Good morning!
I know what I’m doing today.
Green
It seems that Spring is already here. The weather has been unusually warm and everything is turning green. Bright, beautiful, vibrant shades of green. The plants that I have wintered over in the potting shed were in dire need of re-potting or at least needed some soil amendments.
I call this my green corner. The large plant in the corner is a citronella scented geranium. The tall thin plant in front of it is a lemon scented geranium and the two pots on either side contain gerbera daisies from last season that I re-potted this year. They are usually pretty reliable bloomers. One is red and one is pink.
My green corner
I also bought Portulaca and purslane plants for my strawberry pot. It has become a tradition to have these bright and cheerful flowers in this particular planter, close to the entrance of our house. I also have some of the purslane in a cat planter kept on the landing of the stairs.
Portulaca and purslane in a strawberry pot.
This is a nice video that I found on Youtube explaining the difference between Portulaca and purslane:
One problem I had in the potting shed was mice. Apparently they enjoyed eating some of my plants. This poor succulent was a winter snack until I moved it to another location. (still trying to get rid of the mice)
Anyway, it had started blooming for the first time and I guess the blooms were tasty because they would disappear just before the buds opened. You can see in this photo where some of the buds have been bitten off and bites from the leaves.
Succulent (mouse dinner)
Once I moved the plant, it kept blooming and they are beautiful.
Succulent bloom
Succulent bloom
I have also started my vegetable and herb gardens, but that is for another post.
Melyna
Coffee Monday
Yawn.
Good morning.
Dragon Thursday
When I think of dragons, I tend to think of a dragon type like the ones that guard the dragon bridge in Slovenia. I found a link to such dragons here: Slavorum: Dragons specifically – Zmaj
I then came upon a BBC article titled BBC Earth – Ten real – life animals that are dragons.
Maybe not my or your vision of a dragon, but there are some fun creatures here.
You can find out more about this fellow in the BBC article and by clicking the image to go to My Science Academy.org for more.
Coffee Monday
Good morning!
🙂
Anemone berlandieri
One of the first flowers of spring in my little part of the Texas Hill Country. This is just one of many blooming now. Some are purple, some are white and some lean a bit to a blue-ish color or this lovely blend of purple and white. I love the bright yellow and green in the center.
Click the logo below to find out more about this beautiful little wildflower and many others.
Windflower
Living Low Carb – Satisfying my sweet tooth with Chocolate Brownie Mug cakes
Eating low carb does not mean giving up foods that satisfy my sweet cravings. I know eating low carb should help curb those carb cravings but I love a bit of something sweet occasionally. One of my go to desserts is this recipe for Chocolate Brownie Mug cake that I found on Pinterest. The recipe is from a website titled ibreatheimhungry.com I love the name!
I have found many wonderful recipes on Pinterest pinned from this website and the Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake below is one of my absolute favorites. The standard recipe makes two mug cakes. I tend to double the recipe so I can have emergency sweet tooth treats on hand and it allows me to share with my family. These cakes are meant to be eaten warm. It does make a big difference in taste to me if they have been refrigerated, they seem a little dry. I heat the ones I have leftover a bit in the microwave before eating. Yum! I do not add the chopped chocolate to mine but I do use the pecans and add whipped topping which is surprisingly low carb – 1 carb per 2 tbsp.
The recipe indicates using a granulated sugar substitute. I have tried several different low carb sweeteners. I have used Swerve ( I use the granular for the brownies), a stevia extract, and Monk fruit. I like the monk fruit blend the best and I have adjusted the amount used to less than the recipe calls for because it was a bit too sweet. I have found that with sweet low carb recipes it is a matter of personal taste and what type of sugar substitute I use that determines the amount of sweetener.
Let’s get started: Almond flour, coconut flour, sugar substitute, salt, unsweetened cocoa powder and baking powder and chopped pecans in one bowl. Eggs, melted butter, and vanilla in another. So quick and easy. (This picture is my doubled recipe)
Brownie Batter
Doubled recipe batter divided between four dishes. Ready to pop into the microwave.
Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake after cooking in microwave for 1minute and 15 seconds. I cook two bowls at at time.
Now to enjoy:
Chocolate brownie mug cake heaven.
Sometimes I like drizzling Stevia chocolate syrup on the whipped topping to make it seem like a really decadent chocolate treat. 
I found it on Amazon. Click image for more information.
I found it on Amazon. Click image for more information.
Warm and comforting, this is the quickest way to low carb brownie bliss there is! (I whole heatily agree)
Serves: 2 servings
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp almond flour
- 1 tsp coconut flour
- 1½ Tbsp granulated sugar substitute
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 square Lindt 90% chocolate, chopped
- 2 Tbsp pecans, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small microwave safe bowl (about 30 seconds in microwave). Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Pour batter into 2 small greased mugs or ramekins. Microwave for 1 minute. (add another 30 seconds if necessary). Serve with whipped cream or sugar free vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Approximate nutrition info per mug: 230 calories, 23g fat, 3g net carbs, 6g protein
Let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Melyna
Dragon Thursday
Dragons in the news.
This morning I found headlines stating Slovenia was eagerly awaiting the hatching of dragon eggs. My first thought went to the dragon I associate with Slovenia, the dragons guarding the bridge in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
You can find out more in this Wikipedia article here Dragon Bridge
This is not the dragon they were talking about.
The highly anticipated dragon hatching in Slovenia today is the Olm, a cave-dwelling chordate species much like our salamander here in the US.
You can read more about this at the
They can live as long as 100 years and can survive up to ten years without eating. (how they know about the eating is kind of disturbing) These are tough little Olms. It takes approximately 120 days for the eggs to hatch, so it seems we will have to wait a while to see these baby dragons.
For more information check out this article on Wikipedia Olm
Good luck little dragons,
Super Coffee Tuesday
Good Morning!
Today is Super Tuesday here in the US. Thirteen states and American Samoa and Democrats Abroad (expatriates who consider themselves Democrats) will be able to vote also.
To find out more click here: 
Coffee Monday
Good morning!
Don’t you just love happy endings? 😉
Coffee and Captured Moments 