Gardening Update - Veggies Part 2

This is the third raised bed I put in this year. This one obviously made of cinder blocks. Two more cages of tomatoes, more zucchini, more eggplant, a few sunflowers, a few carrots, LOTS of garlic, a big bunch of tarragon (thanks Michelle!)

There is also a large section of the garden not pictured that has blueberries and lots of random squash/pumpkins/vines growing.

Gardening Update - Veggies Part 1

It's been taking just about every moment of my time lately, so I thought I would add some updated pics.

Please ignore the weeds and stuff. I'm in the process of adding more boxes/newspaper/leaves to the areas between the beds to keep the grass and weeds down, so that's what all the messy stuff is that you see in the pics.

First, this is the strawberry/herb bed. LOTS of strawberries, but we have yet to get one to eat. The squirrels have gotten them all before us. See how big the rosemary has gotten? We use it frequently, but can't keep up. This was a baby plant three years ago.



The first raised bed I put in this year. Made out of old yard timbers we pulled from a neighbors' trash pile. Five types of heirloom tomatoes (started from free seed in stryrofoam cups using the winter sow method), Zucchini, a bunch of herbs, bell peppers, chard. The tomatoes are really getting big and I think just about all have baby tomatoes on them. The cages I use are 5 1/2 feet to 6 feet high and are homemade out of concrete reinforcing mesh.



Second raised bed I put in this year, also made from old yard timbers. four more cages of tomatoes, hot peppers (we used a lot), eggplant (a bunch), okra, a little baby basil. And a bag of grounds from Starbucks waiting to be added in. :-)

The other side of the same bed above. You can see some of the buckets I made into planters to hold overflow items. Mostly basil. Autumn also has a bucket with collards growing in it. The board across the bed is so I can get to the middle without stepping on stuff.

Oven-Fried Chili Chicken Recipe

Here's a link to the recipe for dinner tonight: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/ovenfriedchillichick_86437.shtml

We also had Basmati rice, spinach, and fresh cherries-YUM.

Life With The Girl - Thumbsucking Edition

We've been going through a kind of traumatic time lately. A couple weeks ago, Autumn fell and nearly knocked one of her teeth out against a piece of furniture. She cut her gum pretty badly as well. The tooth tightened up again pretty quickly, but the gum has taken longer to heal.

As a result of the super-loose tooth, we put medical tape on her thumbs to try to keep them out of her mouth. You have to understand she sucks either one and one of them is in her mouth pretty much all the time. The tape has been a great reminder not to suck them.

And she hasn't. Not for the last couple weeks. Which I'm thankful for....

and also about to go crazy!

No sucking thumbs means its harder for her to go to sleep. And when she wakes up in the middle of the night (which inevitably happens...at least twice) she can't suck them to comfort herself back to sleep. Which means that she cries until she can think of something she has to tell me, then she screams her way to my room to tell me whatever it is.

Waking up several times a night to deal with a hysterical kid is really getting old.

Today's Publix Trip

Thankfully, Matt had Autumn tonight, because this one was really complex. 32 coupons and had to ring a raincheck 8 times as well. Also had to make sure I got just the right items in the right amounts to get a $10 rebate gift card back.

Total after coupons, rain checks, rebate, and taxes: $30.51

Total savings (not even counting clearance items): $102.44!!!

Not only that, but after adding that coffee to my accumul8 rewards account, I'm one bag away from a $25 visa gift card!!!

Would have saved even more, but I got several items without coupons.

Menu Planning

Things are so busy around here, we're going super simple this week. Breakfasts will be cereal, oatmeal, and/or waffles from the freezer.

Monday-(bake bread)
Lunch: PB&J, veggies
Dinner: brocolli beef meal from the freezer

Tuesday-(shopping day)
Lunch: penne with olive oil and veggies
Dinner: oven-fried chili chicken and salad

Wednesday-
Lunch: BLTs and fresh fruit
Dinner: baked potatoes with toppings

Thursday-
Lunch: potato and egg skillet with toast
Dinner: leftover pasta from tuesday

Friday-
Lunch: lemon pepper fish and roasted veggies
Dinner: hummus, pita, and veggies

Saturday-(paint office!)
Lunch: pasta with sauce from the freezer
Dinner: lentil soup with ham bone (lots of extra for freezer)

Sunday-
Lunch: lentil soup leftovers
Dinner: tacos with fresh salsa

Groceries Needed (we're running really low on fresh produce, so we'll have to buy a bunch)
-fresh ginger
-fresh green chilies
-lemons
-apples
-carrots
-cherries
-potatoes
-limes
-fresh cilantro (not getting enough from the garden)
-parmesan cheese
-tahini
-half and half
-milk

random

This Week's Planned Menu

Breakfasts will be either cereal or toast and yogurt. Trying to plan meals for Matt while he's working too, so that I'm not throwing stuff together for him to take at the last minute.

