November menu #1

I have completely neglected my blog over the past few months. Now that I'm working on our family yearbook for 2014, I'm realizing that I need to get back into blogging--it makes compiling a book for the whole year a lot easier! I am a busy woman now, with four kids, two in school (and oh, how I hate the never ending cycle of homework and lunches, lunches and homework!) and three part time jobs that I do from home. And yet I still find time to binge watch Gilmore Girls... 

1. Cheesy Italian sausage bread, creamy tomato soup
2. Tamale pot pies (the recipe calls for ground chicken but I used ground beef), black beans
3. Creamy spinach linguine, garlic bread
4. White chicken chili, cornbread
5. Three cheese pizza, tomato and cucumber salad
6. Leftovers
7. French onion soup with quinoa (the recipe calls for barley, I'm using quinoa instead), brussels sprouts salad
8. Pecan chicken, roasted carrots, twice baked potatoes
9. Baked oatmeal, biscuits, bacon
10. Sweet and tangy chicken, tortillas, lime cilantro dressing
11. The Pizza Factory: We won best costumes at my brother's Halloween party and were awarded a gift card, wahoo!!!
12. Leftovers
13. Steak with blue cheese crust, mashed potatoes, crusty bread
14. Chicken noodle soup, homemade rolls (Juno's birthday dinner!)

Treats:

• Milk chocolate creme brulee
• Brookies
• Orange zest cranberry bars
• Reeses pieces PB cookies

I'm also spending a lot of time working on our Thanksgiving weekend menu. We are spending the weekend with my parents and siblings at a ranch house in New Harmony, Utah, near St. George. I love Thanksgiving. It's such a wonderful holiday, the family, the food, the pies... I love planning our Thanksgiving feast!

October Menu #2

1. Chicken paillards with romaine Caesar slaw and French bread
2. BLT pizza
3. Leftovers
4. Shrimp and corn chowder, cornbread
5. Lemon poppy seed pancakes with mixed berry compote, scrambled eggs, bacon
6. Quick sausage rotini, French bread
7. Sweet and tangy shredded chicken, tortillas and fixings, lime cilantro dressing
8. Three cheese pizza, apple slices
9. Leftovers
10. Classic lasagna, salad
11. Grilled cheese bar
12. Chicken noodle soup, homemade rolls
13. Vietnamese caramel pork and rice
14. Frozen mystery soup, cornbread: there is a bag of frozen soup in my freezer that I neglected to label, oops!
15. Make your own pizza bar
16.Leftovers
17. Cheesy broccoli and quinoa casserole, salad with apples and pecans

Treats

• Slow cooker ooey gooey chocolate pudding cake
• Halloween sugar cookies
• Pumpkin rice krispie treats

October #1 menu

Here's another 2 week menu plan! If anyone has some great ideas of what to serve with BLT pizza, comment please! I fail at side dishes, especially for pizza!

1. Egg stuffed baked potatoes, Greek yogurt bar
2. Chicken paillards, crusty french bread
3. BLT pizza
4. Baked oatmeal, banana bread, smoothies
5. Breaded garlic chicken, fettuccine, salad
6. Sweet and tangy chicken, rice, beans
7. White chicken chili, cornbread
8. Date night
9. Leftovers
10. Tuscan garlic herb pork chops, bean salad, crusty bready
11. Make your own pizza bar
12. Roasted garlic mac and cheese, roast asparagus
13. Sausage and potato skillet, smoothies, biscuits
14. Chicken noodle soup, rolls

Breakfast foods

• Scrambled eggs and toast
• Granola
• Oatmeal
• Pancakes/waffles
• Yogurt parfaits
• Cinnamon rolls
• Smoothies
• Biscuits
• Popovers
• Muffins
• Pumpkin bread

Snacks

• Popcorn
• Graham crackers
• Yogurt
• String cheese
• Fruit/veggies
• Roasted chickpeas
• Cinnamon chips
• Apple nachos 

