Flowers and Flour

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

I found this picture on google. I have no clue who this guy is, but he sure made me laugh! Hopefully you laughed too!

Happy Valentine's day!!!!!

Getting ready for Valentines Day

2012-02-13T18:55:00.000-08:00

Here is what my younger boys decided to make as their Valentines Day favors.

Airplanes made out of Party blowers, gum, and mints

Kit Kat wrapped in construction paper and a pipe cleaner
"You're the bomb!

And of course I had to make a little something.

1 box strawberry cake mix

1 box white cake mix

Mixed both according to directions.

Then divided white cake mix into 2 part and added red food coloring to 1/2.

So now I have 3 colors; white, red and pink(strawberry)

Scooped batter into pan to give it a more layered look and swirled it together.

Baked according to package.

Yummy!

Win a camera bag and canon lens

2012-02-08T14:56:00.000-08:00

Go to the link below to enter this fantastic contest.

Good Luck!

http://purephotoshopactions.com/?p=1365

Organizing Measuring Cups and Spoons

2012-02-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

My measuring cups and spoons are never where they should be thanks to all the young aspiring chef's in my house. So when I saw a picture on infarrantlycreative.net where she hung her cups and spoons on her cabinets doors, I knew I had to give it a try.

My inspiration @ infarrantlycreative.net

Paint stick that I cut the ends off and sanded, then spray painted.
I painted 2 stick but ended up only using 1.

Before

After

As you can see the picture I made mine a little different than my inspiration photo.

I only used 1 paint stick for the measuring spoons and I hung the measuring cups with the 3m removable command hooks.

Also I hung my paint strip with command strips- no drilling here!

Luckily the paint stick wood is very soft and was able to twist the hooks in by hand.

This project was very cheap to make:
Paint stick- free
Hooks $.99
Command strips- $2.80
Spray Paint$1.00

Superbowl Sunday

2012-02-03T04:20:00.000-08:00

This Sunday is Superbowl Sunday and my boys wanted to have a party. Unfortunately my Hubby has to work, so we will probably just have some family over. Honestly I could careless about the game. Don't get me wrong, I like football. But I am the type of girl who would rather play the game than watch. However, I love a good excuse to have family and friends over. Not to mention all the yummy food we will have. One things my boys have decided is a must have is chicken wings. I have never made chicken wings before so this will be a new adventure for me. I haven't decided what else we are going to have but here are a few thing that might be good:

cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com

sodahead.com

thewholegang.org

shenews.projo.com

wilton.com

kraftrecipes.com

Superbowl Food Facts
Did you know:
•Super Bowl Sunday is the second largest day of food consumption behind Thanksgiving.
•1,200 calories: Amount the average Super Bowl watcher will consume while snacking.
•Football fans are expected to eat an estimated 69.6 million pounds of avocados during this year’s Super Bowl (mostly in guacamole).
•The most popular take-out and delivery items on Super Bowl Sunday are pizza, chicken wings, and sandwiches.
•It is estimated that Americans will eat 90 million pounds of chicken wings, which breaks down to 450 million individual wings!
•An astounding 14,500 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn are eaten on Super Bowl Sunday.
•Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest winter grilling day of the year.
•According to 7-Eleven stores, there is a 20% increase in the sale of antacids on the day after Super Bowl.

Unique plant holders

2012-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

There are a ton of creative ways to use ordinary objects as planters. I love it when people think out side of the box!

besserina.blogspot.com

Hanging basket herb garden
telegraph.co.uk

Painted soup cans

apartmenttherapy.com

old collander
questionandplanter.com

Too cute!
shelterness.com

I would love to try and make this!

Painted pallets
stacykflorals.com

pallet herb garden
lifeonthebalcony.com

Cinderblock garden

Don't know how well this would do in Florida
decorhacks.com

Mason jars, LOVE this!

From camillestyles.com

My 8yr old would love this!

furnituredesign.dee.com

Terrariums and more

2012-01-30T05:54:00.000-08:00

A sample of jars I used. I took the plastic and the metal off.

This is a plant I purchased for $2.50. As you can see there are 3 plant in this 1 pot. So to stretch my dollar, I cut it into 3 plants.

All done. Next time I want too try a wider and taller container.

This is my favorite.

I used a little hot glued to help hold these air plants in place.

Terrariums can be fun and easy to make. The first step is selecting a container. The container can be almost anything at all. You can choose something dish like to create an open air container or something bottle like to create a closed environment terrarium. If you are like me, garage sales are a great way to find containers for this project. A Layer of course sand or pebbles is placed in the bottom of the container. This allows for good drainage of the water in the terrarium.
Add Soil - Regular potting soil works fine.
Add the plants and or seeds. Care should be taken in this step. Some of the plants I used were from my garden and others I had purchased.
Finishing touches - Add ornaments or other decorations.

Warrior Dash

2012-01-22T16:53:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of Warrior dash? If not, check it out at warriordash.com.
It is an insane 5k with 12 obstacles like jumping over fire, scaling walls, crawling in the mud under barbed wire, climbing cargo nets, and more. Sounds like fun, right? Well, I did it this weekend with 2 of my friends and about nine thousand other people.
Before you think I am this amazing super fit girl to take on such a crazy thing, I am not. In fact by mile two, I was ready to puke wondering what did I get myself into, and when will it end. BUT, I was with amazing friends who kept motivating me to keep running. If it weren't for them I would have taken a lot longer to finish the race. Having said that, I LOVED IT! I definitely want to do it again!
After the race, despite my feeling of nausea, I felt amazing! I was so proud of myself and my friends for what we just accomplished. Everyone thought we were crazy, and maybe we were. But it was crazy fun!

Before the race (that's me on the right)

After the race

one of the 12 obstacles

Afterwards you had the opportunity to donate your shoes to charity

In the words of Nike...Just Do It!

Random Act of Kindness

2012-01-17T05:29:00.000-08:00

I think most of us in this world are kind people, but I think it is really easy to put our blinders on and go about our daily routine without a second thought about the strangers around us. Or at least that is me, most of the time.

I was grocery shopping the other day when I was trying to squeeze by this family to get something when a young girl about 12, looked up at me and said "you are so beautiful". It took me by such surprise I told her "thank you" and grabbed the item I was looking. Only a few seconds had passed when I turned around to tell the girl how sweet she was and that she was beautiful too, but she was gone. Her comment made my day, but it sadden me that I couldn't return the compliment to her.

So now I want to take my blinders off and be aware of others around me and make a stranger smile. I know this isn't a new concept, I have done it many times, but I get caught up in my own little world that I forget that I can make a difference, just as the sweet little girl made a difference to me.

Baking, Baking, and more Baking!

2011-12-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

I hadn't planned on doing much baking this season but at the last minute my hubby asked if I would make a bunch of goodies for his office. So of course I said I would. Here are a few pictures of some of the goodies I have made in the last few weeks.

White Fruit cake (taste ton's better than traditional fruit cake) Macaroon's, Flourless Chocolate cupcakes, Peanutbutter cookies, Pumkin bread, and Chocolate covered Peanutbutter balls.
Flourless cupcakes, Pumpkin Bread, Eggnog Pound Cake, White Fruit cake, Caramel and Chocolate dipped Pretzel's
Chocolate cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting with crushed candy canes
Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Frosting, topped with Candied oranges
Chocolate Cupcakes with peppermint Frosting and topped with Andes Mints!

Santa Stopped By...

2011-12-25T16:08:00.000-08:00

It was late and the kids were fast asleep when I heard a noise. I jumped to my feet and tip toed to the family room and who did I see? Santa, of course! So I quickly grabbed my camera and was able to take a few shots before he disappeared up the chimney!

When the boys woke up the next morning I showed them the pictures of Santa. My older two were only slightly impressed, but my youngest was thrilled to finally have "evidence"of Santa . What a great Christmas we had!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

2011-11-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

My oldest son just turned 15.(How can I be old enough?)
Anyway, for his birthday we had family over for lunch and cake.
For lunch I kept it pretty easy by having a Taco bar. I was able to prep most of the food the night before which made everything sooo much easier.
For his cake I tried something a little different. I found a recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Cake from Countryliving.com
I think it turned out pretty good. What do you think?

1 1/2 cup(s) flour
2/3 cup(s) cocoa
2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 cup(s) buttermilk
1 cup(s) canned pumpkin
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
3/4 cup(s) butter, softened
1 cup(s) dark brown sugar
1 cup(s) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk

Directions

1.Line the bottoms of two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and lightly butter.
2.Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Stir the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Beat the butter and sugars together using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and yolk, one at a time. Reduce mixer speed to low and alternately beat in the flour and buttermilk mixtures in thirds.
3.Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a tester, inserted in the center, comes out clean--about 35 minutes. Cool layers completely before icing.
4.Step 1: Frost Beat 6 ounces softened cream cheese using a mixer set on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 1/4 teaspoons cocoa, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla and beat on low speed until well combined. In a separate bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups heavy cream with 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar and a scant 1/4 teaspoon orange food coloring on medium-high to soft peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until well combined. Spread 1 cup frosting between the two layers and use the remaining frosting to ice the top and sides of the cake. Chill 30 minutes and proceed to step 2. Makes 3 cups.
5.Step 2: Glaze Place 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate, 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, and 3 tablespoons corn syrup in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring 1/2 cup heavy cream to a boil, pour it over the chocolate, and let sit for 3 minutes. Gently stir, using a whisk, until smooth. Let sit for 3 to 5 minutes, until the glaze thickens slightly. Pour the glaze onto the center of the frosted cake and smooth out to the edges to allow the glaze to drop over the sides. Makes 1 cup.

Late Halloween Update

2011-11-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

I am really behind with my blog, sorry.
However, I thought I would still share with you what we did for Halloween.

The spooky food- monster face pizzas, muumy hot dogs, ghost plasma eggs and more.

I love the Halloween peeps on a stick.

The beverage labels are so cute! I got them free at centsationalgirl.com
Floating pumkins
A few of our monsters

Do You Boo?????

2011-10-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Never heard of it? Well it's kind of like secret Santa but it's for Halloween instead of Christmas . You secretly leave some goodies at someones front door with a boo sign and instructions for them to boo someone else, ring the door bell, and run! And hopefully you have a chain reaction of lots of people anonymously getting treats from others.

This is a family tradition we have been doing for years, the kids love it. OK....I love it too! You can't go wrong giving goodies to someone.

There are soo many different ways too "Boo" someone, get creative, have fun! Spread some Halloween Fun!!!!!

