Thursday, October 29, 2009

Halloween Recipes

Here are a few more fun Halloween recipes I just found on a WW message board. Cute ideas! :)



Creepy-Creature Cake
Ingredients
• 1 box (18.25 ounces) devil's-food cake mix
• 1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
• 2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
• Red decorating icing
• Gummy worms, candy bugs, candy body parts, and mini marshmallows
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan. Prepare cake according to package directions and bake. Cool 15 minutes and invert cake onto wire rack; let cool completely.
2. Frost cake and cover with cookie crumbs. Pipe red icing to look like dripping blood. Place worms and candy bugs and body parts around cake.
Make bloody hand: Fill a rubber glove with mini marshmallows, close the wrist with a rubber band, then use red markers for blood and black markers for fingernails. Place hand inside center of cake and cover wrist with crumbs .

Forked Eyeballs

These scary-good Halloween treats, prepared and eaten on the same fork, begin with a doughnut hole dunked in white chocolate.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:

2 (11-ounce) bags white chocolate chips

12 doughnut holes

Semisweet chocolate chips

Tube of red decorator frosting
1. To coat a dozen doughnut holes, melt the white chocolate chips over low heat (and keep the chocolate warm while you work). With a fork, spear each doughnut hole and submerge it in the melted chocolate to coat it, then gently tap off any excess.

2. Stick a semisweet chocolate chip with its point cut off onto each doughnut hole, cut end first. Place the forks (handle side down) in a mug and allow the chocolate coating to harden.

3. Use a tube of red decorator frosting to add squiggly veins radiating out from the pupils.

Jack O'Lantern Stew

Prep Time:25 minInactive Prep Time:15 minCook Time:1 hr 15 minLevel:
EasyServes:
6 to 8 servings. Ingredients
•1 (9 to 12-inch) pumpkin
•1 large onion, chopped
•1 green pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
•1 red pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
•4 carrots, thinly sliced into rounds
•3 celery sticks, thinly sliced
•2 cloves garlic, crushed
•1 pound lean ground beef
•1 pound ground chicken or turkey
•2 cups cooked rice (instant is okay)
•1 large can diced tomatoes
•1 large can tomato soup
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the insides. Rinse well. Carve a spooky face onto the pumpkin, without going all the way through the flesh. Rinse well, oil outside of pumpkin. Bake the pumpkin shell for 30 minutes.

While shell is baking: saute the onion, green and red peppers, carrots, celery, and garlic until the vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Brown ground beef and chicken. Add the veggies and cooked rice and cook over low heat, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Remove pumpkin from oven and let stand 15 minutes. Stir the tomatoes and soup into the meat mixture. Place meat mixture into pumpkin. Put back in oven for 20 minutes. Serve on a platter with cheesy biscuits.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Seeing through a child's eyes




Oh, to see through a child's eyes! We decided since it was a beautiful day, that we would finally take Sutton up to our neighborhood park and check out the swings. We've had such a cold rainy fall so far, we just hadn't had the chance. She absolutely loved it! The smile on her face was awesome! I couldn't stop smiling myself! It is so cool to see your child do something for the first time. It's a indescribable feeling. Pure joy! I was having so much fun, I jumped on the swing next to her. She got a kick out of that as well. She thought it was pretty funny that her old Mommy was swinging, too! I can't wait to go back again. Perhaps we'll have to go tomorrow! Ahhh...to be a child again!

On an unrelated note, Congrats to both the Cyclones and the Hawkeyes for their awesome victories this weekend!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Request for Halloween recipes

I recently had a friend and follower, Jaime, who requested some fun recipes for a Halloween party. I really didn't have many of my own, so I have been looking up some online. I will post them as I find them. Most of these I will not have tried, but think they sound good and fun! The fondue I just posted sounds soooo good! We may have to break out the fondue pot and treat ourselves!

