September happenings...

Our September can be wrapped up in one word… busy. Goodness, I don’t even know what we have done. But life has been a wild and crazy ride these past few weeks.

We have all gotten settled into our daily routines. I’m spending my days with this fabulous group of ladies. #thirdstheword

They make the hard days easier and are always so encouraging and uplifting. I could not imagine having a stronger group of teachers to keep me straight and sane.

As far as my kiddos, they are loving their classes and their teachers. They are learning new things each day and that makes my heart so happy.

How sweet are these four cuties? This was a picture from their first sleepover!

I took a day off of work this past week and I was able to spend some MUCH needed one-on-one with this angel baby.

#babylove

Since school began, I haven’t seen him before school at all, and only for a couple of hours each night. So, we cuddled, napped, movied, and grocery stored. :)

Since this past week marked then first official day of fall, and the girls have been begging to bake some cupcakes, I thought it would be a perfect time to make something that satisfies my love of pumpkin! I was going to start from scratch with a pumpkin cupcake, but a friend reminded me of the goodness of my very basic fall muffin. So, I added three large eggs to the mix for a more cupcake-y batter and baked away.

I did want to make a cinnamon icing from scratch and I found a delicious recipe for marshmallow frosting from Sally's Baking Addiction that I adapted just a bit (and by adapted, I mean I added cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice to it).

This icing might be my all time favorite that I’ve ever made. Buuuuuutttt…. I didn’t follow the “mix the dry, add the wet” rule and it was WAY too thin, so as soon as I piped this glorious wonder onto my cupcakes, it just melted into a blob. The girls still sprinkled them and added a pumpkin on top.

They tasted amazing, but if you’re going to make these, be a rule follower. You might also want to freeze your icing for about five minutes before piping.

I hope you and your family are having a great start to this beautiful fall season!

Think-Ahead Thursdays

I just finished writing out my grocery list for tomorrow's Kroger trip. As I made this week's list, I realized that this will be my last week of doubling meals to freeze, as this is my last week at home. One week from today, I'll be back to the daily grind and our sweet, sweltering, simple summer will come to an end.

Although the busyness of caring for little ones can make the day seem to tick by slowly, this summer has flown by faster than any I can remember. It seems as though the hours in between nap-time last an eternity, but while that angel-baby is sleeping, I'll find one of his blankets that have his sweet smell, and I am simply giddy about holding him when he wakes up. Goodness gracious, I'm going to miss this little booger everyday.

The days are long, but the years fly by.

But these two beauties get to travel with me to school each day, and I am grateful for the extra minutes of "girl time" we will get to have together each day. I am praying that I be able to cherish these fleeting days as they can easily turn into a blur of panicked mornings, trying to get all of us presentable, fed,  and in the car by 7am.

We are planning to take this next week slow and steady. I'm seeing lots of ice cream, sno-cones, pools, and PJ's in our next week together.

Maybe you can use a few of these recipes and spend a few extra minutes cherishing your last days of summer with those you love.

Next Week's Meal Plan  (You can read about my meal-making schedule here):

Meal 1 - Low-Sodium Beef Stew (recipe below) - Making double for a freezer meal
Meal 2 - Baked Tacos - Freezing extra taco meat

Meal 3 - Chicken Fajita Pasta - Making double for a freezer meal

*No extra meal this week because all of these recipes make large quantities and there should be plenty for lunches each day.

Sunday Night Dessert: Oreo Brownie Trifle - This dessert is incredibly easy AND incredibly yummy! The last time I made it, I could NOT keep the kids out of it! It is so good!! 

Low-Sodium Beef Stew
I do not have measurements or quantities, as this is a throw-together recipe that I made on a whim and it turned out to be delicious. It is one of Russ' most favorite meals!
-Beef Tips
-Celery (diced)
-Carrots (diced)
-Sweet Potatoes (diced)
-1-2 can(s) diced tomatoes
-onion
-minced garlic
-3 packs of Mrs. Dash Pot Roast Seasoning
-2 cups unsalted or low-sodium beef broth

Cook your beef tips in about 1 tsp. of oil. Save the liquid from cooking for your stew. Saute onions, celery, garlic, and carrots until onions are translucent. Add beef tips and sauce to the veggies along with sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and all seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 4-6 hours. If using a slow cooker, let it cook at least 4 hours on low.