Here are a few examples I found on the internet.

papercraftsmag.com

giftgazette.blogspot.com

skiptomylou.org

eighteen25.blogspot.com

Camping, Pancakes and more

2011-10-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

We recently went camping at Ft. Desoto and I must say we had a great time. The camp site was great, we were only yards away from the water, the weather was fantastic, the mosquitos left me alone, and the kids were great!! What more could you ask for?

Beautiful Sunset
Catching bait fish

Night time fishing with an amazing sunset.

Mama Raccoon (with no tail) and her only baby.

This sign is no joke!

We had a bag of Oreo's stolen from the cooler and they mocked us as they sat next to us eating them. They also stole some 18in long twizzlers and I have to admit that was pretty funny to watch.

Yummy Breakfast, Pumpkin Pancakes and bacon.

You gotta have bacon when you go camping!!!!

Pumkin Pancakes
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

I think we made all the other campers jealous with the delicious aroma of pumpkin and bacon coming from our campsite!

We saw a group of people kite surfing down on the south end of Fort Desoto Beach. Unfortunatley it was very gloomy out, so the pictures do not do it justice! It was really pretty amazing to watch.

We will definately camp there again. Everyone had a great time fishing, even though we didn't catch very many. The only crazy thing was, the place was over run by racoons! The could be a bit intimidating (I am thinking rabies the whole time) but they were quite entertaining. They stole our Oreo's right out of the cooler and some Twizzlers. So make sure everything is locked up good.

Yummy Spiders AND Pumpkin Whoopie PIes

2011-10-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

Isn't he cute? The boys and I had a great time making and eating these spiders.

Here they are guarding some whoopie pies.

Some of the whoopie pies were rolled in sprinkles and drawn on with chocolate.

Spiders
The spider were pretty simple to make.
The body is a Little Debbie Cake.
The eyes are Reese's pieces (except for the mean green eyes those are left over from another project)
The fangs are Mike and Ike's
The legs are pretzels dipped in chocolate / almond bark

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
These were delicious!!!Luckily I was making all these goodies for my hubby's work or I would be in trouble having all those pies in the house.

2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves (I used less)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in the pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix well.
Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Whoopie Pie Filling.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Choffy anyone?

2011-10-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

I was recently turned onto a drink called Choffy.
Choffy is a brewed Chocolate (Cacao Beans).

According to fitness expert, Jim Karas on Dr Oz today, Choffy helps to burn fat, reduce chocolate craving, boost your metabolism, and block fat absorption.
If that is isn't reason enough to give Choffy a try, I don't know what is!
Also, there are more antioxidants in an 8oz. cup of Choffy than in two servings of blueberries.

I am not a rep or seller of this drink, but I am a big fan!

When I first opened my bag of Choffy I thought I had died and gone to heaven! It smells AMAZING! Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate! YUM!
I like my Choffy with a little French Vanilla Creamer. I even put Choffy in my morning protein shake.
I have been drinking choffy a couple times a day and I love it. It is a great way to satisfy my sweet tooth and has only 20 calories (not including my creamer).

I also want to try a few recipes using Choffy. So check back and see what I make!

Thank you Saralyn for sending me some choffy! Btw, I need to place and order.

http://livelovedrinkchocolate.wordpress.com/

If you anyone is in the area and wants to give it a try, let me know.

Come on over for a visit with me and drink some Choffy!

Creepy Crawly Bugs

2011-10-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

If spiders freak you out, don't look at the following pictures!

We saw this spider at Crystal Springs. It's missing a leg, ouch!

My younger kids would like to think that this spider glows in the dark.

We saw this one at a park. My hubby calls it "The Spawn of Satan".

He's a little freaked out by spiders!

This one has been in my backyard for over a month. My oldest son has named him Timothy and actually catched bugs to feed him. Sooo Creepy!

You can see the hairs on its legs!

Fort Foster Historic Site

2011-10-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Originally built in 1837
A view from the 2nd story
Did you know they had a vampire problem? They stocked the shelves with wooden stakes!

Ha ha ha!

My handsome boys!

It was a beautiful weekend and what better way to enjoy our beautiful fall weather than head to a park.
My hubby suggested Fort Foster. It is located in the Hillsborough River State Park. As many times as I have been to Hillsborough River State Park you would think that I would have been to the fort before but, I hadn't.
There is too much to tell you but I will say we all had a great time. Our Ranger/guide Patrick, was a wealth of information and he did a great job keeping everyone interested.
Tours of Historic Fort Foster are every Saturday @ 2pm and Sunday @ 11am for $2.00for Adults. Kids 7-18 $1.00. Kids 6 and under are free!

http://www.floridastateparks.org/hillsboroughriver/

Bok Towers

2011-09-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I had the opportunity to get free museum tickets from The Smithsonian Magazine (see previous post). We chose Bok Towers.
We had been there a few years ago but I was ready to see it again. We had a wonderful time and my hubby was so sweet and patient as I took tons of pictures. I couldn’t believe all the different birds we saw, including a few hummingbirds. And the tower is an amazing sight to see.

One of the many benches they have for you to sit, relax, and listen to the bells.

These lily pads are HUGE! They are probably 6 ft across!

At Bok you can explore the beautiful landscaped gardens. You can also discover the history of Edward W. Bok and the building of his 205 foot Singing Tower and tour the historic Pinewood Estate mansion to catch a glimpse of the luxurious lifestyle of the 1930s.
Tucked away throughout the Gardens the curious will find secret garden paths, picture rubbing posts as well as three geocache locations!
Bok Tower Gardens located between Tampa and Orlando.

Free Museum Day

2011-09-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, September 24th, you can have the opportunity to get into a museum for free. This is all over the U.S. and is being sponsored by the Smithsonian Magazine.

Click on the title, then "find a museum", type in you state and see all the participating museums. Then fill out the short application and they will email you a free ticket for two.

Super easy and free, that's my kind of deal!

Although not participating in the Smithsonian's Museum Day, Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) is offering $5 admission on Saturday, September 24. The event runs from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Availability is limited and tickets will be issued on a first-come-first-served basis.

I think I will go to Bok Towers. What museum are you going to?

Makin' Woopie...

2011-09-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Whoopie Pies that is.
Actually I am not making them, My brothers fiance has started her own business called "Small Sweet Things" selling whoopie pies at the Ybor City Farmers Market. I am sure she is in her kitchen right now baking away.
Anyway, I wanted to show her my love and support by mentioning her on my blog, because she is a fantastic cook AND she has great taste in guys too!
If any of you can please stop by her booth, show her some love and buy a few Whoopie Pies that would be fantastic!!! She has lots of yummy flavors to try.
Maybe I will see you there!

Canned, Fresh or Frozen

2011-09-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

BPA, the synthetic estrogen linked to cancer and abnormal brain development, is in the lining of most food and beverage cans, and it can leach out. Whether the food is organic doesn't matter, USDA tests show. When possible, buy fresh or frozen items; there's no BPA in plastic freezer bags, says Sarah Janssen, M.D., senior scientist at the NRDC. (From Yahoo News)

Never Forget

2011-09-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is late.

Most of us will never forget what we were doing that awful morning of September 11, 2001, myself included. I have a husband who works in law enforcement, he had only been in bed a few hours from working the night shift when I woke him up to tell him what was happening. He thought I was crazy but I insisted he get out of bed and see for himself. It was a very sad day.

I am truely blessed to live in this wonderful Country and all the MANY freedoms we have that many of us take for granted.

I've been a bad girl!

2011-09-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last week a friend dropped off some cupcakes from Sweetie's Delights located in Valrico, Florida. Wow were they fabulous! I didn't eat them all by myself but, don't think the thought hadn't crossed my mind. I was a good girl and cut each cupcake into 4 pieces to share with my kids, that way we all got to try each flavor and I didn't feel as bad indulging myself with all that yummy goodness!
I believe the flavors I got were Red Velvet, Reese's, Smore, Chocolate Moo moo?, Carrot Cake, and Oreo. We all had a different favorite, mine was the chocolate of course.

Now here is the bad girl part. I was out running errands when I saw the unmistakable pink sign urging me to come inside...yes, it was Sweetie's Delight! I should have kept on driving but I could not resist the temptation of seeing what other sugary delights await me. They had more of those yummy cupcakes but they also had some Truffle cookies. So I asked for 1 of each of the truffle cookies. Don't gasp, there were only 4 different kinds. As I was checking out they had a basket of something called a Smoodgie. It's pretty much a whoopie pie. They had a couple of flavors and I choose strawberry. I think it might be my favorite.
Despite having brought all that yummy goodness I restrained my self again and cut them up into 4 pieces to share.

At the top is the Strawberry Smoodgie. The middle row-chocolate cookie on the left is filled with a coconut filling, the chocolate chip is filled with chocolate, the white cookie is filled with a raspberry filling. Bottom row is a chocolate chip cookie sandwich aka a smidgie and the last cookie is a chocolate cookie with nut and a peanut butter filling.

Look at those yummy fillings!

So now you see all this yummy stuff I keep torturing myself with, did I tell you I am supposed to be training for a 5k!!!! Maybe I could get someone to dangle a cupcake in front of me to get me off my booty and run!

Mango Madness!

2011-08-31T06:39:00.000-07:00

I was recently given some mangos and couldn't decide what to do with them all, so after googling a few recipes I decided to make Mango Freezer Jam (per my son's request), Mango Smoothies, and Mango Popsicles.
I must say everything was delish and now I need to get some more mangos because the kids are begging for more mango Popsicles.
For the my smoothie and for the Popsicles I used a recipe for Mango Lassi that I found on Allrecipes.com

Mango Lassi
2 mangos - peeled, seeded and diced
2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup ice
Directions
1.In a blender, combine mangos, yogurt, sugar and ice. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.

If you have any great Mnago recipes, please share them with me. I am always looking for new things to try.

Ybor Farmers Market

2011-08-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday I had the opportunity to go to the Ybor Farmers Market. My oldest son came with me, no one else wanted to go. That was probably for the best because I am sure I would have spent alot more money if the whole family was with me.

Robbie and I had a great time. We sampled tons off different foods; breads, cookies, cakes, jams, cupcakes and more. We ended up buying a DELICIOUS vanilla cupcake with a cookie dough filling, topped with a hazelnut frosting...YUM! I can't wait to try more of her cupcakes. forheavenscakedesign.com

We also purchased a couple of mini loaves of bread from "The happy baker'. Her specialty is banana bread, but I promise you can't go wrong with any of her bread! We brought her classic coconut bread and a lemon pound cake. And if you have a few extra minutes to chat, ask her how she became "the happy baker" it is a great story and I must say she was an absolute delight to talk with not to mention she has one of the pretty smiles around!! happybakernation.com

I wish I had taken pictures of all my goodies, but i didn't think of it until after we had devoured them!

