Friday thoughts--my bulbs

My random Friday thoughts and pictures of some of the over 100 bulbs I planted last fall. . .

My weekly bathroom mirror inspirational quote.  Love that picture!  Love the smile on Elder Eyring's face too!

So I am very blessed to have a girlfriend who is an expert gardener.  She is amazing, and I love her so much!  She is always the one I go to with garden questions.  Last fall several of my girlfriends decided we wanted to order some bulbs.  Well, my expert gardener friend picked out the best of the best for us to order.  She spent so much time finding the right colors and the best kinds.  

So last fall I happily ordered over 100 bulbs shown above--each bag had 10 bulbs or more in it.  Of course you have to actually plant them once you order them :)  So I spent some quality time in my flower beds last November and my knees and hands were pretty sore I admit after planting all those bulbs.

But this spring my sore knees and hands were worth it when things started to bloom.

I had daffodils early spring--lots and lots of daffodils.

And now I am seeing the fruits of my labors with tulips and those purple flowers are alliums

A close up of this gorgeous pink/peach tulip

Some more tulips--they are big and so beautiful!

Pretty pink

Glorious huge white ones

Magenta ones

I love all the colors!

The purple alliums are not fully out yet--they turn into big purple spike balls--so cool!

It is nice to see the positive results--the fruits of my labors. So pretty!! Thanks so much Patti!!!

What's up Wednesday--the best granola

I love granola.  I love oatmeal--not plain, but in things.  I know I have mentioned this granola before, but it bears repeating.  If you haven't made it, you need to.  It is divine.  Our family can eat the whole recipe in one sitting.  I have made it for our treat for Friday night movie nights, and everyone cheers.  I even made this for seminary once and was very surprised that the high school boys gobbled it up.  The original recipe is from, of course, Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  She uses raisins, but my family loves the dried cranberries.  I also use coconut oil instead of regular oil when I make this, but both work well.  I just like things I can make with coconut oil because it smells so good :)  This is divine over vanilla yogurt in the mornings or just with milk.  It is also just great to snack on.  Enjoy!

Coconut and Cashew Granola

 3 cups oats, can use old fashioned or quick

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup cashews

3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1/4 cup plus 2 Tab brown sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tab pure maple syrup

1/4 cup vegetable or coconut oil

3/4 cup salt

1 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 250. In a large bowl combine the oats, nuts, coconut and brown sugar.  In a smaller bowl whisk together the oil, syrup, and salt.  Slowly pour the liquid over the oatmeal mix and stir well until all covered.  Divide in half and pour onto two 11x17 rimmed baking sheets.  Spread out into an even layer for each sheet.  Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes until golden.  Remove from oven.  Transfer to a large bowl and mix in 1 cup of raisins or dried cranberries.  Store covered.

Enjoy!

2014 Blue Jeans Week 17

A fun, busy week starting with Easter, 2 track meets, author visits, an amusement park visit, and then Miss A had her state solo competition which she got a "1"!  Way to go Miss A!!!!  Busy week!  Take a look. . .

Easter Sunday--showing off new Easter dresses and tie

Twin ties--aren't they handsome!

The missionaries from our church shared with us a great scripture lesson.  I was so impressed with their creation!  Talking about building up strong defenses to protect our families and keep them close to Christ.

Track Meet #1 of the week for Miss O--she did awesome--3 medals in her races!

Had the sister missionaries over to help us get the garden cleaned out today.  This sister went to BYU, so we all had to wear our BYU shirts and get a photo.  

Had two visiting children's book authors/illustrators here this weekend for our county young author celebration.  This is Mr J with author Peter Lerangis.  A great presentor!!

Miss O with author Peter Lerangis and some of his books she got signed.

Miss O and the amazing illustrator Ard Hoyt.  He was just awesome to hear present!  So talented!  Check out his books if you haven't seen them before.  

Miss E and illustrator Ard Hoyt with some of her favorite books of his.  Miss A and Ben were not there because they were at track meet #2 of the week, but no photos of that because I had the camera with me :)

Saturday our family was scattered across the state.  These two partners in crime went to the city to the amusement park as a fun end of school trip.  Miss A and Ben were in another city (with no camera) for her state voice solo where she got a "1"!!!!  And Mr J and I were at the author celebration.  Busy day!  Only 3 weeks of school left!!!!  I am ready for summer!!

Thanks for visiting!  Come back soon!

Friday thoughts

My random Friday thoughts and excess Easter photos. . .

My weekly bathroom inspirational quote.  This applies not only to spouses but to everyone.  Good advice all around.

