Our Big Gardening Idea

Last year at the end of gardening season, Carl and I got the brilliant idea of planting sweet corn and selling it. We have plenty of open ground at the Ranch so we thought we would plant an acre of corn. In theory this was a great idea, it would be approximately 41,000 ears of corn and alot of profit. So for the entire winter we have been planning to have one acre of corn then we went out to measure off the one acre to actually see how big of an area we would be working with and whoa...we changed our minds. That's way to much corn for two people to deal with and that's alot of weeds, watering, fertilizing and more work than we really thought it might be. We have now narrowed our corn patch down to 1/8th of an acre (100'x50'). It's quite a drastic change but we think it will be more manageable especially for our first year. On Sunday, Carl plowed the area that is going to be our new corn patch. It needs alot more work but this is at least a start.

While Carl had the plow hooked up the to the tractor, he worked up an area for my flower garden. This area is 30'x20'. It's going to have a few paths through it so it won't be completely flowers but still it's a pretty big flower garden. I'm planning to plant alot of wild flowers here.

And in plant news, the tomatoes have taken up residence in the living room. Since all of the plants are getting so big, we were running out of room in the dining room that has prime sunshine space.

The other plants are doing quite well in the dining now that the tomatoes have been moved.



Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta

The pasta dish has quickly become one of my favorites. Its creamy sauce with shrimp and mushrooms is a great combination. And it smells incredible when you are cooking it! Give it a try.

4-8oz fettuccine or linguine
10 tbsp butter, divided
8 oz fresh, sliced mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
4oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp fresh chopped or dried parsley
1 tbsp fresh chopped or dried basil
2/3 cup boiling water (from your noodle pot)
1 lb cooked shrimp (frozen is fine)

1. Boil and salt a large pot of water and cook your pasta. 
2. While your pasta is cooking, cook your shrimp if necessary and reserve.  If your shrimp are pre-cooked and frozen, quickly thaw them under running water.
3. In a large skillet melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat and saute mushrooms until soft and brown.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Reserve cooked mushrooms and melt remaining butter in the skillet.  Add minced garlic, cream cheese, and herbs.  At this point, the cream cheese starts to look almost curdled but don't worry it will all smooth out once you add the water.
5. Simmer cream cheese mixture until well blended. Get a scoop of boiling pasta water from your noodle pot and mix it in, stirring quickly to smooth out the sauce.
6. Keep sauce hot and add shrimp and mushrooms, mix well and simmer (stirring often) until everything is hot and thickened, about 10 minutes-you wont ruin this sauce by accidentally boiling it so don’t worry.
7. Toss sauce with cooked noodles and serve.

Recipe via Pinterest from http://chaosinthekitchen.com/2008/10/fast-food-creamy-shrimp-and-mushroom-pasta/

And There Was Light

You may remember when Carl, Spencer and Grant set the light pole in November and I accidentally stepped on the light bulb. So, since November we have had a light pole and light but there wasn't a light bulb in it. Over the weekend, Spencer came over with a giant ladder and climbed to the top to install the light bulb so now we have light. Carl also installed an electrical box at the base of the pole so we have power out there too. Just has I was not paying attention the last time I was out there taking pictures of them working, I stepped on the light bulb, well this time I was inside the house when they installed the light bulb but then later came outside to check on them and take some pictures. And just like last time I was concentrating on getting pictures that I stepped on the light bulb box but luckily it was empty this time but the guys were sure to let me know all about it again and how I need to pay attention to where I walk.

Now we officially have a light pole with a working light...amazing. The light is really bright and lights up the the front of the house great.

Happy Easter

I decorated for Easter! Here are some photos of our Easter decorations around the house.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Transplanting the Seedlings

Since our little seedlings really took off, we decided to transplant the tomatoes and green peppers to bigger pots before we put them out in the garden. We have been keeping them on a heat mat and under a grow light in our dining room. It's working out really well and the plants keep getting bigger!

Monterey Chicken

I love finding new recipes on Pinterest and this one for Monterey Chicken is definitely a keeper. Even my brother, who stayed with us for a few weeks this year, couldn't stop talking about how delicious the chicken was that night for dinner. It might have been best meal we made while he was there. What do you think Spencer?

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 c. bar-b-que sauce ( we use Montgomery Inn, it's the best)

1/4 c. crumbled bacon

1 c. colby and jack cheese, shredded

1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained (canned with green chilies added)
sliced green onions
pepper

(I never really measured the ingredients, instead just loaded it up until they looked good)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out chicken breasts to flatten. Season with pepper. Grill chicken until no long pink and place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Top each chicken breast with bar-b-que sauce, cheese, tomatoes, green onions and bacon. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).



Recipe from Pinterest via http://kimmccrary.blogspot.com/2010/05/perfect-day.html

Starting our Garden

The time has arrived, we have kicked off the 2012 gardening season with starting some seeds indoors.  Well really we did this two weeks ago but I'm slow at blogging about it. Anyways...here are all the seeds we have to plant this year. Yep, it's alot, we're going to plenty of vegetables and tons of flowers.

Carl started the tomatoes in 2-liter bottle terrariums and some green peppers, jalapenos, broccoli and cabbage in other seedling trays. He had been planning this project for quite awhile and so far everything is growing great. Most of the plants sprouted within a few days, much to our surprise.