The market had lots of different crafts and goodies for sale; jewelry, photography, scentsy, soaps lotions and more.

They even had Animal Services there with some of the most adorable dogs available for adoption. I came very close to adopting one of them. I actually went back to the farmers market with my hubby to get the dog but she was gone..I guess it was not meant to be.

http://www.ybormarket.com/

21st Annual Caladium Festival

2011-08-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

For all you plant nerds out there,
this weekend August 26 & 27, 2011 is the Caladium Festival in Lake Placid.
http://www.lpfla.com/caladium.htm

Some of the things offered are
Bulbs & Plants For Sale
Arts & Crafts Booths
Food & Refreshments
Events & Entertainment
Area's Growing Grape Industry
Wine Display
Florida Friendly Landscape &
Ornamental Plants
Antique & Classic Car Show
Caladium Festival Art Competition
Caladium History
& Much More!

I am not able to make it so if any of you attend please let me know how it was and share some pictures!

Wonton Tacos (low fat)

2011-08-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

I was recently looking for a low fat recipe for my hubby and I when I came across Wonton Tacos. I had never heard of it before but I figured we would give it a try. I must say they were fantastic and in my hubby's words, "these are freakin delicious"! The amazing thing is, not only are these yummy, they are low fat. So needless to say I will definitely be making these again.
FYI, I probably at least tripled the recipe to feed my family.

Ingredients:
8 small square wonton wrappers
4 oz. cooked skinless lean chicken breast, shredded
2 tbsp. BBQ sauce
3/4 cup dry coleslaw mix
2 tbsp. Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To make the wonton shells, I Draped the wonton wrappers over some rolled tinfoil to make my shells. Bake for 3 - 4 minutes, until just crispy enough to hold their shape. Remove pan from the oven and set aside to cool.

Combine chicken with BBQ sauce in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Combine coleslaw mix, dressing, and cilantro. Mix well.Set aside.

Now you can make your taco. Get a wonton shell add a spoonful of your chicken and a spoonful of your coleslaw mixture and enjoy!

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 4 wonton tacos
Calories: 191
Fat: 2g
Sodium: 605mg
Carbs: 25g
Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 7.5g
Protein: 17g

Sorry I forgot to take pictures.

Chicken Souvlaki

2011-08-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Many years ago I worked at a Greek restaurant, and everything was love at first bite! My love for Greek food started. One of my favorites is Chicken Souvlaki. I like to serve my Souvlaki with homemade Tzatziki sauce and pita bread. I don't remember the recipe from the restaurant, but I promise my recipe is just as yummy!

Souvlaki
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic-chopped
3 chicken breasts cut into chunks

Pour all ingredients into Ziploc back and marinate for at least a few hours. After chicken has marinated, put chicken on a skewer and grill until done.

Tzatziki Sauce
8oz plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp dill
3 clove chopped garlic
1 cucumber shredded and moisture squeezed out. If you don't squeeze the water out of the shredded cucumber the sauce will be runny.

Combine all the ingredients, mix and serve.

Homemade Slushie Magic

2011-08-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

My kids have been begging me to buy Slushie Magic. Every time they see the commercial they go crazy and so do I (for a different reason, of course). I have no desire to spend $20 plus $10 s&h on a cup and some "magic" ice cubes. So I went on the Internet and googled homemade slushies. Most of the websites suggested the use of a blender, but i knew there had to be another way. I finally found a site that suggested to make it like you would homemade ice cream with ice and rock salt (I forgot to bookmark the site to give it credit, sorry).

Here is what you will need-

Juice, soda, or whatever you want to make into a slushie

ice

rock salt

gallon Ziploc baggies

sandwich Ziploc baggies

Take your juice and pour some into a sandwich baggie. ( I double bagged mine)

Now take a gallon size Ziploc baggie and pour ice cubes about 1/4 way. Pour in 1/3 cup of rock salt on top of the ice cubes. Next, place you fruit bag into the ice bag, seal shut and roll bag around for about 5 minutes or until your juice is a slushie.

That's it,super easy! My kids had a blast making these and instead of me being the cheap, mean mom that won't buy the magic slushie cup, I am the cool mom that comes up with fun things to do!!

Hillsborough River State Park

2011-08-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

My Hubby and I had the pleasure of just the two of us going to Hillsborough State Park. I have to admit there was some guilt for not bringing the kids with us....but it was really nice aka quiet.
We bought our lunch with us so after a little hiking we sat down at one of the many picnic areas and ate our lunch. We then decided to go down to the out post and rent a canoe. . The canoe ride was beautiful! Even though we had the scorching sun beating down on us, we had the occasional gentle breeze that would help cool us off and make the outdoors more bearable.
During our 1 hour trip on the river we saw lots of turtles, a few birds and a few gators ranging in sizes of 6-10 feet. I have to tell you that I am terrified of alligators, so when we came across the first gator i was reluctant to try and get closer so that I could get a better picture of it; but I did. We quickly learned that this gator was camera shy. The closer we tried to get to it, the further it would swim away.
Overall we had a great time. If you love the outdoors I definitely think you would love this park. This park offers many hiking, and biking trails, swimming camping, fishing, canoe rental, kayak rental, and bike rentals. On the weekends they offer tours of Fort Foster. Please check their website for prices.
Don't forget your sunblock....I did....ouch!

Go here for more information http://www.floridastateparks.org/hillsboroughriver/

Farmageddon Movie

2011-08-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

There is a movie called Farmageddon that is showing this Thursday in Tampa.

Watch the clip and let me know what you think. I know it is not for everyone, but I would like to go with an open mind and watch it. If anyone else wants to go, let me know. I would love to meet up with you all. Ticket are $10. The 7:30 show is sold out, but there is still some seats left at the 4:00 show.

Ringling Museum of Art

2011-08-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Dwarf Garden

Walkway out side of the Museum of Art

Art

more Art

The mansion "Ca`d`Zan
you must see it in person, the architecture is fantastic

The Secret Garden
(not very secret, it's on the map)

one of the many very cool Banyan trees

Mable's Rose Garden

Mondays are free at the Ringling Museum of Art. They also have tours for the mansion- Ca`d`Zan and a Circus Museum but those are not free. One day I would love to take a tour of everything on the property but for now free is good for me! The kids and I were able to tour Mable’s Rose Garden, The Secret Garden, The Dwarf Garden, the huge Banyan trees and pretty much anything else outdoors. By the time we were nice and hot we decided to tour the Museum of Art. Besides the wonderful air conditioning, it really was amazing to see all the fantastic pieces of art the Ringling family had collected. They offer a free guided tour of the museum and I highly recommend it. The wealth of information they share with you about the Ringling family, their home, and the art; is fantastic. Did you know Mr. Ringling was making over a million dollars a month (tax free)??? That is equivalent to over 20 million today. He was one of the top 10 richest people in the world.
I won’t bore you with all the details of our little excursion, but I definitely recommend a trip there. You won’t be disappointed. Bring your camera, you’re going to want to take lots of pictures. I brought my camera but, my 14 yr old son used it the entire time. He is quite the shutter bug!

Oh, I have to share with you a few "feelings" that were expressed to me by my kids.

My 7 year old thought the paintings were creepy because the eyes follow you. My 12 and 14 yr old thought that was cool.

My 12yr old didn't like all the nudity, he thought is was gross. And my 14 yr old took great pleasure pointing it all out to him.... brotherly love.

For more information about the Ringling Mueseum go to http://www.ringling.org/

Free Pectin Sample

2011-07-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

FREE Sample of Ball RealFruit Classic Pectin
I learned about this deal at Hip2Save.com

If any of you are into canning like I am, then you need to go and request your free sample of pectin!( I love free stuff!)

Just go on over to

http://www.freshpreserving.com/community/sample.aspx?promo=hppectin
to request a FREE sample of Ball RealFruit Classic Pectin! In the offer code box, enter HPPECTIN (if needed).

Storm at Ft. Desoto

2011-07-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

The family and I took a much needed trip to Ft Desoto Beach. The kids packed their fishing gear, metal detector, shovel and bucket. It started off to be exactly what we need, and then a storm started rolling in. So what do I do? I tell me hubby I want to take a few pictures before we go. I didn’t realize how fast the storm was rolling in, nor did I realize how far I had walked when the lighting started going off everywhere. In one of the picture you can see a guy fishing; a bolt of lightning hit really close by and that guy and I ran as fast as we could back to the main beach. I was greeted by an extremely worried husband. We finally get to the car and the kids were really upset. They told me they thought something had happened to me and asked my why had I not come back sooner. I felt so bad, everyone was so worried. My middle child made me promise to never do that again. I learned my lesson; never go out in a storm to take pictures. I will admit it was a bit scary. So I hope you enjoy my death defying pictures!

Easiest Fudgy Chocolate Muffins Ever!

2011-07-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

I can't remember what blog I was on to give proper credit for this recipe, sorry. Theses muffins/cupcakes are supposedly only 1 weight watcher point. Isn't that great?!

It only requires 2 ingredients-
1 box Devil's Chocolate Cake mix
1 can 15oz. Pumpkin puree (not pie mix)

Mix both ingredients together and bake like cupcakes according to the box.
The mixture will be very thick. Do not add water, eggs or anything else. It will be OK, I promise.
That's it, how easy is that!

I wanted to make my muffins a bit healthier so I added so Ground Flaxseed meal to it. This will add fiber and Omega-3 to my muffins. So now I can eat these for breakfast guilt free. It's almost like a chocolate bran muffin, without the bran, of course. I Love it!

These muffins are also a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth without being bad.

If you want to try my VitaMuffin version of it-
1 box Devil's Cake Mix
1 can Pumpkin Puree
3/4 cup Ground Flaxseed meal
3/4 cups water
Mix well (batter will be thick). Scoop into cupcake wrappers and bake according to box.

This recipe is also great with other cake mixes.

Garlic Chicken

2011-07-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

This recipe is a family favorite. It is very easy to make and doesn't take long to prepare. In true "Ariel" fashion, I don't measure with this recipe. I just pour until it looks good. I think it would be really hard to mess this recipe up.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons crushed garlic (I use more, I love garlic)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2.Warm the garlic and olive oil to blend the flavors. In a separate dish, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in a shallow baking dish. (I take the remainging oil mixture and drizzle it on top of the breaded chicken)
3.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Side Effects From All The Rain

2011-07-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

We are still getting lots of rain but luckily it is not as much as it was a week ago. I am trying to use my camera more often, so I took a few pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

I have noticed at least 4 different types of mushrooms.

