Conference References

For those who are LDS, its conference weekend and here are a couple of links to some good resources for entertaining those kids during the 2 hour meetings for church! This is compliments of my super talented and awesome friend Robyn! Thanks girl!


downloads.sugardoodle.net

http://d.scribd.com/docs/1y8qkrk113z9gvo5cbsu.pdf

Recession Gardening

Howdy all,

I hope this Monday morning is treating you all well. Mine started at 5:00am with another boot camp workout....I need to post another workout soon, and I will....I promise!

I heard on the radio the other day that Gardening is growing in popularity because of the financial recession that the US is in. People are trying to save money and be a little more self reliant so they are planting gardens. One figure even showed that you could spend as little as $50 on gardening supplies and your yield could be as much as $1200 worth of produce! WOW! That is a lot!

My garden is coming along nicely and I have found that I really enjoy being outside and working in it and my yard. We have done some work on our front yard too and I can't wait for the roses and other flowers to start growing and blooming so that they fill up their little spaces. Right now they are just twigs coming out of the ground....but soon they will be shrubs and beautiful, I am sure!

So, even if it is just planting a tomato plant because you like them....and they are so much better when you grow them....then just try it and see how it goes. I used to not like tomatoes....until one year someone brought me some small yellow pear tomatoes and I loved them....they are firm and tasty! I have one of those growing in my garden now and I hope that it booms with those yummy things, they make an excellent Tomato Vinaigrette Salad....I should post that recipe as well....will do. (Do you like how I talk to myself as I write?)

Anyway...if you think you have a brown thumb...then just get something that is hardy and needs very little care....just try it....you might like it....and its good to stretch and grow and learn new things, right?

Have a beautiful day...make your day beautiful, even if the odds are against ya!

Heather

Recipe: Basic Meatballs

This is a basic recipe for meatballs using ground beef. My husband and I both liked them so I thought I would post....I love a good meatball! This is from The Pioneer Woman (one of my favorite food blogger) website.

BBQ Meatballs - Comfort Food to the Max

Meatballs
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup oats
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons very finely minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
plenty of ground black pepper

Sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
4 to 6 tablespoons onion
Dash of Tabasco

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.

Remove from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.

Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.
Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty french bread.


Her sauce is a ketchup tasting sauce, similar to what I have had on meatloaf. If you don't want that kind of sauce, you could just use your favorite barbecue sauce or use a can or two of Cream of Mushroom Soup and it would be more like Swedish meatballs.

Healthy Living

There are a few things you can go....just little changes...that can help you to eat better and healthier. Here are a few suggestions.....please note....if you made a New Year's Resolution to eat better, it almost April! If you haven't started, then there is no time like the present!

This is what I would suggest.....

• Eat 3 small meals a day (like breakfast, lunch, and dinner) plus 2 snacks, one in the mid morning and one in the mid afternoon (which I like to call my after school snack even though I am not in school and am sitting at my desk).
• Include at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal and snack....French fries and the like do not count, even if they are the best thing since sliced bread.
• Speaking of sliced bread...eat whole grain breads, the white stuff sure is gooey and yummy but its just fluff and you body needs more!
• If you aren't big into eating fruits or veggies, then try to mix them in a smoothie. Carrots, Kale, and spinach are great add ons to a fruit smoothie and I hardly even notice they are there. Kale is a super food with lots of good stuff in it, so just throw it in an feel better. I have a fact sheet on kale I will have to post because it has lots of good stuff.
• For potatoes, substitute white ones with sweet potatoes....you will be surprised how easy it is to use them instead and they are packed with all sorts of goodness....and better for you...they even make great French fries, in fact I prefer them as french fries over white potatoes. I should probably post that recipe, I will sometime soon.
• Organic versus regular old produce. My husband read an article the other day from a nutritionist that asked him the question about which was better. He said most Americans get 7% of their nutrition from sodas....so really....just eat produce! While organic may have some benefits, its better to eat produce than drink a coke!
• If you are going out to eat to your favorite Mexican food restaurant.....eat something healthy and nutritious before you go....fill the void in your stomach so you don't eat as much. And, when they deliver your food, immediately ask for a "to go" container and take at least half and put it away. You are less likely to eat it if you cannot see it on your plate.
• Try to eat at home as much as you can, generally you will eat healthier there.
• Fill your home with nutritious and healthy foods, you are less likely to eat that bag of Cheetos if they are not there!
• My neighbor said his wife won't let him eat anything that ends with "i-to" and I think that is pretty funny, not Doritos, Cheetos, etc. Its pretty good advice. I love Cheetos but they are so calorie and fat full.
• Get forced exercise....park a little farther away, take the long way at the store, park on the other side of the mall from the place you are going (although that may cost you some money as you pass a sale.). Every step counts, so walk a little further.
• Find someone to get together with and cut up and prepare all your produce. I think its a fun idea to go buy everything and then get together and cut up all your veggies and wash everything so its ready to go! It will make your meal prep go quicker and you will actually use your produce more.
• Green bags--Get green bags or Tupperware or something that prolongs the life of your produce so that you aren't throwing away wilting lettuce.
• Buy groceries from a list that you prepared with your meals planned. It takes the hassle out of getting home and figuring out what to make for dinner.
• Try new things! Don't get in a recipe rut, branch out and look for healthier alternatives!

These are just a few suggestions but I hope they can inspire you or kick start you into some nutritional eating!

