Welcome Back!

WOW! It has been over a year since I have blogged and I have missed it immensely. I have gone through a lot of changes over the past year and one of them has been in my food preparation! I have always fought with my weight. (It being easier to gain than keep off the weight I had lost!). But last summer somehow something hit me. I found myself hiding under clothes especially during the summer. When at the pool I did not want to take off my cover up and did not want to get in the water because I really didn't want anyone to see me.

The last straw was during the summer when I was buying in-style baby-doll dresses and using them as tops! I realized I was just not happy. My pants were all way too small but I refused to buy a size 16!

So I did it!

What you ask?

I took control.

I went to the Medical University of South Carolina Weight Management Center. Told them my goal was to lose 30 pounds. I felt that was a safe weight where I would feel good. It was a 15 week program. No drugs and no magic pills! Just me and some protein bars and shakes and a light meal each day for the first 8 weeks and then the next 7 weeks I was on my own with their guidance. After the 8 week mark they have you follow the American Diabetes Association food exchange program. So for the past 168 days this has been my life. It has opened up a great new way of cooking and eating. I still make a lot of my old dishes but have updated them for a healthier lifestyle. I have lost over 50 pounds and now fit into a size 4! I feel fantastic and love life even more than before.

So welcome back to me and to you! I am glad to be back and glad to be able to share healthy meals for a family and help to maintain a healthy weight!

With my new found body and lifestyle life is oh so good!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sausage and Onions wth Garlic & Herb Risotto

Finally I cooked! It seems like forever that I cut and chopped and was able to spend a long time in the kitchen cooking. I love to cook. I don't really like to bake but cooking is my thing.

When I was in the grocery store the other day I got some Italian sausage from the butcher and saw a box of risotto (with dry herbs and stuff) and thought "I bet I could add stuff to my risotto to make it a bit healthier without preservatives (which I am sure were in the packet). So I got a box of "real" risotto (the kind that takes forever to cook) and went on my way.

I was sitting watching Food Network yesterday and Guy Fierri (I think that is his name) was making a pasta sauce that had sausage and ribs in it and it looked great so I decided to do some of what he did. Not sure I would ever use ribs in a pasta sauce but I bet the flavors were awesome.

I didn't have any peppers, which would have been great with the sausage, but I did have plenty of onions and lots of cans of organic canned tomatoes. I knew I could make it work. I did have to run out and get some garlic as I realized I was all out!

I paired the meal with a nice Caesar salad and it was fantastic. Dan asked were I got the recipe and when I told him I made it up he told me I should probably write it down! Sweet guy he is.

Garlic & Herb Risotto
Box of Risotto
3-5 garlic cloves chopped
olive oil
basil
Parmesan cheese

In bottom of pan heat some olive oil and add the garlic to saute it. Add the amount of water that is recommended on he risotto box and then add some basil and the risotto. Bring to a boil and add the Parmesan cheese and follow the directions on the box for cooking. I added a bit more Parmesan cheese at the end of cooking and stirred it.

Sausage & garlic & onions
4 Italian sausage (I used hot but my dish was hot) try sweet if you don't like spicy
2 onions
5-8 cloves garlic
1 can diced tomatoes (with basil is great if plain add basil)
white wine
salt and pepper to taste




cook sausage in a bit of olive oil until done. Take them out of the pan and add the onions and garlic. (I actually ended up cutting up another onion for mine as this was only 1 onion and did not seem like enough.) (that is my $1.48 Santuko knife I got at Target on Friday!)

Saute the onions and garlic until they are done. In the meantime cut the sausage into pieces. When onions and garlic are done add some white wine to deglaze the pan and then add the sausage back in. Add the entire can of tomatoes and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Mine was not watery at all and was somewhat thick.

Place on top of the risotto add a salad and Mangia!



With a homemade meal like this and a holiday the next day Life is Good!

Food Photography

I really have nothing to say about cooking today. Last night I baked a whole chicken and made oven fried potatoes. I was smart and put it in the oven before picking the kids up and set the timer so that it would start cooking while we were gone and be done by 5:45. When we got home at 4:40 the house smelled great and I had much less pressure on myself to get things started. It was great and everyone loved it.

