Salsa Verde and Back to School. . .

The tomatillos are really coming in, these did better than we expected.  The hubbs is very excited, one of his favorite places to eat has a very good salsa verde and he has been wanting to make some himself for a long time.   Last night we made salsa verde.  My job in the salsa business is operating the pesky blender and making sure everything blends smoothly.  I have never eaten a tomatillo before, they have a consistency of an apple and are tart like a granny smith apple.   I think that is what makes the salsa verde so different and delicious.  It did not take that long to make either.  I will share my hubbs recipe with you later.  We almost have enough tomatoes to make traditional salsa too, I believe I am going to have a busy week.  Sprat is getting ready for orientation at the new school later this month.  He has his class schedule and had to get a new book bag.  His old book bag, "Lil' Bean" that he carried all through middle school and high school.  He named it "Lil' Bean" because it was an LL Bean bag.  That was the best bag ever and lasted through middle school to complete his freshman year of college.   That is a testament to the quality of their products, and no I am not being paid for these words.  Honest mom opinion because, this kid could break and tear up everything.   The reason we had to get a new one was the zippers broke.  His Lil' Bean was not their top of line bag either, you know I am too frugal for that, especially with Sprat the Distructo kid.   He went with a Swiss Gear bag this time, it has room for his laptop and seems really sturdy, it is also good for traveling by air with said lap top.   I will let you know how it fares with Distructo the kid. 
Big T is getting his supplies ready for school, he starts back the first of August.  Big T's school gives their kids a back pack with their lap tops they are given at the first of every year.  He already has his schedule and will be on the Community College campus this year for a couple of classes.  Up to now he had been taking his college classes online.  He will be taking classes in his career pathway this year and that is going to be a little more challenging.
I am afraid both boys are going to have challenging years this year, Sprat adjusting to a new school and new lacrosse teammates and coach and Big T adjusting to be on a college type campus and doing more work and harder classes. 
Stay tuned as our house is tuned upside down. . .

Salsa Verde:

1 1/2 lbs tomatillos
1 med onion
4 cloves garlic
3 jalapeno peppers ( 2 cored and seeded)
1 bunch of cilantro
1 lime zest and juice

Broil your tomatillos in the oven with the peppers and garlic, Broil for about 6-8 minutes, tomatillos should be brown on top.
Set your tomatillos aside to cool, slice your one pepper with seeds in, core and seed the other two and slice, peel your garlic and chop your cilantro.

After everything is fairly cool, scoop some tomatillos in your blender alone with some of each of your peppers, cilantro, garlic, and onion, zest your lime and add some juice and then blend till smooth.  I do this in batches so that it is all blended smoothly.  Once everything is blended add a pinch of salt to taste and chill,

Enjoy!!

Not Aunt Bee's Pickles Story. . .

The cucumbers are coming in like crazy so, the hubbs and I made some quick refrigerator pickles.  The hubbs loves his jalapenos and of course they ended up in my mild mannered dill pickles.  I  do not like sweet pickles or bread and butter pickles, I am a straight up dill pickle girl.   The hubbs got his jar with jalapenos and I got two jars, one with a little onion and one straight dill.  I just tried the jalapeno ones last night and I must admit they were awesome.   They are not too hot but have just a little kick.  I tried the ones with onion this morning, yes I eat pickles in the morning, anytime is a good time for homemade pickles.  The ones with the onion are good but, if you do not tell my hubby I said this, I will admit the jalapeno ones were the best.  The boys do not like any kind of pickles so the hubbs and I have three jars to eat and he does not like them that much either. 
Here is the recipe we used, we tweaked it to fit our personal taste, I do not remember where the original recipe came from but this is ours.

Refrigerator Pickles

We used standard mason jars:

In each Jar

3 cloves garlic peeled
3 tsp black pepper corns
1 small onion sliced
2 bunches of fresh dill
4 slices of jalapeno with seeds

Several cucumbers sliced into spears and cram as many as you can in your jar.

Liquid

2 cups water, 4 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 1/2 Tbs kosher salt.  Mix together until salt dissolved.  Pour over your cucumbers in the jar.  top with part of your dill and make sure your cucumbers are covered with liquid and put your lid on.  Invert your jar a couple times to get everything swished around and put in the fridge for 2 days.  This recipe is for one jar of pickles, you will have a little liquid left over. 

