What's on the Agenda This Week????

Hi there everyone, hope you enjoyed your day. Today was a little chilly, in the 50's and cloudy with a little drizzle....the leaves are falling quickly. Burrrrr it's feeling like cold weather is upon us today. I'm thinking I should start bringing in my ceramic animals soon, so they don't freeze their petunias. Hahahaha!!

Roasting some vegies in the oven right now. This is an old picture, but you get my drift. On the cookie sheet tonight are green peppers, garlic, carrots, zucchini, broccoli and a few tomatoes seasonings are olive oil, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. I will roast the vegies till done, pour them into a pot of canned tomatoes and cook till tender and soft.

Next step will be to blend with my immersible blender. I might add a little wine to the pot and the rest of the spinach I have in the frig. The finished product will look like this below picture. I will be cooking up some ravioli for JP tonight, along with a salad and garlic bread. If there is any sauce left, I might freeze some and then use some for a pizza.  I noticed on www.mybizzykitchen.com she entered a contest, 1st place is $10,000. "Pizza My Way" Pizza contest by Sebastiani Vineyards.....all you do is make the sauce and crust, take a picture of the pizza and yourself, tell how you made the pizza and enter....Humm...may just try it...."one may never know unless that one tries"

Well, I just tested some roasted vegies and sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on the vegies. Not bad, not bad at all.

The end of this week.....I think Chinese Dumplings or Potstickers will be on the agenda (hope I can get some in the freezer). I already have the napa cabbage in the fridge....hopefully the cabbage will last that long. If not...there is always some other dish I can make, like cabbage and tomatoes, that's always good.

Festival Foods has a sale on Chicken breasts and Beef Burgundy roasts this week. I found a really easy recipe, called "2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken" for the crock pot. Chicken breast and BBQ sauce (homemade or bought) cook for 4 hours. The chicken will pull apart....okay I am in for that...anything easy. The beef burgundy roast sounds good too, using this same technique.

For a change in bread, I might try making Pita Bread. Never made Pita bread, but I suspect it will go well with the BBQ Chicken and roast beef.

What else is on the agenda for this week? Make a few cards of course. I found a really neat technique using alcohol inks and glossy cardstock. Should be fun to try it. I have a month to put together 50-75 cards for Hospice....so that should be on my agenda for the month of October.

Ordered some new stamps from Stampin-up. So I will be looking forward to receiving them in the mail. Also ordered a kit to make my own stamp....have been wanting to do something like that, so yes, I will be looking forward to receiving that in the mail also.

Time to close this blog...golly...only one more day left in September.....where oh where is 2014 going too??? Have a great day and keep looking up!!!! Cheers - Louise

Silent Saturday

Taking a day off.....enjoy......................................Cheers ~ Louise

Chinese Dumplings or Potstickers

Hi there everyone. Aren't  you just loving this wonderful Fall....Indian Summer is always so beautiful. I still have tomatoes on the vines, so I am hoping these next few days they will ripen. Heirlooms seem to take longer for some reason. Picked a few tomatoes tonight, maybe I will put them in a bag and see if they turn red faster.

Well, today I made some Chinese Dumplings. Tina from www.kittykatkards.blogspot.com  gave me the recipe as she is pretty good at making them, they sounded so good, I thought I might like to try my hand at it. You can find the recipe here (sorry about the sideways picture, I wanted to get everything in one picture but forgot to turn it the right way before downloading onto this blog). When you go to the recipe, go to the second section, that will be the recipe that I followed.

In the top picture is the dough, mixed and cut in pieces....2 cups of flour and 1 cup hot water, mixed together and knead then roll into 3" circles. You can see in the top part of the picture I have the filling all mixed together. Ground pork, bok choy, onion, cornstarch, sesame oil, pepper and salt and yes, 1 tablespoon of wine.

In this picture I am rolling out the dough and spooning the filling on the dough and pinching it together on the ends.

Here is a plate of dumplings all ready made....I might have gotten about 35-40 dumplings made. JP ate about 12 of them for lunch....there's no telling how many I ate...gosh they were soooooo goooood!!!

