Growing an Avocado Tree - Day 1

Trying to Grow an Avocado Tree

Day 1

First day of our avocado tree experiment.

 My daughter and I are going to try a little experiment.

We have always had houseplants until moving to my mom’s house. We don’t get a lot of sunlight in the main part of the house, and the kitchen windows are often occupied by our cats who like to eat houseplants.

Plant Eating Cats!

But I decided to get back into growing houseplants because it’s just one of those things that keeps me sane. I’ll just have to teach those kitties to leave my lovely plants alone.

Just recently I found out how great avocados are and started wondering how I could have gone so long without eating them.

Then, I found out that you can grow your own avocado plant from the pit! I also read that it can be difficult, and might not work, but I think I have a bit of a green thumb and want to give it a try anyway. Sidney is excited to try, too.

Through Pinterest I found many sites that explain how to grow an avocado from the pit, which is awesome, but the best one is a blog called 17 Apart. So with the advice from some of these sites, I pushed four toothpicks into my avocado pit and placed it on a glass of water so just the bottom half of it is in the water. I can’t promise anything, all I can say is that I will keep you posted on our progress.

And I don't want to get my hopes up, but it already looks like something might be happening! My pit hasn't even been in water for 24 hours yet, and it looks like it's root might be starting to come out, but I can't say for sure.

Thanks, 

Day 5 Blog Challenge - Favourite Movies You Never Get Sick of Watching

31 Day Blog Challenge - March

I have to admit, I am a huge movie fan. I love watching movies just as much as I love reading books. I love movies from every genre. I love movies that make me think, and movies that don't. To pick a list of movies I never get sick of watching could be a long one, but I'll try to keep it short and just pick just nine.

Top Nine Favourite Movies (that I don't get sick of):

1. American Beauty
2. Fight Club
3. The Devil Wears Prada
4. Shaun of the Dead
5. Girl Interrupted
6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
7. This is England
8. Trailer Park Boys
9.  Wayne's World

And basically any movie with Adam Sandler in it, except for that Zohan movie which I didn't like at all.

I mean, I love a lot of other movies but these are just the ones I don't get sick of watching. Like, I love 1930's gangster movies, and 1950's horror movies but I couldn't watch the same one over and over again. Same with pretty much every animated Disney movie, especially Pixar.

Check out my previous challenges:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

Thanks, 


P.S. - I can't believe I forgot Moulin Rouge! I want to watch it right now.

Tuesday Treasury - Pretty Pastels for Spring

'Pretty Pastels for Spring' by shemonster31

Multicolor Florals Wall... TrulyVeraDesig... $16	Pastel Pretties Butterc... tookies $64	Pastel mint green and p... PaisleyHandmad... $5.75	Vintage Flower Earrings... HarvestLaneVin... $6.95
Easter Egg Colors Vinta... thlvintage $14.5	Colored Geometry 8"... PartyMojo $19.41	Pastel Fabric Hair Bow Dimeycakes $6.5	Typography Poster - Pas... fieldtrip $18
Candy Buttons 50 Pastel... andiespecialty... $37.5	Vintage Melamine Cups -... charliesnest $16.5	Girl Beanie Pink Slouch... Cuteling $26	Easter Egg Soap - Half ... ajsweetsoap $19.75
Fragrant Lilacs. Spring... joystclaire $15	Easter Egg Wreath - pe... laurelsbylauri... $55	Easter Decorations / SP... BeachBlues $30	gifts tags, large size,... krazykatedesig... $5

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Day 4 Blog Challenge - Best Childhood Memory

31 Day Blog Challenge - March

Best Childhood Memories are of Camping

When I think about my childhood I have a lot of fond memories. My family was by no means rich money-wise but we always knew how to have a good time.

We used to go camping a lot as a family. I can't pinpoint just one camping trip over the rest of them because they were all equally fun and memorable. 

