Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Reading ~ Free Gardening Reading Books


 
 
 
 
       These books were free when I posted this, but please check before you buy that the price hasn't changed. To find out more on what is going on in my garden, free books, information on plants or garden ideas, join me on FaceBook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pinterest at Missy Life of a Working Mom.

Pinterest Find of the Day - Companion Planting Tip


      I found this pin on Pinterest. I am going to print this out and put in my gardening not book. This will help me save time seeing what is should plant with what. 

 
      Have you found anything you on Pinterest that you love? Join me on FaceBook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pintrest at Missy Life of a Working Mom

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Reading ~ Free KInd Gardening Books

Farming In Your Backyard for Beginners Vol.2 - Use Proven Strategies to Grow Plants, Herbs, and Food in Your Backyard Easily (Best Guide To Grow Organic ... Farming, Backyard Farming Strategies)
Indoor Gardening: 25 Must Know Secrets for a Successful Indoor Gardening (Indoor Gardening, indoor gardening for beginners, indoor gardening made easy)
Apartment Gardening Today: Learn to Grow a Complete Garden in a Small Space (Container Gardening, Plants, gardening)
 
     These books were free when I posted this, but please check before you buy that the price hasn't changed. To find out more on what is going on in my garden, free books, information on plants or garden ideas, join me on FaceBook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pinterest at Missy Life of a Working Mom.

Gardening -19 Weeks Before the Last Frost (2015) - Organizing Herb Seeds


It looks so much better
     I am so blessed to have so many seeds. My amazing hubby is always supporting me by buying me seeds. Having so many seeds and so many ideas for the garden. I have to get organize. I'm going to try a different way of organizing my seeds. I'm going to organize them buy when to plant them. This will make it easier to plant my seeds.

Baggie, book and seeds
To do this I need 5 things
  1. Paper - to write the seeds that I have down the seeds I have and what baggie I put them in. 
  2. Sandwich zip bags - they will hold the seeds and keep them save and together. 
  3. Sharpie - that way I can write on the baggie what week to plant 
  4. My gardening book - it helps me know when to plant my seeds. 
  5. My iPad - that way if I need to see when to plant a seed, I can look it up. 

It is organized
    Now I have to go through all my seeds. It took about 2 hours but it was so worth it! How do you organize your seeds? 

Here is what is going on for 19 weeks Before last frost
Gardening - 19 Weeks Before Last Frost (2015)- Weekly Gardening Goals

Wedding Wednesday- Making Invitations for the Wedding

We weren't ready for this picture
I had my bridesmaid, best friend, Aunt and my mom over to help me make my wedding invitations! It was so much fun and I love the way they turned out.   
 
Having fun fixing the invitations

We had a great time and when a problem  up. They helped me figure out how to solve it. 
 
Goofing off
 Of course we all were goofing off too. I was a great night. I love that they came over to support Hubby and my wedding! I'm so thankful to have an amazing friends and family!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Cooking - Meal Plan for 01/05/2015 - 01/11/2015

     I am trying to work on only eating out once a month if any. Therefore having a menu planned is a huge help  to me.  I will change some of the recipes to be on my THM diet. What are you cooking this week.

JAN 05 - MONDAY
breakfast(THM-F) Trim And Healthy Mama's Custard Recipe
lunch(THM-E) Chicken Breasts With Sweet Potatoes
dinnerMeatloaf
snacks(THM-E) Strawberry Shortcake Proteins Overnight Oatmeal
JAN 06 - TUESDAY
breakfast(THM-S) Egg omelet With Green Peppers, Mushroom And Laughing Cow Cheese
lunch(THM-S) Big Mac Salad
snacks(THM-S) Blueberry Smoothie
dinnerBeef And Broccoli
snacks(THM-S) Butterfinger
JAN 07 - WEDNESDAY
breakfast(THM-E) Peach Oatmeal
lunch(THM-E) Chicken Breasts With Sweet Potatoes
snacks(THM-S) Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie
dinner(THM-S) Taco Salad
weekly saladTossed Salad
freezer cookingFour Cheese Pasta
JAN 08 - THURSDAY
breakfast(THM-S) Egg omelet With Green Peppers, Mushroom And Laughing Cow Cheese
lunchProgressive Soup
snacks(THM-S) Blueberry Smoothie
dinnerSuper easy Chicken (crockpot)
JAN 09 - FRIDAY
breakfast(THM-E) Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal
lunchEgg Salad - Salad
snacks(THM-E) Strawberry Shortcake Proteins Overnight Oatmeal

