Rock out!

I took Brooks to his first rock concert on Tuesday night. Brooks has been a long time fan of David Crowder Band, it's his favorite band. When I found out 5 months ago that they were making a stop in Lafayette, I knew I had to take him. When I found out it was their farewell tour, there was no question that we had to go. I got him the tickets for his birthday.

He had been patiently waiting for months for this day, and it was worth the wait. It was an amazing concert. AMAZING! John Mark McMillan opened the show, one of my recent favorites. Chris August followed with an acoustic set, he was funny and sounded great. Gungor followed him. Gungor blew me away! You might have heard their recent hit on mainstream CCM, Beautiful Things. They also did an acoustic set with keys/bells/organ, guitar, and a beat-boxing cellist (you can see that on my video yesterday).

DCB* was so good, they are all very talented and I'm glad we got to see them before the end of the road. They played a solid two hours. I loved it when John Mark McMillan joined them to sing How He Loves (he wrote it).

Brooks had a great time and only fell asleep for 5 minutes. We got out of there at 11:30 pm, I'm glad we live only 5 minutes away from the venue.

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

I'm loving the fall weather! Here's a great pumpkin dessert. There's obviously better for you than regular chocolate chip bars because they contain a vegetable, right?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. With a stand or electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add pumpkin puree and mix well. The mixture will look somewhat curdled. Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake bars for 35-40 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.

4. Cool bars completely in pan. Cut into squares and serve.

These carrot "fries" were a great side with quesadillas. They almost tasted like sweet potatoes.

Oven Baked Carrot Fries

Ingredients

• 6 whole Large Carrots
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoons Celtic Sea Salt

Preparation Instructions

Cut each carrot into 2-inch long sections. Cut each section into thin sticks.

In a large bowl toss carrot sticks with olive oil and salt. Spread out carrot sticks on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for 18-22 minutes until carrots are browned.

I was craving a dessert the other night after I taught water aerobics. This quick pudding fit the bill. Make sure to make it in a mug so you can eat it warm.

Microwave Chocolate Pudding for One

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup milk ( I use 1%)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix together milk, salt and cornstarch in microwave safe bowl.
2. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Put in microwave uncovered for 40 seconds on HIGH.
4. Stir until chips are well melted& blended.
5. Heat another 30 seconds.
6. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn't bubble over.
7. At this point if it has not thickened, (will depend on wattage of microwave) keep going for 20 seconds intervals, stirring between each one until thickened.
8. Do keep an eye on it at all times.
9. Eat it right away (which is the way I like it) or let it cool.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

Fall is here, time to stock up on pumpkin! We love oatmeal at our house for a healthy and filling breakfast.

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

• 3 cups quick cooking oats **I used old fashioned oats**
  
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin
• ¼ cup brown sugar (for the top)

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients except the ¼ cup brown sugar for the top.

Spread into a greased 9×13 pan.

Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup brown sugar on top.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

These pumpkin bars make a great treat and are very simple to make.

Pumpkin Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 2/3 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin puree
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour one glass 9 x 13 inch pan.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; add to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Spread into prepared pan.
6. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
8. For the frosting: beat together the cream cheese, butter and confectioner's sugar.
9. Evenly spread over bars after they have cooled.

And what is fall without a pumpkin spice latte? Save yourself some money and make this one at home.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 TB canned pumpkin
1/2 TB sugar
1 TB vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 shot espresso or 1/3 cup very strong coffee

Directions
In a saucepan, combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy.

Pour into a mug and pour the espresso on top.

**Jen's Notes**
I brew my espresso in a Bialetti Moka Express pot. It makes great espresso and doesn't take up a lot of space. I had mine for over a year and it's definitely paid for itself.

I froth my milk with an Ikea Milk Frother, much cheaper than the name brand and mine has held up well.