Wild Animal Kingdom

I feel like we live in the middle of the woods. Just a couple minutes ago while we were eating breakfast, Brooks noticed something on the deck. I turned around and saw 2 raccoons on the deck! The possum sitings are a near daily experience. We've determined there are at least 2 possums. This is really strange.

I don't like Ft Wayne

Our drive to Cleveland took a lot longer than planned. Like twice as long. It was a bad bad bad drive. We left around 7am Friday morning and didn't get there until 6pm. Ryan hit a patch of ice around Roanoke IN and he ditched his car. It was the better option and I'm so thankful that he was driving and using his skills. He was trying not to hit other cars on the side of the road and decided to ditch it. It was really scary sitting in the ditch praying that other cars coming would not hit us. He was able to drive out of the ditch and the car only has a minor issue with the front bumper. We are so thankful. God was definitely watching over us. I don't think the boys even knew what was going on, there were in the back just reading their books.

We drove a little bit more into Ft Wayne and decided to wait it out awhile. Mind you, the forecast for Friday was supposed to be a high of 50. Yeah right. It did not happen in Ft Wayne. We killed some time at Kroger, Target, a bike shop, and ChickFilA. It was not getting warmer and we decided to try to move on. We kept calling Jess for temperature updates and it was warmer towards her. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, but we were freaked out the whole day. We were so thankful that the boys were so well behaved. Not a disagreement between the two of them the whole day. There were such good little travelers.

We were so happy to finally make it to Cleveland. We checked into our hotel and then headed to Jess & Dan's for pizza. The boys were happy to see everyone and enjoyed opening their gifts. The John Deere tractors were (there are still playing with them al the time) a big hit.

Saturday morning Jess and I got manicure's at the Aveda beauty school. It was so relaxing. Her baby shower was in the afternoon and it was fun. My Aunt Marion, and cousins Kim and Kris were able to make it up from Columbus OH. It was good to see them. Baby Beck got a lot of nice stuff at the shower!

Ryan had the boys all day and they did some exploring around Cleveland. He took them to a cool park on the lake. They had a great time running around. The temps got up to 70 in Cleveland on Saturday! They also went to a couple bike shops and ate Mexican food for lunch. They took a super long nap and they we all went swimming at the hotel. Well, it was more like Ryan and Brooks went swimming. The water was a little cold and Hudson didn't want anything to do with it. I took him into the hot tub and he didn't really like that either.

We drove back on Sunday without any issues and we're all happy to be back home!

Sorry I don't have any pictures, I did bring my camera but didn't take any.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We enjoyed a nice day at home as a family. The boys enjoyed just hanging out at home. We made a birthday cake for Jesus and even sang Happy Birthday to him.

Yesterday we went to visit Grandma and PopPop. We had a nice meal together before we hurried home to avoid the roads freezing. The trip home was actually better than the trip out there.

Tomorrow we are headed to Cleveland to see Auntie Jess, Uncle Dan, Memaw and Papaw. They boys are excited because the hotel has an indoor pool!

The boys watched "Elf" as a special treat.

Crockpot Craziness

I've been on a crockpot kick lately. And I haven't been making the usual run of the mill stuff in it. Yesterday I made yogurt! In the crockpot! And it was easy and it tastes really good, better than the stuff you buy in the store and it's cheaper! Yeah, so I'm pretty excited about the yogurt, so is Ryan since he eats a lot of it.

I made the Holiday Punch for the cookie exchange. It was so easy and we all loved it. It was perfect for warming up from the -20 wind chill outside.

We eat a lot of beans and I usually buy canned. Dried beans are cheaper and it was so easy to cook up a pound this way so I don't have any excuses to not make dried beans now.

Crockpot Yogurt

Ingredients
8 cups milk (half-gallon)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 pkg unflavored gelatin (for a thicker yogurt)

Directions
1. Pour the milk into the crockpot, cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.
2. Unplug the crockpot and let it sit for 3 hours.
3. After the 3 hours, take out 2 cups of the milk and whisk in the 1/2 cup of plain yogurt.
4. Dump the yogurt/milk mixture back into the crockpot and whisk in the packet of gelatin.
5. Put the lid back on the crockpot, wrap the crockpot with a heavy bath towel for insulation and let it sit for 8 hours.
6. After the 8 hours you're all done! Store it in plastic containers in the fridge. You can blend in your favorite fruit or jam when you're ready to eat.

