WOW it's been a MONTH???

Our peaceful Patio!!


WOW I can't believe it's been a month since I posted on here. Sorry guys!! For those of you who follow me on facebook, you know what we've been up too LOL. I'll have to remember to do both.



So what's been going on around here????



We are finally getting spring weather here, of course that includes rain, but it's warm!! We've gotten out a little bit to clean up the yard, the patio is cleaned off and looks so peaceful... We swept, moved leaves and got our compost pile set up. We have been dumping our food waste in it everyday and mixing our weeds and pots from last year in it as well. We decided to go a less obvious route, hubby didn't like the idea of a tote or anything in his yard, SO... I took advantage of some 4x4's up agains the shed and boxed in a little area. It's not covered, but it's quite long and works well.. We have a long handled claw to mix it all in each day. An added chore but WOW I can't believe how much food waste goes into it each day!!

Our greenhouse is still empty, we are debating what to do this year. With plans to be gone with hubby's job we just aren't sure what to do with a garden. I'd LOVE to have one, really , but with no one here to make sure it is always watered and than picked... Last year most of it went to waste since it didn't always get watered.. Sigh so i'm just not sure what to do yet.

We have been beginning to get prepared for our summer camping as well. I hear JoAnns has their summer stuff on sale, and dishes, so I am hoping to find some nice plastic plates for the camper this year. We will see..



Hmm what else is news!!!! Well we need to mow our lawn, not real news, except that our lawn mower is broken AHH we are going to have a jungle here soon. No one ever stops to offer to mow it for us lol, I think because we used to have the lawn care company and chased them all away...hehe.. No they can stop and don't. Maybe we will get that fixed this weekend??? We've had a new baby in the extended family (no NOT ME!!), we've had a retirement party, a few birthdays, baby shower, a mishap on an ATV, LOTS of excitement!!



And lastly I guess I HAVE to tell you a new recipe, well it's not NEW, but it sure is yummy and it's the first time I made it..


HONEY BUTTER, have you ever had it?? I'm not talking about the kind you get at the restaurants I'm talking about REAL homemade honey butter. IT is THE best....


Here's how I made it

2 parts real butter, 1 part honey. (you can get real butter on sale often, this weeks it's $1.50 at our local grocery store, and it's better for you!!)


Set the butter in a dish, one that you will keep it in is good... and let it soften, DO NOT MELT IT. Once it's soft add the honey and mix it good. I used my electric hand mixer. Than put it in the fridge and use it on all kinds of stuff, PANCAKES ohhh that's good, even better than syrup I think.. If you melt the butter, the honey will separate and sink to the bottom even if you whip it together, and you will find yourself mixing it again anyhow (yea, i tried it that way too LOL)..



Ok, well I'm off to do my weekly shopping, yes with all 4 kids today. Sometimes it works out to leave them with my nieces and sometimes not!!

Oh I almost forgot.... MY newest addition to the tons of other things I do!!! My sewing website. I finally have it done. I've had it in the process for about a year but finally am ready to spread the word.. Please share it with others, and tell me what you think...

http://jensews.tripod.com/

OK, we are off to get some groceries!! Wish me luck with 4 kids!!

JenD

Busy, busy

Warm weather is finally here, or closer anyhow. I know I don't post much, but the warm weather makes me feel more ALIVE!! Lol...

Today I have a large order of alterations to get done. I got it started yesterday. I'm hemming pants, jacket sleeves and taking some sides in as well. I LOVE doing alterations. I love sewing, but I really think my passion is the altering. I know I'm a little crazy. As my mom pointed out last night, I just get busy and don't finish sewing projects, hehe, she was the same way when we were small. It's sad really, I have some really adorable outfits I made for Amberlin and Marky (matching) and now, the dress will fit Abigail this fall... YIKES all it needs is a hem and buttons. I now have it hanging in front of me in stead of packed in a box, so I'll remember it's there. I promise to post pictures.

I'm also looking forward to moving Abigail upstairs to Amberlins room. I'm not sure how soon that will happen, but when it does...... I will have a room just for sewing and office, NOT baby too. It's kinda hard to sew when she's sleeping and harder to sew when she's awake lol. I have great plans for that room. She's still not quite ready to go upstairs yet tho. We do have our school in there as well, but we do our school at the table, and store out books in a tote in the DR. Our shelves of books and such are in the office/sewing/baby room lol..

So it's time to get the kids going at their school and I've got sewing to do.