Stay dry, don't get blown away, or stay inside if its snowing...weird weather going on all over the place!

Love ya!

H

Book Club: The Last Lecture

Howdy Folks--

I am back from my retreat and back to the grind at work....sorry I have not been around to post lately but I will strive to be better about it!

Tonight I am recommending the book "The Last Lecture" by Paul Rausch. you may have heard of it, it is a best seller. It is about this man (true story) that is a professor at Carnegie-Mellon and he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At the school, they have a tradition of having a "last lecture" for people who are retiring or leaving and they gave him this opportunity since he was only given 3-6 months to live. He talks about life lessons and things he learned from others. Its a great book, a fast read, and I found it really inspiring in a non-depressing I am going to die kind of way. He faces his disease head on, does what he can to fight it, and is frank with his feelings and what legacy he was trying to leave his 3 very young children who may not remember him.

This is a great bedtime book, one of those books you can read before you go to bed and just read a little or a lot, it doesn't matter. All the "chapters" are his life lessons so its okay if you skip for a few days and then pick up reading again. His courage and grit I found inspiring....and I hope you will too!

Be beautiful people!

Heather

FHE: Food Storage Scavenger Hunt

I was talking to my friend Diane at boot camp this morning and she said for their Family night that they did a Food Storage Scavenger Hunt. She said the kids had to go find and figure out what foods they had and then report back and then they cooked with some of the food to make sure it was still good and should stay in the pantry/storage some more. She said the kids loved it and it was fun for all, plus she made dessert with some of the flour they had! YUM!

So, I thought I would pass along this idea to others because I thought it was creative and fun....who knows what I would find in my pantry!?!?

Love ya!
Heather

Recipe: Brie Mushroom Burgers

I experimented with the recipe last night and it turned out quite good. The mushrooms and onions in the burgers kept it moist and tasty and the brie was subtle but added a nice richness to it. This is how I did it. Since this was an experiment, I didn't take any pictures...so forgive me...but I had many requests for the recipe so here goes...

This is enough to make 3 decent hamburgers.

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground beef (leaner is better for your health but Chuck sure is good)
1/2 Large Portabella cap, finely chopped
1/2 large onion, minced
Whole Wheat Hamburger buns (or whatever your preference)
Hamburger fixins of your choice
salt and pepper--to taste
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon of olive oil
6 slices of brie


I took the pound of ground beef and put it in a bowl and seasoning it with salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash. I use Kosher salt, and probably used about a teaspoon of each. Mix it up really good, you may have to use your hands.

Then I took the onion and mushroom and shopped them up to a fine chop or close to a mince. I wanted the pieces to be small so that they would evenly distribute throughout each hamburger patty and give flavor throughout. I then took the onion and mushrooms and sauteed them in some olive oil until they were golden brown on the edges and translucent....and you house smells wonderful! I then took those off the burner and let them cool a little.

Now its time to mix the beef and the mushroom/onion mixture. Mix it so that it is all evenly distributed and each bite gets a little of everything.

Now, lets form the patties! You will need to make 2 really thin patties to make one hamburger. Take one of the patties and place 2 slices of brie on it and then top with the other patty. pick up the patties and go around the edge and seal them up so that you cannot see the brie from any angle. Its like a secret pocket of yum on the inside. Form all the patties.

When its time to cook, I sprayed the pan with Pam and got the pan hot so that it would make a nice sear on the patty (because that is the way I like them). You don't want to turn them too much because they are kind of delicate with the brie in the middle. Place them in the pan and wait. When the bottom is nice and seared, it will release from the pan.....flip it over and wait. At this point I turned the stove top down to about middle heat. The leftover heat will sear this side and the lower heat will help cook it through. I left it on this side a few minutes longer to make sure it cooks through, then I covered the pan with foil and just set it aside so that the meat can rest and the ambient heat will continue to cook and keep it warm.

At this point I toasted the buns. Its also great to put the buns in the pan and kind of grill them in the pan with a little butter....but I was trying to cut a few calories so I just toasted them.

Then I fixed them up like a normal burger and we ate. I really like how juicy they were and you really don't notice the brie since it melts throughout the burger, its just the heightened flavor that rounds it out. If you love mushrooms and onions, you could top them with more sauteed ones and eat up!

Enjoy!

Heather

I have my hands full

Howdy all,

Sorry for abandoning the blog a little this week, its been a busy week. My husband has to work the late shift at work 2 weeks out of every semester and that has been this week! I have a great appreciation for military spouses and single parents because by last night, my little boy was just driving me crazy. So, we went to bed early so I could relax a little and have some quiet. I should clarify that we were in bed but my little one certainly wasn't to sleep early, he rolled around and sat up and was generally just restless, but he finally conked out! It doesn't help that this week I started to get up at 5:00 a m so that I could start my boot camp workouts, so after coming home from work, making dinner, and eating....I was spent! Its 8:00pm and I am thinking it would be lovely to take a nice long hot bath and tuck in for the night....but no....needless to say my kitchen is a mess. I at least got the dishwasher empty, but the dirty dishes are still on the counter. I hope I don't win the Publisher's Clearinghouse tonight and they come surprise me with a big check and film me walking in my kitchen!!!! (Okay, I might take the humiliation for a large amount of cash.....or even just an awesome pair of shoes.)

