Sausage, Egg and Cheese Muffins

This is one of those super easy breakfast meals that take very little time to mix up and then bake. It is healthy and delicious!

Living a sugar-free low carb lifestyle means coming up with new ideas to try and as with a lot of recipes, we like some and dislike some. This one is a keeper since everyone likes it. Another one of our favorite breakfast meals is the baked turkey, egg and cheese cups. So be sure to check that recipe out as well.

The first step is to brown your one pound of sausage and season it unless it is already seasoned. It is extremely hard to find sausage without added sugar so we generally have a hog butchered and the ground pork left plain. 

Sausage Seasoning
1 lb sausage
1 tsp celtic salt
1 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp paprika

Next step is to crack the eggs. In our family of six, we use 15 eggs to make 12 muffin cups.

Then I grate up a block of cheese and add half of it to the eggs. Whip up the eggs and cheese really well. Drain the sausage and then add it to the egg and cheese mixture. 

Fill the muffin pan with about 1/3 cup of the mixture and place them in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Once finished baking, allow them to cool and enjoy! I own the Pampered Chef muffin tin and I absolutely love cooking with the natural stoneware. They aren't cheap but I find that it is well worth what I had invested in it. There are some other options like this one, or this one. However, I have only used the Pampered Chef. The natural stoneware cleans much easier than the tin muffin pans,

I love packing these in my husbands lunch box. He leaves very early for work and these reheat wonderfully for an easy and quick breakfast that is healthy. 

Enjoy!

Herb Garden for Butterflies

One of my favorite sites to see is the beautiful butterflies that gracefully flutter through the air, fluttering from flower to flower in my garden. One of my hopes this year was to create a small haven that would encourage the butterflies to visit our area more often and to plant several variety of herbs that they love to use as host plants. 

Attracting butterflies to the garden will require a sunny location, and plant nectar-producing flowers for adult butterflies and host plants for their larvae. I purchased most of my herbs this year from the local garden center but starting them from seed would have also been a great option. I labeled all of the herbs I purchased with these adorable slate garden markers.

I love all the butterflies but two of my favorites are the Swallowtail and the Monarch. In order to attract them to the garden I knew that I would need to plant nectar plants that would provide food for adult butterflies and host plants that would provide food for butterfly larvae and a place for butterflies to lay their eggs.

Herbs to Plant for Attracting Butterflies

Dill
-Dill is an excellent host and nectar source for butterflies. It is very easy to grow and can grow up to 4 feet high. They have small attractive yellow flowers that bloom in large airy clusters around a hollow stem. By mid-season, I hope to find a lot of happy little caterpillars eating away at the Dill. 

Fennel
-Fennel is the companion plant to dill. Fennel will attract the entire life cycle of the black swallowtail butterfly. Fennel can grow very tall and like Dill it will have large lacy flower heads.

Parsley
- Parsley is a wonderful host plant for butterflies and a great source of nectar if it is given the chance to flower. 

Dill, Fennel and Parsley are the three most important plant that butterflies use as their host plants. These three plants are considered the "swallowtail three" and you want them for their foliage, so don’t let them flower until you are ready. I have a few plants of each right now but plan to plant a lot more because they are such an attractant for the butterflies. I fully expect to see a lot of caterpillars on mine this year!

Other Herbs that are great in the butterfly garden would include:
Mint
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary
Basil 
Oregano
Borage

There are a variety of reasons to grow herbs besides just the hope of having a lot of butterflies visit your yard. Even if you don't use them to cook with they are beautiful to grow for their aromatic scent, beautiful flowers and many of them can even be used in bouquets. 

Happy Herb planting and hopefully you will see a lot of butterflies and then get to watch the life cycle completely in your own back yard. 
Sources:
Garden Markers
Jute Twine

Painted Farmhouse Sliding Barn Door

We built a walk in pantry last year in our kitchen area and installed a sliding barn door. I really loved it but the brown always seemed a bit off in our home and so several months ago, I decided to paint it. 

The brown door was pretty but it blended to much with the floor and it didn't really end up matching anything else in this area of our home. You will also notice in the next few photos that I moved out the island and moved our kitchen table to this space. It has really opened up our kitchen/dining area and we love that the table is the center of our home.