I'm also compiling a list of some great links I've found regarding composting and simple gardens. I'm really excited about it, I can't wait to get some flowers and vegis in the yard. I have to keep in mind that I have 4 kids, I'm busy and I'm not always here in the summer, so...... if you have ideas, I'd love to hear them and I just may add them to my list on here....

Till later..

Oh goodness...

It doesn't matter how busy you get, life keeps going. Did you ever notice that??? Last week was a busy week, at least for me. My baby was sick most of the week. She ran a fever for a few days, sore throat, congested, just not happy. A few of the others were not feeling 100% either. So since they didn't feel well, or sleep well, Mom didn't sleep well... It was a Loooonnnngg week. It was a happy one to tho, we now have a new nephew and he's adorable...

It's also time to start thinking about planting too. I was just talking to my SIL about a garden and we are planning on doing it together. I'm excited, it will be fun. Last year we tried with the green house, but ended up being gone most of the summer, so they went un watered. This year, we plan on being gone off and on as well, BUT she found a great article on how to plant a garden with mulch and CARDBOARD and not have to water it. YUP we're trying it. We figure it's worth a try. It will be fresh vegis if it works, that will save us $$ and of course it's better for us....

You can see a video from the article at
http://pearloutdoors.com/ Click on "organic gardening video" at the top.

You can read the article from the magazine here..

I'll keep you posted on our plans as soon as we get them figured out lol.

Be sure to check out my tips on practical ways to live a little greener... I post a new tip every Tuesday. There is also a link on the this blog now as well. Come check it out!!

Jen

Earth Hour 2009

Have you heard?? Turn off your lights for 60 mintues tonight, starting at 8:30pm. WHY?? Well to help bring awareness to global warming and energy concervation.

Find out more at

http://www.earthhour.org/home/

Let us know if you are going to participate..

JenD

Earth Hour 2009

Have you heard about this?? It's been all over the news.. Tonight at 8:30 pm, turn your lights off for 60 minutes and help bring awareness to global warming and energy concervation.

Find out more here and let us know if you are going to participate.

JenD

Home made French toast sticks..

I tried something new. Since I had some overly browned home made bread last week, I made them into french toast sticks. They are super easy to make and freeze for later breakfast.

We have french toast for breakfast, so I made some extra dipping mix. Milk, eggs, salt, pepper and some cinnamon is all I use. I took the loaf and sliced it into 1" thick slices. Than I cut each piece (several at a time) into 3 sticks each. I coated them and instead of frying them, I put them on a buttered cookie sheet and baked them. YES I baked them at 400 degrees for oh about 10 minutes I think. I turned them once to brown both sides nicely. When they were nice and toasty I pulled them out, let them cool and threw them into a bag and into the freezer. When we were ready to use them the next day, I spread them on a pan and warmed them in an oven. The kids loved the finger food. A little syrup or fruit in a cup was all they needed.

The BEST fried chicken! EVER!!

WOW, I can't believe how good that was. I'm not a good chicken fryer. I try, but it just turns out so-so. Of course no one complains, but I want to make THE BEST.. Well I was told that Amish fried chicken is the best, so I did a search and they were right. Here is the recipe I used tonight, and it was DELICIOUS!! It was easy too and that makes it even better.

I omitted the majoram because I didn't have any and I used olive oil and butter. I was surprised at how much pepper it called for, but now I know what was missing in mine....

Try it and ENJOY.. It's finger lickin good..


Amish Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
10 pieces of chicken

Directions:
1. Place oil and butter in a shallow cooking pan and place in 375ºF oven to melt butter, set aside.
2. In a large paper sack, combine dry ingredients.
3. Roll the chicken pieces, 3 at a time, in butter and oil then drop into a sack and shake to cover.
4. Place on a plate until all pieces are coated.
5. Leave any excess butter and oil in pan.
6. Place chicken in the pan skin side down (or its just as good if you remove all the skin first).
7. Bake at 375ºF for 45 minutes.
8. Turn chicken pieces over and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until crust begins to bubble.

http://www.amishrecipes.net/recipes.php/3/Amish-Fried-Chicken/Chicken/

I made this with some potatoes. I cut some red potatoes into bit size pieces. Put them in my stone casserole dish. Added a few tabs of butter, salt, pepper, oil and water. I stirred it together, covered it and put it in the oven with the chicken. It was done at about the same time..

Simple dinner, I like it!