Bitesizemegan

Starting Your Seedlings Indoors.

2016-02-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

Growing your own seeds indoors is a great way to save some money each year instead of purchasing your plants from a store or nursery. It also allows you to try different varieties that you may not be able to purchase as transplants.

I usually start my tomatoes about 8 weeks before the last frost, peppers 8-10 weeks and cucumbers and zucchini about 4 weeks (they grow fast). Not sure when the day of your last frost is? You can always check here.

There are many things you can start your seeds in, but this is what I normally use. Plastic cups work well also, just make sure you poke some wholes in the bottom for drainage. You will also need some kind of seed starting mix. You can usually get a good sized bag for around $5-$6. Moisten the seed starting mix with some water, but don't get it too wet to the point you have mud. This will give the seeds a good start to their germination. Your seed packet should tell you how deep to sow your seeds.

When starting seedlings indoors you really need some type of artificial light. If your seedlings don't get sufficient light they can get "leggy" and weak. This is the grow light system that I personally own: Hydrofarm Jumpstart Grow Light. This is great for the beginner that isn't growing a large amount of plants. This year year we are building a larger grow light system which I will share in another post.

Once the seedlings have started to sprout you want to take the cover off. Too much humidity can cause fungus and bacteria. At this point you want to make sure you keep the light about 2 - 4 inches away from the plants. Because plants indoors aren't getting natural sun, you will want to make sure you plants are getting about 16 hours of light. A lot of people put their lights on timers so they don't have to remember to turn them on and off all the time.

My tomato seedlings should be coming up any day now, soon hopefully followed by the peppers and onions.

Reviewsio!

2015-10-02T19:12:00.000-04:00

Do you have an amazon account? Do you want to receive cheap or free products? Then you need to sign up for Reviewsio!

Reviewso is a website that allows you to receive free or very discounted products? Whats the catch? In return you agree to leave a review of the product on amazon. Easy! Not only are you getting products to try out, you are earning points on the website towards amazon gift cards.

Click here to sign up!

Don't be a dick.

2015-08-13T20:01:00.001-04:00

Imagine how much better the world would be if we all followed this rule?

Starting My Tomato Seedlings Indoors

2015-03-15T17:24:00.000-04:00

Growing your own seeds indoors is a great way to save some money each year instead of purchasing your plants from a store or nursery.

When starting seedlings indoors you really need some type of artificial light. If your seedlings don't get sufficient light they can get "leggy" and weak. This is the grow light system that I personally own: Hydrofarm Jumpstart Grow Light.

This year I started my seedlings in Jiffy peat pellets, but really you can start your seedlings in many things from seed trays like this or even plastic cups.

Today my seedlings are at 3 weeks and 2 days of growth. When they were about 3 inches tall I transplanted them to some plastic cups that I got for cheap. Unfortunately this all I have room for with this light system. Next year's project will definitely be getting more lights to do peppers and start my cucumbers indoors.

I hope to get these in the ground sometime after April 1st.

Sweet Relish Canning Recipe

2014-07-11T08:47:00.000-04:00

Next up I wanted to make some sweet relish, because maybe there is such a thing as too many dill pickles? I know, hard to imagine. Since I had no idea how to make sweet relish I used this recipe over at Old World Garden Farms. If you have some time I highly suggest checking out other parts of their site.

Draining the cucumbers.

The reason I liked this recipe was that it uses a lot less sugar than most recipes that I found. I kind of liked the fact that I wasn't using 2-3 cups of sugar! I cut my cucumbers into a little bit larger chunks, but that's all a matter of personal preference.

Canning Dill Pickles

2014-07-09T11:34:00.000-04:00

I love dill pickles, so one of my goals this year was to focus on growing tons of cucumbers. A ton is what I got. I thought I'd share the recipe Im using to make my pickles.

Garlic Dill Pickles

(makes 4 pints)

2 cups distilled white vinegar

2 cups water

2 tbs. canning salt

1 tsp dill seed per jar

1/2 tsp mustard seed per jar

1 clove garlic per jar

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Start bringing large pot of water (for water bath canning) to a boil.

2. Cut pickles however you want or keep whole. Make sure to cut off the blossom end of the pickles. (The blossom ends contain enzymes that can make your pickles softer.)

3. Place dill seed, mustard seed and garlic into each jar and pack pickles into the jars.

4. Bring water and vinegar to a boil. Once boiled pour into jars leaving about a 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles around the pickles. Wipe off rims of jars and hand tighten lids.