Holiday Punch

Ingredients
4 cups cranberry juice
4 cups pineapple juice
2 cinnamon sticks

Directions
1. Place the juices and cinnamon sticks in the crockpot, cover, and cook on high for 2 hours.

Beans

Ingredients
1 lb dried beans

Directions
1. Sort the beans and place in the crock. Rinse and then cover with water. Soak overnight.
2. In the morning, dump the water and rinse the beans again.
3. Cover the beans with water, 2 inches over the top of the beans.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours.
5. Drain the beans and place in bags. 1 2/3 cup beans equals one can of beans. They can be frozen for 6 months.

Christmas Cookie Recipes

Here are some cookie recipes from our cookie exchange! *I don't know why blogger is posting this all weird. Sorry!*

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
8 oz semi-sweet baking bars
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups chopped nuts

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place the chocolate in a large glass bowl. Microwave on medium heat for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
3. Remove and stir. If too lumpy heat another 30 seconds until most lumps are gone.
4. Stir in sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.
5. Stir flour with baking powder; add to chocolate mixture, mixing well.
6. Fold in chips and nuts.
7. Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake 10-14 minutes. Cool 1 minute and remove to cooling rack.

Almond Paste Cookies

Ingredients
8 oz almond paste
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg whites
food coloring (optional)
whole blanched or silvered almonds (optional)

Directions
1. Crumble almond paste into mixer bowl. Add sugars and egg white and blend until smooth. Add food coloring if desired.
2. Use a pastry bag or teaspooons to make 1 to 2 inch cookies on parchment papered cookie sheets.
3. Place a almond on top of each cookie.
4. Allow cookies to stand at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight.
5. Bake at 300 for 20 minutes or until slightly golden.
6. Remove from the oven and cool 3 minutes before removing them from cookie sheet.
7. Makes about 40 cookies that freeze well.

Irish Cream Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 (21 1/2 ounce) box brownie mix (I like Duncan Hines)
• 1/2 cup irish cream
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup irish cream

Glaze

• 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 1 ounce square chocolate with 1 tsp butter)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F; grease the bottom of a 13x9-inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine brownie ingredients. Beat 50 strokes with a spoon, spread in greased pan, and bake for 20 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool completely.
3. For Frosting:.
4. In a small bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients; add more Irish Cream if too thick. Spread over cooled brownies.
5. For Glaze:.
6. In a small saucepan over low heat, or in microwave, melt chocolate chips (or chocolate with 1 tsp butter). Stir occasionally.
7. Drizzle glaze over frosted brownies.

Christmas fun

Ryan had an ice day on Friday, he was excited to begin his Christmas break a day early. We took the boys to see the Purdue Christmas Tree. Sarah, Maggie and Abby came along too. They all had a fun time running around and making the stressed out Purdue students smile.

Saturday morning Ryan took the boys to Linden (a really really small town south of us) to a train museum. They had a special display for Christmas. Ryan said it wasn't as good as the San Diego Model Railroad Museum (go figure) but the boys had a good time anyways. They even got to go in the caboose that was outside.

This afternoon I hosted a cookie exchange with the moms from my MOPS table. We had quite a variety of cookies and had a nice couple hours just relaxing.

The Possum

Guess who paid us a visit during dinner tonight....the possum. Brooks and Hudson were so excited to see it this time. That thing is so ugly. Maybe it heard about the Possum Pie I made for our friends Josh and Susan last weekend. I have no idea why this pie is called Possum Pie, but I had to make it for them since they were in the car when I ran over that possum years ago.

Possum Pie

Ingredients

• 2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1/4 cup vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 3/4 cups cold milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped
• 12-16 pecan halves

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
2. Spread onto bottom of crust.
3. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
4. In another mixing bowl; combine pudding mixes.
5. Add milk and vanilla; beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
6. Spoon over the pecans.
7. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
8. Top with whipped cream and pecan halves.

