The Life of a {new} Country Wife

Hey Everyone! Its been over 3 months since I have actually blogged on here...eek! I didn't die or fall off the face of the planet; I got MARRIED(finally)! I have decided to take a new adventure with my blogging and document my first year as a married farm wife! Check out my blog below; I will also be moving my recipes and craft tutorials over to this site so you can still have access to them.

See you on the new blog!

Amy Marie

http://lifeofthecountrywife.wordpress.com

Roadtrippin'

So Thursday I decided to make a spur of the moment road trip with Kirsta to PA to visit our awesome friend Kelly. Yes its a 7 hour drive and yes I'm pretty sure everyone I told has thought I was absolutely crazy but I don't care! This weekend has been absolutely awesome; just the girls, just some fun and just relaxing. 


Today we went and got manicures/pedicures, got ice cream, went to the waffle shack, and hung out at Kelly's new house. Check out the scenery from her back porch!
Safe travels!



Amy Marie

What should I make?

For those of you who don't know, I work at a company called A.M. Leonard; we sell horticultural tools and supplies (think shovels, gloves, gardening stuff). The one nice thing about working here is an employee discount! I have already bought a garden hose, a hoe, numerous pruners, soil knives and gloves too. But my most recent purchases are Burlap Tree Wrap and Nursery Jute.

Burlap Tree Wrap

Nursery Jute 

I'm sure there are people thinking, what the heck is she going to do with that stuff?! But I've got some cute ideas in mind. Also this stuff was relatively inexpensive, even without an employee discount. Our hose needs some new decor and with the wedding coming up I don't really want to buy anything...

Stay tuned to see what I come up with! 

Amy Marie

What I've been up to...

My blogging has been less than desirable the last month or so! I figured the easiest way to catch my readers back up to speed was to post some pictures about what the heck I've been doing...ENJOY!

My Hens and Chicks! One of the easiest "flowers" to plant. They are a succulent , which means they store water; Translates to hard to kill and can grown almost anywhere!

I ran my first 5k a couple weekends ago! I was second to last but also walked the whole thing. Thanks to my awesome sister in law's to be for walking with me!

Hanging out with my amazing, wonderful, cute, 14 month old Niece! 

There are less than 100 days til my wedding. To remember that day, my sister and sister in law sent me 100 daisy blossoms and the sweetest poem ever! It made me cry!

We harvested the first crop of radishes out of the garden! More than what I expected have come up so let me know if you need some radishes...

Whirl Wind Weekend

I'm not sure how some of you bloggers out there find time to actually sit down and blog on the weekend! I envy being able to do that. Maybe its because I'm in the last couple months leading up to the wedding, or because I feel like i'm constantly picking up and sweeping dog hair off everything! This weekend was very productive though; I went home to my parents house and we got started on the flowers for the wedding. Below is one of the bridesmaids bouquets. I think all the flowers we did turned out absolutely amazing! In case you didn't notice, or figure it out, we are using silk flowers for the wedding. I think doing so gives you an amazing keepsake from the day. I also have been in two wedding where they used silk and have my  bouquets on display in my home. 

This weekend was also great because we got to have a sleep over with my niece. She is a cutie patootie and I love every minute I get to spend with her! Other than the fact that she was  not feeling good and got up super early, I love watching elmo and the ducks with her on youtube.

I hope everyone had a great weekend too!

Amy Marie

One Hundred 14

Ya know that saying, "Time flys when you're having fun"? Well apparently that has been true this past few months because There are only 114 days until the wedding! I know that seems like a lot but my to-do list is growing daily!! Right after Kyle popped the question last July I got to planning pretty quick because I want our wedding to be perfect, er perfectly us. All the big stuff has been taken care of but now we are to the little details....like centerpieces, decor, flowers, food, showers, registering, ah!

Below is a picture of the flowers we are using for the pew decoration. According to Kyles mother we could do nothing to our church and it would be perfect. For those that have never been, it is an older catholic church with  a lot of character. Seeing it my entire life though and knowing its decoration potential...its getting dolled up!

I really love the way these are turning out. There will be two sets like this and two with a simple white hydrangea tossed in. I think they are simple but yet so elegant. I've also been on the galvanized/mason jar/chic country vibe lately.

