Another recipe, OK??

So lately I have posted a lot of recipes.  I am pregnant and food is playing a big roll in my world right now.  I am happy to admit that as of my last appointment I had only gained 1 pound.  Not bad for being 20 weeks along.  I however am a week out from my next appointment so we will see how much Halloween weight I have gained.  With that in mind here goes....  I mentioned pumpkin before.  I love it this time of year and try to cook with it as much as possible.  I have been craving a pumpkin spice steamer for weeks now.  I can't bring myself to buy one at Starbucks for 3.50.  Nor can I bring myself to buy a bottle of the flavoring.  I'm cheap I know, but groceries are expensive these days.  4.00 is almost 2 gallons of milk.  In a random search for something to make for dinner tonight I stumbled across a recipe to make your own pumpkin spice syrup.  Here is the recipe I found.  I was like I can do that, and I did only differently :)
So here is what I did, and we had it on our pancakes for dinner and it was delish.

3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (you could use white)
1 tsp pumpkin spice mix
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
Boil you water and add sugar.  Stir till disolved.  Add seasonings and pumpkin puree and cook for 5 minutes. Mine got rather thick and gooey.  Store in fridge.  Now you can have your own homemade pumpkin spice steamer, latte or whatever you choose to do with it.

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater.....

It is October, that glorious time of year when apples are being harvested and pressed into cider and pumpkins have ripened on the vine, and Halloween.  Have I ever mentioned how much I adore Halloween?  I will shortly be taking pictures of the glory that is Halloween in my house :)  The other night I was craving something warm and fallish (I know it isn't a word), but you know what I am talking about right?  Something warm and filled with fragrant spices.  So I whipped up some pumpkin cookies cause they are fast and easy.  They were good but I left the chocolate chips out for my crazy family.  For the most part they like chocolate they just don't seem to like it in baked goods.  I was missing them however.  Plus the can of pumpkin I used was huge and I only needed 1 cup for my recipe.  So over the last week we have had pumpkin fest at our house so that we don't waste what was left of the can.  Pumpkin can be kinda expensive these days.  So here is what we have had.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, Pumpkin Pie French Toast, and Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Carmel Glaze, all have turned out amazing.

Not the best pictures I know, but I have already explained that one :)

Soup Season

I have been so excited for things to cool down a bit so we can get to those yummy delish soups and other comfort foods.  I am also excited to go into the kitchen to cook and have it warm me up instead of roasting me to death.  My sister Melissa made this for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago as a appetizer and I must admit I have never liked tomato soup.  I loved this and have also come to realize that tomato soup when it doesn't come from a can is fantastic!!!  Especially when paired with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Smoky Bacon and Tomato soup
Smoky Bacon and Tomato Soup Ingredients
• smoked bacon, chopped  (about 1 lb)
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• stalk of celery, chopped
• 6-8 carrots, peeled and chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 – 2 quarts chicken stock, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream (optional)
Preparation
Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat with the chopped bacon, cook until crisp. Remove the crispy bacon from the pot and drain most of the grease.
To the soup pot, add the garlic, onion, celery, carrots and some salt and pepper. Cook, until they start to get tender
Remove the tender veggies from the pot to a blender, add ½ of the bacon, throw in a big splash of the chicken stock, the oregano and the tomatoes and puree until smooth. I usually have to blend half and then the other half.
Return to the pot, place back over medium-high heat and add the remaining chicken stock, sugar, and heavy cream, if you are using it. Bring up to a bubble and simmer
Serve the Smokey Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches alongside.

Sit a spell.

About a month ago our church sponsored the annual Father and Sons camp out.  I love that weekend because Lance takes the little man out for an over nighter and I get to spend time with my girls.  We started our evening with dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory, which the girls have now dubbed their favorite restaurant.  On the way home I just had a feeling.  I knew if I stopped at the DI (Utah's version of Good Will), I would find something magical.  I was right, I scored an awesome chair and a small lamp that I actually had to dig for it was all tangled  up with parts from a ceiling fan.  Fast forward to today and I have finished the chair's makeover.  So do you want to see??

This chair is up for sale for 30.00
I had acutally decided to leave this lamp its origional color, until I realized that someone had replaced the top electical part with silver and the rest of the lamp was antique brass :(

So it got a coat of Krylon Ivory and a good dose of glaze :)  So this done I had to figure out where to put this little cutie.  The lighting in the living rooms isn't great so I put it on the piano, perfect little piano lamp.

