Tasty Fall Treats...

Here's a few yummy fall recipes! Break out of the box this Thanksgiving and forget about the traditional boring pie! (ha ha- i hate pies!) We'll start with the first and easiest one. :-)

Chocolate drizzled pretzels.

I posted these last year so maybe some of you have already made them. But of course I had to make them again this year- the kiddos LOVE them. Buy the pretzels already covered in chocolate or yogurt- I buy mine at Sprouts. Then get the chocolate buttons in whatever color you want to drizzle... Spread the pretzels out on wax paper... Melt buttons in the microwave in a ziploc sandwich bag for 20-30 seconds at a time until melted... snip TINY corner off bag... and drizzle! Even the kiddos can help with this.

YUM! Just about the fastest and easiest treat I can think of.

Put them out for guests to snack on or bag up in a cellophane bag with ribbons to give away!

Treat #2: Was supposed to be Pumpkin Whoopie Pies... We LOVE homemade oreos and so I thought pumpkin "oreos" with cream cheese frosting would be divine! However the cookies I made were too thick and fluffy to stick 2 together... they were better on their own with a dollop of cream cheese frosting. That little dollop of frosting sure turned into a heap once I got started though! Yes I am a frosting addict- ha ha. So add whatever frosting you want. I used the mega 1M tip by Wilton...

Add whatever toppings you'd like... sprinkles, nuts, mini chocolate chips... Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

(rated nearly 5 stars on Allrecipes)

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree

2 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 TBS cinnamon

1/2 TBS ground ginger

1/2 TBS ground cloves

1 egg white

2 TBS milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners sugar

3/4 cups shortening

1- Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease baking sheets.

2- Combine oil, brown sugar, pumpkin, and eggs. Beat well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix well.

3- Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool and then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Whoopie Pie Filling. (OR MAKE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING AND JUST DOLLOP SOME ON TOP LIKE I DID!)

4- To Make Whoopie Pie Filling: Beat egg white and mix with the milk, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup confectioners sugar. Mix well then beat in teh shortening and the remaining cup of confectioners sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

YUMMY! Spicy and tasty pumpkin cookies fresh out of the oven... see how I couldn't stick two together?

A family favorite... Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies! Have I shared this one before???

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/4 c granulated sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

1 c butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

3.9 oz instant chocolate Jell-O pudding

2 1/4 c flour

1 bag chocolate chips (Guittard Maxi Chips are my fav)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream sugars and butter. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Mix in sifted dry ingredients. Bake on 375 for 8-10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on cooling racks.

The kiddos LOVE these cookies and LOVE helping make them... from mixing the ingredients to rolling out the balls.

Treat #4- Iced Pumpkin Cookies

1,322 people on AllRecipes have rated this as a 4 1/2 star recipe (out of 5 stars).

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmey

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:

2 cups confectioners sugar

3 TBS milk

1 TBS melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1- Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeyt ground cloves, and salt. Set aside.

2- In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

3- bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

4- To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners sugar, milk, 1 TBS melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Fam Pics Sneak Peek...

BAH! Our computer is at the computer hospital and I am having a hard time shrinking these pics on Ger's Mac! Click on the link at the bottom for the full view of pics... Hopefully I can fix them tomorrow. :-)

Wow. Janelle has outdone herself again! Amazing location. Amazing use of lighting. Captured the kiddos personalities and beautiful eyes... We are dying to see the rest... but here is a little preview... Here is Colby- he recently turned 4 and looking so grown up!

Mia just chopped her hair the day before these pics. She insisted. I tried to talk her out of it. She just laughed and said she was positive she wanted it short. She got her way... and she LOVES it. I spent an hour curling her hair and it is just so straight, after using tons of product and thermal active heating spray, it barely stayed curled for the 45 min. photo shoot!

And here's beautiful Sydney who has been through so much! She still has 3-4 pounds to put back on but is doing much better. She has made it through 3 full days of school since her surgery. Whew. She is just as sweet in real life as she looks in this pic.

Thanks SOO much Janelle! It was the funnest photo shoot we have ever done. Seriously. The kids were so happy, it was a gorgeous afternoon, and Janelle works quickly and is so creative and down to earth and makes it fun for them. We were totally done in less than an hour. Check out her blog at http://janellejoy.com/blog/ and her official site at http://www.janellejoy.com

Like Anthropologie!?! Check out her blog for a chance to win a gift card for $75!!!

