red hair and green thumbs!

Work has been crazy over stressful the last couple of weeks.  I have been eating bad and not walking (it's been HOT too).  My serenity lately has been the backyard in the evenings.  It is the PERFECT time of the year for eating out back and kicking back watching TV (yes, we have a TV out back lol).  However, our backyard has been lacking plants as one of the foster puppies ate most of them last year.  Our favorite papasan chair has been beaten up by the sun.  Our dinning table is way to large for us now and we end up just placing junk on it.  Here is a before photo showing the mess:

You can see that we covered the papasan with an ugly quilt, the table with a DIY project on it, bathing suits drying and just ICK looking.  My first thought was to replace the table with a smaller bar top table for the husband and I to enjoy.  Our first stop at Home Depot and we were done looking.  Quick and easy!  Trying to get the employees there to pull the correct boxes, that was NOT quick and easy.  We also found two chairs we liked to create a smaller sitting area for morning coffee.  My plan was to create three different areas: Sitting for coffee, Bar top for beer and TV and Papasan relaxing and napping!  Here is the bar top table and the start of the sitting area:

Last Sunday morning I enjoyed coffee and watched some Netflix on my tablet, heaven!  We also took our wine barrel we had been putting our Christmas tree in and made a planter out of it, but somehow if forgot to take any photos of it!

The Friday before last weekend I made a cover for the papasan cushion that turned out great!  I used an outdoor fabric that should hold up pretty nice and I love how the dog hair just shakes right off of it.  The girls Mazie and Daphne love it too!  The cover was really easy to make.  I measured the size of the cushion, added two inches to each side, laid the cushion on top of the material and traced with a pen then added two inches to that.  I sewed around leaving the bottom open and added Velcro as a closure. The fun part was stuffing that HEAVY cushion inside, it kicked my BUTT.  I need the husband to help the next day.  Thinking of making Prada a matching dog bed to have outside for her using the same material.

We also spent time adding lights to the backyard (and new plants & lemon tree!).  We have a large palm tree we added white lights to and then I came up with the idea to hang a lantern over the waterfall.  The lantern has a timer candle inside and looks great at night!  I might add one more, now that we are in love with it. I still have a list a mile long of things I want to do; make a drop cloth curtain and the end of the patio for some privacy, add more planters, make a coffee table for the sitting area, etc.  I have to tell myself, "One project at a time!"  Which actually lead to what could me a new addiction for me - Fairy Gardens!

Fairy Garden - Phase I

So, I have seen these on Pintrest and thought they were kind of cute.  After looking more and more I knew I had to create one for my new patio!!  I found lots of blogs and did lots of reading as to how to start.  My Fairy's house would tell me the scale of the items I would want and of course I had to find the perfect Fairy!  I LOVE the customer service on eFairies.com and found both my house & Fairy there! I knew I wanted an English cottage type of house and the little Fairy holding the blue bird...OMG, loved her!  They shipped out the SAME day I ordered them and should be here by tomorrow!!  That will give me my starting place for size.  I did find a bottom planter, but plan on making my garden multiple levels...no, I can't start easy.  We will also be building a stand for the garden as I have found that Mazie enjoys eating the flowers out of my wine barrel planter.

Lots of DIY projects going on this weekend!  I can't wait to get started!!  Hoping keeping busy will keep me from eating vegan junk food!!  Have a great Easter and stay healthy!!

start the day off right! mediterranean tofu scramble

One of my favorite things to do come Saturday morning is make a HUGE tofu scramble.  I make enough to take my husband and I through Sunday, Monday and sometimes even Tuesday!  Every weekend I normally do something different, Mexican, Veggie, just depends on my mood and/or what I have in the house.  This weekend, Mediterranean with a side of homemade red potatoes!

When I grew up we had breakfast EVERY day.  Most days it was just cereal, but sometimes my dad would make something special like pancakes...or not special - like eggs.  I was never much of an egg fan.  Runny eggs totally freaked me out. Changing to a vegan lifestyle, lets just say...I had NO issues with giving up eggs.  If you have not tried making a scramble with tofu you are REALLY missing out.  Not only are they easy, but you can add any or all of YOUR favorite veggies!  Go crazy! Express yourself!

Mediterranean Tofu Scramble with Homemade Red Potatoes

Red Potatoes (I like to start these cooking first)

Ingredients
5 Red Potatoes (more or less as needed), julienne sliced
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Directions
Spray frying pan with cooking spray and heat on high.  Clean and slice potatoes and using a slicer cut julienne style.  Over high heat cook, adding salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste (8 minutes).  Turn heat down to med-high, flipping potatoes as needed and cook until crispy.

Mediterranean Tofu Scramble

Ingredients
1 Extra Firm Tofu
1 Red Onion, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 14.5 oz Can of Artichoke Hearts, sliced
1 14.5 oz. Can of Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Bunch of Asparagus, cut into bite size pieces
1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
2 T. Nutritional Yeast
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 Cup Sun dried Tomatoes
Sliced Black Olives
1 teaspoon Turmeric
2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar