August 29, 2012

Spotsylvania Farmers Market: Trip 5


Look at my fresh farm produce!  :)  I was happy that today was the Spotsylvania Farmer's Market near my house.  I love going there every Wednesday.  :)  The above picture is what I purchased today.  :)

I had budgeted what cash I had on hand.  I had $23.37!  :)  I knew I could get all sorts of stuff with that much.  I already knew I wanted peppers.  I was out at home and didn't want to get any from the grocery store.  Fresh peppers are my favorite and I truly appreciate all the farmers hard work on growing them.  I surely couldn't grow them because of the horned caterpillars.  At least I tried though.  :)

First off, I went to C&T produce booth and got 6 green peppers (1 has orange in it) for $4.  They were 3 for $2.  What a deal!!  :)  3 red peppers for $3.  I also got 1 tomato, 1 zucchini, and 1 little yellow squash.  The total came to $9.50 and I had a 10% off coupon bringing my total to $8.50.  :)  I saw some homegrown concord grapes.  They were $2.50 per pound.  I didn't want to buy them not knowing if I'd like them so I asked to try one.  The young girl said sure.  I didn't like it at all.  It was kinda spicy tasting to me and then there were seeds.  BLECH  I officially do not like concord grapes.  LOL


Next, I had to get my chocolate chip cookies with sea salt from Nancy's bakery booth.  The baker asked me what I needed and I told him "Well I don't need anything but I want 3 Chocolate chip cookies.  I had him laughing and the lady standing there finishing up a cookie laughing too.  :)  I sooooo funny!  :P  Anyways, my total there was $2.62.

I picked up a small thing of cherry tomatoes at another booth to make Chicken Risotto this weekend.  They were $3.00 for the little quart of them.

Next up, was a booth I'd never seen there before.  It was Valentine's Country Bakery and Meats.  A young Mennonite woman in a beautiful purple colored dress was working there.  She had so many baked goodies.  Pies, whoopies, breads etc.  I decided since we didn't have anymore bread at home that I would get a loaf of the freshly baked wheat bread to try.  It was $4.75.  A little pricey for bread but it's HOMEMADE so I decided to get it!  :)

I then went to a booth that I also get produce from every time I go but I don't know the name.  Next time, I will get the name.  LOL  Anyways, I saw watermelons for $5 or 2 for $9.  There were so many different ones.  I counted up my money and I was .50 cents short.  I'm sure the farmer would have made a deal if I'd asked but I didn't worry about it.

So I left with $4.50.  Not too bad.  :)


On the way home, I drove past a house that had a wheelbarrow full of homegrown watermelons out by the road.  A huge sign said 'WATERMELONS $1.00'.  I pulled in and put $2.00 in the honor system jug and picked out 2 little watermelons.  I love the honor system!  You don't have to deal with anyone pestering you.  You just go up, pick out what you want, pay for it and then take your goods.  No hassle at all.  :)  I was so excited to get the watermelons.  I don't know if they are seedless or not but who cares.  You can't beat $1.00 for a whole watermelon.  :)  I'm going to give the other one to my dad to try.  I remember him growing watermelons when I was little.  They were awesome and I bet these will be just as awesome too.  :)

So after I got home I had $2.50 left over.  I will probably save it for next week.  :)

August 28, 2012

Garden Progress- Day 129


I cleaned up my patio/deck garden today.  I got 26 tomatoes in all!  :)  YEY.  I would call that a success.  I emptied out the dead plants and old soil.  I then hosed out the pots with water and then let them dry in the sun before I stacked them in my shed.

I went to Lowe's this morning to see if they had any pumpkin seeds.  The worker told me they packed up all the seeds at the beginning of August.  She said to check Family Dollar, Dollar General, CVS or Target.  I might check around tomorrow.  I'm disappointed that Lowe's gets rid of the seeds so quickly.  Pumpkin seeds should be started at the first of September.  (from what I read)  I did walk about and find some good deals on plants.  I was temped to get a pink hibiscus plant for $5.00 or some hanging flowers for $2 but I didn't.  Oh, I also saw some blueberry starter plants that I was tempted to get but I didn't get those either.  I just left without spending any money.

This past weekend....



This past weekend, my little sister, Ashley came up and took me out for my birthday lunch.  We went to Panda Express.  Ashley had never been there and she loves this place now too.  It's that good!!  :)  Anyways, Ashley also gave me some birthday gifts.  She got me my favorite scent from Victoria's Secret.  (Love Spell)  And some reusable produce bags to take to the Farmer's Market.  :)  After lunch we went to Wegmans and picked up a few things.  Thanks Ashley!  :)

Later, that afternoon Nate and I went to a co-workers of mine, picnic.

The rest of the weekend was pretty much a lazy, lounge around weekend.  :)

August 27, 2012

New Things Monday

The other day, at the store I picked up some snacks to have at the house.  I found these Quaker Chewy dipps that were on sale at my grocery store.  There was several kinds to choose from but the Peanut butter and chocolate ones stood out the most to me.  They are awesome!!!!  By the end the weekend, they were all gone. Which reminds me to add them to the grocery list.  :)   LOL  Nate was a fan of them too.  It's a quick to go snack.