Perfect Pot Roast + Weeknight Dessert

If you've been following this blog, you read here how Mr. Crawford has had a few medical setbacks. These setbacks have caused us to drastically change our eating habits. We are currently eating gluten free and very low sodium.

We've gotten through the gluten-thing pretty easily, as we've been working on that one for a couple of years now. The sodium thing is new and it is killin' me, yall. I am having the hardest time making meals with less than 500-600mg of sodium. It is in everything!!!!

So our meals consist of rice and beans. Literally. And Mrs. Dash is my new BFF.

I've been on the hunt for freezer meals to start prepping for the back-to-school madness. I found this great site. This chick has a gazillion freezer meals. Instead of doing them all at once, I'm trying to make one fresh and freeze another. That way I have a weeknight meal idea for now, and one in my freezer for later.

One of her recipes was for beef roast and carrots. I am normally not a big fan of roast, but the ingredients were super simple and the no-salt substitutions were easy.  Note: If you are using no-salt substitutions, like Mrs. Dash, you will need way more than one packet of seasoning to get some good flavor. See my notes below. :)

Also, she suggests to only use a shoulder roast and after making this I agree 100%. It was the most tender roast. Liquid only covered half of the roast while cooking and I kept wondering if I should add some broth or water, but I didn't and it turned out WONDERFUL! I am so glad I have another saved in my freezer.

I served this with brown rice and steamed veggies. This served our family of 5 for 2 1/2 days. The kiddos were pleased with it as well. :)


Slow Cooker Beef Roast and Carrot Recipe - Adapted from New Leaf Wellness

Ingredients:

• 2-pound boneless beef chuck shoulder roast (No substitutions!  This is the best cut of meat for the slow cooker!)
• 1-2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Chopped Celery
• Chopped Onion
• Garlic Cloves
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar - I used almost half a cup because my roast was HUGE
• one seasoning packet - (I used two packets of Mrs. Dash Pot Roast seasoning and 2 packets of Mrs. Dash taco seasoning)

Directions: Combine it all together and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you also know that I love any and all desserts. I found this recipe on, you guessed it, pinterest! It is Caramel Cobbler and it is by far the easiest dessert I have EVER made. I have made this several times because I normally have everything on hand. It is very easy to throw together and it is wonderful served warm with vanilla ice cream. 

This dessert has a bit of a special meaning to it because Russ' grandfather, better known has PawPaw, requested this dessert on a Sunday evening and he went to be with Jesus that following Wednesday. I am so thankful that I was able to fill his request one last time. Everytime I make it, I will always think about him. We miss you PawPaw.

Caramel Cobbler - orignal recipe from Call Me PMC

Ingredients

• ½ c butter (real butter)
• 1½ c self-rising flour
• 1½ c sugar
• ¾ c milk
• 1 tsp vanilla (or almond)
• 1½ c packed light brown sugar
• 1½ c hot water
• Ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1 stick butter in 9x13 inch pan. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, milk, and flavoring (vanilla or almond, both are excellent). Stir to combine, then pour over melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar over top of batter. Carefully pour hot water over butter and batter. Do not stir. Cook 30 minutes until golden brown.

I hope this helps make meal planning a bit easier for you. And just because I have cute kids...

My Lyla, holding a ginormous bull frog!

Happy 4th Y'all!

If you have learned anything about me from reading my blog, you've probably discovered that I love desserts. It's my thing. I sign up to bring the dessert on every occasion, and for every event.

This 4th I'm attempting a dessert I've never tried before...a three-layer cheesecake cake. Boom. Call me Betty.

I found the recipe from Recipe Girl. I cheated a bit and bought a box cake (gasp!) for the red and blue layers. I found this red and blue velvet mix from Duncan Hines and I just thought this would save me an enormous amount of time and sanity.

Before you give up on me, I added a few things to spice up the box cake so I wouldn't feel like a complete failure as a wannabe baker. And I did make the cheesecake using the recipe in the link. So, there.

