Missing Husband

Has anyone seen my husband? He's tall dark and handsome and tends to disappear when the weather is nice.



Oh wait I found him!

This is called "hammock time" and it is what I have lost my husband to. The first day he had it set-up I realized that the time we would spend together would be shorter and shorter each week......just kidding. It's actually really relaxing to be in the hammock under our willow tree and next to the pond. It's a great reading spot.

Also a little update on my second week of saving money at the grocery store.....this visit I only spent $37 so I'm still staying on track!

Gardens, Coupons, and Homeade Stuff

So where do I start to bring you up speed on the past 8 weeks. I can't believe it's been that long since I've blogged but I haven't been wanting to be on the computer or telephone since Spring weather has been flirting with us. We've been trying to work outdoors when it's not RAINING! Matt has prepped our garden soil and the vegetable sprout trays have taken over the inside of my house! I can't wait to put them in the ground very soon. Our garden is much larger this year and full of our "homeade" compost. Our thumbs seem to get a little greener each year so we'll see if we are good at this. Planting seeds is way cheaper than buying veggies at the grocery or even buying veggie plants somewhere else. We are also looking into a rain barrel to conserve water.

So speaking of cheaper....that's brings me to the next thing I have been burying my nose in. Couponing! Everyone likes to save money, right? I have always used just a couple coupons here and there when I had them but I caught some episodes of the show on TLC and those people are nuts! It did teach me a couple things although most of the coupon items I will never buy. I will not become that crazy coupon chick in the store but I have proposed a little challenge to myself to see how much I can save. I have heard of a lot of people who gave up eating meat to save money but since we gave up meat and are trying to eat healthier we are spending a ton of money on groceries. So I am trying to spend $200 on groceries for the month of May. So that is essentially $50 a week for us. This past Sunday was my first attempt to shop for the week so I researched the sales flyer to make my menu and found my coupons and I only spent $36!!! That bought us food for the entire week and it is all healthy. So far so good.

The next thing that I am kind of getting obsessed with is making my own anything at home. There is so much "junk" in a lot of things today that I started researching ways to make things myself for stuff that I use a lot. So far I have made my own deodorant, jam, peanut butter, almond butter, and granola. Matt made hummus which I think the recipe needs tweaked before I am a fan... it's pretty hard to top my red pepper store bought stuff. I was going to make my own lip balm but I found the organic stuff at Whole Foods to be a pretty good deal. I was also going to make my own soap but one of our Chemists at work makes her own so I have trusted her formula and will buy from her for now. I have found a lot more that I want try but I don't want to over-indulge, like last night when I was baking at 9:30, which is partly because I had today off as a Holiday and because Matt was getting me hyped up about starting my own side business. The first day I took my granola in to work I had people offering to buy it.....I had no response for them because I hadn't even thought about selling it. So we shall see.......

Last month I had the vacation itch so luckily we made a trip to Florida. A big thanks to John, Kel and kids for taking us to the beach. We really needed the sand in our toes and a dip in the ocean......oh and the sand that was still in my bathing suit when we got home :) I love going to visit those little kiddos, we are both always very sad to leave them.

So you all know that spring usually equals some kind of project for us. We are finally building our pergola in the back yard for some much needed shade. Matt has worked up the plan and we started buying supplies. This will probably be completed at the end of May only if the rain stays away. We are going to build the pergola first and then probably fancy-up the patio.

Veg Out Recipes II

Barley Hoppin' John (so delicious & filling)
1 tblsp olive oil
1 onion , chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
14 oz vegetable broth
1 cup quick cooking barley
2 teasp lemon juice
1/4 teasp crushed red pepper
2 15 oz can black-eyed peas, rinsed

Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook until softened. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Add broth, barley, lemon juice, crushed red pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until barley is done, about 15-20 mins. Remove from heat and add black eyed peas. Cover and let stand 5 mins and then serve.


Veggie Chowder
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups potatoes, cubed
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 can cream-style corn
12 oz can fat free evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
pepper to taste
shredded cheese (optional)

In a large saucepan, combine broth, potatoes, carrots, and onion. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 mins until veggies tender. Add corn, milk, cheese, mushrooms, and pepper. Cook and stir 5 mins and serve.


Winter's Best Bean Soup
10 cups vegetable broth
3 cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package (10 oz) frozen sliced carrots, or use fresh
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teasp dried rosemary
black pepper

To a crock pot add all of the ingrediants. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
As an option place pieces of toasted italian bread in bottom of serving bowls and cover with soup.


Three Bean Chili
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup veg broth
2 teasp ground cumin
2 teasp chili powder
2 cloves garlice, minced

In a crock pot add all of the ingrediants. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 2 hours. Serve and top with crushed tortilla chips or cheese if desired.

