My Low Carb Book

Spring Graden

 I thought I would let you in on my secret. My goal this year is to be one step ahead of my husbands questions with the garden. Throughout our marriage he has definitely been the back bone of the garden. I'm out there helping for sure, but it never has been my first priority. He has expressed on many occasions that he would love to see me excel at gardening as my mother, and his mother did before me. 

So I am going to give it a whirl. I hope that as the year goes on I can post happy pictures of a flourishing garden.  This is what I have started so far.  Broccoli and Alyssums have sprouted first and tomorrow I plant tomatoes, cauliflower, and bell peppers. 

Last Years Garden

It looks so pretty when the plants are all young. Last year was our first season in our home, and with that came not knowing where the sun really will shine. Also the bugs took their toll, on our tomatoes, I think out of 10 plants we ate 6 -8 tomatoes. Those big, green, tomato horn worms are nasty. We pulled them off by the dozens. This year it will be better. I will fight a stronger fight. We did get a great crop of watermelon. We planted to plants and got 8 large watermelon. I had never seen them grow so well.

The Joy of Pinterest

   

    Over the holidays I heard from many a sister in law that I needed to get acquainted with pinterest. I know about Pinterest from my sister's wedding planning, she used it all the time and was able to send and save pictures she liked. So now that the holidays are over and I'm back to normal schedule I've found the time to get on and look at what is available on Pinterest.

I have looked only a little and I am amazed. So far I've looked up ideas for:

Family Home Evening Charts,

                                                                  ~ simple as that~



Family Tree Pictures,

                                                             ~Legacy Family Trees~


Scripture covers,

                                                              ~By Small Means~





Scripture Tote,

                                                                 ~I Still Love You~

I'm so excited to have this new resorce. How did I get along without it? 

Thank you, Thank you to those sisters who have gotten me hooked!

Christmas Cookies

I have never made an assortment of holiday goodies; most of the time I make a batch of Carmel Corn to give friends and neighbors. This year I thought I would be different and make cookies. I must say that my vice is cookies; cakes and candy I can pass up, but cookies make me want to change my eating habits. So all in all I gave into my craving and found some delicious looking cookies.  I have found a wonderful website called Your Homebased Mom I have really liked the things she cooks. I found other recipes that have turned out really good and the recipes are explained very easily. So on her website I picked

Peppermint Melting Moments

photo from yourhomebasedmom

I have eaten about one a day, and that is way to many for me, but they are so good!

I also thought I would  find one made with chocolate. Always good idea to add chocolate to round out any goodie plate. So I found these fabulous looking homemade Oreos.

Smitten Kitchen

photo from smitten kitchen

They were super easy to make. I found it would be the best to stick the batter in a pastry bag and pump out small blots. The middle frosting is really good to. 

Now we need to find time to deliver these plate of cookies before we eat them all.

Hamburger

  Over the weekend my husband and I found hamburger on sale in a 10 lb package, and we decided to get 5 packages. Yes, that is a lot of hamburger. I can eat hamburger, thats one thing that dose not have much carb, so when we find it at a good price I could say we gobble it up. Ha ha ha.

So today while doing the laundry, caring for a sick child and putting up Christmas decorations I am bottling hamburger. Crazy, well maybe.

  When bottling I always refer to my "Ball Blue Book", it is hard for me to remember how long to process in canner and all the particulars of each type of food you plan on preserving. It is a great book to have on hand, I really recommend it. I purchased mine at Ace years ago.

Ball Book

This meat was 80/ 20 so I cooked out some of the fat in a pot of water before packing meat into prepared jars.

This is my youngest son Ethan. He love to be a big help.

For hamburger in pint jars, I processed for an hour and fifteen minutes with ten pounds of pressure.

Once the canner cooled  I removed the jars and let them cool the rest of the way. 

     I listened to the sound of each lid pop affirming that the lid made a good seal.

Ta-da not to bad. 

Now I can store the hamburger on the shelf and not use up all the freezer space.

Black Friday Weekend

What madness drives me to participate in Black Friday!  I ask myself that question every year as I'm fighting the crowds.  I was out at three am shopping the deals! I never was able to drag my husband into a fabric store, (but that was mostly because we ran out of time and energy). 
I hope some of you found some amazing deals on fabric and craft items. I think as the Holiday season approaches I have an itching to create more! 


I received some Christmas fabric from my mom a few days ago, and projects keep floating through my mind!  I've been looking online, and found theses websites that inspire me to create more!  Take a look.  

Advent Calendar

"I Heart Nap Time" always has so many ideas with a huge selection of crafts, from paper to food.

If you find something that inspires you let me know, I would love to know what you find.

Find a project and create to day!

Moda Bake Shop

    I just checked this book out from our Public Library, I love the freshness in the style of these projects. I love the "April in Paris Quilt" by Lissa Alexander. Not just because it's my name sake, but also for the great use of scraps.  I also really like the "Pack 'N' Go Tote" by Kimberly Walus. I think I could adapt this pattern to fit jut about any size book case I wanted. I've been looking for a new scripture cover to hold all the manuals also.

I love this book!

I've love things that inspire me. I like how we have the chance to take those heritage quilt patterns and adapt them to our day style. If you have other great finds on books or magazines let me know. Check this one out, at your local Library!