Saturday Morning Tradition

The public market is a great way to spend a morning. 

My husband and I love to get up early and visit the public market for fresh fruits, veggies and other special treats.  If you have a public market in your area, I would highly suggest you seek them out!  Not only are you getting a great deal on fresh items, but you are also helping support your local farmer by cutting out the middle man and giving the profits directly to them.  See for yourself!

Broccoli - 3 medium sized florets@ $2.00, Compare at $1.69/lb
Cauliflower - 1@ $2.00, Compare at $2.69 ea
Carrots - basket $1.00, Compare at $2.29
Sweet Onions - 2 large@ $1.00, Compare at $1.49/lb
Grapefruit - basket@ $3.00, Compare @ 4 for $5.00 (I got 6)
Brussel Sprouts - basket $2.00, Compare at $2.29/lb
Strawberries - 2 boxes $3.00, Compare at $2.99 ea
Cabbage - 2 X-Large@ $2.00, Compare at $.39/lb
Bananas - 1 bunch $1.50, Compare @ $.49/lb (same price)
Freschetta Bread - 5@ $2.00, I was only able to find this at my local grocery store in a frozen pizza style and it was $4.99 each!  I'd rather make my own for much less)

We spontaneously purchased the sticky buns and tart as a treat:
Cinnamon Buns - 1@ $2.00
Apple Tart - 1@ $.75

There is a ton of variety and many vendors (including vendors that sell cheese, nuts, seafood, eggs, meat and more!).  Our public market is open year round with a wide selection of items.  In the summer time we enjoy going almost every Saturday.  So check out your local public market and enjoy!

Queen Anne's Lace in Color

I grew up in the country, as in fields and cows and not many neighbors. I remember picking Queen Anne's Lace in the field behind our house. My sister and I would fill vases with colored water to place the flowers in so that the white lacy heads would turn color. I saw some Queen Anne's Lace this summer and realized I had never shared this summer activity with my own children. I guess we are more "town folk" now because we actually had to ride our bikes out of our weed-wacked, well mowed neighborhood to find some Queen Anne's Lace!

We filled disposable water bottles with different colored water...going for a rainbow of blossoms. I tried to explain that the color change would be subtle, just a tinge of color. I didn't want the kids to expect bright, brilliant flowers.

The colored water looked so pretty, we were so excited. We waited...a few hours later, no change. The next morning...no change. Two days later...no change and some wind picked up and blew all the bottles off the table and all over the deck. Hummm...a rainbow deck? Interesting but not really what I was going for! I couldn't figure out why this didn't work.


Looking at the picture above I can tell why this probably didn't work, I think the stems were way too long. I don't think the water ever made it up to the lace!

Fast forward to try number two...

Smaller vases and shorter stems, way shorter stems. And what do we have here? Is that some color in those lacy flowers? Success.

Have a happy, color filled week!

Linking To...

Tin Foil Meals

We just spent a very fun, but rainy, week camping. My sister and I plan all the dinners for the week and one of our favorites is a tin foil meal. This was inspired by my husband's many years of Boy Scouts and he is definitely the master of the charcoal. We just bring all the ingredients and everyone builds their own dinner.

We start with a good sized sheet of heavy duty foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. We flop down a hamburger patty (or two if you're a very hungry camper ☺), then add sliced potatoes, carrots, zucchini, onion, salt and pepper, and a slice of bread. Yup, that's right, a slice of bread. The bread absorbs the liquids from the veggies as they cook and it sorta turns into stuffing. Our group is split 50/50 between those of us who like to add bread and those who don't. (I vote yes! to the bread). This dinner must have belonged to a non-bread-adder.

 We don't add anything like ketchup or hot sauce until after everything cooks because we found that any sugar in a sauce just makes the meal burn easier, we figured that out the hard way years ago!

Now wrap up the foil and then double wrap it in a second sheet of foil so nothing can leak out while it cooks. Then you give your foil dinner to The Mayor who sets it on the charcoal. None of us can figure out how he remembers whose dinner is whose (there are 9 of us) but he remembers! It must be his Eagle Scout skills kicking in, incredible memory stimulated by the smell of food cooking in the woods.

 We use a couple of metal shelves from an old refrigerator as our grates and The Mayor has a really heavy pair of gloves that he wears so he can just pick up the foil packets and move them or flip them.

The Mayor lets them cook for 10 minutes, then flips them and they go for another 10 minutes. They start to smell so yummy I am surprised the bears didn't come check us out!

