OMG I so forgot to tell you yesterday, when I was sitting in the garden thinking about the theme, what I saw! PEAS! Remember I told you I lost all the pea plants so I took the planter, doctored the dirt, and planted my bell peppers in there? Well when I was looking through the plants to see if there was any ready to pick, I found a few little pea vines in the back corner coming to life! I was like OMG are you serious?!? Aren't they the cutest little things?! Just have to try to keep them from choking out the bell peppers LOL!
As a matter of fact, there are a few garden updates and pictures to share with you. This first picture is the tomatoes that inspired this week's theme. I have many tomato plants and they are now starting to reproduce fruits, since the major first aid overhaul. I was so excited! These tomatoes seem like they are coming back bigger than the other ones were. But as you can see, the bottom branches are yellowing again. Its rather frustrating.
Then you have my okra plants... FINALLY have decided to sprout up and grow! I can't wait until I can start harvesting some fresh delicious okra! I have some little plants yet to sprout up big and tall, but they are all showing promise! YAY! I love fresh okra... you can fry it, dehydrate it, slice it in some gumbo, you name it! YUM! I am drooling just thinking about it!
This is my strawberry plants... well the runners of my plants! They hung down to the planter on the next step, which happens to have my butternut squash plant growing from it, and the plant sprouts have taken root in the dirt. Is that crazy or what?! Now I have to research and find out if I can clip the runners without killing the plants. If so, that will be so cool! MORE strawberry plants! Can you say YUUUUMMMMM!!!! With a capital "Y" no doubt!
I haven't been really in a crafty mood too much lately, so the challenges have kinda been halted. BUT I think that once I get home today I am gonna try to get my mojo back. All that is left in the kitchen is to tape off the bottoms of the cabinets and paint them and then once that dries to glue on some lemon cutouts. I am making it a goal to have it finished by the end of the week so I can scratch that project off the list! Shoot, I don't even remember everything on the list LMAO! Let's see, I finished Madison's redecorating of her room, so that's one down! Then there's the Birthday party, the kitchen remodeling, the Fabric crate challenge, the Ronald McDonald donations challenge, the breast cancer quilt, and soon the Christmas Challenge. Did I miss anything? I feel like I did, but I'm not sure... help me out peeps!? LMAO maybe I should write it down?! LOL... actually... seriously...I think I will! I was working on my Christmas Gift Recipient list yesterday, and so far there are 46 gifts that are "required" if you will... then there will be those friends and teacher gifts, etc. that are right now unaccounted for. Anyway, so what kind of craft would you like to do today? Well I think I am going to keep it sweet and simple and young. These go great as part of a child's gift basket or maybe a stocking stuffer!
Craft Idea of the Day: Homemade Coloring or Puzzle Books
To make these books is rather simple. You can use shoelaces, yarn, ribbon, plastic combing, wire spirals, or even metal rings. I prefer rubber cement and scrapbookng border stickers! There are thousands of websites where you can print out coloring pages for children or even puzzles like word searches and sudoku for teens or even adults. Once you print off your pages, use a binder clip to hold all the papers together and place rubber cement on the side that will be your "binding" side (normally the left or the top). Allow to dry completely while resting on a sheet of wax paper (prevents sticking). Cover the cemented edge with decorative scrapbook border stickers and voila! You have a perfectly personal coloring or puzzle book. And the good part about these is that you can make them in different sizes! 5 x 7 and 3 1/2 x 5 make for great travel size booklets!
Its time to eat my rockin readers! As you learned yesterday, this week is TERRIFIC TOMATO WEEK and I intend to bring you delicious recipes and tasty trivia about this beautifully versatile fruit! I hope that soon I will be harvesting a bumper crop out of my little secret garden in the back! The first aid is doing well for most of the plants, SO I sit and anxiously await the aromatic arrivals LOL! Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C and fibre, and are cholesterol free. An average size tomato (148 gram, or 5 oz) boasts only 35 calories. Furthermore, new medical research suggests that the consumption of lycopene – the stuff that makes tomatoes red – may prevent cancer. Lycopene is part of the family of pigments called carotenoids, which are natural compounds that create the colors of fruits and vegetables. For example, beta carotene is the orange pigment in carrots. As with essential amino acids, they are not produced by the human body. Lycopene us the most powerful antioxidant in the carotenoid family and, with vitamins C and E, protect us from the free radicals that degrade many parts of the body. The scientific term for the common tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum, which mean “wolf peach.” It is a cousin of the eggplant, red pepper, ground cherry, potato, and the highly toxic belladonna, also known as the nightshade or solanaccae. There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes. So with 10,000 varieties... LOL... I am pretty sure there can be some recipe to tempt your taste buds! Try this one on for size for example!
Alla Checca
Ingredients:
5 tomatoes, seeded and diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped FRESH basil
1/2 cup olive oil
salt to taste
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound pasta
Directions:
Combine tomatoes, garlic, basil, and olive oil in a non-metal bowl. Stir in salt. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to sit at room temperature at least 2 hours, or as long as 10 hours.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain. Pour uncooked sauce over hot pasta, and toss. Add grated Parmesan cheese to your liking.
Ok folks, its time for me to get off of here and get on the road again. I hope you have enjoyed our visit today and that I will see you again tomorrow. Be safe, be happy, and tons of HUGS!
Thats great news about your garden plants. Looks like your garden first aid did the trick. And thats amazing about your little pea plants. Hopefully they will zoom back to their original fullness and grow some pea pods for you. I am envious of all your tomatoes. My garden has just about bit the dust. My DH has been trying to take care of it between all his other duties and regular job, but its tough. And I just cant do it yet. Oh well, maybe some day.
ReplyDeleteThose little coloring and puzzle books are very cute and if you give your children the chance to help make their own, they can have a say on what kind of pictures or puzzles, the color of the pages, etc. go into putting their very own books together and then they can use them afterward. Good summer "keep them busy" project.
I cant see myself eating todays recipe. I'm not much of a pasta eater but the DH is. He probably would love it!
Got to get off here now. Do a random act of kindness for someone. It will be rewarded to you soon. Til next time.....