Mama's Night In

My oh my how the weekend flew by.... I hate when that happens. We were just so stinking busy! Saturday evening I had a girl friend over. I made some appetizers for us, grilled chicken with a cucumber sauce (trying to use up all my cucs) and a bruschetta (basil & tomatoes from the garden) with homemade french bread.... it was YUMMY!

Homemaker

Even thought technically I am not a full time homemaker I would like to believe that I do the best I can with the time, energy and money I have. Eventually I would love to be at home full time with a clean house full of kiddos, ok maybe the clean part is a stretch :) But who knows what the future will bring.

Anywhoo here are a few pics of some of my attempts, well 2 to be exact to keep costs down and health up!

Harvest from our garden, August 2nd, 2011

Homemade granola. So easy and so yummy! Recipe found & adapted from Brown Eyed Baker.

Finished product with blueberry Greek yogurt for breakfast. Yum, Yum!

Life is good and we are blessed :)

My Daily List

One of my favorite blogs is Little Miss Mama. She is a super wonderful, honest, talented stay at home mommy :) I always get a kick out of her stories about her and Baby W's adventures. Well this morning I read her post about Lists.... and let me just say, I am ADDICTED to lists! I have never thought about it as an addiction (hee hee) but I get the same sick satisfaction from crossing things off that Ashley does. So here is my list for the day....

1. Find a DJ for the wedding (I have 2 contacts, have called and left a v.m. for one)
2. Text my stylist back about the trial run for hair and makeup
3. Mail Bills
4. Blog post
5. Make chicken tacos for dinner
6. Work on sewing project (This prob will not be posted for awhile but I will post it in oh... a month and a half or so :))
7. 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels (I did it last night and feel pretty good today, I might step it up and do level 2 tonight!)
8. Water garden

So this is my list... I am sure I will add more and cross some off and start a new tomorrow! Do you all make lists and get the same satisfaction from crossing them off?

Banana Muffin

This is not just any banana muffin. It was SUPER moist and fluffy! I used this recipe from all recipes

I added Peanut Butter chips as well as chocolate chips. I also used sour cream instead of yogurt since I had a tub of sour cream I needed to use up. As you can tell I am a sucker for the chocolate and peanut butter combo. Plus I had a bag of each I needed to finish off :)

Happy Baking!

Fresh Veggie Pizza

One of my favorite things about having a garden is picking fresh veggies right out of the garden before dinner! The freshness and the flavor are just amazing... That being said the only thing in this meal that was FRESH out out of the garden are the tomatoes. The yellow and green zucchini were from my friends garden last week, carrots from my garden a couple days ago, onions and potatoes are store bought. So the majority of the toppings are from mine or a close friends garden! We are lucky for such plentiful crops.
I am also making an effort to waste less. So when I decided to make homemade pizza tonight I knew the perfect topping for my pizza would be the leftover sauteed veggies from our dinner last night (baked salmon and sauteed veggies)

Leftover sauteed veggies with sauteed shrimp. (Sauteed in olive oil seasoned with Italian herbs & garlic)

My go to crust recipe is a no kneed dough from Delectable Deliciousness. It is the perfect crust! It takes some time to rise but is basically no effort needed. I highly recommend trying this recipe. The results vary on the size pan you use and the thickness you stretch it to. We prefer a thinner crust, that still has some volume to it.

Homemade pizza dough with a layer of cherry tomatoes fresh from the garden


A sprinkle of feta over the tomatoes was just the right touch!

Next comes shredded mozzarella (if I had more in my grocery budget it would for sure go to good cheese. We go through cheese WAY FAST)

Finished Product, Veggie Pizza!

Had to take a close up! It was such a pretty pizza!

Engagement Party!

My sister and her husband decided to throw us a little party for our engagement. It was a BLAST! friends and family came to celebrate with us :) Here are just a few silly pics from the party. Enjoy!

Me and my lovely fiance PJ :)

Sari (one of my bestest of friends and a bridesmaid) and me

Grace (another one of my best friends) and me

PJ, Pat (PJ's longest friend and groomsmen) and me trying to cheese it up :)

From Our Garden

I can not believe it is the end of July already! Where did it go??? I can tell you, HOT HOT HOT summer days is where it went! We have not had a lot of rain, so a lot of watering was done to keep by plant babies alive and kicking :) Please enjoy the photos from my garden!

Giant Belgium Heirloom Tomatoes (started from seed by a friend)

I will not see too many of these this year but am so

excited for the 6 to 8 that I have on the plant!

