Homegrown Mint Tea

I can’t believe how much my garden has grown over the past month or so!  I have been meaning to give you guys an update, so here goes.  :)

Our squash patch is growing like crazy.  We have several blooms on it.  If they all turn into squash we will be overflowing with it!

That wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all considering last year we couldn’t get it to grow!

My kale is also doing fantastic.  That is the only thing we know we can grow from years past!  :)

It’s almost bean picking time too!  I’m so excited about fresh green beans!  Plus, these are the kind that you don’t have to string.  #bonus

My mint and rosemary are really doing well.  My others herbs aren’t doing good at all!  I can’t grow cilantro for anything.

We have collard greens, okra, peppers, and tomatoes in there too!

I love having a garden.  Even though we don’t get all of our produce out of our garden, it is so rewarding to grow some of our food!

Since I have an abundance of mint, I made some mint tea that I though I would share with you!

You can either make this in a pitcher for several people, or a single serving.

Homegrown Mint Tea (for an entire pitcher)

• 2 large family sized tea bags
• sugar or stevia if desired (I leave it out and let people add sweetener if they want it)
• 4-5 mint leaves washed and ripped in half

Put tea bags, sweetener if using, and mint in the bottom of you tea pitcher.  Pour boiling water into pitcher until 1/2 way full.  Allow to steep for about 10 minutes.  Add water to fill the rest of the way up.  Put in refrigerator to allow to chill, or if you like your tea a bit warm (I DO!) enjoy immediately!

It is so refreshing on a hot summer day!

What do you all have planned for this week?

Who is still wondering about why I’m being videoed??  It is being edited now, and as soon as it is ready I’ll share it with you guys!!  I’m so excited!

** I’m still working on my inbox (and google reader)!  If you haven’t heard back from me–it’s coming!  Promise!

MIMM #4

Hey guys!  Happy Monday!

You know what that means.  It’s Marvelous In My Monday time with Katie!!

You all have made my weekend completely marvelous by your sweet comments and e-mails about my journey towards health!  I can’t wait to get to know you all much better!

I am loving the new marvelous Bible study I’m doing with She Reads Truth.  The Soul Detox was over for most of the girls.  I started late so I’m still on Day 33.  However, the group started the study Living the Surrendered Life.  So far, I’m LOVING it!

If you all want more info on the Bible study that She Reads Truth is doing, feel free to check it out on their new website!  Or e-mail me!

Luvy and I had a marvelous and productive weekend!  How about you?

This was happening at my house.  Can anyone guess why I might be getting filmed??  

Our very sweet friend Joshua came over to film me.  Sorry ladies… he’s taken.  ;)

Also this weekend, we picked our first things out of our garden!  We got 2 squash, a BUNCH of kale, and a jalapeno pepper!  I also have mint coming out of my ears!

I need to take updated pics of my garden for you!  It has changed a lot since I showed you last!

I always get so excited to pick things out of the garden, because we (mostly Luvy) planted it!  I feel so accomplished!  :)  Plus, I love making fresh meals with things out of my garden!

Another marvelous thing is our girls book club at my house on Sunday nights!  (I forgot to take a pic of my lovely ladies… girls, be ready next week!)

We are all loving the book The List by Marian Jordan.  

Would you all like it if I posted our recaps on here for you all?

What is marvelous in your Monday??

How was your weekend?

Jet Lag

Happy 4th of July!

Luvy and I have been walking zombies for the past couple of days.  Our lack of sleep and travels has left us extremely exhausted.  By the time this posts (I preset it to post..gotta love wordpress!), I hopefully will be fast asleep in my cozy bed while the rest of the country is shooting off fireworks.

We finally made it home, as you can see!  Second time is the charm!!

We were at the airport and our plane left at 3am EST.  We landed in DC around lunch time, and enjoyed a nice 5 hour layover there.  Booger.  Lucky for us, Dulles Airport has free WIFI!!  Luvy hit the books as much as he could while we were in limbo.

After DC, we flew to Chicago and had a nice 3 hour layover there!  After that, it was finally home sweet home!!

We don’t look tired at all do we?!?!

Thankfully, we were able to be in bed by midnight!!

Luvy had to be up bright and early for church.  I was bad and ended up sleeping through church, but I made it to Sunday School.

While we were gone, our garden grew like crazy!!  It had to be picked.

I got 2 huge bags of kale, several radishes, and turnips plus turnip greens.

Plus, our first zucchini came in!

I knew for dinner I wanted to make a nutrient rich dish to help fight off our jet lag.  Plus, I wanted to use some of my veggies from our garden!

Jet Lag Soup

• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 2-3 small turnips (or one large), diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes (or 3 fresh chopped!)
• 1 med/large zucchini, chopped in chunks
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (I used pinto b/c I was all I had)
• 1/2 cup small pasta or 1/4 cup bulgar wheat (I used bulgar wheat)
• fresh kale
• 5-6 cups veggie broth
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp parsley, oregano, and thyme
• salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Start out by sautéing onion, garlic, turnips, and celery in a skillet until softened.

Bring veggie broth to a boil.  Add in veggies, beans, tomatoes, seasonings, and noodles or bulgar wheat.  Let simmer for 10 minutes.

Add in zucchini and cook for anther 10-15 minutes.

Add in kale. I used about 3-4 cups.  I was very generous with it, plus I had a lot to use!  Feel free to add in as much as you would like.  You may also need to adjust the broth some here as well.  Feel free to add extra broth or water.

Cook until kale is wilted down and tender.  Adjust seasonings as needed.  I like ours spicy, so I was generous with the red pepper flakes.

This soup was just what the doctor ordered for our jet lag!!

I’m back to work tomorrow, and Luvy is busy with PhD classes and work.  Doesn’t look like we have anymore time to recover from our trip.  We are just going to have to hit the ground running!!

Hope you all have had a safe and happy 4th of July!!