I don't have pictures but I did get my camera battery back and will be back in business and trying to improve my food photo skills. Good luck to me. So in honor of me trying to become a better food photographer I will be checking out some websites that help you. Wish me luck!

Now I doubt I will get this creative but the idea is cool.

Look for future photos like this from me. With the fresh herbs and wine glass in the background. Because really, what good is a nice bowl of pasta without a nice glass of red wine?

I am already learning and it is all free at this website so click here if you want to read about it or watch videos on it. And when my photography is looking great and the food tastes divine you know that Life is Good!

Soup for a Cold Winter's Night - Potato Leek Soup

I have to admit...I love soup. I love soup for dinner as it is hearty and can be low calorie and healthy. When I go to the grocery store I am always looking at vegetables wondering, can I make a soup with those? I buy vegetables I have no idea what to do with but when they are organic and on special I have a hard time resisting. Enter the bouquet of leeks I bought the other day. I have never had leek soup but thought it sounded good. I had seen a Knorr package for leek soup so I knew that I could throw something with it.

Now mind you I picked up ingredients before I looked at a recipe to get the basics. I did take a peek at the Knorrs package yesterday when I was running in to get a few items and saw that you could add potatoes. So that is where I started. I came home and googled leek potato soup and came up with 2 from the Food Network, Alton Brown (whom I really like) and Emeril (who I can tolerate). I chose the Emeril recipe for my basics as I had nearly every ingredient in the list (Yeah for me!!!)

I knew my kids wouldn't eat it so they got a piece of ham from the slice that I used and some veggies and a quesadilla. Now don't get me wrong. I am all about the family eating the same meal but I will not force the kids to eat something that I know they will not enjoy. You gotta give Lucy credit though as she is a soup lover and eats from the soup bar at school every day but this was "not to her liking." (Kind of like the day I went to school and ate lunch with her and she got the she-crab soup, I was shocked, and tasted it and told me "it's too crabby!" give the girl credit for trying). Just so you know I do not normally make 2 meals but this was one that I was sure they would not eat. Oh and just so you know it is not a pretty soup. It is actually very blah looking and looks something like liquidy paste but it tastes way better.

photo from here it is not my photo and here is credit for where I got it (I did not have all that stuff on top but the soup looks the same)

Potato Leek Soup (adapted from Emeril Lagasse)



3 Leeks
dash thyme
olive oil
ham, sliced into small pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken stock
1 to 1 1/4 pounds russet potatoes, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream - I used fat free half and half!
2 tablespoons snipped chives - for top I forgot these and had them in my herb garden



Cut the white part of the leeks in half, length wise and rinse well under cold running water to get out any sand and dirt. Slice thinly crosswise and set aside.

In a large soup pot over medium heat, put a little olive oil and the ham (you can do bacon here as Emeril does in his recipe but I used ham) and add the ham. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the ham is warm. Add the chopped leeks and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes (I added a bit more olive oil as the ham did not have fat in it and needed a little help). Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the chicken stock, potatoes, salt and white pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until the potatoes are falling apart and the soup is very flavorful.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a food processor or blender (my blender is still broken and this made my food processor hard to open - FYI). Stir in the cream (or fat free half and half - I promise the benefits without the fat and guilt!) and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve immediately.


I actually had the soup made about a half hour before we were to eat and let it sit and them put it back on low right before we were going to eat and added the cream. (Don't add the cream until you are ready to eat it). We had a nice slice of hearty bread with this and that was dinner.


Now if my camera battery wasn't dead and I had not left my charger at the house on Kiawah last week life would be divine and you would be looking at a picture of my divine soup that I made last night. But instead you have to look at a stock photo and hope that my charger gets here today or tomorrow!


With a warm bowl of soup on a cold night and your family gathered around the dinner table talking about their day Life is indeed Good! Enjoy

Dinner on the Cheap - My Mixed Up Stromboli

Happy New Year! I can not believe it has been nearly 3 months since I blogged here. Life has gotten so busy with school and travel (7-day Disney Cruise, a week on Kiawah Island, SC) the holidays and now getting back in the groove. However, I am back. I promise to come here everyday and give you a recipe or food tip.