Our modular home is still a work in progress and as you can tell this area still needs trim on the bottom. I had previously painted all the walls and the trim Simply White but I have to be honest and tell you that the knots were coming through and were noticable on the shiplap walls. I decided to go with a bit of a darker color and after several months of using Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore on the walls, I have seen no knots showing through the paint. 

I went with White Dove for the trim and the sliding pantry door. Together these colors make a lovely combination and they really look amazing with the black accent. It took a few coats to paint the pantry door and I chose to leave the rustic indentions that were already on the door. 

I love the outside of the pantry but the interior is still one of my favorite views. I have all the details of the pantry space written out on this post and you can also shop our home for sources. 

So, what do you think? Which one is your favorite? The natural wood look or the painted natural tones? 

Easy DIY Slate Vegetable Garden Marker Idea

I love the garden season and I love creating a beautiful garden to work in. I like to have some sort of garden markers to know what I planted where and this year I found small pieces of slate to use for my vegetable garden markers.

Supplies:
Wooden Stakes or these metal stakes
Slate Labels
White Sharpie Paint Pen
Jute Twine
You can also buy the slate labels and metal stakes together

I ordered the supplies and when they arrived, I got busy making my vegetable garden markers. I wrote the names of what I was growing on my slate pieces with the sharpie pen and then attached them to the wooden stakes with jute twine. 

This is a super simple project that adds a great deal of character and beauty to the garden. These slate garden markers can be used with chalk however I knew that wouldn't hold up in the rain. So, while a sharpie pen is permanent, I know that I will be using these year after year.

It has been a busy garden season so far with setting up this space at our new place, I have built raised garden beds, built a tomato trellis and now have the garden markers. It is a busy season around here. 

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to check out the rest of the blog! 

Easy DIY String Tomato Trellis

I recently visited a fried of mine and noticed that he was growing his tomatoes on what is known as a string trellis. I left inspired to build my version and hopefully you will be inspired as well. 

I purchased 8 1x2 boards from the local lumber yard, jute twine, small eye bolts and screws. I recently shared how I built our raised garden beds and  I knew that I wanted to attach my trellis to the garden beds. So the first thing I did was pre-drill holes in the 1x2. 

I chose to build my trellis on the outside of the raised garden bed so that the boards weren't stuck down in the dirt and it also made it easier to see where I was screwing the boards in.

I was creating an X figure on the sides of the garden beds so I screwed four screws into the bed to hold the trellis. I did this on each corner of the bed to create an X on each corner. Then I screwed the X together at the top just under the board that runs across the top.

The image above shows the basic design of what I had built. I wanted it to be very secure so I took two more 1x2 boards and screwed them on the bottom of the trellis just in front of the tomato plants. I also screwed screws through the top board where the X formed so that the top part of the trellis board was secure. 

I then took small eye bolts and screwed on into the 1x2 board just next to each tomato plant. I have 3ft x 6ft beds and so I have eight tomato plants in one bed. Then I took four eye bolts and screwed them into the 1x2 board that is running across the top of the trellis. I put the eye bolt between where the tomatoes were located. Then I use the jute twine to create the string trellis for the tomatoes to grow on.

I left the jute twine on the roll and unrolled a very long piece. Then starting at the very end corner on the bottom, I stuck the jute twine through the eye bolt. Then go straight up and loop the twine through eye bolt on the top of the trellis. Then go straight down to the next eye bolt, then go through the eye bolt right next to it before going to the second eye bolt on the top. I continued this pattern until I had looped the jute string through every eye bolt. Once I got to the end I tied knots in the string and then cut the twine. I did this on both ends of the jute twine. 

When I was finished each tomato had jute twine next to it. As the tomatoes grow, I will simply help them climb up the string trellis by wrapping the stem around the twine in a few places. 

I am hoping that you can understant these directions and that you have been inspired to make your own trellis. This is much sturdier than any tomato cage and I am hoping that I can use is for several years to come. 

Creating a Unique Flower Garden Planter

I love taking an odd or unique object and turning it into something useful and beautiful. With a little bit of creativity you can turn just about anything into a planter for flowers. 

I am not quite sure where this object came from and there has been some debate on what people think it is. I have heard that it looks like an old muzzle for an animal, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I looked at it and seen a flower planter. 

I purchased a coco liner from the local store and cut it in half. Then I folded it so that it would fit into my vintage find. Just make sure that the coco liner overlaps in the back so that you have the back covered if your item has an open back. 

I then added some soil and my plant. This is a super easy project but I love when an old item can be repurposed in a new way. I often use a variety of old objects to create unique interest in the garden. You can view more of my ideas here and here. For all garden related posts you can go here. 

Thanks for stopping by! Join me on my other social networks to stay up to date on the latest news. 

Building Raised Garden Beds

When we purchased our new land, I had the glorious idea to have this entire area tilled up and made into a garden area but the garden season is already quickly upon me and I knew that I really didn't have the time to spend hours pulling weeds. So, I went in search of other ideas. I wanted raised garden beds. I wanted them chemical free and made from a material that would last. 

I went to Lowes and purchased twenty-four cedar picket fence boards. These boards would be used for the sides and the ends. These are fence boards so I cut the very tip off where the boards were dog-eared at the top. I left sixteen of the boards the long length and cut the other eight boards in half for the ends. 

In order to put the boards together, I purchased six of the pine fir boards and cut them into 11" pieces. You could also have your local lumber yard do the cuts for you if you can not do this at home. With a box of screws and a drill, it was time to put the beds together. 

I placed the pine fir board that was cut at 11" flat on the ground and screwed my cedar boards to it as shown in the photo above. I did this four times down the side boards to keep my boards sturdy and to prevent any bowing in the boards. 

To form the end of the raised bed, I screwed the boards the cedar boards that I cut in half onto the end of the long sides. I then added another pine fir board to the middle of the end boards for more durability. When I finished building the raised beds, I set them in place.

Filling a raised bed with store bought bags of dirt can be really exspensice. These beds are around six feet long and 3 feet wide and have a depth of 11 inches. I found someone local who charges $25.00 for a truck load of dirt. It is made up of manure and dirt that has been turned and allowed to compost for the past two years. So, search your local for sale sites to see if you can find something like that in order to fill the beds. I would recommend having the soil tested to see what the PH level is. This will tell you if you need to add anything to amend the soil. 

With the twenty-four cedar picket fence boards and the six pine fir boards, I was able to build four raised garden beds. 

The cost breakdown:
24 Cedar Picket Fence Boards $1.94 x 24 = $46.56
6 Pine Fir Boards $2.07 x 6 = $12.42
Wood Screws $9.47

Total Cost $68.45
Price per Raised Bed $17.12

I love the idea of raised vegetables because I don't have to spend hours weeding the garden. Sure, I will still have some to pull but nothing like if I would have tilled up this entire area to plant the garden. I will be adding more boxes over the next few weeks and I have plans to make this a beautiful space with walk ways and a sitting area. 

This is my view from the front of our property. You can tell that I had started to till this area up for a garden but I quickly changed my mind. I will allow that to return to grass but eventually, the garden beds will fill that entire space. When I am finished, I should have between 16-20 raised garden beds. I have had the traditional tilled garden in the past. It was beautiful but also took a lot of my time to keep it weed free. 

Thanks for stopping by. It has been a busy few weeks of planting Gladiolus, Dahlias and other flower varieties, transplanting Hostas as well as getting the garden area started. I look forward to sharing more of the process in the upcoming weeks. I hope this has inspired you to build your own raised garden beds. Don't forget to join me on my other social networks!

Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

What is sugar free, low carb, filled with chocolate and absolutely delicious? These sugar free chocolate chip cookies! 

These are so easy to make and in fact my eight year old daughter loves to whip the ingredients together. We adapted this recipe for our family and it is a hit with all six of us. That should tell you how good these are! 

Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 5 tablespoons xylitol
• 1/2 teaspoon stevia
• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1 large egg
• pinch of salt (we use Celtic)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup Lilys Chocolate Chips
• (optional) 2 tablespoons cacao powder (cocoa) *see note below*

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the almond flour, baking soda, xylitol, stevia and salt in a bowl.
3. Add the butter and egg. Stir until all ingredients are mixed well. 
4. Add chocolate chips
5. Form dough into tablespoon size balls and bake for 10 minutes or until the tops are starting to turn a golden brown.

