Yesterday M and B had a little father-daughter time while planting our garden. B was quite the little helper and who doesn't love fresh produce!? Here is how to plant a garden for $20 (5 plants for $10 and $10 for soil at Home Depot right now!).

Here are the steps to getting your garden started:

before...last year's garden still hangin in there...kind of

the loot

step 1. pull out existing plants

step 2. pour in soil

step 3. spread it around

step 4. arrange the plants in pots

step 5. plant the plants

step 6. take a rest break with Daddy and princess Aurora

step 7. adjust the drip

step 8. set up the cages

step 9 water them

step 10. surprise Mommy..."me do it!"

voila!

While I'm away backpacking in Yosemite...

I love looking at other people's before and after photos of pretty much anything so here are a few from our garden before summer and during the middle of it. Excuse the horrible mid day lighting...

 tomatoes and santa barbara daisy planted here

 right after everything was planted...

strawberries and bell peppers

 AND AFTER...

huge early girl tomatoes!

 

 big roma tomatoes and catnip for Stan :)

 ripening strawberries

 waiting for these bell peppers to turn colors

grapes!

 this guy is way too early...

 eggplant, sweet 100 tomato, jalapenos, and yellow bell peppers

 basil

 crazy zucchini and squash!

 eggplant

What do you have growing in your garden this year? We are thinking about planting heirloom tomatoes next year...any suggestions?

See you on Monday with lots of pictures and stories from hiking half dome!

Although this wasn't on my official summer bucket list I still wanted to eat up all the zucchinis and squash we have been growing in our garden and not let anything go to waste. I'm kind of burnt out on it though and was looking for some new recipes when my hubby suggested that we fry them. So healthy, right? ;) Anyway, my brother and his girlfriend came over and we put them to work! The jury is still out on which ones were better. Some of the veggies were battered in a flour/cornmeal mix and others were just fried with flour. It was super easy though and very tasty with ranch dressing. Mmm Mmm good!

 the ingredients

 little younger brother helping

 

 the dry ingredients

 all set! 

we decided to fry outside to avoid a mess indoors

 

 sizzlin'

 the chefs

fried zucchini goodness! nail color: Greenport by essie

So what are your plans this weekend? I am leaving for the weekend and going to LA for a friend's bachelorette  party. I'm really excited and it should be very fun! Enjoy the hot weather!

So I noticed that I claim to be this girl that is “not average” but so far everything looks fairly normal for a girl my age. Well this is where my killer gardening skills come into play. Below you will see the zucchini and squash that Matt and I grew in our garden recently. Your average girl does not grow squash that are longer than her finger tip to her elbow. These things are on steroids! On Tuesday night we grilled the veggies on the BBQ and then I also made some zucchini bread for us and the neighbors. I used a low calorie recipe that is posted below. Enjoy! 

 our zucchini and squash that grew out of control while we were in SLO

 ok so i know they aren't supposed to grow this big because they taste better smaller, but it's still an accomplishment!

 grillin'

 you would think we had a family to feed... nope! just the two of us! I took that extra sandwich to lunch with me the next day. yummy!

 two of the ingredients for my zucchini bread

does zucchini bread count as a vegetable? btw i suck...forgot to take a picture of the bread. tomorrow i will get on top of that. (and no, i haven't eaten all of it yet!)

 Zucchini Bread (Low Calorie Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup unbleached flour

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup zucchini, unpeeled, grated

¼ cup fat-free sour cream

1 egg white

Directions: Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Prepare pan 8x4x2 inch pan with cooking spray and flour; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and baking powder. In another mixing bowl, combine zucchini, sour cream, and egg white. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients just until moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 60 minutes.

Calories: 92

Fat< 1g

Protein: 2g

Carbs: 22 g

PS…do you have any other ways to prepare zucchini and squash? I’m going to need some help getting creative… recipes please!

While I don't typically post on the weekends, I owe you one for last week when the blogger site was down. On Thursday night our sweet married friends, Daniel and Natalie, came over for dinner. I kind of got wrapped up in our (always interesting) conversation and forgot to snap photos of our main course before it was gone. I guess that's a good problem to have! We ate outside because the weather was so nice and then argued over whether we should go for a walk (the girls' choice) or play Yahtzee (Daniel's choice). We compromised and went for a walk. ;) Daniel, I promise next time we will do it your way. Maybe. Here are a few shots from our evening. Have a great weekend! What are your plans?

 i borrowed this recipe from Natasha at Schue Love (minus the hard-to-find buffalo cheese)

 we used fresh basil from our garden 

nailpolish: Zoya in Marley

tunic: ATL

necklace: Bella James boutique (San Jose)

 our crafty little silverware transporter plus a dog bone to keep Bella from begging

 cutest napkins ever given to me from my mom in my Christmas stocking. :) Bone appetite!

 

the pretty twinkle lights i insisted to Matt that we buy...

 

our "in-the-making" deck. a neighbor down the street built the chairs and bench for us. Matt bought the chair cushions for me for Christmas and I picked out the pillows from Pottery Barn. I really wanted an outdoor rug but I know it is impractical with a huge tree that hangs overhead and drops leaves/bugs/bird droppings etc. Plus a firepit that can burn holes in it probably won't make a good case for it. Boo.

just cut from the yard

our statement piece for spring

Last year we got serious about planting (and taking care of) bulbs to grow calla lilies. Matt and I have decided that we learn by making mistakes (lots of them). So, it was a big surprise to us when these flowers turned out so well! We have four bushes that give us at least ten lilies a week and are actually four feet high! Trust me, for us this is a miracle! We should have planted these in our front yard for shrubs when we bought out home four years ago. We are still anxiously awaiting the day for our supposed "shrubs" out front to own up to their name. These lilies have given me (and my neighbors) much joy for two reasons: one, I didn't kill the plant and two, I have a beautiful, free, fresh centerpiece every week!