Thankful Memories

Thanksgiving is always a great time to gather with family. I have some seriously great Thanksgiving memories. Although I have a few that aren't so great, most of my memories just leave a HUGE smile on my face!   First of all for years we used to drive to Wisconson to spend Thanksgiving with my uncle and cousins. My mom and I would load our stuff and ourselves into the car and drive the 8 hour drive to my uncles only to stay up even later prepping for the Thanksgiving meal! (I can't remember how many times I stayed up breaking bread for the stuffing!) My mom and my uncle would do some of the other prepping, there was wine, Mountain Dew, and many laughs! Their favorite thing to make was the stuffing and they really had a knack for it!! Countless wooden spoons were broken...because you don't have the right consistency if you don't break a wooden spoon!! And A LOT and by a lot I mean A LOT of sage was used!! Everyone knows that if you don't need a drink after eating a bite...you NEED more SAGE!!   Its these types of memories that make the not so happy ones...fade to the backgroud. (My mom's last Thanksgiving was spent in the hospital...I brought her dinner, but who wants to eat a Thanksgiving meal there??)   I hope my kids have wonderful memories of spending time with cousins, playing/watching football, eating A LOT of food, and most of all of breaking a few wooden spoons and add just the right amount of SAGE!!   I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know I did!!

Pot Roast

We are back at trying to really keep to a budget...so that means I actually have to cook...   I'll just let that sink in...       Me cooking...regularly!! No it's not a cruel joke either!   With that of course comes me being better with time management, and hunting on Pinterest!! Well, that also meant that I was going to start using some of the beef we had in our freezer and one thing we had a lot of was roasts...that's when I came to the conclusion that I didn't know how to cook a roast...   Now normally you wouldn't think this was much of a big deal, you would probably call your mom or grandma and say "Hey how do I make a pot roast??" I can't do that... It hit me like a TON of bricks and I just started to cry...at first Toby was unsure what to make of it, but once I explained he understood. Sometimes we take these little things for granted. I have learned to embrace these moments.   Teaching my kids how to bake and sew has now moved to the top of my list...I want my kids to share in the memories I have with my mom teaching me. Of course one thing they won't be learning... How to cook a Pot Roast!!

*Thankful*

These days all too often we don't thank those around us...for just being themselves!   So this month I am taking the time to be thankful! Everyday this month I have shared what I am thankful for here is my list thus far:

1. My Husband-he is my rock, and can always make me laugh when I need to or give me a good bear hug to let me know it will be alright!
2. My kids-they may drive me crazy, but my life wouldn't be as rich if I didn't have them!
3. Crafty-skills (It's such a great release for me!!)
4. Friends at work-they have been there through the good and the bad and it makes going to work all that much better!
5. Faith-need I say more??
6. Right to vote-quite a privilage!
7. Health-we have been blessed in this department
8. My brothers and sisters-we may have a huge age gap and live miles apart, but they still check in and keep an eye out for their littest sis!!
9. Kids School-they have such a GREAT place to learn, and for that I FOREVER thankful!!
10. Friends-new and old, I have such a great family of friends to lean on!!
11. Veterans-they gave us and help us keep our FREEDOM, nothing more special than that!
12. My house-blessed to not only have a roof over my head, but to be able to share and make memories with my kids where I made them as a kid!!

What are you thankful for??

Halloween Treats

I am one of those people who LOVES to make fun and festive treats for my kids...and I think they enjoy bringing them to school too! (I mean they do ask, so they must like them right???)   Now on most occasions I make cake pops, since they are a favorite of my kids and their friends!! Most teachers think they are pretty tasty too!! But this year I decided to try something new!!   I got some melting chocolates, sucker sticks and cookies and got to work!!   Here is the end results:   An alien invasion cookie style...

 

And a bunch of ghostly ghouls:

  Enjoy the treats...there may be TRICKS tomorrow!