Halloween Recipes

Cheddar and Hard Cider Fondue

Food Network Kitchens

From Food Network Kitchens

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (1)

  • Cook Time:

    20 min

  • Level:

    Intermediate

  • Yield:

    6 servings (3 cups fondue)

Ingredients

  • 1 (12-ounce) bottle hard cider
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 pound Gruyere, grated
  • 1/2 pound sharp Vermont or New York yellow cheddar
  • 3 tablespoons corn starch
  • 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Salt
  • 1 tablespoon Bourbon, whiskey or apple jack, optional

Fondue Dippers:

  • Cooked chicken and apple sausages, chorizo, or mini hot dogs; sliced baguette or black bread, radishes, roasted shallots, roasted mushrooms or small fingerlings or baby potatoes,pears, apples, or pretzels.

Directions

Heat cider, broth, Worcestershire, and garlic in a medium pot over medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Toss the cheeses together in a medium bowl. Sift the corn starch over the cheese, and toss to coat lightly.

Using a wooden spoon, sprinkle some cheese mixture into the warm liquid and continue to stir in small amounts of cheese until it is all incorporated and the fondue is smooth and melted, about 15 minutes. Stir in cayenne, salt and Bourbon, if using.

Transfer to a fondue pot or double boiler and serve with desired dippers.

Copyright 2008 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved


Chocolate Eclair Dessert

Chocolate-Éclair Icebox Dessert

22 1/2 sheets (about 1 [14-ounce] box) low-fat honey graham crackers, divided
Cooking spray
3 cups fat-free milk
2 (3.4-ounce) packages fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix
1 (8-ounce) tub fat-free cream cheese
1 (8-ounce) tub frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar


Arrange 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine 3 cups milk, pudding mix, and cream cheese in a large bowl, and beat at low speed of a mixer 1 minute or until thick. Fold in whipped topping. Spread half of the pudding mixture over graham crackers, and top with 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets. Repeat the procedure with the remaining half of pudding mixture and 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets.

Combine 1/4 cup milk, softened margarine, honey, and unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl, and beat well with a mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar to milk mixture, and beat well. Spread chocolate glaze over graham crackers. Cover dessert and tent with foil; chill 4 hours.

Yield: 18 servings

CALORIES 234 FAT 5.8g FIBER 0.8g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 1998

Chips Ahoy Dessert

One of my WW friends, Linda, wanted some point friendly dessert recipes today for the upcoming holidays, so I thought I would post some here for her! :) Enjoy!


Chips Ahoy Dessert

1/2 cup fat free milk
18 reduced fat Chips Ahoy Cookies
2 cups fat free milk
1 8 oz. fat free Cool Whip
1 small box chocolate fat free, sugar free pudding mix

Pour 1/2 cup of the milk in a shallow bowl. Dip cookies in the milk very briefly and line 8 X 8 dish with them. Take 1/2 the Cool Whip and spread over cookies. Mix the chocolate pudding with 2 cups milk. Layer over top of Cool Whip. Dip next 9 cookies in the milk and lay on top of pudding. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Makes 9 servings

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 envelope dry vegetable soup
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 cans buttermilk biscuits

Place chicken breasts in crock pot. Add soups carrots and milk. Cook on low 5-6 hours. Shred chicken and add biscuits. Turn crock pot to high heat and let go for approximately 45 minutes.

You could definitely substitute frozen mixed vegetables if you don't have fresh. Also, you could use 2 cans cream of chicken or use cream of potato instead of the cream of celery. There are many versions of this recipe. You can change it to your liking.

