Memorial Day Weekend

I had a wonderful three day weekend, how about you?  I used to always work when everyone else was off and just accepted that as part of owning my own business.  Not anymore, if I was someone's employee and wasn't given the day off yesterday, I would have been pretty upset.  We all need to rest sometimes.  Rest doesn't always mean doing nothing though, often doing something different than you normally do, can really recharge you.  Over the years I have struggled to find a hobby because all my creative hobbies are connected with my business and therefore never really feel restful.  Since moving the business out of my home I have been able to see home making more as a hobby and less as a difficult chore.  Cooking, organizing, decorating and entertaining have given me a creative outlet without the pressure of deadlines.  I tend to be pretty casual in my cooking, making up and altering recipes as I go.  I love to experiment and sometimes it really pays off.  

Over the weekend, we did a lot around our home.  We are in the midst of a backyard remodel (not sure going from just dirt to real landscape is considered a "remodel", but you know what I mean).  We have lived in our home for almost four years and have been fixing it up from the inside out, we have finally gotten to the backyard and hopefully it will be done in time to enjoy it this summer!  My husband is amazing!  Over the three days, with the help of a few friends and family members, he put in a ton (actually 6 tons) of flagstone.  We now have a pathway to our front door that continues to the backyard, an area for seating with a fire pit and a large patio for an outdoor eating area.   I helped piece some of the flagstone in and get it level.  I also made some homemade lemonade with lemons I bought at the farmers market and organized my cupboards with some vintage canning jars.  Food looks so much better in glass jars than it does in scrunched plastic bags.  Lastly, I made a little feast for Memorial Day.  My brother and sister-in-law took Ruby to the Strawberry Festival while I cooked and when they came back we all ate together.  It was a wonderful weekend!

 future outdoor eating area

 path to front door and on to backyard

 

Fresh homemade lemonade

Newly organized cupboard

Easy & Healthy Oven Fried Chicken (6 chicken legs, 1 egg, 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/2 flax seed meal, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 tsp salad, 1/2 tsp cracked pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder : dip legs in egg and then in flour mixture, place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 30-45 minutes)

  

 Broccoli Salad - I used this recipe, but substituted halved green grapes for the celery and used balsamic for the vinegar.

 farmer's market fruit salad

 homemade oven fries with chipotle mayo. (1 cup mayo, 1 garlic clove minced, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tbsp chilli powder)