Monday (bake bread in the morning)
-Lunch: BLTs [lemon-pepper fish and veggies]
-Dinner: BBQ turkey meatballs with rice and garlic spinach

Tuesday (pick up markdown produce)
-Lunch: garden salads with garlic cheese toast
-Dinner: PB&J and fruit [leftovers]

Wednesday
-Lunch: whole wheat penne and sauce with steamed veggies or salad
-Dinner: cheese pizza and salad [leftovers]

Thursday (make Paneer)
-Lunch: egg sandwiches and fruit [leftovers]
-Dinner: penne with sauteed vegetables and parmesan

Friday (pick up spices)
-Lunch: out? or
-Dinner: Paneer and vegetable skewers

Saturday
-Lunch: away [leftovers]
-Dinner: away [out]

Sunday
-Lunch: sandwiches
-Dinner: mac and cheese and brocolli

Grocery List

• Indian Spices
• Onion
• Green Pepper
• Fruit
• Tortillas
• Parmesan Cheese

Getting there....

This has been one of my major projects lately. And I won't lie. It's been backbreaking. The monkey grass is nearly impossible to divide and all those little trees you see? Many of them had root systems three feet long! It was a lot bigger project than I was counting on, but it looks so much better, even without being planted yet.

After digging up all of it by hand, I added around four inches of composted wood shavings/manure over shredded paper and a little kitchen compost.

Before:


After:
The monkey grass looks a little raggedy here, but it will come back really fast and really full, like it always does.

Princess Hair

Glad Autumn has a lot of patience when it comes to her hair. It doesn't take too much time, but lots of hairspray afterwards if I don't want it to all blow away.

Salsa Recipe (Courtesy of Michelle)

So...I gathered a few handfuls of fresh spinach, lettuce, and cilantro from the garden to go along with the quesadillas I was making for supper. There is something that just makes me happy about using fresh produce right from the garden! :-)

I also made some salsa using a recipe from my friend Michelle. I LOVE this salsa--something about the cilantro and lime makes it taste so fresh and summery. Instead of the tomatoes, chiles, and jalepeno, I used a can of Rotel (I have a ton of it from a Kroger deal a while back). I also added extra garlic and onion, because we really like both of those. :-)

Salsa

1 14 oz. can whole tomatoes

1 4oz can whole green chiles – diced ok if whole not available

1 clove garlic

½ jalepeno

juice of ½ lime

1 handful cilantro

salt to taste

1 teaspoon finely chopped white onion

Toss all ingredients (except onion) in blender. Pulse to desired consistency, and then add finely chopped onion. Serve with favorite tortilla chips

Savannah

Last week we were in Savannah for the state GOP convention.

Pretty cool, because the convetion took place in the trade center on a little island in the harbor. After it was over on Saturday, we hopped on the ferry/water taxi and went over to River street. Had lunch and then stopped for a treat before heading home. Matt and Autumn had ice cream. I had a praline-yum!

The highlight of the whole trip for Autumn was throwing crusts of her sandwich to the pigeons and sparrows while waiting for the ferry back.

Cinnamon Sourdough Waffles...

I had a ton of friendship bread starter that REALLY needed to be used. No desire to make a zillion loaves of bread, so I stuck one cup of starter in the freezer for future use, and mixed up bunches of waffles with the rest of the starter. There are several different recipes online, but this is what I did. All measurements are approximate, since I don't measure much when I bake.

-2 cups friendship bread starter
-1 1/4 cups flour
-1/4 cup oil
-2 eggs
-1 or 2 T sugar
-1 t salt
-1 1/2 t baking soda
-1 t vanilla
-1 t cinnamon

These make really light fluffy waffles. Each batch made 7 in my belgian waffle maker. I'll freeze them for later use. These would be good with nuts added.

Tiny Treasures

Lately we've been finding lots of little egg shells in the yard, leftover from hatching songbirds.

Autumn collects them like the little treasures that they are.

When we picked this one up, there was an extra surprise.
Inside was the tiniest cricket I have ever seen.

Meal Plans for the Week

I'm behind this week after being sick for the last several days. Trying to get a meal plan together though, because it really does make the week a lot easier.

We really stocked up on yogurt over the last couple weeks, so it looks like that will be making up a lot of our breakfasts. :-)

I'm trying to play with a new recipe at least once a week.