Treats

• Raspberry white chocolate chip cookies
• Slow cooker ooey gooey chocolate pudding cake
• Homemade doughnuts

Money Tips: utilizing your groceries

One important aspect of sticking to my grocery budget ($325/month for a family of five) is utilizing every part of my groceries. I don't want any of my groceries (or my money!) to go to waste. The best example I have of this is my homemade crockpot chicken broth. This is so easy, you'll never need to buy chicken broth again!
I never throw out the vegetable scraps when I'm prepping dinner. Celery stocks, onion scraps, asparagus ends, garlic bulbs, they all get tossed in a gallon size bag that I keep in the freezer for making broth. Then, when I make slow cooker roast chicken (bone in chicken pieces rubbed in olive oil and sprinkled with seasonings, cooked on low for 7ish hours), I save the bones and the broth that's left and add the vegetable scraps to the crockpot. I fill the rest of the way with water and add whatever herbs strike my fancy (oregano, rubbed sage, rosemary, garlic) and cook on low over night. In the morning, all I have to do is strain out the solids and freeze for later use. I fill muffin tins with the broth and then pop each 1/2 cup disk out and keep them in freezer bags. Then, whenever I need broth, I can just grab the amount I need out of the freezer!
Another thing I touched on in my grocery budget post was finding multiple uses for each (especially expensive) ingredients. If I need to buy blue cheese for hamburgers, I use it on salads, in mashed potatoes, or on crusty french bread slices with fig preserves (yummiest snack ever!) to make it worth the purchase and get my money's worth. With Pinterest, food blogs, and Google, it's really not that hard to find multiple recipes using similar ingredients!
Next up: clothes.

Sample meal plan :)

After my last post, I had quite a few requests for a sample two week meal plan. This works for our family of 5 (Pearl doesn't count, because she doesn't eat yet). Also, Jason packs a lunch (usually leftovers) and has snacks at work, which come out of our monthly grocery budget. During the school year, I pack lunches for the girls a few days a week and they buy lunch once or twice, too.

1. Hamburgers with bacon and blue cheese, corn on the cob, watermelon slushies
2. Grilled shrimp tostados, lime cilantro rice, Brazilian lemonade
3. BLT pizza: I used romaine lettuce instead of arugula because that's why my family likes.
4. Leftovers/oatmeal and toast
5. Roast chicken, twice baked potatoes, cornbread: I lucked out a year and a half ago at Walmart and found 10 lb bags of fresh chicken thighs and drumsticks for $1 each (they were expiring soon). I bought 4 bags (wish I had bought 10!) and threw them in my freezer. They're perfect for slow cooker roast chicken! I still have 15 lb left, too :)
6. Grilled chicken drumsticks, veggie skewers, watermelon slushies
7. Greek chicken, hummus, flatbread, lemon butter rice, lots of veggies: I marinate chicken in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and oregano, then grill it and cut it into pieces and serve with lots of vegetables in flatbread.
8. Egg stuffed baked potatoes, crusty bread, smoothies, hash browns
9. Chicken salad wraps, chips, fruit
10. Deep dish pizza, salad with tomatoes and cucumber
11. Leftover/oatmeal and toast
12. Morgan's homecoming dinner at Jan's
13. Chick Fi La knockoff nuggets, oven fries, homemade lemonade
14. Homemade chili, corncakes, and tomato salad
15. Sweet and tangy chicken quesadillas, black beans and rice
16. Cool tomato basil soup, crusty french bread, salad

Breakfast

• Scrambled eggs and toast
• Egg in a hole
• Granola
• Oatmeal (quick cooking with brown sugar, honey, frozen mixed berries, craisins/raisins, etc)
• Pancakes/waffles
• Parfaits (yogurt and frozen fruit slightly thawed in the microwave)
• Smoothies
• Mixed berries with homemade meringues on top