Enjoy! :)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Mommy's Weekend Away

This last weekend, I went away with my friend, Traci, for a little shopping and time away. It was the first time in at least the 11 months since Sutton was born that I went away and left her and Daddy at the same time. They did great together! Daddy took her out to run some errands on Friday and on Saturday they went to church. Sutton went to the nursery. She has had some issues with being left there, so we are slowly adjusting to it. Sean said when he went to get her, they said she did great until the last few minutes when the little boy she was playing with had to leave. How cute is that?! Watch out Daddy...she already likes boys! :)

As for my time away, it was fun! On Friday, we headed to Osage Beach, MO, aka. The Ozarks. We hit the outlet mall there. I think Traci was a little concerned my shopping weekend wasn't going to pan out when I wasn't buying much there. No worries! I caught up on Saturday when we headed toward Branson. I picked up goodies at Coach Factory (they had an extra 25% off if you donated a dollar toward breast cancer research), Gap Outlet, Jockey, Victoria's Secret and Maurices. Who knew Maurices had jeans that would fit our age! They had a denim sale going on and I got a cute pair of jeans for $24! I highly recommend if you are looking for new jeans at a great price to check them out!

I almost forgot the funniest part of our trip! Friday night we decided to go somewhere and pick up some bottled water and snacks to keep in the hotel and car. We found a grocery store called Paul's Supermarket. Any of you who know me know that I love to joke around in a NY/NJ accent. I spent a lot of vacations as a child in NJ with my mom's family. They have some mean NJ accents. I think I have a pretty good one, too! So, I was joking around talking about "Pauwls" being run out by a bigger chain like Hy-Vee and was being rather loud as we were walking into the store. Traci was cracking up, as was I. The manager who was around our age was walking out of the store at the same time and looked at us like we were drunk. Sadly, we weren't. Of course when we went to check out, he was there again. I said to him that he probably thought we were drunk. He did say that was his first thought. Friday night = Girls out on the town. We said nope! He said, "You must just be high on life then. That's good!" It's probably not near as funny written here, but let me tell you, it was really funny as it was happening. With that, I'll sign off for today. Try to get high on life today and have a good laugh!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A blessed day!




Sunday we celebrated Sutton's baptism. We were so excited and nervous all at the same time! We were worried that she would cry, scream, poop, toot, you name it! Of course, everyone reassured us that it would be fine and we couldn't help it if she did any of those things anyway! I am pleased to announce that none of the aforementioned happened. She did great! It was a beautiful and blessed moment. We also felt very blessed to have Pastor Adam Hamilton baptize Sutton. He is a wonderful man with a beautiful message. Also in the picture are Sutton's godparents and our great friends, Ed and Traci Bellamy. They are responsible for us finding this church, so in addition to being our close friends, they were the obvious choice to be godparents! Sutton is one blessed little girl. Great godparents and some pretty special angels watching over her from heaven.

On a cute side note, Sutton like Adam so much that she reached out for him when we got pictures taken with him after the service. How cute is that? I think Adam enjoyed it as much as she did since his girls are all grown up now. :)


Saturday, October 10, 2009

Cheesy Chicken Cups

These are really good and I'm guessing they are pretty kiddo friendly, too! :)


CHEESY CHICKEN CUPS

Servings | 10 (2 pts. each)
1 cup diced chicken breast ( I shredded mine)
1 7.5oz Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
1 can of healthy request cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup 2% cheddar cheese
non fat cooking spray
Instructions

Preheat oven 400.

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray. Press each biscuit into the bottom and up sides of muffin cups. Combine other ingredients except cheese, spoon mixture into biscuits sprinkle cheese on the top of each one. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Zesty Corn Chowder

Here's another favorite in our house! Sean asks for it regularly. Easy and yummy, what more can you ask for?! :)

Zesty Corn Chowder

1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can ff cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 (4 oz.) can green chilies or 1 (7 oz.) can salsa verde
1 1/2 cups 2 % shredded cheddar cheese

In a 3 qt. saucepan, combine milk, soups and broth; blend well. Add all remaining ingredients except cheese. Heat through, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

I don't know about you, but we love soup on cold rainy days! It has been raining all day here in Kansas City. So much for all of those errands I was going to run today! Oh well! I am really looking forward to dinner tonight, as this is what I have in the crock pot...

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb. shredded cooked chicken
1 can Ro-Tel
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c. water
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen corn
1 Tbls. chopped cilantro

Directions:

Place chicken, Ro-Tel, enchilada sauce, onion, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high setting for 3 to 4 hours.