It is a amazing to me how fast mushrooms grow. They all popped up over night.

I actually had to tell my kids to leave the mushrooms alone so I could take a few pictures. The boys love to have mushroom wars; that is just an excuse to be able to throw something at each other. At least mushrooms are soft. ;-)

Here is my dock last week completely underwater!
Here is a floating mass of fire ants playing king of the mountain. Apparently their home was underwater so they all piled on top of each other. It was an amazing site. You had to be very careful because the would go after anything in the water and if that were you, you would get tore up with ant bites! Scary!

Woman Faces Charges for Veggie Garden

2011-07-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

I am no anti-government extremist, but I really am tired of people and the government messing with someone trying to grow a few veggies. Anyone should be able to grow fruits and veggies without someone telling them it doesn't fit in with typical landscaping, so it must go. This woman does not live in an HOA subdivision. This is her city government telling her to remove it.
I am sure some of you are thinking that she should have planted it in her back yard but, a lot of people don't have much of a backyard or maybe it is all shade. Who knows?
Where is Michelle Obama? She should be standing up for this woman. First Lady Obama planted a garden on the White House lawn and encourages everyone to have their own garden, and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. Come on Michelle, help a girl out!
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/07/michigan_woman_faces_jail_planting_veggie_garden.php
I have seen yards with "typical" landscaping that are AWFUL, painted a hideous color, or looks like a junk yard and they are left alone.
What a crazy world we live in!

What are your thoughts on this?

And The Rains Came Tumbling Down...

2011-07-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Do any of you know the primary song I am talking about? "The rains came down and the flood came up, and the house on the rock stood still"
Anyway, that what it feels like over here. We have been suffering from a drought and finally we started seeing some rains in late June and things starting perking up. The grass in the backyard used to crunch when you walked on it and now it is nice and green. No more hand watering and no more droopy plants, woohoo!!!! It is amazing how fast the plants and the grass are growing. I think they are making up for lost time.

But boy, oh boy, did the rains come. Our pond hasn't been this high in years! We are expecting more today. In fact I can hear thunder as I am typing.

Here is the pond level on June 25th, with a storm rolling in. Please ignore the dead cypress tree.

Here is the pond at normal level on July 4th. Please ignore my other dead cypress tree. But notice the water level to the trees in the back ground.

Here is the water level this morning. It has actually gone down. See the mud line? And notice the dead cypress trees are gone. They have been replaced by drowning Birds of Paradise.

Comments

2011-07-05T07:41:00.001-07:00

I am having trouble with my blog. For some reason it won't let me respond to everyones comments. Sorry.
But don't let that stop you from posting. I love reading your comments. If any of you and more computer friendly then me, I would love your help!
Thanks!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am late posting again but, I still wanted wish everyone a Happy 4th of July!!!

It was a bitter sweet 4th of July for our family. We had a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends, but our son in law left for boot camp. We know it was a hard decision for him, to have to leave his wife (Krystle) and his daughter for the next few months, but we are very proud of him. Good Luck in boot camp Tyler, we know you will do great!!!

Beach Banana Cupcakes

2011-07-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

Aren't these adorable??

My father recently invited us to celebrated his birthday with him by watching the sunset at St. Pete Beach. So I decided to make some cupcakes. My fathers favorite cake is carrot cake, so I made him some carrot cupcakes and they were delish. (more about those on the next post).
But for the kids I decided to try something a little different. I had plenty of bananas on hand so I decided to try Banana Cupcakes. They turned out very yummy, my kids can attest to that. The cupcakes were not as dense as most banana breads are but, they were still nice and moist with a soft banana flavor.
As you can tell from the pictures I HAD to make them cute (for the kids of course, ha ha).
The beach balls were large gumballs, I added the stripes.
The people are Teddy Grahams
and the towels are "Rips" I picked these up at Walmart in the candy isle for under $2 but I am sure you could use fruit roll ups.

All the coloring on the Teddy Grahams and on the Gumballs were done with food decorating pens. I use Americolor Gourmet Writers. I find they work alot better than the Wilton Decorating pens.

Banana Cupcakes from allrecipes.com
3/4 cup butter
2 1/8 cups white sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used sour cream instead)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour,(cupcakes-approx. 30 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.

Orange Chicken

2011-06-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

The kids and I decided to try something different for dinner. They wanted anything Chinese, so I found a recipe for orange chicken on allrecipes.com. Robbie, my oldest son was a great help. He told me to tell you all that I better give him credit and that he did most of it!

Despite how the picture might look. it was great, everyone loved it. We served it with sticky rice and of course we had to use chop sticks!

Sticky Rice
rice
water
coconut milk

Make your rice as directed on the bag of rice, except substitute part of the water for the coconut milk. For example, if you have 1 cup of coconut milk and your recipe calls for 2 cups of water; then you will add 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup of water, cook as usual. I hope that makes sense. If not, let me know.

Orange Chicken
Sauce:
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
1.Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10 to 15 minutes.
2.Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3.In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.
4.Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet, and brown on both sides. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, and cover with aluminum foil.
5.Wipe out the skillet, and add the sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2011-06-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Today one of my kids woke up sick. He didn't have much of an appetite, but he needed to eat so I asked him what he would like and he asked for Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes. I really didn't feel like making them but how could I say no? In our house it is not unusual to have banana pancakes but, we have never had them with chocolate chips in them. I must say they turned out DELICIOUS! You don't even need syrup on them, but hey, why not. It just adds to the yummy goodness!
I managed to get a few pictures taken. However, I didn't get any pictures of the pancakes after they were cooked. The kids were gobbling them up as fast as I could make them.

I am big fan of making things "Semi Homemade", so for these pancakes I used a mix. However if you are a "From Scratch" only person I do know a great pancake recipe that I will share with you.
To make these pancakes make your batter as usual. Mash up 1-2 bananas and add it to your batter. Pour batter onto an oiled pan and sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top. Flip and you are done. See...super easy and super yummy!!!!!

Fluffy Pancakes (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Cooking spray
Directions
1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Happy Belated Father's Day!

2011-06-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I didn't post this on time, but I still would like to say Happy Father's Day! I have an amazing dad, father in law, and a husband who is a wonderful father! I love you guys!!!

Getting Ready for Hurricane season

2011-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hurricane season is already well underway, but are you and your family ready if one strikes?

Have you ever tried to go shopping for nonperishable food and water right before a storm hits?? Shelves are empty, traffic is a mess, and people are cranky. Save yourself some stress and get prepared before the storm!

There are many ways to be prepared. You can have a 72 hour kit, evacuation plan, legal documents in a safe place, a pet plan, document household belongings, house prepared (shutters, etc) and more. If you have children remember to prepare for them, some toys and games. If someone has a medical condition make sure you have enough medication for them. Please check the links for more information.
http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml

Don’t be one of those people waiting on the Red Cross or FEMA to bring you food and water just so you and your family can survive. BE PREPARED!

If disaster doesn’t strike you, please try and help those that it did affect!

I would love for you to share your tips on being prepared.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2011-06-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

I was a little under the weather this weekend so my Hubby decided to step in and grill dinner. He decided to make one of his specialties; his take on Outbacks Aussie Chicken.
All you need is
Chicken
Marinade- he used Chipoltle and Lime
Bacon
cheese- He used Munster and a little shredded cheddar

First thing he did was line a pan with foil (easier clean up) put bacon on it and put it in the oven @375 degrees for approx. 25 minutes.

Next he basted the chicken and the grilled it. After the chicken and bacon were cooked he put some baocn on the chiken and then topped it off with cheese.
Last he closed the grill for a few minutes until the cheese had melted to perfection!
YUM!!!

Bacon and cheese on anything is good right?! Our family loves it!
We choose the Chipoltle marinade and Munster cheese, because that's what we had on hand. You can use what ever you want! However,Munster is a great melting cheese.

By the way, on June 10th, my Hubby and I celebrated 18 years of marrige.

I love you! You are an amazing hubby!

The winner is..

2011-06-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

The winner is...

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 22
Result:
14
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Thank you for all the posts and comments.
#14 you should be receiving an email soon.

Sorry I couldn't get the random.org thing to show up correctly. My computer skills suck, but I promise I am working on them!!!
Maybe I can get one of my kids to help me out. ;-)

Blue Heron

2011-06-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

This is Harry

The boys just gave him a fish

Yummy

We recently had the opportunity to spend sometime at the beach with some family. While we were there the boys had to get some fishing in. They didn't catch any whoppers but the did have fun fishing for a "friend" whom I like to call Harry the heron. Yes, it's a generic name but, it's easy to remember.

Shorty after the boys started fishing Harry arrived. We noticed that we would get pretty close as the boys would catch a fish. It didn't take long for us to realize that Harry was used to being tossed a fish here and there. They boys had blast tossing fish and shrimp to him. An interesting thing we noticed, every time Harry swallowed a fish he would make sure it went down head first. He was an amazing creature to watch up close!

Free Bed Bath & Beyond Gift Card

2011-06-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

My blog has been slow going so I thought I would start offering a monthly give away.

This month I am offering a $10 gift Card to Bed Bath & Beyond

It's simple to win, just "follow" me and leave a comment below about gardening or cooking and on June 10th a random winner will be chosen. Give away is only for U.S. residents.

See I said it would be easy.

A glimpse into my garden

2011-06-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Unknown Daylily

African Foxgloves

Perennial Morning Glory

unknown daylily

Perennial Morning Glory buds
a small garden patch

Homemade Salsa

2011-06-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

I am a little late making salsa this year, but better late than never, right?
The down side to waiting so late in the year is that the tomatoes are a bit smaller. But that's OK they still make fantastic salsa!
The salsa recipe I use was given to me by my friend Andrea. My family LOVES this salsa!!! I did make a few changes to please my family . We like a little kick to our salsa, so instead of 2 jalapenos, I use 4 jalapenos. This makes it more of a medium spice. The original recipe is mild, but still yummy. My hubby likes it even hotter so I try to make at least 1 batch with 6-8 jalapenos. I also add cilantro to my salsa whenever I remember to buy it. I love cilantro!