Snacks

• Popcorn (air popped with either melted PB, or melted butter and cinnamon sugar, or melted butter and Italian spices + Parmesan cheese)
• Graham crackers and milk
• Crackers and PB or cheese
• Yogurt/frozen Gogurt
• String cheese
• Fruit/veggies
• Roasted chickpeas
• Hummus and pita chips
• Cinnamon chips

Treats

• Pioneer taffy
• Berry meringue mess
• Samoa brownies

Coming next in my Money Tips: Meal Planning series: a good example of utilizing your groceries to get the most bang for your buck!

apples

Remember how crazy everyone went 10 years ago when Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow named their daughter Apple?
I never thought it was that bad of a name... in fact, I kind of liked it then (and kind of love it now). 
I've always been an autumn girl. I loved going back to school as a kid, I love the crisp air and bright blue skies and changing leaves, I love all the flavors and scents in the air, I love Halloween, and I LOVE APPLES!!!! If Apple weren't a celebrity name, it could totally have been Tempe's name, because she was born in the fall and I think it totally captures that golden autumn afternoon feeling :)
Anyway, yesterday we went to my MIL's to pick apples and they are the best apples I have ever had in my life! They are huge and so sweet and crisp. And they also don't brown when cut, weird huh? 
We are enjoying eating them plain and trying some new recipes. Today for the girls' afternoon snack, I diced apples and cooked them in butter with cinnamon sugar until it was all ooey-gooey and served them with homemade cinnamon tortilla chips. It was soooooo good! Right now I have some overnight apple cinnamon oatmeal in the crockpot for breakfast tomorrow. Oh, and a big jug of apple cider (the good stuff) was calling my name at the grocery store today, so I think I will tackle these delectable waffles tomorrow as well.
Also, can you tell that I had a lot of energy today?

Summer art + lime watermelon slushies!

For our art project yesterday, I surprised the girls with a sensory painting experience!
A few days ago, I filled ice cube trays halfway up with plain acrylic craft paint and then topped each one off with a little water and mixed it all up. I froze them for a few days until we were ready to use them. After quiet time, I rolled out a long sheet of paper on the deck, changed the kids into their bathing suits, and gave them the paint cubes. It was fun, but M-E-S-S-Y!

Tempe and Helena experimented with doing hand and foot prints--and then tracked the paint across the deck to the wash off station. It's a good thing I am planning on redoing the deck in the fall!

While the girls were doing their project, I was enjoying the most wonderful, delicious, summer drink I have ever had. Lately we've been making lots of Brazilian Lemonade (we like this recipe) and smoothies with tons of fruits and veggies in them. Those are good, but this is even better and much simpler (simpler than the Brazilian Lemonade, at least).
Lime watermelon slushie. Yum, yum, yum. Great way to use up leftover watermelon, because the secret ingredient is frozen chunks of watermelon. When I buy a watermelon, I cube it all and freeze half (or more) in a single layer on a baking sheet. Then I transfer the frozen chunks to a gallon size bag.
So to make this yummy drink, fill a blender jar 1/2 way with regular watermelon chunks and then the rest of the way with frozen watermelon chunks. Add the juice of 3-4 limes and 1/4 cup sugar and blend until slushy. Enjoy!

summer eatin'

Now that it's summer, all I ever want to eat is salads. I haven't bought salad dressing in a while--instead, I make dressing. It's so quick and easy and you can customize your dressings. So here are my two go-to salad dressings!

Honey Balsamic Dressing
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 small onion, chopped
1 T soy sauce
3 T honey
1 T white sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup olive oil

1. Blend vinegar, onion, soy sauce, honey, sugar, and garlic in a blender until smooth; slowly add the oil in a steady stream and blend until thickened. Refrigerate several hours before use. This is soooo good on a green salad with artichoke hearts and craisins, or drizzled over strawberries with feta cheese. Even my KIDS love it with strawberries and feta cheese!