You can't get much easier than this! You could also make it on the stove top if you don't have a slow cooker. To make it even easier, you could use frozen chopped onion, shred some store bought rotisserie chicken or use canned chicken. If you don't like cilantro, leave it out. I also added a little bit of chopped carrot and some shredded yellow squash to mine. Any soup is adaptable and an easy way to sneak in some extra veggies!

You can top it with crushed baked tortilla chips, chopped tomato, cilantro, avocado, sour cream and cheese. Yummy! Enjoy! :)

Three Times the Giggles: Jammies - A Giveaway!

Hey Everyone! My new friend, Helen, is having a Giveaway on her blog, www. threetimesthegigles.blogspot.com. Go on over there and check it out! You will love her blog and her adorable identical triplet boys!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Ode to our Grandmothers :)

We finally gave in and bought a new dishwasher! It was delivered this morning at 7:23 am. I know this because I was still in bed! It was rare that Sutton was still sleeping and Daddy had to go in to the office early! We thought there was no way we would be the first to be delivered between 7-11 am. Well, we were! Oh well! It's here! Now just waiting for Sean to hook it up.

We had to remove our old dishwasher so they could take it away. Kind of like "cash for clunkers" only with appliances! Sean and our good friend, Ed, took it out on Sunday. So...I have been hand washing dishes since then. As I was doing the dishes last night and grumbling about it, I thought of my Grandma Thys. She raised 4 boys out on the farm. I pictured her life of cooking, cleaning, washing out cloth diapers, hand washing dishes and doing chores all day long, every day. Can you even imagine? No dishwashers or modern conveniences of life today! I came to the conclusion that they didn't know any different. Everyone in their day did that. I would pull my hair out! The cooking would be no problem. The other things, not so much! Obviously, we all have to do these things, but we have lots of other distractions in between. My dad always likes to comment if my front walk isn't swept off when he comes to visit that..."Grandma (meaning my great grandma) used to sweep the walk every day". Well, Gees! After her kids were raised and Grandpa had passed away, what else did she have to do? She didn't have to cook all day long anymore. Might as well sweep the walk! God Bless our Grandmothers! I almost want to bake something as I am thinking about them. That would get me out of sweeping the front walk!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Sutton's First Visit to a Pumpkin Patch


Oh boy did we have fun today! I was so excited for Sutton's first visit to a pumpkin patch. Heck, it might have even been my first visit to an actual pumpkin patch on a farm! It started with a hay rack ride out to the patch and then we were told how to cut the pumpkins off the vine. It was so fun to watch all of the kids running around. They had a ball! When everyone had their pumpkin, we rode back to where all of the animals were. We got to see pigs, goats, ponies and baby chicks. Sutton just loves goats! I think she thinks the baby goats are dogs, just like Rusty. She calls Rusty, da da (no offense to Daddy, but they are both da da!) and she was calling the goats da da, too.

We went with the mom's group I joined at our church called Building Better Moms. It was really fun to meet the other moms that I hadn't had a chance to at our meetings. I can't wait to see everyone again at our next meeting!

Now that we've been to the pumpkin patch, I want to go to a Cider Mill next. Maybe when Grandpa Thys and Grandma Glenda come down this weekend we will take them, too!

Sunday, October 4, 2009



Wow...what a terrible football game. For those of you who don't know, with about 30 seconds to go, ISU scored a touchdown to be down by one point. All we had to do was make the extra point to tie the game. As the kicker lined up, I said to myself, "Just make the kick, just make the kick!" Well...he kicked it, it was low and it was blocked. Talk about a sucker punch to the gut! So, we lost the game. From a great high to an awful low in minutes. Oh well...you win some, you lose some!

