The garden

I haven't blogged about the garden in awhile. Things are still growing out there.

I let the lettuce go to seed and harvested some for next year. I'm probably gonna have lettuce coming up in the grass too :P Lettuce seeds are teensy tiny, btw.



Here is the everlasting oregano. I've kept it alive longer than any plant I've ever had inside or out :P I pick from it constantly and it just keeps going and going.



This is the leggy basil, tasty though.



Here's our watermelon that still isn't ready to be picked, sheesh melons take patience.



The baby Jalepenos. This is the 3rd or 4th crop we've gotten from these this year. The bell peppers are planted beside them but we only got one bell pepper. You can also see the sage in this shot, it's leggy but tasty as well.



This is a cantaloupe vine that volunteered from the compost pile. I love surprize cantaloupes :P




I think the banana peppers are done for the year, we got around 10 peppers though.And finally, these are the green onions. I bought them from the grocery store, clipped almost all the green tops for dinner and then planted the white roots bulbs. They've grown from there. Replenishing food, what could be better? These got yet another haircut for dinner last night :)



Oh and the prickly pear cactus.

Apple Bread Part Two

Here's the final product of this post.




It was delicious! I think I'm going to make it this way from now on.




I guess it's time to make a pie now . . . .

Apple Bread

Each fall I make apple bread. I also make it for the winter holidays, since each batch makes two loaves it's easy to make enough to give to friends. Last weekend my mom showed up at the door with a large bag of apples from her trees. Seems she had a bumper crop this year :) What to do with all the apples? Well apple bread of course! I made two loaves Saturday that disappeared before Monday. Today I decided to vary it a bit and try it in a bundt pan. Here's the process and the recipe.

Apple Bread



2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon each of baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla
3 cups chopped apples
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Peel and core the apples, chop them into small pieces. They don't have to be uniform or a certain size. You can have a bit more than or a bit less than 3 cups, it's flexible. Combine all the ingredients, except the apples and nuts, in a large bowl.

Then add the apples, and nuts if you're using them, and stir to combine.

Pres into to two loaf pans or as I'm experimenting with here one bundt pan.



And bake for 1 and 1/2 hours.


Mine is in the oven now. I'll try to remember to take a pic of it before it gets devoured and post it here. Happy baking!

** see part two here**

MMMMM Pizza

I didn't used to like pizza, I still don't like the take out pizzas but ones we can make at home are great! I like being able to choose exactly what I want the toppings to be and know exactly what's in the ingredient list.

Pillsbury Pizza Dough is already ready to go, you just roll it out and fill it up! They've just come out with a thin crust version too. There are coupons for it in the latest Sunday paper and online ones at www.pillsbury.com They also have recipes and run ideas there. Check it out.

Free Stuff

Wow I haven't blogged in almost two months! Bad me! I'll try to blog more often.

I've been doing some serious money saving research lately, I've started using coupons and I've found it's really an art. Yesterday I used $39.00 worth of coupons! I love being able to get some name brand things instead of my old method of just getting whatever was cheapest.

Plus since I'm making connections I'm getting free stuff. Who doesn't like free stuff?! Here's what came in the mail this past week.





Yes those are all full sized products that were absolutely free. Not buy one get one free, not 'just pay shipping and handling', absolutely free.

General Mills sent the Froot Loops and the Trix via UPS. They wanted my family to try both kinds of cereal and tell them which one we liked better, color, flavor, that sort of thing.

General Mills also sent a coupon for a free box of Cheerios because I signed up for the 6 week challenge.

Chef Boyardee sent two coupons for a free product of my choice, I also received a coupon for one free Ensure (and $ off a six pack). Stride sent the free pack of gum. What one? Go here. Wal-Mart sent the full sized roll of Scott.