5. Process in your boiling water bath for 10 minutes for pints. Remove from water and place on towel on the counter. Let them cool completely. Once cooled check the seal on top of the jar. If it "pops" that means it didn't seal and you should go ahead and put them in your fridge to eat within a week or so (or less if they even last that long)

Next up is some sweet relish and some chicken stock made in the crockpot to then be canned in the pressure cooker. Those posts to follow!

Influenster #TLCVoxBox

2014-06-30T12:44:00.000-04:00

Influenster.com is a website you can join to receive boxes that contain products for you to try out, in return you agree to share your opinions. The more you share, the more stuff you'll get! Ive been a member for about a year now and this is the third box I have received.

I received the T.L.C. Voxbox! This box contains items for the mom on the go. Inside is Neosporin Neo to Go, Puff Soft Pack, Ivory Soap, Breyers Gelato Indulgences, Shell Fuel Rewards and Avon Anew!

1. Neosporin to Go: Anyone that knows me, and my boys, know they are far from the most graceful of kids. I mean come on, we've had urgent care trips for staples to the head and our fair share of scraped knees. Basically, a product like this is meant for us.

2. Ivory Soap: I love that Ivory gives us an option for soap that easy available and free of heavy dyes and perfumes. I also had no idea how many different things you can do with ivory soap.

3. Puffs to Go: I can probably think of a million uses for tissues as a mom. These small packs make it easy to stuff in my purse and have handy on the go. Plus the come in some pretty cute designs. I can see this being even better to have in the winter when you have a kid with a constant stream from their nose.

4. Shell Rewards: I love the concept of the Shell Rewards program, I just wish the nearest Shell station was a little less "out of the way". But, its not too far that I can't utilize this at all. Have a Shell gas station? Sign up for their reward program here and save some money off your gas.

5. Avon Anew: Avon Anew is a new product from Avon that will help diminish the look of fine lines. I like that this product helps soften lines without being too heavy and doesn't make you feel greasy. You can currently get 15% off your Avon skincare purchase of $50 or more over at avon.com if you use the code ANEW15.

6. Breyers Gelato Indulgences: How much do I really need to say on this one? Strawberry Cheesecake!

If you're not already signed up with influenster, you should be! Go sign up here!

Canning Tomatoes!

2014-01-19T22:13:00.001-05:00

Last year I planted 14 tomato plants. So basically I had ~~a lot~~ way too many tomatoes.

A lot as in this is only a small part of what I had. So it was time to break out the canner and start canning some sauce!

First go ahead and cut out the stems of the tomatoes and questionable bits. You don't have to, but I usually cut an X into the bottom to make the next step a little easier.

Get some water bowling, just enough to cover the tomatoes. Boil a few at a time for about 30-45 seconds. You'll start to see the skin start to peel.

Throw those suckers into bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process and help the skins peel off easier. From here you just start getting all those skins off.

This next step is really personal preference. You can leave the tomatoes whole, you can cube them up or you can do like I did and make a sauce. A very simple one at that.

Start by cutting the tomatoes into 4ths and removing much of the liquid. This will help reduce your cooking time. Set your heat to medium high and bring to a boil. After that set to simmer and cook until desired thickness. Mine was reduced about half.

Get that canner boiling! Ive got about 3 inches of water in there. While you're waiting for that to boil, get a smaller pan and start boiling your lids.

Confusing picture time. Apparently I took pictures of tomato chunks I did the second time around instead of the sauce. But hey, you can get the idea. For pint jars add 1 tbs of lemon juice. For quarts go ahead and add 2 tbs. Why lemon juice? Tomatoes are a very low acidic food and if the acidity is not brought up by the highly acidic lemon juice, it can lead to botulism. And that's not fun.

If your doing whole tomatoes or chunks pack the tomatoes in. You can fill the empty space with hot water or hot tomato juice. I used tomato juice as it just kind of looks better. But either is fine. Fill to about 1/2 inch head space from the top of the jar. Wipe the tops of the jars to remove any moisture and place on your lids and bands. Tighten the bands but be sure not not overly tighten them.

Now for the canner! The first time I used this thing I was totally paranoid I was going to blow up my house with it. I think I read the instructions over again about 20 times to make sure I was doing it correctly. But don't really, they're not really that scary. Yours may work differently so do refer to your manual.

Place the lid on and after about 10 minutes your going to see steam coming out the top. This means the canner is filling up with steam. Once you see the steam coming out place the weight on. In a few minutes the weight should start to wiggle. Picture me staring intently at the canner. Once its starts wiggling set your timer to 10 minutes.

