More Spring Decorating

These are a couple of ideas that you might incorporate with things that you have. I took some old little vases, a couple of them were my mom's and one I picked up at a garage sale. I made a little grouping of them and put different spring flowers in them. The other idea I really like. These are flowers on our dining room table. I didn't want a flower arrangement on my table because my buffet sits behind the table and I already have the horn of plenty arrangement sitting on the buffet. I knew that would be too much to have another arrangement on the table. These are some flowers I picked up at a garage sale and tied a pretty taffeta ribbon around them and laid them on the table. If you go to shop that carries home interiors, they usually have really nice silk flowers. They are more expensive than Hobby Lobby but they are worth the price because the look is great. Depending on the size of the bloom 4 or 5 stems is all you would need. I like the way this looks.....it's different.

Have fun getting your home spruced up for SPRING!

Weight Watchers Pumpkin Muffiins

I was thinking about these muffins the other day and remembering that they were good and low in calories. So I actually found the recipe and tried them. They are not really sweet but very moist and satisfying. I wish I had the data for calories, fat etc. but I didn't have it on my recipe card.

2 cups pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups dry milk
3/4 cup flour
6-8 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons soda
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup water

Mix altogether and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Fast, Easy and Delicious

For those busy evenings, when you don't have a lot of time to prepare a meal this is something that is very tasty and quick, for me anyway. My family likes anything Mexican, so when my kids were home and I was busy this was an easy standby. I made these bean and rice tacos in less than 30 minutes. I used a can of refried beans and Knorr Fiesta Sides Spanish Rice. Knorr also carries Taco Rice but I like the Spanish the best. The rice cooks in about 12 minutes and it comes out perfect every time just follow the directions.

Just put several tablespoons of re fried beans in a taco shell, then a couple of tablespoons of rice, then cover that with some cheddar cheese. At this point, I put the tacos in the oven and melt the cheese and it also heats the taco shell. When the shell is golden and the cheese is melted remove from oven. Fill with chopped onion, lettuce, tomatoes and I like sliced avocados and top with salsa. On these nights when I'm pressed for time, I stop and pick up salsa at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants rather than trying to make salsa. You can also add a dollop of sour cream if you wish. These are really good and this can also serve as one of your meatless dinner nights.

I cook brown beans at least once a month. I always have leftover beans. When my children were still home they knew when we had brown beans that one night that week we would also be having bean burritos. These are great also. I would heat up whole wheat tortillas when some cheddar cheese on them then add the Spanish rice, a little onion, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, a little fresh chopped jalapeno, and sliced avocado or guacamole. Roll them up and they are wonderful. Instead of re fried beans, when you have leftover beans just rinse them off and use them in the taco shell. They are really good too.

I really never get tired of these. It makes my mouth water thinking of them and we just ate them last night.

Good Fish Sandwich

If you are tired of eating a baked, broiled or grilled piece of fish this is a good alternative and it is semi healthy. The mayo sauce is, of course, a little fattening. :) I buy wild flounder fillets at Sam's that are individually packaged. They are boneless, skinned and cut very thin. I also buy an artisan whole wheat sandwich bun from Wal-Mart that is really good. Here's how I put it together.

Wash fish and pat dry. Salt and pepper to taste and place in a greased pan and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cut sandwich bun in half and place under broiler until golden brown and crunchy. Remove from oven when golden brown and place on plate to cool.

Mayo Sauce - 1 cup mayo, 2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, 2 minced garlic cloves, 6 or 7 shots of hot sauce. We like things spicy so that may be too much hot sauce for you so adjust to your taste. Stir well and this would be best to make a couple of hours ahead of using it so the flavors have a chance to mix well.

Spread mayo over both sides of bun. Lay baked flounder fillets on bun top with a slice of sweet onion and crisp Romaine lettuce. This is simple but very tasty. It is important to toast the bun and let it cool. It adds to the crunch of the sandwich.

I made a spinach salad to go with our sandwiches but I think tomato basil soup would be very good with it also with these rainy days we are having.

Garden Update

I'm a little behind in reporting my soil sample for the blueberries. The blueberries do best in acidic soil between 4.5 - 5.1. Sandy loam soils are best they need excellent drainage. It is best to add peat moss to each hole. You can also add phosphorus and potassium and mixed with the soil and peat moss. If you need nitrogen in your soil ammonium sulfate or urea is preferred. Cottonseed meal is acceptable and a slow release nitrogen source is best.

My soil sample was 4.9 acidity in the soil. The phosphorus and potassium are high but the nitrogen is low. I bought my blueberries over the weekend and still haven't got them in the ground, due to the rain and I need to get the nitrogen in the soil. I bought 3 different varities that will bloom near the same time. I have had soom negative feed back on raising blueberries in Oklahoma but I'm giving it my best shot.
Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

We got chicken wire wrapped around the metal frames and I planted sugar snap peas about 2 weeks ago. They are coming up on both sides on the metal frames. The chicken wire will make it easy for the plants to grab and climb. I also planted some basil in one of my concrete containers. I was at our local hardware store last weekend and they had a good variety of heirloom tomatoes that I couldn't pass up. If you wait to long, heirlooms get picked over pretty quickly. Not only that, I found my favorite cherry tomato (Sun Gold). This cherry tomato is exceptionally sweet tomatoie goodness. You can't get enough of them. They start yielding early and go right through the season. I promise, you won't be disappointed, they are wonderful! I never plant tomatoes this early but we have had such a warm winter and the spring is already pretty warm I felt like it was safe to go a head and plant my tomatoes. I haven't got all the tomatoes I want yet but a good part of them.

I hope to get the blueberries planted in the next couple of days and the guttering up for my lettuce and spinach.

A Few Ideas for Spring Decorating

When I was packing away my winter decorations and getting out my spring things, I was looking at my horn of plenty (or cornucopia)and decided not to pack it up but use it for spring. The cornucopia is a symbol of abundance and nourishment so why not decorate it with spring things. I'm very happy with my creation. This might give you some ideas in using some other fall or winter decorations in other ways. The other photos are just little touches. I always enjoy decorating with lemons, cherries, strawberries, and limes. They look so festive this time of the year and the colors are some of my favorites. To me they are happy colors.

Have a wonderful weekend.....spring has sprung!!! Our weeds look like they have been given an overdose of MiracleGrow....:)

Oreo Cookies

I went to do some grocery shopping today and stopped by Sams to pick up a few things. It was the day they hand out samples. This is not good for me because I am always hungry it seems when I'm doing my shopping. But I did pick up the best oranges. They are called Cara Cara. The pulp is almost red and they are very sweet. But what got me was the chocolate covered Oreo's made into little lollie pops.

The past week had been terrible for me. My husband brought in a sack of Oreo's and I totally lost it. In one night, I almost ate the whole bag. I even woke up at 2:00 a.m. got up and finished off the bag and drank 2 glasses of milk and I never never drink milk. I haven't been out of control like that in 2 years. So when I saw the chocolate covered Oreo cookies I walked on by. Did some shopping and on my way back to check out I passed the Oreo stand again and thought, oh well one won't hurt. It was so good I couldn't believe it. I thought this would make a wonderful little dessert for kids and it looks like a lollie pop. I said they are great for kids but adults would love them too. You could leave off the toothpick.

You take 1 cup of chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of Crisco and melt it in a double boiler and then dip the cookies in the chocolate and you can sprinkle sprinkles over the top of the cookies. Let them dry on wax paper. And you can stick a toothpick in them to make them look like lollie pops. They are really good and I told the lady handing out the samples I would never be able to do her job because I would eat the samples as fast as I could make them. :)