As I mentioned before, the power of Facebook is quite incredible. The picture to the left is of me with one of my college roommates. I had not seen Janet and her husband in about 18 years! We had a good time tailgating and catching up. Now we can always keep in touch. We tailgated with them and some of their friends who owned the RV we were standing in front of. Now, let me tell you, that is the way to tailgate! You have your own potty and a warm place to sit! Priceless! Thanks to them for their hospitality!

ISU is in a rebuilding, well, lets be honest...a building phase. It does seem like we have a great coach in Paul Rhoads. He knows the strengths and weaknesses on the team and how to coach around them. Hopefully he will stick around and build a great team! Go Cyclones! :)

Friday, October 2, 2009

The power of Facebook



As most of you know, I am addicted to Facebook! I have reconnected with people I thought I would never talk to or see again! It is amazing! This weekend, Iowa State is playing at Arrowhead Stadium against Kansas State. I posted on Facebook that we were going and asked if anyone out there was coming down. I now know of at least 3 families I haven't seen in years who are coming. How cool is that? One of my old roommates and her husband are coming down with their neighbors and invited us to tailgate with them. Am I excited? You could say so! I have my ISU outfit and my cd of the ISU marching band all ready to go! Next up...tailgate food! I am trying to think of something festive. Perhaps red and gold cupcakes or cookies. Yummy!

We are even going to the "pep rally" at the Power & Light District tonight. This is a rare treat for us to get to go out without the little one. She loves her sleep and likes to turn in early. So, "Aunt" Traci and "Uncle" Ed are coming to watch her until Grandma Claycamp gets here. She is going to take her all day tomorrow. It will be their first outing together. They are going to watch cousin Raini play volleyball somewhere by Garnett. Mommy is a little nervous, but I know I have to let her do things like this, right? I'm sure they will have a fun day!

Ok...off to make tailgate goodies! I will hopefully have lots of fun pictures to share after tomorrow! GO CYCLONES! :)

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Sausage & Hash Brown Casserole

I am happy to report that dinner was back to normal tonight. Last minute creation that came out great! :) Someday I will remember to take pictures of my food. Until then, just use your imagination.

Sausage & Hash Brown Casserole

30 oz. pkg. frozen hash browns
1 can reduced fat cream of potato soup
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
3 tbls. skim milk
14 oz. smoked turkey sausage
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
paprika
black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Mix first 6 ingredients together in pan. Sprinkle with paprika and pepper to taste. Bake for 30 minutes. Top with cheese bake for 15 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

The cream of soups are all pretty interchangeable. Use whatever types you like.

6 servings = 7 pts. each
8 servings = 5 pts. each



This is "Sirweus"!


So, as many of my Facebook friends know, I accidentally burned our dinner in the crock pot last night. This is what I get for being organized! Anyway...because of this disaster, we decided to go out to eat. Shortly after we left, I said to Sean, "I think that I left Rusty out". He assured me that I didn't. When we got home there was a note on our door. Sean went up and read it and comes back to the car and says I did leave Rusty out. Ok, thanks for letting me know that, but where is he? Sean has a bit of a 'flair for the dramatic'. My heart was pounding through my chest. Finally he said the neighbors have him! Sheesh! He was just fine.

Fast forward a few hours later, when the story actually becomes funny. Sutton is a big fan of "The Wonder Pets". For those of you who don't know what this is, it is a cute little cartoon show on Nick Jr. It is about three little "pets", consisting of a duckling, hamster, and turtle. Needless to say they all talk in baby voices. The premise of the show is that they always get a call about an animal in "twouble". Then they go to save it. The little duckling always says, "This is "Sewius". We have watched it quite a bit lately and it just makes Sean and I laugh. So, what does this have to do with the story? All of the sudden Sean starts singing..."Ring, ring! Ring, ring!" "There's an animal in twouble! It is Rusty, he's on the patio! His mommy locked him out!" And then in the duck voice he says, "This is sewius!" That just made me lose it! I was laughing so hard I almost wet my pants...literally! It got us to laughing so hard there was silence. I love when something tickles me so much I almost cry! Laughter is the best medicine!

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