Here they are frying up in the pan, then I added a cup of hot water and let them boil till the water evaporated. The sauce was just low sodium soy sauce and sesame oil....mmmm tasted so good.

This might be the end of the first batch and the beginning of the second batch, as you can see I have some ready to fry up.



Here is JP enjoying his little lunch....he even commented on how the filling even smelled good....he likes when I try something new....this might make it on the dinner table a couple more times. Guess I will have to find out how many calories each dumpling has. Ummmm, do I really want to know???

 

 

Well you have a great week and enjoy the beautiful weather we are having. Cheers ~ Louise

A Very Short Weekend

Hi there everyone. Wow...where did that weekend go to??? And it is Monday again...how fast these days go. Here I was overwhelming myself with so much I had to accomplish before JP's family came for a visit...and it is all over. Guess I got everything done, actually had 15 minutes to spare before they drove up the driveway...to paint my nails.

We had a good time. Sat around and talked, then walked to the park, which was 4 blocks from our house....geez, we hadn't done that in the 23 years we lived here. What in the world have we been doing with our lives????? It always helps when you have a little tyke tagging along to keep things going. First he had to see the fountain and play in the water, then he spied the slides and swings and was off and running for them. Then we walked home and got ready to go to the Bed and Breakfast they were planning to stay at. What a beautiful old house. JP's family was able to stay in the castle part of the house which was a little suite with a Jacuzzi. Will have to ask if they used it....that would be my first choice to try out. Their breakfast was Lemon poppy seed stuffed waffles with whipped cream and Prince Albert Eggs (whatever that is). Callie said breakfast was delicious!!!

We did go out to eat at a restaurant called "Little Chicago" I had a prime rib sandwich, JP had a cheeseburger. The others had porkchops, chicken and little Dominick had mac and cheese. We came back to the house, talked awhile and then had dessert. Ice cream, cake and cookies. Then suddenly they were gone, to spend the rest of the evening at the Bed and Breakfast. A totally FAST weekend....today...I rested all day. I was actually pooped from all the activity of the last couple of days. I guess my age is catching up with me. My mind is willing, but the body is not anymore.

When the company left, I cleaned up a bit, put my pj's on and went to bed...which was very early for me, like 10:30pm early. Then in the distant, I heard thunder.....yes it was raining...and then I began to worry about the roof leaking and putting out the buckets in the right place to catch the rain drops.....when will this end?????

We did have a couple of roofers come and look at the roof this past week and give estimates to the agency that may be helping us....but have not heard anything yet. In the mean time, we wait. For them to fix the problem or for the ceiling to cave in. Which one will come first????

Well, time to close this blog before I get too depressing. You all have a great week and keep looking up-past all the problems. Somewhere, somehow these problems are all taken care of in the Cross of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. Cheers ~ Louise

More Cards In Fall Colors

Hi there everyone. How are your days going? It was a beautiful day here today....I love these fall days, wish they could last forever. Thought I would get a blog done this week, as I will be busy cleaning house the next few days. Family from Chicago are coming for a visit....so you know how that goes....lots of dusting and cleaning before they come. I have been so lax in my cleaning lately....oh well, what gets done will get done. Just hope I can get those dishes out of the sink and keep them out for at least a day or two...hahahaha!!

Been working on some more cards. Mostly for Hospice, as the next meeting will be 11/7, I need lots of Birthday and Thinking of you Fall and Thanksgiving cards. Sooooo, a few cards every night will build a good supply. I usually like to have at least 50-75 cards in the stash.

So the top card, Birthday Blessings will be one of the cards included in that stash. Bought some turquoise ribbon today, so I will use that instead of the white. I saw this idea on the Internet, on a blog, but can't remember where. Liked it so much, but did not have the stamp. Hunted high and low and finally found it at JoAnn's. This card does not look exactly like the card I saw, but it's pretty close.

In the above pic, this is one of my new embossing folders, I just dabbed ink on the leaves to give it that fall effect. I may use some orange ribbon instead of the white for the next few cards.

