05.22.2012

sunshine in the sky and the warm breeze draws me outside this time of the year to enjoy all that nature has to offer. we are in desperate need of rain and higher temperatures are coming in the next few days. today i chose to spend my time outside listening to the laughter of the children and the birds singing high up in the trees.

it was the perfect day to write down some recipes out of a cookbook that i borrowed from our local library. i get tired of fixing the same things over and over again so today i took the time to write out some new recipes that i hope will become family favorites. the children are home from school and i created this play for them to eat outside. it’s much more fun to eat outside on nice days then it is in the house and if messes happen they are much easier to clean up. i hope that someday my children will look back and cherish their summertime moments.

take time to enjoy the little things in life. summer is beckoning. go. enjoy every moment.

have a blessed day!
sarah

weekend finds

yard sales are like a big ole’ treasure hunt to me. i love to go early and i love a great deal! sometimes things are way overpriced or at least they are for me. today was a great yard sale day at one of my favorite subdivisions. they do a yearly yard sale that starts at 6 am but trust me when i tell you that if you aren’t there by 5:30 scoping things out then you will miss out on things. i was there early and still managed to miss one yard sale that sold some very old wooden utensils and galvanized buckets but i still walked away with some great stuff.

i purchased eight of these solar yard lights for a $1.00. they were all thrown in a five gallon bucket with a price tag that said $1.00 but i couldn’t believe that they really wanted that price for all of them but sure enough they did. they make a great addition to my front flower bed. see that little minnow bucket behind the first light? that little treasure cost me a quarter. :)

this galvanized container set me back a dollar but i also scored some free wood at the yard sale that will be used for a great project around the home. can’t go wrong with free wood!

the same yard sale that had the yard lights for $1.00 also had these great old wooden coke containers for $1.00. you can bet i snatched them up in a heartbeat. i love the colors and the worn faded look. how i wish i could still buy a coke from out of one of these.

my sweetest find of the day that i love most would be these little ball mason jar salt and pepper shakers. how cute are they? everyone that knows me would tell you that i dearly love old mason jars so i was thrilled to add this to my collection. the price tag on these was a great deal at only fifty cents. i am afraid if i keep collecting i am going to run out of room in my home but that will give me a great reason to open my own little shop someday.

do you enjoy yard sales? what great finds have you found?

have a blessed day!
sarah

buttermilk pancakes

summer is officially here. the children are out of school and we are enjoying the days of being together. morning routines of sleepy children walking into the kitchen and asking the ever famous question, “what’s for breakfast” so today I share one of our favorite recipes. all compliments of the wonderful paula dean and her southern cooking. :) I love some southern style cooking. how ‘bout you?

grab your pretty bowl and get ready to whip up some of the tastiest buttermilk pancakes that you will ever feast on. be prepared to hear your children tell you just how wonderful of a mother you are. all because of buttermilk pancakes!

go ahead and grab your cute little kitchen helper as well. it’s good for children to be in the kitchen and learn how to cook and learn how to listen to instruction. this cute little helper was barely awake when he grabbed the favorite kitchen stool and climbed up to help.

buttermilk pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp. butter melted
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
maple syrup for drizzlin’

in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. in medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, eggs and vanilla until combined. fold the buttermilk into the flour mixture just until combined. a few lumps are fine. pour batter onto hot griddle to form pancakes the size that you desire. once tiny bubbles form on one side, flip the pancakes over and cook until lightly browned. slather with some peanut butter and maple syrup if your anything like our family.

enjoy your pancakes by the light of the morning sun gleaming through the kitchen window. yummy!

have a blessed day!
sarah

patriotic garden in the making

I love my country and when trying to decide how to do my flower garden I decided to go with a patriotic theme. All red, white and blue flowers with flags thrown in the mix as I collect them. This is just the beginning and as I find perennials that I love and that match the theme I will add them in.

Delphiniums and Geraniums mixed together is one of my favorite combinations so far. I love the bright blue of Delphiniums against the red and white of the Geraniums.

I love planting in galvanized containers and with us possibly moving in the near future I have tried to plant everything in containers so I can take them with us. The plants in the container with the White Verbena will eventually bloom with beautiful red flowers. I have been trying to plant flowers that will also be a stopping spot for hummingbirds.


Someday I hope to have a beautiful patriotic garden to enjoy and for the butterflies, hummingbirds and bees to enjoy. It will take some time for everything to fill out as most of my perennials are still very small but I can’t wait until they do. :)

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

scrumptious cheesy chicken quesadillas

I had a hankerin’ today for a good ole’ quesadilla. I got busy in the kitchen and whipped up these and boy were they yummmo! Everyone gobbled them up and even my sweet momma stopped by and had a few slices. They are easy and they are good. What more could you ask for?

Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
14 oz can rotel with diced chilies, drained
11 oz can mexicorn
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp oregano
2-3 tsp cumin (adjust to your liking)
1/2 tsp sea salt
monterey jack cheese
tortillas
butter

Turn oven to broil. In large skillet combine softened cream cheese with rotel and mexicorn. Add chicken and seasonings and stir so that all ingredients are well combined. Allow to simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. Take one tortilla and lay it on baking sheet. Layer a little bit of cheese and then the chicken mixture followed by a little more cheese. Top it all off with another tortilla. Spread a small amount of butter on the top tortilla and place the quesadilla in the oven. You must watch them closely as they brown very quickly. Once quesadilla has reached the level of crispness that you like take it out of the oven. Flip it over and butter the other tortilla. Place back in oven and allow to brown. Once that side has browned take quesadilla out of oven. Cut into wedges and enjoy!