Kielbasa And Pregroies
JAN 10 - SATURDAY
breakfastEggs With Bacon
lunchOlive Garden Low Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup
snacks(THM-FP) Pumpkin Spice Frappe
dinner(THM-E) Italian Chicken Cassarole
JAN 11 - SUNDAY
breakfastCereal
lunchLeftover
dinnerLeftovers
freezer cookingHomemade Cottage cheese
freezer cookingHomemade Sour Cream


Cooking - Kefir

     My mom tells me always find a way to try new things that she's never heard of. That some of the stuff I do it's just so out there. I just kind a laugh at her and tell her that she doesn't understand it all. That our life goal is to be as healthy as possible and to be able to support ourselves if something bad would happen. Ready to hear the new out there idea??? It's making my own Kefir!

Thank you for the picture
     What's Kefir? That was my first question to I've heard a little bit about it through my THM lifestyle. I have heard a little bit about it and how healthy it supposed to be for you. To be perfectly honest the thought of leaving milk out and having bacteria in it was gross. I had this feeling inside me that I need to be making this and using it in my household. So I decided to research it. I was amazed by the things that I have found.

Thank you for the picture
     Trim Healthy Mama only touch base that kefir is more powerful than yogurt at healing the inner ecology of the body.  Livestrong.com said it tasted like yogurt it was a healthy add to anybody's body. That by drinking Kefir was a way to add protein vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, vitamin B-12 and calcium into a diet. They also explained that it had six different healthy bacteria is in it that you can't get from eating or drinking anything else. They also stated that it helped that they digestive system and to prevent bad bacteria growth. 
Thank you for the Picture
     I read on the HuffPost help that it had Tryptophan and it in that helps you feel relaxed.  The site that I found most interesting was the Dr. Axe website. This site so that there are seven benefits to the body by just drinking Kefir. 

The Benefits Where
  • Boost immunity system
  • Heal inflammatory bowel disease
  • Build bone density
  • Fight allergies
  • Improve lactose intolerant 
  • Kills Candida disease
  • Support detoxification 
He also states that the micobriota cocktail in kefir can fight cancer, help preserve healthy genetic expression, and has a strong anti-inflammatory property that could help in preventing asthma. 
     Wow all that in a drink I can make??? I'm trying to figure our why we have had kefir in our life already. What a great way to add this powerful drink my protein shakes. I can switch out almond milk for kefir. That's one less thing that we have to buy weekly.  I talked to Hubby about everything and talked about the benefits that would be for homesteading prep (more about that another post) and we decided that we would research the price to kefir grain. Amazon has them for less than $6 with shipping. Now they're on our way to our house. 


Daily Goals ~ Tuesday, Jauary 6th, 2015

      I think it is harder to get out of bed on Tuesdays instead of Monday. I am more excited on Mondays. Well once I final rolled out of bed and start to move I was on a roll. I got the fire going, pets feed, the dog walked and finally sitting down to my coffee. It was a quick walk today because it is snowing.

Today's Goals
  1. Work ~ I work today from 8am-6pm. I have the two boys most the day and y little girl after school.
  2. Personal ~ Write weekly Goals, I want to organize my life more these goals will help.
  3. Cooking ~ Write my recipe for my kefir water. I final found away to make it that they family likes. Even hubby drank some. I just have to get him over that it was alive.
  4. Gardening ~ Start to plan out my garden for 2015. I will use my iPad app to plan it.
  5. Workout ~ Today is the pink video. I can't wait to get it in. Oh and wait until Thursday, I have something new I'm using to workout and love it.
Yesterday's Goals
  1. Work ~ Today I work from 8am-6pm. I can't wait to see the little one and spend sometime with them. I had an amazing day back! I love watching my little man just play and talk to himself. It is the cutest thing in the world. My little girl and I had a dance party after dinner. I missed them so much.
  2. Cooking ~ Make menu and stick to it. This is a year with only eating out once a month and we have already ate out because of my nieces birthday. - The menu is made, look for it this afternoon.
  3. Gardening ~ Start to organize my seeds. I want to start with the herbs because they get planted 1st. I can't wait to get into the garden. My herbs are organized and ready for me to plant! I can't wait, next week I start to plant some!
  4. Cleaning ~ Stick to the cleaning schedule. Today is kitchen, and it need the TLC. I hope I have the energy to work on it after work. ~ I am going to say yes I got this done. Even though it wasn't done prefect. I still came hoe and cleaned after work!
  5. Workout ~ Today start the official start of my new years goals. I would like to lose another 20lbs this year. Then I would be back at a healthy weight for my little body type. It will be easier now that the holiday season is over. I got my workout in yesterday! It felt great to get it in!
What are your goals for today? How did you do yesterday?

