Little Ghosts

 A few months ago while I was browsing Pintrest I saw the cutest little canvas with ghosts made from children's footprints. I knew it was something that I had to do this year. I have done a few things with hand print in the past but never footprints. It was so simple to do just a pre-stretched canvas from the craft store along with white and black paint.

I really wish that I had done something like this last year while there feet were still tiny but I am sure that next year when I pull out the Halloween stuff I will look at this and think the foot prints are so little.

Tried it Tuesday- Chocolate Banana Muffins

Hailey always want pancakes for breakfast on the weekends but they are getting old, at least for me. I decided to make some muffins so she would still get to help mix and pour in the ingredients which made her happy. I had two bananas that I really needed to use up and remembered seeing a recipe for Chocolate Banana Muffins over at For the Love of Cooking. I find so many great recipes there.

Hailey and I mixed everything up and got them in to oven. She couldn't wait for them to come and cool down so she could try one. They were moist and delicious, Ryan and Hailey each ate an entire muffin.

I made a few changes to the original recipe. I used applesauce instead of oil and added a handful of chocolate chips because for some reason Hailey thinks they need to go in everything we bake.

Vacation

I have been such a slacker looking at and editing pictures from our vacation in New York over a month ago. We visited family, went to my parents land, and a cabin on Lake Ontario. The kids did surprisingly well on the 14 hour drive which I was worried about since this is the first time we attempted to do the drive with the kids and both dogs. The back seat was a little cramped but everyone made it.

 The first night we were home we took the kids up to the high school to check out a football game uncle Mark bought Hailey her first taffy and Ryan attempted to go under the fence and make a run for it onto the field. Guess he wants to take after daddy and play football.

The next day we went to the Garlic Festival and sampled all kinds of things made with garlic, some of them were good and others I should have passed on. The kids had a healthy lunch a blooming onion and fried dough. I guess since we were on vacation I can let if go. Hailey also shared a Sunday with her grandmother which she inhaled.

From there we went to my parents land and walked in the woods. The kids had a great time throwing rocks into the creek and collecting sticks and other things. Hailey even enjoyed an apple off of one of the apple trees along the trail.

Then we ventured up the the cabin on Lake Ontario that belongs to my husbands family. We went fishing, threw rocks, went swimming, had a campfire, went for tractor rides, and celebrated birthdays since we won't see my in-laws in November for Hailey's birthday.

The kids loved gettimg spoiled by all of their grandparents and great grandparents!

Crock pot Sausage

We all know that I am a huge fan of my crock pot so I am always looking for new things to try. While I have been on a health kick lately this recipe is not exactly healthy but was definitely yummy. A friend of mine gave this recipe to me and I am glad she did.

1 pkg Italian Sausages ( I used fresh venison sausage)

1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used my home made sauce)

1/4 grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1 green pepper chopped

1 onion chopped

Place sausage in pan with water and bring to boil for 10 minutes. Place all ingredients in crock pot ans cook on low for 6 hours. After a few hours use a wooden spoon to cut the sausages into smaller pieces.

I am able to get two meals out of this. One day I served it over pasta and the other I put the sausage on hoagie rolls and topped them in provolone cheese and place them in the broiler until the cheese melts.

Meal Planning

Since beginning on my weight loss journey one of the things that has halped me is to plan out our meals for the week. This cuts down on the unnecessary purchases ot the grocery store as well and prevents me from staring blankley into the pantry or refrigerator in the evening trying to decided what to make for dinner.

I try to sit down on friday night and figure out what we are going to eat for the weekend. I try to make atleast one meal over the weekend that we can eat in some capacity during the week. I might roast a chicken and then have leftover chicken that we can use in other things for dinner during the week. It is nice to have some of the work already done when I get home from work.

I used to write up the meal plan for the week and stick it up on the refrigerator so my husband would know what we were having incase he got home before me so he could start cooking. Then I progressed to writing on an old dry erase board. My sister in-law noticed this and made me this great framed menu board which is  so much better than a scrap of paper or dry erase board.