My accomplishment last night was that the living room was fairly decent because we did get the toys picked up....it seems like it only took about 12 hours for that to happen....I said the phrase "put the letters in the bag" about 87 times as he would get distracted while "cleaning up". Poor little guy was probably thinking "but mom, this is the letter R and I REALLY like this letter." and I was thinking "I think he has put 2 letters in that bag in the last 5 minutes." Oh well, I slept well and got to sleep in until 6:00 a m since I didn't have normal boot camp today.

Today my goal is going to be to not get sick! My throat has been sore for 2 days so I am trying to drink warm liquids, take my meds, and heal! Its probably allergies that were blown in with this cold front....did I mention it went from 70 to 50 within a few hours on Wednesday and its been rainy and in the 40s since. We needed the rain, but the cold with the rain sure does make it miserable....unless you are one of those people who gets to stay inside, snuggle in your PJs and read a good book with some liquid chocolate in an amazingly cute mug....if you are one of those people....I am envious...green with it!

So, I leave next week for my scrap booking retreat so I will have some ideas and new crafts from that. I will also try to post some fun things before I go!

Stay Safe and be good! Remember to do something beautiful for yourself today!

Heather

High Heels Workout--You just need to bring your body

I know many of you are saying that you can't really workout because you don't have a gym membership...or weights....or an eliptical machine.....etc, etc, etc.

My answer to this statement.......OH YES YOU CAN!

You don't really need all that stuff....a small set of 5 pound weights are hand and a yoga mat for sit ups and push ups is nice...but you can also use a towel or the carpet if you have to and bottles of water or canned goods can work as weights.

They key is to use your body as your weight. I have rejoined my Adventure Bootcamp group and it has been so motivational for me and I feel so great when I workout....I want you to feel that way too. I have started to get up at 5:30am and go workout for an hour...that is 5:30 in the morning....I know, I know, its EARLY but its worth it and you are worth it and you will sleep better and need less of it....so just stop your complaining and GO!

Here is what I want you to do....here is a workout with just you, yourself, and I. You can do it in close proximity to your home, I promise!

To warm up....start at one end of your driveway and go to the other end
(if your driveway is 5 feet long, you will need to go longer, more like at least 40 feet and if your driveway is a mile long...then shoot for an area that is close to 40-50 feet long.

Start at one end and go to the other end and then turn around and come back...doing this as a warm up....

• High knee steps....walking, not too fast, just stretch out those muscles
• Hurdler steps....do one leg down and the other leg back, just pretend like the one leg is the back leg going over a hurdle.
• Mummies-arms out straight and straigh-ish legs
• Hiney kickers--a quick jog where you kick your hiney as you run
• arch touch walk00with each step you touch the opposite hand to the opposite arch on your foot
• High knees Fast-jog this time getting those knees up
• Giant steps-basically a walking lunge
• Grapevine--turn sideways and walk sideways alternating feet in front and back

Okay--Now that you have done that, you are a little warmed up....so go run a little loop...it might just be to your neighbors house 2-3 doors down but jog down there and jog back.

**Back at your home base, now do 10 push ups...then run another little lap....

Back at home base, now do 10 sit ups, run/jog/fast walk to the end of the drive and back to home base.

Do 10 squats and 10 lunges, and run/jog to the end of the drive and back to home base.

Now run another little loop.

And then do it all again starting at the **

Now...be sure to stay hydrated and drink lots of water....it does a body good!

Okay, now lets work on some arms....go to a wall on your house on the outside and do 20 wall push ups. Then, hold your arms out so your body makes a T shape and do small arm circles for 20 seconds and then big arm circles for 20 seconds. then repeat starting with the wall push ups.

Now get you a yoga mat or a towel and lay down for sit ups. Do 20 standard sit ups, then put your feet in the air and do 30 crunches (10 in the center and 10 to the left and right). Now get up and go run another little loop.

Come back and lay back down for sit ups and do that rotation again but cut everything in half, so start with 10 standard sit ups instead of 20. Try to do them faster than you did last time.

Now, roll over and do push ups....for 30 seconds, just do as many as you can. Roll over and do 10 crunches, then roll back over and do 30 seconds more of push ups. You can do it!

Okay, now lets stretch out those muscles we just used....

Sit on the ground with your legs out straight and bed forward and hold for 15 seconds, then come up and do it again, this time going farther down. Don't forget to breath!

Now, pull bend your right leg and cross it over your left straight leg and pull it in (hug it). Do the other side. Hold those about 20 seconds.

Roll over on your tummy and go up into cobra, which is laying down flat and then pushing your shoulders up...just go up to your elbows if that is all you can do, if you can go on your hands, so that and stretch out that back. Now get on your hands and knees and stretch that back into an arch like a cat.

Take some deep breathes and feel good! You may be sore tomorrow, but that is a good sign because it shows your body that you are moving and using muscles that may have been a little dormant! Stay hydrated and eat a fruit or veggie with every meal or snack.

Be fine in 09!

Heather

Daylight Savings Reminder

For those who live in areas with Daylight Savings....its tonight...ugh....I hate loosing an hour of sleep, I don' get enough as it is! Maybe I should just go to bed now and compensate for it!

So, 2:00am becomes 3:00am....blek!

Gardening: A tree Planter

Purple Petunia's in a tree planter area!