Notes:

• Using room temperature butter makes a lot of difference. Don't be tempted to melt the butter. 
• To make these double chocolate chip cookies, add 2 tablespoons of cacao (cocoa) to the dry ingredients when mixing. 
• I always use a stone cookie sheet to bake my cookies. These take 13 minutes in my oven and I leave them on the stone until they finish cooling. I purchased my stone cookie sheet from Pampered Chef several years ago but I know you can find them online. I love the way they cook my cookies and think they make a lot of difference in the way they turn out. 

My husband and I are in our 3rd month of being sugar-free and these cookies are a great quick and easy snack to make up. We also love a sugar-free Mocha Gelatin Pie. I will be adding more recipes in the future as we find ones that we love! 

Thanks for stopping by! It means so much to me. Don't forget you can connect with me on my other social networks linked above. 

Some links may be affiliate links. This simply means that I make a small commission at no extra charge to you. This helps me keep this site going. 

Captured No. 2

Welcome to the weekly series of Captured, a place where I share my latest photos from around the home. 

A sweet surprise when my son discovered this fern that I had planted last year. I thought it had died but it showed up after our last heavy rainfall. I love watching to see what plants make from their long winter sleep.

I started adding herbs to the garden. I always enjoy using Rosemary to season our meals and so I put in a couple of plants. I will be sharing my tips in the near future on how to grow Rosemary, harvest and dry it. One of my favorite recipes to use Rosemary in is my Crispy Sweet Potatoes

I didn't get my lettuce or carrots in early enough this year and the weather is already very warm. So, I will be saving these seeds and using them in a fall garden.

It has been another busy but great week around our home. I am hoping to get the Dahlias planted this week and possibly a few other plants. Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget you can stay up to date by following along on my other social accounts. 

Flower Gardening: Planting Gladiolus Corms

I am taking on the adventure of flower gardening this year and Gladiolus is one of the flowers that I will be growing. They make a great cut flower and look beautiful in bouquets. Gladiolus are easy to grow and are a hardy plant. They add a lot of height to flower gardens, therefore, they are best placed at the back of a garden area. 

Some Notes about Gladiolus

• Gladiolus are grown from corms, not bulbs. 
• Gladiolus are one of the August birth flowers.
• Gladiolus are sometimes known as the sword flower because of the shape of their leaves.
• The Gladiolus are known as the rememberance flower.

When to Plant

• Plant the corms in Spring two weeks before the last frost date for your area. You can continue planting the corms every two weeks until mid-July to have continuous blooming Gladiolus all season. Depending on what zone you live in, you may have to dig them up in the autumn season to store for the next season. 

How to Plant

• Plant the corms in full sun. The Gladiolus will grow in part shade but the flowers won't be as vibrant and the plant will not grow as well. 
• Gladiolus like sandy soil that is well drained. If you live in an area that doesn't have sandy soil, add a little before planting your corms. This allows the soil to drain well so that your bulbs aren't sitting in the wet soggy soil. 
• Plant Gladiolus corms three inches apart in clusters. This will provide you with an area that looks lush and full but yet the Gladiolus will still have space to thrive. Set the corm in the hole about 6 inches deep with the pointed end facing up. Cover with soil.

How to Care for Gladiolus

• Water the Gladiolus corms right after planting them. You will then want to water them regularly but allow the soil to dry out between waterings. They need about 1 inch of water a week.
• Once the Gladiolus begin to get taller, you will want to find a way to stake them so that they don't fall over once they begin to flower. Planting them in clusters, as shown in the above photo, does help with keeping them stable but you may still find that you need additional support. A simple wooden stake works well for a support. Gladiolus can grow up to five feet tall. 
• Mulch around the Gladiolus to prevent weeds and to help retain moisture. 

Now is the time to be planting Gladiolus corms for a beautiful cut garden flower. I will be sharing in the upcoming weeks on how to cut Gladiolus for lovely flower bouquets and then how to dig them up to store them for the Winter season, depending on what zone you live in. 

I am planting white Gladiolus and there are several varieties that I really like. Gladiolus come in a wide variety of colors but I really enjoy having using white flowers in my gardens. Happy Planting!

White Gladiolus Varieties

• White Prosperity
• White Cloud
• Amsterdam