Yesterday afternoon I was looking through the refrigerator, freezer and pantry and trying to figure out what I could make without going to the grocery store. My daughter is currently obsessed with garlic bread (homemade). So I decided to use this as the start. I grabbed the ingredients to make a loaf of bread and put them in the bread machine on the dough cycle and set that going. I then found a nearly empty package of pepperoni (one of children's favorite proteins!) and some chicken breasts and frozen spinach and a few kinds of cheese. I was trying NOT to cook pasta as we had it at least 2 or 3 times last week (it is mine and my daughters favorite meal).

I came up with an idea based on a Stromboli and it came out really good. I actually made one side with no spinach as I knew the kids would not eat it if it was in there! And if I do say so myself it looks good and tasted great and is also great for leftovers.

Mixed up Stromboli

3 chicken breasts cooked and cubed

pepperoni slices

mozzarella cheese (provolone or cheddar work well too!)

frozen spinach (defrosted and drained) - as much or little as you like

bread dough (homemade or from the grocery store)

roll out dough into rectangle and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle a bit of garlic salt over the dough (optional). add the ingredients in any order that you like. From the long end, roll like a jelly roll and pinch the ends together and place the seam on the bottom of a cookie sheet. (I used a Silpat so it would not stick). Bake at 350 about 30-45 minutes (until it is brown on top and bread looks done). Let sit about 5 minutes when it is done and cut into slices. I served this with a Caesar salad and everyone loved it. Again, one half had more pepperoni and one half had the spinach so you can put whatever you want and mix it up for different tastes in your family.

With a mixed up easy dinner like this like is most definitely good!

Turkey Rollups & Hot Peppers

Today I power walked 6 miles back and forth over the Cooper River Bridge. I did not eat before I left. Needless to say when I got home from picking up the boy from school I was starving. I really was ready to eat my shoe! I looked in the fridge and saw I had some turkey, Sargento reduced fat provolone cheese (1 Weight Watcher point each!) and some tortillas and thought, hmmm maybe I could make those little roll up sandwiches that were at a kids birthday party this weekend.

I took the tortilla and smeared the tiniest bit of reduced fat Dukes Mayonnaise on it (to keep it together) and took 2 slices of turkey, a slice of cheese and some organic mesclun greens that I had. I rolled it up and smooshed it (to keep it together) and then cut it into 3/4 - 1 inch thick slices. I put some mustard on the side to dip it in and it was actually very filling. I enjoyed it.

Last night I made a recipe that I found on another blog. It was good but was not pretty so that is why you are not hearing about that. Tonight I am also trying a recipe I got from another blog and will let you know how it goes. The blogger told me that she got it from a Rachael Ray cookbook. It looks interested. Tune in tomorrow!!!

Now who can tell me what to do with all these hot peppers? Do I dry them and then put them in the spice grinder for sprinkling on food in the future? We have way too many bottles of vinegar with hot peppers (my husband is southern so this accompanies every meal he eats - I am the only yankee in the family!) so I am left with a bunch of these that I don't want to go bad.

I also have a Thai pepper plant in the backyard and not sure what to do with those. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. And why do these peppers grow up?

Oh and for a little comedy, this blue crab was stuck through the mail slot of my parents front door in downtown Charleston on Friday night! I went there on Saturday morning (after a kids birthday party) to get something for them, as they are out of town until the end of the month, and there in the front hallway was this little blue crab. Can't imagine what the house would have smelled like if I didn't go down there. So I imagine my dad is glad he forgot the power cord to his computer and had me send it to him.

That is another reason that Life is Good

Cheater Lasagna

OK I am going to share a secret. I use this one for when someone has a baby or someone passes away, etc. It is my go to recipe as it is so easy and can be thrown together quickly. I usually put a loaf of garlic bread and salad with it and a quick dessert and bring it to whomever. And when I make it I also make one for my family. It is really lasagna but without the extra trouble and mess with the ricotta cheese!

Easy Ravioli Lasagna (aka cheater lasagna)

2-3 bags frozen Celentano cheese ravioli (or other brand)
1 lb lean ground beef (optional)
1-2 jars favorite tomato sauce
1-2 bags part skim mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

Brown the beef in a pan and add the sauce so that it can soak up some of the flavors. In a casserole dish or tin foil pan (that way you don’t have to clean up!) put some tomato sauce on the bottom. Add a layer of the frozen ravioli (still frozen and uncooked!) add more sauce on top to cover and then add mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Continue layering, making sure to use enough tomato sauce so that it can cook the ravioli. The top layer ends in mozzarella cheese with a sprinkle of parmesan (I usually have 3 layers). Put in oven on 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour, until cooked and warmed throughout.

