My Little Container Garden

Growing up, my mom planted a garden.
Dad or Grandpa would come disk it or field cultivate it with the tractor and then we'd plant it.
Sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, and green beans were a given.  Always.
I hated planting it, but what I hated even more was pulling weeds.  AH!
I always said that I would NOT be having a garden when I grow up.

Ya know what I think?
I think that all the things you say you're not going to do as a child, you end up doing and ENJOYING it!
I said I would not cook.  I would not plant a garden. And I would not have boring walls in my house.
Well...all three things have happened.  And yes, I like them.

When I moved into my own place, I wanted to spruce the place up, so I got a pot and some flowers.
Then when we moved to St. Louis, my mom helped me pick out flowers to plant at our apartment.  
I wanted to try container gardening, but we didn't have enough sunlight or space.
So I waited until we had a house.
Now I think I bug my husband with all my ideas of things I want to dig up and plant. :)

I went home in April for Easter and my mom took me over to the greenhouse in the country that we always go to.  
Ever since I was introduced to Betty Rocker, I started cooking with fresh herbs.
I decided that I wanted to grow some herbs in my container garden, so I picked some up at the greenhouse, along with tomatoes and peppers.

I went to Menard's one evening after work and picked up some pots, soil, and a few flowers.

We have this rock in the front of our house that is maroon...and matches our shutters.  
I actually want to get rid of it and replace it with mulch, but I assume that project will happen next year.
Anyway, I stole some of the rock and put it in the bottom of my pots.  I just wanted to make sure it would drain well.  It's not necessarily needed, but what the heck...

Then I added the soil to the pots.

Here it is after I got all the plants planted!

And here it is today:

I've got 4 Roma tomato plants, 4 plants of red peppers, and 4 plants of yellow peppers, a pot with sage and thyme, a pot with 4 basil plants, a hanging pot of 4 cilantro plants, and two pots of flowers and a boot (soon to be 2 boots) of strawberry plants.

I am very excited to hopefully make tomato sauce and salsa this year, as well as use the herbs to cook with! :)
Oh and I just got the tomato cages today...I color coordinated them with my pots.  I'm cool like that! haha!
I'm pretty proud of this cute little container garden.  I can't wait to reap the harvest!

Do you have a garden?  What have you planted in it?

Home Update: Craft Room

It's been a while since I've done a home update.

I'm still trying to piece together our home, but it's coming along slowly.
It's expensive to furnish a home, so I've got to find deals when I can.

I automatically knew that I wanted a pink craft room.
It's my favorite color.
But before we moved into our house, I got a teal Ikea cart.
My inspiration then came to mind.

Without further ado...welcome to my craft room!

Chalkboard made by me for my bff's bridal shower.

I asked for shelving and a table for Christmas and it went right in here!

Bow Garland made by me.  Hoop made by Canfieldhouse.

I have hopes to one day paint the bookshelf that I acquired at my very first estate sale.  
I kept the color splotch off of the Ikea box to hopefully match the color. :)
Anyhow,  Sally the Singer lives here as well as Charlee the Cricut.

You are Beautiful blocks from Bubblewrappd.

My mom made me my block name.  I forgot I had it until just recently!

Bible Verse Print from Katy Girl Designs.  Love canvas from Pen and Paint.  I painted the butterfly at Firehouse Pottery.

I absolutely love the chair that I found!  
Target, people!
Isn't it adorable?!?

Well, that's just about it!  
I hope to get to sit down and sew again one day.
It seems that we've just been completely busy.
I have hope to make myself a quilt, so I will see what I can do about that! ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine's Day Mantel

I think the vision for my "after Christmas" mantel is complete.

All it needed was our new canvas.

And check out that name sign...

it's upcycled from a cabinet door!

{Thanks Mom and Dad for the awesome Christmas gift!}

Also, I have my grandma's {my mom's mom...I never knew her, but I have a sewing machine named after her} blue pitcher that I wanted to showcase, and it tied in with the sign nicely.

You can purchase the "LOVE" banner here.

And yes, that is our unity candle from our wedding.

Maybe this is a "Valentine's Day Mantel?"

Crockpot Pumpkin Bread

Happy Friday, friends!
This week has flown by for me.
Has it for you??
I must admit...this week has been the best week since starting my job in June.
We hired a new HR guy and he's livened up our office a bit.
I am excited about having him in the office and working with him.

Today, I'm feeling festive.
I LOVE fall.
It's my absolute favorite season.
I love the changing of the leaves.
I love the fall colors.
I love the cooler weather.
I love harvest time.
I just love it all.

I also love fall foods...pumpkin!

So I thought I'd share a recipe with you that goes along with the season.

So here's a crockpot {what?!?} pumpkin bread recipe for ya.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 can pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

• Blend the oil and both of the sugars in a big bowl. 

• Stir in the beaten eggs and canned pumpkin.

• Add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

• Pour the batter into a greased or oiled bread pan.

• Pour 2 cups of water into your crockpot.  Place the pan in the crockpot.
  {This is where it gets funny...}

My pan didn't quite fit...it wouldn't hang from the edges either.