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

in the garden

Sunday evening and Monday morning we were blessed with rain. I love being in the garden after a good rain when the soil is still moist and weeds are easy to pull. Yesterday I was excited to find vegetables that loved the rain and proved that by growing taller. So I took the time to snap shots of what it is going on in the garden.

Sugar Snap Peas were planted March 17 and are doing very well considering we had some very hot days so early on in the year. This weeks weather is looking much cooler so I am hoping that they will take off and really start growing. I planted the bush variety of peas that said they didn’t need to be staked. However after watching the peas try to grab each other and vine around the mulch I finally decided to just go ahead and stake them. A little ladybug at work is always a welcoming sign. I love her bright red color against the greens and browns.

Myself and one of sweet little bug lookers picked the fewest potato beetles that we ever have this season. When we first started hand picking them it took quite awhile to get them all. This is the 5th time to have hand picked them and thankfully they weren’t on every plant and we only got about 20 of them. I think handpicking them is working!

Blue Lake bush beans were planted April 29. They have all come up out of the ground and look good other than the few that have some little holes where something has started munching on them. I will be investigating and watching closely to see if I can figure out who the guilty party is. I couldn’t find any little bugs yesterday when I looked. I have three rows of beans planted right now and plan to put out three more next weekend. I didn’t want them all coming up at the same time. :) Lettuce is up in abundance. I cut some off and it grows right back. Onions are all growing tall and some are starting to bloom.

and it never hurts to have a beautiful surrounding while gardening. We are blessed to have such a gorgeous location for our garden. So what’s left? Tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers and more beans. I think that will be all I tackle this year. I am looking to go even bigger next year and my ultimate dream? Grow enough to sell at the farmers market.

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

05/08/2012

What a gorgeous day it was to get out and get some work done outside. The weather was just perfect so we drove down to the farm today to work in the garden. On the way out the door I grabbed my camera hoping to capture some of God’s wonderful creation and I wasn’t disappointed. So I wanted to share some of the beautiful images I was able to capture this evening. Enjoy!

The colors and the beauty that surrounds me everyday is just breathtaking at times. There was one area where I was capturing photos of butterflies and there were so many of them fluttering around. I am not sure the name of the plant that they were enjoying but oh how I would love to have some near me. Take time to enjoy the creation that God has lovingly put together.

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

05.07.2012 daily life

Woke to the sound of majestic rolling thunder and bright bolts of lightning flashing through the dark skies this morning. The sound of heavy rain pounding the concrete sidewalk was a welcoming sound. It doesn’t matter how many times I water my flowers or the garden area it just never gets the nutrients like it does from the rain. The day stayed pretty cloudy with the sun making an appearance every once in awhile. It wasn’t a day for hanging laundry on the line so I took a trip to the library where I loaded up on plenty of gardening books.

While I was get my library books scanned one of the librarians made the comment that I would never get any gardening done if I sat and read all of these books. I let her know that I was one of those people who skimmed the book taking the information that I felt I needed. There is such a wealth of gardening information out there and I have a feeling that no matter how much I read that I will learn more from just doing.

Around here we seem to eat the same vegetables day after day so I finally decided to try something new and thankfully it was a hit with almost the entire crew. The children are sensitive to spicy foods so they picked out the cayenne pepper taste right away. :) It was a super easy recipe and I like easy on busy days.

Cast Iron Skillet Black Eyed Peas
4-5 tbsp bacon grease
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
3 tbsp minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
2 cans black eyed peas

Heat bacon grease in skillet and add garlic and onion.
Allow to cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Drain black eyed peas and add to skillet.
Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

05/06/2012 daily life

What a hot weekend for the beginning of May. We loaded up Friday evening and spent the evening at the farm. Enjoyed dinner with the family and it was an early evening of going to bed. Early evening to bed means an early morning rise and early it was for me. I laid in bed waiting a bit for the rest of the crew to rise. Once everyone was up it was time for breakfast and then it was out the door for a day of work in the garden and around the farm.

Considering that I only get down to the farm once a week to work on the garden things aren’t looking to bad. I had gone down this past Tuesday after learning that I had been invaded by a very unwanted enemy bug called the Colorado Potato Bug. I am trying to garden as organically as I can and therefore the best option for preventing these unwanted bugs is hand picking. I picked twice on Saturday but didn’t get near as many as I had on Tuesday. I am thinking my efforts are working. Thankfully the garden is also full of lots of beautiful wonderful ladybugs and that is yet another reason that I don’t want to use any chemicals. I don’t want to take the risk of killing them along with the gorgeous butterflies that are out which I hope to capture soon on my camera.

The children are very curious as to what is growing in the garden and all the various bugs. A few of our children enjoy picking the bugs off the plants and asking lots of questions. One of them just so happens to be the little beauty pictured below in her dress that she managed to get dirt on first thing, barn boots and a hat to protect her little head and face from the hot sun. I can’t express the joy that I feel to have my little ones in the garden with me and learning about all the various things that they do. I am a very blessed mother.

I am also very blessed to have an amazing husband that does the cultivating and tilling in this garden. Once he is done helping me he usually is off to work in another area of the yard. This is his parents land and they have been very gracious to allow us to use this garden area. My husband helps with the yard work and is currently clearing a path down to the creek that borders their property. The plan is eventually clear it out and put large stones in as stairs so that the creek is easy to access. The cool creek will feel good after a long hard day in the hot sun.

Have a blessed day!
Sarah