Enjoy and put your feet up! With easy recipes like this Life is Always Good!

Scrumptious Ribs

I have been making slow cooked ribs for years. In the past I have always cooked them on 225-250 all day and turned them and basted them every 30 minutes. Who knew I would find a recipe for them that makes it so easy and they are oh so good. This is great for a big crowd or just the family. If my kids are going to eat them I eliminate the red pepper flakes.

I got the recipe from Emeril Legasse in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. This is one of the best magazines I get all month. It is small and usually has several recipes that are worth trying AND keeping in my repetoire. I have made a few changes to his recipe but he calls them simple ribs ad I concur. To top it off they are delish!

Now I cheat and don't make Emeril's rib sauce but buy a bottle of bbq/rib sauce. My favorite is Sticky Fingers Habanero Hot but you can use any kind. And if you want to cheat more and are pressed for time buy a packet of pork rub and use that. But I will say the rub that Emeril has created is awesome. Change the ingredients depending on your taste. If my kids are going to eat them I eliminate the red pepper flakes. Enjoy.

Emeril calls them

ej's simple ribs

* 2 1/2 teaspoons mustard powder

* 2 teaspoons sweet paprika

* 1 teaspoon celery salt

* 1 teaspoon onion powder

* 3/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

* 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

* Coarse salt

* 2 slabs baby back ribs (about 2 pounds total)

* Spray Pam, for grill grates

* Emeril's Rib Sauce (recipe follows) - I use a bottle of store bought sauce. Make sure it has some sugar to it so that it will brown when it is on the grill. Also these are way better on a charcoal grill than they are on a gas grill. But both ways work fine.

Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine mustard powder, paprika, celery salt, onion powder, red-pepper flakes, garlic powder, celery seed, and 1 teaspoon salt. Rub slabs on both sides with the spice mixture, and refrigerate, loosely covered, for 2 hours (I have found the longer the better 4 is awesome!).

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack slabs on a double layer of aluminum foil; tightly wrap. Place on a rack on a baking sheet. Cook until meat pulls away from the bone and is easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (I have found that it usually takes 2 hours)

3. Heat grill to medium-high; lightly oil grates. Carefully remove ribs from foil, pouring off any liquid. Brush generously on both sides with rib sauce; grill ribs until sauce begins to bubble and brown around the edges, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve ribs with any leftover sauce, if desired.

Emeril's Rib Sauce
Ingredients
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower

* 1 medium onion, finely chopped

* 3 garlic cloves, minced* Coarse salt and ground pepper

* 1 cup ketchup* 1 cup canned beef broth

* 3/4 cup cider vinegar

* 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

* 1/2 teaspoon celery salt

* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes.

BOLD BASTING: A few tricks will make your rib sauce extra hearty: Start with a base of sauteed onion and garlic, add beef broth for depth, and give it a 30-minute simmer to bring the flavors together.

Now after a serving of these Life is Definitely Good!

Bad Small Appliance Weekend - Mojitos

So we got NOTHING from TS Hanna. Thank goodness. But after all the prepping and hyping I was in the mood for a margarita. I like to drink them on the rocks at a bar but at home I like them frozen. I only use fresh ingredients so I know it will taste good and with my continuing abundance of limes from my lime tree I decided to make me one late Saturday afternoon. I put some ice in my Kitchen Aid blender that I got for my wedding nearly 9 years ago (and haven't used much) and turned it on and poof! It went whiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrr. No movement inside. I took the pitcher off it and the entire blade element had rotted off! GO figure. So I instead made mojitos which were divine!

I was about to throw out the blender when I went to the Kitchen Aid website and saw how much they cost, nearly $200. Not sure who bought this for me!?!? But on ebay I found a piece for $4 that looks like it will fit and make the blender work again. We will see.

