Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from my family to your's!

Manda

New Years Eve Wishing Wall

_{Photo Credit: Ian Wallace - Time Square The official site of Time Square}

A couple of weeks ago, my manager and I were talking about her dream visit to Time Square in New York City on New Years Eve. She went on to tell me about the wishing wall that allows people to write down their wishes on an official piece of confetti. Towards the end of the year all the wishes are collected and added to the confetti that is released at midnight on New Years Eve.

The best part...you don't actually have to be there to have your wish included in the confetti that is dropped! Through the Time Squares official website you can find information on where and when you can write down your wishes as well as a link to the form you can fill out to virtually send your wish.

If you are lucky to be able to physically write down your wish, you can find the wishing wall at the Time Square Museum & Visitor Center. You can write them down from 8AM - 8PM 7 days a week.

We are looking forward for this to become a yearly family tradition!

Manda

Fall Cleaning

My husband and I have recently started our yearly fall cleaning. Fall cleaning is just as important as Spring cleaning. Fall cleaning also entails winterizing our home. Because we live in an area that sees snow and below zero weather every winter we have to take extra measures to be sure the exterior of our home is in ship shape condition.  The interior of the home needs to be tended to as well.  The Happier Homemaker has an awesome checklist for fall cleaning. Depending on where you live you may need to add a few things to that list.

The Happier Homemaker has a pdf that you can download for free!

Enjoy!
Manda

50 Things to do at Christmas Time

So for the past month I have been  compiling a list of things for my family and I to do during the holiday season. My husband has worked out of town for the past two holiday seasons so we are really excited for him to finally be home this year! I can finally plan the month or so instead of winging it (I am a type A person so this is very irritating)!

I've gather quite a few things from different blogs I've found. A lot of them had the same ideas so I thought I would just make one gigantic list. I will eventually narrow it down to just the 25 days of Christmas but I wanted to give myself options.

In no particular order:

1. Christmas Lights Tour. I'm hoping this year that J will like looking at all the Christmas lights around town. I've come across a few ideas that have incorporated a "Polar Express" theme. I'm thinking this year J is a little young for that but in the next couple of years it will be a fantastic idea! You can check out Confessions of a Homeschooler blog for the details as well as cool printable train tickets.

2. Bake cookies or other Christmas goodies. This is a pretty typical holiday tradition and it's definitely one of my favorite. I enjoy baking goodies for my family to enjoy especially when the lot of us get together. I like to try new recipes every year. Last year I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Christmas Bark which was amazing!

3. Make and decorate a gingerbread house. I for one do not go all crazy and make a homemade gingerbread house. I just get the store bought ones and put them together.

4. Visit Santa. I've been lucky the past two years with J. She hasn't cried when visiting him but I am a little scared this year might be different. Fingers crossed she won't get scared and cry. Last year, we had the opportunity to visit Santa at the Mall of America. He was amazing! You can visit their website to make an appointment.

5. Buy and donate toys to Toys for Tots. Check out the Toys for Tots website for drop off sites or ways to donate money!

6. Make reindeer food. We call it Puppy Chow every other day of the year but adding red and green M&M's to the mix makes it reindeer food :)

7. Make homemade ornaments. There are hundreds of ideas for different homemade ornaments on Pinterest and Google.

8. Go on a sleigh ride. We are lucky to live in the northern half of the United States where we get snow. There is a farm just north of us that offers sleigh rides during the Christmas season. Looking forward to the beautiful winter scenery.

9. Make a paper chain advent calendar. This is a easy way to involve toddlers. It's as simple as tearing off a piece of paper each day. I hang mine from the ceiling in a the corner of the kitchen for everyone to see.

10. Write Santa a letter. Apparently, you can mail your letter to North Pole, AK and have it sent back to your home with the North Pole Postmark. The Postal Service has information on where and how to do this. You can also check out this adobe file for even more information.

