The Fabulous Grow Box for Container Gardening - My Update!

A few weeks ago I blogged here on my blog about the wonderful Grow Box that you can use for container gardening.You can find that blog post right here on my blog and I encourage you to check out that first post I made about the Grow Box.

Well, it has been 6 1/2 weeks since I planted two cherry tomato plants in my Grow Box and guess what? I got a slew of green cherry tomatoes that will be ripe and ready to pick in about 2 weeks. Not only that, I have been getting red ones here & there that hubby and I have already been picking and enjoying!

By using the Grow Box and planting our tomato plants in it in early April, our tomato plants are growing healthy and we got a head start on tomato growing season! Usually we don't start picking cherry tomatoes until late June so we are an entire month ahead of schedule which makes me extremely happy since I am a tomato lover!

I love my Grow Box so much that I plan on investing in several more of them come next Spring when I can get back to gardening like I usually do. (recovering right now from a total hip replacement, so my gardening is going to be limited this Summer).

Anyway, as you can see from my photo above, my two cherry tomato plants are doing extremely well. Make sure you check out my blog post from 6 1/2 weeks ago to see how far they have come. These Grow Boxes are the BEST THING for container gardening! LOVE THEM!

Tree Hut Natural Beauty Products for Sensational Summer Skin

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tree Hut for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I love natural bath, body and beauty products and one of my favorite brands is Tree Hut. Matter of fact, I have been using Tree Hut products for about 4 years now and I think they just keep getting better and better. Now that Summer is almost here, I am really concentrating on getting my skin in tip-top shape.
All of the Tree Hut products are proudly made here in the U.S.A. and they are available for purchase nationwide at Walmart stores. One of the things that impresses me aout this company is that NONE of their products are ever tested on animals. Yay!
The Tree Hut foot cream is a "must-have" item for gals who have dry feet and heels. It is made from certified organic Shea Butter, Argan Oil and Rose Hip Oil. It's a non-greasy formula that quickly absorbs into your skin, leaving your feet super soft!
The Tree Hut hand cream is one of my favorite products in my beauty bag. It is made from certified organic Shea Butter, Aloe Vera and Peppermint Oil. This is a very moisturizing natural hand cream that quickly absorbs into your skin, leaving behind no greasiness or sticky residues.
The Tree Hut Foot Scrub is made from organic Shea Butter, real sugar and Peppermint Oil. The scrub is wonderful for sloughing off your dead skin and leaving behind a wonderful moisturizing feeling. I don't use the foot scrub daily, but I do like to use it once or twice a week. Smells heavenly!
Have you ever used Tree Hut products? If so, what is your favorite product? If you have never tried these products, which one would you love to try first?  Want to learn more? You can like Tree Hut on Facebook and you can follow Tree Hut on Twitter to learn more and to interact with fans!

Beautiful Yellow Iris Flowers in Bloom

I love gardening and last Fall I picked up some Iris bulbs and decided to plant some of them in my flower beds and around the house near my front door. I have never planted Iris's before and I wasn't too sure how I would do with them, because our weather here in Pennsylvania can be finicky and harsh at times.

Anyway, I purchased purple, white, yellow and red Iris bulbs (some people call these flowers "FLAGS") and planted them back in late September. (really easy to plant and care for these flowers & they come back every year). As I always do, I tossed a layer of hay over top where I planted them to give them some protection during our harsh winter months.

Once winter was over, we removed our layer of hay and waited for all of our spring flowers to bloom. The first ones that came up & bloomed were our tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths, hyacinths, lilacs and our 8 azalea bushes. The this past week I finally saw one of my Iris' blooming! Yay!

My Iris' range in size from 9" up to 1 1/2 feet in height and are doing well. So far, the only ones blooming are the yellow ones, but the purple, red and white ones should be blooming later this week. They all look healthy & beautiful and come fall...I will be planting more of them!

Once the other Iris' start blooming and looking lush in my flower beds, I will snap a few more pictures for all of you to see. I am really pleased with our new flower beds and how all of our new landscaping projects are coming along. Yay! I love gardening, don't you?

Delicious - Purity Vodka Peach Cocktail Recipe

As you finalize your plans for this May 27th and the rest of the summer – a trip to the beach, outdoor parties, BBQs, staycations, what have you – Purity® Vodka can help you get into the spirit with some refreshing cocktails to keep you cool all season long.

Purity Peach Cocktail Recipe

3 oz Purity Vodka
1 sugar cube
Peach bitters
Angostura bitters

Muddle sugar cube*, add Purity Vodka, and muddle again. Add ice and stir until sugar is dissolved, garnish with peach skin and sour cherry.


*On an old-fashioned (rocks) glass, place a cocktail napkin with a sugar cube on top. Simultaneously drip peach and Angostura bitters onto the sugar cube until they bleed into the napkin. When liquid is all absorbed into the napkin, drop sugar cube into the glass and wipe the rim of the glass with the bitters-soaked napkin and discard.