Tuesday
Breakfast - yogurt and granola
Lunch - PB&J on homemade bread (Matt gets pasta and meatballs)
Dinner - vegetable red curry with Jasmine rice

Wednesday
Breakfast - yogurt and homemade toast
Lunch - leftover curry
Dinner - garden salad and garlic cheese toast

Thursday
Breakfast - cereal or oatmeal
Lunch -BLTs on homemade bread (matt will get steamed fish and rice)
Dinner - homemade hawiian pizza with salad

Friday
Breakfast - yogurt and granola
Lunch -whole-wheat pasta salad with lots of fresh veggies
Dinner - chicken quesadillas with fresh salsa

Saturday
Breakfast - cereal or soyjoy bars
Lunch -leftovers
Dinner - Chilean chicken and brown rice

Sunday
Breakfast - soyjoy bars
Lunch - out or sandwiches
Dinner - leftovers

can you say precocious?

So, we're leaving the grocery store and the cashier waves at Autumn, "Bye-bye."

Autumn smiles and says, "Goodbye! See you later, Buttercup!"

Where did she come from?

Sick

Autumn and I both have a cold. Yuck. One of those nasty ones that settles into your sinuses and makes it feel like your head is a very very heavy balloon. Autumn is also coughing constantly.

Priscilla's Red Velvet Cake

RED VELVET CAKE

2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of buttermilk

1 ½ cups of sugar

1 ½ cups of Wesson oil

1 teaspoon of soda

1 teaspoon of vinegar

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 teaspoon of cocoa

2 eggs

1 bottle of red food coloring (1 ounce)

Sift flour, sugar, soda, salt, and cocoa together. Add the buttermilk, Wesson oil, vinegar, vanilla, eggs, and food coloring in order and mix thoroughly. Bake in 3 layers. Grease and flour the baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes.

Frosting

1 stick of margarine

1 box of confectioners sugar

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese

½ teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of chopped pecans

Soften margarine and cream cheese at room temperature. Mix together. Add confectioners sugar and mix well. Add vanilla and pecans and mix well.

making the day a little brighter

Something that will make even a rough day a little brighter...no matter what.

Beautiful glads from the front yard.

I think I'll go cut some orange daylilies in a bit, too.

Baby Burp Cloths

Digging through Autumn's desk to set it up for an art center and found embroidered burp cloths in one drawer. She wanted to know what they were and how to use them, so we had a lesson on burping baby dolls. Isn't she a cute "mommy"?

Artscow Photo Printing

First things first, yes, it's a weird name. But it's a GREAT service!

Yesterday I processed my monthly photo order for 100 more free photos. (50 4x6s and 50 5x7s) I try to do this at the end of every month. Keeps me up to date on photo printing and ensures that I get the most out of my 1200 free prints.

Shipping is a bit higher from Artscow, since it is international, but I always calculate shipping into the cost of any photo printing service, so ArtsCow is still a great deal. Especially considering that you get 5x7s, too!

I have been very impressed with the quality of the product I've received from Artscow. I have never had any issues with them and the prints are perfect, crisp, and clear. Very high quality.

If you would like to sign up with my referral link and get your own 1200 free prints, you can do so here: Artscow

Menu for the next week and a half

getting this done late, so I'm doing the rest of this week and next week. this is always subject to change based on matt's schedule. :-)

Nicest thing is, other than lettuce, greens, and bean sprouts, all of these ingredients are in my freezer and pantry.

Today

• Dinner - Turkey Taco Salad

Thursday

• Breakfast - Oatmeal
• Lunch - Grilled Cheese (homemade bread) and Tomato Soup
• Dinner - Steamed Thai Tuna over Rice with Asian Veggies

Friday

• Breakfast - Banana Nut Muffins
• Lunch - Leftover Turkey Taco Salad
• Dinner - Skillet Meal or OUT (maybe a date night?)

Saturday

• Breakfast - Leftover Muffins
• Lunch - PB&J, Fruit, Rice Cakes
• Dinner - Chicken Dinner (pick up for crop)

Sunday

• Breakfast - Toast with Pear Butter
• Lunch - Sandwiches or out with family
• Dinner - Asparagus Quiche and Salad

Monday

• Breakfast - Oatmeal
• Lunch - Taco Soup
• Dinner - Penne with sauteed vegetables and garlic

Tuesday

• Breakfast - Oatmeal or Cereal
• Lunch - Leftover Taco Soup
• Dinner - Pecan Crusted Pork Tenderloin and Steamed Rice and Broccoli

Wednesday

• Breakfast - Toast with Pear Butter
• Lunch - PB&J, Fruit, Yogurt
• Dinner - BBQ Tenderloin, Sweet Potatoes, Greens

Thursday

• Breakfast - Oatmeal
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Homemade Pizza and Salad

Friday

• Breakfast - Oatmeal or Cereal
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Pad Thai with lots of Veggies

Saturday

• 
  Breakfast - Oatmeal or Cereal
  Lunch - Leftovers
  Dinner - Lemon Pepper Tuna with Rice and Veggies

Vocalpoint - Free Samples and Coupons

If you're not already a member of Vocalpoint, you should really check it out! It's a free program designed to advertise products via word of mouth. They send free samples and coupons out every so often and surveys occasionally as well. I LOVE them! It's not a points or cash earning opportunity, just a chance to try new products and get coupons.