I'm not going to bother posting this recipe, so just go to the post and read about it yourself. I love ground mustard and garlic vinaigrette on a green salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumber. It is sooo yummy! I always make a green salad with this dressing when I make ham and cheese stuffed dinner rolls and then I can dip my roll in the dressing. YUM!

Best ever PB chocolate chip cookies

One of our new after school traditions this year is having a snack together every afternoon. I usually have something relatively healthy--frozen yogurt bananas, or yogurt and granola, or apple slices and PB, or carrots, stuff like that. But on Friday afternoons, we celebrate the beginning of the weekend with cookies.
Today I want to share my favorite cookie recipe with you. It comes from a Nestle "Best-Loved Cookies" cookbook. 

Chunky Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup PB
1 egg
1 t vanilla
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts

1. Cream together butter, sugars, and PB. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Add baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and peanuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
2. Bake at 375 for 7-10 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes and then remove from cookie sheet and cool completely.
3. Serve with a tall glass of milk and listen to your kids tell you about their day at school!

Cranberry Pecan Granola

5 cups old-fashioned (NOT QUICK) oats
2 cups whole or chopped pecans
2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 t cinnamon
1 T vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with foil and lightly spray with baking spray. 
2. Mix oats, pecans, cranberries, and coconut in very large bowl. Heat honey for about 45 seconds in microwave until it is easy to stir. Whisk together heated honey, vegetable oil, cinnamon, and vanilla extract until fully combined; pour over oat mixture and stir until everything is coated with honey mixture. Spread on jelly roll pan, about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Do not stir during bake time! Most granola recipes will tell you to stir midway through baking and add dried fruit after it comes out of the oven, but the secret to chunky, crispy granola is to let it bake and cool completely before breaking it into chunks.

This granola is perfect for breakfast cereal, sprinkled on yogurt, or just eaten as a snack. I let it cool completely and break it into large chunks, then put it in a gallon size freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. It stays fresh for months like this.

the best pizza in the world

Chicago style deep-dish pizza
(recipe from America's Test Kitchen)
3 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cup water
3 tbs melted butter + 4 tbs softened butter
garlic powder + Parmesan cheese

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast; mix on low until fully combined. With mixer running, add water and melted butter. Increase speed to medium and knead 5 minutes or until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the side of the bowl. (And as a side note here, this dough is so easy to make. Other doughs are sometimes hard to determine exactly how much flour you need, but this one comes together so easily and beautifully every time.)
2. Cover the bowl and let rise for 45-60 minutes.
3. Now you're going to laminate the dough. After the dough has risen, roll it out into a large rectangle. Smear the softened butter alllllllll over it, then sprinkle garlic powder and Parmesan cheese to taste. Starting at the short end of the rectangle, roll up tightly in a cylinder (like you're making cinnamon rolls). Using your rolling pin, flatten the cylinder into another rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half and fold each section of dough into thirds to form a ball. You can also freeze one or both dough balls at this point.
4. Refrigerate dough balls for another 45-60 minutes. This allows the butter to chill and makes the crust super flaky and full of little layers of buttery dough. 
5. After the laminated dough has chilled, roll each ball into a 13-inch disk. Pu the dough into a round cake pan and press into corners and up sides. Top however you like! I love all kinds of pizza, but this one is best with straight up mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. I don't even make my own sauce--Prego straight out of the can. You can assemble this pizza beforehand and refrigerate unti you're ready to bake it.
6. Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes; let rest at least 10 minutes before cutting.
Enjoy!

Popcorn roundup!

We're big fans of popcorn at our house. It's easy to make, it's cheap, and my girls love it. Nothing is more exciting to them than having "family movie night" and sharing a big ol' bowl of popcorn.

But sometimes the occasion calls for more than just a bag of popcorn popped in the microwave. In that case, you should try a popcorn popper or popcorn machine for something a little different. I love air popped popcorn and it's so fun to watch. And how fun would a movie theater stye popcorn machine be in a home theater room??

Or maybe try a special recipe... your taste buds will thank you!