Hope you are enjoying my recipes and my stories, stay tuned. .. .

Cooking 101 for your College Student . . . Beyond Raymen Noodles. . .

I sold Pampered Chef for a long time and love their products, one of my favorites was their mandolin slicer.  I have the old school model without the finger protection.  I tell you all of that to share that last night while Sprat was helping me fix dinner I sliced my thumb.  All the years I used that thing and never had any trouble with it and I did it while showing Sprat how to use it and how not to slice a finger.  LOL!!  Well, in a round about way, how not to slice a finger. 
We made the zucchini pasta again because, we have zucchini in abundance right now.  Sprat had fun learning how to saute onions and garlic and this time we added a pepper from the garden.  Sprat does not particularly care for zucchini but he enjoyed the cooking and so did I except for the slice and dice I pulled on my thumb. 
Sprat wants to learn to cook other things too, he may try his hand at my amazing homemade alfredo.  He is even going to go to the grocery store for me to pick up all of my ingredients.  I will share my recipe for my alfredo today so that you can try your hand at it too.

Alfredo

1 box angel hair pasta
4 tbs butter
3 cloves garlic pressed
2 cups heavy cream
fresh Parmesan 1 cup
fresh or dried chives to top
1-2 tbs flour
dash of white wine


Melt butter and saute garlic till is smells yummy, add your flour and make  rue, all on med low heat. add a dash of wine and then slowly and while stirring add your heavy cream.  Turn you heat up a little and grate your parmesan and add it to your cream mixture.  It should bubble and get thick, when it does that it is ready to serve over your angel hair pasta.  You can use any pasta you would like and you can add things like broccoli, chicken, shrimp, beef, really anything. 
I have never been a fan of fat noodles so I always use angel hair, it is a texture thing with me.  You can add fresh chives and parsley too when you serve. 
Hope you enjoy my recipes and my funny stories about my kiddos.   Stay tuned Sprat is wanting to learn to cook this Summer and this should be loads of funny posts.

A Little of This and a Little of That. . . .

I follow a lot of different groups on Facebook and on pinterest.  My reasoning behind who and why I follow certain groups is to learn and better myself.   I have learned scads of interesting things through both sites.  I follow herbal garden pages, financial pages, recipe and craft pages.  On one of my financial pages someone asked what you did to pamper yourself on a budget.  I was amazed that these ladies are paying $20- $80 for a manicure and possibly a pedicure on a routine basis.  I shared what I do to pamper myself,  I have a detox bath with my herbs and some Epsom salt.  I do not do nails I enjoy playing in the dirt too much to pay that kind of money for nails.  Now this particular site is about paying off debt and gaining financial peace yes, it is a Dave Ramsey site.  You know how I feel about Dave, I really like him a lot.  The hubbs and I are proudly debt free except our house, that is why I still follow these sites.  There is always something you can learn.  I was telling the hubbs about this particular post and he laughed and said you know, you are a girly girl and you don't get your nails done.  He asked why I don't get them done?  I said, I play in the dirt too much and I am in the sink washing dishes and cooking.  I grew up going to the barn everyday working around the barn and riding horses and would have been a waste of good money.  I have to laugh that my husband thinks I am a girly  girl.  He has never referred to me as that before.  I am not sure where that came from but, I guess I am a girly girl, I do like girly things like jewelry and handbags.  Just the other night I took a very relaxing bath with green tea and mountain mint with Epsom salt.  We have a great Jacuzzi tub in our bathroom and it is perfect for the detox bath.  I also like using Epsom salt with Lavender, Rosemary, and Eucalyptus essential oils.  These make for a wonderful relaxing tub.  I am not sure if these baths really do detox or anything else but I sure do feel relaxed after them and that is all that matters to me. I guess my baths that I like make me a girly girl too. I am afraid the girly girl comment may come back to bite my sweet hubby.
One of my herb pages I follow has inspired me to try my hand at making my own essential oils.  I have an abundance of fresh oregano and I think that is the one I am going to try first.  According to one article I read oregano is a very powerful antiviral, anti-fungal, and antibacterial now my oregano is not medical grade of course but it might help keep some bugs away.  I put some of oregano in the dehydrator yesterday and it should be ready some time today.  My hubby has suggested I give my dried oregano to friends and family as gifts and I may just do that, we have so much and if I keep cutting it, it will keep growing.  We transplanted some to my new herb bed too, working in the dirt really is therapeutic.  We are still talking about my cutting bed for fresh cut flowers. 
I found a recipe for basil pesto yesterday and I cannot wait to try this one out.  I will share it with you if it turns out well.  My basil is not quite ready for cutting yet so it may be a little bit before I can try it.  Stay tuned for more herb stuff and the Boy will be coming home from college in a few weeks too.