Beefed Up Box Cake:

-Box Mix
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup butter, melted
-1 cup of water
-1 tsp almond flavoring

I snagged the above recipe from one of my favorite bloggers of all time, Cara Carroll. She has an adorable teaching blog and store on Teachers Pay Teachers, but her at-home blog, Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour, has lots of good stuff too. In fact, I feel like Cara and I are good friends. I just wish the feeling was mutual. Check her out.

If you do not want an in-depth recipe for your 4th, consider making this Star-Spangled Pie. I've made it several times since my original post, and it is always a hit.

Star-Spangled Pie

Once again, pinterest has come to my rescue! I wanted to make something yummy, easy, and 4th of July-ish. I came across this recipe for Star-Spangled Pie.

It was probably one of the top-5 easiest recipes I've ever made. The chocolate chip cookies in the pie added the perfect touch. The only thing I will do differently next time is not chop the cookies up quite so much. I think it would've been slightly better if the cookies were in chunks.

Anyway, if you need something super quick and yummy, try this pie!

We are ready for the 4th! I hope you and your family have a great holiday!

Summer. Need I say more?

We are currently living at the park or the pool.

We also enjoy the the almost daily trip to Target. My kids love it and it creates a least an hour where toys are not being thrown out of baskets faster than I can blink.

We also made these cute little ice cream cone cupcakes. LR loved decorating these and licking all the icing off. :)

We've been to the beach. We truly enjoyed our time as a family. It was much needed.

We are grateful for these lazy weeks. It won't be long before I am faced with early mornings, late nights, yards of lamination, and anxiety attacks.

Summatime!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my! How sweet is summertime?!

Well, for those friends of mine that have a regular 'ol job...sorry! Yes, I will rub it in your face. You can remind me of this when I'm complaining in August. But I will revel in these 8 weeks of pool and pajama days.

The girls and I have started our summer off right. We've spent almost every morning either at the park or at the pool. Then we all come back home for lunch, a nap, and a project. My goal is to tackle our home room by room, week by week, and get some things done around here. This week my focus is the kitchen. It took me fours yesterday to go through each cabinet and throw away the unused and unnecessary. Anyway, for those of you that need to do the same thing at your house, I recommend the room-a-week plan. It seems a little less overwhelming that the idea of the whole house.

I will be spending quite a few days at the school as well. In my blogging absence, I was told, yes told, that I was moving to 3rd grade. I've taught 2nd grade for 7 years and have loved it, so moving to 3rd is a bit bittersweet for me. I'm excited about the challenge ahead, but as stated before, I'm not a fan of change. I'm trusting that each step is directed by the Lord and He knows and sees more than I understand.

On another note...

As you know, I bake for therapy, and then quickly deliver the goods so I don't interrupt the progress from my early morning workouts. My dad's birthday was this past weekend which gave me the excuse to bake away! I made two pinterest recipes that turned out delish! I'll share those below. I also have a recipe for oreo cheesecake that will be coming soon. It received rave reviews, and since I've made three of them in the last two weeks, I figure it is worth sharing.

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

This is a PERFECT summertime cake! Not only is is yummy, but it really turns out to be a pretty cake when decorated with fresh sliced strawberries. The frosting has everything it needs with marshmallow fluff, cream cheese, lemonade, and sugar! Yes, please!!! I am posting the recipe below, but know that I added 1/3 cup of powdered sugar to my frosting so it would be thick enough to ice the whole cake and not just be a filling. It was easy and good! Make it!!

I also made these little Brownie Roll-Ups that were pretty easy and a big hit with the kids. My nephew even said, "Alison, these are amazing!!" All ya need is a box of fudge brownie mix and some frosting and a little bit of patience. :)

Here is the recipe from one of my favorite blogs:

I hope your summer is off to a great start! Hopefully in between my projects, and the pool, I'll find some time to post a few recipes during my break. Until then, try these!!

Our Easter

Is this time of year not the most precious? There are so many things about this season and this time of year that put a smile on my face.

I want to share this sweet little video that a friend shared with me so I could share it with my girls. We do our best to explain to our daughters what Easter is about, but it is difficult trying to explain to a 2-year about sin and death and new life. This little video was not just great for my girls, but it was wonderful for me to watch as well. Hearing the Easter story from a child's perspective was exactly what I needed on this Good Friday. I hope it is equally as heart-warming to you and yours. May we never forget the significance of this event.

