Five Minute Fake Out Salsa

From the second my tomato plants go into the garden, the boys are wanting to know when we'll have fresh tomatoes for salsa.  They don't understand it takes time to grow the perfect tomatoes.  So when I get tired of them nagging me, I use this fake out to tide them over until my garden is ready.

This is my Five Minute Fake Out Salsa:

For this quick salsa you'll need:

1 - 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes

2 cans of diced tomatoes with onion and chiles (Rotel)

1-2 jalapenos

1-2 limes

onion

garlic

a handful of cilantro

salt to taste and 1 TBS cumin

 plus any other spices you like, sometimes

I'll add chili powder and red pepper flakes.

For this recipe, canned tomatoes taste best.  

Start by putting the whole tomatoes in your food processor with a handful of cilantro, lime juice, and garlic.  Pulse to your desired consistency and empty into a bowl.  Next, add your Rotel tomatoes, half an onion, spices, and peppers to the processor.  Pulse again and add to the previous mixture.  Stir to combine and season again to taste.

A note regarding peppers:  

For the basic recipe, two jalapenos are good.  I remove the seeds and membranes from one and add the other one whole.  It gives just the right kick for us.  In the pic above, I had some banana peppers from the garden that I added.  

Any peppers you like will do!

Cover and refrigerate for an hour to let the flavors marry.

The longer it sits, the better it tastes!

 

Grab your favorite chips and enjoy!

The Scoop on Poop

When you have raised beds in the garden, you MUST feed them regularly.  I used up all my compost making new beds this season so I though manure would be the way to fortify my soil.

There is a wonderful place down the road from us,

The Boling Bunny Farm.

I called and the owner let us have all the poop we could scoop

FOR FREE.

(and 'free' is music to my ears!)

Is there anything sexier than a man hauling rabbit poop?

I don't think so!!!

Rabbit manure is a nutrient rich way to help your garden 

grow and thrive.

Unlike other manures, which have to be well composted before you can even think of using it in your garden, rabbit poop can be immediately applied to your soil. As the rabbit manure decomposes, it helps build up the structure of the soil, and injects valuable nutrients and organisms into your garden that will promote strong, speedy plant growth. 

 Rabbit manure, in particular, is rich in potassium, nitrogen, zinc, and calcium, and it’s one of the most nitrogen-rich manures out there – so you’ll get lush, green, well fertilized growth. 
...and did I mention it was FREE?

This girl doesn't need gifts of flowers, candies, or jewelry!

Just fetch me a truckload of rabbit poop for the garden

and I'm swoooooning!

A Captive Audience

My Daniel is number four out of my five children.  

I'll admit it, he sometimes gets lost in the mix.  

He is quiet, reserved, and never voices his opinions out loud.  That's what happens when you have three loud-mouthed older brothers with big personalities...you keep quiet and just play along!

Since the beginning of this year, Danny has started playing baseball with Kyle's (#2 son) former team.  It is a wonderful Christian Homeschooling league that plays private schools in the Houston area.  It's a struggle and a little over an hour to get there each week, so that's why we go to practice/games at least three times a week!  But my boy loves baseball so much, so I make the time.

And for a couple of hours a week, I have a captive audience.

It's our time (and I hope one day he'll see it, too) for us to have deep and meaningful conversations.  Some days we solve all the problems of the world...and some days, it's just fart jokes.

He opens up because there are no brothers around to give him a hard time. 

 We listen to music, talk about the game, 

we eat out at the places HE gets to pick, 

and sometimes it's quiet... that's ok, too.  

Being 13 is hard, and I'm so grateful he wants to 

put down his phone and talk to me. 

 He lets me be part of his world for the time it takes 

for that car ride.  I often wonder if he is the captive in the audience, or am I?  

Because I realize now, more than ever,

one day there will be no one left to take to practice.

Happy Easter!

This year's Creamer Easter was quite eventful.

It all started with me ruining Mary Grace's life by asking her to eat lunch, and it just spiraled downhill from there 

to full on melt down mode....

in front of her grandparents....at their house.

It was an awesome display of my parenting skills,

I managed not to beat her in front of them
(I couldn't find my wooden spoon!)

Is it because she's a girl?

Is it because of the red hair?

Is it because Hell hath no fury like my kid catching me 

throwing away ANYTHING, EVER? 

 I have to smuggle out broken plastic Easter eggs and candy wrappers out of the house like a Mexican drug lord!

Here is the ONE picture from the day that was captured.

And don't let that angelic face fool you!

This is the day that the Lord has made,

let us rejoice and be glad!

May you all have a blessed Easter season!