Wordless Wednesday

Bird Invasion

Brooks just came tearing out of his room going on and on about "lots of birdies". 5 minutes earlier Hudson and I were looking out the back window at 6 cardinals. So I thought, oh there must be some cardinals out front too. But no, this is what we saw...

Preschool party

Brooks finished up his semester of preschool last Thursday. They follow the Purdue schedule, so he has a month off before they start up again in January. I attended his party last Monday and it was fun seeing him with his preschool friends. They have these bikes that are connected in a circle and he loves to ride on there. His teacher said he would ride all day if they let him! It is one of the big toys they rotate into the room, so it's not there all the time.

Brooks likes to know what the weather is going to do. I was reading him the forecast the other morning and he asked me, "Is that was Jesus says?" and I said no, it's what the weatherman said.

Hudson is stringing together sentences all the time. He likes to ask "Mommy doing?". When I picked him up from church the other morning he came running out of the classroom singing Jingle Bells. He also has a cute rendition of Jesus Loves Me.

Recipes of the Week

Here's some recipes from Hudson's birthday party...

Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2/3 cup oil
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (6 ounce) package chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix flour, 2 C sugar, cocoa, teaspoon of salt and baking soda together.
3. Add oil, water, vinegar and vanilla.
4. Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full with mixture.
5. Mix together until fluffy the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 C sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
6. Add chocolate chips to cream cheese mixture.
7. Drop 1 heaping teaspoon on the top of each cupcake.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. Frost when cool.

White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

4 ounces (half an 8-ounce package) reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 to 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1. Place the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until it is smooth. Set the chocolate aside to cool.

2. Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the melted white chocolate and blend on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Add the peppermint extract and 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar and blend on low until the sugar is incorporated, 30 seconds more. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is fluffy, 1 minute more, adding up to 1/2 cup more sugar if needed to make a spreadable consistency.

Feel free to fold in up to 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy for a crunchy and creamy frosting!

Cranberry Punch

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 3 cups cranberry juice
• 2 1/2 cups orange juice
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 42 fluid ounces 7-Up soda
• ice cubes

Directions

1. Chill fruit juices and 7-Up.
2. Simmer water, sugar and cinnamon sticks together for 10 minutes.
3. Set aside for several hours to allow the mixture to develop the cinnamon spiced flavor.
4. Prior to serving time, remove the cinnamon sticks from the sugar syrup.
5. In a large punch bowl, combine the sugar syrup, cranberry juice, orange juice, and lemon juice.
6. Slowly pour in the 7-Up.
7. Add ice-cubes and garnish with lime slices if desired.

Crockpot Christmas Potpourri

Orange peels, from 2 oranges
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp ground cloves
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
water

I put this all in my mini crockpot and covered it with water. It made the house smell wonderful!

Advent Conspiracy

Check out this video, it's pretty eye-opening.

Look what was on our deck...

Saturday afternoon as I was getting the final touches ready for Hudson's birthday, Ryan frantically called me out from the kitchen. I just figured it was the cat or something. But this is what I saw....

Ok, so how weird is that?! Sorry about the picture, it's not blurry, it just all the smudges the boys leave on the door!

Maybe this possum is coming for revenge? Many years ago I ran over a possum on the way home from Cedar Point. The whole way home we were making possum jokes with our friends. This is the closest I've been to a possum and they are ugly!

Hudson's Birthday Bash

We had a birthday party for Hudson yesterday. We all had a great time with our friends from our small group and Grandma and Pop pop. Hudson loved the cupcakes!

Checking out the cool book that Asa got him.

Umm, is he saying "Mom your cupcakes are #1"?

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 2nd Birthday Hudson!