So, I poured it into a different bread pan that was long enough to hang on the edges. 

• Cover the crockpot with 8-10 paper towels {this helps trap the condensation that will occur during the baking process and will keep the bread from becoming soggy}.
• Place the lid on top of the crockpot and bake on high for 2 1/2 - 3 hours {I have a stay or go crockpot, so I snapped the latches on to help keep everything in the crock}.

Here's how it turned out!! Hope it's yummy! :]

I have lots of new recipes to try in the coming future!
I go through phases where I find tons of new recipes and experiment. :]

Happy cooking, friends!
Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Fun

We had a good weekend.

It's been cool lately, and I'm not complaining.

I love being able to shut off the A/C and open the windows.

The best part is waking up in the morning and all you want to do is stay in the covers because it's sooo chilly.

Saturday started off right.

We slept until 8:30 or so {which was marvelous}.

I got to drink some hot chocolate out of my new mug.

I also did a little meal planning for the new week.

I think the most I did all day {besides getting my oil changed and buying groceries} was baking my awesome husband his favorite kind of cookies...

...snickerdoodles!

I was okay with that.  

We had a busy week, so all we felt like doing was lounging around the house.

Around 3:30, Tyler asked me what the plan was for the rest of the day.

We didn't have one.

So we found out that "The Great Forest Park Balloon Race" was going on, so we decided to head that way to watch.

We couldn't find a stinking parking spot in the whole entire park! 

It seemed like a million people were there!

We ended up driving around the park {which is beautiful}.

Then we headed to the Galleria to walk around the mall for a bit.

On our way there, we could see the balloons coming our direction.

I'm not really sure what the object of it is.

I know that the Energizer Bunny hot air balloon launches first.

The the other balloons launch and whoever throws a birdseed baggie closest to the bunny wins.

Of course, we didn't stay that long.

However, when we got to the mall, we could see them coming our direction.

It was so cool.

I've always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon...

I better put that on my bucket list.

Sunday is "Football Sunday," in our house.

That means that I get to do whatever I want to and not feel guilty. 

Last week I crafted and got my shop ready to reopen.

This week, I decided that I had probably better do some cleaning.

Thinking back to Proverbs 31, that woman was not lazy. 

So that made me get my rear in gear to get the laundry started and the bathroom cleaned.
I also cooked a pretty darn good meal {if I do say so myself}.

I don't want to be "lazy."  

I want to be someone who works as if I'm working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23).

I hope to keep working toward that goal.

What are you working toward this week?

Honey-White Bread

It's Friday!
I might shock y'all, but I have a recipe for you!! 

Last Friday night, my husband and I baked bread together.
I love to use my Kitchen Aid and will jump at the chance to use it.
My awesome brothers gave it to us for a wedding gift.
I love it.

My brother, Brian, gave me this cookbook for Christmas, the year before I got married.

I love it, too.
Moral of the story:  my brothers give GREAT gifts.

Ok, so back to this baking thing.
We made Honey-Whole Wheat White Bread (from the above cookbook).
That's right...honey sounded good to Tyler, but he's not that big of a fan of whole wheat.
No problem, we can substitute.

So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour (we used all-purpose)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup shortening (we used butter)
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 packages regular or quick active dry yeast (we used quick rise)
• 2 1/4 cups very warm water
• 3-4 cups all-purpose or bread flour (we used all-purpose)

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat whole wheat flour, honey, shortening, salt and yeast with electric mixer on low speed until well mixed.  (My helper is very handsome.)

Add warm water.  

Beat with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, scraping the bowl frequently.  Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, still scraping the bowl pretty frequently.  

Stir in enough all purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.

**I put my dough hook on my mixer.  I put enough flour in the bowl that all the dough was on the hook...nothing left in the bottom of the bowl.**

Isn't he so cute?  He did a great job, too!

Place dough on a lightly floured surface.  Knead for about 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy.  Grease a large bowl with shortening (or if you're rednecks like us, just spray some non-stick spray in it).  Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to grease all sides.  Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 40-60 minutes or until bread has doubled in size.

**We have a big tv.  It puts out a lot of heat.  My husband's idea of a warm place was behind the tv.  It worked! **

Grease bottoms and sides of two 8"x4" or 9"x5" loaf pans with shortening or spray with cooking spray.

Gently push fist into dough to deflate (or if you didn't read the "gently" part, punch it..it's a lot more fun anyway).  Divide dough in half.  Flatten each half with hands or rolling pin in a rectangle on a lightly floured surface.  

**Pretend that is a rectangle.**

Roll dough up tightly.  Press with thumbs to seal after each turn.  Pinch the edge of the dough into roll to seal.  Fold ends under loaf.

Place seam side down in pan.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 35-50 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.

Move oven rack to low position so that the tops of the pans will be in the center of the oven.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake 40-50 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.  Remove from pans to wire rack (I didn't do this...I let cool in the pans).  Brush loaves with butter.  Cool.

And enjoy!

Happy cooking, friends!

And have a blessed weekend!!