Easter involves traditions for us. I'm a gal that loves traditions. I love the Easter bunny. I love getting dressed up for church. I would even put on a hat and gloves and little shiny white shoes if I could get away with. But, my man is a hippie and we have church in the park. I do enjoy the sunrise service with our friends on Easter morning. There really is something special about a sunrise service. We follow that up by coming back to our house for a big breakfast with our church family. Then, we do get dressed up and go to church with my family, the traditional way.

And then there is the Easter bunny. The Mr. is not a fan of the Easter bunny. As stated above, I like him...a lot. I think all of that is nothing but fun for the littles and I want my girls to have those same memories as I did, at least until their daddy tells them otherwise. :) He has great motives, and I agree with him. I don't want my girls to be distracted away from the true meaning of Easter. So we comprise. Our Easter bunny comes on Saturday morning so that he can have more time at church on Sunday. :)

After we open our baskets in the morning, we will follow up with the cutest little "Bunny Rolls" that I found on pinterest.

I've also made a Easter treat tray that I will take to our family gatherings. This works a lot like my holiday cookie tray that I simply refill in between stops to arrive with a plate full of goodness. On this particular treat tray, I'm taking "bunny bark" (thank the good Lord above for pinterest!), oreo truffles (these are the same as the Christmas ones, just with Easter sprinkles and minus the peppermint), and little brownie bird nests. I got the idea from here, but tweaked it to use brownies instead of the cookie dough.

And I just have to share this photo of my girls who were so excited to "help mama in the kitchen". LR wanted to make sure I let her do the sprinkles! What a blessing they are!

Hopefully, I will be back in a few to post post-Easter pics. I'm not promising anything due to the fact that spring break will soon be over and I'll be back in survival mode.

Enjoy your Easter with your families! He is ALIVE!

Holiday Cookie Tray

Tomorrow is the day I start baking away! I love the day before Christmas Eve, or Christmas "Adam" as the Mr. calls it. Those last few days before the big celebration begins are so much fun to me. I normally stay in my PJ's and bake until my heart's content. But with two busy little "helpers" this year, I've decided to make cookies this year that are much easier to manage and a hit with kiddos!

I always include four different types of cookies on my tray. I make four full batches, but just put enough of each one to fill the tray. Then, as we travel from house to house, I can simply refill the tray in between house visits in order to arrive with a beautiful cookie tray. The four cookies I've chosen for this year are very "semi-homemade" but look and taste great! :)

#1 - Peppermint Oreo Truffles : My FAVORITE!

-1 package of peppermint oreos (The cool mint ones work too, but you'll need to add a few drops of peppermint extract)
-1 package of cream cheese, softened
-1 package of chocolate almond bark or dark chocolate candy wafers
-Crushed candy canes

*Crush your oreos into fine crumbs. Mix with the cream cheese. Add peppermint extract if desired and roll into balls. Please them on a cookie sheet and stick in the fridge or freezer until firm.
*Melt your candy wafers.
*Using a fork, roll the oreo balls into the melted chocolate. Tap the excess off and place back on the cookie sheet to dry.
*Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes and place in the fridge or freezer to set.

#2 - Candy Cane Mint Milanos - Semi-Homemade, but not semi-yum!


1 or 2 packages of mint milano cookies
1 package of red candy wafers
crushed candy canes

So easy: Melt the candy wafers. Dip the tip of each cookie into the melted chocolate and coat with crushed candy canes. Place it on wax paper until set. I first saw this idea on pinterest and I had to steal it! My dad came by as Lily Rain and I were making these and he thought they were terrific! Below is a pic of the finished project and the link to the original inspiration.

#3 - Dark Chocolate Peppermint Marshamallows - Kid Pleaser

I saw the recipe for these bad boys on the back of a jumbo bag of peppermint marshmallows. Not the minis, but the huge ones. These only need three ingredients as well:
-1 bag of peppermint marshmallows
-1 bag of dark chocolate candy wafers
-crushed candy canes

Directions: Melt your chocolate. Dip each marshmallow into the chocolate and tap off excess. I think using a fork works best. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and let it set. Enjoy!