Wow, I can hardly believe you are 2 today! You have grown up into such a happy easy-going little boy. You love to have fun with your brother. Some of your favorite things are helicopters, balloons, basketball, going to the park, reading books, taking baths and playing outside. Your favorite foods are spaghetti, carnitas tacos, beans, bananas, edamame, muffins, and smoothies. We are all so blessed to have you in our lives. Happy Birthday Hudson!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! There are so many things that I have been blessed with....
My family and friends, good health, a safe and warm home, a free country that allows me to worship Jesus Christ, a very blessed country compared to many other places in this world, food in my pantry.....

It was 3 years ago on Thanksgiving that we took a short trip to Guatemala to meet Brooks for the first time.

Wordless Wednesday

Recipes of the week

I had picked up some chuck steak at Target the other day for 25 cents. Yes 25 cents for 1.5 lbs of chuck steak. It was marked down and then I had a Target.com coupon for it. I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but knew I'd figure something out. I found the Teriyaki steak recipe and it was awesome. It made the meat really tender. I will definitely make this again when I find chuck steak on the cheap. Ryan threw it on the grill instead of broiling it. He seared it on both sides and then finished it off.

Chuck Steak Teriyaki

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sesame seed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 1 teaspoon ginger, ground
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 boneless beef chuck steak

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients except meat.
2. Pour into a large reclosable plastic bag or a shallow baking dish.
3. Trim fat and slash edges of remaining fat at 1-inch intervals on meat.
4. Place meat in marinade, turning to coat.
5. Close bag or cover baking dish.
6. Refrigerate at least 4 or up to 24 hours, turning steak over occasionally.
7. Spray broiler pan with non-stick cooking spray or brush w/ oil.
   
8. Remove meat from marinade and place on broiler pan, reserving marinade.
9. Broil 4-inches from heat source for 10 minutes, basting often.
10. Turn meat over w/ tongs and broil 8 minutes for rare to medium, 10-12 minutes for well done.

Sesame Roasted Green Beans

Ingredients

• 1 lb green beans, ends snapped off
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic (about 3 medium cloves)
• 1 dash ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 4 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil, spread beans on baking sheet.
2. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt; Using hands, toss to coat evenly, and distribute in even layer.
3. Roast in oven for 10 minutes.
4. While roasting, combine garlic, ginger, honey, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes in small bowl.
5. Remove beans from oven. Coat beans evenly with the garlic/ginger mixture; redistribute in even layer.
6. Return to oven and continue roasting until beans are dark golden brown in spots and starting to shrivel, 10-12 minutes longer.
7. Adjust seasoning with salt if necessary, toss well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Stickyanna

For a couple months now, Brooks will randomly say "stickyanna" and then laugh. We had no idea what he meant. He told us it was from Veggie Tales. Who knew what Veggie Tales, he sometimes watches it at church, and rarely at home. Well, I finally figured it out today. Since we were home with a sick Hudson, I let them watch a little Veggie Tales. At a certain scene, they both started laughing and saying "stickyanna". The DVD wasn't saying "stickyanna", but was instead "The piano must go up" in a French accent. If I wasn't listening too hard, I could kind of see where they got it from. I'm glad we finally figured it out!

Recipes of the Week

Here they are....we had the pork roast last week and it was even better than I thought it would be. We had never had a pork sirloin roast before, I got it at the Purdue Meatshop cheap and it was a really good hunk of pork. If you can't find this cut, you could use Pork loin, but it might be a little dry. I think Pork shoulder would be too fatty. We enjoyed it with green beans the first day and had the leftovers (along with all the yummy sauce) over rice.

Surprisingly for you, not all of these recipes come from Recipezaar! The muffin recipe is from my favorite baking cookbook, Mom's Big Book of Baking. I've thought about making this recipe for awhile and finally got around to it this morning. I had some apples that were needing to be used. They were a huge hit with the boys. I think they would have eaten the whole batch if I would have let them.

I have not made the chai tea mix, but plan to soon. I love drinking chai in the winter and this looks like a cheaper alternative. I imagine this would also be good blended with some ice.

Crockpot Cranberry Pork Roast

1 2-3 lb Pork Sirloin Roast
1 can Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1/2 packet Onion Soup Mix
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 TB dijon mustard

1. Place pork roast in crockpot.
2. Sprinkle cumin and onion soup mix over roast.
3. Dump Cranberry sauce on top.
4. Cook on low 4-6 hours or until done.
5. Before serving, stir in mustard.

Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea Mix

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer
2 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ cups unsweetened instant tea
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
¼ tsp white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until it is a fine powder. Add two-three tablespoons of mix to 8 ounces of hot water or milk.

Apple Oat Muffins

3 medium apples
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 cup old-fashioned oats

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners.
2. Peel the apples and grate them using the large holes of your grater. Squeeze the grated apples over the sink to remove excess moisture.
3. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, egg, vanilla, and yogurt. With a wooden spoon, stir until all the ingredients are moistened. Stir in the grated apples and oats.
4. Fill each muffin cup. Bake until they are golden, about 20-22 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

Preschoolers with Cell phones?

After 4 years, we finally replaced our trusty cell phone. Brooks has been having a grand time playing with the old one. It's been deactivated, but still acts like it used to, but doesn't have any service so I don't have to worry about him making calls. Hudson also likes to play with it. This morning he was pretending he was talking on the phone to Memaw.

After Brooks woke up from his nap this morning, he had to know where "his" cell phone was. He said "did Hudson take it or something?". He found it and then told me, "you know some people at preschool have cell phones" and I was like, ummm no kids at preschool have cell phones, and he said "Miss Ashley has one". I told him he could play with his cell phone when he got home.

We all went to a square dance Saturday evening. It was with other families from our church with young kids. We all had a fun time, but Brooks and Hudson did not do any dancing. They just ran around the gym. Brooks was following Jonny around. Jonny is Gloria's son (Hudson's babysitter). Brooks did everything Jonny did. When Jonny got a piece of bread to eat, so did Brooks, and so on.

Recipes of the Week

Here's a couple recipes to share. The Ghetto Garlic bread is a family favorite. I pick up buns on markdown and stash them in the freezer just for this. You could also use hot dog buns if you have some of those. It sounds kinda weird, but try it, it is really good and you won't ever buy frozen garlic bread again!


Easy Vegetable Beef Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (you can use the least expensive, toughest kind)
• 14 1/2 ounces beef broth
• 16 ounces frozen vegetables *I used a Gumbo blend w/okra, yum!*
• 14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes
• 10 3/4 ounces condensed tomato soup
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/4 cups water

Directions

1. In skillet, brown beef and drain off fat. Place beef in 3-4 quart crockpot.
2. Add remaining ingredients.
3. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Ghetto Garlic Bread

Ingredients

4 hamburger buns
3 TB butter, softened
1 TB margarine
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Parmesan cheese

1. Mix the butter, margarine and garlic together.
2. Spread on the open hamburger buns.
3. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Broil until golden brown.

Favorite Foto Friday

I took the boys out to the Purdue Horticulture Park for a "photo shoot" on Tuesday. They loved running around out there!

Wordless Wednesday

Quiet Weekend

We had a nice quiet weekend. Ryan wasn't feeling too hot yesterday so we stayed home. We went to church this morning. We all woke up early (5:30am with daylight savings time change) so it seemed like the longest morning ever, which was not a bad thing. Ryan took Brooks to the mountain bike trails this afternoon and I tried to get some pictures of Hudson.

Pumpkin Recipes

Ok, so most of you know how much I love pumpkin. Here are some recipes.

Pumpkin Chili Mexicana

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped *I use green bell pepper because it's cheaper*
  
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (15 ounce) can Libby's canned pumpkin
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15 1/4 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies *I use a couple jalapenos from the garden*
• 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn, loose-pack
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stirring frequently, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic cooking for approximatley 7 minutes or until tender. Add turkey and cook until browned. Drain.
2. To turkey mixture add tomatoes with juice, pumpkin, tomato sauce, beans, chiles, corn, chili powder, cumin, and pepper. Bring this to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cover saucepan and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

*Jen's notes* I follow step one of the directions and then I cook it all in the crockpot, 6-8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. I know it sounds weird to have pumpkin in chili, but try it! The pumpkin makes it creamy and adds all that good vitamin A.

