Re-Grow your own onion

I figured since I started re-growing celery that I would try with an onion as well.  Why not right??  I found this blog on pinterest that showed me how to re-grow an onion.  :)

I needed an onion for dinner.  So, I took out a medium yellow cooking onion and cut off the end then prepped the rest of the onion for the dish.

I took most of the peel off of the onion root.

I put some soil in a small plastic cup.  I placed the onion on top (root down) and covered with soil.

Then I noticed the cup had a crack so I put the dirt and onion root in a small bowl.

Once inside,  put the onion in the kitchen window sill and gave it a drink of water.

We'll see if the onion grows.  :)

Oh yes, I saved the onion peels and onion ends.  I read that you can make your own organic bug repellent with onion scraps.  To read an extensive list on how to make your own organic sprays for your garden, check out this blog.

UPDATE:  4/6:  I thew out the onion.  It didn't grow at all.  I don't think I cut enough of the onion scrap or maybe I should have had it grown in water for a while before putting it in soil.  We'll see.  I'm going to try again.  The onion scraps, I threw away because mold was forming and it smelled really bad.  GROSS

Re-Grow your own Celery

My friend, Kristen inspired me today by re-growing green onions.  How awesome????  Kristen, never has to buy green onions again!!!  I wanted to re-grow something.  I've come across so many tips on Pinterest on how you can re-grow your own veggies.  From potatoes, and onions, to celery.  Today, I bought a stalk of celery from the store to use in dinner tomorrow.  I came across this blog and this blog on how to re-grow celery.  I hope to never buy celery again.  And in case I get a bunch of celery I can't use up right away then I will freeze it.  :)

You won't believe how easy this is.......

First off, get a celery stalk.  Cut off the end.

Place the end in a small bowl or a saucer.

Add water to the bowl.  Sit in a window sill and let it soak in the sunshine.  Today, it's soaking in the clouds because the weather is calling for rain and snow.  But hopefully, it will soak in the sunshine once the sun comes back out.  :)

Be sure to change out the water daily.  I read that the celery should start to have re-growth in 5 to 7 days.  *crosses fingers*  Once re-growth has taken place you can re-plant to a small pot with soil.  I will post updates!  :)  I'm going to try to re-grow onions too.  Wish me luck!

Grape Tomato seeds in Egg Shells

Last year, I started container gardening.  You can use the search bar on the right and search 'garden' to see the progresses. I saw on pinterest that you can use egg shells to start plants from seeds.  I saved my farm fresh egg shells and regular store bought egg shells till I filled up an 18-count egg carton.  After I used the eggs, I washed out the shell and let them dry on a paper towel.  Then I stored them in the egg container.

Today, I decided to plant some grape tomato seeds.  Here's what they look like all buried in the egg shells waiting to grow.

Check to make sure all the egg shells are sitting right in the egg tray.

I put some container soil in a small pot and used a plastic spoon to transfer soil to egg shell.

I added a little bit of soil to each egg shell.

I went inside because it got too windy.  I then added little grape tomato seeds (which I got from store bought grape tomatoes).  I saved the seeds from the tomatoes and washed them real good then dried them on a paper towel.  Once they were dry, they stuck to the paper towel.  I then soaked the paper towel to get the seeds off and then had them dry on a plate and kept them in a ziploc bag until today.  :)

Add a few seeds to the top of the soil in the shell.

Cover each with more soil.  I then took a turkey baster to water each one.

After they all got a drink, I cut off the extra egg carton that I didn't need.  I put the shells outside for some sunshine.  I will keep them in the house for the most part until they grow big enough to put them in a pot.

My husband, made a huge table sluice a few years ago.  This was a project he made for the last time he went  to the mine to dig up garnets.  He brought a ton of dirt home and dug through it for gems using this table.  I thought I blogged about it but I didn't.  OOPS!  :)  I figured this would be a nice to use for putting the shells on when it's nice and sunny and for using as a garden table.  :)

Plant babies sunbathing.