#4 - Candy Cane Sugar Blossoms - The "pretty" cookie


I saw the recipe for these cookies on pinterest as well and I thought they would be great to set out for Santa. I love the red and green combo and how easy they are to make.

-1 bag of sugar cookie mix and the ingredients listed
-red and green sugar
-Candy Cane Hershey Kisses

Prepare the sugar cookie dough as directed. Roll into one inch balls and then roll in the sugar color of your choice. Place the colored cookie dough on a cookie sheet as bake as directed. Once baked, immediatley place a candy cane kiss on the center of each cookie. Let the cookies cool completely and store in an air tight container.

I hope you are able to use some of these easy and yummy cookies this year. If not, store it until next Christmas.

I hope that you and your family have a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I pray that through the busyness of it all, we can each take time to remember what this amazing holiday is truly all about. I pray we are able to recognize the miracle of God coming to earth as a baby in order to establish a relationship with each one of us.

^" Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." Luke 2:11

What I'm into these days...

This summer I was into cupcakes. I was trying a new recipe every weekend.

Now, I'm into cheesecakes. Ever since I bought my springform pan, I've been looking for cheesecakes to make, and picking up 5 or so packs of cream cheese every time I turn around.

Anyway, the pumpkin cheesecake I made at Thanksgiving was a success. I've adventured on to make two more for Christmas:

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake and Mocha Truffle Cheesecake.

Both were very very good and would be great to take to any Christmas gathering, or just to have sitting around your house. But, if your anything like me, I can't have desserts just sitting around or they will be eaten in record time. Feel free to follow my own personal philosophy: Make it then take it!


Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
Please note that this is very "pepperminty" and if you love peppermint and chocolate the way I do, you will love this cheesecake. I first saw the recipe here and adapted it to the following recipe:

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups oreos crushed 
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 
  FILLING:
• 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vanilla or white chips
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/4 cup mini-chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
• Crushed peppermint candy (I used Andy's peppermint chips) and whipped topping, optional

Directions

• Combine the first two ingredients; press onto the bottom of a 9-in. springform pan. Chill. In a bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth; add flour and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and peppermint chips. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan over low heat, melt vanilla chips. Remove from the heat. Add 1/4 cup cream cheese mixture, and extract. Mix well. Pour the remaining cream cheese mixture over crust. Top with the peppermint mixture.
• I put just a few drops of red food coloring on top of the mixture and used a knife to make a swirl design on the top.
• Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes longer or until the center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan; cool 1 hour longer.
• Refrigerate overnight. Just before serving, remove sides of pan. Garnish with crushed candy and whipped topping if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Here is a pic of my version just before baking:

The finished product:

My husband is not a fan of peppermint and chocolate, but he does love coffee, so that is where I went for this next cheesecake:

Mocha Truffle Cheesecake:

I had a cookbook with this recipe, but it can also be found here. I copied it straight from the book, but I would suggest using vanilla extract instead of almond extract in the whipped topping. I wasn't a fan of the topping, but the cheesecake itself was AMAZING!! I served this cheesecake to the same family members as the peppermint bark and they were equally divided on which one was better. The only thing I added was some melted chocolate piped onto the top.

Ingredients

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) devil's food cake mix
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 to 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 
  FILLING/TOPPING:
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• 3 to 6 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, egg and coffee granules until well blended. Press onto the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a greased 10-in. springform pan.
• In another large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in milk and melted chips. Dissolve coffee granules in water. Add coffee to cream cheese mixture. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into crust. Place pan on a baking sheet.
• Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Chill overnight.
• Just before serving, in a large bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar and extract until stiff peaks form. Spread over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate leftovers.

Please continue to check back this week as I will be posting four different cookie recipes. Every year I make a large cookie tray. This serves as a great dessert dish to take to the 8 different places we travel each year. I can keep them in containers and refill the tray after each visit. We also put some on Santa's plate and save a few to snack on. :) These recipes are super easy, but super yummy, and always a hit!

Oh My Word - This is Good Ya'll!

As promised, I have the recipe for the Pumpkin Cheesecake below.

Oh.

My.

Word.

It is grand! The recipe is super easy but it is a three day process. I actually liked making it over three days because it only took a few minutes in the kitchen each day and the results were incredible.

