Baseball Game

On Saturday night we went to a Padres game. It was fun, but Lane got bored. The Padres won though so that was good. It is pretty cool though to be so close to the stadium, it's only like 15-20 minutes away. It was family fireworks night too so afterward there was this huge fireworks show. The stadium is so cool because it's right in the middle of downtown. In the picture you can see big buildings right outside of the stadium, the people in the apartments could probably watch the games right out their window. Now if only we could get to a Chargers game, I am way more entertained with football!

It feels like fall

Today feels more like fall. In fact Reese said it, "it feels like fall today, we should go buy some gouda cheese." He cracks me up. Anywho, it's a little breezy and it makes me want to stay inside and cook or bake. Instead of doing that though I watched a lot of food network and burned a yummy smelling Yankee candle tart. The American Pie Competition was quite interesting and hilarious, made me want to bake a pie, thank goodness I didn't have all the ingredients. I love how the competitors get so into it! It's like they are winning an Olympic Gold medal for pie baking! This is what I choose to watch on TV, am I the only one?

Back to the Yankee candle tarts, the real reason for my post, my love for them. I loved burning them when we lived in 29 Palms because our house was teeny tiny and you could smell it all over the down stairs. Then when we moved to Sumas I didn't seem to burn them quite as often. Now this fall I have bought a few and I have renewed my love for Yankee candle tarts. No other tarts compare. They smell so great and have such fun scents. I went and got a few autumn scents the other day. I love shopping for them and going down the row smelling all of them. In Ontario, CA their is a wonderful little store in the mall that has every scent of Yankee candle tarts imaginable. I used to drive 1 1/2 hours there and stock up on them. I can't wait for the Christmas season so I can pick out all of the yummy seasonal scents. Oh, the simple pleasures in life....

Goulash Recipe

Here is the Goulash recipe for those of you who were interested. It is from Paula Deen. I halved the recipe here and we still had leftovers.

Goulash

1 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups water
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp House Seasoning (recipe follows)
1/2 Tbsp seasoned salt
1 cup dried macaroni

In Dutch oven, saute the ground beef over medium high heat. Drain off grease. Add the onions to the pot and saute until they are tender about 5 minutes. Add water, along with tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, house seasoning, and seasoned salt. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 20-25 minutes.

Add the macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves and allow the mixture to sit about 30 minutes before serving. (I didn't do this, depends how much time you have I guess)


House Seasoning (Paula Deen)

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months. (Great for seasoning on a lot of different things, I always keep it in my cupboard)

My little (big) guy

Lane had his physical for preschool yesterday. He weighs 45 lbs and is almost 44 inches tall, 95th percentile for height and weight. He did really good even though he didn't want to go. He had to get 3 shots, the poor kid was crying and so sad, but so brave. Afterward we went to Target and I got him some Legos, that made him feel better. Although while we were waiting for the doctor to come in Lane was almost falling asleep in the chair and he felt really warm. He kept saying how cold he was and shivering, this was all before the shots. So I get him home and take his temp and it's 102. I gave him Tylenol and an hour later he was fine and has been fine ever since. I kept him home from school today anyway. I thought I'd post a picture of him that I took the other day. He really likes glueing. He even has blue glittery glue. That day he had collected a whole bunch of leaves and shells and was glueing them onto a big piece of paper, notice the PUDDLE of glue.

New Menu for this week

I put the new menu up for the week. I know a couple people were asking about the Goulash. I will try to post it within the next couple of days. Have a great week!

Pay It Forward

How does it work? Here are the rules: I will send a little gift (of my choosing) to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this "PIF" exchange, and who make the same pledge on their own blog. The only thing you have to do in return is PAY IT FORWARD - on your own blog. If you've already done this on your blog, or do not have one and just like to comment on mine, feel free to do it anyway without have to pay it forward, just for fun. My sister Michele did this on her blog and I am finally doing mine. Thanks for the gift Michele!! So the first 3 people get a gift....ready, set, go!

Corn Chowder

I made the Corn Chowder. It was quite yummy, everyone in the family liked it. I got the recipe from my sister Michele, who got the recipe off of a blog she visited. Here is the recipe, super easy. I also made sourdough french bread to go with it.

Corn Chowder

6 slices of bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cups canned corn
1 cup peeled, diced potatoes
1 carrot, sliced
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Boil potatoes and carrots until tender. Fry bacon until crisp, reserve 3 Tbsp to fry onion and celery in. Chop bacon. Saute onion and celery. Add all ingredients into a soup pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes, serve and enjoy!