To join go here: http://site.vocalpoint.com/guest/index.html

Just this morning, Autumn had a bowl of frosted mini-wheats for breakfast that came in the mail yesterday along with coupons. (You can also learn from Vocalpoint-I had no idea that a bowl of mini-wheats with milk had the same amount of protien and fiber as an egg and two slices of whole wheat toast!)

Visit to Dauset Trails - part 2

Lovin' a day out with Daddy. Totally stole the idea for this photo from my friend Kim.

Visit to Dauset Trails - part 1

Great free wildlife park we visited to see the birds of prey (we're studying them in pre-school).

Tonight's Publix Run

Gotta love BOGO sales with coupons!

2 boxes Teddy Grahams
2 cans Almonds
2 jars Premium Peaches
2 jars Skippy Peanut Butter
10 boxes Frozen Marinated Fish Fillets

cost: $5.21
tax: $1.17

saved: $80.32

Autumn's Invisible Friend

He's been around for a while, but I only recently found out that he is a "he".

She talks to him a lot. I'll hear her babbling on and ask her what she's talking about, only to be informed that she was not talking to me, but to him.

Yesterday I was told that his name is Wilbur.

He is currently "at work and [she's] talking to him on the phone" while she cleans up her legos.

Sometimes he is big. Sometimes he is small. She can pretty much always tell you where he happens to be standing and sometimes it's the most unlikely place...

...considering that no matter what other aspects of him change he is always a cow.

don't forget...

...to get your .50 iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts today! :-)

after the rain...

we went outside and were walking around the yard looking at all the late-blooming azaleas and yellow iris...and we walked under the flowering pear (?) that is in our yard. autumn was complaining about the mess under the tree and i explained that those were just flower petals that had fallen because of the rain. apparently, that was a little over her head...

because she keeps talking about playing in flower puddles instead.

Got Flowers?

There are plenty in my etsy shop! www.smartlilcookie.etsy.com

It's Snowing?!?!?!?

What on earth????

TONS of snow...TONS OF IT falling from the sky. And it's starting to stick. This is insane.

For those of you who don't know, we start planting a garden in February here. Snow does NOT happen in middle GA!!!

a few vacation photos from last month

in st augustine

just because i have a few minutes...

making bread (autumn makes her own little loaf every week)

and, yes, it's true. we STILL don't have a backsplash in the kitchen. if someone wants to come teach me how to tile, i would love to learn!

ugh...

we've got a bug at our house again. actually sitting here waiting for my nyquil stuff to kick in so i can breathe and go to bed. autumn is miserable. the house is falling apart. ugh.

m-a-t

so every time autumn sounds out the word "mat" she gets so so excited because "that's my daddy's name!!! i read my daddy's name!"

she cracks me up.

(fyi-we're doing "teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons." not my idea to learn to read this early. it's autumn's. she's been begging for months, so we're playing around with it. she loves the book.)

Valentine's Goodies

check them out.

What Winter?

Visiting the Hay House and having a tea party with the girls. In late December. Seriously. Someone needs to create a line of Christmas-y clothes for girls who live in the South.

3 year checkup

i keep forgetting to post this.

at her three year checkup, autumn was...

39 inches tall (94th percentile)
34 pounds (80th?)

think she got some tall genes somewhere? :-)

All She Wants For Christmas

Autumn is obsessed with cameras. She is constantly making off with Matt's phone or my phone to use it to take pictures. We've been talking about cameras for a while now. So I told her she needed to ask Santa for a camera for Christmas. (We already got one for her, so it's a pretty sure thing.)

I'm thinking this means that when we go see Santa she'll ask him then, or maybe we'll write a letter.

Not Autumn. She stands in the middle of the living room and yells at the top of her voice "Santa, bring me a camera for Christmas!!!"

And whenever it crosses her mind, she yells at him again.

Toys R Us

Autumn comes running into the room all excited, waving the Toys R Us ad from Sunday's paper...

"Mommy, mommy, look! I found a toy menu!!!"

Super Readers

Autumn doesn't watch much TV, but she LOVES this show. And it's one that I don't really mind her watching, because she really interacts with it and learns about letter sounds, etc. But lately she's been obsessed with the idea of becoming a "Super Reader"... she wants to read so badly. Keeps asking me "what the letters say" on everything she picks up and asks me all the time about learning to read. Not sure if she understands that learning to read does not necessarily give you the power to fly, enter story lines in books, and solve every problem you come across, but at least she's excited. :-)

for grandma jennifer

i bought some big carrots for cake for my party, but autumn decided they were for her to eat. and even though it took most of the day, she ate the whole thing!

bday pics

just a few from birthday number 3!