This is one of the projects we worked on today and I was surprised at how quickly it went. I went to Home Depot (since it was the kid's free workshop day) and bought these gray edging pieces. They are somewhere between $1.33-$1.43 each, depending on whether you want the curved ones or the straight ones. I bought 12 thinking that would be enough and actually had 2 left over, but if we had tweaked the circle a little, we could have made it bigger and used all of them. I bought 2 bags of soil, one was a gardening mix that was less than $4 and one was a topsoil that was less than $2. The flowers are purple Petunia's that were just beautiful and vibrant and I got a flat of 18 of them for $11. So, for somewhere around $30-$35, I put in this planter and planted the flowers and it looks so much better than it did before. I took the 2 bags of soil and put one on one side of the circle and the other on the other side and then mixed them before I planted them. I put the edging stones around first and then filled with the soil and planted, then watered. They are so pretty and it really took no time at all.

So, do something to spruce up your environment! Add a planter or a edge row and put in some color. Just be sure to buy a flower that can take whatever kind of sun you get there. This part gets full sun for us because the tree is still young but a bigger tree would offer more shade and you could go with a partial shade flower.

Make your world beautiful!

Just a reminder:Home Depot Kid's Workshop is tomorrow!

Remember that tomorrow is the FREE Home Depot Kid's Workshop from 9am-12 pm. They are doing a little race thing for cars but I bet the girls would love it too!

Random thoughts:Where in the world have I been?

I am sorry that I have been a MIA blogger this pas couple of weeks. The only explanation is that I have been BIT...BIT, I say by the gardening bug and I have been working on getting my raised beds in. I thought I would chronicle a little of it so you can see why I have been away from the old computer and blog.

First, we talked and discussed where we should put our beds....we analyzed the light, because morning sun is better than blazing hot afternoon sun for most things, so its better to plant on the east side of a north facing house. Plus, there are parts of our yard that will get just full out sun all the time, and that would probably kill many a plant.

Once we decided that, I drew up plans for the back yard....all those years as a landscape architecture major (2 years before I switched) paid off in that I can draw up some fairly decent garden plans...plus I had grid paper, which always helps!

So, I drew up plans and then figured out the height, width, and length of beds and then calculated how much dirt I would need for each one and bla bla blah blah blah....I really did all that and have done it numerous times since the first time I drew it up when I changed my mind. So then, we decided we would have 5 cubic yards of dirt delivered to our driveway...it arrived a little over a week ago on Monday afternoon. At first I thought it wasn't as much dirt as I thought it would be...and then as we started moving it shovel full by shovel full...we realized that every grain of that 5 cubic yards was there.

(For those who need to know how to figure cubic yards, take your weight times your height times your length of your bed and divide it by 27...that is how you figure cubic yards...or at least that is what I was told...if I am wrong let me knoiw but it worked pretty well for us.)

So, we started on Monday night and worked from the time we got home and changed clothes until it was dark, so from an hour and a half to 2 hours. We did the same thing Tuesday, and Wednesday...and we got 2/3 of the dirt moved into place.

After all my measuring and planning, this is what we did. We just picked kind of scientifically, kind of randomly...5 cubic yards to be delivered and figured we would just use it until it was gone and then order more if we needed it. We also didn't want to order so much that we couldn't park in our driveway for weeks.

This picture below was taken when we only had about 1/3 of the dirt left...so you can imagine how much it was when it was all there....



This picture kind of shows you what we were doing. We had the dirt delivered to the back of our driveway and then we would shovel it into the wheel barrow ($30 at Wal Mart for the wheel barrow), and take it to the fence where the beds would go, and then dump it. Our beds are about 4 feet wide, 12 inches deep, and probably 50-55 feet long.

Here is one a little closer up (and probably actually taken before the one above).
We just dumped the dirt in the general area where it would go. now most people would probably make their beds first, but this is the way my husband wanted to do it so I just went along. I probably would have made the beds like the link I will post at the bottom, but his way worked just fine and I am happy with it...see, sometimes you have to compromise in a marriage and just let the man win or at least let him think he was right. :)

Then, once the dirt was placed, we took untreated cedar planks that are 6 feet long and laid them next to it.

Then he pounded wooden stakes to keep them upright and then went through and put stakes on the other side. Notice in the above picture the large sledge hammer....my husband paid a lot of money for that...its an 8 pound sledge....he said its something he always wanted....men....

Then we went through and evened out the dirt and finished it all off. It was really easy to do it his way, plus he wants to eventually replace the wood with stone, so he said this is an easy way to do that. If you come to my house in 5 years and there is still wood there, don't be too surprised, but we can dream that we will have stone there someday.

And now it is late and here was the last shot of the night as the sun went down!

Finito!

I should explain that the beds do not look 12 inches deep from here...our side yard is sloped down, so the edge where the cedar is will only be about 6 inches deep but it quickly drops to 12.

So, we finished all that on Saturday and tonight we started to transplant some plants and to get things ready to plant. We have been hardening off some of the other plants so they can go out this weekend. The last average frost/freeze date of the year for us is March 3rd, so we can plant our tomatoes on Saturday!

More pictures to come as we go along....really, its been so fun. The exercise has been good...the family time has been great...and being outdoors in the lovely weather we have had has been really nice. On Saturday, it was 50 and really windy, but we just bundled up in our sweatshirts and went about our business.

Now...its planting time! More to come....

...and for those of you who could't give a hoot about gardening, don't worry, I have other things I will talk about soon...like RETREAT is in 2.5 weeks and I will have my 3 days of scrpabooking with my sisters and friends and I can't wait!

