A Day In Our Backyard

The weather was a little cooler yesterday so we enjoyed some time outside in our backyard.

Our Chickens have grown so big. They begin laying eggs in September~

Jacob loves the chickens - Maybell, Beatrice, Lulu, and Peaches



I received these lovely little post it notes in an e-mail. I wanted to share them with you in hopes that you might be blessed by them. Enjoy!



To all my family and friends - I want to wish you and yours a wonderful and happy 4th of July! May God bless you all on this special holiday and may God bless America! Be safe and enjoy this time with your loved ones. Wishing we were closer to our family, we're together in spirit and in heart.



The Crazy Cookbook Lady

We all know about the crazy cat lady, well i've become the crazy cookbook lady. I have cookbooks galore....I love them all!!!!! I think I may have an addiction, I cannot walk into a bookstore or any kind of store that sells cookbooks and just pass by. I will admit that I don't cook from all of them. I think I just like the way they look sitting in my kitchen armoire. There is nothing better than seeing a brand new cookbook, with it's shiny cover and a gorgeous
picture of tasty creations on the front. I purchased such a one today....

I will be posting some recipes that I try out from this lovely little book. So stay tuned for some delicious and healthy eats. Love and Hugs to you all!



Peach Tea

I stumbled upon this lovely little cafe in Virginia Beach called Taste.

They serve all different kinds of gourmet sandwiches and sides. All of their produce is grown locally. They use all fresh ingredients never processed. I have found a gem. They even have a little market section to shop from and a wine selection that's awesome.

I shopped a little and found some really good summer tea. It's by Harney and Son's Fine Teas -  Midsummer's Peach. It has a smooth and delicate peach flavor, this is perfect slightly sweetened and served over ice.

I love peach tea and not all brands have a really great peach flavor to them.

It's summer and the TASTE of midsummer's peach tea is perfect to keep cool with.

Not So Boring Oatmeal

Oatmeal can be sooo boring for breakfast....When I was a kid I used to think it was gross and how could it ever taste good. There are alot of prepackaged flavored oatmeals out there now and most are not as good for you as you would think. Alot of added sugars and such that just don't make for a healthy start to your day. I have played around with different ideas to make oatmeal a little more exciting in my house. Here is what I came up with....

you will need -

quick cooking oatmeal

agave nectar

raisins

cinnamon

unsweetened applesauce

Start out cooking the desired serving of oatmeal as directed on the box

In a bowl sprinkle a tsp of cinnamon

add in the applesauce and a tbsp of agave nectar

pour the oatmeal over the ingredients in your bowl and stir

sprinkle about a 1/4 a cup of raisins over the oatmeal

Its quick, easy and simply delicious! If you want to be a little more adventurous you can substitute the applesauce and raisins with banans, almonds and or dark chocolate morsels. There are so many ways to enjoy oatmeal that it never has to be boring. Enjoy!

A Song In My Mouth

Out of the mouth of babes, so the saying goes....sometimes, in a transient moment we are given a little gift of unexpected profoundness. The little girl, I babysat today shared such a gift with me. As she and Jacob played outdoors today, I overheard her singing. I didn't know the song but she sang it with all the excitement her little voice could send out into the vast open. She noticed me standing near, looked up with a twinkle and a hint of mischeviousness in her bright eyes and simply said, "there's a song in my mouth." Nothing more, nothing less. Just plainly put, that she was going to sing the song in her mouth. I smiled and thought wow, she had a song to sing and she sang it without hesitation. So, if you have a song in your mouth, sing it!