How adorable do they look?  Now let's hope I actually get some grape tomato plants.  :)

Simple Blueberry Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

I had some leftover blueberries that I wanted to use up before they went bad.  I looked around on Pinterest to find a simple recipe where I had all the ingredients on hand and that I could use my blueberries in.  I came across this one.  I went to the kitchen to bake.....

I had 'The Tales of my Cooking' Blog, up on my laptop so I could follow the recipe.

I gathered all the ingredients and got to work.....

Here's the batter in a small round cake pan.

Add your streusel evenly on top.

Bake on 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.  When your cake tester (or toothpick) comes out clean, your blueberry cake is done.  :)

Let cool and enjoy.

My husband and I loved it.  Best of all we used the blueberries so they wouldn't be wasted and I made a delicious homemade treat.  :)

Streusel Topping:
1/3 cup flour (all purpose)
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup of unsalted butter

Blueberry cake batter:
1 cup flour (all purpose)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used more than original blogger and I used my homemade vanilla)
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk (fat free)
blueberries (washed)

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2.  Mix your streusel topping in a small bowl until it comes to a course crumble powder.
3.  In a large bowl I mixed the cake batter ingredients with my handheld mixer.
4.  Once batter is well combined, gently mix in the blueberries.
5.  Add batter to pam sprayed cake pan.
6.  Add streusel topping evenly on top.
7.  Bake
8.  Cool
9.  Enjoy  :)

Fruit Salad

I got some fruit the other day from the store.  The strawberries and blueberries were on sale so I got one of each.  I also got a fresh pineapple.  They were on sale too.  I love fresh pineapple and couldn't wait to cut it up.  :)  I wanted one more fruit for the salad so I got two ripe nectarines as well.

I washed all the fruit (except the pineapple) and then cut everything up and added to a big bowl.  I mixed it well and put in the fridge till I was ready to dig in.  I love fruit!

Homemade Monster Cookies

I felt like baking today so I made Monster Cookies.  My friend, Kristen made them back in December and I've wanted to make some ever since.  There are so many recipes for Monster cookies all over the internets.  I figured I would make mine with my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and add whatever I felt like.

I mixed up the cookie dough.  I used my homemade vanilla and my last two farm fresh eggs.  :)  Once the cookie dough was ready, I then added a 1/2 cup each of Chocolate chips, Peanut Butter chips, Plain M&M's, Peanut Butter M&M's and Craisins.  :)

Mix well......

I scooped the dough onto my cookie sheet and then baked in the oven for about 13-15 minutes.

Cookies all done.  :)

So soft and yummy.  Store in a tupperware container with a slice of bread to keep cookies soft.

New Zombie Gnome

My last birthday, I got a zombie gnome from my friend, Kristen.  He was so awesome!!   I put him outside in the gnome garden and after a few months his paint came off.  :(  I contacted the creators at Chris and Jane's place and they kindly sent me a brand new one that came earlier this month.  I was happy.  :)

The Zombie gnomes together.  The new Zombie Gnome will stay in the house on a shelf only watching the gnome garden from the window.  :)

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies with Farm Fresh Eggs

I decided to use 2 of my farm fresh eggs, that I got from my friend, Melissa.  I made my Chocolate Chip cookies.  

Here's my adorable farm fresh eggs.

I mixed up the wet ingredients.  Look at that beautiful yolk!!!  It's so much richer in color than store bought eggs.

The batter all ready for scoopin'.  :)

I always scoop the dough into 3 rows (long ways) of 4.  

Here's the cookies cooling.  They always come out 'go big or go home' size.  :)

I decided I had to take a picture of the cookies with farm fresh eggs and my homemade vanilla extract.  (Note: the little garden gnome in the background)

MMMM.....cookies.  Now who gets them?

Oh......I decided I would save my eggs shells for my garden.  I rinsed out the shells and I'm letting them dry.  I plan to put some soil in them with seeds to start some plants.  I'm thinking grape tomatoes.