On Sunday I was ironing. My most dreaded task of the week. All of a sudden whammo the dial in the middle of the iron that controls the heat pops off! I am thinking what next. SO I go to Target and buy a new iron. Stainless steel pad and it is awesome but when I get it home I realize it does not have the retractable cord. NOw for $30 I want a retractable cord. SO I iron the rest of Lucy's school uniforms and take the iron back to Target on Monday morning. I buy the same model with a retractable cord. I get home and fill it with water and am looking at it and it looks used. None of the pieces were in the bags that were in the box so I know someone has purchased it and returned it. What that person did not tell Target is that the iron leaks like a sieve! Now I have a hot iron, a 4 year old boy wanting to be entertained and still a bunch of ironing to do. All before my friends come over to bead in the evening.

I trot back to Target and this time with the iron not in the box as it is too hot, and the same woman is at the return counter. She starts laughing at me! Says they have been having problems with these Sunbeam irons and she marks the item as damaged. Now the irons are right next to the toy aisle and I have to get to the grocery store before picking up Lucy at school. I look at all the irons and they really have an awful selection. Cambridge is running across the aisle to the toys as I am grumbling about having to go to Wal-Mart. We leave Target and go to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has the iron I want but it is not in stock. They are expecting a shipment of 3 overnight and there are 3 at another Super Wal-Mart down the street (worse than this old Wal-Mart). So I ask the lady, will they be put on the shelves by morning? She says just come by in the morning it is not like we are going to have a rush of people coming in here in the morning to buy irons! Duh! I just want to know if they will be put on the shelves.

So there is my story of my blender and my iron. I am on my way to Wal-Mart right now before I go to Lucy's school to give blood. (They always want more than tuition! ;-)) Hopefully the iron I want will be on the shelf and I can get it home and happily go about ironing. The sad thing is I am so excited about it as the stainless steel makes it press so much better.

I also hope my blender part works. I can't imagine spending that kind of money on a blender.

Have a great day and may all your small appliances work well. Life is good.

Mojito recipe
Fresh mint
simple syrup (1 cup water & 1 cup sugar-heat to boil)
sugar
limes
rum
club soda

put fresh mint and a tiny bit of sugar and a lime slic in bottom of tall glass.
With muddler gently muddle (bruise) the mint leaves to release flavor.
Pour a small bit of simple syrup in glass (depending on how sweet you like it)
Pour in 1 and a half shot glasses of Rum (or Vodka)
Add ice to top
put in shaker and shake
pour in glass and top with club soda
squeeze lime and ENJOY

Life is really really good after a few of these!

Cambridge's First Day

Yesterday was Cambridge's first dayof 4's preschool. He already knew the teachers as Lucy had them when she was 4 and he went to summer camp at the school over the summer and had one of the teachers during camp. He came home and said "I didn't get to sit next to Joseph at snack. That was bad!" But he did tell me "I went down the twisty slide and didn't fall off (like he did the last time 3 weeks ago when he broke his wrist!) So today he got in the car after school and as his teacher was buckling him in he said "I GOT TO SIT NEXT TO JOSEPH AT SNACK!" What a great day he had! The simple things in life sometimes we forget about.

What simple things make you or your kids happy?

I know for me a cup of Starbucks coffee with my coffee friends is a luxury I never take for granted. And the feeling I have after pilates class, thank goodness it is over but I actually feel good!

Life is REALLY Good!

Two days ago I was not excited about the upcoming presidential election. I was tired of seeing Obama on tv and not very excited about John McCain. Then comes the bombshell that McCain actually picks an intelligent candidate with executive experience, oh and she just so happens to be a woman! WOW can it get any better than this. A governor does more in one week than a senator does in a year so Obama/Biden can clam up on that one. This woman is truly incredible. She went after the Republicans in her state that were corrupt! How refreshing is that?

The biggest excitement for me is that she has a child with downs syndrome. My dear friend has a child with down syndrome. Sarah Palin knew her child had downs while in the womb and she chose to have the child because she knew she would be blessed and made a better person by carrying the baby to term. Listening to the media say with such incredible disbelief that she knew in advance is a victory for all children with down syndrome. Those that are here and those that are still in the womb. It will give pregnant women hope and know that they can bring this child into the world and others have done it and continue to lead a normal family life. It shows that it is not a horrible thing to have a baby with down syndrome but a blessed thing. For this I am so grateful. For my friend April and her daughter Claire and all the wonderful children like Claire I am over the moon.

