How happy am I that I took the relic out of retirement.  Yeah, it takes up wayyyyy tooo much counter space but I am having fun!  (Watch me jinx it with terrible tasting bagels that are in the oven as I type. ) Only 6 minutes to go!

The little guy helped with the toppings.  We chose cheese, sea salt (good old cape codder)  cinnamon sugar, plain and chocolate coffee bean.  The good thing about making your own bagels you can have a custom selection so easy!

The chocolate coffee bean sounded good at the time.  I got the grinder from Trader Joe’s and it intrigued me.  It had sat on my shelf staring at me, saying please find a use for me…..well maybe this is it, maybe not!  Stayed Tuned!

Maybe the little guy will like this recipe better.  He seems to do better at breakfast anyway! Let’s hope!!

Thanks for reading!  The recipe for the bagels are here: 

It was super yummy and I made a side of what is toted as “the best broccoli  you will ever eat” ( and oh yeah, it WAS!)

The little one just sat there and stared.  Decided immediately that this was nothing he was going to eat tonight!

Even though I modified his and put a Mexican blend cheese that I KNOW he loves instead of Gouda and left out the cranberries.  He took one look and his mind was made up!  The broccoli, which by the way was the best broccoli I ever ate, was considered too lemony!

Grrrrrrr.  His loss- my rant!  Anyways, here is the link for the Best Broccoli you will ever have.  Let me know if it isn’t!

Tonight’s dinner, I thought would be a home run.  Wrong again!  We love, as most families do, tacos.  They are simple, yummy and EVERYONE eats them.  We also LOVE pasta.  EVERYONE eats pasta!

So, when I came across Taco Pasta, I thought “Hey,  I can’t loose!”  WRONG!

This meal was super simple to make and took less than 30 minutes to put it on the table.  I even made my own taco seasoning.  I got the recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything.  Her blog is really cute by the way.  Everyone loved it accept the little one who again too one look at this meal and decided not to eat it.  He did however force it down after a bribe of destroying and  eating the gingerbread house that he had made.  It wasn’t a total defeat but it wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for either!  Tomorrow is another night!

Click here for the recipe

I have been trying to adapt a diet of less processed food, less dairy, and cut down big time on red meat.  I have broken out my bread machine again to really control what goes into my bread and have recently found this wonderful spread.  It is from Target, a little pricey but worth every penny!   I have eaten it for lunch smeared on the homemade bread.  It is perfect and the only ingredients are Almonds, Peanuts, Cashews and Sea Salt.

Mom just came by with some leftover turkey from one that she made earlier in the week.  That has given me the chance to try a leftover turkey quesadilla recipe that I came across while I was resting the knee.  And, anytime I can support my local cranberry grower, I am in!  I got the recipe from Green Lite Bites.  You can find the info there! (  I know I said less dairy, but I LOVE  Gouda!!)

No one is on to the little experiment yet, will let you know how they like this.

So,needless to say the rest of my time was spent on the couch back at the condo.  Icing and ibuprofen helped but after the third Law and Order rerun, I was ready to go crazy!  That was then I grabbed my iPhone and downloaded the Pinterest app.  Well that was all I needed, I was hooked.  Exploring new blogs and sites, I was drawn to the food and drink section and loved finding all the new recipes that everyone had pinned.

So that my time on the couch goes without  guilt or wasted time,  have decided to try at least 5 new recipes every week on my family and friends and let you all know how we like them.  I have not told them yet, so we will see how long it takes for them to realize things are different!

I hope to choose healthy, low processed food that everone will enjoy!

Tonight we have Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas cooking up as we speak.  I got the recipe from skinnytaste.com

you can find all the details here

THE REVIEWS ARE IN:  Three and a half of the 5 diners found the dish wonderful.  Our 5 year old ate most but thought it was a little spicy for him.  Our son’s guest who joined us,   just pushed the soup around and claimed he was “full”.  My husband,my 10 year old and myself declare this recipe a “keeper”  I hope you enjoy if you do try it.  If you want it less spicy, try leaving out the chili in Adobo.

White Sheep

First I would like to introduce you to the Taylor-Bray Farm in Yarmouthport .  We recently rediscovered it as they held their annual sheep shearing festival.  The farm is open to the public year round dawn to dusk and there is no admission fee.  But, if you would like to make a donation to offset the care of the animals, anything would be appreciated.  It has been a farm on Cape Cod since 1896 and acquired by the  town of Yarmouth in 1987 to save it from becoming a development.  YEAH!!     There are sheep, goat and also two Scottish Highland Cattle that were so unusual to the Cape and easy to fall in love with.

Scottish Highland Cattle

There is also a small boardwalk on the property that goes out to the marsh where the view is pretty and the bird watching is plentiful.  I hope if you are traveling  on RTE 6A in Yarmouthport you will check out the farm and let me know what you thought!! Another Fabulous Freebie coming soon!  Stay posted!

The Goats gave the most entertainment!

DIRECTIONS TO THE FARM:..from the lower cape go west on Route 6A through Dennis, to just over the Yarmouth town line, and turn right at Oliver’s Restaurant, and go to the end of the road. from the upper/mid cape area go east on Route 6A through Yarmouth, and turn left at Oliver’s Restaurant and go to the end of the road (Bray Farm Road)

Traveling around Brewster and Dennis on RTE 6A earlier this week photographing all that was out in bloom, I came along Sesuit Harbor and Cold Storage Beach in Dennis.  I am not sure if I have ever been to this harbor and  beach. They are one the northside and  I found them easily off of RTE 6A.  The light on RTE 6A wasn’t exciting me so I traveled to the ocean and found such gorgeous light.

It is a light where the ocean meets the horizon and the horizon meets the sky.  It is so blue and deep in color and yet there is glowing light that reflects  on the sand. It is wonderful to experience and it is usually fleeting.

I love coming across this light and love when my camera is with me.  I hope you enjoy this Cape light……

Sesuit Harbor and Cold Storage Beach

I have 5 raised beds in the back acre of my yard and for the past several years planted them in the traditional rows. I made a long  furrow and spread out the contents of the seed packet in the row and hope for the best.  I never thinned the seedlings and wedding was a pain to say the least!

Well, with this concept you divide your raised beds into square foot sections and plant a different variety of seed in each section.  The amount of seed you plant depends on the amount of space the plant needs to grow.  So from one seed of cauliflower to 16 of carrots, you just plant that many seeds.  It is supposed to yield better crops because there is really no thinning and weeding is easier as well.  I can’t wait until this garden spouts up, it is going to look like a beautiful patch work quilt!

I also built a trellis for the plants like peas, cukes and tomatoes that like to climb.  With the awesome help of Maggie at the Home Depot in Wareham, we cut and fitted a wonderful  from 1/2 inch PVC pipe.  The netting is from Burpee and fit great!

I hope you will follow my garden’ journey this season!

The bed before I sectioned it off

Sectioned off

The garden plot. I have 4 more beds to ready!