11. Watch holiday movies. This is a favorite in our family. ABC Family has a pretty good lineup of Christmas movies with their 25 Days of Christmas. Hallmark Channel usually has a new Christmas movie every weekend starting at the beginning of November with their Countdown to Christmas. You can watch the Charlie Brown movies on ABC and you can always watch Elf on TBS.

12. Read holiday books. A family favorite is "The Polar Express". While researching, I found an idea that I would like to start this year. Santa delivers a Christmas book with matching movie, new Christmas pajamas and a Christmas goodie on Christmas Eve. I combined a few ideas I found on Pinterest from KatherineMaries.com,  Big D & Me and The Imagination Tree.

13. Set out cookie & milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

14. Make special homemade cards for cousins.

15. Mail a Christmas card to a soldier. You can do this through Red Cross'  program called Holiday Mail for Heroes. There are some guidelines so be sure to read through them on their website.

16. Give food to your local food shelf. This is an excellent way to give back. Be sure to check the expiration dates on the food you want to donate.

17. Prepare Christmas morning breakfast. My family and I will finally be at our home for Christmas so I am really excited to make a special Christmas morning breakfast for us to enjoy after opening gifts.

18. Have a random acts of kindness day. This is a wonderful way to teach children the value of helping the community and what the true spirit of Christmas is. Courtney Defeo has 100 Random Acts of Kindness ideas with her Light 'Em Up Plan.

19. Make homemade gifts for teachers. I don't have a school aged child yet but it's still an excellent idea. Show the teachers in your children's lives how much they are appreciated.

20. Make a snowman. Again we are lucky to live in a snowy state so I'm super excited to get out there and make one. I'm still a kid at heart!

21. Make paper snowflakes. This was one of my favorite things to do as a child. It's a simple and inexpensive way to add holiday cheer to any ones home.

22. Go sledding. This is along the lines of building a snowman.

23. Sleep under the Christmas tree. Nothing better than the glow of a Christmas tree while your drifting off to sleep.

24. Elf of the Shelf. I haven't done this yet but we will be starting the tradition this year. Pinterest is chalk full of ideas for the elf's daily visit.

25. Leave shoes out for St. Nick's on December 6th! I have heard of this growing up being of Scandinavian and German decent but we never actually did it. I want to start this tradition with our children. One Charming Party describes it a little bit but you can surely find more information about it by Googleing it.

26. Make Christmas Crafts.  This can be as simple as a Christmas themed coloring page to homemade Christmas gifts. The skies the limit.

27. Get gifts for siblings and cousin from the dollar store. This is a nice inexpensive way of teaching your children the gift of giving.

28. Donate unused toys to a local thrift store. It's a wonderful time of year to have the kids clean out their toys and get rid of ones they won't use anymore. Not only will it benefit others in need and teach them the value of giving but it will also make room for the toys they will eventually be receiving.

29. See Santa feed the reindeer on the Reindeer Cam. From November 16 to December 24th he feeds the reindeer at 10am, 5pm and 8pm (Central Time).  You can also send a letter to Santa and your children's names get put on a scrolling nice list that can be seen on the video. You can also donate money to feed the reindeer to get put on the nice list. If you aren't home their is an App for your phone so you and your children can watch Santa anywhere!

30. Write and send Christmas letters to family and friends. I have been doing this ever since my husband and I got together. It's my favorite thing to do and I love receiving them. It's a great way to let those family members and friends you don't see very often know what your family has been up to during the year. Be sure to include a recent photo!

31. Go Christmas caroling. Every year some people from our church go caroling to the local nursing homes. 

32. Go to a local Holiday Parade. One of these days I would love to make it to the Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis, MN.

33. Santaland! Macy's 8th Floor has an awesome display of Santa's Workshop. It's completely free. You can visit Santaland in New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Portland, Chicago from November to December.