Can you guess how many jars of salsa I made last year?
4o, and it wasn't enough. It only last us about 6 months. We gave away MANY jars of salsa to family and friends. Of course my family might have eaten a FEW jars ;-) It think this year I will have to make more, or maybe I just won't share....just kidding.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my family does! Let me know how it turns out.
I know some of you out there bought alot of tomatoes from my boys with the intent of making salsa. So if you need any help, PLEASE let me know I would LOVE to help!!!

Salsa
8 quarts (32 cups) tomatoes
5 onions
5 green peppers
10 Anaheim peppers (you can also use cubanelle peppers)
2 jalapeno peppers (I use more)
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp pepper
8 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
6 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp oregano leaves
2 Tbsp cumin
2 ½ Tbsp salt
6 Tbsp olive oil

Chop all ingredients. Combine and bring to a boil and then simmer5 for 2 hours. Bottle and seal in jars, processing pint jars for 25 minutes and quart jars for 35 minutes. Makes 20 pint or 9 quarts.

Tips- I use a food processor for all my peppers and my onions. . But be careful not to puree the veggies, you want pieces, not pulp. I also strain all my veggies after I cut them or put them in the food processor, that way my salsa is not runny. This is not a necessary step, I just prefer it this way.

Good Luck!!

Tomato Fundraiser

2011-06-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

We just finished up our 2nd annual Rodriguez Boy's Tomato Fundraiser. It was a great success. Thank you to everyone who supported my boys. This will help them pay for Scout Camp.
You Rock!

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all the brave men and women who have fought/fighting for our country!!!
We love you!

Donate Blood and get a $10 Gift card or Movie Tickets

2011-05-26T08:58:00.000-07:00

I was on iheartpublix.com and they posted this great deal.

Florida Blood Services is offering a $10 gift card to Publix, Walmart or Movie Tickets when you donate blood. It is only at certain locations and times so please visit http://www.fbsblood.org/html/promos/Publix.aspx for more information.

To me this is a win win deal, you get to help someone and get a gift card in return. Gotta love it!

Meet Charlie

2011-05-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

Let me start off by saying I am not a fan of squirrels. From a gardeners point of view, squirrels are constantly digging up plants, eating my fruits and veggies before I can pick them, and they even eat some of my flowers. I will admit they can be very entertaining to watch, I would just rather watch them in someone else’s yard. Having said all that, I do have a soft spot for baby animals, and that’s where Charlie comes in the picture.
Last Saturday evening my neighbor and I are out sitting on the dock when we kept hearing some sort of chirping sound. At first our hubby’s thought it was the water pump. But upon further investigation we realized it was coming from a tree. So we decided to walk over and see what critter was making the noise. Just as we were walking over to the tree, we see something fall out of the tree. So I ran over to find a small squirrel curled up in a ball. We are guessing that he’s at least month old since he had fur. He was sooo cute! We called the kids out so they could see this adorable little creature with big brown eyes. The kids begged us to keep him, we of course said no, that we need to leave the squirrel and let mamma squirrel have a chance to come and rescue her baby. Well it was getting dark and the mosquitos were coming out, so it was time for us to go inside. The kids were very worried about the squirrel, especially Jordan; he’s my animal/nature boy. So finally after a few hours my hubby decided he would let the boys go and see if momma squirrel had come. Well momma squirrel didn’t come and the boys had brought the baby squirrel inside and had already named him “Charlie”. We didn’t want Charlie inside because he had bugs, so we put him in a shoe box with a towel and let him sleep in the garage. We sent the kids to bed and my hubby and I begin to discuss what the heck we are going to do with this thing. My hubby wanted to let nature take its course and put him back outside. I just couldn’t do that, to me it seemed cruel; Charlie is too cute for that kind of ending. He reminded me that I do not like squirrels. I told him that Charlie was just a baby, I’m a sucker and that tomorrow we would drop him off at the wildlife clinic.
Sunday after Church Jordan I drove to the wildlife clinic and they were closed. We were very concerned for Charlie because he hadn’t eaten anything since we got him. So we decided to go to a pet store for advice. They were extremely helpful. We had to buy some puppy milk and a dropper to feed Charlie. It worked great! Charlie quickly learned that the dropper was food and would even help hold it. We ended up keeping Charlie for a couple of days before we took him to the wildlife clinic.

New Dock

2011-05-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

Our house has a man made pond behind it and ever since we moved here we always thought a dock would be really nice. But a dock was one of things that was way down on the wish list since we always had so many other things to take care of and we didn't know how to make a dock.

Well this year our luck changed a little. One of our neighbors organized a pond clean up where we pulled invasive plants out, and put in native plants in. Well, at one of our meetings we got to talking with another neighbor and he mentioned he wanted a dock also and he used to build them! So after much excitement, planning, budgeting my hubby and our neighbor built some docks. One weekend they built his dock and the next weekend they built our dock. AS you can see in the photo's the water level was extremely low. We have lived here over 6 years and it has never been that low. But it worked out great for us because it made building the dock much easier and the very next week it stormed for a couple of days and the pond level returned to normal.

We love our dock!! Our pond is stocked with bass, catfish and a few other kind of fish so now everyone likes to fish off the dock. Me, I like to sit back and relax and enjoy the gentle breeze that blows over the water. I don't know what it is but I swear it is a few degrees cooler and much more peaceful on the dock than on land.

Thank you to my wonderful hubby and our skilled neighbor for working very hard to build our dock!!!

I love you Mom!

2011-05-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you!

Fragrant Gardens

2011-05-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Gardenia Miami Supreme

Old Fashion Honeysuckle

Gardenia Vietnam

I love this time of year. So many flowers are in bloom, including many of my fragrant ones. Almost every evening I stroll over to one of my gardenia bushes,pick a flower and wear it in my hair for the rest of the evening. It makes pulling weeds and watering plants much more enjoyable. I am sad when my gardenias are done blooming but I am excited for other fragrant plants that are blooming.
Flowers aren’t the only thing with fragrance. Many types of foliage have a scent. I love brushing my fingers through basil leaves, lavender, lemon grass, rosemary and other herbs.
It is amazing to me how powerful scents can be. Scents have the wonderful ability to trigger memories. Have you ever strolled through a garden to be reminded of some childhood memory, or a food, or a friend?
One of my gardenia bushes is very special to me. My parents gave it to me when my 2nd son, Jordan was born. If I ever move I will have to take cuttings of it, because it is way too big to dig up.

Currently the fragrant flowers I have blooming in my garden are;
Gardenia Augusta Beauty
Gardenia White Gem
Gardenia Miami Supreme (I think)
Gardenia Augusta 'Vietnam'
Honeysuckle which was sold to me under the generic name “old fashion” (it is definitely not the invasive “Halls honeysuckle”)
4 O’clocks

Fragrant Flower I have that are not blooming;
Gardenia Frost Proof
Butterfly Ginger
Kewense Ginger
Sweet Almond Verbana
Citrus Trees
Pink Crinums
White Crinums
Michelia Figo aka Banana Shrub
Tea Olive

Flourless Chocolate Cake

2011-04-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

About a week before the cook out I found out that there were some people observing some religious holidays; Lent and Passover, and that they had some food restrictions. I didn't want anyone to offend anyone and I wanted to make sure they had food options, so I went on the internet to find out a bit more about these customs. One of the things I learned was that dessert could be hard for those observing Passover because they couldn’t have grains. So after googling many dessert recipes I found a Flourless Chocolate Cake on allrecipes.com that sounded delicious. I was a little scared to make this dessert since I had never tasted it nor made it before. But the risk paid off, they were fantastic! They tasted like dark chocolate fudge. I baked them in mini cupcake wrappers, so they were bit size yummy goodness! I will definitely make this again! They only problem was…I didn’t make enough!
I topped half of the cakes with some of Donea's Caramel Butter Cream Icing and the other half I left plain. Everyone loved them. I received tons of compliments and the people that were observing Passover, thanked me personally for thinking of them.
Here is the recipe I got from allrecipes.com with the changes I made.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
6 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup unsalted butter
6 eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate and chocolate chips. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Scope the batter into the cupcake wrappers. Have a large casserole pan Filled about half way with water on a lower rack.
Bake cupcakes above the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 17minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight.

Grooms Cake

2011-04-24T18:23:00.001-07:00

Josh and Donea surprised Adam with a Grooms cake at the cook out. Some people didn't understand some of the things on Adam's cake. But that's OK, because it was perfect for Adam. Adam is a music producer and everything on the cake had to do with his music or Album covers. "I Be Where Da Cake Be" is a song he produced with rapper Mark Victor. On the side of the cake you can see 2 Chinese stars sticking out, those were on one of his Album covers.
Enough about the decoration of the cake, now the delicious details. Donea baked a moist chocolate cake with two different filling; Chocolate Ganache and Caramel Butter Cream. Yes, it is as yummy as it sounds! Josh and Donea came over and spent all of Thursday assembling and decorating the cake. It was amazing they were able to get anything done at my house because I was cooking and prepping food all day, my kitchen sink decided to clog up and go crazy on me, and I have kids at home. But despite everything it all came together beautifully.
Great Job Donea and Josh, you put my cake decorating to shame! But I love you guys anyway!!!!

By the way, I forgot to get a picture of the cake after it was cut. Why that might seem unimportant, it was another attention to detail Donea took into consideration. Donea used 2 types of fillings and she piped it onto the cake so that when you cut the cake, the frosting would be stripes. Very Clever!

Pre Wedding Cook Out

2011-04-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of making all the food for my brother’s rehearsal dinner. Actually it really wasn’t a rehearsal dinner, it was a meet and greet, pool side cook out. We had over 30 family and friends come to mingle and enjoy some good southern food. My husband was in charge of grilling the burgers and I was in charge of the rest of the food. The menu consisted of Hamburgers, Veggie Burgers, Baked Beans, Vegetarian Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Garden Salad, Pasta Salad, Fruit, Spicy Cowboy Salsa, Mild Salsa, Corn Chips, and dessert. Dessert consisted of some Flourless Cupcakes and a fantastic Groom’s Cake that Josh and his girlfriend Donea made.
As you can tell from the menu we had some vegetarians (my parents), but we also had some people observing Lent and Passover. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of food for everyone.
We all had a wonderful time and it was great meeting Tara’s side of the family. I am sorry I do not remember everyone’s names but it was a pleasure to meet everyone. Thank you to everyone who traveled so far to come!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

Mulberry Jelly

2011-04-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

As you can see I decided to make the jelly instead of the pie. But I still have a lot of berries left on the tree, so who knows, my kids may still get a mulberry pie.

I have made plenty of jam, but I have never made a jelly before, so I was excited to try something new. My hubby laughs at what I sometimes consider exciting, he is a Policeman, so his stories are much more entertaining than mine.