Weekend Update: Garden, College, and Gossip. . .

My little side herb garden/bulkhead is planted.  Yayyyy!!!  My seedlings I was trying to start did not do so well so, I bought some plants to start my herb garden with.  I am  so excited and I cannot wait to clip my first sprigs of Lavender and put them in the bath, awww how relaxing that will be.   Below is the picture after we planted.

I also planted some Dianthus in this bed and some garlic, yes I am going to try my hand at garlic one more time. 

My next adventure is going to be a cutting bed somewhere in the back yard.  I absolutely love fresh cut flowers.  I have some that I cut now when they bloom but I would like a bed devoted for that purpose alone.  I use to have beautiful and very fragrant roses and they died.  I am going to plant some more this year.  

So I got a call from the Dean the other day looking for Sprat, she thought she had called his cell number.  Long story short they believe that Sprat's roommate may be suicidal and wanted to talk to Sprat about the roommates recent behavior.  Well, this just sent me spinning into never never land.  I am a worrier anyway and this was a lot to handle.  I ask that you keep the roommate in your prayers as well as Sprat because I did not know everything he had been dealing with this year.   Being far away from home is hard and add not knowing anyone in this new environment is very difficult.  Sprat was trying to help the roommate cope with some things, I love that my child wants to help everyone, but sometimes our friends need more than just a friend.  Prayers for  them both would be most appreciated.

On to the Gossip train. . .   So my husband went to Atlanta to interview for a job, the job was not in Atlanta the hiring manager was.  At this particular time while he was out of town Big T needed a ride home from lacrosse practice because I was having to work that night too.  I guess when he asked if he could get a ride from one of the players someone else overheard him and only got part of the conversation.  This how rumors and gossip get started, you  only hear half the story and then run with it.  The interview was about two weeks ago and while I was on the phone with Sprat about the roommate he asked if we were moving to Atlanta.  LOL!!!! One of his friends that is in college in another town  texted Sprat in Boston to ask if he was moving to Atlanta.  LOL!!!   All of that because a kid overheard half of a conversation and just went with what he assumed was going on.   Kids can make rash assumptions just like adults and all of a sudden your moving and did not know it.  

That's it for our update.  Stay tuned more college stuff going on and maybe some Lacrosse tournaments and camps for both boys this Summer.  

Herbs and More. . .

The hubbs was able to fill in my bulkhead with good dirt and I have now planted my first plant, a Rosemary.  I am so excited, we use to have a large Rosemary plant in the backyard and we had a brutally cold winter one year and it took its toll and my beautiful Rosemary died.  I have not had one in several years and I am so looking forward to having one again.  I use my fresh Rosemary to make a tea and once it is cooled off you can pour it on your hair, it will strip all of the product off and make your hair silky smooth.  I learned that trick from my sister, we used Mom's Rosemary to do this growing up.  Rosemary is also good in a bath with some Lavender.  I also cook with my Rosemary, it is good in poultry dishes and a friend of mine used it in a homemade spaghetti sauce recipe. 
My seeds I am trying to start of Lavender and Sage are not doing very well, I may be buying some plants later to plant. 
 

The Finished Product!!

My first little plant of Rosemary

The Man that made it all happen.  

Weekend Update. . . .