34. Go to a Christmas Eve church service.

35. Set up a Nativity scene. My first Christmas as a married woman my mom gave me a part of the Willow Tree Nativity set. She has given me a piece every year since. Last year she gave me the last piece to complete my set. To my surprise, Willow Tree came out with new additional pieces! I absolutely love it and it reminds me of my mother every time I put it out. It's an amazing keepsake that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

36. Do family photos every year. I'm a photo freak! I love taking pictures and having pictures taken. Every year we get together with my favorite photographer and do family pictures. Not only it is a great way to document the growth of your family; they are excellent gifts for grandparents, aunts and uncles.

37. Decorate the house! I go all out with decorating for Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year so why wouldn't I?!

38. Decorate the Christmas tree. I put our Christmas tree up a week or so before Thanksgiving. I feel the need to make the Christmas season last as long as I can.

39. Find Christmas related activities in your area. Every year the Christmas train stops at a near buy town. The Christmas train is decorated with lights and stops so Santa can visit. A local Bonanza Farm puts on a Christmas related event for children. They can visit Santa, decorate cookies, etc. You can usually find these events by going to your Chamber of Commerce website and looking into their calendar of events.

40. Go to a Christmas concert, play or theatrical performance.

41. Go to a local churches Christmas play or musical. They are really cute and if you belong to a church it's fun to watch your own children.

42. Create a Christmas playlist or CD to listen to. Pandora is my favorite thing to listen to. I like the variety of artists and songs.

43. Participate in Operation Christmas Child. This is a great charity where you can package up a shoebox with goodies for a child in a third world country. They suggest a $7 donation to cover shipping costs. Check out their website for guidelines regarding what you can and cannot send. You can find a list of suggested items as well as instructions on how to package the shoebox and where to drop them off.

44. If you like having a real tree, visit and cut down your own tree at a local tree farm.

45. Read the story of Jesus' birth.

46. Have the grandparents take the kids to buy Christmas gifts for mom and dad.

47. The Spouse Christmas Countdown. You can make a 25 days of Christmas for your spouse. I got the idea from The Dating Diva blog.

48. This idea is a little naughty and not child friendly. This is definitely an adult only idea, but you could do the 12 Lays of Christmas for your spouse. Love Actually has all the print outs and poems for this. I won't give the details, you'll have go to the blog for that :)

49. Play Christmas themed games. Check out these links for Christmas Charades, Family Feud, Pictionary, and Jeopardy.

50. Personalize at-home Santa pictures. Capture the Magic is a great website where you can take a picture of your living room and insert Santa. Not only can you capture Santa, you can capture the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy. You can make 3 photos for $9.95.

Hope you enjoy! I know I will!

Stain Remover Tips

I am terrible at removing stains from my laundry but I hate stains on my clothes. I hate stains on my daughters clothes as well even though I know its inevitable that she will get them dirty. Clothes are far to expensive these days to not take proper care of them.

My grandmother is the queen of stain removing. She can get any stain out of any article of clothing. I remember getting a large amount of gum all over my favorite shirt and she was able to remove every sticky ounce of it. I hope one day that I can be as amazing as she is.

I found this gem on Pinterest and thought I would share.(I will be printing this out and beautifying this with a gorgeous frame to hang in my laundry room)

If you have any other tips for removing stains I would love to hear about them!

Cake Bars

So you'll notice that a lot of my recipes will come from Pinterest. I...love...Pinterest. I love trying new recipes especially baked goods as you'll notice. I have somewhat of a sweet tooth; I definitely need to get a handle on it but not right now :)

So what I have for you today is cake bars. They are delicious! Moist and full of chocolatey goodness. I like to try things a few times before I actually write them in my cookbook and this is definitely a keeper.  It is a dump and bake kind of recipe, no special instructions required. Takes about 5 minutes to prepare and the rest is bake time.

The only things you'll need to gather are yellow cake mix, box of instant vanilla pudding, water, oil, eggs, and any sort of chocolate chips/M&M's ~ I used mini red/green M&M's and mini milk chocolate chips.

