Thursday, October 30, 2008

happy halloween

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Last night we went to the Stapley's house to carve pumpkins. We had no idea we would be learning from the master....Sean! He showed us how to do these cool designs. Brenna and Emma Grace carved theirs with almost no help.
It got us all in the mood for Halloween!!

apple day!! hooray!!

I've been looking forward to getting apples all year. My children LOVED the homemade applesauce last year. I canned a little bit and it last for about a month. They went through it sooo fast.
So this year I ordered 50 pounds of these little guys and I'm turning most of them into applesauce. Maybe it will last us a little longer.

I borrowed Mrs. Kerri's {Eliza's preschool teacher} awesome apple peeler, corer, slicer. This is now on my wish list for Christmas and Birthday. This is the best thing EVER!

Homemade applesauce is a gorgeous color! And the taste is SOOOO much better than store bought. Here is the recipe. I highly recommend you try it! It's so easy!
Applesauce
6-7 apples, cored and cut into eighths{I've used Fuji and Golden Delicious. Others I hear are good are Rome, Gala and Braeburn}
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 lemon, juiced {I used 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice...don't tell Martha}
In a medium saucepan, combine apples, sugar, water, and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until apples are soft. Remove from heat and transfer to a food processor and puree. Store applesauce in container for 3 days. OR process the jars in a steam canner for 20 minutes.




fall time pictures







Sometimes you just feel like getting some cute pictures of your son when he is being cooperative.



Saturday, October 25, 2008

halloween shirts

These little shirts are simple to make. Get some cute, vintage orange fabric. Iron on some "wonder under" and cut a pumpkin shape. Iron it onto the t-shirt with a little bit of green ribbon tucked underneath. Stitch around the pumpkin in black.
I did one for each of my girls and they all wore them to school {& preschool} on Thursday with orange bows in their hair. I wanted to take a picture of all three of them before they went to school but we were rushing out the door. Brenna choose a different fabric from the same vintage collection...it was really cute!

Friday, October 24, 2008

all stitched up for halloween

The girls love doing crafts! So I got out some brown and orange felt and some embrodeiry floss and things got a little silly after that. Before I knew it, Eliza was using her foot to help her pull the needle through and everyone was laughing hard.









Thursday, October 23, 2008

riding horses...


Emma Grace was ecstatic to receive a card for her birthday that said she could go ride horses. I called my good friend Becky whose family owns horses and arranged with her for Emma Grace to ride. So one afternoon after school, I took Emma Grace over to their riding arena to ride with their daughter Amberlee. Amberlee does barrel races at the rodeos. She is great! And Emma Grace's horse was all too happy to stay right next to Amberlee's horse. Emma Grace was in heaven and did NOT want to leave. After about 1 1/2- 2 hours, it was time to go. The first thing out of Emma Grace's mouth when she got down off the horse was, "when can I ride again?".


quick chicken stir fry

I'm posting this for Beckie who has now made the Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe a part of her family's staples!!! You will love this fast and easy stir-fry. The next time we have this meal I'll try to remember to take a picture to post.

Ingredients
4 PILGRIM'S PRIDE Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Halves
1 (14-oz.) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons lite soy sauce
1 to 2 Tbsp. chili-garlic paste (I don't have any of this. I just use some garlic powder.)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger(I just use ground ginger)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups packaged matchstick carrots(or just grate regular carrots)
1 red bell pepper, cut into slices
1 green bell pepper, cut into slices
2 green onions, sliced
Hot cooked rice
Preparation
1. Cut chicken into 1/4-inch-thick strips; place in a shallow dish.
2. Whisk together chicken broth and next 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Pour half of broth mixture over chicken, reserving remaining broth mixture. Turn chicken to coat, and let stand 30 minutes.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade. Add chicken to wok, and stir-fry 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add carrots, bell peppers, and green onions, and stir-fry 3 to 4 minutes. Add reserved broth mixture, and cook 1 minute or until thickened. Serve over hot cooked rice.