Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, friends! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe time today. We had a fun filled day for sure! I tend to go overboard for holidays.... but no one is complaining in my house! (yet!)

We started the morning with some pumpkin shaped pancakes! (Next year, I am going to get some empty mustard/ketchup style squirt bottles to make this easier.) Here they are! They went over like, well, just like hot cakes!

After breakfast, we decided to paint/carve pumpkins! Bug hasn't taken much to coloring yet, so I was very impressed that she painted her pumpkin so well! She sat right down, and smeared the paint all over the pumpkin with the paintbrush. It turned out great!

 

During naptime, we toasted our pumpkin seeds! (I don't have the patience to wait for them to dry overnight...) I made two batches this year. One batched I made in a sauce pan-- one cup of sweet pumpkin seeds! I toasted them a little over medium heat, then added a bit of olive oil,  1 Tbsp of sugar, 1 Tbsp of sugar/cinnamon mix, 2 tsp vanilla. I turned up the heat and let the sugar melt a little and caramelize on the seeds before I spread them out on wax paper to cool. The other batch was about one cup of seeds mixed with a bit of olive oil, garlic salt, onion powder, a tad chili powder, all seasoning, and table salt. I baked these at 350 for about 20-30 minutes (could have gone longer.) 

Today, in the battle between Salty vs Sweet Pumpkin Seeds... Sweet won! They were so good! Both batched were tasty, but this was the first time we have made the sweet kind, and they were awesome! 

Finally, Bug woke up and we were able to head out to do a little family Trick or Treating. I made her a garden gnome costume this year and she was super cute! 

See, I told ya! Super cute!

I made her whole costume this year, and I am so proud of how it turned out! (The only things I didn't make would be her tights and her shirt.) It was such a fun project. I just hope she doesn't outgrow letting me make her costumes, umm, ever!

Happy Halloween, everyone!


Oh! If you are wondering what my surprise was the other night... my wonderful and amazing hubby set up Rocky Horror for us complete with all the props and he even got us costumes! A local theatre in town was having a participation screening, but we weren't able to go and I was super bummed. So, the hubs got all the props (every single one! from water pistols and newspapers, to toast and rubber gloves!) and us a couple of wigs so we could dress up... It was SUCH a fun time! He is so sweet... I kinda love that guy!

Can you guess who we are? (P.S. I wish my hair were this color!)

Menu Planning and My First Feature!

Hope everyone is having a great Hallows Eve! Can you believe that tomorrow is Halloween? I thought Easter was just a couple weeks ago! Where does the time go?! I am super excited to show off Bug's costume! She is going as a garden gnome this year, and I will post pictures of our fun tomorrow night.

On to the menu plan for this week!

	Breakfast	Lunch	Supper
Sunday	Donuts	Grandma’s (late lunch)	---
Monday	Halloween Pancakes!	Roast Beef Roll-Ups	Little Cesar’s
Tuesday	Breakfast Burritos	Tomato Soup	Ham and Potatoes
Wednesday	Eggs	Lunch with Friends	Grilled Chicken
Thursday	Fruit Yogurt	Chicken Salad	Meatloaf
Friday	Cereal	Leftovers	Hot Dogs
Saturday	Waffles	Ravioli	Steaks

Also, I wanted to share that I was featured over at Everything Under the Moon this week for my Garlic Herb Knots recipe/tutorial!

Halloween Traditions

Honestly, we don't really do anything overly crazy for Halloween around here. We do seems to have a couple of things that don't change much. My sister usually throws a costume party for the adults, and that is a lot of fun for us! We get to dress up, dance, and have a good time. As for the little one, well, we have only had one Halloween so far, and she was so young we just dressed her up to show her off.

This year, my hubby is planning something super secret for us to do tonight that is themed for the holiday. Only, I seriously have NO IDEA what it is. He had forgotten that tonight was my sister's party, so we will be skipping that this year. I am excited!

We will be taking Lil'bug to show off her costume to her grandparents and some family friends. She is still too young for real Trick or Treating.

What do you usually do for Halloween?

Oh, want to scare the pants off yourself?! My friend posted THIS website's link on Facebook the other day. I watched it. I kind of freaked out and wanted to crawl into Lil'bug's crib and sleep in there with her. It is seriously disturbing... but if you are looking for something to spook you and get you in the Halloween spirit, then check it out.

I have never been more terrified in my entire life!

Tonight, Lil'bug was being a little difficult around bedtime. I am not into the Cry It Out method, so when she starts crying and whatnot, I head in there to comfort her and try and put her back to bed.  It was the second time I had to head in there tonight, and my hubby decided to make his own lunch for work tomorrow since I was busy with the babes. He went out to the truck to get his lunch pack, and somehow locked himself out (also, didn't have his phone.)

After about five minutes, I had the little one calmed down, and back in her crib. I sneak out of her room, and walk into the kitchen to see a FIGURE outside of the kitchen window looking in. All I could see was a figure, and some eyes. I freaked. I SCREAMED like a nutcase, fell on the floor, and started sobbing. I wasn't kidding when I said this was the most terrifying thing ever. Then there is a beating on the back door off the kitchen, and my hubs finally hollers out, "Ash, you ok?! Let me in!" ...