The meal plan for this week

Sunday-Crockpot polish sausage in tomato sauce on sub rolls and pasta salad

Monday- BBQ Hamburgers and pasta salad

Tuesday- Pork Poast, baked potatoes, and mixed veggies

Wednesday- Polish Sausage in tomato sauce over whole wheat spaghetti and salad

Thursday- Pulled pork samdwiches and pasta salad

Friday- Pulled pork quesidillas and rice

Tried it Tuesday- Pumpkin Cupcakes

I have said before I love fall baking, there is nothing better than apples or in this case pumpkin. I am still trying to loose weight all though lately I have stalled out but I still wanted to bake something "healthy". I decided to try Pumpkin Cupcakes with a pumpkin spice cream cheese frosting. It is another great recipe from Gina over at Skinny Taste. To date I have not tried a recipe of hers that I did not like.

Hailey is really into baking so she was my little helper and since there is no egg in this recipe she got to lick the beaters after we were done. She told me the batter was good so I was sure she would like the cupcakes and I was right. They were a big hit and only 121 calories! I made mini cupcakes for the kids but they only wanted the big ones so I ended up eating the small ones,l so much for making special ones for the kids!

An Apple a Day

Last weekend I took the kids to the park in the morning and on the way home we stopped to check out a stand at a farm not far from our house. I had always seen the signs for fresh eggs but I noticed a few more signs and decided it was worth checking out. It was definitely worth the stop they had a great little set up with fresh produce as well as fresh jams, honeys, and other local products.

I didn't have much cash with me so I decided to get each kid an apple for a snack. Ryan had never had a whole apple before so I wasn't sure how he would do with it. He loved it and ate almost the entire thing.

Tried it Tuesday- Crock pot Chicken Taco Chili

Yes I realize that the title of this post it "Tried it Tuesday" and it is currently Wednesday, but yesterday I ended up tied up all day without access to a computer so my post was delayed.

I have been trying to make at least one meal on the weekend that we can use as a leftover and decided to make Crock pot Chicken Taco Chili from Skinny Taste. Gina posts a ton of great recipes and I have yet to be disappointed with one of them. This was the second time I made this recipe. The first time I did it exactly like the recipe and it was yummy. This time I didn't have quite enough chicken so I used an extra can of beans. I did not notice a difference in taste or texture. This is definitely a recipe I will use over again especially in the winter months.

Apple Cake

I love fall! Especially fall baking with apples and pumpkin. last Saturday we had family over for dinner and I decided to start off my fall baking with fresh apple cake. My husbands grandmother gave me this recipe and I played with it a little to make it healthier. Know one seemed to notice the difference and it was a hit especially with my son. He was shoving the cake in his mouth as fast as I could give it to him.

4 cups peeled diced apples (about 4-5 large apples)

2 cups sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs beaten

dash salt

1/2 cup oil

1 cup apple cause

1 cup all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

Combine apples, apple sauce, sugar, oil, and eggs in large bowl. Mix well. All the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until well combined, then add the vanilla. Pour into a greased 13x9 pan and bake for 1 hour at 325. You can also use a tube pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour and 20 minutes or cupcakes at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

Tried it Tuesday- Strawberry Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

A while back I was trying to figure out what to make the kids for breakfast on a Saturday morning. I had a few bananas I really needed to use up and some strawberries in the fridge, Then I remembered this recipe For Strawberry Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins from "For the Love of Cooking" and decided to give them a try.

I didn't have quite as many bananas ans strawberries as the recipe called for so I decide to only make half of the recipe. The only real change I made was to use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose. Hailey was excited to help me bake and measure out all the ingredients as well as place the liners in the muffin pan.She couldn't wait for them to come out of the oven so she could eat them

The verdict- the muffins were great. They turned out moist and delicious. Both kids gobbled up an entire muffin each so this recipe is definitely one to keep and make again.

Halloween Crafting

It is officially October so yesterday I busted out all of my Halloween decorations. It was also the first cool day we had that required the kids don jeans and long sleeved shirts so why not Halloween shirts.I have seen all these great ideas to make shirts using freezer paper as stencils on some of the blogs I read an on Pintrest so I decided to give it a shot.

I found some clip art images I liked and made them big enough to put on a shirt then I printed them and traced them on the the freezer paper. I used an exacto knife to cut out my design, ironed the stencils onto the shirt and painted. All in all it was pretty easy. They turned out great I did a pumpkon for Hailey and a ghost for Ryan.

I also decided to dress up the mantel with some frames, and Halloween scrapbook paper.

The house and kids are now ready for Halloween!