Purchasing Seeds

After pouring over seed catalogs for the past couple of months, today I am ordering seeds so I can attempt to start them indoors over the next few months. I have had mixed results with starting seeds, but I really want to get the hang of it so I can save money by not having to buy transplants.

From D. Landreth Seed Company I ordered a mixture of items: Great Northern Beans, Kidney Beans, Big Red Bell Peppers, Yellow Squash, Feverfew, Zucchini, Sage, Fairy Tale Eggplant, and Queen Anne's Pocket Melon. I'm really excited about the Fairy Tale eggplant, which I bought from a farmer at the wholesale Dallas Farmer's Market and sold at the Saint Jo Farmer's Market in 2010, and Queen Anne's Pocket melon. Tony doesn't care for melons, I think he has a mild allergy, so I wanted something small that I would be able to eat by myself and not get tired of and the Queen Anne's Pocket seems perfect. I can't wait to see what they smell like!

From Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds I ordered tomatoes: Morning Sun, Amish Paste and Atkinson. I was really hoping to get yellow cherry tomatoes again, I grew them in 2010 and had a lot of luck with them, but everyone is sold out so I'm going to try the yellow grape tomato instead. The summer of 2010 I was given tomatoes from a friend at the Saint Jo Farmer's Market, German Queen, and I made the best pizza sauce with them. I'm hoping to do the same with the Amish Paste and as insurance if they or the Cherokee Purple I have don't produce well like this year then hopefully the Atkinson will produce.

Homemade Beauty Treatments

Tonight while Tony is putting up drywall, I'm being a spoiled little housewife and tending to myself. I noticed that the skin on my face was starting to flake so I did a search for homemade scrubs. I found these few links for what sassybella.com calls Recession Proof Beauty. I tried the sugar scrub (simply one part sugar to two parts honey) and it worked beautifully. It is every bit as good as anything I've bought from Mary Kay in the past and doesn't contain all the irritating chemicals. Also the honey has antibacterial qualities which will help with the little bit of acne I've been having the past couple of days.

Facial Scrubs
Facial Masks
Foot Mask

Vegan Blueberry Ginger Muffins

One of the things I miss most about Texas are the Vegan Blueberry Ginger Muffins from The Cupboard Natural Food Store in Denton. I came across this recipe for vegan blueberry muffins a few weeks ago and thought I'd try it this morning. As I was about to stir in the blueberries (I used dried) I remembered I have candied ginger in the fridge, so I diced some up (about 1/4 cup) and tossed them in.

The muffins from The Cupboard are crumbly which make them messy to eat but they taste incredible. The muffins I made this morning are not crumbly and have the taste and consistency of any standard muffin recipe. The ginger and dried blueberries are amazing in them. I think this might be my new favorite muffin recipe and no one would ever guess they are vegan.