Worth It?

I use a can of pumpkin a week at least, but usually a few cans.  Even in the summer.

Yup, I love pumpkin for all of the pumpkiny (yes, that is a word) things, but also because you can substitute it for fats in a lot of baking recipes.  And it makes things incredibly moist.

I am always up for saving a buck, and so I thought I would try to make my own puree.  I figured it was one less BPA infested can of pumpkin that my family would be eating, and I also thought it might be cheaper to do it this way.

Now I would not at all say that this was difficult, but it was rather time consuming all things considered.

First, you need a pie pumpkin (I would like to add that every time I have typed pumpkin thus far in this blurb, I have spelled it pumkin...I really think it should just be spelled that way).  Thank you Kroger for graciously contributing these.

Then you get out all the "guts" as my three year old likes to say.  Feel free to dump it into the trash, or save and roast them for pure yumminess!

Then you roast the pumpkins face down in about 1/2 an inch of water at 350 (make sure to cover them with a little oil), until they are tender.  I'd say 35-45 minutes.

Then puree all of the flesh and sit it over a sieve or coffee strainers until all of the liquid has drained out.  

Ok.  Now.  Was this a bit of work, yes.  Was it cheaper, not really.  Did it taste AMAZING in pumpkin bread, heck yes.  So will I make it again?  For the name of pumpkin bread I just might.

Find the original recipe HERE.

What sick days look like...

Sometimes it is nice to have a reason to stay home! I got to "decorate" my table, compile my garage sale junk, make a fort, roast pumpkin seeds and now off to run. Well, and LOTS of holding a cute little sickie.

Pumpkins 2012

Only in Texas will you spot everyone in shorts and t-shirts a few weeks before Halloween.  Oh well.

We did not let the heat deter us.  Here are a few pictures from our pumpkin patch trip.

Hmph

I wish I could remember to blog more.  And then I wish I could make time to do it.  And then that makes me think about all the other things I need to make time for.  Oops.

Maybe I will blog tomorrow...

The Great Sauce Off of 2012

My friend Kirsten is doing a Great Sauce Off on here blog HERE.  I wanted to contribute what I consider the most amazing pizza sauce one could ever eat.

It is so good that I would literally just eat it with a spoon, but it is best on top of a pizza, or by finding anything you can possibly think to dip in it!  

It has a secret ingredient that I am convinced is what makes it so spectacular...maple syrup.  I found this recipe HERE.

Ingredients

• 2 (6oz) cans tomato paste
• 1½c water
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 Tbsp pure maple syrup (depending on how acidic your sauce is)
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir until well combined. Heat through and serve warm. Add additional water if you want a thinner sauce.
2. Makes about 3 cups sauce

It's serious yumminess.  Go make it now.

Beetlejuice

I am not really a "girly girl" and I've been known more as a tomboy then not...but I loathe bugs.

What do boys LOVE?!? Yup, bugs. So we are going to learn about them, read about them, and catch them this week.

I am realizing that if I can pick one concept for the week, it is a lot easier to then pick things to do around that certain subject.  As well, kids are going to learn more and enjoy learning in general if they want to know about something.  Enter....bugs.

I actually love the fact that my laundry is in the background of this pick, which means I sacrificed that in order to collect bug things in my house.  Hey, life is all about choices :)

This was cherry crockpot oatmeal (recipe HERE...it's super easy, amazing and will change your life, or at least it has mine.  oh, and I use coconut milk instead of water, and always add fruit to mine), and I wanted it to look like floating somethings.  Not sure it did, but the boys believed me.

Hudson left for preschool and so Noah and I made some really cool bug masks and he also played a game where he built a bug on the computer.  We then did all of our regular school stuff.

THEN, I did what any normal mom would do, I put my kids in front of a movie (note the laundry pile that is still the same size, maybe even bigger).  I had them watch a roach movie about David and Goliath.  I mean, come on, you cannot get any more spiritual and academic than that!

I found this little bug catcher set at the Dollar Tree, and we caught a cool spider.  Then Noah stepped on the catcher.  Oh well.  Fun while it lasted.  I guess we cannot catch any more bugs.  DARN.

And then, because snow cones have EVERYTHING to do with bugs, we went and got some (actually inspired by my friend Kirsten).  I made the boys find a bug before we ate them, that counts right?

My Entryway Has a Tummy Ache

Traveling with kids=vomit of stuff at the front door

Day One of Life School (homeschool)

So if you are like me, sometimes I really just want to know what someone else's day looks like.  Here is what our yesterday looked like.  I think I am going to like this homeschooling thing!

