Chocolate Chia Pudding

My husband and I love chia pudding.  Our favorite is peanut butter and jelly but I like making chocolate because it’s so simple.  Everything can be mixed in the same container so it’s easy.  Chia seeds are loaded with nutrients and antioxidants so you don’t have to feel guilty eating dessert every night.  Enjoy!

Freezer Pickles

These freezer pickles are crispy and good.  They’re so good that the first batch never made it to the freezer.  My husband and I put them in salads and sometimes just ate them out of a bowl. The concept for freezer pickles is to freeze them in a brine and once thawed they retain there freshness and crunch.  I’ve never tried this before but thought I’d give it a try.  I’m excited about the possibility of having tasty cucumbers in the winter.  Enjoy!

Three Sisters

I thought I’d try my hand at the “three sisters” companion planting this year with corn, beans and squash.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did.  They really do complement one another.  The only thing I’ll do different next year is expand the front of the bed to accommodate the squash and make an identical bed on the other side so they’ll mirror each other. Ive included pictures from my garden and the Old Farmer’s Almanac article below that I used as a guide.

Coconut Granola

I got this recipe from the Minimalist Baker.  She creates vegetarian, vegan and gluten free recipes.  I’ve tried several of her recipes and I’ve always tweaked them but I didn’t change a thing to this recipe.  I was in love from the get go.  I use this as my cereal.  I add dried blueberries and soy milk.  It’s so good and healthy.  My husband uses it as a yogurt topper and we both enjoy it as a movie snack.  Enjoy!

Pieris Garden

We finally got around to landscaping this side of the house.  It’s fun starting from scratch with landscaping when you build a house but when you do it yourself it takes time.  This area gets morning sun but it’s mostly in the shade so we decided to plant Pieris Japonica’s.  We’ve planted these shrubs at other houses with great success.  This variety is called Mountain Fire, there non-deciduous, meaning they don’t lose there leaves, so they’ll look great all year.  They are slow growers but reach up to 8 feet tall and span up to 6 feet wide.  They grow green and red leaves and bloom clusters of white flowers in the Spring.  Not only do these shrubs look great, the deer don’t touch them so in my neck of the woods that’s great news.

Zucchini Pizza Crust

Since I’ve had surplus zucchini from the garden I wanted to try different zucchini recipes.  I’ve seen lots of recipes for zucchini pizza crust around so I decided to give it a try.  I combined a few of the recipes I found to make this version.  One key is to be sure to squeeze all the water out so your crust isn’t soggy.  I topped our zucchini pizza with roasted tomatoes and basil both from our garden.  If you give this wonderful recipe a try, I hope you enjoy.

French Green Beans & Shallots

There’s nothing better than fresh green beans from the garden.  I like to boil my beans in a pot of salt water and then sauté them with butter and shallots.  They are so good I could make a meal out of them.  If you try this recipe, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. 

Vintage Patio Decor

I’ve blogged about vintage containers and vintage landscaping before, so here’s one on our vintage patio decor.  I can’t say enough about the charm of using vintage items in decorating.  It’s amazing how people spend a lot of money replicating this look by buying new items and not buying the original items from estate sales, thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, craigslist, or even find them in your basement.  I get a lot of my items from places listed above and from people who no longer want them.  I love to reuse items.  This passion has helped me become an avid recycler and composter as well.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

This was our first time eating cauliflower fried rice.  I’ve seen several recipes so I decided to take my favorite ingredients from two recipes I found online and create our version.  I’m a big fan of adding scrambled eggs to different dishes.  Not only is it a good source of protein, it’s absolutely delicious. This reminded me of thai food which is one of my favorites.  Enjoy!