I invested in some "Stampin Up" stamps. Been having lots of fun working with them. In the above picture is one set. I have seen many, many ideas using these stamps, so I am looking forward to making lots of cards. I like the idea of drawing free-hand, the frame around the card, really adds to the card.

Now in this above picture is my own idea, just playing around with the stamps, this is what I came up with. Colorful and fun to do.  I will be adding these cards to my Etsy store in the next week or so. As soon as I get more cards made, I will add them to this blog.

Have a great rest of the week and keep looking up.
Cheers ~ Louise

An Afternoon of Making Cards

Hi there everyone, hope you had a wonderful Saturday...it was a very gorgeous day....wish everyday could be like this one. Pretty soon the leaves will be falling off the trees...so try and enjoy everyday until then.

Made some cards at a friends house...the black flower is a die cut, I think. We had to poke the little sections out and then dab some glue on it to stick...basically and easy card to make.

This was our first card that we made. Copic markers were used. the clouds were dabbed on with a sponge and cloud form....I do know a fisherman, so when his birthday comes around next year....he'll get this card.

This is one of the Halloween cards we made....I really had a good laugh with this one..."It just isn't Halloween...without a full moon" Sending this card to a friend in South Carolina....she loves Halloween...I am sure she'll get a laugh out of it too!!! I am not much into Halloween card making, so if I can figure out how to send the bag below....she is getting this one too....maybe I will fill it with some candy...hahahahaha! So she can have her own "trick or treat" bag.

This is the inside of the "full moon" card which I thought was rather fun too!!!

So there you have it.....a little bit of card making for the week. I have been busy making other cards...a few fall cards and birthday cards....that will be in my next blog.

Today I went to a paper sale and made a few cards there also. This warehouse has their annual sale once a year, so I really look forward to it every year...usually find some good deals. and what's really great everything is 25 % off at the register...so that helps.

Well, time to close, you all have a great weekend and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

PS Visit my other blog at: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

Wordless Wednesday............

            Hahahahaha.....have a great day!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Fall Flowers and Vegies

Hi there everyone. Beautiful day today....isn't it? Well, at least it is beautiful here in sunny Appleton, Wisconsin!!! But that probably will change in a few days. Rain is in the forecast. But for today,  I will take this...the temps today are in the 70's. To me, this has been a most beautiful summer, not too hot and not too cold..........just right. 

Took some pictures yesterday while walking Kylie. My vine is growing beautifully. I forgot it's name...will have to look at some old blogs to find the name, it's a very simple name....sheeze, it's name escapes me right now.

The last couple of years this vine took up the whole side of the porch. I think the cold winter affected it a bit. I think it grew just perfectly this season. Pretty little white flowers, aren't they?? I have some purple Clementius growing along side this vine. They bloom in the spring, these white ones in September. To the left of the vine is my little tomato plant, producing little cherry tomatoes.

A closer look at the pretty little flowers......they do attract a lot of bees though...so I am very careful when around them.

In these next two pictures are some tomatoes. I got the seeds from a store on Etsy. They are an heirloom variety....I think they are called "black cheery" there is a lot of them growing, not sure if they will turn red, but right now they are half black and half green. (Oh my, can  you see the reflection of me taking the picture in the tomato...how funny)

In this picture are some more tomatoes...I had a thought yesterday to grill them along with our prime rib, onions, peppers and some red tomatoes........oh my what a great meal. These grilled black and green tomatoes....yep, I would do it again!!!!

In this last picture are my cucumbers....I had a good crop this year....lots of salads, dill pickles, sweet pickles and gherkins. All from this plant and my old wheel barrel with cucumbers growing. Yes...a good year for cucumbers from my garden. Must have been the right weather conditions all summer long.

Well, time to close here for a bit. Follow me on my other blog at: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com  I am talking about beets there, another pot of borscht is going to be made in the next few days. Or maybe Lasagna soup...we'll see.