August 20, 2012

New Things Monday

Have you ever had chocolate covered sunflower seeds?  They are awesome and I think you should go find some right now and try them out for yourself.  Kristen, brought some over one day to try.  She'd gotten them from Trader Joe's.  They are yummy!  :)

Weekend fun


This past, Saturday, Nate and I went down to his parents for dinner.  Nate's mom, Linda, made a homemade Lasagna.  We also had a yummy salad and breadsticks.  It was so good.  Linda, invited over Chuck and Davette (neighbors) and they joined us for dinner and we enjoyed each other's company.  After dinner us women sat on the deck and chatted while watching the hummingbirds.  There must be 20 to 30.  It's so awesome to see.  They come really close to you and the chirps they make are just too cute.  After a while we didn't want to be eaten by mosquitoes so we came inside and played 6 rounds of scattegories.   Then had a dessert that Linda made.  It was a vanilla cake with pineapple and cool whip.  So yummy!  :)

On Sunday, my friend, Melissa came over and she gave me a awesome birthday gift.   


A while back, I'd broken my cake plate/punch bowl duo.  She must have known b/c she'd got me one.  It's really cute with the colored glass on the sides.  :)  Melissa also took me to lunch to Mimi's Cafe.  We chatted and caught up at lunch and then chatted some more back at the house, probably annoying Nate.  LOL  :)  Thanks so much for the fun day Melissa!!  :)

August 13, 2012

New Things Monday

Back in February, I talked about Chobani yogurt.  My favorite is Pineapple.  The other day at the store I saw Vanilla Chocolate Chunk.  I figured Nate and I could have it as a treat.  I tried it after lunch this afternoon and I couldn't even handle a spoonful.  BLECH  I guess it wasn't what I expected it to be.  I did not like it all.  It's vanilla yogurt with chocolate pieces.  I thought it would have more chocolate than it did.  Hopefully, Nate will try it and like it and eat it so it doesn't go to waste.

August 12, 2012

Garden Progress- Day 113

A little update on my patio/deck garden.  I've gotten 24 tomatoes from my one tomato plant.  I only have one little tomato left (#25) on the plant at the bottom (hard to see in picture) and he's very light green.  My marigold plant has only two nice flowers left.  The rest seems like a goner.


I checked my pepper plant this morning.  All three peppers that were doing so well are now rotted, shriveled up and just plain pathetic.  :(  The bigger one kinda looks like a pumpkin.  LOL  *pokes it*  Gross, it's very soft.  haha  I have no idea what went wrong with them.  I'm thinking those pesky horned caterpillars had something to do with this.  :|  <----mad face    Anyways, after 3 pepper plants, I will not be growing any of those again.  They just get my hopes up every time.

My basil is still pretty good.  :)  Look at that beautiful green color.

Baking ingredients storage solution

I took out my dymo label maker and made some labels for my quick storage solution.  I did this over a year ago.  I hated baking something and needing sugar or flour and making a mess trying to measure in or from the bag.  It gets everywhere.  The sugar/flour containers are perfect for your baking ingredients.


At the container store the other day, I picked up 3 more sugar containers for a purpose.  I washed them yesterday so they'd be clean and dry for my quick project.  I filled each container with what I wanted.

I made labels for dutch processed cocoa, corn starch and baking soda.  I hate the boxes these come in.  The stuff gets everywhere.  BLECH

 I lined my containers up neatly next to my other containers.  I love them!  :)

My next little project was taking the new turn table that I'd also gotten at the container store and putting my pam spray, w sauce and olive oil on.  I had them lined neatly in rows but I wanted this side to match the seasonings side.  :)


Nicely organized.  :)

Ack....I'm 33

For my 33rd birthday it fell on a Saturday this year.  (It was yesterday)  I told my dad a few weeks ago that Durango's was open again and now called Durango's grill.  My dad planned to take me here for my birthday so he had my mom plan it.  She invited the immediate family and then asked Nate to invite his parents.

We had a nice time during dinner.  My mom even got some cupcakes for my cake.  I had a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting.  

Thanks so much to Nate, Linda, Gene, Kristen, Dave, Natalie, Joseph, Adam, Mother and Dad for making me feel extra special during my birthday.  :)  Shoot even the owner of the restaurant and the waitress made me feel special.  They gave me birthday balloons.  How sweet!

Nate's birthday present was genius.  I joke with him that I'm going to make a restaurant and call it plate.  So, he made a menu.  It's soooooo cool.  Pictures don't even show how awesome this is.


This is just two of the pages he made.  He copied foods I've made from my blog and made some awesome explanations for each.  It looks all professional.  Oh and in the background are pictures of the food from my blog too.  :)

Here's some other presents I got.  I got a big tote like beach bag in my favorite Vera Bradley (purple punch), from my mom, Natalie gave me some soaps, foot cream and the coach wristlet.  My in-laws gave me some awesome candles that are battery operated.  Then you don't have to worry if the flame is still lit b/c it's not fire.  My dad gave me a gift card that's been re-gifted from other members of my family.  I think the original re-gifter (I know who it is) will be getting that gift card back.  :P  I think it will be funny to keep it going around.  :)


BFF Road Trip & Shopping

On Friday morning, Kristen picked me up and we headed up North to IKEA!