So, I shared earlier about having to get all my doctor appointments scheduled.  I still have to schedule my mammogram and my eye appointment and I have my appointment for my migraines.  It is rough trying to keep yourself healthy, I have realized these last few weeks that I seriously neglected my self over the years.  I am chalking this up to my resolution of self care this year. 
Young Moms, please do not neglect your own health for the sake of your family.  I wish I had been better to me while the boys were young but, when you are trying to hold down a household and take care of two boys you tend to neglect you.  Make you a priority.
I completed my Cologuard test, it was not as bad as I thought  it would be, I am waiting to hear back about my results.  This tests your poop for cancer DNA.  If it comes back positive it does not mean you have cancer it means you could have cancer and should have the colonoscopy to make sure there are no polyps.  If it comes back negative this will be the best thing ever because I will not have to have that nasty colonoscopy.  I will be honest I have heard horror stories about these and I want to stay as far away from them as I can.  I am a terrible patient, I hate doctors and I may have used the family as an excuse not to go to the doctor.  I am a terrible patient. 
We can chalk up a win for the Lax bros last night, our first win of the season.   Sprat got accepted to his new school, got his scholarship and will be playing lacrosse for this new school.  We are very excited for him and cannot wait to see what his sophomore year will hold. The hubbs has dirt and is going to work on my herb bed again today.  Big T is getting ready for his Prom tonight so stay tuned for photo overload. 

The Herb Garden. . . Possible New Flowerbed too. . .

The hubbs started the bulkhead/herb garden Saturday, Yayyyy!!  There was a lot of work going on around our house this weekend.  I planted some lavender, rosemary and sage seeds to get everything started.  My Basil seeds that I started last week are starting to sprout but the rosemary has not done anything just yet.  I am so excited about my herb garden, I cannot wait till we get the dirt and I can start putting plants in.  Fingers are crossed my little seeds will sprout. I have been reading a lot about what I can do with my lavender and rosemary when it gets big.  Here are some pictures of our progress.

Now imagine this little rectangle filled with rich beautiful dark nutrient filled soil and beautiful delicate purple little flowers and lost of lush green herbs.  

The hubbs let Big T drive to school this morning so he had to come back home and get his company car to go to work.  Today is trash day in our neighborhood and one our neighbors had put out a head and foot board out to be thrown away.  My hubby immediately thought of ways he could use that head board in a new flower bed he is plotting.  I must admit, that thought went through my mind also this morning as I was coming home from work.  After I got home he asked me if he could go get it and bring it home to use in a flower bed.  I told him go get it and we will find a way to use it.  I have been talking about planting a new flower bed or replacing and spicing up one of our old beds for a fresh cutting bed.  You know you plant beautiful flowers but the purpose is to cut them and bring them inside to enjoy their beautiful color and their breathtaking aroma.  This head board would be great to run a plant up and it would be a very interesting back drop to our flower bed.  

Stay tuned more pictures and updates to follow and don't forget Prom is Saturday and you know I will be flooding with pictures.  

Garden Therapy. .

The hubs took Monday off and I had the day off so we decided to do a little work in the yard.  The hubs and Big T cleaned the front flower bed on Saturday while I caught up on some sleep from night shift.
They worked really hard and thankfully very quietly. 
The hubs and I dropped Big T off at school and had our breakfast date then off to the nursery to pick up some pansies.  I also picked up some decorative cabbage. 
It felt good planting and fixing our front bed. It reminded me of when we first moved in and we did all of  this work in that bed.  We had beautiful phlox and lilies and my rose bush.  We worked really hard in that bed those first so many years but then the kids were busy with sports and things just got neglected.  This could stand as a reminder for our spiritual life as well.  Perhaps this is what I needed to get grounded for this next phase of motherhood. 
It started to drizzle while we were planting today and that was ok we finished the planting and said a prayer for growth and renewal, again for our lives as well as our flower bed. 
Being in the yard and working and working with my hubby made me feel a little better about all this drama I am feeling lately. 
I have been promised some rosemary, lavender, and sage in a little garden area off my back patio, fingers are crossed.  We already have a few different varieties of mint and oregano back there that I use regularly in different recipes.  I will share pictures once we get the ball rolling. 
By the time Sprat gets out of college my yard may look like a jungle.  LOL!!!

This was several years ago.  I just love that phlox, the hubs has promised I get more phlox this Spring, I hope it will grow and be this pretty.  