Making the jelly wasn't hard, it just took a little more time because I had to squeeze and and strain all the juice and berries so that I wouldn't have any seeds. That was just a personal preference on my part. I could have made jam and not worried about the seeds but, I wanted to try something different. I must say that it was worth the little extra effort. I think my hubby agrees. After he had tasted the jelly, he told me that he was taking a few jars to his office to share with his coworkers. Knowing that my hubby loved it enough to want to share with his friends made me happy. I got the recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They have tons of other recipes if you would like to check them out.

Mulberry Jelly with powdered pectin

3½ cups mulberry juice Use 2 qts. mulberries* (¾ ripe, ¼ red)

1 box powdered pectin

5 cups sugar

* If all berries are ripe, add ¼ cup lemon juice to fruit juice

Yield: About 6-7 half-pint jars

Wash and rinse jars; keep warm until ready to fill. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions.

Sort and wash berries; remove stems. Crush berries thoroughly; heat slowly until juice starts to flow. (Caution: Berries will stain items and hands easily.) Cover; simmer 10 minutes.

Place in jelly bag (I used a strainer and pressed with the back of a spoon) and squeeze out juice. Measure juice, mix with powdered pectin in saucepan.

Bring quickly to a hard boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar all at once. Bring to a full rolling boil, (a boil that cannot be stirred down); boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off foam with a metal spoon.

Pour at once into clean, hot jars, leaving only ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Water Canner.

Here we go round the mulberry bush…

2011-04-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

My favorite tree or plant is usually whatever is blooming or fruiting.
So right now, one of my favorite trees is my “Tice” Mulberry tree. One of the things I love of about that tree is that my kids and all their friends love to go pick fresh berries and eat them straight from the tree. How cool is that. No worries about pesticides, the only thing they have to worry about is someone picking the berries before they can get them or not being tall enough to get that perfect berry. I love that my kids know that we can grow some of our own fruit, not just buy them from the grocery store.

I know many of you are wondering, what is a Mulberry? Well, it looks like a black berry, and it taste yummy. It has its own flavor but it reminds me a lot of grapes. And to tempt you even more, it’s good for you. Mulberries are high in antioxidants. They are also high in Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Iron, Fiber, Riboflavin, Magnesium and Potassium.
I purchased my tree about 5 years ago, and every spring I would get some berries, but never enough to make anything. This year is different. Even with my kids, all their friend’s, some squirrels, and the birds snacking on the tree, I still have enough to try and make something. I decided I would try and make some Mulberry jam. I will let you know how it turns out. My kids really wanted me to make Mulberry Pie, so who knows? Maybe I will enough to try both!

Insecticidal Soap

2011-03-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Southern gardeners have been using a soap and water spray for over a hundred years. One to three tablespoons of 'Kirk's Castile' soap is collected from a cheese grater and then dissolved in a gallon of water—it may take a day or two to dissolve completely. Once it is dissolved, shake the contents and pour it into a spray bottle. You must spray generous amounts. You might need to repeat this process every week because of newly hatched bugs. I have found this to be very affective on aphids and other soft bodied insects.
The only place I have found Kirks Castile Soap is at Publix.
If this process is too much for you new just go and buy some commercial insecticidal soap, which would be available at most big chain stores.

The best type of soap for killing insects is debatable; some recommend pure castile soap like me, but others endorse various name brand liquid dish liquids (most often Dawn and Ivory). Detergents are good choices because they are not affected by minerals in hard water, unlike non-detergent soaps. However, detergents have been known to be more damaging to plants if used excessively. If you choose to use a dish detergent, make sure to rinse your plants within an hour of applying the insecticide. Also, do not spray plants on very hot or humid days, as the plant will be more prone to burning. Always test a small area of the plant that is not too visible before applying and insecticide.

Neem Oil

2011-03-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about growing your own fruits and vegetables, is that you control what pesticides (if any) that you want to use. I am not much of a pesticide person but if the bugs get really bad there are a few things I will do.

My first choice is removing them by hand and dropping them in a bucket of water. This is best done in the morning because the bugs are wet from the dew and can’t fly away. If you don’t want to touch the bugs you can try shaking the branch over the bucket or bribing your kids. My kids are usually willing to go on a bug hunt.

Another option is Neem oil. Neem oil is extracted from the nut of the neem tree. I starting using neem oil because it came recommended from other gardeners. I also use it because it is organic and safe if my kids touch it. I got the following information for you at livingwithbugs.com they can it better than I can.

Neem oil insecticide solutions are made by mixing an oil concentrate (usually 3-4.5% azadirachtin) with water. The oil is sometimes combined with insecticidal soap to enhance the activity of both .
Always check the product label carefully but most neem oil insecticides can be effectively used for aphids, armyworms, many leaf-feeding insects such as root weevil adults, leafminers, thrips and whiteflies. Sprays can be used on many vegetable crops as well as spices and herbs, small fruits and berries, stone fruits and tropical fruits. Insecticide applications can often be made up to the day of harvest.

Benefits of neem oil insecticide
• low toxicity, safe for the applicator
• low environmental impact
• organic and biorational
• relatively broad-usage allowed
• easy on beneficial insects and mites
Beside all of the benefits of neem oil the only real downside is that it is not very persistant so may need to be re-applied every few days (see instructions on product label). Many gardeners, however, consider this characteristic to actually be another benefit because neem oil insecticide won't interfere with beneficial insects or delay harvest.

What's growing in my garden?

2011-03-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

Because I love to garden, people tend to get ask me what I am growing. I probably have more in my yard the most because I live on almost an acre. But, I try to only plant around the fence line. I like having an open yard for my kids to run around in.
I am only going to list the edibles I am currently growing.

Fruit Trees in my Yard
Honey Murcott Tangerine- Very Sweet and Juicy
Cara Cara Red Navel- slow to produce
Honeybell Tangerine
Sanbokan lemon- Sweet lemon
Sunraycer Nectarine- slow to produce
UF Gold Peach- ton’s of small sweet peaches
Floridabell Peach- Nothing in 2 years, I will probably get rid of it.
Tice Mulberry- the kids LOVE it! Sweet juicy berries right off the tree
Blueberries- can’t remember the variety but they are doing great
Apache Thornless Blackberry- love it!
Ice Cream Banana
Raji Puri Banana
Pineapple
and of course of have some herbs and a few veggies growing.

I know this looks like I am growing a fruit stand in my yard but I promise you I'm not. If you were to come to my yard you would see that most of the trees are blended into the landscape and some of the trees are still small.

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

2011-03-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Besides the usual jam making , this year I decided to try something a little different with my strawberries. I made Strawberry Syrup and boy was it a hit with my kids! Who needs maple syrup when you can have homemade Strawberry Syrup! So far we have put syrup on pancakes, waffles and ice cream, I have also seen someone who will remain anonymous eat it plain. Can you imagine it on cheesecake, or crepes, or how about some homemade banana pancakes, you could even drizzle some on your dessert plate to fancy things up. Oh, I am making myself hungry.

The recipe I used come from Ball. I decided to make my syrup seedless and chunk free. But you can make yours how ever you like. That's the beauty of making it yourself.

5 cups crushed strawberries
11/2 cups water (divided)
1 strip of lemon peel
11/2 cups sugar
11/2 cups corn syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine strawberries, half of the water, and lemon peel. Heat to boiling and boil for 5 minutes.

Pour into a jelly strainer(I used cheese cloth) and let drip for 2 hours.

Combine the sugar and the remaining water and cook to 230°F. Add the strawberry juice and the corn syrup. Bring to boiling and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Fill hot jars leaving 1/4 inch space. Add lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Pictures to will be posted later today.

Strawberry Jam

2011-03-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

It is Strawberry season here in the Tampa Bay area, and I have the privilege of living close to Plant City, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World! So my family and I HAD to go and pick some of those HUGE and DELICIOUS strawberries. Every year we freeze some of the strawberries for shakes and the rest goes to jam and syrup.

If you have never canned anything before, you really should give it a try. There is nothing like fresh, homemade jam. Not to mention the pride of knowing you made it. Canning can seem a bit scary at first, but once you've made your first batch you will realize it isn't hard.

Also your local Extension Office might even have a class on canning, I know Hillsborough County does.

Strawberry Jam by Ball

5 cups crushed Strawberries

1/4 Cup lemon juice

7 cups Sugar

Heat Jars and lids in hot water, not boiling , until ready to use. Keeping the jars hot helps prevent them from breaking when adding hot jam. I usually just put my jars and lids through a dish washing cycle and that cleans them and keeps them warm until I am ready.

Combine Strawberries and lemon juice in a saucepan Gradually stir in pectin. Bring fruit to a full rolling boil that can not be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add all the sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

Fill the jars within a 1/4 inch from the top, wipe off any drips and then put the lid and rings on.

Next put filled jars in to the canner (or a large pot) filled with boiling water. The water should be 2 inches over the top of the jars. Boil/process the jars for 10 minutes.

Remove jars and let them cool off on the counter. As they cool you should hear the lids "pop". This sound means it sealed. If any of the jars didn't seal just put it in your fridge and use that jar first.

Happy canning!!

Gardening Websites

2011-03-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

I ran out of the Gardening Websites handout. So for those of you that didn't get them here you go.

Rainbarrels
http://hillsborough.ifas.ufl.edu/HomeGardening/PDFs/Fact%20Sheets/Rain%20Barrels.pdf

Composting
http://hillsborough_fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/Compost-Happens.html

Gardening Almanac
http://hillsborough.extension.ufl.edu/HomeGardening/Garden-Almanac.html

Vegetable Gardening Guide
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021

Growing Vegetables in containers
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh032

Edible Landscaping
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_edible_landscapes

Fruit Trees
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg248

Herbs
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh020

Florida Gardening Forum
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/flgard/

March 19, 2011 Readiness Fair

2011-03-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Don’t be like Chicken Little and panic when the sky starts falling……
Be Prepared!

I am a firm believer in being prepared. There are so many unforeseen circumstances that can happen in our lives- job loss, medical expenses, natural disaster and more. Being prepared can make it easier to handle these situations.

I hope everyone had a great time yesterday at the 2011 Readiness Fair. It was a pleasure to meet so many wonderful people interested in gardening. I received lots of great questions and wonderful feedback. I also promised many of you that I would post the information here on my blog. I will not be able to post everything today but I will do my best to post everything within the week. If I forget something or if you have ANY questions, please let me know and I will do my best to help.

