Landscaping

 The grass is slowly coming in, so we went and purchased some more plants and shrubs to complete the landscaping at the front of the house.  I think home buyers underestimate the value of landscaping when purchasing a home.  It's taken a lot of time, work and money to add all of this to the house and yard over the last 2 years and we still have so much to do!  As an aside, I'm thinking of painting the front door black.  Any thoughts?

 Here's a picture of part of the area we landscaped last fall.  We have several more plants to plant in this area.  I'm hoping to do it tonight.

Here's the layout of the shrubs for in front of the window...Hanoki Cypress, Japonicas and a cone shaped Boxwood.



My husband leveling out the plants.

The Storybook roses bordering the sidewalk near the entry.

A pink Storybook Rose in bloom. 

More photos to come when the mulching, edging and other plants are finally in!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, June 25, 2012

Sunday~Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches, Tater Tots and Watermelon

Monday~Grilled Italian BBQ Chicken, Grilled Potatoes, Fresh Fruit Salad

Tuesday~Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce over Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread

Wednesday~Braised Pork Chops with Peppers and Onions, Steamed Rice, Green Beans

Thursday~Philly Cheesesteaks, Oven Fries, and Baked Beans

Friday~Pizza and Wings

Saturday~Undecided

Have a great week!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Country Living

 It's a beautiful morning here in West-Central PA, so I went out onto the porch to read the morning paper.  This is what I found on the dining table...an animal had climbed onto the table last night and pulled the candelabra across the table, pulled out a tealight and chewed it.

The joys of living next to a forest!  ;0)

~peace and blessings~
Lisa

Grace

Love this and had to share....

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Dance Recital

This picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Menu Plan Monday, June 18, 2012

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~Father's Day Dinner at Mom's--Spaghetti, Meatballs and Salad

Monday~Grilled Steak, Twice Baked Potatoes,  Zucchini Fries

Tuesday~Easy BBQ Ribs, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans

Wednesday~Cheeseburgers, Tater Tots, Creamed Corn

Thursday~Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches, Ree's French Fries from the J/A issue of Food Network Magazine and Fruit

Friday~Grilled Hawaiian Pizza

Have a great week!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, June 11, 2012

We followed last week's menu plan very closely and everything was delish. 

Here's our dinner plan for this week:

Sunday~Graduation Party~I took Beefy Taco Dip It was well received!

Monday~Grilled Skinny Creamy Chicken Breasts, Rice Pilaf and Roasted Veggies

Tuesday~Grilled Hot Dogs and Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Wednesday~Spaghetti and Meatballs, Tossed Salad, Herbed Garlic Bread

Thursday~Grilled Pork Chops with Pineapple, Herbed Rice and Green Beans

Friday~Pizza Mountain Pies, Fruit Salad

Saturday~Grilled Kielbassi Sandwiches, Baked Potato Salad, Baked Beans

Treat of the Week:

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

~peace and blessings~

Lisa



Some Recital Pictures...more to come!

 The Family

Mommy and Maddie

Our Tiny Dancer

Thanks for stopping by!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, June 4, 2012

Happy Summer!  It's my first official day of summer vacation!  It's so nice to be home with the kids.  Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~Dinner Out

Monday~Chicken and Steak Fajitas with all the fixings and Salsa Rice

Tuesday~ Super Sloppy Joes, Oven Fries and Baked Beans

Wednesday~BBQ Pepper Jack Chicken, Rice Pilaf and French Cut Green Beans

Thursday~Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders, Chips and Fresh Fruit

Friday~Pizza and Wing Night

Saturday~ Dance Recital and Dinner

This week's treat:  Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

 

Have a wonderful week!

~peace & blessings~

Lisa

Salted Caramel Cookie Bars



This is another recipe that I found via Pinterest.  I actually followed this one to the letter.  I'm pleased with how they turned out.  This is actually time consuming to make, but the sweet/salty/buttery combination can't be beat.  I hope you enjoy them too!

Salted Caramel Cookie Bars
(adapted from Cookies and Cups)


2 sticks, unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour

Caramel Filling:
30 pieces of caramel candies, unwrapped
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt or 1/2 tablespoon sea salt

For the crust:

Grease an 8x11 inch baking dish.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In your stand mixer, cream butter on medium speed until softened. Add in both sugars and mix until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined. Sift in the 2 cups of flour and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms.
Press a 1/3 of the dough into your prepared pan to form a bottom crust and prick all over with a fork. Cover the remaining 2/3 and chill in the refrigerator. Bake the crust until brown around the edges, about 20 minutes.Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

While your crust is cooling, either in the microwave or stove top melt your caramels with the vanilla and cream until smooth.  I melted mine in 1 minute intervals in the microwave at 50% power.  This took about 5 minutes.  I stirred the caramels and cream together at the end of each minute to help smooth out the caramels. 

Pour the caramel over your baked crust and sprinkle with salt.

Remove remaining crust from the fridge and crumble the chilled dough over the caramel. 

Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool before cutting into squares.

 ~Enjoy~

peace & blessings

Lisa