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 2/3 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Directions

1. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl.
2. In a second bowl, add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and butter; beat well.
3. Gently fold in the flour mixture.
4. Cook according to your waffle iron directions.
5. I do these in my belgian waffle iron and it uses about 1 cup batter and takes 4-5 minutes to bake.
6. They come out a nice deep, golden brown.
7. These are great with a little bit of syrup, but would also be great with honey butter.

*Jen's notes* I haven't tried this recipe yet, but plan to this weekend.

Random thoughts

Here's my first post from my new laptop! Well, technically it's Purdue's laptop, but you know what I mean. Brooks was excited when he saw it on the table this morning, "new computer, Mommy?" and then proceeded to inform Hudson that it was a new computer.

Hudson's favorite game to play right now is rock-a-bye baby. He likes for me to cradle him while he sings "rock bye baby" several times and then he says "break" and wants to be "dropped". He thinks it is great fun.

There are some questions/answers on the wall at preschool. Brooks was asked, "what is silly" and his answer was "when Hudson acts like a monkey."

I took the boys to Barnes & Noble this morning to play with the trains. This is one of their favorite things to do anywhere. They happily played while I read some magazines and sipped a Pumpkin Spice Latte (that I only paid 50 cents for thanks to this coupon!).

And for those who are wondering...Samba is still around and staying out of trees. She has a bully, Naranja Bob that likes to take her food. I think they are secretly friends.

Trip to the Windy City

We took a fall break trip to Chicago this weekend. We had wanted to go over the summer, but never made it there. Here's the highlights...

The boys took their first trip to the Museum of Science and Industry, a favorite memory from both Ryan and my childhoods. Brooks loved the train exhibit (both real and model) and Hudson's favorite was the airplanes. They both enjoyed the robot exhibit and the hatching chicks. We purchased a family membership at our local children's museum which allows us to get in free at over 250 museums throughout the US, including everything but the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. What a deal!

We ate lots of good food. We had lunch in Hyde Park (Ryan and I had both never really been in that neighborhood before, but it's close to the museum so we thought it would be a good stop for lunch) at a Southern place called Dixie Kitchen. They brought out cornmeal pancakes instead of bread, and Ryan had pulled pork, I had an oyster po'boy and the kids had jambalaya. Yummy! For dinner we had promised Brooks Chicago pizza, so we walked over to Giordanos. Brooks agreed that it was better than Pizza Hut and Hudson didn't seem to mind that all he got was the sausage, spinach and crust. Of course we had to make the trek to the North side to eat at El Tinajon. Ryan was able to get his fix of pepian. And we weren't leaving Chicago this time without Garrett's popcorn, so Brooks and Ryan stood in line for that.

We stayed at the Palmer House (again) after a successful bid on Priceline. Our room was 3x as big as it was when Ryan and I stayed there in March. It was as big as our living/dining room! The boys slept remarkably well and even took naps.

The thing that the boys were most excited about seeing was the "bean" in Millennium Park. We walked over Saturday morning. They were so excited to see it! Unfortunately it was chilly and misting when we were there, so it wasn't as enjoyable as we hoped, but they loved seeing it in person. The other thing tied for the best thing was riding the El. They loved riding the choo choo trains and one of the engineers even said hi to Brooks.

We must have worn the boys out, because they slept all the way home. Even through my stop to get a 1/2 bushel of apples!

Brooks chowing down.

Hudson playing a game with me at the hotel.

If you look closely, you can see Ryan in the middle of the picture and Hudson and I on the right.

"This really is the best popcorn ever!"

Recipes of the Week

Here's some great cold weather recipes to warm you up. On another note, we picked up a hardly been used Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker at Goodwill a couple weeks ago. It was the color of the week, so it was a steal at $6.50! I finally made my first batch of ice cream tonight, I went for Coffee Ice Cream since its my favorite at the moment and hard to find in the store. It turned out wonderful! Next up will be Pumpkin Pecan since it's that time of the year!

