Wow, has this month flown by!

I am sorry I have not posted in awhile. June has been one of the busiest, craziest months ever! My husband graduated and got 2 jobs and is working 50 hours a week, his family was in town, then my family came into town, then I was out of town 2 weekends for work.... needless to say, I have not blogged, scrap booked, or done anything crafty or creative the entire month! So, this weekend I have 4 days of free time and I wanted to share with you all my to-do lists that I am excited to complete!

1. Finish up my co-workers scrapbook for her daughter, Lindsay. I will post pictures of some of my favorite pages I do.
2. Upload and develop pictures from Orlando's graduation!
3. Clean the house:
1. Clean/organize the laundry room
2. Clean/organize under the sink
3. Buy a new welcome mat for the front door
4. Buy new stove burner thinggys (not sure what these are called?)
4. Garden:
1. Buy a garden hula hoe
2. Weed the garden
3. Put miracle grow on my plants
4. Take pictures to track the progress
5. Finish my online photo books:
1. Finish my Grandma's 80th birthday photo book and submit
2. Finish my wedding photo book and submit
6. Work on children's meeting proposal to re-do the entire children's meeting area.
7. Make my husband lots of yummy food and take it to him at work as he will be working Friday Day, Friday Night, and Saturday all day! Thank you baby for working so hard for our family!
8. Take old stuff to goodwill
9. Buy a new pair of workout shoes.. (my old ones finally hit the crapper and broke)

TAKE A NAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here is my to-do list everyone! I will try to post pictures of my progress on each "to-do"

xoxox Amy

Mint-Day 5

Tomato, Cucumber and Red Onion salad with Mint

2 large cucumbers - halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 large tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped

2/3 cup coarsely chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, toss together the cucumbers, vinegar, sugar and salt. Let stand at room temperature for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Add tomatoes, onion, mint and oil to cucumbers and toss to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This was delicious and so full of color. I will make again.

So while I am only posting 5 days of mint here, I will definitely be searching for recipes containing this herb. I love the color and delicate flavor that it added to every dish. I am definitely a fan.

Hope you enjoyed my "5 days of Mint"....

xoxoxo Amy

Mint-Day 4



Mojito Sorbet

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup mint leaves, packed

1/4 cup grated lime zest

1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 1/2 cups citrus-flavored sparkling water

Heat the water, sugar, and mint leaves in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes to extract the mint flavor.

 Set the mixture aside to cool, and strain out the mint leaves.

Pour the cooled mint mixture, lime zest, lime juice, and sparkling water into a bowl and mix well. Pour into the container of an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Serve immediately for a softer texture, or freeze in a sealed container for a harder sorbet. Let hard-frozen sorbet thaw a few minutes before serving.

This was SOOOO yummy!!!!
Thanks Renae for letting me use your ice-cream maker :)

Mint-Day 3

Mint and Lemon Dressing

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves

Stir together olive oil, lemon juice, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of mint until well blended. Set aside for 2 hours.

Strain mint out of dressing with a fine mesh strainer. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves and serve.

Sadly, I do not have a picture for this one....And honestly, it was not very good at all. It was a dreary greenish yellowish color and it tasted just like oil.

This recipe was a DUD! Oh well, at least I didn't make it for company!!

Mint-Day 2

Day #2 Mint Tea Punch

3 cups boiling water

12 sprigs fresh mint

4 tea bags

1 cup white sugar

1 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

5 cups cold water

3 orange slices for garnish (optional)

3 lemon slices for garnish (optional



Place the tea bags and mint sprigs into a large pitcher.

Pour boiling water over them, and allow to steep for about 8 minutes.
Remove and discard the tea bags and mint leaves, squeezing out excess liquid. Stir in sugar until dissolved, then stir in the orange juice and lemon juice. Pour in the cold water.

Serve over ice cubes, garnished with orange or lemon slices

This was really delicious and I plan to make it often during the summer!!

xoxo, Amy

Mint-Day 1

Day 1: Mint Ice Cubes

 Fresh mint leaves

2 cups boiling water as needed

Place 1-2 mint leaves into each cell of a heatproof ice cube tray.

Fill the cells with the boiling water, then let stand for 10min.

Remove leaves if desired. Freeze the ice cube tray until solid.

Aren't they cute? I am very excited to put them into my mint tea punch tomorrow :)

xoxox, Amy

5 days of Mint

I will make something new using fresh mint every day for the next 5 days! I am very excited to use this herb in my kitchen to make some yummy creations. I have mapped out the following 5 days for your viewing pleasure. I would like to do 10 days, but I don't think my little plant can handle that much! :)

Day 1: Mint Ice Cubes
Day 2: Mint Tea Punch
Day 3: Mint and Lemon Dressing
Day 4: Mojito Sorbet
Day 5: Tomato Cucumber and Red Onion Salad with Mint

Hope you have a "mint" of a day! :)

xoxox, Amy

Summer Dresses

I am very tall. Taller than most girls. While tall has its advantages, come summer time I am wishing I was 5 foot 4 inches! Why? Well all of the "summer dresses" out there might as well be t-shirts for me! Most of them barely go half way down my thigh, and believe me, wearing anything out of the house that short may scar you for life....

I decided to see what they have out there for long dresses and I found some adorable ones I want to share with you.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is hope for me to find dresses this summer :)

Amy

Happy Birthday to You

It seems like June is a month of Birthdays and I would love to take the time to say Happy Birthday and Well Wishes to the following people:

my fabulous cousin: Jessica Bea Orchard

my amazing long time/long distance friend: Megan Patricia Bryant

my fun momish/blogish/scrapbuddy: Debbie Clark

my lovely long time friend: Anna Elizabeth Walters

my other fabulous cousin: James Edward Orchard

and last, but definitely not lease, my fantastic brother: Aaron James Guest

I love you all!

xoxo, Amy