• 
  
  Cinnamon sugar popcorn: melt butter and pour over popcorn, and then toss in cinnamon sugar. This is ooey-gooey and messy, so beware :)


• 
  
  Peanut butter popcorn: melt PB and butter (I just eyeball it) and toss over popped popcorn. This is even ooey-gooier and messier, but soooo good!


• 
  
  Cinnamon bear popcorn: Cinnamon bears. Mini marshmallows. Sugary sweet syrup holding it all together. Mmmmmm....


• 
  
  Cinnamon bun popcorn: Basically, a really great caramel corn drizzed with white chocolate. It doesn't sound so fantastic, but it is. It is.


• 
  
  Loaded baked kettle corn: The perfect combo of salty and sweet.


• 
  
  Maple bacon kettle corn: Ok, Jason and I really like bacon in our sweet stuff (like bacon chocolate chip cookies) but I know not everyone does. But come on, doesn't this look amazing??
  I'm always on the lookout for new popcorn recipes to try, so if you have a good one, you know what to do!
  I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for popcorn poppersand was compensated. However, the views and opinions are my own.

New Year's Eve Fondue

So, a few years ago I posted about how we have Chinese food on New Year's Eve. But this year I am starting a new New Year's tradition.... fondue!

I'm not very adventurous when I make fondue. I always make the same recipe: cheese and mustard fondue. It's soooo good, there's really no reason to try anything else! I adapted this recipe from the chicken cordon bleu bread bowls from Mel's Kitchen Cafe (which is a great recipe, by the way!)

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup apple juice (don't leave it out!!)

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons stone ground mustard

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1. In a 10-inch skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the onions and garlic, stirring often until softened and fragrant. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to incorporate.

2. Gradually add the chicken broth and apple juice, whisking to avoid clumps. Stir in the cream, mozzarella cheese, mustard, and thyme. Simmer for 5-6 minutes or until the mixture is thickened. Sometimes I add a tablespoon or two of flour to help it thicken.

3. Once the fondue is thick, you can transfer it to whatever you want to serve it in: a fondue pot or a toasted bread bowl. For dippers, I serve cooked red potatoes, carrots, sugar snap peas, bread cubes, steamed broccoli, grilled chicken, chunks of summer sausage, apple chunks (believe me on this, it is soooo good). I think the apples are my favorites.

For dessert, we're doing a basic chocolate fondue. I keep it simple: equal parts semi-sweet chocolate chips and whipping cream melted together. I don't even bother putting it in a fondue pot--it goes straight to a bowl. We dip marshmallows, rice krispie treats, strawberries, bananas, pound cake, grapes, etc. If you don't finish it all, you can stick it in a tupperware container and put it in the fridge to save for later. Just reheat it when you're ready for more yumminess!

Christmas cocoa

I had a few requests for my crock pot hot cocoa recipe--sorry I didn't post it earlier!

10 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups hot water
Pour milk into Crockpot and turn on high heat. Mix together sugar, cocoa, salt, and hot water in a heavy saucepan. Boil 3 minutes, stirring often. Pour into milk and stir. Cover and cook on high heat 2-2 1/2 hours. Stir before serving. Makes 12 servings.

Sometimes after the initial 2 hours on high, I turn it down to low and leave it all day. It stays the perfect temperature and is so nice to come home to!

You should totally make it on Christmas morning.

Juno's party: {the party favor}

What's the most important part of a kid's birthday party?

Birthday cake!

I wanted to send Juno's guests home with a little taste of the joy and innocence of a child's birthday, so I decided to make cake batter bark. Mmmmmm!

Jason's mom gave us this adorable suitcase when we got married. It was filled with all of Jason's kindergarten and elementary school papers and projects. The girls love looking through Daddy's artwork! This suitcase was perfect set by the front door with the party favors.