Veg Out Recipes

Vegetable Dumpling Soup(Serves 4)
2 tblsp EVOO
4 tblsp butter
2 onions, diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
4 carrots, diced
1 potato, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 fresh bay leaf
2 qts veg broth
4 tblsp flour
1 teasp Dijon Mustard
1 box of Jiffy Mix(dumplings, prepare to box instructions)
1 cup of frozen peas
2tblsp parsley

Heat EVOO in pot. Add celery, onions, carrots, potato, zucchini, bay leaf. Stir and cook covered for 10 min, Add veg stock, raise heat to boil. Meanwhile melt butter in a bowl, add flour and mustard. Whisk mixture into soup. In another bowl prepare the dumpling mix and add parsley. Stir peas into soup. Drop by teaspoons the dumpling mix into the pot. Cover and cook 6 mins. Serve.

Greek Goddess Salad
3 tblsp fresh parsley leaves, minced
4 pitted kalamata olives, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
5 tblsp lemon juice
medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
medium red pepper, chopped
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped
crumbled reduced fat feta cheese
pita bread

In a bowl combine parsley, olives, and garlic. Whisk in lemon juice. Add cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, red onion, and feta cheese. Toss together. Eat with pita bread.

Veggie Burgers
2 tsp oil
1/4 cup minced onion, green pepper, carrot, celery
2/3 cup drained canned white kidney(cannellini) beans
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cups seasoned dried bread crumbs

In a skillet heat 1 tsp oil. Add onion, green pepper, carrot, celery; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until veggies are soft. Set aside to cool.
Using a fork in a medium bowl mash beans, stir in egg. Add bread crumbs and veggies. Mix throughly. Shape into 4 patties. In same skillet heat 1 tsp oil. Cook patties over medium heat until brown on both sides.

Brushetta Eggplant
1 lb eggplant, cut into cubes
3 medium plum tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tblsp fresh basil, chopped
pepper, salt, and garlic powder to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place eggplant in a single layer on sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 min. Flip and bake 7 to 10 min more until tender.
In a large bowl combine tomatoes, garlic, basil, and eggplant. Season with salt and pepper. Toss and serve. Serve with bread or chicken if you desire.

Meat Free for a Year

For anyone who doesn't know already, I challenged myself last March to give up meat for 30 days. I completed the 30 days better than I thought I would and kept going and going and going. Now it has been 1 year this weekend! It started as something I've always wanted to try and I finally picked a start date and told myself to try it for 30 days. During those 30 days of researching recipes and trying to meet my dietary needs I learned so much about our food industry and what meat does to our body that I made the choice to try as long as I could. So as the year passed on I really lost the desire to eat meat and cooking without it was really simple. Sure I miss some things but usually only when I'm really hungry. Matt has also been on board with the diet. He did it for 30 days with me and then would eat meat only when something really good came along. Now he has been 100% meat free since September. We experienced all of the changes they said we would in the beginning. You feel better overall, your gut feels light as a feather and digestion is way quicker! Did you know that meat can hang around in your intestines for up to 3 days! It's hard for me to feel the changes now because it has been so long but in that first 30-90 days I felt great! We also tried the vegan thing for 1 week, where you eat no animal products, milk, cheese, etc. That is way harder to do and I have respect for anyone who does it. We still have vegan days but I really don't think that's for me.

So now to some of the common remarks I get from someone.

Have I lost weight from it?
Actually no. We both gained just a few pounds in about a 9 month period. I think this is because we ate a lot of carbs in the beginning and we had the mind set that if it wasn't meat we could eat it. I also noticed that I started craving a lot more junk food to make up for the fat I wasn't getting anymore. Plus we weren't exercising much during that time. Now we have all that under control. I do believe that someone could lose a lot of weight from it if they watch their carbs from the get go.

Be careful that you get your protein!
In the beginning this was something that I was very cautious of. People had me so freaked out at work that I was afraid I would just fall over because my muscles were so weak! I have learned that this is the biggest concern with people trying it. I have also learned that people think we need a lot more protein than our body really does need. It's something we still need to watch but if you have a good diet you will get plenty of protein! I've actually been working out a lot lately for a weight loss competition and my muscles are doing great!

So what happens if you want to eat meat again?
This is actully interesting. I've heard stories from several other people that didn't eat meat for a while that when they tried it again they threw up. How can that be good for you? I'm pretty sure if you didn't eat lettuce for 6 months and then tried it that you wouldn't throw up....unless it was tainted with salmonella :) Matt actually had a bad effect from meat after not eating it for about 4 months. So if we start eating meat again we will have to slowly phase it back in to our body.

