Decorative Onions

We have a large area by the front door that is covered in bark and not much else. When we had the house built, the landscapers had planted three large bushes in this spot. They died soon after we had moved in. My intentions were to re-plant some bushes to add curb appeal and make it look less empty. Last year I had found some discounted tulip plants and figured they would look better than some plain ol bushes. (Post coming soon about their progress.)

While I was at the grocery store awhile back, I had seen a display of flower bulbs. I could not resist and quickly found myself piling some in my cart. It would later catch up with me that I did not pay attention to read the different types of flowers that I was picking. I could not wait to get home and plant them with the tulips. This would be my new garden and I would try my best at utilizing my green thumb. 

I followed the directions on the box and before long, my new flowers were sprouting through the ground. While the husband and I were outside tending to the new garden, he had mentioned that there was a strong odor of onions outside. I dismissed his foolish claim. A few days later, a friend of ours stopped by and upon opening the front door she exclaimed "WHOA! It sure smells like onions out here!".  Curiosity got the best of me. I dug through the garbage in hopes of finding the discarded flower bulb boxes. Once I found them, I read frantically to see what they were called. There it was...smack dab on the front of the box...DECORATIVE ONIONS!

See my cute gnome?! He is to ward off all the salsa-eating people who may want to steal my onions. 

I planted decorative onions in my garden?! I do have to admit that past the teary eyes and strong smell, they sure do look pretty.

Easter

Easter is a time when family gets together to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ Easter bunny. The past couple of years, it has bothered me to not be with my family during this holiday. We use to decorate eggs and watch with excitement as the kids searched for them in the yard. We sat around the table to enjoy a nice meal and eat deviled eggs until our hearts content.

This was the first Easter that I was not sad about not sitting around the table with my family. I think that I am finally coming to the understanding that they are going to do as they please whether it hurts my feelings or not. I have to move on and do what makes me happy. For once. Before allowing myself to sit around and wonder whether or not I was going to get an invite to a family gathering, I decided to make my own plans. The best friend was gone out of town, so it was just the husband and I. I got busy on making a menu for the special day.

-Ham
-Mashed Potatoes
-Corn
-Rolls
-Deviled Eggs
-Cream Cheese Filled Olives
-Dessert

I am pretty sure that my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I was only needing to cook for two people!

I had never purchased a ham before and was not quite sure what to pick out. After standing hopelessly in front of the cooler at the grocery store, the butcher has offered his assistance. He explained to me the ins and outs of cooking a ham and helped me choose the perfect one. It was big enough to feed the entire city. I ended up throwing it in the crock pot with some pineapple slices and a little brown sugar. It was super moist, one of the best hams that I have ever had. We ended up eating ham for the next four nights. For lunch AND dinner. We had to toss the rest as we were hammed out.

*Side note* See that cute "Yum!" on the above picture? That was done using the app Beautiful mess for iPhone. If you are wanting to spice up your cell phone photos for the small price of ninety-nine cents, I encourage you to download the app. You will not regret it.

My favorite part of Easter is the dying of the eggs. Because we have no need to make eggs pretty and hide them in the yard, I came up with an alternative. I would dye my deviled eggs! I found a tutorial online and it looked simple enough. The directions were to prepare the deviled eggs as you would normally. Once you have removed the yolks, place the egg whites in 1 cup of cold water with the color dye of your choosing. Let sit for 5 minutes and Whalla!! You have colored deviled eggs. Hold on to your aprons ladies. I learned the hard way that gel food coloring does NOT work. It was all I had in the house and I did not want to have to run to the store. The gel clumped in the water and did not adhere well to the eggs. I managed to get a hint of color on a few, but not the effect that I was hoping for. Lesson learned, will try again next year.

For the dessert portion, we made bird's nest treats. They were simple AND required no baking, my kind of cooking.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, for greasing the muffin pan

6 ounces (1/2 bag) of semi-sweet chocolate chips

6 ounces (1/2 bag) of butterscotch chips

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 ounces (1/2 of a large bag) of chow mein noodles

36 mini Cadbury eggs

Instructions

1. Generously grease the wells of a muffin pan with the butter (this will help later when you are taking out the chilled nests).

2. In a large microwave-proof bowl, heat the chocolate and butterscotch chips in 30 second intervals until thoroughly melted, stirring after each increment.

3. Once melted, add the peanut butter to the chocolate/butterscotch mixture, mixing well until smooth and completely combined.