New pansies and a little cabbage  

Another angle 

Truly Pampered Mom

I must brag just a bit on my very sweet husband.  He does a lot around the house and he is fully involved with what ever the kids are doing and he cooks now and then.  The other day he announced he was going to make chicken pies.  I did a little double take with the head tilt and confused look on my face. He said again, I am going to make chicken pies.  I said ok, and laughed it off. Well, low and behold,  he made two chicken pies the other day. We froze one and ate the other one.  I must admit it was very good.  We can add chicken pie to his vast repertoire of pancakes, bacon, omelet,  anything on the grill, Greek chicken in the crock pot,  and Latoshia's chili recipe. 
He said he was preparing to retire, he would cook while I worked part time to provide insurance.  He really has been thinking an awful lot about this retirement thing.  He has had a good deal of practice lately with my work schedule and a lot of folks sick at work.  He has really had to be both Mom and Dad  several days these last few months.   He is a trooper though, he rarely complains, maybe sometimes in jest. 

I am a lucky girl!!  In April we will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary,  it does not seem that long ago.  I love this man more and more each day.  If I could give advice to those engaged or even newlyweds, I would say find someone that makes you laugh and never ever hold anything back.  The hubbs and I do argue but, we argue and get it out and over with.   We are different people and have different opinions and we are not afraid to share that opinion with each other.  We have had our fare share of knock down drag outs but we always feel better after we have voiced our opinions.  Do not change who you are for anyone, your soulmate should know the real you.  

My very sweet hubby said on numerous occasions he loved me because of my fire and my willingness to fight for what I believe in. 

Things have been sporadic for sure here at the Pampered Mom?? but do not fear I am trying to find my way and get back to a regular schedule of posting.  Stay tuned, you know that Sprat is getting ready for College and Big T is finishing that first year of high school.  

My Hubby the Farmer. . .

With no job offers on the table at the present time and lots of backyard just sitting there, my dear sweet hubby has it in his mind to expand our garden.  I am in big trouble!  Our garden is huge now and we can barely keep up with it and now he has decided he wants to grow more peppers and tomatoes.
Our garden has been a huge blessing to us this year, if it were not for the kids the hubbs and I could live out of the garden.   The hubbs and I both have enjoyed our veggies.  I am also very thankful to my brother-in-law for the peppers he started and cultivated so that we could plant them in our garden.  I will share a picture of the peppers that my hubbs picked on Saturday.   He sauted these with some onion for our lunch on Saturday.  I love it when he cooks, there is nothing sexier than a man that knows his way around a kitchen and likes being there.
We had some new peppers this season and they are so good.  I love the orange Popsicle the new ones were:  Jimmy Nordello (long red), Biscayne hybrid,  sweet heat,  and jalapeno.  The jalapeno is the only one that is really hot, the others have a little heat but great flavor.  We used some of these in our salsa.

Pepper Poppers . . .

Our garden has really been producing this year, we have had good rain and lots of sunshine.  I think our tomatoes are going to do well also.  I am looking forward to the hubbs salsa and if you are good I might share his recipe with you, it is super secret don't you know.   He also makes pepper jelly that is so good.  If you have never had pepper jelly you need to try it, you might have seen it at Christmas over cream cheese or Brie with crackers.  It is usually red but it could be green too.  You can buy it in the grocery store and those fancy specialty shops.  Make sure you do not get the mint jelly because they have that too along the same isle.  Pepper jelly is a blend of sweet and hot and it is yummy with cream cheese and crackers.  I told you I do not can, well I fibbed just a bit, we have canned pepper jelly before successfully.  I hope we will get to make some this year.
Our peppers are just starting to come in and the hubbs is already picking them.  We had them stuffed on the grill over the fourth.  Several years ago we picked up a pepper popper grill pan, it has holes to put your peppers in to hold them upright on your grill.   This is a wonderful pan to have if you like stuffed peppers.   For our peppers, the hubbs browns some ground meat and then blends with a block of cream cheese and a taco seasoning packet.  This goes in the fridge to chill just a bit while he cores his peppers.  The cream cheese mixture needs to chill a bit so it will not run out of your peppers or be to mushy.  Once you have your peppers ready stuff them with your mixture, if your peppers are too small to sit up in the popper pan you can stick a long tooth pick through them to help hold them up.  We do this for the jalapeno peppers because they are usually smaller than the other peppers we use.  I like to dip mine in a little sour cream too when I get ready to eat them.  These are wonderful on the grill.