Doesn't that look scrumptious? (Ask my butt, it will tell you that it is scrumptious)
If you've ever made any kind of bark, you will know how simple it is.
1. Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with wax paper or freezer paper.
2. Melt one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips over medium heat until smooth and glossy. I know that most people say you should use high quality chocolate for melting--I have found that store brand chocolate chips work just fine! The secret is you have to buy semi-sweet. Milk chocolate just doesn't work. When the chocolate is smooth and glossy, use a rubber spatula to spread it across the cookie sheet. Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 20 minutes to let the chocolate set.
3. After the chocolate has set, melt one package of vanilla bark over medium heat until smooth and glossy. Stir in dry cake mix--yep, just straight out of the box! I used about 1/3 of a cup because I really wanted to taste the cake flavor. Carefully spread the vanilla bark over the chocolate layer and sprinkle colorful jimmies all over.
4. Put the bark back in the freezer until set, and then break it up into pieces. Perfect for gift-giving!

PS: Jason's awesome aunt Margaret took all these party pictures for me. Thanks, Margaret!

Juno's party: {the food}

I served carnival inspired finger foods, cupcakes, and lime water. Simple, easy, and delicious.

Pigs in a blanket: canned crescent roll dough wrapped around cocktail sausages

Homemade soft pretzel bites: I used this pretzel dough recipe, sans hot dogs, and just rolled them into balls instead of twisting into pretzels. Served with honey mustard dipping sauce.

Caramel apple slices: Instead of serving apple slices with caramel dip, I made several caramel apples and used my apple corer/slicer to slice them.

Chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels: I covered PB Ritz Bits in melted chocolate and let them set up. Mmmmm....

The green serving thing is from DI. It didn't come with the plates/dishes that go in it, so I bought some old tin pie plates and glued them in place.

I carnivalized my glass cake stand with a scrapbook paper pennant banner. The cupcakes are Funfetti with Funfetti frosting--best frosting ever. I made the cupcake toppers by printing out a black and white picture of Juno and cutting carefully around her face. Then I glued a scrapbook paper triangle on her head, added a tissue paper pompom at the top and some trim along the bottom, and then glued everything onto popsicle sticks. The other cupcake toppers are simple pennants made from the same paper as the banner and the hats.

Still can't believe she's one!!!

So long, Cap'n Crunch

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you might remember a few weeks ago I posted about how we are cutting out breakfast cereal. Instead, I have been making baked oatmeal, waffles, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs, and mini frittatas for breakfast. I make big batches a few times a week and freeze them, so our freezer is always full of yummy, filling breakfast items.

You might be wondering why I am replacing breakfast cereal with things like waffles and pancakes. Well, I have a couple of reasons. The biggest one was cost. I was so sick of spending $20 a month just on cereal--and that was shopping sales and using coupons! I also was tired of giving my kids breakfast and hearing "Mom, I'm hunnnngry!" 20 minutes later. Try as I might to convince them to eat something more filling for breakfast, all they ever wanted was a bowl of cold cereal with milk. Now they eat a big, hearty breakfast and stay full until lunchtime.

Here are some of our favorite breakfasts:

Baked oatmeal

Oatmeal banana waffles (just add a mashed banana to this recipe!)

Pumpkin pancakes and apple syrup

Bacon, eggs, and toast cups

Mini frittatas

We made mini frittatas this morning. This is a great recipe for kids to help with--have any of you noticed that the more your kids help with preparing food, the more excited they are to eat?? My kids love helping! To make these, mix 1 cup half and half into 8 eggs and add 1 t salt. Whisk until well combined. Divide the egg mixture into a well-greased muffin tin. Then the fun begins!! Sprinkle your favorite ingredients into the egg mixture. This morning, we had crumbled bacon, orange and green diced bell peppers, halved cherry tomatoes, and cheddar cheese. Tempe and Helena were really excited to be in charge of making sure every cup got some toppings sprinkled on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until puffy and the edges are brown. Serve with buttered toast and orange juice. Mmmm!!

Fall FUN + a yummy snack!