If you want a step by step instructions with pictures on how to make really nice free standing beds, here http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2009/02/build-your-own-raised-flowervegetable-bed/

PW does a great job of telling you how to do it.

Now plant something...its the green thing to do!

Love ya!

H

Recipe: Blueberry Pound Cake

This recipe is from my friends the Strattons. I made it last night for our monthly birthday celebration at work and received lots of compliments and it was almost gone by the time I left. Its a nice cake because it tastes like it could even be a breakfast cake....similar to a blueberry muffin but still cake like...very yummy!

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-cup butter, softened
1-tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups flour, divided
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thaw if frozen
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (I leave them out)

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well blended.

Mix 2 cups flour and baking powder; gradually beat into creamed mixture until smooth.

Mix blueberries, pecans and remaining flour until coated. Carefully fold into batter.




Sprinkle 1 tablespoon granulated sugar into bottom of a bundt cake pan, then pour in batter.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert on cooling rack; cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when serving.

Silly me, I forgot to take a picture of it once I turned it out...sorry! But its really a lovely cake. I suppose you could also drizzle it with a little mixture of powdered sugar and milk...but I was trying to save some calories.

Enjoy!

Hmmm, that is interesting

My sister just called to tell my that the words on my blog were not shoing up....so I checked and sure enough...she is right! So, I went into the settings and everything was set correctly so I reset a few things and the words are back. I don't know how long that was going on...but I apologize!

I will hopefully post some more tonight...I spent the weekend working on my garden beds and I have pictures!

Recipe: Breakfast Tacos

These breakfast tacos are great on the go. I make a huge batch in advance and then wrap them individually in plastic wrap or a baggie and pop them in the freezer. Then, when I want a quick breakfast, I take it out, microwave it for 1 minute (if still frozen, 30 seconds if thawed) and eat! I also will grab one on my way out the door and just pop it in the microwave when I get to work. You can really pump these up with more vegetables or more meat if you prefer...or you could also add potatoes....just throw in there whatever you like.

Ingredients:
1/2 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped (I prefer yellow/orange/or red)
1 cup shredded cheese (whatever you prefer, I used cheddar)
1 hand full of fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste
9 eggs
16 tortillas
2 teaspoons of Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon Oil or butter (I used olive oil)
1/2 to 1 cup of chopped up ham, bacon, or some other breakfast meat, I really like the ham, so I put about a cup in there but for bacon bits I would probably use less.

Place oil in large skillet and melt, then add onions and peppers (and any other veggies you might want to throw in there). Once they have started to get translucent and toasty, add the spinach and stir it around until it is fully wilted, then add the seasonings and continue to stir as needed.

While that is cooking, I will lay out about 5 tortillas and put a little shredded cheddar on each.

Back to the skillet....Crack your eggs into a container and mix them with a fork to break them up, then add them to the skillet. You can also add a little milk here if you prefer...or cream if you want to live high on the hog. Continue stirring to make scrambled eggs until they are done to the firmness that you desire. My husband wants them WAY done...no question on whether they are cooked...so that is how I do it. That is what you get when you have a Poultry Scientist for a hubby.

Once the eggs are done, taste them to make sure the seasoning is right, then just take a large spoon and place the egg mixture down the middle of every tortilla, fold the tortilla in half and then wrap up in plastic wrap or place in a baggie. You can really make these tacos or burritos...its your choice. Then, I usually hold a few out for tomorrow's breakfast and just put those in the fridge, and the rest I place in the freezer individually wrapped.

I love them! I made 16 last time I made them but if you want to bulk them up a bit, you would make less and use more filling. This is a great grab and go breakfast on those busy mornings....and its easy for older kids to fix themselves since it just involved a microwave.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

I will be out in the garden all weekend preparing my raised beds for my plants. I have somethings that are ready to plant now and a few more I will plant at Spring Break and a few more in April, like melons. I have been taking pictures as we go so I will post pictures soon. Its supposed to be in the high 60s here so it should be a beautiful day to be outside.

I hope you all have a great weekend and that your hearts are lifted and inspired to greatness!

Heather

Gardening: Planting Tomatoes

Howdy--we are almost to planting season for tomatoes. In my area, you shouldn't plant tomatoes until after March 5th, so check your local gardening zone information to see when a good time is to plant tomatoes in your area. Tomatoes need a night temperature above 32 degrees F and a daytime temperature above 60 degrees F. They are readily killed by a mild frost and a week of cool daytime temperatures, like 55 degrees F, will stunt plants, reducing yields.

I have a few Tomato Tips from my gardening class that I attended the other day and I thought I would share them with you.

• Its always good to go to a gardening store as opposed to a local chain because you may actually talk to someone who has gardened before at the gardening stores as opposed to the chains. They can typically give you some advice on which variety works well in your area and when to plant.
• Tomatoes need cages or something to grow up, so be sure to purchase tomato cages. i found the round kind at Wal Mart the other day for less than $3 each, but you can also buy them in the straight kind of cages or other types.
• You can take a metal bucket and drill holes around the bottom and plant tomatoes in the bottom. The tomatoes will find the holes and grow down instead of up and you don't need a cage if you do this kind of hanging bucket/basket.
• Birds and other animals will eat holes in your tomatoes when they are ripe and turn red. Some ideas to deter these critters are to pick the tomatoes when they are orange, they will continue to ripen and turn red on your kitchen counter. You can also take red Christmas ball ornaments to red Solo cups and hang them on the cage, the critters will think they are tomatoes and when they discover they are not, they will leave your tomatoes alone when they turn red.
• If you want to do cherry tomatoes, a hanging basket works well.
• Tomatoes need wind to pollinate. If you have blossoms, but no fruit is setting, give your plants a good shake.
• If you keep your plants watered throughout the summer, they will produce again in the Fall. (at least in this part of Texas)

Here's to tomato basil soup, tomato salads, spaghetti sauces....and all the other wonderful things that come from tomatoes!