Monday, January 5, 2015

Free Kindle Gardening Books

      These books were free when I posted this, but please check before you buy that the price hasn't changed.
 
 
 
 
 
      To find out more on what is going on in my garden, free books, information on plants or garden ideas, join me on FaceBook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pinterest at Missy Life of a Working Mom. 

Pinterest Find of the Day - Cleaning Your Harvest

     Today, I was on Pinterest and I found this awesome idea for cleaning my veggies that I harvest.  They call it a Tubtrug Colander. I wonder if I could DYI this idea. It looks like a wonderful idea but I don't know if spending $15 on it. 

I love this idea!
     What do you think? Would you like to wash you fruit and veggies right away? Join me on FaceBook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pintrest at Missy Life of a Working Mom

Daily Goals ~ Monday, January 5th, 2015

     Wow, it is the first Monday of the year. I am back to work today. Honestly, I can't wait! I miss my little ones. It also though means back to early busy morning. Later to day might be hard. Right now I'm up and moving, but not be that way later. I slept horrible last night, because of the wind storm. I am very proud of myself though. I got up got on the elipcail and walked the dog. Then I feed everyone and start the fire. How was you morning?

The chicken photo bombed my photo!!!! 
Today's Goals
  1. Work ~ Today I work from 8am-6pm. I can't wait to see the little one and spend sometime with them.
  2. Cooking ~ Make menu and stick to it. This is a year with only eating out once a month and we have already ate out because of my nieces birthday.
  3. Gardening ~ Start to organize my seeds. I want to start with the herbs because they get planted 1st. I can't wait to get into the garden.
  4. Cleaning ~ Stick to the cleaning schedule. Today is kitchen, and it need the TLC. I hope I have the energy to work on it after work.
  5. Workout ~ Today start the official start of my new years goals. I would like to lose another 20lbs this year. Then I would be back at a healthy weight for my little body type. It will be easier now that the holiday season is over.
What are your goals for today?

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Pinterest Find of the day - Black Rose

   
Black Rose
     Oh my this is rose so breathtaking! I never seen anything like this beautiful flower. What do you do when you see a flower that you have never seen. Hopeful you do the same as I a research it. I found this YouTube video that explains more about.


     
      What do you think? If you lived in Turkey would you grow it? Join me on Facebook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pinterest at Missy Life of a Working Mom to see what I am up too.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Mom to Mom - My child is become more like me

     Being a mom is a hard thing. It is one of the best thing in the world too. I love being a mom and would never change it for anything in the world. I love watching her grow up. I always wonder what she will take in from what hubby and I are teaching her. 

     This Christmas was a huge eye opener on what we are teaching her. I went shopping for her gifts. Wow it was like shopping for myself without me getting a thing. I when to the book store to get her a new a build you own classic book. Then when to the tea store to buy her some new tea. She love both those gift. The next day she sat down with a cup of her Caramel Chi tea and here new book. 

     Watching her grow into an amazing young women is something I know I'm lucky to do. I also so glad I get to show her how to be an adult.  I am so happy she is picking up the amazing trades that I want her to learn. The day she builds a gardening and harvest and preserves her own food I will be though the roof. I will take what I can get and keep teaching her how to take care of herself. 

     When you look at your little ones do you see them turn in to yourself? Do you enjoy knowing what you are teaching them is sinking in? 