So today is a great day not just for republicans but for all people with down syndrome and those families with a family member that has down syndrome. I have been on a personal crusade for the past (almost 5 years) to educate people about downs. To try to get to drs and people in the medical industry to make sure they give women options when they are told the child in the womb has downs. To say there is something other than termination.

My personal story is that I always thought I would have a child with downs. I was 39 when I had my last child so it should have been me and that child would have been welcomed into this world with loving arms. Instead my 29 year old friend April was the lucky one to get the baby with downs syndrome. She did not know before Claire was born that this was the case but that would not have made a difference. She would have carried Claire to term no matter what. A true hero in my book.

So I walk around in almost a drunken joy at the choice by John McCain of Sarah Palin. This is not about being a republican or democrat. This is about being an advocate. So no matter what your political convictions I hope you will share in my joy over this.

God is good and Life is Great!

What a beautiful day!

Today is a great day. The sun is shining (although the mosquitoes are awful after the rains of Fay and you can't go outside without being bombarded by them - think horror movie), the grass is green, I had a Starbucks Coffee with a good friend and no kids in tow. I called a friend yesterday to see if I could take her son today for Cambridge to play with. The mom is a teacher at C's school. I told her I was meeting (another teacher from the school) for coffee at 7:45 and maybe I could pick him up after. She said "I will be at school so why don't you drop C off and they can play in my classroom until you get back." Umm no hesitation on my part...YES!!! (She is setting her classroom up for school to start next week.)

So I went to Starbucks and had a nice relaxing time and while we were there the person sitting next to us was taken out by EMS and we never even noticed anything was wrong. We saw 2 EMTs and 2 Firemen come in and I thought they were sitting next to us and then they started bringing in oxygen and I looked over (literally at the small round table next to me!) and the lady is slumped over and slurring and one of the EMTs is talking to her. Now 2 more EMTs come in with a gurney and at this point I moved my table out of the way and left. Seemed like the appropriate thing to do.

I picked up the boys and we came home and they made homemade chocolate chip cookies (I can't remember the last time I did this !) and then we put the ingredients for dough into the bread machine so the kids and Dan can make pizzas for dinner (of course I have to go to Lucy's school for a new parent meeting and while I am no longer a "new" parent I am the chair of the new parent committee). The cookies look awesome. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Each of the boys ate 2 (but they also had half and apple to round it out!).

Now I am getting the ingredients ready to make cranberry bread (with craisins since they were on clearance at Target (only $1.77 for a large package that costs $3.99 at grocery store - can you say bargain?).

I picked some limes and gave them to my friend and now have found a yummy recipe online for which I have all the ingredients in the house (it doesn't get any better than that. See I told you life is good). We will have that tomorrow night.

Here are some pictures of my abundance of what is outside. I have basil, parsley, more rosemary than I know what to do with (this is one plant and I have 3 more in the front that are now part of the landscaping because you can't kill them and they smell so good!), limes, chives, the yummy cookies the boys made and whatever else I took photos of today. Oh and a picture of my 2 helpers. I think you can figure out which one is mine (Tony Stewart).

Speaking of bargains and Tony Stewart, all his stuff is on sale at racingusa.com. 75% off! I got Cambridge a new costume since he wants to be Tony Stewart (again) for Halloween and the one we have is getting small. Normally it is $30 and I got it for $5. How great is that and they had his size. Again, life is good.

Joseph and Cambridge (Buzz and Tony!)

The yummy cookies Buzz and Tony made!

2 limes on the tree waiting to be picked

Chives

One of my basil plants

One of my rosemary plants - this one is in a planter the rest are in the ground

Have a beautiful day and I will let you know how the recipe turns out (if you want it just click on the words yummy recipe and it will bring you to the link.

Welcome!

Welcome over here. Glad you followed me. I will start blogging full time once Cambridge starts school next week. Right now I still have him home with me. But I wanted this blog to be more about me, my family and my life rather than commentary on subjects in the press, etc. that would cause me to open my big mouth. Now I am sure there will be some of that but this will be more about what is going on around here. What is up in my garden (right now a ton of limes that are soooo good, basil and tomatoes!), what is going on with me and the kids and dh and life in general Come on in and sit down with a nice cuppa joe.