Updates on a Few Things. . .

We tried the sauerkraut, it was a little salty for my taste but the hubbs liked it, we are going to let it perk just a day or so more and then call it done.  We did fix another jar since we have so much cabbage and we used less salt this time.
Potatoes are all up and the hubbs has planted field peas and some okra, our first okra did not produce so we are going to try it again.  We have put a few quarts of fresh peas in the freezer this year and of course I would say I have eaten at least a quart raw.  Shhhh, do not tell the hubbs, though.  I made my very first potato salad and boy was it good, my hubby is quite picky when it comes to potato salad so I was thrilled when he gave it a thumbs up.  This was a no frills potato salad, no onion or pickles.  It was just potatoes, egg, mayo, mustard, and vinegar.  I did use some onion and garlic powder.
Big T enjoyed a lacrosse camp at a local University this last week.  It was hot as blue blazes but he had a blast.  At the hottest part of the day they took them in the locker room and let them watch game films just like the University players would.  This is a beautiful facility and the kids had a blast.
Sprat is knee deep in Summer workouts for football and working with the youth at our Church doing different things.  He has Church camp coming up, a College tour, and Mission camp too.  We pack all we can into our Summer.

Big T at Camp

Sprat at Church serving for the youth Evening Under the Stars

Six Heads of Cabbage and My Hubby. . . .

My husbands family has a little German in their history and he loves German food.  Now back to the cabbage, we do not normally grow this much cabbage but this year they all survived.   We have had stir fry, soup, stew, and have given some away.   My hubby has not found Pinterest yet, thank goodness, but he knows how to Google.  He found a recipe for homemade sauerkraut and has been preparing for it all week.  Yesterday was the big day and I could not pass up the opportunity to share this adventure with you.  I have not ever had sauerkraut before so this really is going to be an adventure for me.  The hubbs loves the stuff and he is a pretty good cook so this is going to be very interesting.
Sauerkraut is not something that is fixed in one day, it is a process and in some areas they bury it in the ground.  We did not bury ours, it is just sitting on the counter processing.  We started by peeling the outer layers of the cabbage and then slicing the head thinly then adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt.

After adding the salt you mash the cabbage, almost like kneading bread.

This what your cabbage looks like after kneading it for five minutes.

You take that and put it in a clean mason jar and tamp it down to get the air out of it.

You then add the liquid that you made by kneading back to the mason jar to cover the cabbage.

You place a smaller jelly jar filled with rocks or beads to weight down the cabbage.

The cabbage needs to stay under the liquid.

You then cover the jar with cheese cloth to keep dust and anything else out of your cabbage.

This is what the cabbage looks like this morning all veiled in cheese cloth.

As you can tell I have it sitting in a bowl, they said the liquid may bubble out of the jar.

I am not sure how long we have to wait, but stay tuned, I will keep you updated on the cabbage process.  I said we had six heads, this is only a quarter of a head.  I see more stew in my future but, that is ok, because it will go in the freezer for the winter.   Stay tuned potatoes will be coming in soon.

My Little Corner. . .

Our little corner of the world is blooming and growing like crazy.   I told you about planting a clove of my garlic from my counter well, it is growing and I am so proud.  I planted another one that I had sprouting, it is not doing as well.  I hope to be able to cultivate my own garlic since I use it so regularly.  Not from a monetary stand point, although that is another bonus, but just because I like to use veggies and herbs that I have grown.  There is nothing like cooking fresh from your own back yard.  Since the hubbs has been out of work this week we have eaten some fabulous recipes that I have found on Pinterest.  What did we ever do before Pinterest?
Yesterday I fixed a wonderful stir fry with broccoli and cabbage, both from our garden, that was with a sauce recipe from Pinterest.   This is sugar free and gluten free sauce and uses no soy sauce.  Immune boosting stir fry sauce you can find it at this link or keep scrolling and I will tell you some more about it.   I never follow the recipe to the letter so please keep that in mind.