Gardening - 19 Weeks Before Last Frost (2015)- Weekly Gardening Goals

                    My book
     Time to start getting the gardening ready for the spring! I am a weekend gardener so I have to make a list and stick with it. This is very important because the gardening can get super busy very quickly. So having goals and a list helps me stick to my goal. I follow my garden journal and my Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook. By following these to things it will help me stay on track to complete My 2015 Yearly Gardening Goals

Weekly Goals
  1.  Organize my flower seeds - I have a huge container filled with edible flower and non-edible seeds. I also want to organize the seeds buy when to plant. 
  2. Inventory my pots - I am hoping this year will be my best year ever, which means I need to get my pots organized and cleaned. I want to start to organize them. 
  3. Inventory my seeds - I want to go though my flower seeds and write what seeds I have when to plant and if they are edible or not. I also would like to do the same with my herbs. 
  4. Start to plan out my garden for 2015 - I have what I want my gardens to look like in my head. Now I just want to get it down on paper. 
  5. Organize my herb seeds - I want to go though my herb container and start to organize them on when to plant. 
     How do you get ready for your garden ready? Are you a list maker? If so what's on your list?

Reading ~ Free Books

     these books were free when I downloaded the today make sure you check before you download them.
 
Naturally Bug Free: Homemade Pest Control for Organic Gardening Made Easy (Organic Gardening Beginners Planting Guides)
 
      I think this book will be a good read. It will help get ride of the bad bugs natural. This is important so my family and I are eating toxic food from the garden. This might also work in the house, which is good so we are breathing in horrible things for our body. I can't wait to read it.
 
 
Organic Micro Gardening Hacks Vol. 2 - Maximize Your Garden Efficiency with Limited Amount of Space (Micro Gardening Hacks, Organic Gardening Guide, Maximizing ... Garden, Organic Gardening, Micro Gardening)
      This book caught my eye. I want to know more about the hacking. I also want to start to read up on micro gardening. I looking forward to see what they tips are and more about micro gardening.
 
Square Foot Gardening - How To Grow Healthy Organic Vegetables The Easy Way: Including Companion Planting & Intensive Vegetable Growing Methods
      I already own this book. I think that everyone starting a gardening or looking to get ore out of there garden should give this book a try. It has great tips on it and it is free.
 
 
To find out more on what is going on in my garden, free books, information on plants or garden ideas, join me on FaceBook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pintrest at Missy Life of a Working Mom. 


Pinterest Find of the Day - Great Homesteading Tips

     These days with the craziness of the world these days. A lot of people are starting to learn how to started a homestead.

Love Ashley's Picture

     After reading Ashely's article How to Start a Homestead , I think she has a lot of helpful tips. I love the last one, because I agree that things might not workout perfect but keep trying. I hope you like her article too.
      Join me on Facebook at  Pa Gardeners and on Pinterest at Missy Life of a Working Mom to see what I am up too.

Book Review - Citizen Farmer

     I read the Citizen Farmers: The Biodynamic Way to Grow Healthy Food, Build Thriving Communities, and Give Back to the Earth book by Daron Joffe this week. I really enjoyed this book. I love how it started. They way it shows you one little act can lead to something big. I also enjoyed the author's lessons on how to garden. Below is his list, he goes into major details of each one. I love this list and the fact that everything on it is a way to give back. 

1. Make compost a way of life
2. Start/take part in a garden
3. Give back
4. Teach the next generation to appreciate where their food comes from. 
5. Have a sustainable plan for the future. 

      I really enjoyed this book. There was one thing, I was a little confused about were the pictures of the garden map and photos. I couldn't tell if they were Joffe's garden or some else's gardens. I would recommend this book to anyone. It was a great book with a lot of useful information in it. 

Gardening - Hollyhock Information

     I have seen these flowers around my home area and though they were pretty. I never grew them because I didn't know their value. These flowers are very useful in a homesteaders garden.

     They reason they are so valueable is because they have medical purpose and help bring good bugs into the garden. These to things will help us a lot on our homestead. 


Thank you for the picture
     I also love all the colors these flower come in. They can fit in almost garden because they come in so many colors. I did find a seed packet that has a mix of colors for infount of the house. I also order black ones for the side of the yard garden. I can't wait to see these flowers grow. 