Kristen spent $301 and I spent $6.28.  All I got was 2 frying pans.  Kristen bought the whole store!  haha...just kidding.  We both just got the new catalog and Kristen found a ton of new stuff that she wanted.  My 2 frying pans are in the big container store on the left.  Everything else is Kristen's purchases.  haha


I saw these little succulent plants and cacti.  They were so cute!

I saw this book with the plants.  I thought it was cute.

I really liked this book.  Had lots of cute ideas in it.

I thought these Owl dishes were hideous.  I think Kristen liked them.  There was a lot of bird stuff if you're into 'put a bird on it' kinda things.  LOL

Kristen fell in love with this measuring tea towel.  She has a bit of a tea towel obsession.

These two books were pretty awesome as well.

The cooking tools come in adorable little bags.

Oh Kristen fell in love with this pot holder glove/mitten.  I love these best because you know it won't slip out of your hand b/c you're wearing it.  :)

This pillow on the left was cute.  I don't know where I'd use it but it was unique.

 Next up......The container Store.  I had a small list of things to get at this store.  I found everything I wanted and spent about $35.  Kristen picked up a few things as well.  She did not have a list b/c she'd focused so much on IKEA.  LOL  :)

I wanted to eat lunch at Panda Express.  It's one of those places we'd both never eaten at and I've been wanting to try it.  Kristen said she was game for Chinese so off we went.  The GPS took us to one that wasn't that far from where we were.


It's kinda like Chipotle.  There's a line and you go along and pick what you want.

Kristen and I both fell in love with the orange chicken and fried rice.  Soooooo yummy.

I ordered some chicken potstickers to try.  There was some confusion between cooks and it took a while to get them so server felt bad and gave us some cream cheese rangoon while the potstickers were cooking.  I was game to try.  Never had either before so it was time to try something new.  :)  I found both appetizers to be good.  Kristen didn't really like the filling in the potstickers.  I liked it but the after taste was gross so I ate it with the rest of my lunch plate and then it was fine.  :)

We decided to call it a day and head home while knowing we'd be sitting in DC traffic.  Ah well.  LOL  Then I thought I'd seen my friend Jessica's car and texted her and told her we were near and she invited us over.  She has a very nice house.  Jessica gave us the tour and then we sat and chatted with her for a little bit.  I also made up some rumors about JSimpson getting a DUI.  Stupid scroll on the bottom of the news by the time I saw it left off that it was JSimpson's dad and not JSimpson.  Oops....my bad.  LOL  :)

 Here's my loot from both stores.  :)

2 frying pans
3 sugar containers
water bottle with straw for Nate
spice turn table
polaroid picture frame

Cheery Cherry Pie Cupcakes

This past, Thursday I went to my Aunt Karen's house to bake with her.  I pinned a recipe for 
Cherry Pie cupcakes, which my Aunt Karen repinned and said we needed to make together.  I asked her when and Thursday worked out for both of us to get together.  YEY  We had Chicken Salad sammiches for lunch and then got right to baking.

Aunt Karen printed out the recipe.

Lots of ingredients.....We decided to make two batches so we could each have cupcakes.  Each batch makes 16 cupcakes.

Once the cherries are added to the batter it turns a beautiful color.

Fill your batter in your lined cupcake tin.

Bake your cupcakes.

Look at that pretty purplish/pink color.  :)

While cupcakes are cooling you can make your frosting.  This is just the butter mixing.  haha  It's 4 sticks of butter!!!!

Sift your powdered sugar.  I hated this process.  Sifting takes forever.  Aunt Karen did a good job with the sifting.  :)

Sugar and butter mixing.

You need a whole orange of zest.  We didn't use the whole orange because it was a really big orange.

After the frosting is done you can go ahead and take out the middle of your cupcakes and then add your cherry pie filling to the middle of the cupcake.

We used a small melon baller to scoop out cupcake middle and then used another melon baller to fill the cupcakes with the cherry filling.  About 2 to 3 cherries and some of the sauce.

Then frost your cupcakes.  We had to use a small tip so they look kinda funny with the swirls but we did the best with what we had.  We made it work.  :)

You can see the orange zest in the frosting.  This frosting was awesome!!  We only made 1 batch of frosting and we're glad we did because it was more than enough to frost all 32 cupcakes.

Aunt Karen and I split a cupcake to try.  So so good.  :)

Aunt Karen thought it would be cute to add a Maraschino cherry on top of some of the cupcakes.  It gave it extra cuteness.  :)

We had leftover cherry pie filling, frosting and of course the scooped out cupcake middles so Aunt Karen made a little trifle adding some graham cracker crumbs too.  Adorable!  :)


After we were done baking, my cousin Lora stopped over to see me and then we decided to go to dinner.  We went to Logan's Roadhouse.  It was an awesome fun day and dinner.  :)