Start by mixing everything together. I went a little overboard with the M&M's and Chocolate Chips as you'll notice. The dough will be very thick and sticky be sure to grease a 9x13 in. pan very well. I used olive oil spray and haven't had any problems.

Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. The edges will look golden brown while the middle will most likely look a tad bit raw.

I haven't experimented enough with this recipe but you could certainly use different cake mixes and different kinds of chocolate chips. Maybe the next time I make it I'll use chocolate cake mix with peanut butter chips.

I got this recipe from this blog but the original came from here.
 
Cake Mix Cookie Bars
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 Small Box of Instant Vanilla Pudding
1/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cups Oil
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Mini M&M's

Rainy Day Fun

October is a particularly rainy month in our neck of the woods so being able to play outside is hard to come by. It's been raining here for the past few days and my daughter, J, has been getting a little restless. J is now at the age where she wants to help mommy in the kitchen but is still to young to actually do so. Frosting sugar cookies is a great way to include small toddlers.

I got this recipe from a friend of my grandmother's and it has been my favorite for almost 10 years. They are soft the way sugar cookies should be. Sugar cookies are always time consuming but totally worth it once they are finished. I love to make them for all seasons with fun cookie cutters.

I planned ahead for this because the sugar cookie recipe that I have needs to sit in the refrigerator overnight. The recipe also requires the butter to be soft. The easiest (longest) way is to let it sit out on the counter overnight.I have used the soften setting on my microwave which works in a pinch but it does melt the butter a tad but in the process. At the same time that I pull out the butter for the dough, I pull out a stick for the frosting. This needs to be soft as well.

It's up to you how you want to mix the dough but I've done it with a hand mixer and my Kitchen Aid mixer. I find that my Kitchen Aid mixer works a little better because the dough is pretty stiff due to the amount of flour and my Kitchen Aid seems to have more power to the mix the dough. When using a hand mixer you have to be careful of the dough twisting up the beaters and getting into the mixer itself. Make sure to occasionally stop mixing and push the rising dough back into the bowl.

To start, cream the softened butter and sugar together. Once creamy, add the eggs and mix well. Next you'll add the sour cream, vanilla (I sometimes use clear vanilla), salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix these ingredients well. After that, mix in the flour ~ for easier mixing add the flour 1 cup at a time.

 Once all the ingredients are mixed together cover bowl and stick it in the refrigerator over night ~ you don't have to let it sit overnight but I like to make sure it's nice and cold so it rolls out easier. A few hours would be fine if you don't have the time to wait overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degree. After the dough has cooled, pull out a handful and return the bowl to the refrigerator. Roll the dough to 1/4 in. thick on a well floured counter or bread board with a well floured rolling pin. Again the dough will be fairly sticky especially once it has warmed up a bit from being rolled out. Use whatever cookie cutters you please. Today we made Halloween cookies!


Before baked in the oven

I like to use a air bake cookie sheets because they tend to bake more evenly but any type of cookie sheet will do. Space the cut outs a little bit apart; they do puff up a bit while baking. Place the cookie sheet in the oven for 10-12 min. I start off with less minutes and work my way up. DON'T bake the cookies until they are browned, they will get crunchy this way. I tend to under do my cookies a tad because I like my cookies soft and moist. Cool the cookies on a cooling rack before frosting.



After baked in the oven

Sugar Cookie's

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup (8 oz. container) sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 1/2 cups of flour

Yields 4-5 dozen cookies

Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoons clear vanilla (I would suggest using clear vanilla so that the frosting doesn't turn too cream or brownish ~ I like to keep it more white especially when I do snowman or ghost cookies)
Food Coloring

Cream everything together.  One batch of this will be enough to do all the cookies  so if you double to cookie recipe, double the frosting recipe. I tend to make several different shapes of cookies so I divide the frosting into different bowls so I can do different colors. We did black, orange, green, yellow and white ~ Halloween colors!

Helping Momma

Sprinkles!

She says "mmmm"

J's masterpiece

Finished product ~ keep in mind I am not a frosting artist by any means

So Good!