2 cups chicken broth
2 large cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1tbsp arrowroot (optional)  I did not use this
2 tbsp ginger root minced ( I used ginger powder and I did not use 2 tbsp)

I combined all of this in a sauce pan to simmer while I chopped up my broccoli and cabbage.  I used about 2 cups of broccoli and half a head of large cabbage.  I heat up some extra garlic and a little spring onion in some olive oil before I added my broccoli and cabbage to my stir fry skillet.
My hubby loved this and I liked it too.  Very filling too.  Below are the pictures of my garlic that is really growing.  I cannot wait to harvest it and try it in one of my recipes.

This is my new garlic I just planted along with the one I planted earlier.

New Recipe. . .

I have a new favorite recipe for my broccoli.  I found this one on Pinterest, but I did not save it and now I cannot locate it.  I did tweak it just a bit anyway so it is not the exact recipe from Pinterest.   We have a bumper crop of broccoli right now so I am trying to find other ways to eat it than just raw and in salads.  I do love it that way though.  I have done this recipe two different ways and obviously I encourage you to tweak it and make it your own.

1-2 cups chopped broccoli (depending on how many you are going to feed)
2-3 tbsp of olive oil ( I am never exact on this, I do not measure)
2 cloves of garlic pressed ( highly recommend fresh)
1-2 tbsp of water

I whisk the last three ingredients then add the broccoli and toss.  Spread over a baking dish and broil till tender or to the way you like it.  My hubby likes his really done.

This is the one I tried today and it was FABULOUS!!
1-2 cups chopped broccoli
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon zested and then juiced

I whisk the last three ingredients then add the broccoli and toss.  Zest your lemon before you juice it and I only juiced half of my lemon.  This had the best flavor, I could not believe how good it was.  I broiled on 500 till it was very fragrant and a little crisp for my hubby.   When I bring it out of the oven I also sprinkle a little salt.

I think my kids might even like this, I may have to try it again tonight and see.  

One of Those Weeks. . .

Excuse my gap in posts, it has been another wild week here at the clan.   Baseball has gotten started full swing for Sprat and we are still battling Lacrosse with Big T.  Big T had a game last night against a local middle school,  they tied last night after beating them weeks before.  This middle school team is really good so if we could not get another win against them, I guess a tie will do.  
A cold front came through the other day and I think I may have lost some of figs.  I do not think anything in the garden was damaged but my figs are most definitely going to suffer.  I am not sure what type of fig we have but some years I get two crops; and early crop and then one later in the year.  I think the cold may have damaged my early crop this year.  It ruined my early crop last year and I did not get a good late crop either.  Like most things my mom has been my influence with my garden, herbs, and fruit trees.  Mom has a huge fig tree, she can even pick them from her open window in the dining room.  I have always loved figs, when I was pregnant and my folks would come up to see us they always brought me fresh figs.  Mom also makes fig preserves, they are so good.  I have not tried my hand a preserves yet, I have never had enough at one time to make preserves.  I eat them right off the tree, they rarely make it into the house.  I have found some good recipes on Pinterest for figs and cheese and honey.  If I do have enough to do anything with I think I will try one of those recipes.  Mom always keeps me stocked on my fig preserves.
I really do enjoy eating what we grow, I wish I could get my kids a little more excited about it.  They each have certain things that they like out of the garden; Sprat likes the potatoes and Big T likes the lettuce and spinach.  The hubbs and I like it all!  I am going to try and freeze more of my jalapeno zucchini cornbread casseroles this year and I hope we will be able to freeze more peas too.  
Stay tuned I will probably share that zucchini recipe again and a few more that I have tucked away.  I might even share my hubbs pepper jelly recipe, yummmm.

Happy Good Friday. . . .

