Pumpkin Patch

I took Bri and Emmie to the pumpkin patch this morning.  It was a first for all three of us and we had a good time.  It would have been more fun if it hadn't been so hot.  It felt like a crisp fall morning when I was dressing everyone and by the time we got there, I realized I'd made a mistake by not putting us all in summer clothing.  Oh well, a lesson learned for next time.

 

 

[caption id="attachment_217" align="aligncenter" width="553" caption="Emmie on the hayride"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_218" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Bri on the hayride. She didn't seem too excited about it. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="She had more fun in the corn pit!"][/caption]

My Girls

My girls are getting so big!  Brianna will be two next month and Emmie is six months!!! Crazy how fast time flies by.

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="412" caption="Brianna - September 2010"][/caption]

 

Bri’s personality develops more and more every day. She says “otay day” which means “okey dokey.”  She says “uh-oh” ALL THE TIME. Whenever she does something she is proud of or excited about, she claps her hands and yells, “YAAYY!” She can point to and identify most parts of her body.  She loves to help me unload the dishwasher and is fascinated with closing doors, cabinets, etc. She’s more and more interested in Emmie and does try to help me with caring for her.  It’s so sweet.  Nick and I were commenting the other night that our “baby” has turned into a little girl all of a sudden.  She is so precious and makes me smile every day.  My first little love :)

[caption id="attachment_201" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Emmersen Grace - September 2010"][/caption]

 Emmie amazes me each day as she grows.  I swear, the child has no separation anxiety whatsoever.  She loves people and lots of activity.  She’ll probably be crawling in the next few weeks and is fascinated with the world around her.  She loves holding onto her chubby little feet and sucking on them!  When I bend over her crib to pick her up, she flails her legs and arms and squeals. I love her so much.

[caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Me and my girls"][/caption]

Labor Day 2010

We had an awesome Labor Day Weekend this year.  Mom came to visit and we spent lots of time shopping and eating – two things which are always fun!  Bri got an entire new winter wardrobe, courtesy of Grandma, and loved seeing all the new items.  I think her favorite were her sparkly black sneakers…too cute.  She didn’t want to take them off. 



[caption id="attachment_182" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Grandma showing Bri another pair of new shoes. (Grandma loves shoes!)"][/caption]

We spent some time at the park since the weather was nice.  Nick got to chase Bri and I got to sit in the shade with Emmie.  I think I came out on the better end of that deal!

[caption id="attachment_183" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My sweet baby"][/caption]





Another highlight of the weekend was this!! Can I just say YUM?!?!?  It received rave reviews, so here is the recipe if anyone is interested in trying it out. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get a picture before we started sampling!

[caption id="attachment_186" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler"][/caption]

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches


• 2 cups sugar, divided


• 1/2 cup water


• 8 tablespoons butter


• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour


• 1 1/2 cups milk


• Ground cinnamon, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

[caption id="attachment_187" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Top with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!"][/caption]

New Recipes

I’ve been working on cooking healthier meals and snacks in the past couple of weeks.  Since Emmie was born, I fell into the bad habit of throwing together anything that was quick and easy.  However, I knew it was time to get back on track when all the starches and processed foods started messing with me yet again.  So, I scoured the internet and came up with two new recipes and some healthy lunch ideas. 

Recipe #1

Breakfast Muffins

•  1 C Applesauce

•  ¼ C Nonfat Milk

•  ½ C Wheat Bran

•  1 XL Egg

•  3 Medium Bananas, Mashed

•  ¾ C Packed Brown Sugar

•  1 ½ t Vanilla Extract

•  ¾ C All-Purpose Flour

•  ½ tsp Baking Soda

•  2 tsp Baking Powder

•  1 tsp Salt

•  1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

•  1 C Quick Rolled Oats

•  ½ C Chocolate Chips

•  ½ C Chopped Dried Plums (Prunes)

•  ½ C Chopped Walnuts

In a small bowl combine applesauce, milk, and wheat bran and allow to soak for about 5-10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray oil onto muffin tin. In a large bowl combine egg, mashed banana, vanilla, and brown sugar. Once it is mixed together, add the wheat bran mixture and combine. In a separate medium sized bowl, stir together your flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly and gently stir to combine. Gently mix in nuts, prunes, and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into muffin tin and place in the pre-heated oven for 17-19 minutes depending on your oven. Allow to cool on a rack before serving.

These came out great!! I used flaxseed meal instead of wheat bran, dried apricots instead of prunes and  omitted the walnuts since hubby isn’t a fan of nuts in his food.  I doubled the recipe, froze the majority of the muffins and have been defrosting one for Bri every morning.  Nick takes these to work when he doesn’t have time to eat in the morning. 

 

Recipe #2

Roasted Garlic Hummus

• 1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans (15 oz.)

• 2 tablespoons roasted garlic

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Preparation: In a food processor, process beans, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and oregano until desired consistency. If hummus is too thick, simply add olive oil in small increments (1/2 teaspoon) until desired consistency. Serve roasted garlic hummus garnished with finely chopped parsley with hot pita bread, pita chips, or veggies.

I added about a teaspoon of salt and it came out so yummy.  I decided to blog about the new recipes I was trying and ran to get the camera.

Nick: Why are you taking pictures of the food?

Me: You’re supposed to take pictures of your food if you blog about it.  All the pros do. AND it has to look pretty.

Nick: Oh… how does that look?



Me:  Well, that's a nice touch but I was thinking more along these lines.  What do you think?



Nick:  I like mine better.  It has more personality. 

I have to agree with him. Anyway, this is what I made for dinner.



I took a sundried tomato basil tortilla and covered it with a thin layer of basil pesto. Then I added pepperjack cheese, shredded chicken and lettuce.  I paired that with a helping of hummus and carrot sticks and had a delicious, healthy meal!

Dana Point

We flew out to California for a week earlier this month to visit Sue and my Dad. We stayed in Dana Point in a beach house that boasted a five minute drive to the ocean! It was amazing. The weather was incredible...it never got warmer than 75 degrees and the breeze was actually chilly at times. Nick and I were thrilled to be missing a solid week of blistering heat back home!

Bri had a great time at the beach again. That child simply loves the water. And, when she wasn't in the water, she was literally rolling in the sand! It was fun to watch her. Emmie did pretty well on the trip but didn't enjoy it quite like the rest of us did.

[caption id="attachment_156" align="aligncenter" width="201" caption="Bri discovered that sand can be thrown. Not cool."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_150" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Bathing beauty!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_149" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My hunky beach bum!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_152" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Doheny Beach"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_153" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Me and my honey"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_154" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dad and Sue"][/caption]