Time to Make the Doughnuts

I suddenly have a HUGE obsession with baking...I just LOVE to do it!! Sometimes that is a good thing and other times, well let's just say not so good for the diet! However, I have been working hard to find healthy alternatives in my baking!   Well, I LOVE doughnuts! Who doesn't??? But...with the diet they are NOT my friend! Searching Pinterest I came across a baked doughnut recipe and just had to give it a try! Now they are a new fall favorite and my kids want me to look for more recipes! (You know it's serious when you go out and buy an actual doughnut pan!!)  

Apple Cider Doughnuts

 

Ingredients:

granulated sugar for preparing pans
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 large egg, beaten
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple butter
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup apple cider
1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt
3 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (I use unsweetend applesauce, which make them healthier!!)

 

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray. Sprinkle with sugar, shaking out excess.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In another bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, apple butter, maple syrup, cider, yogurt and oil. Add dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Don't over mix! Divide batter among the cavities in the prepared pan. Don’t fill them to the top or your doughnuts will lose their holes when the batter puffs up while baking!

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched lightly. Loosen edges and turn the doughnuts out onto a rack to cool. Clean the pan, re-coat it with oil and sugar. Repeat with remaining batter.

4. Ice your doughnuts, if desired. Sift 1 cup powdered sugar and mix w/ 2 ounces light cream cheese, a dash of cinnamon and enough nonfat milk to create a spreading or dipping consistency. Dip tops of doughnuts into the icing, then set right side up on a rack to let the icing set.

 

One batch goes a long way...I got about 18 large doughnuts per batch. You'll get LOTS more if you go mini!!

 

Recipe from Recipe Girl.

Breakfast Muffins

I don't know about your family, but my family really likes breakfast...my kids would be completely okay with just having cereal for dinner (and I'm not gonna lie, there have been a couple of occasions when that is what they have had!) So when I found the idea to make breakfast muffins I just knew that everyone was going to LOVE them!!  

Ingredients:

egg substitute

sausage (I used turkey sausage)

bacon (again turkey)

cheese

veggies (onions, green peppers, mushrooms)

 

 

To start I went ahead and cooked up both my bacon and sausage...then it would be ready to be added to the egg. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Next I greased up my muffin tin and we got to work making our muffins. We filled each muffin cup about halfway full of "stuff" (sausage, onions, bacon, cheese etc.)

 

Once we all had our muffins done...we filled all of them figuring we could each have 1-2 and there would be some left over for a quick breakfast.

 

Bake in the oven for 25-30mins.

 

Once done take out and ENJOY! These would be great for a brunch, Christmas morning, or a quick dinner!! Don't forget to serve with hashbrowns and toast!!

Chevron Fun

We are on the move and planning to finish up the basement, meaning the playroom and my craft room! YEAH!!!   With a number of projects on my list I have started to work on some of the small ones bit by bit. One that I have been wanting to do is chevron initials for the playroom. I have a current color scheme going of yellow, red, turquoise, and lime green. So I got my supplies and got started!!  

Supplies:

craft paint

canvas (I used 11x14)

wooden letters

painters tape

foam brush

pencil

ruler

 

To start I measured off 3 horizonal lines each 3.5" apart. That was where the bottom of my chevron hit, this kept them evenly spaced and pretty staright.

I then taped my chevron...this wasn't easy, but wasn't too bad once I got going. Once I got the first row of chevron, I then drew a vertical line from the tip of each down point (sorry, you can't see the pencil lines) this helped me to make sure that all my zig zags were even.

 

Once I had it completely taped I then painted using my craft paint. I didn't completely cover the tape, and also made sure to keep the paint off the sides of the canvas...I plan to go back and paint this one of the other accent colors.

While my canvas was drying I took that time to paint my letters. For the letters I used another bold color to make them stand out. When all the paint was dry I pulled the tape off and then hot glued the letter right in the middle.

 

Here is what the finished product looks like:

 

And I can't wait to hang this up!! This one is of course Jake's, Emmah's is turquoise and green...they are going to look great!!