may was a beautiful month. the weather was absolutely dreamy! we spent a lot of time outside working on our garden and flower beds, relaxing in the hammock, grilling and eating on the back porch and playing with the pups.
here’s what may looked like according to my iTouch/instagram feed.
gardening is my favorite. i absolutely love the garden mike made for me and i am quite proud of the work i have put into it! it’s growing like crazy and i can’t wait to enjoy more and more food that i’ve grown! i will share more (real) pictures really soon!
i was feeling bored with out old flower pots but they still work just fine, so i decided on a little diy facelift.
1. i spray painted the bottom section of the pot with leftover yellow spray paint from a project last summer, then used our green door paint to finish off the top rim.
2. i cut a triangle stencil from a small piece of cardboard and traced triangles around the pot (somewhat randomly)
3. i painted the triangles with extra paint we had sitting around
4. and TA-DA! i have a fresh and new pot that i can’t stop smiling about!
lucky us! we got to spend a little time in our friends pool recently. it was glorious!
{thanks angela & matt!}
as i mentioned, the weather in may was perfection!
(and will you just look at those gorgeous peonies!)
i love letting the pups run around the soccer field down the road- it makes them SO happy! this is a special treat for them, and they are exhausted every time!
the lovely weather has had me inspired to grill, eat lots of fresh veggies, try new recipes and enjoy ice pops!
(lettuce & snap peas are from our own garden!)
i’ll leave you with a yummy summer recipe:
quinoa salad.
4 cups water
2 cups quinoa
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon, squeezed
(i used a whole lemon!)
garlic, chopped
(i used one fresh clove from our garden, but will use more next time)
salt & pepper, to taste
whatever veggies you have on hand, chopped
{there are as many combinations as you can think of for this salad! be creative!}
i used:
snap peas, carrot peels, and green onions, parsley, and mint
1. in a saucepan, bring the water to a boil. add quinoa and a pinch of salt. reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. allow to cool to room temperature; fluff with a fork.
(this is meant to be served cool/cold, so i recommend making this early in the day if you plan on having if for dinner, or the day before if you plan on taking it to a cook out or picnic. it takes a long time for the cooked quinoa to cool down, so plan ahead!)
2. meanwhile in a large bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, veggies, herbs. stir into cooled quinoa. add salt & pepper to taste.
enjoy!
*the recipe says it serves 4-6 people, but it goes much further than that, the two of us enjoyed this salad for a few days and it stayed fresh & delicious!*
*also, after a couple days, we added some grilled steak (cut into small pieces) and sesame ginger lemon dressing which really added a lot of flavor*
{this recipe was adapted from a recipe from farm bloomington}
opposite of far 