You all have a great rest of the day and keep looking up!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Just a Thought 4 the Day

Hi there everyone....hope you are having a great day. It is so beautiful outside....I really should be outside rather then inside doing this blog......don't cha' think????? Well, in a little while Kylie and I will take our daily walk.

So today, would have been my father's birthday, he would be 96 years old....wow! But instead, at 43 he died of a heart attack in 1961(53 years ago). He had just finished reading the minutes of the previous meeting for the VFW and the meeting was coming to a close....my dad got up from where he sat, walked across the floor and passed out. My mother was called right away....my dad was rushed to the hospital, but was already dead. I was sent over to a neighbor's house. That was a terrible night, I remember sitting on the couch and got really cold. The lady gave me a blanket to warm up. Somehow, I already knew something was wrong, no one told me, but I already knew. Do you think God prepares a heart before something happens so we can cope better with that situation....I don't know....maybe. I remember another neighbor coming to get me and walking me across the street with his arm around me telling me that something had happened to my father......but I already knew something had happened to him. I walked in the house, took one look at my mother and said I was going to take my dogs for a walk.....It seems that's when I would talk to God....but this night, I was very angry with God....yeah, I know, it wasn't his fault, but who else could I blame???

In later years I finally realized why my father had died an early death....I depended more on my father then I did on my "heavenly father". A hard lesson to learn, I know and who knows what else I was thinking back then, but looking back on that time.....I can see where God gave me a lot of strength to go through that time....it was hard for a 14 year old to lose her father, the one man I loved so, so very much.

Who knows....I only hope my Dad was saved and I will meet him at the gates of heaven when I pass on or get raptured from this earth.....either way....I win the race!!!!

Nothing much going on today...I am going to make some scones tonight and stuffed peppers for JP's dinner....yum, bought a big pepper yesterday...looking forward to having a bite of that. By the way, I am looking forward to buying another piece of  "prime rib". I finished up the last of it last night along with a cheese and greens omelet, that sure was delicious.

Well time to close you have a great rest of the day. If you would like to visit my other blog at wordpress, the address is: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

Have a good one, Cheers ~ Louise

An Anniversary and Flowers.........

Hi there everyone. Well, it is Labor Day Weekend. Where art thou oh Summer???? The days are going way to fast, I believe we just had Spring???? Is that right??? Now I know what my mother meant when she said not to wish my life away because it will go fast enough. Just like these flowers, they bloom one day and POOF they are shriveled up and gone the next. Except for the "black eyed susan" in the 3rd picture. They last for at least 5-6 weeks which is fine by me. I really love them.

So Wednesday we celebrated 41 years of marriage, it came and went with not too much excitement. I bought myself some white lilies at Festival for $2.98....I love their smell. Which reminds me, I should take a picture of them before they poop out. Bought JP a pair of work jeans and a blue T-shirt. Made a card and we had chocolate cake and ice cream.

We were going to go out to eat last night at "Little Chicago" but JP was having so many arm pains I said "forget it, we'll stay home" and eat. So I went to Festival and got a piece of "prime rib", fish, mashed potatoes and chicken wings at the deli. Then I bought some mushrooms to go with the prime rib. Made a salad and we sat down to a pretty nice meal that didn't take long to make. I still had dishes to do though....oh well, good food always comes with dishes that must be done. PS...JP"s arm pains have subsided today. My diagnosis? He gets worked up about something, it's like anxiety attacks, he says they come from Satan...I say go to a Doctor, he says, "yeah, right, they don't know anything". So we go back and forth with this and it DRIVES me crazy and him too. It's just a short putt for both of us.

I am thinking I will buy another piece of prime rib again. I cooked it for 3 minutes on each side while sautéing mushrooms with the meat, then poured the au jus over the top, oh my that was a wonderful "slice of heaven". Yes, I will do that again.

So here is a shot of my two hibiscus's, I bought these plants maybe 5 years ago. Had planted one of them in the ground and it did not take too well. The other plant I thought had died, but it seemed to resurrect itself. They both had a rough start. So this year is the first year they both bloomed, and I couldn't have been more happy....least I know they both survived a rough upbringing. I keep them in the house through winter. Then bring them out in the spring.

This is a close up of my black eyed susan. They seem to pop up where ever they like and volunteer their time in my flower garden every year. I tried to get some seeds going in the back yard but they just don't seem to get it....the front yard is where they like to grow.

Well time to close and maybe go over to my other blog and write something, maybe about beets. You have a great day and a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. If you would like to visit me at me other blog the address is: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com
Cheers ~ Louise

B-E-E-T-S

Hi there everyone.........well another Saturday coming to an end, where DO these days go to. Today was kind of cloudy and there was a bit of rain this morning. Glad it is not raining all day....leaky ceilings make me very frustrated and anxious.

So last night, JP stopped by real quick (between jobs) and gave me a bunch of BEETS!! My first reaction was, "I don't do beets" I have never been a beet fan, probably because I remember seeing my mother spend hours peeling and cutting beets to make borscht for my Ukrainian step-father and his mother and uncle. Uge, I hated beets. Her hands were always beet red when she was finished and I sure did not like borscht!!!! So needless to say I have always shied away from beets. No, I don't like beets!!!

So when JP showed up with beets in his hands, I was not too happy. So, I did what most "good" wives would do....looked up some recipes on the computer to use these beets up REAL QUICK!!!! I found a couple of neat sites, a Ukrainian making borscht, a girl from California, (she was hilarious) and a married couple who made borscht using a blender. That is the one I chose. One of those three "borscht makers" said, "you can use most any vegetable you want, even use meat if you like, as long as there are beets in it, it is a pot of Borscht"

So here I am peeling and slicing potatoes and beets for the borscht.....yes...my hands are beet red as is my cutting board and dish water. I also decided to make pickled beets with the smaller beets, just to see how they would taste and just incase some more beets cross my path, I am ready for the next batch.

Here is my take on the three borscht recipes: 2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced, 4 medium beets, peeled and sliced, salt and pepper to taste. Boil for 1 hour and turn down heat. Add 1 onion chopped, 1 carrot and garlic, fry in oil till cooked and add to beets. Add 1 tablespoon of dill weed.  When cooked and tender use an immersible blender to blend all the vegies together. Dish into a bowl add a dollop of sour cream and top with some dried chives.

The bowl on the left is the Borscht, on the right is the pickled beets. Here is my recipe for the pickled beets. 1 small onion sliced, 1/2 cup red-wine vinegar, 1 packet stevia, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 4 whole peppercorns, 2 whole cloves, 1/2-1 cups steamed sliced beets. Combine onion, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and cloves in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the onion is tender and crisp. Stir in beets, transfer to a large bowl and let marinate, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

So there you have it.....you can't "beet" a Friday night like I had last night. It was fun and who knows, I just might do it again. Have a great rest of the weekend. Hope you can "beet" the heat and enjoy.
Cheers ~ Louise

PS If you would like to see what I am talking about on wordpress here is my address there. http://cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

Yummy Beans....

Hi there everyone. Hope your are enjoying the wonderful weather. Although it did rain yesterday...a lot...so much that our roof leaked into a bucket in the kitchen. My nightmare for the last 10 years. Never know where the next leak will be. Hopefully we can get this problem fixed within the next few months.

So the other day I made some really good beans....I think this will be on the agenda to make again...they were so yummy. Here is the recipe. "Spicy Stir-Fried String Beans"

3/4 cup water, 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1-2 Asian hot sauce, such as Sriracha, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 pound green or yellow beans, trimmed, 4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger, 3 large cloves minced garlic, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds.

In this recipe, I also added half a bag of crushed up raman noodles. If you can see the large white chunks, that would be the raman noodles. Preparation of these beans are: Whisk water, soy sauce, cornstarch and hot sauce to taste in a small bowl. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add beans, ginger and garlic; cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the sauce mixture;  cook, stirring frequently, until the beans are tender-crisp and coated with sauce, 4-6 minutes, Sprinkle with sesame seeds. In the top photo I added the beans to a microwave dish and was able to reheat a couple of times. The beans were good to the last spoonful.