A few suggestions on varieties...

Sweet 100 is the most popular home garden cherry type tomato. It says that on a large vine, it produces hundreds of sweet, cherry sized tomatoes with very tender skins.

Early Girl is a popular variety among mid-sized fruits and will mature in less than 50 days.

Celebrity, Big Boy, and Better Boy are examples of popular main season varieties.

Roma tomatoes are preferred for making salsa, chili sauce, and other tomato products requiring less time to cook down.

Look for VFN resistant hybrids...it stands for Verticillum wilt, Fusarium wilt, and nematodes. the V and F are common soil-borne fungal diseases.

Most of the above information was learned at my class and also by reading this article at http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/717.pdf

Good luck!

Heather

Recipe: Egg Puff Stuff

This recipe is great for a brunch or a bridal or baby shower. The green chilies give it flavor but not heat and that with the eggs and cheese make a wonderful mix. I seriously love this stuff. My friend Jan made it for a bridal shower I was attending and I had to have the recipe. You can change out the cheeses, but if you use a cheddar, the cheddar cheese seems to have a lower melting point and will likely burn, so I would just stick with jack or mozzarella.


Egg Puff Stuff
10 eggs
½ cup flour
1 lb. Jack cheese, shredded
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cans (4 oz.) Green chilies
1 pint small cottage cheese

Beat eggs in mixer until light and lemon colored. Add flour, baking powder, salt, cottage cheese, Jack cheese and melted butter. Blend until smooth. Stir in chilies. Pour into a buttered 9×12 inch dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until the eggs are set all the way through.

High Heels Camp-Day 6

Howdy...

I am back in workout mode and have decided that I am going to run in the Blue Bell 5K in April, so I have combined my normal "High Heels" workout with a "Couch Potato to 5K" program and have High Heels to 5K! So, here is what I did today.....

(By the way, I call it High Heels in reference to the "Boot Camp" workouts that are going on now, I just call mine high heels because I am a lot more likely to wear high heels that boot camp boots!)

So, I am starting slow....

5 minute brisk walk warm up

60 seconds of jogging then 90 seconds of walking....repeat for 20 minutes (I only did 15 today because it started rainy and I tend to get a little clumsy and didn't want to slip.)

Then I did 30 seconds of each of the following...
Squats
Lunges
push ups
sit ups
arm kick backs
arm lateral raises
triceps extensions
(then repeat, starting at the squats and going through the whole thing again for 30 seconds each)

Then I did 2 planks with a short rest in between, one was 45 seconds and the other was 30.

Stretch and cool down

So, I hope you can spare 20-30 minutes to work out too so it will be a fun summer season full of energy and muscle!

Do this 3 times during the first week with a break day in between to get started.

Have a great night!
H

Things to do: Home Depot Kid's Workshop

Home Depot has moved up to be one of my favorite stores lately, and its all because of the Kid's Workshop they do.

This is a FREE workshop where kids go and build things. They do this the first Saturday of every month, so the next one will be on March 7th, and it runs from 9am-12 noon. The suggested age is for kids 5-12 but my son is 3 and we helped him a little but he had a great time.

We went to the February one and made this trinket box.

They provide all the supplies, you provide the kid! You will need to stay with your child because they may need assistance if they are younger, but they are simple...and very cool....building projects. We made this trinket box with our son. They also get a Home Depot orange tool apron to wear with their name on it and when they finish, they get a little tie tack pin with the project picture on it. The next month they come back, they are supposed to wear their apron again and they will get another tie tack pin with the new project picture on it to show that they have finished another workshop. They also get certificates for finishing the projects. It is so great!

All the kids I saw there were having a great time and feeling so proud to wear their little tool apron.

Next month they are making this little raceway for cars.

I think this would be fun for girls or boys, so I hope you will try out one of these workshops. You can check out the information at the Home Depot Web page at http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Kids_Workshops&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&cm_sp=knowhow-_-leftnav-_-kids_workshops

Recipe:Strawberry Cake

My friend Joani made this Strawberry Cake last week for our office and it was almost completely gobbled up in now time. It was so moist and yummy...really spectacular!

Here is how she does it! ( Thanks Joani! )

Strawberry Supreme Cake Mix
Mix according to directions
Wild Strawberry Jello - empty contents of jello packet into the cake batter and stir well

Pour prepared cake batter into a well greased 9x13 pan and bake for about 25 minutes - each oven is different but mine takes about 25 min. on 350 degrees

remove cake from oven and poke holes into the cake - not like a mind field but a few holes here and there

Frozen Strawberry's w/juice - thawed

Pour the thawed strawberry's with juice over the warm cake and refrigerate overnight - then ice with cool whip & Enjoy! Sometimes I garnish with a few fresh strawberries but not really necessary!