Even though I tend to switch from pumpkin EVERYTHING to peppermint and chocolate the day after Thanksgiving, I will be making this cheesecake again. Plus, pumpkin is still christmasy, right?

...when we pass around the coffee, and the pumpkin pie..

It will work and everyone will thank you. :)

Pumpkin Cheesecake


Adapted from here :

Day one: The crust


-1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumb
-5 tablespoons butter, melted
-1 tablespoon sugar

Mix the graham crackers and sugar together. Pour the butter over the mixture and mix. Press the crust into the bottom of your springform pan. It won't go all the way to the top, but that is okay. Maybe halfway. Bake on 350 for 5 minutes. Put it in the fridge and let it set overnight.


Day Two: The filling


-1 cup sugar
-3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 cup canned pumpkin
-3 eggs
-1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice. (I probably added a little more because I love that stuff!)


Beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Pour into your crust and bake on 350 for 60-70 minutes or the top is lightly browned. Let it cool completely and place it in the fridge overnight.

Day Three: Experience the bliss of this dessert!!!

Add some whip cream to the finished product, sprinkle with a little pumpkin pie spice. Grab a warm cup of coffee and enjoy!!!!


On a side note, check out my husband's blog. He shared a sweet little video of our girls for Thanksgiving :)

Oh so thankful...

I am oh.so.thankful.

At this moment I am particularly thankful that I have ONE day of school left for the week. So even though it's Monday, it feels sort of like a Thursday. Plus tomorrow is payday. I'm smiling.

I need to apologize for being absent from blog world. As you all know, life is crazzzyy. I'm hoping to get a few good posts in during my Thanksgiving break. I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking, but it would take four or five posts to fill you all in, so I'll let those come as needed or when I'm simply out of blogging ideas.

Since Thanksgiving will officially be here in 3 days I'll share some of the cute school things we've done in my classroom.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at school this year by having a "snack" and not a actual feast. At first I was really saddened by this because so many children don't get to experience a real Thanksgiving meal, but I can say that my students had a blast today and I don't think anyone went home disappointed. We made quite a few snacks that they really enjoyed and of course finished it off with Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving.

#1 TeePees
These adorable snacks were pinterest-inspired and super easy for the kiddos to make.

#2 Pilgrim Hats
These also were incredibly easy. We do a "witches hat" version at Halloween using a Hershey's kiss instead of the Reese's cup. We just used yellow M&M's for the buckle on the hat.

#3 Crunchy Cornucopias
I've done this snack for the past 3 years and it always turns out so cute! I don't have a picture of these (sorry!) and I couldn't find one on pinterest...

You need:
Trix cereal
Ritz crackers
Cream cheese or peanut butter
Bugles

Spread your cream cheese or peanut butter on top of the cracker. Place the bugle on top with Trix pouring out.

Super easy and very cute!

For those of you that are already finished with your cute Thanksgiving treats, save these for your 2012 files. I'll be posting a great recipe for a yummy and easy sweet potato casserole later this week. Also, be on the lookout for a pumpkin cheesecake recipe. :)

Fall Favorites

Wow! It's been awhile. Things haven't calmed down for the Crawford's but that is okay, too. We've been busy going and doing. I've been in the kitchen, but just haven't had time to post much. We did have two of my fall favorites since the weather has cooled off a bit. I'll share them with you in hopes that they might become your fall faves as well. :)

Southwest Soup
I have to start off by saying this soup was an accident. I normally always make Southwest Chili during the fall, which is just as good, but we didn't have the ingredients, so we ended up having Southwest Soup and I can honestly say it ain't the last time.

Ingredients
-Ground turkey or beef (brown and drain)
-1 can Mexican Rotel
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 can dark red kidney beans
-1 can light red kidney beans
-1 can corn (drained)
-1 box beef broth
-1 jar of salsa

I put mine in the crockpot on low for 4 hours. It was wonderful and would be great with tortilla chips and melted cheese. Go for it. Hubs vetoed that decision for our house.

If you want to turn this into Southwest Chili, follow the same recipe but don't use the broth. Instead use a can of tomato sauce.