Are you planting Hollyhocks in your garden? Any tips for me on how to grow them? 

Daily Goals - Friday, January 2nd, 2015

     New Year has started. I have my goals set and time to work though them. I go back on work on Monday so it is time the house organized and start to get my garden organized.

Today's Goals
  1.  Pets - I want to walk the dog today. I want to get 20 minute walk in. This is good for him and me. 
  2.  Cleaning - do my Friday cleaning list. 
  3.  Workout - do my January Challenge and 20 minute workout. Time to get into shape, wedding is coming quickly. 
  4.  Gardening - I want to write my gardening goals and start to work on them. 
  5.  Shopping - I need to hit the bank and local milk store. 
 
What are you doing today? Do you have any goals for the day?  
 

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Workout - January Challenge

I need to lost my tummy for the wedding so hoping this challenge will help me lose it. Join me on this challenge!
Read to start!

2015 Yearly Goals


     I love to have goals. It might sound crazy but knowing what you plan on doing helps me plan for the future. I love checking off my list and feeling like a got something done. I also love to write what I see my life burning and go for it. 

2015 Yearly Goals 

Family 
  • Get married. This year is the year Hubby and I say I do!! I can't wait. I will be marrying my best friend. 
  • Once a week do a nice thing for each member of the family. The goal is to make them smile or make their day just a little better. I think this is very important to remind your family how important they are to you. 
  • Do a monthly project together. I want us to learn to work together better. Each month a family member will come up with a project and we will work together to make it.  
  • After the wedding, I want us to take a weekend away once a month. This will give us time as a family to work together and get along. I also like that it will get us away from the stress of the world and enjoin each other. 
  • Visit with my grandmom once a month. I love spending time with her and ejoying it. 
  • Personal 
  • Stay on THM deit at least 5 days of the week. This diet is healthy and will help me be able to eat and still lose weight. 
  • Work on keeping the house clean. This is the yards thing for me. Not that I like to be dirt but I just hate cleaning. 
  • Read 24 books this year. I love to read. It is very relaxing I want to read 24 new books this year. I want to read at least on educational book and a book for fun each month. 
  • I want to focus more on my blog. Last year I stop blogging toward the end of the year. I hoping to do better this year. 
Home
  • Work on fixing it up. We want to sell in about 5 years and buy our farm. That means we to fix up our property and house so it is sell ready. 
  • Declutter our house. I hoping to find a calendar to help me to declutter the house. 
  • Work on the house binder and sticking to it. 
  • Friends 
  • Start to go to my couponing group. By doing this I will stay active in the church community and help them save money. 
  • Start going to book club. I love reading and talking to people that read and join it will help us grow closer to new people. 
  • Have a monthly picnic. This is going to be a fun time with friends and family. I want to be close to our family and friends. 
  • Do one Godly act for a friend. It is nice just to do something nice for a friend.
  • Church
  • Get baptized! I can't wait this year, I will get baptize into the LDS church. 
  • Get more involved into the church community.  I love my church family and I want to get closer to them. 
  • Do one act of kindness once a month around the world. Whether it is donating at the grocery store, or finding a person that needs something. 
Pets
  • Chicken - this year I hoping to get some meat birds and raise them as food. 
  • Cat - I want to build her a scratching post. 
  • Bunnies - I want to get 2 more females. I want to have more bunnies. 
  • Bee - this year I want to start my beehive and start to raise them. We now have the hive, so we need to order a few broken peice. 
  • Dog - I want to walk Skipper at least 10 minutes a day and train him for at least 5 minutes a day. 
  • Aquaphonic - this year I want start them. This will be so cool to have in the house.
Garden
  • Grow 200 lbs of food - I want to produce enough food to be able to save money on the grocery and donate some. 
  • Keep up on weeding. I lost the garden to weeds last year. I need to do better this year. 
  • Save my own seeds. I want to save over 8 different kinds of seeds. 
  • Make the cold cellar in the basement. 
  • Stay focused on the garden. 
     What are your goals this year? Do you write down a few or a lot? If you blog and have your goals writen down, please post them on here. I would love to read about them. 

Happy New Years!!!

    

      I want to wish you and your family a Happy New Year! I hope 2015 is full of happiness, peace, love and joy for you and your family!!