RANDOM THOUGHT

A good friend of mine sent me this quote last week. I had to make it pretty and share it with all of you. I am sucker for inspirational quotes. I think I want to frame a bunch and put them on a wall in my house. hmmmm....... I feel a blog post coming on. Free printables maybe? :)

LETTUCE WRAPS

As you can see from yesterday's post, we have buttercrisp lettuce coming out of our ears! We needed different ways to use it besides salads. A girl can only eat so many salads! This recipe is a staple in this house - #1 b/c it is fantastic and #2 b/c it is super easy and fast to make when I get home from work. We all know taco "anything" is fast and easy, but this recipe is much so better than throwing in the taco bell seasoning packet. Really, there is no comparison. More importantly, by making your own taco seasoning, you are skipping all of the weird and unnecessary ingredients that you can't pronounce. You can eat these as lettuce wraps or on top of tortilla chips, my favorite being Pasqual's - made right here in Mad Town! You can also make a double batch and freeze half of the meat for later.

Ingredients: 

1.3 lbs lean ground turkey
1/2 onion (chopped)

1 red bell pepper (chopped)

3/4 cup water

4 oz can tomato sauce

Large iceberg lettuce leaves (we used buttercrip b/c we had it)

spice mix:
1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp oregano

Directions:

Brown turkey in a large skillet. When no longer pink add dry seasoning and mix well.

Add onion, pepper, water and tomato sauce and cover. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

If making lettuce wraps:

Wash and dry the lettuce. Place meat in the center of leaf and top with tomatoes, cheese and salsa or whatever you prefer.

PIN IT!

Here is my little sous chef. She likes to help me by pulling all of the kitchen towels down and scattering them around the kitchen floor. Such a little stinker! :)

Note: My pictures are from a double batch b/e this family runs on leftovers. :)

Recipe slightly adapted from Skinny Taste

CINDER BLOCK GARDENS

Now I suppose this post would have made more sense a few months ago when people were actually starting to plant their gardens, but we have been eating from our garden a lot lately and I wanted to share how we (When I say "we" and mean "Logan") made our gardens this spring.

This post might have made me a rock star of a wife, but let's just say the pressure might have been on after Logan gave a totally fantastic, redesigned garden space for Mother's Day.

We moved into our home about five years ago and at that time we built a little raised bed garden out of leftover lumber from the house. We planted six strawberry plants at the end and filled the rest of the space with a variety of different vegetables.  Since strawberry crowns are perennials (live year after year) and each year the strawberry plant sends out new roots from the crown, the strawberries kept spreading year after year until the entire bed was filled with strawberry plants. I was thrilled with the growth of the plants b/c they are seriously the best berries I have ever tasted, but that left us without a place to plant vegetables. When Logan asked what I wanted for Mother's Day, another garden bed for vegetables was at the top of my list.

We looked around at different options and decided to replace the outside of the old wooden bed with a cinder blocks and build a new one to match. It was cheaper, less time consuming, and we knew the cinder blocks weather better than the wood.  Overall we are super happy with the beds and love that we can plant herbs or marigolds (to keep insects and rabbits away) in the cinder block holes. Here are some specifics about the beds...

- We used cinder blocks from Home Depot that were on sale for 89¢ a block.
- Each bed is about 11x6 ft (68 sq ft) and took 22 blocks ($19.58).
- It takes about 2 cubic yards of dirt to fill each bed about 6 inches high with dirt.
- You can have top soil delivered to your home for about $90/cubic yard or use black dirt and compost and mix it 90% dirt and 10% compost.
- We planted butter crisp lettuce, brussels sprouts, a variety of different peppers, cucumbers, chives, rosemary, basil, snap peas, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and cucumbers.
- When buying your plants, keep in mind that you have to leave room between the plants - usually at least 12 inches.  We bought way more plants than our garden could handle and had to use large planters on the deck to contain the leftovers. 
- We planted our garden a week or so after Mother's Day and bought our starter plants from a little greenhouse down the road from our house.
- Early next spring I want to try growing my own starter plants from seeds.

Besides eating berries from our garden, we have frozen about 3 gallon ziplock bags full to store in the freezer for smoothies!

I could not agree more!

Right now we are using the berries for smoothies, making lettuce wraps (a post on those later this week) and salads with our butter crisp lettuce, using the basil for fresh bruschetta, pesto, and on top of homemade pizza, the chives in grilled potato packets on the grill and we are now just starting to get broccoli that I steam up for Ellis. 

4th OF JULY WEEKEND: PART 1

Our 4th of July weekend was a tad bit crazy, but completely wonderful at the same time. We were outside for about 99.9% of it, so that made me a happy camper - literally.  The weekend started off with the long standing tradition of the Witwen Parade, then the lake house for a few days and ended with a 23 mile canoe trip down the Wisconsin River and camping on a sandbar. All I have to say is thank god for coffee, b/c this girl is going to need it to get through work today! Happy Monday!

Here are a few pics from the parade. Logan's Grandma lives right on the parade route, so we always have the whole yard for the kids to play in!

 

HAPPY 4th OF JULY

In this family, the 4th means pink, ruffled swim suits, fresh fruit salads and sunny days at the lake.

That sounds really nice, doesn't it?  The 4th actually means, waking up at the crack of dawn to sweat our buns off at the a parade, monitoring Ellis at all times to make sure she isn't eating sand on the beach, and shoving 15 Buells in a three bedroom lake house.

Happy 4th y'all!

We had an impromptu dinner at Jodie and Luis' last Sunday after our flea market extravaganza and I whipped up this super yummy salad.  J and I were at Target the other day (I know...weird) and the peaches were perfectly ripe (yes, I am that person who touches all of the fruit before I buy it to make sure it is ripe). There was a sign next to the peaches that said "pair with feta," so I did. It was amazing AND so simple. I am making it again this 4th of July weekend!

  

FLEA MARKET LOVE - PART 2

play kitchen - priced at $50 - got it for $40

It needs A LOT of TLC, but it will be a fun little project for me. Some teal paint and some fun vintage print curtains for the shelves and Ellis will be cooking in no time! I will make sure to post the "after" pic.

big wooden letter "B" (I think it might have be to an old circus sign) - priced at $25 - got it for $20

As you can see, we hung it in the guest bathroom. "B" for Buell or "B" for bathroom. Whatever works, right?!

wooden mint shelf - priced at $15 - got it for $12

Necklace (the longer one)

milk bubble glass planter

vintage neon rulers - I love that the one is form Appleton, WI. 

I plan on using them in Ellis' room on the wall to measure her height as she grows.

J's blue side table - priced at $30 - got it for $25

I am in love with this one. SO CUTE!

J's yellow cedar chest - priced at $185 - got is for $130

WHAT TO BRING:

It will all depend on what you are in the market for.

- Just trinkets?

Bring a large tote of some sort. Reusable grocery totes work well b/c they are light.

- Larger items or maybe just a lot of items?

Bring a foldable rolling grocery cart. Trust me, you will not look silly. EVERYONE is wheeling these babies around.

- Furniture?

A truck or Uhaul and some bungee cords just in case you have to bungee your trunk shut or something to the top of your car. If you are questioning if you can fit it in your vehicle, DO. NOT. BUY. IT.

- Cash – Always bring cash. Vendors typically do not accept credit cards or checks.

- A picnic or a bag lunch – There is food available at most flea markets, but it is typically “fair” food and of the greasy variety. Because I am a bit of a freak about eating healthy, I love to bring my lunch.

WHAT TO WEAR:

- Nothing nice - You will get dusty, dirty and sweaty hauling your treasures back to you car. (note: Vendors are usually really good about helping you bring your items back to your car. They usually have some sort of moving dolly to make the job much easier. At the Elkhorn Flea Market they have equipment at the gates to help you move you items as well. All you have to do is give them your drivers license for collateral. When you give them the dolly back, you get your id back.)

- Sunscreen and/or a hat - most flea markets are outdoors

HOW TO BARTER (in my opinion):

Usually the price of an item will be marked. You can then either suggest a lower price or, if you are uncomfortable doing so, simply ask the vendor “is this your best price?” and they will tell you if they are willing to go lower. They are almost always willing to negotiate. If the price is not marked, they might ask you to name a price. I hate this! I am always afraid I will offend them by asking too little. I usually explain that I do not know a lot about the item and would appreciate if they could give me a price. I will then try and haggle from that point if it is in my price range.  Also, you will have much better luck negotiating prices later in the day. The vendors do not want to pack up their items to bring home, they want to sell them. If you try and negotiate early in the day, they know there is a good chance someone will come after you and pay a higher price.

FLEA MARKET LOVE - PART 1

For me, there is nothing better than a good flea market.  Is is "junk" picking, deal finding, bartering back 'n forth, treasure spotting BLISS. I love it! Sunday morning consisted of a 5am wake up call (from me to Jodie and like I suspected, she hadn't set her alarm clock), COFFEE (always coffee) and a road trip to the Elkhorn Flea Market.  We shopped til we dropped (aka: until we knew we could't fit anything else in the back of J's SUV and ran out of money), met our friends for a back-of-a-pick-up-truck picnic (those are the best kinds) and finally headed home full of dust and just a little sunburnt.  

When it comes to decorating spaces, I would much rather buy a one of a kind, vintage piece with great character than go to Steinhafels and buy some particle board piece that every other American family probably has sitting in their living room. I think it is fun to mix the vintage finds with more modern pieces, so maybe I would go to Steinhafles for those. No, probably not. I would go to Ikea. I know ikea is particle board cr*p as well, but at least it is super cute, right? :) Ok, enough of that and on to the important stuff.