Time to bring this blog to a close....if you try the beans, hope you like them. Have a great day and keep looking up.

If you would like to see my other blog at wordpress, here is the link. cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com
Cheers ~ Louise

Places I Would Like To Put My Body In.....

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying your Saturday. Wasn't it just yesterday I was blogging about Saturday's???? My gosh the time flies. I am going to cut the wings off "time", then it won't go by so fast!!!! Well today I am taking a trip, to these wonderful and beautiful places that I would like to put my body in. Come along with me if you would like, don't forget your bathing suit. MMMMMM.....take a "Calgon" moment.

                                                             Zanzibar, Africa
Not sure where this is in Africa, must try and find out where???

 

                                              Aqua Dome Hotel in Austria

                                      Hotel Villa in Honegg, Switzerland

Op.....yes! Put my body in these beautiful locations with a splendid piece of Chocolate cake!!! I am sorry...I needed to make this a BIG piece of cake!!!!!

In this bathtub??? Yes!! And don't forget the Chocolate cake!!!

This is a Beautiful 55 room Resort in Soneva, Maldives.....this picture is what got me started in this adventure finding beautiful places that I would like to put my body in. I visited this website today and have most definitely fallen in love with the Maldives and this special place: http://soneva.com thanks to Pinterest.

Take me away to the Fiji Islands!!!!! This would have to be a piece of Heaven........but oh....don't forget the Chocolate cake...lol!!!

Have a great day and enjoy your surroundings with family and friends!!! Cheers ~ Louise

PS If you would like to visit my other blog at Wordpress the address is: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

A Few New Cards....

Hi everyone...hope your week has started out well. Weather has been beautiful and in the high 70's which has been so very comfortable. I guess if you do not like this weather and want it warmer, you might want to blame me, because I have been asking God to "keep it cool" and He has. I don't do well in hot weather, humidity makes my ankles swell up.

Been finding some time to make cards. Thought I would share a few with you. I have all four of these cards ready to go into my Etsy store. Each card will be $3.50 + postage of $2.00. Each card will come with an envelope and be enclosed in a plastic sleeve for protection. I usually send an extra card as a bonus for shopping at my Etsy store. 

So this is my new set of Happy Birthday Cards. Each card will have a monkey dangling from the number. I can make the cards from 1 years to 100 years. I will probably put a few more into my Etsy store over the next few weeks.

I colored this card last night with copic markers...it turned out really nice and thought I would add it to my store. Not sure where it came from, as I don't personally own this stamp. I am thinking one of my stamping friends must have stamped and embossed this and gave it to me.

This cute squirrel stamp came from Good Will, thought it would make a cute card. I have a blogging friend named Biz she has squirrel friends that visit her and husband Tony. So when I saw this stamp, I thought of her. Actually sent a card like this to them, because Tony has not been feeling well.

This last card was kind of an experiment. Kind of like an Iris Fold with the snowman being the center. I think it still needs something more, like maybe a few snowflakes....maybe the next card will have snow flakes on it...we'll see.

Well time to close this blog. Have to get dinner cooked for JP. Have a great week. For me, tomorrow will be a shopping day, Wednesday, home and Thursday, I am planning to make some cards at Betty's place. Missed last month because I was not feeling too well. Hopefully things will be better this time. I need a little inspiration and I usually get that when I go to Betty's.
Cheers - Louise

PS If you would like to visit my other blog it is:cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

SATURDAY....YaYYYYYYY!!!!

Hi there everyone. Hope your weekend is starting off good!! Have you ever tried to find some funny pictures....and none of them were very funny?? That's what happened for me tonight. I wanted to do a new post using a funny picture, but this is all I could find. Oh well....now that it is actually Saturday morning. I can look forward to sleeping in, probably won't hit the pillow till 2:30am. Yay!!!

Not much has been going on here. Just trying to enjoy the summer and what is left of it. My flowers are doing great and I do enjoy looking at them everyday. Been making teas with my Hibiscus plant, Lemon Mint in the front yard, Bee Balm and Hyssop tea in the back yard. All 4 are really great and each one has some really good health benefits.

