Raising Seedlings in the Cold

Sometimes the stuff we try from Pinterest can be a huge fail. Like a recipe I tried for Forgotten Chicken (yuck!) Other times its awesome, and inspiring, just as the website title suggests:-) This time is one of the later. I took a tutorial from Amy at Positively Splendid for making a baby smock (just a heavy duty baby bib) from a hand towel and bias tape and made it my own. While taking a hand towel and making it a bib for your child is a great way to re-purpose materials you find around the home or at yard sales, I wanted something even more durable and actually waterproof. If you use a hand towel there is still a chance that the baby mess can leak through onto their clothes. So I took Amy's pattern and made the same smock from PUL material. It Polyurethane Laminated Fabric and it is usually used by moms to make baby diaper covers. You can buy it at any fabric store or here on Amazon in a pack of three fabrics. You would need two of the three fabrics from the pack to make...

     A few weeks ago, Just as my wife was getting into house organizing in a serious way I decided to throw a serious wrench in the works.  I had been spying on several apple trees in out neighborhood for several weeks.  Ever since we finished canning peaches actually.  It turns out you really don't need to go to all the trouble to grow fruit trees in order to generally end up with all the fruit you could wish for.  Simply keep your eyes open as you go about your daily activities, and you are sure to notice fruit trees burdened with fruit which the owner of said tree curses as the bane of their yard.  That's right, fruit is generally free for the asking, all you need do is be forthright and courteous...oh, and a promise of a little finished product never hurts either.      So, the tree in question is an apple tree located on the property of a local circle K gas station.  Somehow I don't think the sign posted by the ...

About three weeks ago, something in me snapped. (If you ask those at Bettendorf Chiropractic that do my prenatal adjustments and massages they would say it was my back and hips, 3 pregnancies in 2 1/2 years has done a number on my body.) But no, it was nothing physical it was the domestic diva section of my frontal lobe! I looked around my house and I was disgusted! I have living this house 3 years and there was so much I never did or cared to do, and it showed. I wanted to make a change, so I did, and boy does my house look better in those three short weeks:-) I owe all the praise for my home's transformation to my mother (Love you!) and Pinterest (love you too!) I will also give myself a little credit for also doing a lot of time consuming organizing, and pitching of accumulated crap.   The biggest transformation was my kitchen! My mother and I (mostly my mother) redecorated my breakfast nook to provide seating and storage for under $200. It looks fabulous and I now have redu...

Here are some Grandparents Day Printables for You and Yours. I printed mine on photo paper and framed them for my parents, in-laws, and grandparents for Grandparents Day, which is Sunday:-) (Sorry I ruined your gift mom and dad, but time is of the essence, and I couldn't keep these a secret any longer:-)) Go here to download these in best quality. Grandparents Printables . Great Grandparents Printable.

 My first reaction upon seeing the above sight, was "Joshua Martin Brueggen, What the f&%k am I going to do with all of these tomatoes!?" (The kids were asleep...) They were three and four tomatoes deep near the middle of the table.  Plus this actual picture is missing the tomatoes I used to make 11 pints of the salsa below! I was overwhelmed, not just whelmed. The idea of processing these tomatoes, and in a timely fashion, made my head spin. I may have the patience of a saint (I am a teacher after all), but I have the attention span of a five year old. The twelve pounds I used to make salsa took me up to 8 hours start to finish to process. I cried and swore I would let these tomatoes rot rather than spend hours over the stove and sink peeling each frickin tomato. Oh and that I would never go hungry again, as I took a juicy bite. Damn Good Salsa Damn Good Salsa Add Mrs. Wages Salsa mix and 1/4 cup vinegar to (6lbs tomatoes, 2lbs onions, cilantro and jalepeno to ...

I know this is the type of post one should write around New Years, but right now sounded good to me as well. Josh recently asked for (asking for it/ challenge for me to find flaws in his man skills) a list of all the things that needed to be done and updated around our "urban homestead" as he likes to call it. Well since he "asked for it" I am going to give it to him with no malice attached :-) I think many of the projects we want accomplished are the same many others want accomplished around their homes as well, so I am not only going to post the list, but show how we accomplished each task as we went, and do them ALL in one year! Challenge Accepted! And it is going to be Legen....wait for it...dary! Here is the list: Install crown molding in living room. Finish shelving units in the living room Install new fireplace mantel Paint fireplace Install shelves in our new pantry, and organize food stuffs Install TV above fireplace and hide wires. Display ...

                           Cinnamon Pumpkin Coffee Cake This week marks my first as a stay at home mom. I must say, I have a new found respect for my own mother, and want to know how in the hell she retained her sanity all these years. While the time with TJ and Jack has been precious, when they were asleep (both at the same time) or were enraptured in some new toy or another, I had no idea what to do with myself. So I tried playing along with the new toys (crayons) but I didn't color in the right spot and we had a serious melt down. So I picked up a book, the booked sucked... (need some reading suggestions...) So I picked up my cross stitch I started with my last pregnancy, and realized it was more boring than staring at the wall, which was what I was doing before, which is also better than what was currently on TV (Elmo's world...) So...

 amount  OK, time for an update.  To the left is a photo of the greenhouse currently.  Due to the warm early weather I did a lot of planting of summer crops early in March.  On account of this we are about 45 days into the growing season.  I have begun constructing raised beds according to the grand plan, and filling them with soil removed from an area of my basement.  Below is a string of close up photos of a few of the crop beds; they are looking pretty good considering without a hoophouse most of these crops would barely even be planted yet.  First Planting of sweet corn, green beans, and sweet potatoes.  The green beans are beginning to bloom, and the corn is about waist high. This bed contains the second planting of green beans, sweet corn, and sweet potatoes which have been planted as sister crops.  Visible in this photo are tomatos, and sweet bell peppers.  Note the heavy bloom set on the tomatos. Thi...

Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins 1 2/3 quick cook oats 1 1/4 flour 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ginger 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda Put oats in blender and pulse until a coarse meal. Mix in the other ingredients listed. Make a well in the middle of ingredients In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup orange juice Zest of one orange 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs Whisk these ingredients together. Pour liquid into the well you created. Mix dry and wet ingredients just until combine. It will look a little thin and lumpy. Mix in dried cranberries. About a cup. Bake at 400 for 16-20 minutes.

“ In that world, you'll be able to rise in the morning with the spirit you had known in your childhood: that spirit of eagerness, adventure and certainty which comes from dealing with a rational universe ”- Ayn Rand This week I was fortunate to be dealing with a rational universe. Everything seemed to be going my way, and thus I believe this may explain my unusually adventurous spirit this week. We had many adventures this week as a family that we do not ordinarily experience. Monday- House Guest (Our good friend John, thus a new recipe I will post later:-)) Tuesday- (Big Day, waiting for weeks for this day) We bought a house at an auction for very little and we are planning on fixing it up and making some money. B & N LLC our first financial adventure as a couple.  Then there was TJ. TJ, our almost 2 year old, just has not been talking like he should for his age. Our pediatrician suggested we get his hearing evaluated due to TJ's many ear infections ov...

So this week I have tried the attack phase of the dukan diet. While effective, it really, really, really sucks. I may have lost weight (7lbs) but this is just as unhealthy as being fat. There is no balance in my diet and no motivation to begin healthier eating habits. So bad news? Dukan your dumped. Good news? Diet! Challenge accepted! Good clean healthy living is what I need to not only lose weight but be a better person. I have done it before. I WILL do it again. This week has shown me I do have the will power to change my life. Dukan was right about at least one thing, the attack phase is meant for more motivation than anything else, and it certainly did show me I can and will lose my spare tire. It just won't happen with a fad diet, but with hard work, like everything else I have that is worth anything to me. And I want to thank my adorable husband for encouraging me with the following and I quote," I kind of like the Kelly that gives a shit about her health, even ...

As I sit writing this post, I am inspired to change. Not only my activity habits, but also my eating habits.  I will be posting about my exercise and diet attempts over the next couple of weeks. I have signed up for Steve's Old Time Tap Fun Run on April 28th so the next couple of weeks will be spent working up toward my goal of finishing the 5k. Just finishing, and it will all start with a single step of getting off my ass and moving. The following is certainly helping my motivation. Via: Medical Billing And Coding

The last several years Josh and I have an excess of sweet potatoes. I had to figure out a way to cook them that everyone enjoyed including TJ, our almost two year old. I invented the following recipe, and everyone in my family loves it. I hope yours does too! It is low calorie and very healthy! Sweet and Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Sweet Potato Chips 3-4 Medium to small sized sweet potatoes, sliced thin 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice (or a combo of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon) 1 tsp of cumin 1 tsp chili powder 2 Tbsp of Honey 2-3 Tbsp of Olive Oil Preheat oven to 425. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spread on a cookie sheet, try not to overlap pieces. Bake for 15 minutes, you may want to do longer if your pieces are not very thin. Take them out at this point if you want roasted sweet potatoes. If you want chips turn on the broiler and place the cookie sheet on the top most level of your oven. Broil 2 minutes then turn, broil another two and they should nice...

DIY: Pacifier Clip  So for the last 4 months I have been kicking myself for buying a pacifier clip for Jack. Especially after I got mine in the mail. It is made of approx. $1 worth of material, and I paid $8  for a really cute one. I felt taken and just a little envious of the company I bought from for being able to convince someone like me to hand them 800% profit on an item. Sigh.... So I decided to do something about it. I examined my pacifier clip I purchased and designed the following tutorial.  1. Gather the following materials:  Scissors Sewing Machine 6in of 1/8in wide braided elastic 10-12 inches of ribbon ( I recommend 100% polyester) 1 Suspender clip (usually come in packages of 2, approx. $2 a package)  2. On one end of your ribbon take one inch and pull toward the other end. In the loop you just made add your suspender clip. There should be a place to look fabric through on the clip. Pin through both ...

The greenhouse from the outside  A Greenhouse Update      The greenhouse has now been covered for just over one month, so it is time for an update on the progress so far.  I began planting inside the hoophouse on February 20th, and planted lettuce spinach, radish and turnip.  Some lettuce and spinach survived the winter, and began growing as     soon as the greenhouse was covered.  The locations of the raised beds to be built were marked with string before serious planting began.  To   the right you can see plywood walkway placed to avoid compressing    soil around the overwintered greens.  Deeper into the greenhouse          hardwood mulch was added to the future walkways, as this breaks       down it will be added to the growing beds as compost, and the mulch    replaced         ...