There are two things that terrify me beyond words. People in windows (thanks Tom and Huck... the movie with Johnathon Taylor Thomas... there is a scene where the bad guy pops up in the window) and people chasing me up stairs.

Happy Halloween to me, I guess. That is enough of the scary business, though. Seriously.

Menu Planning and Remembrance

Finally getting back into the groove of things! We have been running around like crazy for a while because so many things are happening. We found out that my wonderful hubby is getting a promotion at work! I am so proud of him, I can't even describe it. He is truly amazing. As for me, I have been baby/puppy proofing a little more. I am going to be watching my adorable nephew twice a week while his folks are at work. (He is around 10 weeks old, I think! So small and cuddly!) But here is the menu plan for this week... and I am going to do everything I can to stick to it!

	Breakfast	Lunch	Supper
Sunday	Donuts	Grandma’s!	Out with Family
Monday	PB Toast	Leftovers	Grilled Chicken
Tuesday	Omelets	Mac & Cheese	Date Night!
Wednesday	Muffins	Lunch with Friends	Breakfast for Dinner (waffles or pancakes)
Thursday	Fruit Yogurt	Soup	Corn Dogs
Friday	Oatmeal	Cheese Quesadilla	Burgers
Saturday	French Toast	Sandwiches	Pasta

On a lower note, I have been in a kind of funk today. It has been one year today since we lost my childhood puppy. We got this adorable, kind, and sweet puppy when I was just 4 years old. She had beat the odds and lived a wonderful 18 years! I miss her often. She was my best buddy, protector, and companion for 18 great years, and no matter what, she will always be the best pup a girl could ask for.

Brook (or Goose, to me.) Love you, Goose-Goose!

Halloween Prep

Last night I was able to start AND finish Lil'bug's Halloween costume! She is going to be a garden gnome this year-- which is proving to be a mighty popular costume! I made her hat, skirt, suspenders, and booties! I started working on these around 9:00 pm and finished up around 1:00 am. Whew. I know that you might be expecting pictures... but you are going to have to wait. I will get some great ones on Halloween!

To hold you over until then, he is a picture that will melt your heart. Sorry it is a cell pic.. I didn't want to move and ruin the moment!

Garlic Herb Knots

Since I have been a total blogging slacker this past week, I had to find something to post so that I could redeem myself. I can PROMISE you that this is it. Tonight for supper we had some great cheese tortellini alfredo with some AMAZING Garlic Herb Knots. The tortellini and alfredo sauce were store bought, but for you this fine evening... the recipe for the Knots. Get ready to get your drool on!

Right?! Ok, you will need:

• 1 Tube of crescent rolls (8 count)
• Butter (or type of spread... We use the yogurt spread from Brummel and Brown --much better for ya and it works great.)
• Garlic (we used pre-minced in a tube. LOVE it. Highly recommend getting some. They have kinds in a tube, jars, etc.)
• Italian Herbs/Spices 
• Parmesan cheese

First things first-- pre-heat that oven to a toasty 375.  Mix together 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 heaping tablespoon of minced garlic, and your Italian herbs/spices to taste.

Next, unroll all of the crescent rolls and roll them into a snake like rope. Put them down across a tray, and baste generously with the melted butter mixture. There should be some of the butter mix leftover.. Set it aside for later. Don't toss it!

Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, and tie each roll into knots. (I ended up tying 3 loose-ish knots to close up one crescent roll.) Bake the 8 knots according to crescent roll instructions-- but keep an eye on them just in case! When they look golden brown, they should be good to go!

Go from this...

When they come out of the oven, they are smelling yummy and looking great. ^SEE^ But wait. You should have a little of that yummy butter mixture left... you only need a tad! Just LIGHTLY brush each knot with a little bit, and then you have some serious awesomeness to experience.

To this!

I hope you enjoy these amazing Garlic Herb Knots as much as my family does. These bad boys fly off the plates almost faster than I can dish them out!

Getting Adjusted

Our new puppy, Miss Daphne, has finally come home! We went to pick her up Tuesday night, and things have been so great since! She is such a sweet, fun girl! Daphne is about 13 weeks old, and she is potty trained. She knows basic commands (sit, lay down, etc.) The best thing of all, though.... she is amazing with Lil'bug!

Cell phone pic- Sorry! I didn't want to miss this moment.

I have a feeling they are going to be two peas in a pod!

Also, today we are linkin' up over at It's a Keeper!
 

Menu Planning

First I just wanted to say that our home visit went very well! If you haven't been following the blog, we are trying to adopt a boxer puppy from a rescue group in our area. I will be hearing if we are approved or not either tonight or tomorrow sometime! Then, they will give us the contact info for our pup's foster family so we can go meet her and hopefully take her home! Eeek!

Anyway, here is the plan for the week. Subject to change depending on when we can go get the puppy.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Supper
Sunday	Cereal	PB Toast	Chicken and Potatoes
Monday	Berry Muffins	Leftovers	Corn Dogs
Tuesday	Oatmeal	Grilled Cheese	Brats
Wednesday	Scrambled Eggs	Lunch Out with Friends!	Baked Turkey Breast
Thursday	Fruit Yogurt	Leftover Turkey Sandwiches	Cheese Tortellini Alfredo
Friday	Toast	Soup	Burgers
Saturday	Crepes	Salads	Waffles