Menu Plan 6/26 - 7/2 and Fun Photos

It feels like it has been forever since I have been on here.  I guess that's because it has.  I have one project too many going on right now and am finding a hard time completing anything.  I was actually able to put a meal plan together this week though (out of necessity) to use up my garden harvest.  I have an abundance of dill and spinach.  A funny thing happened...I thought I was planting beets, but I must have a marble loose, because I planted 4 rows of spinach instead.  Sometimes I scare myself.

So, here is what we're eating this week:

Meal #1 (Family BBQ - my contribution):  Cucumber and Dill Pasta Salad along with grilled fish and sausages.
Meal #2:  Asian Salad with Spinach, Chicken, Oranges, Almonds, and Sesame Ginger Dressing with Crusty Bread
Meal #3:  Dill and Feta Cheese Frittata with Spinach Salad or Cooked Spinach
Meal #4:  Chicken and Pesto Paninis with Fruit Salad
Meal #5:  Sandwiches made with Leftover Frittata with Roasted Red Peppers on Baguette

And of course, since it's summer, I have to be honest and say that the other night we'll be having leftover pasta salad with sausages on the grill.  Pretty fancy here.  LOL.

Here are a few fun pics from our week...

Mama and her fawn right outside my house

Nursing....awwwww!

Little Bean with her first fish - those little pink princess poles really work!

Have a great week everyone!

Gardening Update and Pictures

I just got back from a mini vacation (sort of).  And I was finally able to get some pics of my new garden area.  My husband and I put in two new retaining walls and built three raised beds this spring.  The drippers are in and the seeds are sprouting.  I am a virgin gardener, so I am beyond excited.

There are no before pictures included here.  But, picture a bunch of dirt and weeds.  There you go, that's what we had before this.  We are on 10 acres, therefore there are no restrictions on our landscaping (or lack thereof).  Therefore, we have taken our sweet time with everything.

Here is a list of the different things that I planted:

• Beets
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Green Peppers
• Snap Peas
• Green Onions
• Tomatoes (4 varieties)
• Potatoes - in ground (Blue and Yukon Gold)
• Zucchini - in ground
• Eggplant - in ground
• Herbs (in pots - not pictured) - dill, chives, rosemary, basil, and thyme

This is a before picture of my next project.  I am going to be building a fire pit in the lower area here.  The tricky part:  our septic tank is below this area, so the covering has to be somewhat easy to remove since it needs to be pumped every three years.  I have some ideas that I am looking into for that.

And yes, off to the left, that is one very dead tree.  The gophers are responsible for that.  Not happy since that was a very expensive tree.  Grrrr....

And below is a picture of our psychotic hummingbird.  He perches at the top of said dead tree where he has an excellent view of our hummingbird feeder.  Anytime another hummingbird thinks of taking a sip, he swoops down and threatens them and they inevitably fly away.

Have a great week!

Pinterest Fever

There has been a lot being said about Pinterest in the blogosphere of late.  Now I know why.  It is an addiction.  I may soon need to enter a 12 step program.  So, here's the deal...you know how you come across a tutorial that you love and you save it in your favorites toolbar along with a hundred other tutorials that you love...then you never bother looking through them because it is overwhelming?  Then Pinterest is for you!

You can categorize all of those different "favorites" along with an image from the website...so you have a visual of all things at once.  How genius is that?  Here are a couple of examples that I have been playing with today.

This is on a pinboard of mine called "Things I Vow to Make."



The next one is my pinboard called "Good Food."  Strangely, there are mostly sweets on there.  Hmmm...




So, you can see that there are photos and links so when you are choosing your next meal, project, purchase, puppy, whatever, you can see them all side by side.  Amazing!

Here's the thing with Pinterest, you can only join by invitation.  If you would like me to invite you, please leave a comment with your email address or send me an email at littlebeanworkshop{at}hotmail{dot}com.  Don't blame me when you become an addict though!