Blue Water Lakes Childhood Memories

 

There were three places we went to often. One of them was called Blue Water Lakes. My aunt and uncle had a trailer there but it's seriously the best trailer park I've ever been to. It's surrounded by thick forests, with a man-made lake full of fish and a dock to jump off of. They have peddle boats, canoes and kayaks you can rent and there's always some sort of activity going on like darts or horse shoes. My cousins, sisters and I loved playing there as children, and getting into trouble as teenagers. Now I take my daughter camping there almost every year.

Sand Hills Park Childhood Memories

The other place we used to go to is called Sand Hills Park, named after the giant sandhills that are there. As children we loved to climb up the hill and roll down it, jump down it, slide down it. It didn't even bother us to be covered in sand the entire time we were there. Other than the sandhills there wasn't a whole lot to do. The only way to get to the beach was to climb over the hills, so once we got over there we would stay on the beach almost all day. The water was clear, and the waves were huge. It was a lot of fun.

The third place wasn't even a campsite. My Grandma used to drive us 8 hours up north to go camping. Once we got there it was another half an hour motorboat ride to this little island on the lake. There were no people, no bathrooms or hydro. You could wake up in the morning and see a moose across the lake on another island. We even saw a bear the one time. It was so much fun camping there; the stars were amazing. However, you couldn't leave your tent after the sun went down because there were so many mosquitoes, so my cousins, sisters and I would roll around the tent giggling and driving my Grandma insane every night. Unfortunately we don't have many pictures from this time - just some water damaged pictures taken with a disposable camera by me as a ten year old.

After Sidney was born I knew that I had to take her camping as often as I could. It's funny, because Nick had never been camping as a child other than staying at his grandparents trailer. I had to show him how to set up a tent, start a fire, cook on a fire, and everything else that comes with it. 

Anyway, I know I didn't exactly follow the challenge but I really couldn't pick just one memory!

Previous Challenges:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Thanks,

Meatless Monday - Cheap and Easy Stir-fry

Meatless Monday

Simple Stir-fry

My hubby is a vegetarian. He does not eat meat, dairy, or eggs, but he doesn't consider himself a vegan. I've been eating vegetarian foods for a few years now but I'm not a vegetarian myself. 

The thing is, I'm a lazy cook. I hate cooking. Everything about it! The prep work, the actual cooking part and cleaning up afterwards. It's no fun. For some reason though, cooking vegan meals is fun sometimes. I have a large collection of vegan cookbooks and enjoy flipping through them once in a while to plan out a meal. Not always though because I can't imagine cooking every meal from scratch.

So I decided to start doing Meatless Mondays. It's a good way to eat healthier, help reduce my ecological footprint and discover new foods! 

My first Monday isn't anything to brag about though. Seriously, I made this meal in about 30 minutes, with no prep involved!  Other than mincing fresh garlic.

Step 1: Make some rice according to the directions. I like basmati rice from the local Indian grocery store.

Step 2: Heat olive oil in a pan at low-medium heat and throw your minced garlic in (I used 2 cloves) for about 5 minutes.

Step 3: Dice your veggies and throw them in. Or if you're like me you can buy them already cut up (I got these two bags from the local farmer's market for $1 each). Or get a bag of frozen vegetables.

Step 4: Cook your vegetables until soft, stirring occasionally.

Step 5: Open a can of chickpeas, rinse them off well and stir them in.

Step 6: Now you can pour your favourite stir-fry sauce over top of your veggies and chickpeas. I used Teriyaki sauce because I'm just that cool. Once you have your sauce all mixed in you can eat it served over rice!

Seriously, this is the cheapest and easiest vegetarian meal ever. We eat it often when nobody wants to cook.

2 bags of already diced vegetables = $2

1 can of chickpeas = $0.77

Basmati rice ($10 for the entire bag) so I'm going to guess = $.75 (but probably less)

Teriyaki sauce ($2.50 for the bottle, used about 1/3) = $0.83

Total cost of dinner = $4.35 to feed a family of 5.

There you go!

Thanks,