Happy Easter and Happy Planning!

I need to do some updating soon - with lots of pictures! My little seedlings are growing well and I'm quite proud of them. I only had one little pepper plant pop up, so I'll have to plant a few more of those. Stuffed peppers sound totally yummy!!!


My husband & I celebrated our 1st year of marriage this past weekend and so we enjoyed a little get-a-way. It's hard to believe that it has taken me almost 1 year of marriage to finally figure out menus, cooking, and budgeting for two people. I grew up in a home with five younger siblings, so I'm used to making food go far, but I have found out that stretching food is not the greatest thing for a couple of newlyweds, unless we want to eat the same thing for 2 weeks straight. We don't mind leftovers, but I enjoy cooking and baking and if I only get to cook 1x in two weeks I feel useless in the kitchen!


WARNING: PLAN AHEAD! I learned that being gone over the weekend means that you MUST plan ahead. I was so thrilled with the idea of not having to wash dishes or cook meals for 2 days, that I forgot to plan a meal for Sunday night and Monday's lunch (which is usually leftovers from Sunday dinner). Since we had been gone Friday and Saturday and spent Sunday afternoon with family.....I didn't have any food prepared for Monday lunch! We ran out of bread this past week, so I couldn't just make a tuna sandwich or a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I have English muffins, but they don't taste quite right with tuna or P&J. So, this morning, I just pulled out the lasagna out from the freezer, cooked it, and went to have lunch with my husband at work! :)

I hope to add pictures and include the step-by-step instructions for making a fabric covered recipe book soon!


Have you started to prepare your shopping list for the month of May? Are you trying any new recipes? How much more are you going to try to decrease your grocery spending? Are you going to try using more coupons? Are you working on a garden?

Hope you all had a blessed Easter celebrating our Risen Lord!

Planting!

It appears to me that whenever I have time to plant my seeds, it tends to be quite a windy day! I get quite the workout chasing my seed packets and containers about the yard! Our dog, Daisy also enjoys helping me chase the blowing seed packets - she thinks it's quite fun to go bounding after a blowing package and them take it to a nice grassy area to chew on it. She also likes to chew on the seed starter plugs. Despite the constant "No, Daisy!" that I tend to say while she's around, I really enjoy having her company in the yard while I'm doing my planting.

Last Wednesday, it was quite windy and my seeds and containers went flying, but I did manage to plant some pepper seeds, lettuce & marigolds. I will use the marigolds to place around the tomato plants to help keep pests away. The marigolds are already up and growing well! Check out this neat website for "companion planting" - what to plant nearby to certain plants and what plants to keep away from each other: Companion Planting.

Yesterday, we planted lavender, a few more beets, two rows of radishes, cucumbers, and butternut squash! I'm totally looking forward to a fresh homegrown salad!!!

Are you planting a garden? What are some of your tricks to keep those pesty little insects, bunnies and deer away from your plants?