My Son's Valentines for his class mates

Just thought I would post the Valentines that my son is giving to his friends at school. These are super simple. I let him pick out which stamp he wanted and he picked the doggie stamp. Then he helped me for a while and then lost interest, so I finished them but honestly, it was much easier to do it by myself....but at least he took part in some if it!

I just took a small cellophane bag and put a Valentines fruit roll up and a heart shaped container of bubbles in it, I stapled them in an X with blue staples and then I put a Valentines sticker on the closure.

Here they are all together (click to enlarge)


Here is one up close.






And here is a view from the back.

Happy Valentine's!

Heather

Scrapbooking: Using a Dobber

I love to use dobbers and create little shadows around the edges of the things that I make. I only discovered "dobbing" last year at my scrap booking retreat and I use it on practically everything now.

This is a mini scrapbook (its about 5X5 inches) that I made out of small brown lunch sacks. This is for my friend Sheena and her new little boy Kyler.

This is just a chip board "k" that I inked with a Stampin Up chocolate chip brown marker, which is my favorite color these days.

This first shot below is the cover without any dobbing.
This paper is one of Stampin' Ups Designer Series and I cannot remember the name, but I am sure Lindsey will read this and can enlighten us because she just knows all that kind of stuff.

This is a dobber, its this little round thing that is hollow that you can put on your finger, it has a fabric kind of end that you use to dob with.

First thing you do is put the dobber on the ink of a stamp pad. If you want just a little color then just barely tap it, if you want a lot of color, then really pound the thing!

Then you just "dob" the color in the area where you want it. I typically go around the edges of things and make shadows on the edge. It also brings out the edge of the paper which is a nice addition if you are layering your picture mats.

If you want a less visable shadow, then you can pic up the paper and just dob the very edge of the paper.

After dobbing around the entire edge, this is the finished product. I just liked the softness and subtleness of the shadow. Plus, I think it gives it a little more depth.

Then I took another matching sheet of designer paper that was slightly larger and adhered the "k" sheet to it, which really brings out the dobbing more, then I adhered that to the same polka dotted designer paper that I had used before, just slightly larger and dobbed around the edges. The ribbon that is used to close the book is adhered in between the layers of designer papers.

I think it turned out so cute!

Here are 2 of the inside layouts, just to give you some ideas. They are very simple.

I love it when things bleed from one page to the other, so I liked that Kyler's name went onto the next page.

This is what I call a "stats" page. It has lines for you to put the date, weight, etc of the baby. All the important stuff! And a spot for the picture or journaling on the right.


On the same day, I was making another little lunch sack scrapbook for my son's friend Marc. Mark was having a Harley Motorcyle themed birthday party. The "Wanted" part on the cover was taken from the actual invitation. The Invitation talked about the "Notorious Biker Marc" so I used that on the front page as well.



When you use these little lunch sacks, they have natural little pockets for you to use because it would be the opening of the lunch sack. So, I made little pull out pages with tabs for things like who came to the party, what gifts he got, etc.

Here is the page layout, and then to the right there is a tab that you pull out

and it looks like this once you pull it out.

And here are just a couple of the other page layouts to give you some ideas. Below, the truck is a stamp from Stampin Ups Load of Love set and then I just hand drew the Happy Birthday sign.


His Mom told me this was her personal favorite and my husband said she almost cried when she opened it! (Mark, the 3 year old had gotten distracted with another gift so she was opening them for him).

These are great gifts, and they are easy. They do take some time but you can save some money if you already have the supplies around your house.

Happy Scrapping!

Heather

The first shoots of the Garden

I hear from Gardeners that this is the best time....when you start gardening and you start to see the shoots coming up!

First we bought these on Saturday, just 4 days ago.

Then we bought some of these....


And we watered the pellets in the tray and added the seeds....

And yesterday when we checked them...we had these!!!!

in this one we have a little red beet coming up too...

It really is that simple....once these grow a few inches, we will move them into the ground!

4 days, pellets, seeds, and watered only once when we first watered the pellets, put the lid on the tray and it makes a little green house....EASY!

Freezer Meals:Basic Lasagna

Another meal you can make with the basic beef recipe for Freezer meals is a basic lasagna.

Basic Beef recipe here http://thebeautifulbasics.blogspot.com/2009/02/freezer-meals-basic-beef.html

Ingredients:

Small container of low fat Ricotta cheese (feel free to use the full fat version or cottage cheese, either work just fine)
2-4 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese or Italian blend (this just depends on how cheesy you want it and how much you love cheese)
lasagna noodles (I do not pre cook my lasagna noodles, whether I use regular or whole wheat, you just have to make sure you push them down into the sauce but they will cook and soften while you are baking it and you should have no problems.)
Jar of Spaghetti sauce or homemade
1/2 cup to 1 cup of Grated Parmesan or hard Italian Cheese

For this one I just took the portion (1/3 of the above recipe) and added some spaghetti sauce. (You can make your own if you want, I occasionally do but this time I just used the good old jarred stuff).

Then I took an aluminum pan and put down a layering of sauce with beef.

Then added the noodles and both kinds of cheese

And then I just repeat doing that until I am out of stuff.

Pop it in the freezer and you are done! When you want to cook, you can take it from the freezer and defrost it, then cook it for 45 minutes to an hour on 375 or if it is still frozen, you can just cook it longer, but I like it better when I remember to defrost it!