Disclaimer/Disclosure: You must be 21 years of age or older to consume alcohol. Please drink responsibly. Recipe & photo is courtesy of Purity Vodka.

Fish and Broccoli Casserole Recipe

I am not a huge fan of fish dinners but if that fish is prepared in a casserole and cleverly disguised, I am more apt to eat it! Last week my hubby prepared this casserole recipe that he got from his mother and I have to admit, it was pretty good!

Fish and Broccoli Casserole Recipe

1 lb. fresh or frozen fish (cod, haddock, catfish, pollack)
20 oz. pkg. frozen broccoli spears in Hollandaise sauce
11 oz. can condensed cream of cheddar soup
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup soft bread crumbs
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Cook broccoli according to the package directions. Snip pouches of broccoli and drain butter sauce into a small bowl. Place broccoli in baking dish. Top with fish. Add soup and seasonings to the reserved butter sauce. Blend and pour over the fish in the baking dish. Combine bread crumbs with melted butter and sprinkle over the sauce.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 32 to 38 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

My Azalea Bushes are in Full Bloom!!!

I have been really patient this year and have been waiting a few weeks for all eight of my Azalea bushes to bloom and finally this week they did it! They are all looking gorgeous thanks to Miracle Gro and all of them are full and lush!

We have eight bushes (3 red ones, 3 pink ones and 3 purple ones) and I am thinking about adding more red ones or white ones to the mix. I love how they look and how they smell when you walk around our house and yard. I am really excited that they are doing so well this year since they did so poorly last year. Wow, what a difference a year makes and a little Miracle Gro to help!

Next weekend we are going to get our flowers in (the annuals) and mulch around the house and flower bed. I am looking forward to that and can't wait to see the end result once we are done with that project. Once done with that, going to work on adding bushes between our property line with the neighbors to hopefully deter their dogs from coming over here to do their potty business which irritates us to NO END!

Yay! Thank you Spring for finally being here so that I can spend time outdoors basking in your warmth and sunlight! Have a great weekend everyone!

Private Selection™ Upside Down Cakes For Simple Gourmet Desserts

This is a partnered post written by me on behalf of Private Selection. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love to entertain and we do it quite a bit now that we are in our new home.  I also love to cook and create new recipes to try out on guests. However, sometimes dessert is the last thing I think about so finding something quick and easy to make is a huge plus for me.  So when I heard about a product called Private Selection™ Upside Down Cakes, I had to share it with you too!

These cool cakes can make it to the table in three simple steps – 1. warm, 2. flip, and 3. serve – making it easy to prepare a delicious gourmet experience for any meal or occasion.  How awesome it that?  Talk about perfect for family night, guests and even potlucks when you don't have time to cook!  It would be perfect to take to Bunco with the girls too.  I can simply add some whipped cream or fruit on the side or even made a sauce and dessert is done!

The Private Selection brand is a premium private label brand carried exclusively at the Kroger Family of Stores and affiliated stores including: Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Fry’s, Gerbes, Pay Less, QFC, JayC, King Soopers, Owen’s, Ralphs, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.  Knowing that something like this is right around the corner at my local Kroger grocery store is a true find. Plus the Private Selection Upside Down Cakes are premium quality without the premium price.  They use only the best ingredients and the 3 different flavor choices come out tasting like home made.  You don't even have to tell anyone that you did not make it!

Right now you can get a Private Selection Upside Down Cakes coupon from Kroger by liking the Private Selection Upside Down Cakes on Facebook.  Plus give the a follow on their Private Selection Upside Down Cakes on Pinterest for some yummy ideas.

• Disclaimer:
Coupon ends 6/2/13. Official Rules. In order to load these coupons to your card, you will need to sign into your Kroger account or set up a Kroger account and enter your card number. Limit one use per digital coupon. Digital offers are not eligible on Manager's Specials, cannot be combined with manufacturer paper coupons on the purchase of a single item, and do not double. Not all items are available in all stores. A limit of 150 coupons can be loaded per household at one time.

Container Gardening with The Garden Patch Grow Box



I love gardening and this year I am getting a head start on my gardening by planting a few things into a container box. The exact name of the product I am using is called The Garden Patch Grow Box and it's one of the most unique growing systems I have ever seen or used!

I received one of these gardening growing boxes as a review item for my other blog ~ The Two Classy Chics Blog, so you can head on over there to read my full review on this product and to see all of the photos.

The grow box took us less than 5 minutes to assemble and another 5 minutes to put our potting soil in, 2 tomato plants and to fill up the bottom well with fresh water. In less than 10 minutes, we were done and had 2 nice tomato plants growing inside our Garden Patch Grow Box!

In a few weeks, I will make another blog post here on my blog and show you photos of how my tomato plants are doing. I am really excited about getting this head start on my gardening this year. In about 2 weeks...our backyard garden will be going in too! Yay!

Do any of you do any type of gardening? We enjoy both container gardening and traditional gardening and this year...our backyard garden will be twice the size it was last year. I am really excited about that! ~ Happy Gardening!