Rain Barrels

2011-03-17T05:24:00.000-07:00

Did you know that one inch of rain on a 1000 sq. ft. roof can produce approximately 625 gallons of rain water? That is amazing to me. Think of all that rain water you could be collecting and using for on your landscaping or gardens. Not only is this water FREE, it is also better for your plants than tap water.
I have had a rain barrel for about 5 years now and I love it. It is great to used in times of drought and when we have water restrictions.

To some home owners rain barrels are an eye sore, but they don't have to be. Rain barrels can be painted to match your home so they blend in, or you can but it in a less noticable place and hide it with plants. You could evn pain it with with some sort of design. Do what ever works for you.

If you live in Hillsborough County you can get a rain barrel for free by attending one of their work shops. Just call the Hillsbrough County Extension Office and sign up (813)744-5519. IF you don't feel like attending a workshop or if you live in a different county here is a link with directions on how to make one.http://hillsborough_fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/RainBarrels.html

If you google "How to make a Rain Barrel" there will have plenty of links for videos and step by step directions.
Good Luck!

Flying Flowers

2011-03-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a few pictures I took of a Monarch Butterfly on some orange Lantana and a black buumble bee on some purple Lantana. Enjoy!

Just wanted to say...

2011-02-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

Homemade Raspberry Marshmallows

2011-02-12T06:38:00.000-08:00

If you’ve never made a homemade marshmallow, you must give it a try. Homemade marshmallows are so soft; they practically melt in your mouth. Think of all the different flavors you can make; vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cinnamon, the possibilities are endless. The good news is they are not very hard to make. But I warn you, once you try homemade marshmallows; you will never want the store bought ones again.
I got this recipe from Martha Stewart. The only thing different from Martha's recipe is that I made my marshmallows with Raspberry Seedless Jam instead of Strawberry, only because that is what I had on hand.

■1/2 cup water
■2.5 cups sugar
■2/3 cup strawberry jam, preferably seedless
■2/3 cup light corn syrup
■dash salt
■2/3 cup water
■4 envelopes gelatin
■red food coloring
■icing sugar, for dusting
1.Add first 5 ingredients to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer.
2.Meanwhile add 2/3 cup water to mixing bowl and sprinkle all of gelatin over top to soften (at least 5 min.).
3.Once the boiling liquid has reached 238ºF on a thermometer. Remove from heat and pour over softened gelatin.
4.With the whisk attachment, beat on low for approximately 5 min. Gradually bring the speed up to high, beating on each speed for 5-8 min. until mixture has cooled and peaks form when beater is lifted (30-40 min. total).
5.In the last 10 min of beating prepare jelly roll pan (15×11 inch). Spray with cooking spray (or grease canola oil) and place a piece of parchment over top, pressing down to stick to the oil. Grease the top of the parchment.
6.Once done mixing add red food coloring bit by bit and mix in until the pink color you desire is achieved.
7.Pour marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan and smooth top. Let sit, uncovered, for 3 hours or overnight until dry.
8.Dust work surface with icing sugar and flip pan over to release the dried marshmallow. Peel off the parchment paper.
9.Grease a 1.5 inch heart shaped cutter with cooking spray or wipe down with oiled paper towel. Cut out to desired shape and toss into icing/powdered sugar to coat.

* these will last for up to one week in an airtight container at room temp.

* dip in chocolate for a little added fun.

* You can chop up the scraps and use them as “mini marshmallows”.

* Or maybe some Home made Moon Pies...yummy!

Chocolate Dipped Oreo's

2011-02-11T05:48:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for an easy Valentine's treat to make with the kids? Or maybe you just want to make a super cute treat to give to your friends. Chocolate dipped Oreo's are a yummy and simple treat that is sure to please everyone. One thing I love about making these is that they are so easy to make. Just dip the Oreo in chocolate and decorate. How easy is that?

All you need is-
Double Stuffed Oreo's
Skinny Craft sticks
Melting Chocolate or Almond Bark
Icing and sprinkles
Parchment or wax paper

Melt your chocolate according to the package directions. Dip the tip of the craft sticks in the melted chocolate and insert into the Oreo "stuffing". Let this dry before you coat the rest of the cookie in the chocolate. By letting it dry before dipping it helps "glue" the stick to the Oreo. Next dip the Oreos in chocolate, decorate and let dry on parchment paper. How easy is that!
*Tip* If melting chocolate is too thick, add a teaspoon of shortening and stir. Continue to add shortening until you reach desired thickness.

Halloween Goodies

2010-10-26T13:11:00.001-07:00

Halloween Costumes

2010-10-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

My family loves Halloween. We love the costumes, we love the candy and we love the weather.
Every year my sweet Hubby goes the extra mile and makes one of the kids a special costume. He usually starts building the costumes in late September, but this year nobody wanted a "special daddy Costume", that is until yesterday. My middle son decided he want a cooler costume than what he originally picked out. So hopefully my hubby will be able to pull it off it such a short amount of time.
Meanwhile, I thought I would share with you a few of our past Halloween creations. Enjoy!

Doctor said I am fine!!

2010-10-23T05:03:00.000-07:00

About a month ago something happened to me that scared me really bad, I thought I had a heart attack.
I didn't tell many people, mainly my family and a couple of friends. I didn't want everyone questioning me and worrying about me. Though the no worrying part didn't work out to well.

As you can imagine it was pretty scary for a while. It is not fun trying to live life as usual and yet in the back of my mind I am thinking about my own mortality and the repercussions it could bring to my family. Meanwhile the doctors tell you to not get stressed, take it easy, no caffeine and eat healthy. I think one of the hardest things for me was when I had my initial episode (the one where I thought I was having a heart attack)it was right before school started and one of boys was there and saw what happened and ran and got my husband, who thankfully was running late for work that day. So then my kids knew something was wrong with mommy. Of all my kids I think it was hardest on my oldest son who is 14. He wanted to know exactly what was wrong with me and every time I wold try to give him a simple answer he knew I wasn't telling him everything. He has since learned everything and understands that I really am OK.

I won't bore you with all the details but I have seen multiple specialists, had tons of test run, and even stayed the night at the hospital. The only consistent answer that I that have is that I have a premature heart beat. They don't know what caused my initial episode, and they don't know what caused my premature heart beat, but they said that I am fine now and not to worry about it any more.
So now I really can live life as it was. I plan on getting back into my exercise routine, maybe play some volleyball with some friends, work in my extremely neglected garden and enjoy my wonderful life with my family. I really do feel very blessed, even though it has turned out to be nothing to serious, this was a bit of an eye opener to me and I plan on living my life the best that I can.

Newest additions to the family

2010-10-13T04:32:00.000-07:00

I forgot to blog about the newest additions to our family.…4 girls…well chickens….. well actually chicks. I don’t know why but I have always wanted chickens. My husband I have talked about wanting to have chickens but that’s all it was…talk. So 2 days before the new school year started, Robbie’s Agriculture Class bunny was stolen and now I have an empty cage. So about a month ago,I asked the boys if they wanted to get some chickens and of course they said yes. So the boys and I took a little ride to a feed store and purchased 4 chicks. Two Barred Rocks (the black chicks) and two Buff Orpington (yellow chicks). We got them when they were just a few weeks old and they are just adorable. I never knew that chickens could be so sweet and so social. They all have their own personalities. You’ve heard the expression pecking order? Well it is true, and we are already starting to see it in our girls. Oh how rude of me, I forgot to tell you their names-Sandy, Haley, Chicken Little, and Chicken Butt. In case you couldn’t tell, my husband and my boys picked out their names. So I will try to keep you updated on our chicken adventure and maybe one day I will have some fresh eggs to share with you.

Chunky Apple Cake

2010-10-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

My mother recently saw a yummy picture of the Southern Living Chunky Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and asked me to make it for a recent get together. I was happy to make the cake since I am always looking for new things to try and bake. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of an apple cake. It didn't sound very appealing but, I would never turn down a request, especially since my mother was the one requesting it.
The good news is it turned out delicious. It reminded me ALOT of a carrot cake and I love carrot cake! The bad news is my mother didn't get any. I show up to her house with cake in hand and she says to me "I don't know what I was thinking asking you to bake that cake. I am on a diet and can't have any". WHAT?! So my mother tortured herself all night asking everyone how the cake was. But I am very proud of my mom for sticking to her diet. By the way, she has already lost 19lbs. Go Mom!!!!
I did promise her a would bake her another apple cake anytime she wants, as long as she is off her diet. Ha ha!

Southern Living Chunky Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced( I used Gala because it was what I had at home)
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)

Preparation
Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apple slices and 1 cup walnuts. Batter will be very thick. Spread into a greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Spread with Cream Cheese Frosting; sprinkle with walnuts, if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8oz) package of cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat the cream cheese and butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar until blended. Stir in vanilla.

Just Do It!

2010-09-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Remember the old Nike slogan “Just Do it”? I love that slogan!
We can apply it to our lives in so many ways. Sometimes it can be hard or scary to get started in whatever “IT” is, but if we would just decide that I can do this, learn this, try this, we could accomplish so much. We are capable of so many things if we would just put our minds to it. Whether it is learning how to frost a cake or running a marathon, we can do it!
I have also learned that there are many generous people out there that are willing to help you, teach you, cheer you on, and more if you would just ask.

So quit making excuses-
“I can’t.”
Yes, you can!

“I don’t have enough time.”
Yes you do! Turn off your TV, step away from the computer, make the time.

“I don’t know where to start.”
“I don’t know how.”
Start learning. Get your feet wet and you’ll learn along the way.

“Later.”
No, now!

So what are you waiting for.....
JUST DO IT!

Made me laugh...

2010-09-21T10:52:00.001-07:00

I was reading a article about the difference between cupcakes and muffins and this was someones response..

"when your wife was younger, you called her cupcake. When she got older with a double chin, you called her muffin. In short, muffins tend to overflow the cup shape, sort of like double chin."

Jello Cake

2010-09-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

My son and I went to his friends birthday party where they served Jello cake. I had never heard of Jello cake so I was excited to try something new. Well it was delicious! The cake had swirls of blue from the berry Jello in it which made the cake look that much cooler when you cut into it, not to mention the flavor it added. It was iced with Cool whip which gave the cake a lighter feel to it, perfect for these hot summer days in Florida!
Of course when I got home I had to google how to make Jello cake. The fun thing about Jello cake is you can add what ever flavor jello you like. For me, it was whatever flavor Jello I had in my pantry. I used strawberry and pineapple. They cake turned out yummy. The only change I would make would be to cook it in a flat pan. What I mean by that is, I cooked mine in a bunt pan to five it a different look. And while I did get the look I was going for, it was hard to pour the jello on it because it just want to fall down the sides. For me this is definitely a cake I will make again. My kids and I had a great time making it and I love the fact I can change flavors and add color each time.