Home Run!

WOW, I hadn't realized it had been this long since I posted.  A very big sorry.  Right now "dinner" is a dirty word around here.  I make a meal plan, buy the groceries and then can't make myself make the stuff I planned.  Really bizzarre I know but I am pregnant.  Tonight was no exception.  I googled simple dinner meals.  It pulled up a site called Moms Who Think.  They have 8 weeks of simple meal plans all layed out for you.  I surfed around their site for a few minutes when I came upon this recipe  Parmesan Dijon Chicken.  It was super fast and simple to put together and I had all the ingredients.  With the chicken in the oven I was trying to figure out what to serve with it (besides the broccoli, which ended up being slimy so I couldn't use it).
I had made Rice and Mulligan for breakfast and had some left over rice.  So I put on my experiment hat and went to work.
 Garlic Dijon Rice Pilaf
2-3 tbsp  Olive oil
1/3 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups cooked rice
1-2 tsp dijon mustard
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste.
Put oil in 10 inch skillet to heat up, add onions and saute for 4-5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds (garlic burns fast).  Add rice and stir around for about 5-7 minutes until it is all heated through.  Add dijon mustard and salt'n'pepper stir it all in.  Remove from heat and sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.  Cover and let the cheese melt on top.

This picture was snapped quickly before the last piece disappeared!!!

 (Yep that is today's mail sitting on the counter while we ate, don't judge please :) )

Both items were a complete hit!  The kids ate without complaining and Lance ate 2 1/2 pieces.  The 3 piece he had to split in half with Lainey.  Lilly loved the rice and ate everything without a fight.  All in all it was a home run!!  Both items have been requested to appear on the table again.  Best part was that it was on the table start to finish in 40 minutes!

Being a Mom

Sometimes life of a mom is hard.  Very rewarding but hard.  So I have a 5 year old who doesn't like to go to bed.  She gets that from her dad's side of the family.  She started Kindergarten today and is so excited to go back tomorrow.  She often has a hard time falling asleep.  Sound familiar???  I have recently been through a 2+ year illness that turned me towards homeopathic remedies.  5 Doctors and no results, whats a girl to do?  I love essential oils.  I am building a collection of them 1 or 2 at a time because they are expensive.  I have recently purchased lavender oil.  HOLY COW, I love that stuff.  Here enters the first part of this post.  Above 5 year old has a hard time falling asleep.  Mix 1 drop in with some coconut oil or unscented lotion and give them a foot rub.  I have done this 3 times in the last 2 weeks and within 10 minutes of each foot rub I have a sleeping 5 year old. 
I use doTerra, I know there are several reputable brands out there of oils, but this is what I use.  Miracle in a bottle.  Give it a try and see who falls asleep faster the parent with it on their hands or the kid with it on their feet.

MMM..... Zucchini Bread

Its that time of year when all of us who planted a garden are harvesting zucchini the size of baseball bats, well assuming the gophers didn't eat your whole garden.  That is a story for another day.  If you didn't plant any I am sure those that planted some are trying to pawn some off on you.  I would suggest locking your car doors at church to prevent such items being left in your car.  I have my grandparents supplying me right now.  You will notice in the picture that some of this is in muffin pans.  After my EUREKA moment that you can read about here.  I have been trying to come up with breakfast items I can stick in the freezer for later breakfasts when cereal won't do.  So I have been doing half in a loaf and 1/2 in muffins that I am freezing. (Thanks for the idea Kristen)
I am sure everybody has the perfect recipe, I am here to tell you, YOU DON"T!! 

I have tried multiple recipes in the past until I found this one.  It is so moist and the perfect amount of sweet.  I LOVE cinnamon.  Like I want to marry it, okay I don't but you get the idea.  This recipe calls for a lot of cinnamon.  I got the original recipe here at allrecipes.com.  Make it her way or try my slightly more nutritious version.
Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 tsps vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 325.  Grease 2 8x4 inch loaf pans.  In a large bowl beat eggs until light an frothy.  Mix in oil, applesauce, and sugar.  Stir in zucchini and vanilla.  Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Mix into egg mixture and stir until combined.  Divide batter into prepared pans and bake for 60-70 minutes.