These are hungry children, waiting for their dinners to finish cooking, passing the time in the hammock. See the sun streaming in through the trees from the lake? Truly beautiful. Take a good look because pretty soon it will start to rain...and rain...and you will be stuck in your camper or under a 10 x 10 awning listening to NOTHING BUT RAINDROPS!!! Okay, back to the dinner...

Ahhh, yumminess in a foil packet. Thanks Mayor/Dad! Luckily I remembered to take a photo before I doused mine with ketchup so you could actually see the food! I am a ketchup queen. Somehow the burger gets cooked and the potatoes come out tender and it tastes oh, so good! It tastes like camping... but without the rain!

Lulu's Sizzlin' Saturday...Summer Squash and Stuffing Casserole

This week Lulu's Sizzlin' Saturday is showcasing a recipe that my Nana made in the 70's. My mom said that her family ate this casserole a lot in the summer because they had a garden and there was a ton of summer squash to cook and eat. It is a different dish and worth a try if you've never had the pleasure of tasting it.

Summer Squash and Stuffing Casserole

Place 6 cups sliced summer squash and 1/2 cup sliced onion in a sauce pan with about a cup of water. Boil for 5 minutes and drain. In a large bowl, combine 1 can Cream of Chicken soup, 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup shredded carrots. Fold in the drained squash and onion. 

Prepare two 5 oz boxes of Stove Top stuffing as directed on package. Spread 1/2 the stuffing in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread squash mixture on top. Add remaining stuffing on top. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.

My mom and I used light sour cream and the lower sodium soup and stuffing. We also used match stick carrots instead of shredding them ourselves. The match stick carrots are thicker than shredded carrots so we precooked them with the squash and onions so they would be softer. 

Enjoy!

Summer Salad Round-Up

Summer salads...ahhh...they are the comfort food of hot weather. Here are some of my favorites.

Asian Summer Slaw

 It's crunchy, with a unique flavor and because it doesn't have any mayo, it is a great choice for outdoor picnics. Everyone will thank you! My family prefers it made with the broccoli slaw, more crunch and the green color of the broccoli is nice.  Here is the recipe.

Tabbouleh

Cracked wheat and lemon juice, and a great way to use some fresh garden tomatoes. Here is the recipe.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

 This is the easiest salad ever...drain two cans of corn and one can of black beans, add a diced red roasted pepper. Dress it with your favorite red wine vinaigrette, I use bottled dressing by Kraft. Yum.

Mac Salad with Lettuce

I like this recipe, because mac salad is like the love of my life but packs lots of calories. So, this recipe mixes your favorite mac salad with shredded lettuce. Mix together and enjoy the crunchy change. The only downfall is that leftovers are a bit soggy, so eat up!

Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Salad

This is my number one yummy in the tummy salad. Salad? Sometimes this is the meal! It's just penne pasta, I use the mini penne cause it's so cute, and cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and Italian dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. So good. That was the best thing we ate this week!

Lulu's Sizzlin' Saturday... Fabulous Fruit Tray

Welcome back to Lulu's Sizzlin' Saturday! Today I am going to be showing you how to make a beautiful, delicious fruit tray. This is one fruit tray that is welcomed at any party!
 

It may look like this takes hours but it is actually quite simple!

To start off you will need... a pineapple, maraschino cherries and any other fruit you desire!

Now for the pineapple....first you take a whole pineapple and cut it into fourths all the way up through the leaves.

Next you need to start at the base of the leaves and cut the pineapple fruit away from the hard skin.

Then you cut away the hard center of the pineapple only leaving the edible part.

The last step to prepping the pineapple is to cut the piece of pineapple in half lengthwise and then cut it into chunks.

Finally, you need to halve enough maraschino cherries so that there is one half for every pineapple chunk. Then you place one half on one chunk push a tooth pick through the cherry and into the pineapple securing the cherry in place. Do this for each chunk of pineapple.

Then you need to construct! You can use whatever other fruit sounds good to you! For this fruit tray we used cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi and blueberries.

We used two quarters of the pineapple but in the past we have used all four quarters for a larger party... experiment!

Have fun and enjoy!☺

simple...♥

i want to simplify...don't you? 

this summer has been a strong reminder that i will never reclaim time that has past...

"...my days are as a shadow that passeth away"...psalm 144

little girl giggles...

curly hair that smells like the beach

milk & cereal out on the deck...

simple things...

clothespins & decoupage...cuteness

chicks & hens livin' in a carved out tree stump

(the chief came up with this all on his own...i ♥ this man)

celebrating 12 years this weekend...love ya all my life ♥ 

free printable for you...download here ♥

happy simpleness...

Linking ♥