Garden Whimsy Tablescape

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11


I bought the Avon Bird Egg and Green Depression Glasses this weekend and decided to use them in my tablescape the other things I used I already had. The flowers I picked from my garden this morning. The napkin rings are fake flowers with pipe cleaners inserted in the end then wrapped around the napkin. For dinner I am serving my family Pork Loin Chops, Zucchini Stuffing Casserole, and Corn. We are having Banana Cream Trifle for dessert.



6 Place Settings of Homer Laughlin China- White w/ Gold Border $5.00
4 Green Depression Glasses $4.00
Rose Footed Candy Dish $1.00
Indiana Glass Crystal Cake Plate $7.00
Tablecloth $1.50
Candle Holder’s $1.00
Candles $0.50 box of 12
Avon Collectable Bird Egg $0.50
Vase $0.00
Cloth Napkins $1.00

Be sure to visit Tablescape Thursday to see everyone's tablescapes this week.

My Herb Garden

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1


I have 3 Herb Garden areas. I have been collecting herb plants for the last 4 years but mostly the last 2. I only like to buy Perennial Herbs but I do have Sweet Basil because my daughter Nastasja wanted to make pesto. I have an Herb Pot because I planted onions in the empy space in my 3rd herb garden area. I had no room for the herbs I bought at the Farmer's Market 2 weekends ago so I make a temporary home for them in a pot so that I can plant them later this fall.

I used paint sticks to make markers for my herbs because I want to make sure to remember what they all are. I have most of them memorized but I didn't want to forget their location over the winter. I used Acrylic Outdoor Craft Paint from Wal-Mart. The paint color is called Grass Green and I used a paint pen to label them. The white headboard I got for free 2 weeks ago at the Clothes Closet and I am thinking of painting the middle spots. I collected the rocks to write Herb Garden on with the paint pen but may go over it with leftover outdoor house paint as it just doesn't look bold enough to me.

I have had people ask me if we eat the herbs and what they are used for which I find odd since they buy herbs in the store and don't question it. I do not use any chemicals in my gardens or yard so they are perfectly healthy to eat straight from the garden. I have had people taste them as we are walking and looking at them. Some people have been happy to do so others act as if it is strange. I have been using my garden herbs in any recipe calling for herbs all summer and I have also made Peppermint Tea several times. I have dryed some herbs this summer which is the first time I have done that.



Herb Pot- Chamomile, Pineapple Mint, and Chocolate Mint




1 st Herb Area- Thyme, Sage, Peppemint, and Lavender








2nd Herb Area- Thyme, Dill, Chives, Greek Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, and Sweet Basil

3rd Herb Area- Apple Mint, Rosemary, and Plain Italian Parsley

Thank you for visiting my Herb Garden and I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Submitted to:

Outdoor Wednesday

Snack Mixes

Fruity Snack Mix

4 cups crispy corn cereal squares (Chex or Crispix)

1 cup dried mixed fruit, chopped

¼ cup yogurt covered raisins

½ cup chopped mixed nuts

1 cup banana chips

Mix; store in airtight container. 12 servings

Hiker’s Bird Seed

8 cups of peanuts
8 cups of raisins
4 cups of M&M candies

Mix all ingredients together and put 1 cup per bag. This recipe makes enough for 20 people. Adding or substituting banana chips or sunflower seeds can vary this mix.

Goldfish Snack Mix

3 cups cheddar cheese or pretzel goldfish crackers
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

1-cup peanuts

Mix; store in airtight container.12 servings

Harvest Trail Mix

1 cup Peanuts
1 cup candy corn
1 cup raisins
2 cups cheerios

Mix; store in airtight container.

Kid’s Favorite Mix

1 ½ cups M&M’s

3 cups thin pretzel sticks, broken in half

3 cups bite-size Cheddar cheese crackers

1 ½ cups raisins

Mix; store in airtight container.18 servings

Microwave Snack Mix

2 (1-oz) envelopes Ranch Dressing mix

½ cup vegetable oil

3 cups crisp oat cereal (Quaker oat squares)

3 cups corn and rice cereals (Crispix)

3 cups wheat cereal (Chex)

1 (11.5 oz) can lightly salted mixed nuts

Whisk together dressing mix and oil in a large microwave safe glass bowl. Add cereals and nuts, tossing to coat. Microwave snack mix on HIGH 2 minutes stir well. Microwave on HIGH 2 more minutes and stir. Spread mixture in a single layer on wax paper and let cool 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container. Yield 12 cups.

