tippy toe through our garden

about a week and a half ago, when it was sunny and not rainy, we spent our sunday afternoon together as a family. it was such a lovely day. we were all feeling well. the sun was shining beautiful. it felt like spring was on it's way. so, we took advantage of it and planted our garden. when we first looked at this home, both the mister and i instantly thought of using the koi pond as our garden plot so, after ten large bags of potting soil all we had to do was wait for the perfect day to plant. here's how it went...

plotting out what should go where

these little white rocks were left at the bottom of the pond.

we thought they would make good dividers.

the kiddo's making garden markers

we planted...

lettuce

spinach

radishes

onions

carrots

brocolli

basil

cherry + roma tomatoes

parsley

peppers

cucumbers

(Qcumbers is how the little miss spelled it)

rosemary

cilantro

chives

corn

squash

and cantaloupe

we also bought 2 preying mantis' egg cases to eat all the icky bugs around here

and lady bugs to help out the preying mantis'

the kiddo's made sure each lady bug was safely put in all of our garden beds

we ended our day with this book we found a few weeks back at the used book sale at our local library. "who goes there in my garden?" by ethel collier. it was a great book to show the kiddo's what will be happening in our garden.

and guess what?

we have sprouts!

just a week and a half later. we are super excited for the rest of our goods to sprout and have a full garden we can use on a daily basis.

my go to dinner = it's quick

i don't know about you, but it seems like my days are getting shorter and shorter. i know that we recently just had our time change her in so cal., but it does seem like it is helping me out. i feel like my days are rushed, i don't get everything i want to done, and worst of all dinner keeps sneaking up on me. it's seems as though i have just finished giving my kiddo's lunch and then, bam it's dinner time. maybe my days are crammed with too much stuff. i'm not sure, but i definitely need to sit down and re-evaluate my days and schedule. until then i will share with you my all time fastest, tastiest meal to prepare when those days just get ahead of me. it's nothing fancy or gourmet and by all means i am certainly not a chef, but this one is so simple anyone can prepare it. here it is...

Chicken Sausage with Peppers and Onion

i know it's a pretty fancy title, but don't be intimidated. here's what i do. i buy a package of fully cooked, sweet italian chicken sausage, a pack of green bell peppers, a pack of red bell peppers, and an red onion. i then slice everything up. i put a tablespoon or so of olive oil in the skillet and add the sausage first. i let it get a little brown and then add the rest of the ingredients. i let it cook for 15- 20 minutes or until everything is just the way i like it and i serve it over brown rice. it's really good. it's a hit in my home and it's faster and healthier than me hopping in my car to go through some drive - thru. and that my friends, is my quick go to dinner!

smile

hope you have a great weekend filled with lots of smiles