So to celebrate my success that I never thought I would have I'm going to share some of our favorite meat free recipes through this month. If you are afraid you won't get full off of some of these than just make more of it or have a little salad also.

Southwest Pileup
whole wheat flat pitas
hummus, preferably red-pepper flavor
black beans, drained
red onion, cut into small strips
red bell pepper, diced
tomato, diced
fresh cilantro, chopped
shredded cheddar cheese
guacamole (optional)

Preheat oven to 450. Place pitas on cookie sheet. Spread hummus on pitas. Top each pita with all the other toppings. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until cheese is melted. Slice pita into 4 wedges and eat.

Black Bean Lettuce Bundles(makes 4)
1 can black beans, drained
1 avocado, mashed
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tblsp lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup salsa
8 large romaine lettuce leaves

Mash beans and avocado together. Mix in all other ingrediants except lettuce. Place about 1/4 cup of filling into center of each lettuce leaf and roll like a tortilla.


More to come!

Trending Now

So I am way behind on blogging about us.....

Right before Christmas we drove down to Nashville, TN to see Garth Brooks in concert. We have a short list of people we must see in concert before we die and Garth Brooks was on the list. He also holds a sweet spot in our hearts because our wedding song was one of his. When we heard he was doing a charity concert for the Nashville floods their was no debate on if we would go. Besides Nashville is one of our favorite cities! We are "concert-goers" and we both agree this is the best one we've been to! Also on our short list was John Mellencamp and we got to see him in November. (It's kind of freaking me out that we keep checking things off our list.)

I will admit I am very addicted to going to concerts. It's my hobby and choice of entertainment and I don't feel bad about it. I don't have a shopping or shoe problem like other women, I just like to spend my money on concerts.....and of course traveling. So concert season is approaching again this year and I already have my list that I must attend! I'm trying to tame it down this year due to another big event we have coming up.

We finally booked our trip to Italy!!!!

I have been researching, planning, and saving for Italy for a while so it finally came time to make it definite. If we booked and paid in full by March 1st we saved a ton of money so I couldn't pass it up. We are going in September when the crowds are a little better and the weather is great. We are doing 12 days of just Italy. There is already so much that we will be missing that I couldn't imagine doing anymore countries than just Italy. We will visit all of the main cities like Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Pompeii. We are also going to spend a lot of time in the smaller countryside areas like Tuscany, Umbria, Naples, Sorrento, and the beautiful island of Capri. I'm looking forward to just "being Italian" for a week, eating pasta, drinking wine, and being in the country of amore(love).

So most recently I had the honor of being present while my newest little niece was born. Carmen Marie Groza was born on February 17th. It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad my brother asked me to be in the room. She makes our 6th niece/nephew. We have 3 nieces and 3 nephews. I wonder who will break the tie for us...........???

The Meaning

Every year around this time I tend to feel a little "Bah Humbug". It just takes me a little longer to get in the spirit. I always consider not putting up our Christmas tree or decorations. (As I write this blog I hear my my co-workers playing Christmas music that has set the mood for this post, very appropriate for the spirit I now have :)

Anyway every year I consider "skipping" Christmas in our house but I always end up decorating. Granted my tree stays up for a short time but I still do it. [Start Rant] I just don't understand the people who go all out with decor like this house that I have to drive by every day that has a yard full of plastic figures and enough lights for the whole town of Lebanon. Not to mention the milk jugs they have lined around their yard full of lights, resourceful yes.....attractive no! They put all this stuff up at the start of November and it stays up through April....not kidding on this! [End Rant]

This year thanks to our efforts to be more minimal we question everything we are doing? What is the meaning behind why we do this? Do we really need this? Last night we asked each other "what's the point of putting up this tree and all the stuff that comes with it"?
I have never known the meaning behind all the other stuff that comes with Christmas except that is the day we celebrate Jesus' birthday.
After doing some internet searching(hopefully accurate) I now know a little bit more. Every country has its own beliefs but this is what I took from it. Here are the things that we were questioning:

Christmas Tree- The tree is symbolic of the everlasting life we will have through Jesus

Lights- Symbolizes Christ and the "light of the world"

Colors Green and Red- Green is life and Red is Jesus' blood

Gifts- 3 gifts were given to Jesus when he was born.....I think it's important to note that 3 gifts were given not a flood of presents like many children today are expecting!

The whole Santa deal- I read up on the St. Nick story which was too long to blog about and I find it interesting how Santa became the hype of Christmas. I have not yet decided if I will do the Santa thing with my children but if I do it won't be the center of Christmas.

So I will probably still put up a tree every year but at least I won't need reminded why I am doing it.