Seed Mix

1 cup Raw sunflower seeds

1 cup Pumpkin seeds

1 cup Broken, salted cashews

1 cup Raisins &/or dark chocolate chips

Mix and enjoy

Submitted to:

for Sack Lunch Recipes & Tips Visit the Recipe Swap

Tammy's Recipe's "Kitchen Tip Tuesday"

Ultimate Recipe Swap "Lunchbox Love"

Healthy Snack Ideas

Drinks
Milk
Chocolate milk
Cocoa
Carnation Instant Breakfast



Mini Meals
Homemade soups
Homemade mac-n-cheese
Many casseroles
Spaghetti and other pasta dishes
Stir fry with brown rice
Flatten Pillsbury rolls and put them in the oven topped with sauce and shredded cheese
Mini bagels with a little marinara sauce and sprinkled with cheese, then baked until bubbly.
Hot dogs
Baked Potatoes-margarine, salsa, shredded cheese, chopped onion, black olives, leftover chili
Pepperoni, Cheese & Crackers
Pigs in a Blanket with Mustard
Egg & Sausage Burritos
French Fries with Cheese Sauce
Cheese Quesadillas
Garlic Bread Sticks with Spaghetti Sauce or Cheese Sauce
Tortilla Dogs- Roll Cheese & Beef Hotdogs into a Tortilla. Warm in Microwave and Serve with Ketchup or Salsa
Ham & Cheese Tortilla Rollups
Mac & Cheese with Sliced Hotdogs
Corn Chips & Chili Cheese Dip- Velveeta and a half a can of chili into a microwave safe bowl and melt in the microwave for about 2 minutes.
Meat & Cheese Kabobs
Triscuit or Ritz Pizzas: Triscuit or Ritz crackers with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni or other desired ingredients and bake for 5-7 minutes on 350 degrees.
English Muffin Pizzas
Pita Pockets
Egg, Tuna salmon, or Chicken Salad on Crackers
Tortillas spread with a little refried beans and sprinkled with cheese, then heated
Tortilla chips with whole pinto beans
Leftover pizza
Homemade “lunchables” - stack crackers, cheese slices, and meat slices to assemble with apple slices and cream cheese dip.

Sandwiches
peanut butter and honey
PB and jelly
PB and banana
PB and pickle
Leftover chicken or turkey with cheese
Egg salad, chicken salad, or tuna salad, salmon salad
Cream cheese and jelly
PB and cream cheese
cream cheese with strawberry slices and raw honey
BLT
Bean spreads
tortilla wraps

Salads
Tossed Salad
Chef Salad
Potato salad

Vegetables
cherry tomatoes, carrots, pea pods, cucumbers, cauliflower , broccoli, celery, green beans, peppers, frozen peas

Vegetables& Dip Combinations
Mix regular yogurt (or vanilla-flavored yogurt) with honey to taste as a great dunking sauce for fruit chunks or use the same as dressing over fruit salad
Carrots dipped into sugar
Carrots with salt
Sliced carrots, celery, peppers and yellow crookneck squash dipped in ranch dressing
Celery with cheese or peanut butter
Veggies with ranch dressing
Celery sticks, spread with peanut butter
Carrots with peanut butter
Celery & Cream cheese
Celery with Cream Cheese & Raisins
Broccoli with Ranch Dressing
Cucumber & Dill Dip
Mix some ricotta cheese with some OJ concentrate to flavor, add some raisins, and "stuff" in celery sticks or on top of graham crackers.
Apple Slices & Carrots
Dill Pickles

Fruit
Bananas, oranges, apples, pears, plums, melon, grapes, cherries, strawberries, peaches, nectarines.
Fruit Kabobs
Frozen grapes
Fruit Salad

Fruit & Dip Combinations
Mix a package of vanilla pudding mix into a big tub of plain yogurt, and let it sit for a while to set up.
Sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon sugar
Fresh fruit dipped in yogurt
Strawberries and Whipped Cream
Frozen blueberries with cheesecake-flavored yogurt
Apples and peanut butter
Fruit with Vanilla Yogurt as a Dip

Apple Slices & Caramel Dip
Apple Sauce & Teddy Grahams
Fresh Fruit mixed with Whipped Cream
Bananas sliced in half and spread with Peanut Butter

Fruit/ Bread Combinations
Fruit & Homemade Bread
Mini Pancakes with fruit
English Muffins with Bananas
Crackers & Strawberries
Animal Crackers & Banana
Cornbread & Bananas
Applesauce & Cheese Corn Muffins
Animal Crackers & Oranges

Other Fruit Combinations
Banana Pops- Put an banana on a craft stick Spread with Peanut Butter and roll in Crisp
Applesauce with cinnamon
Strawberry fruit leather
Apples with Cheese on top
Apple Slices sprinkled with Jell-O Powder

Dried fruit
apples, raisins or bananas
Dried Fruit & Mini Rice Cakes
Raisins & Pretzels