Feeling Tacoish

For the past three nights I have been trying to make Taco Pasta. It's a family favorite as many of my recipes are ~ that's why I keep making them...duh :) So finally tonight I was able to do so. It's a really simple recipe but I had to go ahead and make it complicated, as always.

For this dish, I suggest using a large sauce pan. You can make it all in one pan (except for the pasta of course) and it makes for less dirty dishes later. You can also use any type of pasta that you want. I typically use the medium shells but tonight I was out of those. I used penne noodles which worked just as well.

To start you'll want to brown the hamburger. I use ground turkey instead of hamburger but either way it tastes great. I've made the recipe both ways. While browning the hamburger, start boiling the pasta.
After the hamburger is browned, add an entire can of Rotel diced tomatoes (there are different types of this as well. I use mild with green chilies), a packet of taco seasoning (I use Ortega Original but again choose the brand you like), and minced garlic. Let that simmer for 3-5 min. Be sure to stir it occasionally so as not to burn the mixture to the bottom of the pan.

Once the pasta is finished boiling, set aside 1/2 cup of the water to add to the hamburger mixture. The rest can be drained. Add the pasta water, pasta, sour cream and cream cheese. Tonight this became somewhat of a rigmarole. I am usually really good about making sure I have the ingredients I need to make a certain recipe. In the middle of making this delicious dish I find that my sour cream is not up to snuff ~ I checked the expiration date to make sure it wasn't old but it ended up being moldy. So I had to make a mad dash to the store so I could finish our dinner. Thankfully, my hubby was in the mood to be helpful and kept an eye on the boiling pasta as well as our sweet but hungry daughter :)

Once you add both the sour cream and cream cheese mix well. I usually let is simmer on medium heat for 10 min or so to make sure everything is heated through and to make sure our side dishes are complete. We like to have tater tots and corn with it. This will easily feed a family of four and still have left overs. Enjoy!

 

 

Taco Pasta

1 lb.ground beef (or turkey)

8-12 oz. dry pasta (I typically use medium shells)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14 oz.) can Rotel diced tomatoes

1 packet of taco seasoning

3 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup (4 oz.) sour cream

1/2 cup pasta water

 

 

 I got this recipe while looking through Pinterest awhile back. You can find it here on this blog.

 

Baking Season

This time of the year is what I like to call "baking season". I love to bake but I seem to do it more often between September and January; obvious reasons being all the pumpkin flavored goodies in the fall and the holidays. My husband likes to blame me for all the extra pounds he puts on :)

So the reason for this post is to share my pumpkin muffin recipe. I honestly don't know where I got the recipe from but I've been making them for years.  They are bite-sized and moist and perfect for everyday snacking or parties. My husband and 2 year old daughter absolutely love them and they don't last long in our home. They are the perfect toddler snack.

These muffins are pretty hard to screw up. They are quick to make and clean up which is a plus in this household.

 Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder*
1 cup canned solid packed pumpkin puree (They come in 15 oz cans. I use the entire can for a more pumpkin flavored muffin. I hate to waste half of a can)
1/3 c. vegetable oil**
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


Topping
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put oven racks in the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cupcake liners into muffin tins. I like to use the 24 count muffin tins; they just seem better mini :)

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 c. sugar, baking soda and salt until smooth. Whisk flour mixture until completely combined.

Stir together remaining 1 Tablespoon of sugar and cinnamon into a smaller bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (3/4 full), the sprinkle tops with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake until puffed, golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserting into the center of muffin come out clean. This is about 25 to 30 min. I would bake for less time on the first try; say 20 min or so.

Cool in pan on a rack for 5 min, then transfer muffins from pan to a cooling rack.

*The last batch of these, I accidentally put 1 teaspoon of baking soda instead of the teaspoon of baking powder. They turned out just fine but definitely will have to pay better attention next time.

** I have used extra virgin olive oil in them and didn't notice a difference.