Cold Summer Pasta Salad with a Healthy Twist

Nutritionally packed delicious meatless meal. A pasta salad loaded with veggies, perfect for boosting your summer activities. Not only is the recipe easy, it's made ahead and chilled. So no running around, or if you are like me just staring in the fridge, pondering the nightly battle "what's for dinner". 

Using some basic kitchen staples, this can be whipped up in half hour or less. To get started you will need-

-pasta

-3 veg combo

-natural yogurt

-seasoning 

Get your water boiling for the pasta. I used a pasta that was made with carrots and squash so that my veggie serving count was stepped up.  We are also a family with a strong love of the spices. I added to my water some salt, pepper, and crushed red peppers. This is a cold summer pasta salad so refrigerate the pasta after cooking it.

I worded the ingredients as "3 veg combo" because any three vegetables that you love would work. I used for this cilantro(a favorite in our home), bell pepper, and onion. This recipe is so versatile you could switch it up and use corn, cucumber, and red onion, just one other way but it's really limitless. 

To save tons of time I used a food processor to do my chopping. Once, your veggies are cut up it's really a matter of just mixing everything together. In a large bowl combo the pasta, all the veggies, and dollop in natural yogurt. Remember that you can always add more but you can't really remove any. Adding salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste. 

I sprinkled on some Tony Chachere's. Tonys is used as an all spice in our home, as in it goes on all our recipes. 

I have the most lovely free range chickens so I boiled up a few farm eggs and served them up on the side for added protein. We are so active with building our homestead, gardening, and the animals that the added protein is appreciated. We are striving to break our life long training as carnivores and it's challenging. Both my Mr. and myself were raised in "meat and potato" homes. I'm not saying we are going full fledge vegetarian but we are at least making the steps necessary for the switch:)  

Hope you enjoyed the recipe. If you give it a try this weekend, email and share how it went:) 

Sharing a few pics from this week-

Here's our "old man" we have nick named him Mr Grandpa because he is getting old enough now that he needs some assistance. 

This is me with one of our ameraucana chickens.

This is also an ameraucana chicken. Isn't it awesome how the other one has the red coloring and this one is white. We don't have any other white ameraucanas so this one has been dubbed snow. We originally called "her" Snow White, but now we have some apprehension that she may be a he...crazy farm life y'all:) 

This beast was extra creepy in person, it photographs almost beautifully. Any idea what it is? Alright y'all have good times this weekend, but remember to keep it classy. 

Easy DIY Planter using Recycling

Today, I have a really easy DIY planter made from some recycling:) Using a plastic container, a store brand pediatric electrolyte, I came up with cute solution to my ever expanding need for small planters. I'm that person that will bring a plant over as a thank you for an invitation. 

Here's the basics to DIY

1- strip the bottle of its label

2- carefully cut the top off

3- iron along the cut edge

4- poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage 

5- take it outside for a quick spray paint, dry

6- add finishing touches

Step 3-  iron along the cut edge

When working with plastic you need to be careful. The cut edge is often left very sharp and can cut little curious fingers. To prevent the sharp edges you can cover the edge with wax paper, then iron over the wax paper. You MUST use the wax paper. The iron is hot enough to melt the plastic; by using the wax paper the plastic softens from the heat,  losing the "sharpness", without sticking to your iron. 

Step 4- poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage

Plants must have drainage. The water that gathers in a sealed container will rot the roots. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing" and in the case of plants too much water can kill them. 

I chose this container because of the square indentation. It already had a cool shape so I just added some gold detailing to show off the lines. 

Reuse, repurpose, recycle:) keep it classy

Clever Make-Up Organization

Today I'm sharing another organizational tip. This time it's about make-up. For my everyday regular life, I don't wear make-up, but I'm a huge fan of costume make up so I do own a lot of makeup that needs organizing. 

I picked up a tackle box a while back on a thrifting trip. It sat around unused. I had really just picked it up because of its rustic charm, but it does open and have those awesome little trays that lift when you open it so my brain came up with this.

Because makeup consists of some really fine powder I knew I needed to line the trays so I could wipe them out if I did happen to be my regular clumsy self:) 

Once lined, I just gathered similar items. It's so awesome to see all the colors and having everything in one place but the best part is that when it's closed your mess is hidden (so even if you're not that organized it still looks clean). I love saving space, organizing, and disguising my clutter in something cute. 

This is my double scoop of cuteness, Miss Bella. 

Hope you enjoyed. Sharing is caring and of course, keep it classy. 

Cloning or Propagating from Stem Cutting

It's really easy to multiply the number of plants you have with cloning, also known as propagating. Here's the basics on how to DIY -

To be really green with this greenery project; I used a soup can from my recycle. The soil needs to drain so I punched in some drain holes. Almost any container (as long as it isn't absorbent) can be a planter if it drains. 

1- Take your stem cutting from a node at a 45 degree angle,a leaf intersection. Haha

2- dip the cutting in water.

3- remove most of the leaves, saving a few at the top of the plant. 

4- take the cut end and cover it completely with honey, this acts as a anti fungal to prevent root rot.

5- place the cutting in your pot with soil and a finger poked holed. 

I used my hand as the container for the honey but I would recommend a spoon:)

It's best to mist the clones with water and not water the soil directly until it starts to show dryness, aka cracks.  That's pretty much it. Take several clippings so that you have some room for error, as every clone isn't identical and might not work as well. 

Hope you're having good times this weekend, keep it classy. 

Foliage Friday - our Homestead

As you might have guessed I'm showcasing the foliage of our homestead, but the real beauty is that they are all native. Green greenery :) You should work with the natural beauty of your location. If you live somewhere prone to droughts work in succulents and forget about palm trees. 

I'm not even sure what this particular plant is? Maybe a weed? Haha 

When we began our hunt to purchase land we knew we wanted trees. Most land for sale was "home ready" which basically means that the property was mowed down flat leaving nothing natural or green behind. Giving you a blank canvas. That isn't for us. We have, of course, had to do some clearing but it has been very strategical so we could maintain the natural wild life habitat. You should live with nature not against it.

Hip hip hooray, it's the Prickly Pear Cactus, the state plant of Texas. Earlier in the year we had the state flower as well, the Bluebonnet. 

Hope you enjoyed. Stay classy:)