Dairy

Cheese/Bread Combinations
String Cheese & saltines
Tortillas with cream cheese
Cheese and whole grain crackers
Saltine Crackers with Cheddar Cheese
Bagel Chips & Cheese Cubes
Saltines/Ritz/Triscuits with Cheese melted on top
Goldfish Crackers & String Cheese
Crackers and cheese
Cottage cheese with various mix-ins
Mini bagels with flavored cream cheese

Puddings
Pudding cups
Vanilla Wafers & Pudding
Bread Pudding
Animal Crackers & Pudding

Yogurt
Yogurt Parfaits
Yogurt with fruit or wheat germ added
Yogurt & Vanilla Wafers
Yogurt with cinnamon-applesauce stirred in
Yogurt with frozen fruit and/or granola in it

Hard-boiled eggs
Hard-boiled egg with salt and pepper
Hard-boiled egg sliced and served with salt and pepper on Triscuits or Wheat Thins

Breads/ Grains
Homemade granola bars
Home-baked cookies
Homemade Mini Muffins/muffins/quick breads- - Applesauce, Zucchini, Banana, Pumpkin, or Blueberry
Popcorn
Pretzels
Breadsticks
Bagels
Toasted Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Graham Crackers
Herbed Cheese Twists
Popcorn balls
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Tortillas
Cereal with milk
Hot cereal-Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat add dried fruits or nuts
Rice Cereal
Breakfast cereal mix –leftover cereal mixed with dried fruit
Homemade Rice Krispie Treats
Chex Mix
Popcorn mixed with Cereal
Mix-ups- Leftover Cereal, Crackers & Dried Fruit
Fruit & Rice Crispy Treats
Fruit Loops & Pretzels

Breads/ Grains Combinations
Ritz Sticks & Peanut Butter
Pretzels with Nutella
Pretzels & Peanut butter
Peanut Butter & Cheese Crackers
Crackers spread with Peanut Butter and jelly or jam
Peanut Butter and Honey on a Pancake and rolled up
Peanut Butter on Saltines
Peanut Butter Toast
Peanut Butter & Jelly Tortilla Rollups
Bread or Toast spread with jelly, jam, peanut butter, spiced honey or honey butter
Toast with sour cream and brown sugar
Butter and sugar on bread
Peanut butter and jelly on bread, toast, tortillas or leftover waffles or pancakes
Graham crackers with cream cheese and a dab of strawberry jam "Think 'cheesecake'"
Tortillas spread with peanut butter, rolled around a whole banana and then sliced
Nutella and Banana Slices on a dinner roll
String Cheese, Salami, & Saltine Crackers
Soft Pretzels with Cheese
Tortilla Spread with Peanut Butter and Sliced Bananas
Biscuits & Jam
Marshmallows & Prezels

Tortilla Chips with Salsa or Cheese dip
Graham Crackers with Cream Cheese topped with Sliced Strawberries
Saltine with Peanut Butter topped with Sliced Grapes
Jam Dinner Rolls- before baking the rolls, push an impression of your thumb into the rolls and fill with jam then bake as usual.

Frozen Treats
Creamy Orange Shake
Milk Shake
Fruit Shakes
Homemade Smoothies
Yogurt Popsicles
Homemade Popsicles
Juice Pops
Graham Cracker Ice Cream Sandwiches
Banana Milkshake
Blueberry Supreme- Place frozen Blueberries in a bowl and sprinkle sugar on top. Add a small amount of milk. The milk will freeze to the blueberries
Yogurt Sundaes- Freeze Vanilla Yogurt and top with Fruit & Granola

Submitted to:
For Sack Lunch Recipes & Tips Visit the Recipe Swap
Tammy's Recipe's "Kitchen Tip Tuesday"

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

3 cups flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into prepared loaf pans. Bakefor 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves

Submitted to:
Eat at Home

Tasty Tuesday

Tuesdays at the Table

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Zucchini Apple Bread

4 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or oatmeal
2 cups peeled, chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped, peeled apple

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 - 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, oil and vanilla until well blended. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture. Fold in walnuts, zucchini and apple. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 1 hour, or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Let cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

August 10-16 Menu Plan

This week from our garden we have zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, green peppers, and cucumbers. We mostly eat leftovers for lunch and the breads that I am making are for breakfast.

Our menu this week:

Monday:
Hamburgers, Bacon Rosemary Mashed Potatoes, and Broccoli

Lemon Zucchini Cookies


Tuesday:
Homeschool Graduation Party

Zucchini Apple Bread


Wednesday:
Pork Loin Chops, Zucchini Stuffing Casserole, and Corn


Thursday:
Salsa Chicken, Rice, Peas, and Squash Biscuits


Friday:
Grilled Salmon, Green Rice, and Steamed Yellow Squash

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread


Saturday:
Zucchini Gratin, Roasted Baby Potatoes with Rosemary, and Broccoli Salad


Sunday:
Tuna Noodle Casserole


So, what's on your menu this week?


Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to see more menu ideas.