Taco Soup
Before you skip over this recipe because you think you already have a good recipe for Taco Soup, think again. This really is the BEST recipe for Taco soup I've ever had. Plus, it is a one - dish wonder and incredibly easy. I wish I could claim it, but I can't. I first had it in college from one of my best friends. It was her mom's "famous" recipe. Russ and I honestly make this probably once every other week during the fall and winter. He asks for it in the summer, but I refuse. That is hotdog weather...sorry.

Anyway, it really is AMAZING! Make it, you will love it!

Ingredients:
-Ground beef (brown and drain)
-1 jar picante sauce
-1 can stewed tomatoes
-1 can mexican rotel
-1 box beef broth
-1 box rotini (I use whole wheat)
-cumin (to taste)
-garlic (to taste)
-Salt & Pepper (to taste)
-shredded cheese
-tortilla chips

Mix everything together except chips and cheese until it comes to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Put chips in the bottom of your bowl. Pour the soup on top. Put some cheese on that goodness. Eat it up!


Pumpkin Muffins
I've written about this recipe before. Two ingredients: Spice cake and pumpkin. Mix, bake, enjoy. But, I have discovered a new amazing muffin mix that makes these easy muffins something I want to serve for every meal. If you have a box of Cinnamon Streusel Muffin Mix and a can of pumpkin, make these muffins. They truly are wonderful.

 Maybe because it is a muffin mix and not a cake mix, but these might be the moistest muffins I've ever had. Seriously, I can't say enough about how amazing they are. And easy. Bonus!!

Finally, Halloween has come and gone. My girls were adorable as a bumble bee and a ladybug.

These are the only pics because sweet little Lyla fell asleep about 10 minutes into the Trick-or-Treat extravaganza.

I will share these cute little treats I sent with LR to school. I made these before as easter pops, but just coated them with Halloween sprinkles instead. Two year olds love sprinkles and marshmallows, so it was a hit.

I hope you and your family are enjoying some fall favorites this year as well. :)

Fall=pumpkins

For those of you that read yesterday's post, you know that I'm a fan of fall and all the cozy goodness that accompanies it.

Pumpkin is one of my most favorite foods and I love it in just about anything as long as it's on my plate between the days of October 1-December 1. None before, none after.

To welcome the arrival of fall temperatures, we went a little pumpkin crazy today. I have two WONDERFUL recipes to share and I can assure you they will be made multiple times before our December 1st deadline, in which I switch to solely mint chocolate recipes.

We started our morning with drum roll please....Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles with Cinnamon Cream Syrup. Yes, it was as good as it sounds, maybe better. You can find the recipe that inspired me here. But, I changed things up a bit so we didn't have heart attacks before 9am and so the hubs would actually eat them. Basically, I substituted the flour for whole wheat, omitted the butter altogether, and only used the egg whites, no yolks. The recipe also says to separate your dry and wet ingredients and do crazy things like beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Well, I have children and don't have time for stiff peaks, so I piled it all in the bowl, mixed it, and put in on the waffle iron. It was still TO DIE FOR. Perhaps the extra steps would have changed the texture, but I didn't have time for that today.

My recipe is as follows:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice.
2 egg whites
1 cup milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tablespoons oil ( I used smart balance)


Mix and pour into a hot waffle iron.


You can follow the syrup directions as stated on the website. But please, use a 5oz can of evaporated  milk. I only had a 12oz can and didn't realize it until it was too late, so I had to go back and add more corn syrup, etc. and the syrup part ended up being an epic fail. But, I can tell that it would've been divine if I had followed instructions. :)

I also made a two-ingredient cake today that was equally as grand as the waffles. I use the same two ingredients when making the best pumpkin muffins that my friend Beth first introduced me to. I found the inspiration for this recipe here, but adapted it just a bit by using spice cake instead of yellow.


Apple Cider Pumpkin Cake:
1 box spice cake mix
1 can of pumpkin


Mix together, pour in cake pan, muffin tin, bundt pan, whatever suits your fancy!
Bake as instructed on the box.


Apple Cider Glaze:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons apple juice/cider
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice


Mix until well blended and drizzle over cake. Let it set before serving. I took this cake to a family get together tonight and it was a BIG hit!!! 

 (please ignore the over-pouring of glaze) :)


I leave you with some pics of my cuties playing outside in this wonderful weather.

Happy Fall Ya'll!