10 minutes is up! Turn off the heat and let the canner cool down on its own. Apparently if you tried to open it now this is where it might blow up your house. (I kid, but seriously let it cool down on its own and don't try to open it.) Once it's cooled remove the jars and let them sit over night to cool down. When you touch the top of the jars they shouldn't "pop". If they do it means they didn't seal correctly. If that happens just put it in your fridge to use later (or freeze it!).

Let The Bodies Hit The Floor.

2013-05-20T15:50:00.001-04:00

So about weekly Josh and I argue the lyrics to this song:

Totally appropriate song for a 3 year old right?

I'm assuming he heard it in one of the bazillion YouTube videos he watches. Usually the conversation goes something like this:

Joshua: "Let the bodies hit the fuh!"

Me: "No, its let the bodies hit the floor!"

Joshua "No, its let the bodies hit the fuh!"

Me: "Whats a fuh!?"

*Joshua just stares at me*

Me: "Its floor, trust me dude."

Joshua: "No, floors are for vacuuming."

Me: "You win."

When he's not listening to age inappropriate music, he's watching videos from this guy, who I have to assume is completely single.

Houston, we have corn!

2013-04-15T16:19:00.000-04:00

Square Foot Gardening

2013-04-08T21:21:00.003-04:00

For a few years I've been doing a garden each spring, but this time I decided to try square foot gardening. Square foot gardening basically breaks up your garden into 1 foot squares. This concept is great if you don't have a whole lot of space to work with. While space isn't really an issue with my garden, square foot gardening can help you maximize the space you have.

Thanks to my husband he got the planters ready this weekend for planting.

Next I measured out each foot along the boards and hammered in a small nail. Wrapping a line of string around each nail I slowly lined out 1 foot by 1 foot squares.

I only have some of the plants planted so far (what you see in the front is tomatoes) and I ran out of sting halfway through my third box.

Click here to view my full garden plan.

More to come as I go along!

Want to try out square foot gardening? Here are some links I found helpful:

http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/2011/12/square-foot-gardening.html

http://onecreativemommy.com/planning-the-garden-companion-planting-free-printable-helpful-insects/

http://www.growveg.com/

Shutterfly Giveaway!

2013-04-04T12:04:00.000-04:00

My friend Nicole over at David's Mommy is pairing up with other bloggers to do a Shutterfly giveaway. There will be two winners, each get $20 worth of Shutterfly personalized 5x7 photo cards! The giveaway ends April 15th at 11:59pm so get your entries in now!

Entry -Form

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

2013-04-04T10:28:00.001-04:00

This cake recipe is easy to find in my mom's old cook book. It's the page with chocolate splattered over it. Needless to say, this one has been used a lot. If you love chocolate, this is recipe for you. Now you don't have to use a bundt pan if you don't have one. I used a 9x12 baking dish that I had on hand it turned out fine. You can't get much easier than this.

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake mix
1/2 c. oil
4 eggs
1 pkg chocolate pudding mix (regular - not instant)
1 pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
1 c. sour cream
1 c. water

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients as given. Pour into Bundt cake pan or any other large baking dish. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until done.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

Austin

2012-11-18T19:30:00.001-05:00

I've decided to start the blog back up. I haven't had a lot of time lately with the addition of this guy:

He's so calm! So much not like his brother! And he's not walking yet! Im not sure what direction I'm going with the blog yet but I wanted to start getting some stuff up here.

Purse!

2011-01-18T23:18:00.004-05:00

After a few hours of sewing, quite a bit of cursing under my breath at the sewing machine (which is fixed now), I finally made my first purse!

The outside is a thicker canvas-like material and the lining is just a simple pink cotton fabric. I used a magnetic snap on the inside. On the outside I sewed a button but it's more for decoration to allow things to taken in/out easily. And also I know nothing about sewing button holes but that's a whole other topic.

View other great ideas and projects at Dittle Dattle's Amaze Me Monday!

Giveway Winner

2011-01-15T08:22:00.002-05:00

Using random.org to pick a comment at random the winner was "Michelle"

So go ahead and send me an email at bitesizemegan@gmail.com and I'll send you the code :).

Hopefully I have the chance to do this again sometime!

Snow!

2011-01-10T13:57:00.003-05:00

So we got about 5 inches of snow here in the upstate South Carolina. I'm not sure what South Carolina is doing with this winter we've had so far and its only the beginning of January. On Christmas day we had the first "white Christmas" since 1963.

