Shopping For The Garden

I can't remember the last time I went through the gardening area to look at something other than flowers.
I take care of that department ... and James takes care of the vegetable plants, etc.

However, we got a new Rural King recently & they have a delightful bunch of interesting plants!
I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of them -- such a wide variety.

A Citronella plant ... a Stevia plant ... how neat are these?

Cinnamon basil ... never knew there was such a thing.
There were maybe 5 or 6 different varieties of basil!
We bought the sweet basil plant.

And the lemon balm smelled perfectly lemony.

We went through smelling every other plant ;)

I could've gone on & on snapping pics of plants I'd never seen before.
By the time we were done, we were wishing our garden was a bit bigger.

We made our purchases & put them in the raised bed garden as soon as we got home.
(Gunnar built it two years ago -- take a look at it if you haven't before.)

Here's the little sweet basil.
It's ganna be delicious in something Italian.

All done.
We've got it chock full ... maybe too full.
Along the back side of the bed, we planted our tomato plants in containers
& we planted a couple cucumber plants under the tree.
That was an experiment, so we'll see how it goes.

You can see the bunch of chives in the above pic.

We planted those two years ago.

I cut off a whole mess of those & soaked them in a bowl of ice water to clean them.

I let them dry on a kitchen towel, chopped them a bit finer & bagged them up ...

one for us & one each for our married children.

We've been enjoying these chives in salads & potato dishes.

 

And this lovely bouquet of flowers, well, these are from the chives too!
The lavender blooms are actually edible too, but we never have.

And lastly, this adorable bunch of flowers are been sitting in my window sill too, waiting to be planted.

These were a gift from my sweet young friend, Hannah, as a Mother's Day prize.

Aren't they so fun?

We are looking forward to all our vegetable plants taking off ... and it'll be good eating soon.

Nothing like fresh, homegrown garden food.

All the flowers in the front garden, along with the pots & containers in the back have been planted too.

I'll show you those tomorrow.

Take care, sweet friends~

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday           Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons   So Much At Home
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style      
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch    Katherines Corner   Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways

Something About Sunflowers

I LOVE sunflowers

A contrast between delicate
and strong

A variety of components
all working together to make
something beautifully unique

A name perfectly suited ...
a ray flower with each petal
ensconcing the center

A yellow flower that looks amazingly
similar to the 'sun' I drew
when I was a little girl







And another point of symbolism with this majestic flower ...
it's one of the rare ones that looks as gorgeous when it's dying
as it does when it's full of life.


Sounds a bit like a life lesson to me ...

The petals are closing in, signs that the days of living are almost gone.

Yet they still stand ... gorgeous, strong & tall.

Thank you, Gunnar & Abigail, for blessing me on Mother's Day.

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday           Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons   So Much At Home
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style      
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch    Katherines Corner   Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways

White Hot Baked Cheese Dip

Hello there, sweet friends!
Hope this finds all of you doing well & enjoying the spring season!
We've had a bit of a cold snap here in Indiana ... in fact, I made a big pot of chili last night to warm us up!
It'll be back up into the 80s by the weekend though, so I'm enjoying this cooler weather while it's here.

I can hardly believe that it's already Memorial Weekend!
Goodness gracious = Time, slow down!
Our major plan for this holiday weekend, we'll be starting on a big project here at home.
We're getting a hardwood floor in the living room!
James will be doing the installation & I'll be sure to show before & after pics.

 

I've wanted to share this recipe on here for a while now & thought this would be the perfect time.
You may need a new dish to make over Memorial weekend ... maybe for a pitch-in
or to just enjoy around the house as you are doing your weekend activities.

We LOVE this dip cause it's super cheesy & we are cheese lovers around here.
And it's so easy & quick ... you can have it stirred together & in the oven in just a few minutes.

Hot White Baked Cheese Dip

2   8 ounce packages cream cheese

1/2 cup of chopped onions

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1   16 ounce package of shredded Monterrey jack cheese

1   16 ounce package of shredded Parmesan cheese 

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Bring cream cheese to room temp or zap in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften.
Stir in onions, garlic salt, & mayo.
Lastly, add in all the shredded cheeses & mix together.
Put mixture in a baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until browned & bubbly around the edges.
Serve with tortilla chips.

 James loves burnt cheese so he likes the part that's all browned on top.

I've taken this to our church fellowship meal several times & it's always gobbled up in no time.
Hope it's a hit for you too!

Happy Memorial Day to all <3

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday           C.R.A.F.T    Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons   So Much At Home
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch   Serving Joyfully    Katherines Corner   Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways

Smokehouse Lasagna

Smokehouse Lasagna ... just that name of it makes my mouth water.

I mean, just the word 'lasagna', well, it is strong enough to stand alone ... no embellishment needed, right?

But add 'smokehouse' to it, I am all ears!

This was my first time to make Smokehouse Lasagna,

but I've been making Smokehouse Spaghetti for years.

It's one of our very faves.

Again, it's the name that got me.

This time around though,  I just had a hankering for lasagna.

So, I adapted this recipe very easily & now we've got 2 favorites!

My good ol' Amish cookbook is where this recipe comes from.

I love this cookbook {it's my go-to}.

Nothing too crazy in the way of ingredients ... the usual lasagna fare with the exception of one thing 

& we are about to get to that ;)

That's right:  BACON!

The bacon is what makes it SMOKEHOUSE LASAGNA!

After frying the bacon & the ground beef together {& draining},

the sauce is added in & the lasagna assembly begins.

And cheese.

Did I mention there is A LOT of cheese in this recipe?

You may have noticed, there are 4 kinds of cheese in this dish!

And no lasagnas were ever harmed by adding a few pepperonis to the top.

This is one massive pan of lasagna.

I'm glad I had this disposable pan on hand cause I'm pretty sure 

it might have otherwise overflowed.

I sprinkled some of this seasoning over the top & stuck it in the oven.

And here it is ... in all it's smokehousey glory!

This is one delicious treat, let me tell you.

My family gobbled it up, leaving 1.5 pieces to spare.

 

Next time you are in a lasagna mood, do yourself a big favor & give this recipe a try.

Pin it on Pinterest so you'll know just where to find it.

You can even share it on your FB page if you want.

Something this awesome oughta be shared, right?!

;)

Smokehouse Lasagna

1/2 lb. bacon

2 lbs. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2  24 ounce jars pasta sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

9 lasagna noodles

15 ounces ricotta cheese

12 slices of provolone cheese

5 ounces grated parmesan cheese

1 lb. mozzarella cheese

sprinkle of dried rosemary & garlic (any italian seasoning will work)

25 slices of pepperoni

Fry bacon, ground beef, & onion together.

Drain off excess fat.

Add in pasta sauce, garlic, salt, & pepper, stirring well to combine.

Simmer for  20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles as directed on package.

In a large, deep dish, begin assembling lasagna by putting a layer of meat sauce on bottom.

Next, put 1/3 of noodles, 1/3 of sauce, 1/3 each type of cheese.

Repeat layers twice.

Top with pepperoni & dried rosemary & garlic seasoning.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Cover with foil & bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

*additional recipe notes:

The original Smokehouse Spaghetti recipe does not use jarred pasta sauce.

I will share the homemade sauce ingredients when I share the spaghetti recipe.

 

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.

Monday           C.R.A.F.T    Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons   So Much At Home
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch   Serving Joyfully    Katherines Corner   Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways

May is for the Birds

credit

In May

I truly think it best

to be a robin

lightly dressed

concocting soup

inside my nest.

Mix it once

mix it twice

mix that chicken soup

with rice.

a poem from one of my favorite authors

Chicken Soup with Rice ~ A Book of Months

by Maurice Sendak

 Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.

Monday           C.R.A.F.T    Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons   So Much At Home
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch   Serving Joyfully    Katherines Corner   Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways