There's Never Been A Better Time to Start A Garden!

With all the craziness in the world right now, there has never been a better time to start a garden!  Now, you don't have to have a green thumb...all you have to be able to do is read.  Read seed packets, read plant tabs on starts, read a book about beginner gardening, or even just look up back yard vegetable gardening on Pinterest.

Some soil, a seed, a little water and sunlight will give you food for your family without having to rely on anyone else for your survival.  It's an amazing feeling to grow your own food!  And now that we've seen how quickly the store shelves can emtpy, it's has become a necessary skill set as well. 

I wrote a blog post a while back about how we made our raised beds for gardening.  You can read all about it HERE.  
We grow food all year long from just a couple of beds for our family of seven.  And even though we can sustain ourselves with our raised beds, I thought it might be a good idea to expand our growing space just a bit more during this uncertain time. 

I don't need anymore permanent garden beds, but I can increase our growing space temporarily by growing plants in five gallon buckets.

Our back porch will hold several buckets with tomatoes, squash, chard, and a few more bean and pepper plants.

It's a super simple process.  Just head down to your local big box store and purchase your buckets.  Drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the buckets for drainage.  Fill the bottom fourth of your buckets with yard waste: sticks, rocks, leaves, whatever you have to encourage drainage.  Next, fill buckets with a good potting soil and then plant your seeds or plant starts.  Make sure your plants get 6-8 hours of sunshine daily and water as needed.

I pray we are never in a true food supply crisis, but if we were, this set up could supply you with a safe and reliable source. If nothing else, try your hand at growing a tomato and/or a pepper plant in a couple of buckets and see how it goes...a home grown, vine ripened tomato tastes better than anything you could buy at the store anyway!

No Bread in the Stores? No Problem!

In case you’ve been living under a rock lately...

People have been losing their minds!

The Covid-19 virus has the general public bum-rushing the stores and clearing the shelves. Now, we live on the Texas Gulf Coast and are used to having a yearly stockpile for hurricane season.  We have a large pantry (and a large family) so stocking up is something we’ve always done. But it’s pretty disturbing when you go to the store for your normal weekly purchases of milk, bread, and toilet paper and the shelves are empty.

Trying not to panic myself, I walked over to the baking aisle.  I found full shelves of flour, baking powder, and yeast and I knew I could make my own bread for just pennies. 

Panic averted!

So I’m going to share with you two easy recipes for bread that anyone can make using just a few ingredients each. The first one is great for tacos, folded sandwiches, literally anything!

Flatbread

(makes 6)

2 cups of flour

1-1 1/4 cup of warm water

1 Tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs oil, butter, or shortening

Mix dry ingredients and add almost all of the water.  Mix until you have the consistency of tacky pizza dough, adding the remaining water as needed.  Knead for 3-5 minutes. Let dough rest in greased and covered bowl for 30-60 minutes.

Divide into 6 pieces and roll out on a floured surface 

about tortilla thickness.

Heat a skillet with oil to med-high heat.

 Cook dough until you have golden brown spots on both sides.

The next bread is a recipe I have made no less than a thousand times!  I posted this easy no-knead bread waaay back in 2007. It takes a little more time to develop, but the payoff is a delicious crusty loaf that stores really well.

Click HERE to check out the post!

Making bread is easy and it’s such a comforting thing to make in crazy times as these. So while we’re all home practicing social distancing, try your hand at making bread if you’ve never done it before. Make a batch with your kids, take a loaf to your neighbor, or just eat half a loaf by yourself right out of the oven 

slathered in butter!

Stay safe, stay well, and let’s pray for each other!

It’s Deja-vu All Over Again!

In 2-3 weeks I am going to have to re-live one of the most painful events of my life:

A Triple Arthrodesis Revision

I had a triple arthrodesis a year ago.
It was done grossly incorrectly.
Now I get to have it done all over again.

In layman’s terms, my *new* surgeon will remove 
the six screws in my foot,

break my foot in several places, fill in the breaks and screw holes with harvested bone grafts from my shin 
as he rebuilds my arch and ankle, 
then reinstall all the hardware to secure it all.

It’s a big deal, y’all!

And I’m seriously getting PTSD because I know what’s coming. 

So being the little control freak that I am, 

I've turned my anxiety into productivity. 

At least that’s what I’m telling myself!

My nest is ready!

My cozy recliner, quilts, side table with a comfort basket, elevation pillow, and heating pad. Because it’s not only your foot that hurts during this recovery, your whole body hurts when compensating for your non weight bearing leg. 

The freezer is full of meals that the kids can dump in the crockpot.

It’s so nice to not have to worry about feeding the family, especially when you can’t even drive to the store!  Plus, there’s something very comforting about the smell of food simmering all day long. 

I’m revisiting my mobility aides and there are some things that I’m definitely going to do differently this time. 

I’ll plant my garden next week.

I’ve got my Netflix binge list ready.

Books are downloaded on the iPad.

And I’m deep cleaning the house room by room. 

I did all of these things last time in preparation for my surgery, and while they really don't mean a lot in the whole scope things,

mentally they helped me cope.

So it's deja-vu all over again!

But it's going to be ok this time, y’all....

It’s just got to be. 

Suffering, Pain, and Lent

Last February I was getting ready to have the Super Bowl of all foot reconstruction surgeries.  I had the surgery and it failed because of an inept surgeon and his mistakes.

Now I get to do it all over again.

I guess it's appropriate that Lent starts tomorrow because there will be suffering, pain, and a whole host of emotions as I deal with the surgery and recovery ~ especially all the anger I have at the first doctor who injured me!

I've spent the last three months being very proactive.  I've improved my lab values greatly so I'm healthy for surgery, the fusions have continued to heal with supplementation and dietary changes, and I've lost 30 pounds.  I see my new surgeon in three days and I know he'll be impressed.

So pray for me.

Not just for my physical recovery but for my mental stability.  It's so hard for me to reconcile that I was injured by someone who was supposed to help me and now I am the one paying for HIS mistakes.

May we all have a fruitful Lent...

Garden to Kitchen

Y’all, I have kale coming out of my ears!

I planted three varieties in an 4x8 raised bed, and it is overflowing! Not a bad problem to have, I guess, but I seriously hate to waste anything out of the garden...it makes me feel so guilty. 

The other day I was scrolling through Pinterest and a recipe for kale pesto popped up. Kale pesto?  I thought pesto was only made with basil!  I had everything for the recipe, so I made a batch. 

It was DELICIOUS!

So I decided to make several batches for the freezer to enjoy until the summer basil is ready to harvest. 

KALE PESTO

3-4 cups of kale, stems removed

3-4 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of roasted and salted almonds

1tsp of dried basil

3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded

Olive oil

Place ingredients in a food processor, pulse, and drizzle in olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. Optional: season with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

I spooned the basil into ice cube trays, placed them in the freezer for a couple of hours, popped them out and put them in a freezer zip lock bag for storage.

They are like a flavor bomb for pasta, garlic bread, soups, and salad dressings. 

And a great way to preserve the harvest so I don’t feel so guilty. 

But next year, I don’t think I’ll plant so much kale!

My Baby Boy Is 15!

This sweet boy, my fourth born son, Daniel, turned 15 last week.

I don’t know if I’m ok with that!

He’s the last of my boys to grow up.

I can still remember the smell of his little bald head.

His love of Legos was legendary.

So quiet, so kindhearted, and ALWAYS 

thinks of others before himself.

He tolerates me even though I know I drive him nuts sometimes.

So what did this guy want for his birthday?

“To eat all the shrimp in Galveston!”

So that’s what we did...with a little side trip to Moody Gardens. 

And a surprise meet and greet with Pete Rose!

        Because this boy literally eats and breathes BASEBALL!

It has been the greatest honor of my life to be your mom. You are a precious treasure that I have been entrusted with and I will never be the same. So hoping you had the happiest of birthdays, and while I don’t wish you’d stop growing up...

I just wish you’d slow down a little.

Love,
MOM

Speaking of Gardening...

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you'll know I'm OBSESSED with the Dollar Tree.  Seriously, if you're not shopping there on the regular, what exactly are you doing with your life?  

Spring has sprung here in south Texas (yeah, I know it's still January!) and the Dollar Tree has put out their merch for the season.  If you are new to gardening, or a seasoned green thumb, get yourself down to the Dollar Tree for some great stuff!

A 'must have' in the backyard gardening world are Grow Towers.  They've been around a while and they can be very expensive.  On Amazon you can find them anywhere from $60-$300 bucks depending on the size.  But today as I walked into the Dollar Tree, I found these stackable three tier planters!  

They are exactly the same as those found on Amazon,

BUT FOR A DOLLAR!

I purchased four, had one of the boys drill holes in the bottoms for drainage, filled them with potting soil, and topped them with a cute frog and mushroom (also from the Dollar Tree!) and now I have my own trendy grow tower for just a few bucks.

The Dollar Tree also carries the American Seed brand in their stores.  The packets are four for a dollar.  So for a grand total of less than ten dollars, we now have a table top herb garden right outside our kitchen window.

I think more of these towers will be in my future.  Maybe make some up as gifts or they would also be perfect for a children's first garden with strawberry starts or flowers

Their gardening products don't stop at stackable towers!  You can find quality pots, gloves, bulbs, hand tools, hummingbird feeders, and even darling little fairy garden supplies there.

So have fun, get creative, but most importantly...

PLANT SOMETHING!

