A Handy Hanger

I have been cleaning like a mad woman and attacked the closet last week.  Wow was that scary.  One major thing I kept stumbling on was belts.  We don't have a belt hanger or organizer and I just couldn't get them in the right spot where they stayed put and out of the way.  I decided I couldn't take it anymore and went to the internet for organizing techniques.  I knew I had denim so that is how I facilitated my search.  Oh my goodness did I hit the jackpot!  I decided to go with the fastest organizer to make that I saw which was on BerdaStyle.  It was simple and didn't have instructions which gave me plenty of liberty.  Now, I understand this isn't the most glamorous looking thing but let me tell you, it is so convenient!  It does exactly what I need it to do and I had it done in about thirty minutes so it fit the bill.  My next thought it that I could do this out of some small kids jeans and hang it in my sewing room for some small scale organization!

Easy and Fast Denim Storage

 

Instructions:
1.  To start off take a pair of jeans and sew the bottom of each leg shut. 
2.  Then measure 6"-8" (distance can change depending on how big you want your storage pockets to be) from the seam you just created and sew across again. 
You can use any stitch you like, the more sturdy the better. 
Continue to sew every 6"-8" going up the leg until you get just below the pocket.  Repeat on the other leg.

 

 

3.  Take scissors and cut parallel to your stitching, about an inch below each area you stitched across starting with the second seam up from the bottom. 

Cut below all seams until you reach the top.

 

3.  Find a sturdy hanger and attach to the top of the jeans.  Hang in your closet or wherever you need organizing!

 

Weekly Harvest Review

This is a recap of the past two weeks as I was so broken hearted after our big loss to report what we had.  Of course, don't forget the daily egg gathering and veggies that only make it from the garden to the chicken pen!

The first of the sweet corn!

Yes, more squash.

My favorite, sweet corn!

MORE squash! Yellow, zucchini and spaghetti squash. Beans and a few cucumbers.  As you can see some of the zucchini reached monster size.  Lots of this goes to the chickens and never even makes a picture.  The smaller goes to supper in various forms, breads and baby food.

A Big Loss

I haven't written in a bit because simply put, life has been crazy.  We went to Wyoming for Cheyenne Frontier Days and had the most fantastic time.  Then it was back to the grind and playing catch-up.  Way to many things to even begin to explain!

We did have a major travesty here at the funny farm.  My lovely and fun ducks decided that they would take things into their own hands (webbed feet?) and EAT our garden!  Please excuse me while I shed a tear....  Ok, it has been a week since it happened so I really should be over it but I still can't hardly look at the ducks.  They of course, hadn't bothered anything all season and waited until things were really going strong to make their attack.  We lost 90% of our beans, 98% of our tomatoes and most of our peppers.  I was heartbroken.  This is why there was no harvest report for the week, I just couldn't bare to think about the garden!  We still have lots of squash varieties left in addition to corn, carrots, lettuce and melons.  Some of our tomatoes are trying to make a comeback so we will see how long it stays warm into the fall to see if they can make up for such a hard hit.  I think the part that made me most upset about this event is that we have worked so hard on the garden this year.  Most years we are ambitious at the start but get to busy or lose steam at some point and more or less give up.  We hadn't hit that point yet this year and I have a feeling we may not have!  I guess we will just work hard to keep what we have in great shape and may even try and replant a few of our favorites since we do still have a good amount of summer and warm weather left in this region.

Now, back to the garden!

Weekly Harvest Review

Sadly, I don't have any fancy pictures of harvest this week.  This was a week where there was more of the same.  We had more green beans and more squash.  I was a baby food making machine trying to not let any squash go to waste!  The corn is doing really well and should be ready to eat in a few weeks.  Our tomato and pepper plants are still alive but very sorry.  We have heard so many people talk about how their gardens just aren't growing well this year and we are no exception.  We are expecting some really hot weather over the next few weeks so maybe that will get everything in full summer mode! 

Happy harvesting!

Southern Living Banana Bread

Banana bread is another great quick bread that is simple and fast to make.  Both my mom and grandma made it frequently and it was always a favorite of mine.  Almost weekly my grandma would send me back to the dorms with a loaf to share with friends or to have for breakfast.  Such a great treat as a poor college kid! 

I go back and forth between a family recipe and a recipe from the Southern Living Cookbook.  Here is the Southern Living recipe that I am a huge fan of, I hope you love it as much as I do!

