Bucket Garden

This isn't a recipe, however; my hope is to use these vegetables to make fresh meals and side dishes for my family. 

Take the small amount of time it takes (2 hours for everything below) to be able to feed your family delicious and healthy vegetables and you get to decide what kind of bug sprays, fertilizers, etc. (if any) you are putting into your body.

Bucket Garden

5 gallon bucket

Small sponge

Plant

Dirt

Cut out a small circle in the bottom of your bucket.  Just big enough to be able to squeeze your plant leaves through. 

Take your sponge and put a small hole in the center of it.  On the vertical side, cut a slit to open up the sponge (from the side of the sponge to the center of the hole).  The sponge needs to be big enough to cover the hole in your bucket because this is what will be keeping the dirt in the bucket.

Take the plant and place sponge around the bottom near the roots.
Next, put the plant in the bucket and gently guide the plant stem and leaves in the hole.  Make sure you pull the plant to the outside of the bucket leaving the sponge and roots on the inside of the bucket.  Make sure the plant is centered in the hole.

Finally, fill the bucket 2/3 way full with dirt.

TIP:

Hang on hooks (in sunlight) off the deck or stairs.
Make sure you water at least once daily.  Depending on the temperature, you may need to water twice.  Remember that the dirt will dry out quicker above ground than if it were underground.

Things I planted in my buckets:

Green bell peppers, Roma tomato plant. Cherry tomato plant, cucumbers (Put the cucumbers near the ground where they will be able to crawl across the ground and won’t become too heavy and break off).

Also, in the above picture you will notice that there are 2 tubs on the ground.  These are simply storage containers that are about 4 ft. by 2 ft. with the bottoms cut out.  Then I dug up the grass and loosened up the dirt under the grass and set the tubs on top.  Then we filled the tubs with store bought soil and planted our zucchini plants (1 plant in each tub).

Coffee Cake

 

Coffee Cake

Streusel:

2/3 cup baking mix

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 tbsp. butter

Cake:

2 cups baking mix

½ cup milk

2 tbsp. Sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350. 

Grease the bottom of a 9-inch round pie plate or cake pan. 

In a bowl, mix together 2/3 cup baking mix, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Gently, cut in butter until crumbly.

In another bowl, mix together cake ingredients until well blended. 

Spread about 1 cup of batter evenly in bottom of baking pan.  Sprinkle with ¾ cups streusel.  Gently, drop the remaining batter on top of streusel; spread carefully over streusel.  Sprinkle with remaining streusel.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let stand about 20-30 minutes before serving.

Italian Salad

This salad reminds me a lot of the salad that Olive Garden makes.  Actually, that is what my family calls it... the Olive Garden Salad.  Enjoy!

Italian Salad

1 head lettuce, cleaned and chopped

1 red onion, sliced into rings

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

1 bottle Kraft Tuscan House Italian Dressing

In a large serving bowl layer: lettuce, onions, and cheese.  Then top with artichoke hearts.

Once ready to serve, drizzle with desired amount of dressing and mix well to coat evenly.

TIP: Top with croutons or tortilla pieces.  You could also add salami or pepperoni to make a complete meal.

Hashbrown Casserole

This is another go to recipe when it comes to a side dish.

Easy to make, travels easy, and can be made in advance.

Hashbrown Casserole

1 16 oz. container sour cream

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 small onion, diced

¼ cup milk

Seasonings: seasoning salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes

1 pkg. southern style hashbrowns, frozen

2 cups shredded cheese (Colby jack or cheddar)

Spray 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients.  Mix well.  Add hashbrowns and mix well.

Spread out in the baking dish and top with cheese.

Bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.

TIP: If you need the casserole done quicker, try covering with aluminum foil.  It will keep the heat in and it will reduce cooking time by about 15 minutes.  Also, you could hashbrowns that are thawed instead of frozen.

TIP: You could also replace the cream of chicken soup with any cream soup (mushroom, celery, etc.)

Also, melt a few TBSP of better and 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers and combine.  Then spread over top of casserole with about 5 minutes of baking time left.



Green Bean Casserole

Need a quick and easy side to take to your next pot luck dinner?? Not only is this recipe totally easy and fast to make, but it travels very well.  This is my signature item you can always count on me to bring if you invite me to your next pot luck.

Green Bean Casserole

4 cans green beans, drained

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

½ cup milk

2 tbsp. dried minced onions

1/2 bag of French Fried Onions, divided

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients except ¼ cup French Fried Onions together in a large bowl.

Pour into a 9x13 pan and top with remaining onions.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

TIP:  This recipe is very easy to cut in half for a smaller casserole.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

What a better way to celebrate National Chocolate Chip day

than by a batch of Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This recipe is not only super easy,

but will have your whole house smelling soooo GOOOOD!!

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding, eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour and baking soda; slowly add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

TIP: Instead of using all semisweet chocolate chips, I replace it with other flavors or you can split it with half semisweet chips and half white chips.

Lasagna Bake Cassrole

If you are like me, every time you make spaghetti you have tons of leftover spaghetti sauce.  Well here is a recipe to help use that sauce so you don’t have to waste it.  Simply freeze the extra sauce and pull out of the freezer and let thaw when you are ready to use it.

Lasagna Bake Casserole

½-1 box noodles (Rotini, shells, etc.), depending on how much sauce you have frozen

Left over spaghetti sauce

1 container ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese (or Italian Blend)

Cook noodles as directed on package.  Keep about 1-2 cups of pasta water.  Drain the rest of the pasta.

Put ricotta cheese and 1 cup mozzarella cheese in a bowl and mix together.  Slowly add hot pasta water and stir until a smooth consistency.  Add to pasta.  Mix well

Meanwhile, warm up leftover pasta sauce in a sauce pan on the stove top or in the microwave.

Pour pasta into a greased baking dish.  And top with pasta sauce.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until heated through.

Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

TIP: This recipe is great to fix when you are having company.  Fix ahead of time and put in refrigerator until ready to bake.  Remove from refrigerator and allow to sit for 30 minutes before putting in oven.  Serve with garlic toast and salad.