April showers bring May flowers….

…and June, July and August flowers.

Back in April at school Makayla planted a tiny seed in a little cup and as it sprouted she was able to bring it home. She asked if we could start a garden. That day on the way home we stopped at Wal-mart bought a few pots, some packs of seeds, potting soil, and a watering can. 

She put in all the dirt, the seeds, and waters them everyday! 

I have been taking pictures along the way! 

April 4th The first day!

April 28th the first growth

May 10th. Plants are doing well. See the little one at the bottom that is the one from school

Here it is the one that started it all! 

May 31st the first bloom

June 12th all the plants are doing well and growing nicely 

July 3rd! The first flowers with cut and put in a vase as the center piece of the table.

Makayla is so proud of her plants. They are all growing nicely despite the heat, we get the cut flowers every few days! What a fun and easy project to do with kids!  I don't think they will survive the winter but it give us something to look forward to next Spring!

Who doesn't LOVE quiche???

This recipe is so quick and easy and you can make it the day before and just reheat when you are ready for it!

Chicken, Broccoli, and Mushroom quiche

Ingredients 

2 frozen pie crust (or homemade but who has time for that?)

1 pack of chicken breast cut into very small pieces

1 small onion chopped

1 8oz pack of mushrooms sliced 

1 small bag of frozen broccoli

12 eggs

and LOTS of freshly shredded cheese (what ever kind you like)

You can add or change any of these ingredients to what you and your family like.

Heat the olive oil 

Saute the onion and chicken (season Salt and Pepper)

when the chicken is cooked add the mushrooms and cook to release the water 2-4 minutes

add the frozen broccoli (I just put it on top and cover so it just slightly steams, I do not like my broccoli overcooked) 

I use 6 full eggs and 6 egg whites just to make it a little healthy (LOL) 

I whisk in some goat cheese (some people use heavy cream but I am watching the calories)

Poke and heat the room temperature pie crust for 4 minutes

Spoon the chicken and veggie mixture into the pie shell (not the liquid)

Pour the egg mixture over the chicken, veggie until the crust is full

Top heavily with your favorite shredded cheese (i just used little pieces from what was in the fridge)

Bake for 35-45 minutes in a 400-425 oven 

until its golden brown and firm through the middle!

I will serve this tomorrow night for dinner. Just reheat at 350 for about 20 minutes

We will have fruit and a simple salad on the side! 

I even made one for my Mom!!! 

This is a perfect meal for a get together or brunch! It's quick and easy and you can make it ahead of time! Let me know if you make it and what you stuffed yours with! 

You can also make this crustless in an oven safe pan!

 

Cotton Candy!

Last week Makayla had Zoo/Circus day day at school and had to dress up like something from either the zoo or the circus. I knew everyone would be things like a monkey or elephant, or tight rope walker and I wanted her to be something different…I came up with COTTON CANDY! I am pretty impressed with my self. I made this costume for under $15! The tule was on sale for $1 a yard I need 4 yards of each. I found the pink shirt on sale for $3 at  navy and my mom embroidered it so it said "cotton candy 25cents and we already had the tights (for the stick that hold the cotton candy) and shoes. I even found kid perfume that smelled like cotton candy for $1. 

I cut and tied the tule around elastic and glued some to barrettes. Sprayed it with the perfume, gave her little pink glittery cheeks and this it what she looked liked. 

I think she looked perfect and she was the only one dressed like cotton candy among a circus full of elephants, popcorn, monkeys, and lions! 

What's for dinner?

Blacked fish Tacos

Ingredients:

Slaw:

1/4 green onion with the green part --sliced

1 handfull of cilantro (about 1/3 to half of the bunch) chopped

juice from 1 lime

1 tablespoon veg. oil

1 garlic clove finely chopped or pressed

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon Blackened seasoning

1/2 small bag of broccoli slaw

Fish:

2 tilapia fillets about 1 lb

same blackened seasoning

1 avocado sliced

6-8 corn tortillas warmed

a little shredded cheese I use a mix of yellow and white you only need maybe 1/2 a cup

Directions

Preheat oven to 400

for the slaw, combine green onions, cilantro, lime juice, oil, garlic clove, sugar, and seasoning. mix together add in slaw and toss until all coated. Cover and put in the fridge until ready to eat.

Rince the fish and place on your baking pan, sprinkle with the blacking seasoning bake until flakey about 12-18 min.

While the fish is cooking slice the avocado, warm the tortillas and grate the cheese. When the fish is ready plate it all up and serve. We ate 3 small tortillas each. Steve and I both really really like these. They were light, fresh, and filling. I didn't even make any sides

This weeks Menu

Making a weekly menu on Sundays by whats on sale and coupons is saving us a TON of money! And is saving me a lot of headache and a ton of time! We have been putting in some long days and the last thing I want to think about is what's for dinner. This week I saved over $50 on Groceries and I bought everything I needed for the week!

Monday Lunch -Fruit salad, cheese and crackers, and greek yogurt.
               Dinner- our weekly visit to Sweet Tomatoes

Tuesday -Blacked fish tacos ( I love this recipe and it very healthy)

Wednesday- Chicken pot Stickers and cabbage salad (a lot of carry over ingredients from Tuesday)

Thursday- Chicken and mushroom Quiche! I have been craving this!

Friday- would normally be date night but this week we are going to save money since we went out with friends this past saturday and do an antipasti plate! Yumm

I only spent $120 at Publix and got all I need for these meals, and lunches for the week for Makayla and us.

I have a small head cold and have been wanting hot tea but shouldn't be drinking some of the herbs in natural loose leave teas so I made my own tonight! Orange and lemon peels, apples, peaches and honey let them seep in hot water and waalaa homemade all natural tea. I used the rest of the fruits in my fruit salad.  It's delish!

Hope you all have a great week!