We planted part of the garden yesterday.  We have three rows of potatoes, four rows of sweet peas, and three rows of onions.  I love sweet peas so much my hubby hopes that by planting more rows he will actually get to freeze some of them.  We only froze a very small portion last year because I ate most of them raw.  I have always loved raw sweet peas, I used to go to my mother's garden and pick the peas and eat them while I was playing outside.  Today the hubbs hopes to plant some broccoli plants, cabbage plants and some lettuce.  Sprat loves the potatoes and Big T loves the lettuce.  
It is funny to think back on last year at this time, the hubbs was trying to recover from his torn quadriceps tendon and muscle surgery and we were not sure we would even have a garden.  I feel very blessed that the hubbs brother planted our garden last year.  I also feel very blessed to see that my hubby is back on his feet and going strong.  
My hubby is my rock, he is always there to cheer me own in what ever I am doing.  He makes me laugh, cry, and sometimes cuss but I am blessed to call him; husband, friend, and love of my life.   I will soon have the pleasure of celebrating twenty-three years of wedded bliss with him.   I am proud to say that after twenty-three years that he still makes my heart skip a beat here and there.   We enjoy spending time together; whether it is working in the yard, snuggled on the couch watching a movie, fishing, or watching our boys play whatever sport they are playing.
The kids are going to clean gravestones today at our graveyard to prepare for the Easter sunrise service.   Our graveyard serves several Churches and each of the youth groups clean the stones and the women's fellowship groups decorate the graves with fresh flowers.   Our Easter sunrise service is beautiful, if you have never been to one I highly recommend it, it is a very emotional experience.   The Church bands are scattered along the hill and they play as the move toward the center of the cemetery where they converge and play as one band.  It really is the most beautiful and moving service.

Garden Crazy. . .

The cucumbers and zucchini are really going strong now.  I thought I would share a couple of recipes that I am using to keep up.  Yesterday I made my yummy zucchini cornbread casserole with jalapeno peppers.  I had to use my peppers from the freezer because our peppers are not ready yet.  I have been eating our cucumbers just with a little salt.  Now that they are really going strong I needed a recipe that would use more than one.
I was reading something on the Internet the other day about cucumbers and their health benefits.  I thought I would share some since cucumbers are going to be in full swing in the next few weeks.  One point was relieve joint pain (arthritis) and inflammation, as I have gotten older I have noticed my knees aching more and my hands sore at times.  I am willing to try anything that is natural for joint pain and I love cucumbers so this is a no brainer for me.  This article also said it helps with weight loss, this one I am more skeptical about but I have seen several posts about cucumber water on Pinterest lately.    It is also supposed to help blood pressure, diabetes, hydrate the body, and reduce cholesterol.  I love cucumbers and I always have, I am not sure that I believe all of what they said cucumbers can do but they are very tasty.
I fixed these the other day:
3 cucumbers peeled and sliced (thick)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp dill
1 or 2 garlic cloves or 2 tsp garlic powder
1 jalapeno pepper
3 small onions sliced
I used a large mason jar and put my vinegar in then added my cucumber slices, dill, onion, and pepper (whole), then filled with water.  It was hard to leave them in the fridge because I wanted to eat them right then.   I held off for 2 hours and tasted, they were good but the longer they sit the better they get.  I love these!!

We have a lot of zucchini too so, I decided I would make zucchini muffins.  This is not the original recipe, as usual I tweaked it just a bit.
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg beaten
2 1/2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp molasses
1 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine first six ingredients and set aside.  Combine egg and oil then stir into dry ingredients.  Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.  Oil your muffin cups bake 350 for 20-25 minutes or until pick comes out clean.

Below is my cucumber vinegar combo:

Whacky Wednesday. . .

We are eating pizza tonight but I would like to share a recipe with you of a favorite zucchini casserole.   This one is in honor of our garden that is growing and will hopefully produce some fabulous zucchini.
Here is what you will need:
2-3 medium zucchini chopped
1 can green chillis chopped or
1-2 fresh jalapeno peppers chopped
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 box jiffy corn muffin mix
2 egg beaten
Dash or two of texas pete

Mix your zucchini,  chilis or peppers, onion, dash of Pete.  Add your eggs and muffin mix then add the cheese.   Spoon into casserole dish and bake at 350 for at least 60 minutes or until bubbly and browning.  You can also add some extra cheese on top toward the end of baking.  I made 6 of these last year and froze them.  If you want to freeze them bake for 30 minutes and let cool completely,  then cover with plastic wrap and cover with foil and freeze.  I have one left in my freezer and we are eating it tomorrow.
Here is a shot of our garden with a huge thank you again to my brother-in-law for getting it going.