my blessed life

It's been a fun, fall-ish couple of days around our house. Carving pumpkins together, some requiring fancier tools than others:) Working while the pumpkin seeds roasted and filled the house with their yummy aroma. Posing on the porch with their pumpkins (try to ignore The Princess' completely eclectic outfit..heehee). I chose not to carve my pumpkin this year-- I was too excited to find one of those gorgeous cheese wheel pumpkins again. And it's just to pretty to carve. I want to enjoy looking at it for another month! Oh--and that *neck* pumpkin... I was told it makes wonderful pumpkin pies. So now I just need to figure out the best way to cook it up:) Suggestions??? We're also enjoying beautiful weather and this lovely view from our back deck. Tonight the kiddos donned their Star Wars costumes, Captain Rex and Boba Fett, and headed out for some candy. I think I'll be sneaking a few pieces! (I think The Princess is in a growth spurt; the difference in their hei...

I am SO loving this cooler weather we're having! I love waking up in the mornings, kicking on the heat and enjoying a nice hot cup of hazelnut coffee...pure bliss! This is really my favorite time of year for cooking--I love making casseroles, soups, all those good, hearty foods! This week will be no exception. I can hardly wait to dig in! Monday: Beef Veggie Soup (in the slow cooker) with Cornbread Tuesday: Alfredo Tuna Bake Wednesday: Broccoli & Cheddar Soup (as found on Pinterest ) Thursday: {small group} Taco Braid Friday: Chicken & Dumplings Saturday: to-be-determined I would also like to roast up one of these this week in order to put the meat in the freezer and have some wonderful, fresh broth, too. It'll be perfect for all those soups and casseroles coming up! Happy Cooking to you this week! This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie .

This is a yummy little recipe that I made this past weekend. If you haven't tried these, you really should! They're the perfect Fall treat. Pumpkin Cookies  For The Cookies 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces) 3/4 cup evaporated milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract For The Icing 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ***** Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside. Put butter and brown sugar into bowl of electric mixer and blend on mediu...

And so begins another week of meals. I wonder what it would look like if we summed up our lives with just the dinners that we eat...could be interesting , eh? This week I am striving to eat within the bounds of my pantry and freezer. They have both gotten a bit random and untidy--meaning that I've bought lots of things that need to be eaten. So I'm trying out a couple of new recipes that I found in one of my cookbooks, Dinners on a Dime : I'll let you know how they turn out! Sunday: Roast with carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and rolls Monday: Pinto Beans and Cornbread Tuesday: Breakfast-for-Dinner Wednesday: Beef Veggie Soup (from Sunday's leftovers) Thursday: Speedy Stroganoff* Friday: Alfredo Tuna Bake* Saturday: {leftovers} *new-to-us recipes This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

My kitchen is not *finished* by any means, but we have made a big start on it and I am already loving it. Before, not so much. Frankly, it was just depressing. Let's start with some * BEFORE * shots: (notice the linoleum that never looks clean no matter how much you clean it) (notice the missing stove top burner) And now for the * AFTER: PHASE ONE * shots: Here's the china hutch I found for a *song* on a local swap/sale website. My plan is to paint it an antiqued white. In my spare time, you know:) The top holds some of my blue and white pieces that I've collected over the years. It was so fun to unpack my wedding china after having it in storage for 2+ years! It was moved 5 times during that time and, thankfully, not a piece was broken! This is another antique hutch that we picked up at a favorite local junk store for yet another *song*. This is also going to be painted an antiqued white. Yes, I have a lot of painting in my near future. Here is one of the new ...

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray . Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness , everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7 (the Message)

1. Run really fast 2. Jump as high as you can 3. Dig in and enjoy ***** There's nothing like a rake and a bunch of leaves to keep my kiddos entertained for hours!

Last week was one of the busiest weeks we've had in quite a while! The only thing from my menu plan that actually got made was the White Chili ...but, boy, was it good! It's the perfect thing for a cool Fall day. The rest of the nights at home were spent eating up some leftovers before they went bad. I know, not so fun, but it has to be done occasionally, right? This week promises to be just about as busy as last week, but at least we won't be out of town any and hopefully that will make things a tad less hectic. I'm also plugging in the crockpot for a couple of meals this week, too, in order to make it a bit easier. Also, I've mentioned before that I've been reviewing e-Mealz through TOS Homeschool Crew. Well, that review is now posted (along with a couple of their recipes!) and I'd love for you to go check it out--then go check out e-Mealz ! I'd love to hear if you've used their site before or are currently using them and what you thi...

For the past month and a half or so I have had the opportunity to check out e-Mealz . I've often heard friends talk about using this meal planning site and have been curious about it. I've been planning my family's dinners for nearly 4 years now and really do love it. I sometimes say that meal planning saved my domestic life--and it's true! I've always enjoyed cooking, but I would often look at the clock around 4 pm and freak out over what in the world we were going to have for dinner. Then I would frantically start looking through the cabinets and freezer, trying to throw something together, sometimes sending Vince to the store at the last minute to pick up some missing ingredient (spending more than we should). I just knew there had to be a better way. So I started meal planning--with great success! So since I've been planning meals on my own--using my recipe files, cookbook collection and various websites as resources--for so long, I wondered what ...

Wow! What a fun and full week around here! I'm a little exhausted from it all, but it's been great. We only spent two days doing school book work this week, but we enjoyed some wonderful field trips and I think those are just as educational as the book work. On Monday we headed to Nashville and our very first stop was McKay Books . It's only the most awesome used book store I've ever been to! I confess that I love, love, love a good used book store because that means I can buy even more books since the prices are so great. McKay's was no exception and I hope to visit there again soon! One book that we picked up was a children's cookbook for Mr. B. He couldn't wait to make something from it! So one day this week he and The Princess whipped up a batch of *Fruit on a Stick*and then promptly gobbled them up! I got to sneak one of them and they were really good, of course:) He was pretty proud of himself, making his first *recipe* from his very own...