JELLO CAKE

1 white cake mix
2 (3 oz.) boxes Jello gelatin (any flavor)
2 c. boiling water
1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed

Prepare cake mix as directed on package, baking in 2 (8") layer pans. Cool.
Meanwhile, with a fork, prick 1/2" into the cakes. Dissolve each flavor of gelatin separately in 1 cup of boiling water. Carefully pour over 1 cake layer, then the same to the other layer. Chill 3 to 4 hours. Top with Cool Whip and serve

Free Museum Day

2010-09-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

September 25, 2010 is free museum Day. There are lots of museums participating so click on the link , put your info in and check it out. I was surprised at all the museums in my area. Did you know that there is a Swimming Hall of Fame? I didn't.
Have fun and let me know where you went.
http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/

Couponing Websites

2010-09-06T05:13:00.000-07:00

After talking with some friends and family about all the money I am saving,everyone wants to know what websites I am using that help me find the deals and match the coupons.
There are tons of websites out there that can help you save money, and I am not saying the ones I use are the best, they just happen to be the websites that were shared with me.
My 2 favorites are-
Southernsavers.com
Thekrazycouponlady.com
I also go to
iheartpublix.com
iheartcvs.com
iheartwags.com

If you have any money saving webites you would like to share,send me a link, I would love to check it out. Or if you have any money saving tips please share them with me!

Coupons!!

2010-08-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I went over to a friends house to learn more about using coupons. I am always looking for ways to save money so I was excited to learn more about coupons.I have tried using coupons on and off over the years with minimal success but with her help I think I might be hooked. Couponing does take patience and time, but I think it is worth it.
I went to Publix (my local grocery store) with my shopping list in one hand and my coupons in the other.
My grocery bill would have been $137.14. BUT with coupons and store sales I spent....drum roll please.... $50.28. That's a total savings of $86.86. I know that not as good as some of the savvy, more experienced couponers out there, but I am pretty darn happy with myself. And by the I even brought a few things that were not on sale or didn't have a coupon for.
So thanks Brittany for sharing your knowledge and getting me motivated to give coupons another try!!
Anyone else out there using coupons?

Summer is over

2010-08-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

I am one of those crazy parents that is sad to see summer over. I am not ready for my kids to start school, but all good things must come to an end.
This summer we had the opportunity to head to Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. We try to get up there every year. We love the outdoors, especially the mountains! One of the great things about going to North Carolina is most of the things we like to do is free. We camp at the Davidson River campground( yes, I am one of those women that like to camp) I love to sit around the camp fire and chat and , I love the cool morning mountain air, it is so invigorating, unlike the hot muggy air I wake up to in Florida. We usually have a spot right on the river so my hubby and the boys can go fishing in the mornings and the evenings. During the day we usually hike to some waterfalls. We always have a few favorites that we see every year but this year we decided to explore some new ones, and I am glad we did, they were gorgeous!

Hamburger Cake

2010-08-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

I made this for fathers day. My youngest son Luke helped me. He felt like a big boy and I must say he was a great little helper!
The bun is cake covered in icing. The "meat" is a brownie that was baked in a cake pan and all the "toppings" were made with fondant, including the "sesame seeds".

It has been a while

2010-05-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life has been crazy I've got lost of excuses. Wanna hear them? I am old, tired and lazy! Just kidding!
I am now a proud grandma of a beautiful little girl. It has been a little crazy because she decided to come really early. She was born at 25 weeks on March 5th and was only 1lb 8oz. The good news is she is strong little girl and will be home really soon.
What other excuses do I have.... I have been on a few trips, my sweet hubby got my a really nice camera, lovin' it! Hopefully I will be taking pictures like a pro really soon. I am sure I could come up with a few more excuses, but that will have to do for now.
Anyway I still have been baking but I haven't been to good about taking pictures. I do have a few that I will share with you.

Homemade Marshmallows

2010-02-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

I have never made nor tried homemade marshmallows. I heard they were delicious, but hard to make so I never gave it a try. Well today I was surfing the net and I came across a blog that said they were easy, so I figure I should give it a try. This recipe came from- foodiewithfamily.com

Well I can tell you they were easy and I am glad I made them and so are my kids!
I can't wait to try them again with different extracts. I think next time I might try orange extract, or maybe peppermint; doesn't that sound yummy?
I bet these marshmallows would be fantastic in Hot Chocolate!!! I will let you know!

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:

•.75-oz unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox gelatin)
•1/2 cup cold water
•2 cups granulated sugar
•2/3 cups light corn syrup
•1/4 cup water
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or other flavor extract)

•Confectioners’ sugar
Line 9 x 9-inch or 8 x 8-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it using your fingers or non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil. As soon as it is boiling, set the timer and allow to boil hard for 1 minute.

Carefully pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, starting on low and moving up to high speed. Add the salt and beat for between 10 and 12 minutes, or until fluffy and mostly cooled to almost room temperature. After it reaches that stage, add in the extract and beat to incorporate.

Grease your hands and a rubber or silicone scraper with neutral oil and transfer marshmallow into the prepared pan. Use your greased hands to press the marshmallow into the pan evenly. Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal. Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set.

Sprinkle a cutting surface very generously with confectioner’s sugar.

Remove marshmallow from pan and lay on top of the sugar.

Dust the top generously with sugar as well.

Use a large, sharp knife to cut into squares.

Separate pieces and toss to coat all surfaces with the sugar.
Store in an airtight container.

S'more Cupcakes

2010-01-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

My family and I recently went camping and of course we had to have s'mores. (Yes, I am one those crazy women that loves to camp.) So I thought why not make s'more cupcakes. They look yummy and it was a great excuse to try the little butane blow torch (so cool).

I am all about easy, so I mixed together a chocolate box cake and poured it onto a graham cracker base in the bottom of the cupcake wrapper. I then sprinkled the top of the batter with more graham crackers and a few chocolate chips(you can't have too much chocolate). I then baked them according to the box mix. While they are cooling I made a marshmallow frosting.

So here are the pros and cons- I thought the icing was OK, but I don't think I made it right because it was only suppose to take 7 minutes to make but it took me over 20. It also taste more like meringue than marshmallow. Maybe next time I will top them with homemade marshmallows or maybe put some marshmallows in the batter. I also was not a big fan of the graham crackers at the bottom of the cupcake. I did this because I have read about other smore cupcakes lacking in the graham cracker flavor. Maybe next time I will just put more graham crackers on top of the batter.
Having said all that, they still tasted yummy and I loved getting to used the mini blow torch. Now what else can I make with the blow torch??????

Graham Cracker Base
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp melted butter

Marshmallow Frosting
2 cups white sugar
3 egg whites
2 tbsp light corn syrup
3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Combine all in a stainless steel bowl and set on top of a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly (electric beaters would've been great here, but old fashioned elbow grease will do just fine!) until mixture is glossy and holds a stiff peak when whisk is lifted.

Cupcakes and Candy

2010-01-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked to make the refreshments for a church youth activity. And as you can see I went for color! The colors actually represented something.
White- Faith
Yellow- Good Works
Orange- Choice and Accountability
Green- Knowledge
Red- Individual Worth
Blue- Divine Nature
Gold- Virtue
Purple- Integrity
I was able to find candy in all my colors. But I wasn't able to make Gold cupcakes, but it still turned out very cute.
By the way, I made 3 kinds of cupcakes; Chocolate, Vanilla and Red Velvet. They were all frosted with Butter Creme frosting.

Brrrrrr, Baby it's cold outside!

2010-01-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

Here in the Tampa Bay area, we are setting new records for all time low temperatures for the month of January. The temperatures are currently in the 20's and my yard is looking pathetic! Yes, I know, I know, temperatures in the twenties are nothing for some of you, but for a 5th generation Floridian, it is like being in the Arctic! Not to mention many of my plants don't know what hit them.
I am really not very fond of this time of year because most of my plants have been burned or killed by the cold temperatures. Just a few months ago when I looked out at my yard it was lush and green and now it looks like a neglected waste land. Sadly enough we still have a few more months of this cold weather. I hope we don't have to many more of these drastic drops in temperature, I don't know how much more my plants can take and frost blankets only go so far.
As horrible as my yard looks now I know that everything is not as bad as it seems. Many of my plants will just lose their leaves, while others will die back to the ground and return in the spring, and the rest will probably die and go to plant heaven. So for now all I can do is wait for spring and hope that my plants are tough enough to endure this crazy weather.

By the way the pictures above are before and after pictures of the same areas. Soooo sad!

Lions Tial - Leonotis leonurus

2009-12-28T07:06:00.000-08:00

Well the holidays are just about over and make baking has come to a temporary stop, so I thought I would share a plant that is currently blooming in my garden, Leonotis leonurus aka Lion's Tail. You can see from the picture why it is called Lion's tail. The orange flowers clustered together like the end of a lions tail. It can bloom sporadically through out the year but it's best display is in the fall when the day start getting shorter.
I like this plant for its unique appearance and because the tubular flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds, which I love. Lion's tail is a pretty tough plant surviving much of Florida's temperamental weather. If you have a hard frost it can kill it to the ground, but don't worry, it will rebound bigger and better in the spring. Lion's tail can grow 4ft-6ft and grows well in full sun.

Platter of Goodies

2009-12-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

I wanted to share one more picture with you that shows some more of the goodies I made this year.

Reindeer Cake balls

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Mini Eggnog Cheese Cake

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

"Turtle" Pretzels

Chocolate Peppermints Circles

and of course more Meringue Snowmen

Christmas Mice

2009-12-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

My kids and I have been making Christmas Mice for a couple of years now. Everyone loves getting them because they are so different from all the other Christmas goodies you would normally get.

As some of you already know, my hubby is a cop and every Christmas I send in lots of goodies from them to eat. I love hearing about all these tough cops and how they "love the little mouse". Most of them wont eat the mice because they want to take them home to their kids. Don't let those cops fool ya! Most of them are just big softies like the rest of us. (Just don't speed...ha, ha.)

They are very easy to make, but they can be a bit messy because of the chocolate.

As you can see the mice are resting on half of a sandwich cookie such as an Oreo. The face is a Hershey's kiss, the body is a Maraschino Cherry with a stem dipped in chocolate and the ears are slivered almonds.