Garden Therapy

Even though I’m planning for the mother of all foot surgeries in February or March, I can’t stop thinking about planting my summer garden. I should be focusing on getting my house in order, filling the freezer with healthy meals, and working extra to build up a nest egg for my four month recovery. Instead, I’m browsing through seed catalogs and filling my counters and kitchen island with seedlings and starts. 

I usually don’t start seeds for my peppers and tomatoes until Valentines Day, but if I wait that long this year, I won’t be able to get the plants in the ground before my surgery. And truthfully, that first month of recovery is a really painful, drug induced haze. There will be no thoughts of gardening during that time!  I need plants to already be in the ground and the garden on autopilot. 

But after that first 4-6 weeks, the pain subsides and I know I’ll be ready to be more mobile...and definitely ready to be outside!

With my last surgery, the garden was so important in my recovery.  It made me move. It helped me out of my depressive funk. It really gave me something to get up for each day. It was my therapy. So maybe all this garden prep IS productive in planning for surgery...fresh food for healing of the body,  meaningful work for healing of the mind, and hands in the earth for healing of the soul.

Merriest of Days

The Christmas holidays were a joyful time for the Creamer Clan.  We indulged in food, presents, more food, and just being together. 

My only wish for the season was for all my babies to be home and join us for Christmas Mass.   And by some miracle, it happened!  I may have even gotten a little misty eyed because of it.

Mary Grace was an angel in the Mass procession (just in case you were wondering what the heck she was wearing!)

The new year rang in quietly and here we are half way through January.  I honestly don't know where the time went!

We are so thankful for God's mercy, grace, and the great blessings He has bestowed on our family.  

And we are praying for His blessings upon all of you as well!

May you have the merriest of days during this Holy Christmas season.

The Hardest Working Elf in Texas

There is one in every family.

The Keeper of the Traditions.

My second son, Kyle, is just that person.

He always makes sure that the same foods 

and treats are made each year.

He makes sure the trees and decorations are just right.

And he always makes sure that faith and family are the main focus of the season!

He's not one to delegate all these things to me, he tends to take things into his own hands this time of year!

Every year, since the time he could climb up on the roof, Kyle takes on the house lighting for Christmas.  He chooses a day, usually right before Thanksgiving, and always a day that I work.  

He single handedly strings all the lights for the house 

(even though he has four brothers to help!) so that when I come home that evening, I drive up to our modest little country home glowing for the holidays!

It NEVER fails to warm my heart and makes me smile 

from ear to ear.

Back in his teenage days, he decided to make 

a wooden nativity scene for the yard.

He spent an entire day sawing, sanding, and painting.

It lasted many, many Christmases in our yard until this year when he just decided one day to make a new one!

Y'all didn't know that there was a black Lab 

at the first Christmas, did 'ya?

#photobomb!

 And because this young man truly knows, 

The Reason for the Season, one year he made our family it's own hand made nativity. The picture doesn't do it justice!

Each board was lovingly cut, sanded, stained and placed just so.

Underneath the moss on the roof, 

are dozens of slats glued perfectly.

He even foraged sticks from our yard for "logs", 

and searched for the perfect scale statuary for the manger.

It's so dear to me and so beautiful 

that it stays displayed all year long!

It's so easy for me to get caught up with all the "to-do's" of the Christmas season, that's why I'm so thankful for a son like Kyle!  He keeps me focused on the real meaning of why we celebrate, if not by his words, by the beautiful signs of love he has scattered throughout our home this time of year.

An ornament Kyle made as a little boy.

Keeper of the traditions.
Keeper of the Faith
Hardest working Elf in Texas.

I sure do love that boy!

Random Acts of Kindness

GOD BLESS AMAZON PRIME!

Seriously, y'all!

It's a week before Christmas, and I am refusing to put on a bra and change out of my sweat pants to go out shopping.  

But just 15 minutes on my phone,

 and I have gifts for the whole family!

My back hurts just looking at this delivery!

It's a Christmas miracle!

So as a small act of kindness to the delivery men and women 

who literally bring Christmas to my door, 

I thought I'd set out a "thank you" basket of snacks and drinks.

Delivery drivers must have a love/hate relationship with the holidays.  I mean they've got to love that people are so excited to see them but must hate the sheer volume of packages this time of year.  Besides, have you ever tried to find house numbers in the dark....when it's raining or snowing?

So THANK YOU to all the hard working delivery drivers!

And if you're lucky enough, you might get a kiss or a shake from one of these royals:

Or they just might beg you for a snack, too!

ADVENT

4,3,2,1 Count the weeks until Jesus comes.

Each week we add another light,

Our hope for Jesus growing bright.

We pray, we share, we do our part, 

To welcome Jesus into our heart! 

As we wait in joyful hope,

wishing you a Blessed Advent!