinner

Still Saving Money

Movies

Mother's Day :)

The Start of This Years Gardens

Mexican Salad with Avocado Dressing

TV Diet

Another No-Buy

It's Time to.. Get Away...

Lobster Salad

The First Fruits of my Crop

Grilled Vegetable Panini

Nickel and Dimed - Book Review

Strawberries!

Chicken and Rice - (with Saffron)

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

Spring Mantle for a new year

Water For Elephants - Book Review

Chicken Tikka with Cucumber Raita

Spring Has Sprung

Berry Good Chocolate Cupcakes

Guest Room Redo, Done

Lentil Soup with Parmesan Toasts

Saving Money

Delicious Tostadas

A Clean Bedroom

Pecan Rice with Stir-Fry

New book to read - Water For Elephants

Sea My Cabinets?

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Just a Country stroll

Panini!

Tobacco Box

Re-Painted Kitchen

Shephards Pie - Light

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Sweet and Tangy Scallops

A Winter Place of Fun

Mexican - Chicken Posole Soup

Pancakes with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Blue Like Jazz - Book Review

Featured Armoire

A Fresh New Look for the Kitchen

Cold Weather Relief

Shopping Candy for my first home.