November Happenings

We are half way through November (Oh. My. Gosh!) and I wanted to document some things that have happened so far.  I've got a couple bigger events I will post about later but for now, here are some not-so-big November happenings.

Our Light Brigade program had Crazy Hair Night a few weeks ago.  I realize this doesn't look too terribly crazy but it looked worse in person.  Trust me.

My little bug looking through one of my cookbooks.  I wonder where he gets it???   :)

My boy and me cuddling on the couch.  Probably watching Elmo (it's his new favorite).

Sleeping on the floor with the dogs. 

An angel (when he sleeps!).

Beautiful colors of fall seen in our backyard.  I absolutely love when the trees turn colors!

Baking

It's been awhile since I've posted about baking.  I only have 4 to share today (I keep forgetting to take pictures!) so here they are...

Lemon Velvet Cream Pie.  It's creamy and velvety and tastes just like it sounds!

Candy Corn Cookies.  These are a simple sugar cookie made to look like candy corn.  I took these to my kids class a couple Wednesday nights ago.  They're bite-size and yummy! 

Sweet Potato Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  The spices in this cupcake are wonderful!

Letter Grahams.  I took these to my kids class this past Wednesday.  They taste like a graham cracker but aren't as crunchy.  Yummy and easy!

That's all I've got for now.  As the holidays get closer, I'm sure I will have several more baking posts to share.

Crock Pot Linky Party

Life {Sweet}Life is hosting a crock pot recipe party.  How can I not participate?  I adore my crock pot and any crock pot recipe that I can find.  I've been using it about once a week but now that the colder months are here, I plan on using it more often!  I can't decide on only one recipe to post so I'll just give several.

When I first heard about this linky party I immediately knew I was going to post my Chicken Taco Soup recipe.  But someone beat me to the punch.  Go over to Details from the Decherios to get that recipe.  I highly recommend it.  It's our all-time favorite crock pot recipe.  In fact, I plan on making it tomorrow!


Salsa Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup thick and chunky salsa
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (11 oz) whole kernel sweet corn
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Sprinkle chicken with salt.  Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet.  Cook chicken in oil about 4 minutes, turning once, until brown.
In a slow cooker, mix salsa, beans, and corn.  Top with chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or until juice of chicken is clear when the center of the the thickest part is cut.
Sprinkle chicken and vegetable mixture with cilantro.
Serve with sour cream, guacamole, extra salsa, etc.

**May also use mexicorn with red and green pepper to add color.


Pork Chops with Sauce
(This is another great one.  The meat is so tender it literally falls off the bone!)

Brown 4-8 pork chops will and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Place in a crock pot and cover with any ONE of the following sauces.  Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours or high 4-5 hours.

Cream of Mushroom soup (the best sauce, in  my opinion)
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Cream of Chicken soup
BBQ Sauce


Jambalaya
(When you're looking for something different, this is a great choice!  It can also be made as spicy or non-spicy as you would like.)

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound turkey sausage, sliced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, without juice
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound frozen cooked shrimp without tails

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, green bell pepper, and broth.  Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, and thyme.

Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours.  Stir in the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cooking.


Honey Garlic Chicken
(This is great with rice and another one I've made often.)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root (or 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger)
1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained with juice reserved (may buy sliced pineapples and chop)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Pour honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger, and reserved pineapple juice into the slow cooker.  Mix well.  top with chicken breasts.
Cover and cook 2 hours on high and 1 hour on low.  Stir in pineapple and cook 15 more minutes.
Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl.  Remove chicken from the slow cooker.  Blend the cornstarch mixture into the remaining sauce in the slow cooker to thicken.  Serve sauce over the chicken.
*I've found it easier to put the cornstarch mixture into a small sauce pan and thicken it on the stove before blending it into the slow cooker.


Cheesy Multigrain Spaghetti Casserole

2 1/2 cups water
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz. dried multigrain spaghetti, broken
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a slow cooker whisk together the water and soup.  Stir in undrained tomatoes, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3 1/2-4 hours.  Gently stir in dry spaghetti noodles 30 minutes before serving.

Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Hopefully this helps your crock pot recipe collection.  :)  Enjoy!