These were my first pictures where I tried to capture the moment of starting school.  The boys thought it was too bright outside.

Here we are making a character tree.  We will put at apple on it each week after we finish learning about the certain character trait for the week.  I got the idea HERE.

This is me trying to shoot in manual.  I really need a lesson in photography.  It is actually a good representation of how most of our days are though, hee hee.

Did some castle building

These are the inside school shots I did.  Here is Eli "too cool for school"

Here is Hudson starting another year of Pre-k

And happy first day of kindergarten Noah!!!

This is what you do when you are desperate to clean the kitchen....you give your kids rice and let them go nuts.  Kind of backwards thinking since I spent 10 minutes cleaning it up.

Then we worked on some math

Played a really fun alphabet game that only Hudson liked...can you tell?

Some intense freeze dancing

Then made a treasure chest full of prizes.  If the boys fill up an entire sticker chart, they get to pick a prize

We ended the day with a super early bath at 3pm, but made it more fun with green water, bubbles and dinosaurs

Green Juice

My kids are like most...green=yuck. BUT for some reason, if you add enough oranges and apples to anything, it gets sweet. I love that I can even get my one year old to chug this stuff!

Need an intervention

I think this means we need to use our closet. But I propose that we move closets to the front door. That would be SO much easier.

Life...

Here are few of the things that are going on right now...

-Noah will be starting kindergarten in a few weeks.  I will not be waving at him with tears in my eyes (although I am SURE that I will have some serious breakdowns), because I am homeschooling him.  Yikes and yeah!!!

-Hudson will be attending two days a week of pre-school

-Eli is just crazy.  In a good way.  He is climbing on top of kitchen tables, throwing a ball (golfball to be exact, ouch!) overhand, and smiles constantly (as long as I am holding him!)

-Blaine is still trucking along at starting a photography company.  One day I am going to post some of his pics.  He is really good!

-I just had a week long break with out my two eldest (thank you Maw Maw Ella and Paw Paw Terry!) and so I got a ton of projects done!!!

-We are still just trucking along in life.  Nothing else really new going on.  God is good, family is a blessing, and we are up for another adventure whenever one comes our way :)

Pictures of life coming later :)

Long Hiatus

Oops.  I have forgotten about my blog.  Like literally I just remembered that I have one.  Well, I need to remedy that!

Veggies the Cool Way

I am not one of those moms that routinely tries to sneak veggies into my kids. Most of the time, it's obvious, like salad or grilled vegetable of some sort.  I don't have time to mix spinach puree into my brownies!

BUT if you find a recipe that can get veggies into your family and they want to eat a lot of them, that is always a good thing!

I have been seeing these all over the place lately, they are zucchini and sweet potato "chips". Basically you slice them SUPER thin (I used a mandolin), the width of a quarter. Then spray oil on them, sprinkle with the spices of your choice (I used salt and paprika).  You then cook on 225 degrees for about an hour, then turn the pan around and cook another 30+ minutes until you see and feel them getting crispy.  Keep checking towards the end, because they will start to burn.  And they do crisp up a bit more after you take them out.  They were AWESOME.  Got the idea HERE.

Next, I needed a meatless meal the next night, but still wanted it to be hearty enough to stand alone.  This was butternut squash baked ziti, and I am not gonna lie to you, I am not sure what all I put in it.  That probably does not help those of you who like a recipe.  I got the general concept from doing a recipe search for butternut squash lasagna.

Basically, I roasted a butternut squash that I had cut into cubes on 425F, along with a whole sliced onion.  I pureed all that together with salt, cinnamon, and a little chicken stock.  Then the cheese pasta layer was ricotta, spinach, mozzarella, a little Tony's and I pureed that and mixed with noodles.  Then layer this on top of one another, and complete with cheese and spinach leaves.  It was YUM-O! 

These last two things have nothing to do with veggies, and everything to do with carbs.  BUT, if you eat your veggies, then you get double the carbs.  Right?

This is the Pioneer Woman's Blackberry Cobbler.  This looks NOTHING likes hers.  Oh wow.  Who cares.  I mean, it has an entire stick of butter in this small pan.  It rocked.  And there is fruit in it.  And that is close to a veggie.  

I am not really sure why I have not made homemade sandwich bread in awhile.  I did.  It was quite possibly the softest, yummiest, flavorfulest any other "est" words that you can think of that describe bread, since I cannot seem to think of more.  I kept trying to come up with an excuse to incorporate it into every meal today.  Recipe is HERE.