4. Carefully add the chow mein noodles, stirring with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, until completely coated.

5. Using a large spoon, mold the mixture into the wells of your muffin tin, indenting the tops slightly with the back of the spoon.

6.  Chill the nests until hardened, about 1 hour or so.

7.  Once chilled, gently remove the nests from the muffin tin.

8.  Place three eggs (or colored jelly beans!) on the tops of each nest.

We ended up eating entirely way too much food, but we had a great time spending the day together.

P.S. While I was looking around on the internet for some fun Easter recipes, I saw some recipes calling for carrot cake flavored M&M's. My heart jumped out of my chest with excitement. I would not rest until I found out where to purchase these bad boys from.  Luckily, Walmart has a handy little tool on their website that helps to locate an item of your choice. There was ONE store in all of Washington State that had some of the M&M's in stock. Could you believe that it just so happened to be a Walmart store near where the best friend was traveling to??! She brought me home four bags. FOUR! And wouldn't you know, they actually taste like carrot cake. Easter complete.

P.S.S. I apologize that I am posting a blog about a holiday that happened roughly two months ago. I am trying to catch up as best I can. Hang tight!

Mouth full of aches

As I kid, I was great about going to the dentist and taking care of my teeth. My dad payed a lot of money to make sure that my teeth looked their best. Around age sixteen, my mother consulted the dentist about getting my wisdom teeth pulled before they became a problem. He responded that he was sure I would have plenty of room when they would eventually grow in and that he did not think I would need to have them pulled.

Fast forward thirteen years later (GASP) and just as long without dental insurance, my wisdom teeth are in full force and I have four cavities. My dad has got to be rolling over in his grave as I write that. He would be so disappointed in how I have cared for my teeth over the years. I mean don't get me wrong, I brush my teeth everyday and floss my teeth (not as often as I should).

I feel as though I am fighting a daily battle with my mouth. It feels as though I have a vise grip on my jaw at all hours of the day. If I dare eat something sweet (all the time) it feels as though I stabbed my mouth with an ice pick. When brushing my teeth, it looks as though someone has been massacred in my mouth. I could possibly die of blood loss one day. My teeth feel crowded as my wisdom teeth tear through my gums like a baby coming out of the birth canal. My wisdom (why are they called wisdom? There is NOTHING wise about them) teeth are now growing in sideways which feels even better on my aching jaw. The inside of my mouth looks like ground hamburger and to top it off, my tonsils are the size of small grapefruits. I can't win.

You would think that the pain in my mouth would stop me from wanting me to eat, giving me the best diet known to man. But I am positive that there is nothing that could ever stop me from eating. Not having dental insurance has stopped me from scheduling an appointment. I do not like the idea of maxing out my credit card for dental work. However, I will do so when I no longer have a choice and NEED to go in. I am afraid that time is coming soon. Did I mention that my husband also has cavities and aching wisdom teeth and he does not have dental insurance either?  Awesome. To be a kid again and not have to worry about our teeth! Where are the days when we got paid for our teeth falling out of our mouth? Now we are paying money to keep them in!

And for your enjoyment...

Cloud art

I could spend all day looking at the clouds. It is so peaceful, always puts a smile on my face and the view is constantly changing.

Keep your head up, you never know what you'll see when you look at the sky.

Random act of kindness

After a long grocery shopping trip to our local Winco, I approached the check out line with relief that I was almost ready to go home. In front of me was an elderly lady. She was clearly struggling to put her groceries from the cart and onto the belt. I did not have to think twice about helping her. I did indeed help out from the kindness of my heart but I also knew that if I did not assist her, that we would be there for a rather long time. She was thankful and made sure to thank me over and over again. As I was now working on my cart, she reached over and tapped my shoulder. She handed me this handmade necklace for being kind to her and offering help.

An angel? 

It warmed my heart to see how thankful she was for my random act of kindness. This reminded me that there are good people out there. With all the horrific footage on the news about Boston, it was nice to hear about the stories of those who did good during that time. People opened their homes to complete strangers who were in need. A police officer delivered milk to a family with small children while their neighborhood was locked down. Moral of this story is to remind people that a small random act of kindness can go a long way. You never know someone else's story, or the path they have had to walk. Go that extra mile to put a smile on someones face. It will not only make you feel good about yourself, but it will make their day a little brighter.