Playing Catch Up

Well, it seems like everyone is back on their feet here at Throwback Road.  My fingers are crossed because I have so much to get done.  I will apologize in advance if my blogging is a little light the next couple of days, but I need to get all of my gardening check list done from last week in order to tackle this week.  Here are some things that we got done while the family was recuperating from our week of sickness…

1.  Big C and I painted a sign that I will put in the entrance to the raised garden.  I still need to attach it to a turquoise stake, but that will happen later on this week.  He designed it and wrote the letters.  I helped a little with the final touch ups, but I am in love with it!  It forever freezes in time his handwriting at age five.

2. There was a brief moment when Big C was better and Little C was not sick when I was able to get my annuals planted.  I plant red, white, and purple/blue petunias each year.  It is my thing because by Fourth of July it creates quite the dramatic natural decoration on our front porch.  I also cleaned off the porch furniture and added a couple of new chair pads to spruce the place up. 

3.  I think that my peppers were a little jealous of all of the attention I was giving to my sick kids and decided to get sick themselves!.. Thank you to all of my Facebook followers who stepped in and offered me some amazing suggestions.  The peppers are on the mend…still a little yellow, but I am hopeful!  I think the final diagnosis was a little too much water, heat pad that was too hot, and not enough nutrients.  I am really watching my watering schedule, turned off the heat pads, and fed the plants some fish emulsion.  They have really perked up!  I may transplant this week into different soil…we will see later this week how they are doing.  Time will tell.

My tomato seedlings are moving right along and seem to be thriving.  My fingers are crossed!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday and that everyone is not overwhelmed by their to- do list this week.  The weather looks fabulous in Colorado and I will be spending most of my time putting in my spring crops, filling the rest of my garden beds with dirt, and enjoying my well children.  I want to thank Amy from Homestead Revival for featuring Throwback Road this week on her Homestead Barn Hop!  I was so excited and a little star struck when Amy sent me the e-mail saying I was chosen!  Check out this link to see the full post.

Thanks for stopping by Throwback Road and have a great day!

Sick Days and Shepherd's Pie

I had big plans this week.  Mr. G is out of town for business and I had high hopes for the garden and home.  Isn’t that always the way….you plan something out and life throws you a curve ball.  No big deal..I just adjust my stance.

Big C came home with a high temperature after school on Monday and I knew that something was brewing in his little body.  I knew that plans must be tabled for the moment and that my guy needed his mama.  Some people think I am crazy, but when my boys are sick they get my absolute attention.  My mom did it for me and I will do the same for my boys.  Their comfort is my number one priority. 

Things got worse as the night progressed and I was faced with the worst case of croup I have ever seen.  I am not a newbie when it comes to croup.  I have been down this road WAY to many times!  Between steam treatments, cold air treatments, vapor rub…you name it we did it.  I usually can get my boys over the hump, but this croup was a force to be reckoned with.  A force that got all of us into the Emergency Room for a little hospital time at 2 AM.  Fun times…husband on business trip….2 boys (one barely breathing), screaming down the highway blasting “Puff The Magic Dragon” on the radio.  Big C loves that song and I was trying to keep his mind off of the croup.  The story ends positively and Big C  is on the mends, but boy was that an interesting night!

So my plans of getting all of my dirt into my raised beds have been put on hold…..

My annuals that were supposed to be in pots by now just stare at me…

And I am inside with my boys..taking care of them to the best of my abilities. 

Whenever I was sick, my mom used to make me Poached Egg on Toast.  I still, to this day, will have her make it for me whenever she visits.  Big C’s sick breakfast of choice is Fried Eggs.  Ever since I stopped buying grocery store organic eggs and started buying from the local farm this boy can’t get enough.  You would think I was raising a body builder by the amount of eggs he has been eating lately.  So this is what we have been eating for the past two days…eggs, eggs, eggs.

Big C loves how yellow the yolks are and wanted me to share this picture with you…food styling courtesy of him.

This is why I love this child…still putting on a funny face even when he is so sick.

As all moms know, when your children are sick your lap is always full or you are holding one while trying to pick up dishes.  I was able to sneak to my front porch while the boys were napping to steal a quiet “me” moment.  I probably should have been shoveling dirt, but I am feeling under the weather as well.  I was able to have my afternoon Iced Coffee and skim some of my new cookbooks.  The dirt pile will be there tomorrow.


After a nice afternoon of movies, movies and more movies I finally started to plead my case against eggs for dinner.  I love eggs but it was getting to be a little much.  He was easily persuaded when I told him I would make Shepherds Pie.  Here is my recipe…it is not exact…I make it up as I go.

Sick Day Shepherds Pie

2 lbs. organic beef
1 small onion,chopped
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce or more if you want
4 cups homemade mashed potatoes ( I use yukon golds, salt, pepper, whole milk, butter, and 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
2 cups of organic corn
salt and pepper to taste
ketchup

Directions:
-preheat oven to 350 degrees
-saute onion, and beef until beef is browned ( I use my cast iron skillet but a frying pan is fine)
-add in Worchestershire sauce while the meat is browning
-drain off excess fat and stir in salt and pepper to taste
-if you are using a frying pan transfer meat to a oven safe casserole dish….if you are using cast iron you are set!
-preheat oven to 350
-layer the corn on top of the beef and spread evenly
-layer the potatoes on top of the corn, spread evenly and top with a couple pats of butter
-cook in 350 degree oven for approximately 30-40 minutes…you want it to heat through and the potatoes to start to brown.
-Serve in a bowl and drizzle on some ketchup for an extra kick!

This dish is so simple and is great for leftovers.  Big C has already told me that he was going to have some for breakfast with a side of fried eggs.  I think he is feeling better!

What is your favorite comfort food when you are sick?