Joshua loved it. Even thought the snow was well above his ankles he took right off into it.

Giveaway!

2011-01-07T16:00:00.002-05:00

So I've been given the opportunity to give a $20 gift code to CSNStores.com for anything you want. They pretty much have everything, from modern duvet covers to toys, strollers, and cookware.

To get it? Leave a comment on this post! You don't need to be a member of blogger to leave a comment. Then I'll pick a comment at random one week from now.

So go check them out, find something you like and leave a comment.

Pee

2010-12-31T13:15:00.001-05:00

Your day isn't complete until you've cleaned up pee off your floor. Enough said to explain my day so far, and its only 1pm.

Fail

2010-12-21T11:25:00.001-05:00

So I got all excited to see that my blog had a follower, till I saw that I accidently followed myself. Fail.

Weekly Savings

2010-12-16T23:28:00.003-05:00

I cut coupons.

Yes it can be time consuming, and first very confusing. It also is a slow process to get started with. At first I was lucky to save $4 my first shopping trip. Ive been doing much better and I thought I'd start a weekly post about my savings this week.

These trips included grocery, diapers, toiletries, household items.. etc.

---

Target:

Total Before Coupons: $64.77

Total After Coupons: $45.55

Savings: $19.22 (29%)

Publix:

Total Before Coupons: $51.51

Total After Coupons: $31.11

Savings: $20.40 (39%)

Amazon:

Normal Price: $16.99

On Sale for: $7.99 - $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks.

Final Price: $2.99

---

Here are some websites I regularly follow:

MoneySavingMom

TotallyTarget

IHeartPublix

PrintableCouponsAndDeals

Joshua's Room

2010-12-07T11:50:00.004-05:00

I originally painted this tree before and shortly after Joshua was born. Yeah that was almost a year and a half ago. With Christmas coming up, and more toys to come, I'm going to work on getting his room all together and finished, and as organized as I can manage it.

First step today was finish the two other paintings on his wall.

This was originally going to be a height chart, but I think I like it better as just the giraffe himself. Finally got him outlined and finished.

Joshua had to get into this picture. I wasn't totally happy with this one, and it's currently hidden behind his crib when I had rearrange his room. I was happier with it once I finished it, now I'll just have to fix it so you can actually see it.

Next, get the toys organized!

Diaper Battles

2010-12-01T20:52:00.002-05:00

One of those of "milestones" I've been dreading has come, Evil Kenevil has learned how to take his diapers off. When he had taken off 4 diapers by noon, it was time to take action. Might I add, theres nothing like seeing naked baby butt sticking up at you on the baby monitor. Someone suggested putting him back in a onsie. See, he's in 24 month sized clothes, and I really dont have many my-kid-is-big onsies. That worked the rest of the day and most of this morning....until this afternoon. Joshua got quiet.

He's in the kitchen, onsie still on but with one button undone. No diaper on. Standing in a puddle. We broke out the masking tape.

5:17 am

2010-11-26T18:50:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to point out that Joshua woke up at 5:17 this morning.

He's so lucky that I went Christmas shopping for him today! I kid, I kid.

Am I the only one really wishing I could just give him his presents now?

Really? Really?! REALLY!!

2010-11-24T19:31:00.006-05:00

Today I had to stop Joshua from sticking a cap to a pen into the electrical socket. Cause you know they will find that one outlet thats missing the cover. Apparently in the eyes of a 16 month old this made me the worst mom ever. If he hadn't have said "Hi mom" for the first time a few days ago I may have taken this personal.

Last night I didn't sleep well at all, and of course he decided to wake up at 6:30. Cause thats how it goes you know. Of course I was also out of Ibuprofen and for some reason that's the only thing that makes my my Satan teething toddler sane. I finally scrapped enough out of the bottle to get him to take a whole hour nap at 3:00. Then Stephen made it home (thank you Windstream for letting him off at 3:00!) and I finally got a shower. I feel semi human again. We went to Target where I got some more Ibuprofen. Apparently I was wrong when thinking he was getting his fourth molar, this is still his third, but apparently this one is causing much more problems then the others. Seriously can we PLEASE get over this molar thing. The fact that I have 5 more molars and 4 more "canine" teeth to go make me just want to go curl up in the corner. I just keep saying to myself "This will pass, you DO want another one, YOU DO, THIS WILL PASS".

But really, Joshua may be more of a pain in the butt than most toddlers, at least I like to believe, but I love that goober to death and I couldn't think of anything more fulfilling than being his mom.