Little cucumber on the vine

I had a bunch of cucumbers early on in the season but they are slowly dying out due to the heat and lack of moisture. I am still harvesting a few and trying to keep these babies alive!

Cherry Tomatoes

My cherry tomatoes always prosper. They are probably my favorite garden plant that I grow. Nothing like eating a sweet sun-kissed cherry tomato right from the vine!

Cantaloupe on the vine. (I hopefully will be able to harvest 8 - 10 of these when the time is right!)

Watermelon on the vine (I have spotted 4 already!)

I built a second garden terrace just for my cantaloupe, watermelon & pumpkin. I like its charming. And whatever is in that soil.... the melons LOVE it. They have taken over!!! I will have to get a picture of the whole melon bed, with the old stone and vines draping over, its delightful.

Baby Pumpkin on the vine.

My harvest from yesterday evening. I feel so blessed for everything we have.

Our little friend that joined me in watering last night :)

To end the day I made a peach cucumber smoothie. Light & Refreshing, perfect for a summer evening.

Welcome Back

It has been waaaaay toooooo loooooong since I have posted! With summer comes busy schedules, lots of family time, gardening, pools, bbqs. Not only that but its crunch time for the wedding, 2 months from yesterday! And raising a 2 year old.... life gets hectic. But I would not h ave it any other way! Life is good. My garden is thriving, I have harvested many tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots. Of course we harvested our beets and spinach earlier this year.

Wedding planning is going well! we have all the invites out. We have our tasting Wednesday night with the caterer and we went over floor plans last week with our reception venue. Everything is pretty much on schedule! My dress is BEAUTIFUL. I just had a fitting last week, and it was a tad bit snug.... lol time to cut out sweets and eat my veggies!

And most importantly Brody is doing FABULOUS. He is talking a mile a minute :) Super active, fun loving, busy little toddler :) He started yet a new daycare. This one is an actual center where he sleeps on a little cot and plays with kids his age. He is still adjusting but is doing great. As hard as it is for mama I know it will be best in the long run.

Now for a muffin recipe. This week I made peanut butter and chocolate chip muffins. They are so super moist and delish! I added some sour cream that need to be used up as well as some peanut butter chips. Annie's Eats never fails on delicious recipes!

These were seriously great!

After dessert for breakfast I decided to do a bit more of a healthy lunch....

With about a forth a cup of hummus and a few strawberries for dessert :) all of this, minus the pepper, is fresh from my or a friend of mine's garden. I am one lucky lady!

Garden Update

Roma tomato bought as transplant

Spinach started from seed

Beets started from seed

Carrots started from seed

Green Bell Pepper bought as a transplant

Heirloom tomato transplant started from seed (looks much healthier now!)

Cucumbers started from seed

Cantaloupe started from seed

Beans started from seed

Beans started from seed

Basil started from seed

I took these pictures awhile back. Since then my plants have almost doubled in size! I also laid a thick layer of mulch and have started working on the second terrace for my garden! Life has been soooo busy! Most with yard work in the back yard. We finally got some sod laid, its not totally complete my hopefully i will have a picture with an update very soon! Its being to look a lot like summer!

Busy Busy!

Hi friends! Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. We have been SO busy! We wedding planning train is moving fast :) We booked our florist and now are trying to book our honeymoon, we are thinking 7 day eastern Caribbean cruise! And trying to find a rehearsal dinner venue, with not much luck.... Suggestions for the south Kansas City area anyone? Along with house projects, the backyard is still not done :( But we are getting there! Gardening of course is on my daily agenda, weeding watering & nurturing. Then everyday life, cooking, cleaning laundry. And yet again we are looking for another daycare center. We have toured 3 and are pretty sure we are going to go with Punkin Patch! Oh life is busy folks :) But in a good way! Hope spring is treating everyone well!

Had to include a pic! This might be a repeat but I just love this little mans style :)

Mother's Day!

We had a wonderful Mothers Day! We worked in the garden a bunch, I will be seeing several random stray bean plants thanks to my little gardening partner :) I got to sleep in until 7! Yes that is sleeping in for me :) And while PJ was making me breakfast, bacon and eggs I walk into find this going on in the bathroom.....
Oh yes he was so proud of himself for getting into Mamas makeup! It was pretty stinking cute I could not help but smile :)




Lunch consisted of turkey sandwiches with cool ranch Doritos. It took me back to my kiddo days :)

The beautiful flowers PJ got me as a surprise on Friday! A little early mother's day gift :)It was a WONDERFUL day! Just the way I had envisioned it.
Sorry I am so late in posting this! My life has been a whirlwind and I have been enjoying the ride :) Lots of love!