The Adult Sippy Cup

My world is full of sippy cups.  I have a one year old boy that drinks from them, plays with them, throws them around the house…I am surrounded by sippy cups.  The good thing about sippy cups is that they are travel friendly beverage holders that are nearly impossible to spill.  Notice I said nearly, because my boys are famous for figuring out ways to make them leak.

My need for an adult sippy cup was finally realized when I filled my pint jar of morning iced coffee and spilled it in my car again.  I am not a crazy driver…I blame it on the bumpy roads.  I know you are probably saying “Just go buy one of those plastic cold beverage cups from Wal-Mart and stop complaining.”  Well, I am not about to part with my love of drinking out of mason jars.  They fit into my car cup holder perfectly, are super durable, cheap, and I think they are beautiful.  So as I drove back home from Big C’s school covered in coffee, I made it my mission to figure out a way to turn a mason jar into a sippy cup.

That morning I perused Pinterest and found some interesting options.  The only problem was was that I wanted to use supplies that I already had and no power tools needed to be involved.  After some research, I came up with my own method and am very pleased with the results.  In case you were wondering, I make my own Iced Coffee Concentrate using The Pioneer Woman's Recipe.  I was skeptical at first, but now I am hooked!

Here is how I made my Adult Sippy Cup….





Tips and Tricks
-I use wide mouth pint  size mason jars…they fit my car cup holder perfectly
-A regular hole punch will do…nothing fancy, just a little muscle to punch that hole
-Don’t forget to punch the straw hole out in the paper before you attach to the lid
-Your fingers will get messy, but will come clean with some soap and water
-Let Mod Podge dry for about 20-30 minutes before you apply another coat to the paper.  I did three coats and it is hard as a rock
-The Mod Podge will be completely set in 24 hours, but I used mine before then…just be careful

You can really make this project your own.  I used left over scrapbooking paper and Mr. G’s fish cup was compliments of a old issue of Field and Stream magazine.  I hope he was done with that article….wink wink.

The cups are not perfect but I am in love with them!  I see red, white, and blue ones for 4th of July…maybe Autumn themed ones filled with apple cider.  If I had girls, this would be so cute for a garden party.  Summer Sangria…Margaritas…breakfast smoothies..possibilities are endless.

The lids are waterproof.  I would not stick them in a dishwasher and turn it on heated dry, but a good hand washing won’t hurt them.  In case you are wondering, Mod Podge is non toxic. 

Today, while gardening, I realized my Iced Coffee did not have dirt or bugs floating in it.  It is the little things in life that really get me excited!  I also drove around the neighborhood and hit every bump I could.  Not a drop was spilled.

So run to your local store and buy a case of jars.  It will cost you $10 and look at the beautiful, custom cups you can make.  If you have loads of jars laying around then get some extra lids and start creating!

Thanks for stopping by Throwback Road and have fun creating your own Adult Sippy Cup!

My Suburban Farm

I am sore…tired…sunburnt…and more excited then I have been in a long time!!  Mr. G and I finished putting my backyard vegetable garden together this weekend and I am so happy with the results.  If you read my previous posts Throwback Road 2012 Garden Plans or Raised Garden Beds you knew this was coming, but I have to be honest,  it has totally exceeded my expectations.  Here is my original garden mock up and I has been amazing to see this drawing come to life.

For the past two years, I have been gardening in these three raised beds.  These beds have taught me so much about water needs, calcium deficiency in tomatoes, Colorado climate, soil preparation…the list goes on and on.  I have been fairly successful in growing lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, spinach, and onions.  These three beds gave me the confidence to branch out this year and create my dream suburban garden.  If you are new to this blog you should know that I live in the suburbs of Denver and my yard space is very limited.  With that being said, with my new and old garden I will have a total of 288 square feet of vegetable space.  This does not include my edible/medicinal garden bed.  That is a lot of food for a family of four and I have some big dreams for canning this year. 

In the new garden space, there are (6) 4x6 beds and (2) 4x10 beds.  All of the wood is non-chemically treated wood that we picked up at our local hardware store.  It was great because they cut all of the wood for us on site.  I had no clue that it was a free service that they offered.  Sign me up I said.  Everything is held together by 3 inch galvanized screws.  The beds are laid on top of crushed gravel with a layer of weed barrier fabric underneath.  We had some extra flagstone from a previous project and sunk it in the gravel for a fancy pathway.  Living in the suburbs, where everyone is looking at each others yard, I thought that making it look pretty would keep the neighbors happy.  Happy neighbors = neighbors not telling on you next year when you start raising chickens….a big HOA no no.

Laying a flagstone walkway is really easy.  All you have to do is remove the extra crushed gravel and lay out your flagstone pattern.  Make sure that your flagstone is level and replace the gravel.  Lightly water the flagstone and hand tamp to make the area flat.  It is not perfect, but I love the final results.


Here are some shots of the back beds as well as my new perennial beds.  The majority of these perennials are not only pretty but have some sort of medicinal value.  I will do a blog post about this in the future.  I will not lie I did choose a couple plants just for their beauty.  I am also growing chives and dill in my basement which will become part of this bed.


Well, that is the tour.  I have organic planters mix being delivered today and I have hopes to have it in by midweek.  Mr. G is gone on business again this week, so I will be shoveling in dirt during nap times and early mornings.  I need to get in my early spring crops considering we are about 4-6 weeks from my last frost date.  Lots of work ahead of me this week!
Check out the hat that Big C got me as a surprise to celebrate my new garden.  He picked it out (with a little help from Mr. G) and I adore it!  He kept saying that it was my Colorado cowgirl garden hat.  So cute.

As always, thanks for stopping by Throwback Road.  It is readers like you that continually push me to keep this dream alive.  We are one step closer to self-sufficiency as it feels great.  Wish me luck this year and happy gardening!