I realize there are tons of SL cookbooks so here is a picture of the one this recipe is from.

Banana-Nut Bread
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 1 hr
Cool: 10 mins.

Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I never toast mine)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (1-1/2 cups)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt - Optional (I never include this and it is still very moist)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Grease and flour bottom of a 9"x5" loaf pan; set aside.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.  In another bowl stir together melted butter, mashed banana, eggs, yogurt, if desired, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened.  Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool on pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
Yield: 1 Loaf

For Muffins:
Spoon batter into lightly greased muffin pans, filling 3/4 full.  Bake at 350* for 19-21 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from pans immediately.  Let cool on wire racks.
Yield: 20 muffins

Family Favorite Zucchini Bread

Zucchini is flowing abundantly from our garden and I am always looking for a good way to use some up.  One of my favorite ways is to make zucchini bread.  In high school I took a cooking class and we made zucchini bread using this recipe.  I made it with my mom at home and soon it was a family favorite.  We have used it exclusively since then and love it every time.  I made a double batch this morning and we have already dug into one loaf.  I made 2 regular sized loaves and 3 mini loaves from a double batch so I can put some in the freezer for a later time. 

Enjoy this great recipe!

Family Favorite Zucchini Bread

1 C. sugar

1-1/2 C. shredded zucchini

2 eggs

3/4 C. vegetable oil

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 C. flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C. raisins (I omit this ingredient)

1/2 C. shopped pecans or walnuts

1 TB. flour

1.  measure dry ingredients.  set aside

2.  measure liquid ingredients.  set aside

3.  grate zucchini on large side of grater.  set aside

4.  mix raisins and/or nuts with 1 TB. of flour.  set aside

5.  sift together 1 and 1/2 C. flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt

6.  in another bowl, beat eggs with whisk

7.  stir in oil, and sugar and mix well with wooden spoon

8.  stir in vanilla and zucchini

9.  stir in dry ingredients 1/3 at a time, stirring well after each addition

10.  stir in raisins and pecans

11.  pour into prepared loaf pan  (greased and floured)

12.  bake in preheated 375* oven for one hour

13.  remove from oven and set on cooling rack 10 minutes before unmolding

14.  cool completely before wrapping

 

For mini loaves or larger loaf pans make sure to watch them as they frequently don't take the full hour to bake..

Summer Cookout

Last week we hosted a cookout for the extension group that I am a member of.  It is a ladies organization that meets monthly and every summer they get together (along with their spouses) and have a cookout.  I am new to the group so was really excited to welcome all of the ladies into our home and get to know them a little better.  What a fantastic time we had!  I worked on the yard and house for days and days and let me tell you, it was so great to have it all done and in fine form.  Many times I need a motivation to get things looking as good as they probably should look all of the time.  This was the perfect motivation. 

It took me three evenings to get the yard mowed.  I wait until the little one goes to bed and then I get moving on the outside of the house.  With the heat and strong sun we have along with the danger of mowing and edging it just isn’t feasible to get it all done with him in tow.  When my mom was visiting in May we started laying rocks in the gardens around the house and I hadn’t finished putting rocks out yet.  Yes, I know that was two months ago but hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day!  So, I finished getting the rocks out and it looks great!  It really finishes the look and brings everything together.  Now I am just praying that my plants continue to survive!

Then there was the inside of the house.  Ick, my least favorite part.  I had the kitchen in fairly good order but the rest of the house needed some love.  Somehow, it managed to get that love.  I even got the floors scrubbed!  Miracles really do happen!

The last part to get ready for the party was getting the food and essentials ready.  I started a grocery list early on and managed to get almost all of it in one trip!  I made a jello poke cake and provided all the meat and bread and the ladies of the club brought sides and desserts.  We had an over abundance of delicious food, I don’t think anyone went away hungry!  We ate in the backyard and the shade of the trees and orchard sprinklers running all around us really cooled things down nicely.  I hope everyone had a wonderful time, I know I did!

I wrapped the utensils in a napkin and then punched a whole in the side of the paper plate.  I used a piece of twine to tie the utensils to the plate.  This is so handy when doing a buffet so you don't have to worry about forgetting or dropping anything!

 

The little one and his best friend Sadie.

 

He loves playing with her tail and laughs like crazy when she wags it at him.

 

Do you have any summer cookouts planned? 

What do you do to get you motivated to get all areas of your house and yard in tip top shape?