Pumpkins and Apples

A group of us got together Saturday afternoon to paint pumpkins and make caramel apples.  Thanks to Amy for such a great idea!  We were blessed with beautiful weather and great fellowship. 

All geared up and ready to go.

You can tell by the smile on his face how much fun he was having!

Jorge even painted a pumpkin!  (he looks excited, doesn't he???)

My little JJ's work in progress.

This is very serious business!

We were so excited to eat the caramel apples we made that we forgot to take pictures of the apples themselves so we decided that half-eaten apples would have to do.  And I have to give credit to Jorge for coming up with our new title...haha!

JJ loved them too!

They were messy but they sure were good!

I decorated the fireplace with the pumpkins that we painted.

I painted this polka-dotted pumpking.  Not very creative, I know.  Give me a recipe and I'll whip it right up but when it comes to painting, I'm lost!

This is JJ's sweet little pumpkin.  I really love how it turned out.  I think the colors are beautiful!

This is Jorge's work of art.  OU, of course!  :)

I painted this one as well.  I've been wanting a pumpkin with the initial of our last name so I decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to make one (instead of buy one!).  It didn't come out as perfectly as I would have liked but I'm happy with it!  (It's a V if you can't tell.  Jorge said it looked like a bird flying in the clouds...sheesh!)

After our pumpkin and apple activity, the rest of our Saturday consisted of normal Saturday things: grocery shopping, cleaning, making supper, etc.  Nothing too exciting.  And tonight, after church, we had some friends over for pie and coffee (although it ended up being pizza and then pie and coffee!).  I made a Lemon Velvet Cream Pie.  Yum!  I'll have to post pictures on that one.  :)

Basketball Is In His Blood

Friday evening we met up with some friends at a local church for their fall festival.  We went last year as well.  You can read about it here.  JJ was dressed as a chicken last year.  This year he went as a Spurs basketball player.  And he was adorable!  My husband is an avid Spurs fan and comes from a family of serious Spurs fans.  JJ is destined to be one, too!  haha!

Now doesn't he just look so cute?

Carrying his pumpkin around (again).  The scratch on his cheek is from going down the slide on his tummy at the Orr Family Farm earlier in the day.

Like father, like son.  I think JJ has no choice but to be a Spurs fan.  ha!  I love his expression.  That's what I get when I tell him to smile for a picture.  haha!

I threw on a Spurs shirt so we could all match for a family photo. 

At the festival.  Daddy getting a fake owie.  JJ wanted nothing to do with it.

He did like the boat races though.

The only piece of candy he ate all night was this sucker.  Thankfully he didn't eat more.  He was bouncing off the walls!

Taking a break from all the fun to eat his goldfish and cheerios.

There were a lot more activities that I didn't get pictures of.  After the festival we went to the home of friends of ours for snacks and games.  It was a great day.  And a very busy one!

Orr Family Farm

We have had a very busy weekend so I've got several posts to write.  On Friday, late morning, several of us girls took our kiddos to the Orr Family Farm.  I had never been there but have heard about it and wanted to go.  It is such a great place for kids and it was a beautiful day.  JJ loves being outside so he was in heaven! 


They, of course, have a playground.  That was the first place we went.  I'm sure JJ could have spent his entire day there.

They also have a petting zoo.  The cutest little pig was there.  I tried to get a picture but couldn't get a good one.  I believe JJ is looking at rabbits in this picture.

A hay ride took us to the pumpkin patch.  This is always my favorite part because of the great photo opportunities.  JJ didn't take long finding the one he wanted.

My pumpkin holding his pumpkin. 

The cutest little pumpkin in the patch.  :)

We somehow managed to get the little kids to take a picture together.  Not looking at the same camera, mind you, but at least they're all together.  ha!

I just love my sweet little boy!

They have this awesome thing called a Jumping Pillow.  I totally want one for my back yard.  JJ was a little nervous about getting on it (there were so many kids and the pillow is HUGE) so I got on with him.  He seemed to enjoy it then.

 Next we climbed on the hay bales...

And went down the slide.

JJ was happy as could be playing on the hay bales. 

It was such a fun and memorable day.  I'm can't wait to take JJ back there again sometime!