Ahhh, I love October. It is by far my favorite month of the year! I love the cool weather, playing in leaves with my kids, apple cider, pumpkins everywhere, spooky decorations, and watching the leaves change colors. Most years in Utah, almost all the leaves turn yellow, which is pretty but just not the same as fall back East where everything is red and orange and yellow. But for some reason, this year there is a lot more color on the trees! It makes me want to pick up and move to New England. Jason says maybe we can visit.

We've been having fun watching "Hocus Pocus" and "Nightmare Before Christmas" and enjoying the nice weather. I took the girls to a local garden center to see the giant pumpkins last week. They were excited to get to sit on such a big pumpkin!

Today we went to the zoo. It was the perfect day for a trip to the zoo! They all wore their spooky Hallowen outfits, so we were excited to take a spooky picture on this giant spider :)

Target has been teasing me with big containers of Pumpkin Spice almonds for the past few weeks. I finally caved and bought some and it was a good choice. They are SO GOOD. It's a pretty subtle pumpkin flavor. They're good by themselves or....

...you could make a delicious trail mix like I did. Pumpkin spice almonds, dry roasted peanuts, mini marshmallows, dark chocolate chips, and craisins. It is sooo good and fun to snack on! The pumpkin flavor from the almonds gets distributed to all the other ingredients and it tastes like Autumn. Yum, yum!

What are you doing to enjoy October?

Peanut butter playdough

We're trying to cut back on tv here (we even canceled Dish!) That mean a bit more creativity on my part than letting Tempe and Helena watch Curious George/Arthur every single day while I make dinner.

Last week we made a batch of peanut butter playdough to go with the adorable woodland creatures cookie cutters that I got at Ikea. When it's time to work in the kitchen, I give them each a ball of peanut butter playdough (equal parts powdered sugar and creamy peanut butter), a handful of raisins and cheerios, cookie cutters and a rolling pin. Tempe and Helena love making "cookies" while I make dinner. Double points: this is a sensory activity and a fine motor exercise. Plus, it's pretty tasty!

Maybe you don't know this about Tempe--she loves moose (I always want to add an "s" to the end of that word). They are her favorite animal!

Juno hasn't been able to participate in this activity, because she's not 1 yet. I'm contemplating what other ingredient I could combine with powdered sugar to make edible playdough for babies. Mashed bananas? Applesauce? Any ideas?

the most delicious food I make

At the beginning of the year, I started getting the magazine Cooking Light in the mail. I had no idea where it came from, but it was addressed to me, so it wasn't being delivered to the wrong person.

At first I wasn't interested because I thought any recipe found in Cooking Light would be bland and gross. Boy, was I wrong! I am so glad I started trying the recipes. Now almost everything I make comes from it.

And now I want to share my adaptation of the most delicious food I make... Blackened Tilapia Fish Tacos.

{image from Cooking Light}

1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

2 T chopped fresh cilantro

2 T fresh lime juice

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion

1 ripe chopped avocado

2 t brown sugar

1 t dried oregano

3/4 t garlic powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground cumin

1/4 t ground red pepper

4 tilapia fillets (I buy a big bag of frozen fillets at Wal-Mart)

1 T canola oil

8 whole wheat tortillas (or corn or flour, whatever you prefer)

4 lime wedges

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.

2. Saute onion in butter until crisp-tender. Combine onion, avocado, and jalapeno sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Combine brown sugar and next 5 ingredients. Gently rub onto both sides of fish. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until it flakes easily with a fork. Break into chunks.

4. Warm tortillas according to package instructions. Divide fish and onion mixture evenly among tortillas. Serve with lime wedges and ENJOY!

I serve this with lime cilantro rice (we usually just stick it right in the tortilla with the fish). Seriously, this is the best meal I make. It's so good.

Oh yeah, still wondering where the magazine subscription came from? My mom got it for me but forgot to tell me until April when I started telling her how many delicious recipes I was getting from it! Thanks, Mom!