Summer Cooking With Garden Vegetables

This has been a great year for our little vegetable garden.  We were blessed with a lot of yummy vegetables.  I think I accomplished by goal of eating something home grown daily :).  Here's some shots of some of the great foods I was able to make with my little humble garden - keep in mind that this is for a family of 5!  Yes even baby Aya had a lot of yummy baby foods made from this garden.

Pizza!

Great any time of year, but especially summertime.  Sorry I forgot to make a shot of the veggy loaded pizza.  But this one has fresh tomato marinara sauce - fresh the garden of course!

Marinara Sauce

First time making marinara sauce.  Can't go back to the bottled stuff!  Next year I am definitely growing more roma tomatoes.  I mixed in some overripe heirlooms and early girls into this sauce.

Pesto

A family favorite around here.  Lots of basil this year.  We also use the pesto for pizzas, spread for breads or other yummies.

Cucumber Salads

We made this for home, parties and to bring to potlucks.  A good (and cheap) way to enjoy cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden.

Other yummy stuff from the garden not pictured: 

GREEN BEANS (many many many meals of this stuff and we're still loving it.  Growing more for a late fall harvest)

BOK CHOY: Not a lot of it, but enough for an occasional stir fry or baby food

LETTUCE: Baby lettuces, butterhead, etc.  Great by itself and used plenty in burgers and sandwiches.

Love our garden! :)

 

WIP and Diet Coke

Just a little post to prove that I am actually still making quilts ;).  I've been working on a couple of baby quilts to add to the shop.  I couldn't resist starting this project because I have been in love with this coral for a while now and have been itching to use it before I run out.

There's been a whole lot of trimming...

...don't you wish you could use these little pretty trimmings for something???  Does anyone use these?

...and Diet Coke drinking

I'll try to sneak in some more quilting time soon and hopefully get these quilts DONE :).

Made By ME #93 Linky Party and Features

I'm back!  And so is this week's linky party :).  And now my kids are ready for their first week of school - starting Wednesday.  My oldest is starting 1st grade and my second is starting his home 'preschool'.  Exciting times!   Here's some beautiful (and super creative) creations from the last party.  As usual, scroll down to add your project this week :).

CRAFTS & DECOR

Floating Bedside Shelves from Turtles and Tails 

Bracelet Popsicle Stick Craft from B-Inspired Mama 

PVC Puppet Theater Tutorial from Cutesy Crafts

FOOD

S'mores Bites from The First Year Blog 

Grilled Sausage Skewers with BBQ Sauce from Food Corner

Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn Recipe from Raining Hot Coupons

SEWING AND KNITS

 

An Owl Hoo Hoo from Kuka and Bubu 

Upholstery Coasters from Gina's Craft Corner

...and onto this week's "Made by ME" Linky Party.  

Happy Linking everyone! 

... and don't forget to visit our fellow bloggers :)

  

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Pickling...A Lot

We were blessed with a LOT of cucumbers from our vegetable garden this year.  I've made cucumber salads, gave them to family & friends and eaten most of them sliced along side our meals.  So after my last harvest I was left with over 20 cucumbers.  So I decided to do some pickling...and it was FUN :)!

I used a variation of this recipe (added less sugar and a ton of bell peppers and onions).

First do a lot of slicing.  Remember I had 20 cucumbers to go through...

A lot of other yummy stuff like bell peppers, onions and garlic.

 

Then I salted the pickles, drained it (after 3 hours)...

 

Then poured in the prepared pickles mixture (with the lowered sugar content).

 

Voila! Seven bottles of pickles ready to refrigerate and enough to last for months...and months :)

No Linky Party This Week :(

Back to school madness this week!  Yep, it's that time of year again for shopping, last minute summer activities and getting the kids back to the 'school mode'.  Linky party will be back next week :).

Have a great week everyone!

Making Twill Tape Tags

If you've ever ordered my napkin sets (shameless plug ;)) you know that I use twill tape as a tag on each set up napkins.  They are each individually printed, ironed, cut and attached by yours truly.  I know it's tedious at times but I believe in the concept of making things from scratch...plus the process is relaxing when I have the time :).

So once in while I make a big batch of it and today I want to share with you some photos of this process.

 

Step 1: Design your logo and the REVERSE (aka mirror image) of it ready to print

Step 2: Print it on transfer paper like this one from Amazon

Step 3: Cut out your logos 

Step 4: Iron on (aka transfer on) to your twill tape

Step5: Cut to into individual labels

I make a bunch of these at a time and save them in a zipper bag.  A little tedious...a little therapeutic...but from scratch and saves a little bit of $$ :).

Made By ME #92 Linky Party and Features

Hi everyone and welcome to another week of my linky party.  Beautiful projects last week - lots of favorites and highlights ... and few featured below. 

Please scroll down to share your creation this week :)

FOOD

Apple Cinnamon Bread from Mostly Food and Crafts 

Copycat Chai Tea Frappuccino from Flour On My Face

Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzel Bites from Redfly Creations

CRAFTS & DECOR

Numbers Game Car Parking from B-Inspired Mama

Pretty Paper Basket from Crafty Jourmal

SEWING AND KNITS 

Homemade Shirt from Kuka and Bubu

Urban Princess Dress from Domestic Bliss Squared 

...and onto this week's "Made by ME" Linky Party.  

Happy Linking everyone! 

... and don't forget to visit our fellow bloggers :)

  

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Made By ME #91 Linky Party and Features

I'm ready to get back to a regular (re: normal SCHOOL) routine.  Now that I have 1 (of 3) child in school, summers are becoming verrrry long.  I feel like we've done it all - camping, swim practice, library programs, playdates, beach, etc etc.  So when does school start again???  Wow, not for another 3 weeks...  I guess we'll have to keep on keeping busy with the kids.  Notice the lack of finish projects on MY part?

On a more productive note, I'm so glad that there's been so many great project by my wonderful readers out there :).  I love browsing through the projects weekly - Truly amazing!  Here's some highlights from last week - and of course scroll down to the bottom to add your beautiful creation.

FOOD

 

Fruit Cube Mocktails from Los Dos Aiko's 

Basic Mexican Rice Recipe from QueenBee Coupons 

Minion Cupcakes from Twinkies from My Litter

CRAFTS & DECOR

A Sort of Coffee Table from Pieces to Treasure

Milk Jug Toy Scoop from Crafty Journal

SEWING AND KNITS 

Slip Dress from Lollipop Garden Crafts

Ultimate Reusable Snack Sack Tutorial from Sew Can Do

...and onto this week's "Made by ME" Linky Party.  

Happy Linking everyone! 

... and don't forget to visit our fellow bloggers :)

  

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Watermelon Aqua Fresca

I remember last summer - I was pregnant and LOVE LOVE LOVE fresh watermelon.  Don't get me wrong, I still love it but haven't been in the mood for cut up watermelon.  So I had a little idea - Watermelon Aqua Fresca.  I used to make this years ago and totally forgot about it until recently.

Super easy recipe:

- Half a small watermelon (the big ones don't fit in our fridge)

- 1 cups of simple syrup (1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water ... put into a pot and boil until sugar dissolves.  Then cool :))

- Optional - Lime or Lemon

(1) Cut watermelon into cubes and blend well

(2) Pour blended watermelon through a shifter.

(If you have a baby around, save the pulp - makes for a yummy treat for your little one!)

(3) Pour in the cooled simple syrup.  

(4) If you like, squeeze in some fresh lime or lemon juice to taste.

(5) Chill in fridge for a couple of hours, pour over ice and enjoy!