Gardening-Starting Seeds with Peat Pellets

Hello!

Gardening Season is fast approaching and for some veggies, we are already in the time to plant them. So, check your local gardening resources and see what planting zone you are in and when you need to start! If you are in Texas, he is a map of the zones http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cemap/hardiness.html

I am in 8B...so if you are too, its time to plant or start thinking about what you want to plant. For instance, you can plant carrots now but tomatoes are not until March 5th!

This past weekend, we went to the garden center and bought some peat pellets. What are peat pellets, you ask? This is what a tray of them look like

You can buy a peat pellets tray of 72 for $6.99 at Home Depot and Wal Mart. It comes with 72 little dirt disc like things and it is a great way to sprout things from a seed. It is a tray about 2 ft by one foot and it has these 6 rows of 12 discs and you water the discs and they puff up to be a little bigger than a ping pong ball.

Then you take 3 seeds and put then in the center of each little pot/disc and you wait to see them grow. Once they grow a few inches (like for peas it will take about a week), then you start taking the tray outside and getting the plants used to the sun. Take them out during the day and bring them in at night. This is called "hardening them off." Then eventually you take each little plant and you just plant the pod with the plant in the ground. Its a way to get the seed growing and sprouting before you put it in the ground.

See, like in the picture, the right is the disc, you add water, plant the seeds, then once it sprouts, you take the whole thing and plant it.

Its a good way to make your own starter plants and can save you some money. You can always try to just put the seeds in the ground, many people have success with that as well. This just provides a little green house environment for the beginning of the plants life.

If more than one seed grows and you have 3 stems, then you just cut off all but the strongest looking one and then plant it.

We did one tray of these this weekend with our little boy and it was fun. We did peas, carrots, beats, basil, and chives. I also bought a starter plant for kale and jalapenos. We plan on buying more and doing a raised bed garden once we get our tax return money back.

So, stay tuned for more!

P.S. I should put out this disclaimer...I am not a Master Gardener...I am not highly skilled in this, I kind of just wing it. I took the Master Gardner lab in college because I needed a one hour science class and I took a Horticulture class....but I have only had one in ground garden and a container garden in my adulthood....so I know enough to be dangerous but not enough to really know anything, so please do not take my word as Gardening Law...because I may say something totally kooky! But I am happy to share whatever knowledge I have and hope to inspire you to plant a tomato plant or something!

Freezer Meal: Saucy Beef Chili

This is another freezer meal made from the PC Basic Beef found here http://thebeautifulbasics.blogspot.com/2009/02/freezer-meals-basic-beef.html

After dividing up the beef into 3 freezer bags, take one bag and add:

1 can chili beans
1 can tomato paste
1 can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1.5 cups water
1 pkt (1.48 oz) of chili seasoning mix


When you are ready to eat

Microwave the packet on DEFROST (30% power) for 8-10 minutes or until softened. Pour into skillet and simmer over medium heat.

Finish and Serve:

• Spoon bowls into chili
• top with shredded cheddar cheese, sliced green onions, or sour cream

(note from Heather)For an interesting variation, serve on top of chips and top with the above plus pecans and shredded coconut...it sound weird but its quite good!

Yields 6 servings.

Freezer Meal: Zesty Beef Tacos

This is another freezer meal made from the PC Basic Beef found here http://thebeautifulbasics.blogspot.com/2009/02/freezer-meals-basic-beef.html

After dividing up the beef into 3 freezer bags, take one bag and add:

1 cup chunky salsa
1 can tomato paste
3/4 cup water
1 pkt (1 oz) of taco seasoning


When you are ready to eat

Microwave the packet on DEFROST (30% power) for 8-10 minutes or until softened. Pour into skillet and simmer over medium heat.

Finish and Serve:

• Arrange 12 taco shells on a serving plate
• Fill with beef mixture, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 cup shredded lettuce, and 2 seeded and diced tomatoes
• Garnish with snipped fresh cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Yields 6 servings.

Freezer Meals: Easy Beef Stroganoff

This is one of the Pampered Chef meals made with the Basic Beef.

Once you have taken your basic beef recipe found here
http://thebeautifulbasics.blogspot.com/2009/02/freezer-meals-basic-beef.html
and separated it into 3 freezer bags, take one freezer bag and add:

8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 can (10.75 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp. ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Combine in a large (I used 1 gallon size) resealable freezer plastic bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

When it is time to eat it:

Microwave packet on DEFROST (30% power) for 8-10 minutes or until softened. Pour into 10 inch skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Finish and Serve:

• Stir in 8 oz. of sour cream into the beef mixture
• Cook 1 pound of egg noodles; drain. Toss with 1/4 cup of parsley and 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
• Spoon Stroganoff over noodles and sprinkle with additional paprika and parley if desired.

Freezer Meals: Basic Beef

This is the base for the Pampered chef Beef Freezer meals. You make up one batch of this and then you divide it into 3 freezer bags, then add the other ingredients for the recipe.

PC Basic Beef
3 pounds of ground beef
3 onions chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced or through a garlic press

Place chopped onions in a non stick pan and cook them until they start to get translucent and slightly brown around the edges. If you don't have a non stick pan, just spray the pan with Pam or use a little butter or oil. Then add the ground beef and garlic and cook until browned all the way through.

Divide the mixture into 3 different freezer bags and prepare as the other recipe directs.