One thing I haven been trying to focus on during our wedding planning is making this wedding right for Kyle and I. It seems like there are so many trends and new things to do at weddings; however, Kyle and I are pretty traditional people. We both can also be pretty reserved. I really believe that what we are planning for our wedding is going to be perfectly us and I can't wait to see how everything comes together!

"Pin"spiration

Lately I have been on a diet kick, trying to shed some pounds before my wedding in September. I am one that can get bored with things easy; so by week three I am done with steam veggies! I was surfing Pinterest last night looking for a new way to do veggies and I was intrigued by the broccoli fritters and broccoli bites I was finding. Most of the recipes were similar to each other and similar to a meat ball recipe. The broccoli in this case was like the ground meat. Below is the recipe I created for Broccoli Cakes:

Broccoli Cakes

2 c. Steam Broccoli, chopped small

1/2 c. Bread Crumbs

3 Eggs

1/3 c. Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese 

Seasoning of choice (or use flavored bread crumbs)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl, making sure to incorporate all ingredients evenly. Should be a similar consistency to meat balls and should hold together when you form a ball. Then for patties about the width of your palm and 1.5-2 inches thick. Place patties on parchment lines baking sheet. Cook for 25 minutes. After 15 minutes flip and add a small sprinkle of extra cheese on each, if desired. Then cook for the remaining 10 minutes. 

These little guys were the perfect addition to our steak and sweet potatoes!

A little side note, if you don't keep bread crumbs on hand (who does?) just crush up some crackers, or croutons. I had a new package of garlic croutons and it gave the cakes great flavor! I used my Tupperware Smooth Chopper to process the croutons. It took like 10 seconds to have fresh breadcrumbs! 

What other recipes do you know of that can change up veggies in a fun way? I saw cauliflower tots and might try those soon too! Enjoy!

Amy Marie

A Simple Recipe

Whenever you go and buy a cook book these days it seems like there are always weird ingredients that are very hard to find at local grocery stores or you can't even pronounce. Even some of my favorite bloggers are constantly using odd ingredients! Let me tell you, it can be a challenge to get a farm boy to eat new or different things!

With my fresh start at blogger I am going to start a new series ( I suppose thats what you would call it). Each Sunday evening I am going to feature a recipe that is simple, easy and probably from my favorite cook book! Yes thats right, my favorite cookbook is from my home church, St. Louis Catholic Church in Custar, Ohio. All of the recipes in these cook books are from church members, many family and close friends!

My favorite cook books!

Today's recipe is a family favorite and something I crave every time the weather goes warm! This salad pairs perfectly with just about any grilled food or summer cook out.

Potato Salad

6-8 Medium potatoes, boiled and cubed

3-4 Hard boiled eggs, chopped

1/2 c. Miracle Whip

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 T. Mustard

2-3 T Cider Vinegar

1/4 c. Sugar

4 T. Milk

1/4 c. Onions, diced

1/4 c. Celery diced

In a large bowl mix together everything but the potatoes. Mix well. Make sure you are tasting the sauce as you go along, if you like more mustard or a creamier base, add some more goodies! Last just fold in the potatoes until all are coated. Chill and Serve!

Adding the potatoes in last helps keep them in tact a little better. Also if you are in a hurry, just microwave the whole potatoes until fork tender then cube when cooled. 

I actually made this for lunch today and it was so delicious I forgot to take a picture!! Enjoy and let me know what your favorite cook book is!

Amy Marie

Making the Move!

For those of you that know me personally you know that sometimes I can be indecisive. It can be when deciding what to do for dinner, what to wear to work, or what project I'm going to start next. Recently, when trying to revamp my Wordpress blog I was getting very frustrated that I was so limited to design and changes unless I paid $50+ for a unique theme or shelled out the same to "Upgrade." I am broke and don't have that kind of money (planning a wedding does that too ya)!


So instead of caving and buying into Wordpress I decided to make the switch to Blogger. I took some time to play around with it and it just seems like I have more creative freedom on Blogger.

I hope that my past followers have made the switch and keep reading! I also look forward to new readers and blogging friends! 

Amy Marie