Trying to get decent Easter photos can be a challenge sometimes. . .she was not going to smile.  Her shoes didn't fit right, so she wasn't going to wear them.  Sunday morning at 9:40 when we have to leave for church at 9:45 is not the time to break down, have a fit, and tell me your Sunday shoes do not fit.  Can't do a thing about it then.  Sorry.  She wore the too-tight fitting shoes and new Sunday shoes are on the shopping list for this week :)

Funny face with older sister accidentally in the back ground. . .

"You stand here." "Don't move!" " Dad, tell him to move!"  It is always the little brother's fault.

Everyone is smiling, but you realize your youngest is getting too tall to stand in front of his sister anymore.

Necessary crazy pose.

And finally a pretty good Easter shot except the tie is crooked but that is ok :)

What's up Wednesday--blueberry zucchini bread

I love, love, love zucchini.  I know people joke about how much you get and how people can't give it away and locking your car doors at church so people won't sneak it into your car and stuff.  Well if you have any to give away, please give it to me, put it in my car at church because we can use it here.  Sometime I will have to show you my "zucchini recipes" list.  It is long.  I can never run out of ways to use this awesome veggie.  Sadly, I plant lots of zucchini, but it doesn't seem to do well in my garden.  Squash bugs (hate them!) always seem to get it before I can get my fill.  It is so frustrating!  Anyway, garden woes aside, I found this bread somewhere (sorry, can't remember where) in December posted as a great neighbor gift and I thought, "Who has blueberries or zucchini in December?"  So I didn't make it until Spring, and boy is it good.  My 16 year old tried it and said, "That is seriously the best bread you have ever made!"  It is very good!  I use frozen berries, but if you have fresh, that is great too.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup shredded zucchini

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a large loaf pan.  Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugars until well mixed.  Add in zucchini and mix.  Add flours, salt, soda, baking powder and cinnamon and mix.  Fold in blueberries.  Put in pan and bake 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from middle.  Cool 20 minutes in pan before removing to rack to cool completely.  Yum!  Bring on the zucchini!!!

2014 Blue Jeans week 16

A fun, record breaking week!  Miss O broke the school record for her winning mile run this week at her huge (20 schools and over 900 athletes) track meet.  She was so excited!  We enjoyed Easter activities, and our annual Easter Egg hunt and pot luck lunch.  Here is a look at our week. . .

Sunday evening my Dad had a meeting for the youth in our church at our house.  It was about art and Christ in art.  It was very good.

Ben helping Miss A with her homework.  Thank heavens he can because I cannot remember anything about trigonometry or chemistry, can anyone else?

Ben got a few of the kids (the ones that would actually wake up) up in the middle of the night to see the lunar eclipse this week.  It was pretty cool.  

Miss O running her record breaking mile.  She did awesome!!  The school record for the middle school was from 1987 and was 5:54.  She ran it in 5:53!!!  She was so cute down on the field when she found out.  She was jumping up and down.  Way to go Miss O!!!

No school Friday so we headed up to the city for some shopping and lunch at Chipotle--of course--one of our favorite places to eat.

Our 8th annual Easter Egg Hunt and Pot Luck lunch.  It was a beautiful day, and everyone had lots of fun!  These kids are already to go get some eggs!

Our family dying Easter eggs.  Did you know you can dye raw eggs?  We do it every year.  You just have to be very careful :).  We made it through without breaking any.  We don't hard boil them because no one but Ben likes hard boiled eggs, and my kids love to dye dozens of eggs, and I don't want to waste them being hard boiled, so we just do them raw.  Everyone likes to experiment with different ways to color the eggs.  Ben and Miss A were using a straw to drip the dye on the eggs.  They looked pretty cool.  

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you had a great Easter weekend!  Come back often!

What's up Wednesday--potato cheese soup

 Going along with my last week's Wednesday post, this potato cheese soup was another recipe my DeeDee brought me weekly during my Freshman year of college.  It is such a comfort food to me.  I know soup season is almost gone--hello spring, but this soup is just a classic, and so good!  This is my 'go to' meal whenever I have to take food to someone--- a friend who just had a baby, someone sick, etc.  It is loved by all who have tried it.  Enjoy!

DeeDee's Potato Cheese Soup

Cook in a large pot until tender:

  

5 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium onion chopped fine

1 stalk celery, cut fine (my family omits this because my kids hate celery in soup)

1 carrot sliced 

1 quart water or chicken brother

5 tsp chicken granules if using water or 1 tsp chicken granules is using chicken broth

frozen peas--about half a bag

Cook until veggies are tender

In another pot make a white sauce:

Melt 1/2 cup butter

Add in 1/2 cup flour and mix

Whisk in 1 1/3 cups milk until mixture is smooth.

Cook until smooth and slightly thickened, then stir into cooked veggies.

Add 8 oz of Velveeta cheese, chopped up.  

Warm and stir until cheese is melted.  Serve.

Yum!  Enjoy!