(And I can't forget a special thanks to Susie for coordinating my wardrobe and jewelry the day of! I had everyone elses outfits coordinated weeks in advance but with Syd's surgery, Dr's appts, etc. did not have a chance to coordinate mine... THANKS SO MUCH SUSIE!)

Halloween... long overdue...

I am pretty behind on a lot of things right now... including blogging! But these pics are for Grandma and fam who keep asking... Halloween day started out with a round of soccer games for Mia and Colby. Since Mia's team is the Tigers, she went to her game like this...

Quite a few of the boys on her team had spray painted hair orange and black and the coach made some more kiddos look like Mia with a so it was a festive and fun game! Mia was aggressive and played great against a tough team.

Colby's game was next and he played awesome. His ball handling skills have really improved and he is not afraid to go after the ball.

Yup- he scored 5 goals!

Our cute and thoughtful neighbor brought this over right when we got home from our games. I was dying over how adorable it was!! Ger killed one of the ghosts since they were so excited to dig into it, before I got my camera out but you can see how cute it is. AND it tasted AMAZING. It was a creamy chocolate pudding with lots of oreos. We gobbled the whole thing right up!

Ta-da! Colby transformed into Super Man for Halloween! He was so patient as we doused his hair with spray paint... and was so surprised when he looked in the mirror. Lots of people at our ward party didn't even recognize him.

Sydney was a cute cowgirl with sassy boots and Mia was Supergirl- very fitting for her.

We got more candy than the kiddos could ever eat but had a blast trick or treating with a lot of friends from our neighborhood. Sydney had just gotten out of the hospital 2 days before so she was in a stroller the whole time and we were all exhausted by the time we got home. Lots of fun! More pics to come...

Tasty and Quick Fall Recipes!

I have some amazingly yummy fall dessert recipes that are soon to come... (and pics from Halloween too!) but here are some easy yummy meals we have made lately!

Shredded Barbecue Chicken

This has to be the easiest recipe there is and so versatile. Throw however many pieces of chicken you will eat into a crockpot, cover well with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. 1-2 hours before meal time shred chicken and stir well. If you need to add more bbq sauce, this is a great time to do that... DON'T add water. The chicken is juicy enough and it ends up perfectly moist and tender just with the BBQ sauce.

Ideas for a meal:

• Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches
• Top Baked Potatoes with BBQ Chicken and cheese and ranch- yum!
• Served just as the meat dish with veggies, salad, fresh bread...
• BBQ Chicken Salad YUM! (I posted on this a while back- lettuce, BBQ chicken, corn, black beans, cheese, cilantro if desired, ranch dressing, chips, etc!)
• Any other ideas? I always make extra because it is good for at least 2 meals! AND a great side dish would be...

Twice Baked Potatoes! While Sydney was in the hospital my friend Stephanie brought these over with baby back ribs (and a whole slew of other stuff!) and Gerron was raving. I got home from the hospital late that night and yup, they were just as good as he said!

Twice Baked Potatoes:

5lb bag; bake for about 45 min/ 1hr

Cut tops off and scoop out as much potatoe as possible

Mix together in the potatoes: 1 cup of sour cream

1 stick of butter

1 packet of Ranch Dressing mix/or dip

milk just add until creamy

Mix until fluffy. Scoop back into the potato skins and add some cheese and bacon (I used turkey bacon) bake for about 8 minutes. Just to melt cheese/warm the potato.

An all time favorite... Just made this Monday...

Central Market Tortilla Soup

2 TBS oil
1 c diced onions (1 large onion)
1 T minced garlic
1 serrano pepper,diced
1 green bell pepper, diced (about 1 c)
1 c diced tomatoes
2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 bay leaf
salt 2 qts chicken broth (or 8 cups water w/bullion)
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded or diced (I use rotisserie chicken from Costco)
1 cup frozen corn (optional!)

2 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 limes
tortilla chips
sour cream
avocado slices- optional
shredded cheese- optional

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large stock pot, sauté onion, garlic and peppers until onions are translucent. Add the dry spices (chili powder, cumin, bay leaf, and salt) and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and continue cooking 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to boil; if adding chicken, add in 2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken and corn if desired. Also add 3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips. (this thickens it slightly so it's not totally brothy). Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice from 1 lime. Serve and garnish with sour cream, avocado slices, additional lime wedges and tortilla chips and cheese if desired. (My kiddos LOVE this. If you want it less spicy, add less serrano pepper or less chili powder.) Makes 8 8-ounce servings.

Tired of Chicken?!? We have also loved this recipe for years- rated 5 stars on Allrecipes...

Shrimp Etouffee II

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup margarine 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped green onion 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 4 cloves minced garlic 1/2 cup celery, diced 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons tomato paste 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 pound cleaned shrimp salt to taste 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce to taste 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a 2 quart microwave safe dish, combine margarine, onion, green onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery. Heat on High settings for 8 to 9 minutes.
2.	Stir in parsley, tomato paste, soup, shrimp, salt, hot pepper sauce and cayenne. Heat on High setting for 5 minutes. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Serve over white rice.

Whew! She's home...

It's been a long time since I have blogged... and for good reason... Sydney got sick when we got to UT on Monday, October 12th... after being sick a full week (having strepp throat) and being mis-diagnosed twice, the children's ER at Banner Desert finally (after 9 hours) discovered she had a ruptured appendix on Monday the 19th. She had surgery immediately. The surgeons said she would spend 5-7 days in the hospital recovering... They gave her a PICC line and started pumping her with 3 antibiotics, fluids, nutrients, and fats. The following days were very difficult... she was still having severe stomach pains, high fever, vomiting, etc. and an ultrasound and Cat Scan showed there was more infection in her little body still- two clots of infection. She had surgery on Saturday, October 24th to put a drain in the bigger clot. To make a long story short, she went through some really tough times and was extremely sick, however she was an amazingly tough girl the entire time. So brave. I wanted to cry everytime she had to get poked or prodded or had to go through so many of the horrible things that she did... but she had us in awe of her maturity and attitude. The nurses and Dr's all said she was one of the sweetest patients they had ever had.

We finally were able to bring her home last Thursday, October 29th after spending 11 LONG days in the hospital.

This is Sydney on Thursday just before we got to take her home on Thursday. Looking SO much better- she was even up for doing her hair! Her right arm has the PICC line...

Ger and I took turns sleeping at the hospital. We had some great nurses and some not so great nurses... We helped Syd set goals for walking and there was a fabulous Child Life Specialist who rewarded Sydney for accomplishing hard things. Sydney even earned a few Webkinz! This board was updated every day with all the new info...

We could not have made it through this hard time without the prayers and support of so many. We loved getting every single phone call/message, text, email, letter, card, visit, etc. We felt an outpouring of love that was so humbling and yet so needed. We could not believe the support that we were given. So many times we would have tears rolling down our cheeks just in gratitude for the concern and sacrifices made on our behalf. Sydney LOVED checking her email- this is how I would bribe her to sit up every day.

Her room was the brightest and happiest room in the whole hospital I think! Every Dr or nurse that would come in commented on how loved Sydney must be because of all the cards, presents, pictures, etc in her room. We loved taping up everything we got- it cheered us up and reminded us of everyone that was thinking of Sydney and praying for her. She was spoiled with gifts and they were all so thoughtful- crafts for her to do in bed, DVD's to watch, projects to make, a beautiful blanket to replace her hospital blanket, socks and slippers to keep her feet warm, books to read, homemade PJ pants and a super comfy nightgown, travel games that she could play in bed, markers and colored pencils and coloring books, I could go on and on. The thoughtfulness of everyone was astounding and usually came right at a time when she needed a pick me up or was feeling frustrated. I can tell each of you that prayers are answered! We had so many "angels" taking care of us and lifting us up and going out of their way to make ours a little brighter. I could go on and on about the meals that were brought in and how after long days in the hospital that was our saving grace... how lunch was brought in to the hospital to us on days we didn't expect it so we didn't have to leave Sydney to get something... how loved and cared for Mia and Colby were by family and friends... how many people offered to do just about anything and everything for us! I could go on and on....But I won't! This is long enough! I am thrilled to report Sydney is doing great at home. She is so weak and tired but is eating better, sleeping better, moving around more, having less stomach/incision pain, so much happier, etc. since she has been here. She was thrilled to be with Colby and Mia again as you can see in the above pic- they couldn't visit the pediatric unit. (She could go out to meet them if she was feeling up for it but they made her so homesick we just took them in twice to see her for a few minutes.) We are all catching up on missed sleep and are so excited to just be back together as a family and returning back to "normal" life. So these are just a few pics- most of them are on another camera so I may share more later... but that's a peek into what we've been up to. Love and thanks to you all!