*I added a little heavy cream to the pot, the cream of mushroom soup was the 98% fat free so I added it to make it creamier.

Some new "decor"

Letters are vinyl that I cut with my Cricut, they are sticky on the back, a renters and military wife's best friend!

A little fall decor, I love the look of the orange pumpkins on the black candle holders, I got the idea from someone's blog

I will post more later, once I get a few more fall things made. I wanted to show off the words on my walls though, the Bless Our Home is above our front door. The Give Thanks one, I will change out with seasons. Have a great weekend!

What's on the Menu??

One thing I enjoy doing every week is planning our meals for the week. I love finding new recipes and trying them out. I used to watch the Food Network all the time, that was before the Backyardigans and Curious George took over. I am sure at some point I won't like it, probably when I have more kids, all of them liking different things. But for now I still like to do it. So since I like to do it and everyone could use a new recipe now and again, I decided that every week I would post the menu for the week. They will be located on the left side of the blog. I won't post the recipes unless I get requests either by commenting to any post or by emailing me. Have a great week!

Wild Animal Park

Up, up and away

The elephant looks a lot smaller from up here

Can you spot the giraffes and rhinos? Click on the picture for a larger view

Lane at the petting area


Yesterday was fun. We decided to venture out to the Wild Animal Park. Lane loves the zoo, but Reese and I think the animal park is better. The animals roam around in big enclosures instead of in cages. They also have full herds of animals too. It is a cool place. One thing we did this time that was new was the balloon safari. It is a tethered helium balloon that we went up 400 ft in to get a birds eye view of the park. It was very cool and I also got some fun pictures from up there! When you come down to visit, be prepared for us to drag you to the park :)

September Stamp of the Month

New paper, Perfect day (including new colors Sorbet, Tulip and Juniper) these 2 cards use the sentiments from the stamp of the month



This card uses the new color Creme Brulee. I got the idea from this consultants blog (lisascreativecorner.blogspot.com)

Here are some cards that I've made with the September Stamp of the Month, Treasure Life. I love the sentiments in the set as well as the weed like flowers that you see in the first and last cards. Hope everyone had a great weekend. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow of our trip to the Wild Animal Park today.

Twice as Nice dinner idea

Seems like all I can think about is food, so I might as well share some more recipes with you. Sorry I don't have any pictures of these. This is one of those recipes where you make one thing one night and the next night you use the leftovers made into something different. I got them out of Taste of Home's simple and delicious. I have made them both and they were very good, ones I think I will be making over and over.

Zesty Horseradish Meatloaf

4 slices wheat bread, crumbled
1/4 cup milk (I used more)
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp chili sauce (I found some chili garlic sauce in the Asian foods section)
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup

In large bowl, soak bread in mild for 5 min. Drain and discard milk. Stir in the celery, onion horseradish, mustard, chili sauce, egg, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.

Shape into a loaf in a 11x7x2 baking dish. Spread top with ketchup. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until thermometer reads 160. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

NOW TAKE THE LEFTOVERS AND MAKE THIS...


Second Chance Reubens

8 slices rye bread
4 Tbsp thousand island dressing
4 slices cooked meatloaf, warmed
1 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and drained well
4 slices Swiss cheese
2 Tbsp butter, softened

Spread four bread slices with 1/2 of the salad dressing. Layer each with meatloaf, sauerkraut and cheese. Spread remaining bread with remaining salad dressing; place over cheese. Butter outside of sandwiches.

In large skillet over medium heat, toast sandwiches for 2-3 minutes on each side or until bread is lightly browned and cheese is melted. Makes 4 sandwiches


How's that for a Autumn dinner idea?? I knew Lane wasn't going to eat the Reuben so I just made him a quick grilled cheese out of rye bread, swiss and cheddar.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Autumn Blessings!

I am feeling in a very fall mood today. When we were up in Washington it felt like fall and it got me in the fall spirit. So I've been thinking of all the yummy fall type foods I want to make and then I go outside and I realize that the weather just isn't cooperating with me. Oh well, can't let that stop me, so this afternoon I baked up a delicious baked apple!! Reese's mom got me some very cool apple bakers for Christmas a few years ago, they are so cute and they make a mean baked apple :) Next week I think I will decorate the house for Autumn. Stay tuned for pictures of my decorations...


The apple baker has like a post in it to go through the cored apple. I just cored, peeled a little bit and spread butter on the apple, I then sprinkled flour sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice on top. Then I stuffed the center with brown sugar. Bakes at 350 for 45 minutes. It was YUMMY! I am sure you can do it in any oven safe dish.