Crockpot Potato Soup

Ingredients
6 cups peeled, diced potatoes
5 cups water
2 cups diced onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup butter
4 tsp chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
12 oz can evaporated milk
8 oz co-jack cheese, shredded (optional)

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except milk and cheese in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on High 7-8 hours until veggies are tender.
3. Stir in the milk and cheese until heated thoroughly.

50% Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 1/2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Directions

1. Put the ingredients into the bread machine pan in the order listed (and as accurately as possible).
2. Select the whole wheat bread cycle (usually takes 3 1/2 hours).
3. Remove from the pan when it's done and let cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

*Jen's notes* This bread is so easy to slice, it stays intact, unlike some bread machine breads. Brooks says this is his favorite bread!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Ingredients

• 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (15 ounce) package ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Break noodles and place half in bottom of a greased slow cooker.
2. Brown ground beef in saucepan and drain.
3. Stir in italian seasoning and spread half over noodles in slow cooker.
4. Layer half of sauce and water, half ricotta cheese, and then half of mozzarella cheese over beef.
5. Repeat layers.
6. Cover and cook on low 5 hours.

*Jen's notes* Since I made this in my small round crockpot I did 4 layers instead of 2. I also added in some thawed frozen spinach and fresh garlic. This tasted really great, the whole family loved it. I love throwing stuff in the crockpot before I head to work and having it ready to eat when I get home.

Weekend w/o the boys

The boys spent the weekend at Grandma and Pop Pop's house. They had a great time. They loved playing trains, with the dog and seeing Auntie Barb.





Ryan and I enjoyed our time alone. Friday night we went out for cocktails and then to a Purdue jazz concert. Saturday we headed down to Indy had lunch at Red Robin and hit some thrift stores, a bike store and Penzey's spices (I've been wanting to go there forever!). Our main reason for the trip to Indy and our weekend alone, was to attend the Childvision Gala. FTIA (the adoption agency we used for Brooks) started Childvision. The gala was held at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in downtown Indy. This year all the proceeds from the gala went to Casa Guatemala. There were several silent auctions, a live auction, dinner, a live band and salsa dancing. Ryan and I took part in the salsa lessons, but weren't too good at it! We had a great time and were glad to support this wonderful organization.

Sunday morning we slept in...to 8:30! It was so nice! We then headed home for a little bit before we meet at Fair Oaks to fetch the boys. The boys were pretty tuckered out Sunday evening and slept like logs!

Recipes of the Week

We all loved this Spaghetti Casserole. I used Italian sausage and doubled the recipe to have one in the freezer. The Italian dressing reminds me of the house dressing of a local Italian restaurant.

Spaghetti Casserole

Ingredients

• 8 ounces spaghetti, broken in thirds
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to pkg directions; drain.
2. In lg bowl, beat egg, milk and salt.
3. Add drained spaghetti; toss to coat.
4. Place into greased 13x9 baking pan.
5. In lg skillet, cook beef, onion and green pepper until meat is done; drain.
6. Add spaghetti sauce; mix well.
7. Spoon over the spaghetti.
8. Bake, uncovered, at 350* for 20 minutes.
9. Top with the cheese; bake another 13 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
10. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Italian Herb Salad Dressing

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon basil
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Mix all in a jar with a tight fitting lid.
2. Shake well.
3. Shake again before serving.

Pumpkin Painting

Brooks and Hudson got to experience their first Pumpkin Painting Party on Saturday. Ryan and I used to host such a party. I went all out for it. All the food I made had pumpkin in it and it was great fun, but I've taken a break from hosting this party since the boys came along. I was more than happy to let someone else take over the responsibility of hosting a PPP. Our Family Connections group from church got together for the party. We all had a good time with our friends. The boys liked painting their pumpkins, but I think they had more fun just running around with their friends.



The boys ate 3 hot dogs between them at the party. We don't eat hot dogs (I don't really care for them and they are filled with bad things for you) and the way they devoured them it was like it was steak or something!

There is a new hospital opening in town so we went to the open house this afternoon. I should have brought my camera, because there was a medical helicopter. Hudson was so excited to see the helicopter. Brooks said he liked the ambulances the best. It was interesting to see the hospital before it opens to patients. It was a really nice facility, but I hope we aren't making any trips there!