My husband likes the Hyssop tea because it is mentioned in the Bible. Hyssop has a kind of licorice taste. Bee Balm attracts the bees and butterflies for the nectar and the leaves can be dried to prepare bergamot tea. The native Americans shared this tea with the early settlers, who then used it as a substitute when imported tea became scarce after the Boston tea party.

I take the flowers of my Hibiscus plant, rinse them and put them in a hot pot of water. I have talk about the Hibiscus tea in a previous post. The Lemon Mint tea is just as it says...a lemony mint taste. I have some drying on the front porch and plan to get some more dried by the end of this month.

I am getting a few cucumbers from the garden, no tomatoes as yet. It looks like my onions are not doing so good again this year. Oh well.

Don't have a lot of plans for today....maybe work on some cards and get a few new things into my Etsy store. I have been "out to lunch" for the last couple of weeks so to speak....so I better get some things listed, people will think I closed shop...lol!

You all have a great weekend and keep looking up! Cheers - Louise

PS. If you would like to check out my other blog it is cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com

A Trip to GFS Yesterday

Hi there everyone. Whoever you are...hope you are having a wonderful day and a great weekend!!! I always look forward to Saturdays...wish everyday could be Saturday...it's a break from the routine of the week and always welcomed in my home.

Sorry I have not been blogging, for what seems like weeks, but is only 5 days...have not had much to blog about I guess. Been dealing with a few issues. My husband is bi-polar, so, sometimes his meds don't click well together and he gets depressed along with a few other problems which causes me to get bummed. Haven't been making cards lately, and that is not like me. All these issues we have been dealing with is kind of like the domino effect. One problem makes another problem...and so on down the line of domino's. I try to stay positive...but sometimes it can be hard when I deal with diabetes and weight gain...high stress points for me, trying to keep numbers down. I have noticed that being under stress causes my blood sugars to rise. Today my number was 112 compared to 143 yesterday. Not sure what the difference was, but I would be happy if I was 112 everyday.

JP has been doing a little bit better lately, mentally, sometimes I think it is the food I make for him...maybe something is not working with his meds....I don't know, I can only guess. Maybe it is something like the diabetes, it all depends on what I eat and if I exercise the night before. The "numbers game" sure can be a stress point for me.

So yesterday I made a run to GFS and bought all this. GFS has samples on Friday and Saturday. Their samples were Green fried tomatoes and marinara sauce, cheese and crackers, fried hot peppers and macaroni salad. I decided to get the fried green tomatoes....they were really good.

I really love the Pane Turano Italian bread which comes out of Berwyn, Illinois which is near Chicago Turano.com This bread makes great Sammie's on the grill, or just plain toast (um, with peanut butter on top.) Today I had an slice of bread toasted and spread some avocado (mashed and added some Bistro sauce) and a slice of tomato on top with sprinkles of cilantro ....now that was GOOD!!!

Last night I had a salad using the Spring mix along with some cucumbers from my garden and an avocado with some Ceasar salad dressing.

When JP got home from work (1am in the morning), I made him "Sunny's Black Bean Burgers" green fried tomatoes, onion rings and French fries, along with soup, salad and fruit. No, he is not starving, but has lost a lot of weight. I just have to look at all that food I make for him and I gain weight....something is very wrong here, it's just not fair. So I cook all this food and can't even enjoy what I cook.

So anyways I used the corn (from GFS) in the black bean burgers. They really turned out great and I will make them again. I got the recipe from the "Extended Stay America" site which I will give you in my next blog. I don't have the address right now. I am asking  you to vote for "Biz" mybizzykitchen.com as she made a recipe for them and has a chance to win $5,000 and a trip to New York.  Once I get all the addresses together I will let you know more, so you can vote for her recipe. We have until August 22nd to vote so there is still plenty of time. You can also vote for Biz from her blog too.

Well time to close this blog, hopefully August will be a better month for us all. Here is my wordpress site, cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com Have a great one and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise