Velvet Pumpkins - Almost as good as pumpkin pie!

I saw these pretty little things and thought...hmmmm, I might have found something as beautiful as pumpkin pie tastes. These are definitely on my project list for this fall and I can just see these on my table as part of my centerpiece (insert the sound of a brain thinking here).

At first, I was a bit disappointed because I thought you could only purchase them (which might be great for some of you so here's the link) but, I really wanted to make them so I was happy to find a link to a tutorial.

You can view the tutorial here.



    

Monthly Meal Plan Links (as promised)

Okay, here are the links to the recipes I used in this month's meal plan. If there is no link it was a homemade creation, meaning I just looked in the fridge and seasonings and threw something together - just use one of your "go to" recipes instead. Also, I sometimes find a recipe and then alter it to fit what I have on hand (or what I'd prefer to use it with) so I'll include the original link with notes on how I changed it.

Here are the dinner meals:
1. Ground beef with onions over seasoned rice with broccoli.
2. Filet with mashed potatoes & corn (sorry, the menu plan was wrong - who has broccoli two days in a row? Not that I wouldn't - I LOVE broccoli).
3. Lasagna & bread sticks (this was a Stouffer's Lasagna with store bought bread sticks).
4. Pork chops with garlic lemon sauce over pasta & green beans.
5. Flank steak with creamy rice & broccoli & cheese.

6. Chicken Florentine with orange-glazed carrots.
7. Tortilla & black bean pie with Southwestern Polenta with corn & green chiles.
8. Brown sugar & balsamic glazed pork tenderloin with fried rice & green beans.
9. Hot Dogs with sauerkraut, french fries &/or sweet potato fries.
10. Baked chicken with mashed cauliflower & corn.
11. Pizza bites (side note: these are fantastic) & wings.
12. Pulled pork sandwiches with mac-n-cheese.
13. Roasted chicken with crash hot potatoes & green beans.
14. Lasagna soup & Olive Garden breadsticks.
15. Stuffed pork chops w/corn-on-the-cob & cheesy cauliflower bake.
16. Filet with mashed potatoes and corn (my husbands favorite meal and his night to cook).
17. Tuscan chicken with cheddar & herb biscuits.
18. Burrito Bar. (I am making these flour tortillas with all the fixins).
19. Garlic shrimp over Orzo with broccoli & cheese.
20. Filipino pork abodo with fried rice & corn.
21. Chicken in creamy butter sauce with mashed cauliflower & rice.
22. Flank Steak with spicy lemon sauce, mashed potatoes & asparagus.
23. Hamburgers & fries.
24 & 25. Thanksgiving Dinner & leftovers

26. Filet with red wine butter, hasselback potatoes & cheesy cauliflower bake.
27. Meatballs with mashed potatoes & cauliflower.
28. Cocoa Rubbed Pork Chops with Polenta with corn & green chilies.
29. Tortellini w/ ground beef & bacon & bread sticks.
30. Pizza & Wings

Meal Planning

I saw this wonderful post on meal planning and decided to take a stab at it. As the cost of living keeps increasing, our family has been trying to find ways to save money. Meal planning helps you save money by keeping you from buying things YOU DON'T NEED throughout the month. When you plan your meals ahead of time you are less likely to make an extra trip to the grocery store and pick up those three of four "extra" items. This month, I've prepared the following menu and we spent $550.00 for this month's groceries (we might spend a little more - another $20 or so for Thanksgiving). Now, I do need to let you know (if you just had a heart attack) that we buy in bulk so we tend to spend more in one month but we've calculated that we are only shopping every 6 weeks so it's averaging out to be around $370/month for a family of three. Now, I will admit that there's not a wide variety of side dishes in this particular plan (my husband barely eats veggies so I have to push the ones he will eat). For your plan, just add your favorite sides and make necessary adjustments to meet your budget.



Here's the meal plan for this month and, on a side note, I print two of these - one that is kept in my binder with all the recipes for the month in sequence and one to post on the fridge. You'll notice that I have a "Defrost" memo on each day to let me know what to pull out for the next night (some things, like roasts & whole chickens need more time to defrost so you'll see they are pulled out days ahead of time).

Monthly Calendar

I use the "Weekly Meal Plan" to have a handy overview of the upcoming week. I keep it in my binder behind the monthly calendar. I just rotate the weeks out as they come up so I have easy access to notes about how I want to prepare some of the recipes.



Weekly Menu Planner

Oh, and here's the cover for my binder - if you want one with your name on it and/or in a specific color - just leave me a comment with your last name, email address and color choice and I'll send you one - ready to print.


Menu Planner Cover

Best Bagels EVER! Really!

Okay, I have always been a little skeptical when it comes to baking your own food - I always thought it wasn't really worth it but man o' man is it ever! I made these homemade bagels and they are so fantastic. The taste alone was worth it. I'm going to be scouring to see if I can find some recipes for "flavored" bagels like blueberry, onion, and the famous "everything" bagel. I will post them as I try them. FYI - my next attempt will most likely be blueberry since I have some blueberries left from this summer. Here's how these turned out:

 Here's a close-up, beautiful right?

Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy!

Angels, Demons and Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday included a long day of baking for me. I started with a "Big Batch" of cinnamon rolls, made homemade pita pockets and finished up with some homemade granola bars. So, this morning, I enjoyed one (okay - two) of the cinnamon rolls while listening to my favorite pastor, Greg Laurie, via podcast. Anyway, I wanted to show you what I was up to yesterday and provide you the fantastic links to the recipes I used. First, I made the "Big Batch Cinnamon Rolls." I have to say this is a great recipe for making cinnamon rolls and I was so happy to have found it! It's easy and makes a TON of cinnamon rolls (perfect for sharing with a friend or for taking to work one morning to surprise your co-workers). I made them to keep a batch for us and to share the other with my sister who just had a brain tumor removed.

Don't they look fantastic! You can make them yourself - Here's the recipe.





I haven't tasted (or photographed) the pita pockets so I'm not sure how good they are but they sure look good. If you are interested in that recipe you can find it here. I will make one note - when she calls for you to lightly flour them so they don't stick - be generous with the flour otherwise they do stick. And, to conclude my day of baking I made some homemade granola bars. I'm addicted to granola bars because they are so easy to make and you can customize them to your preference. I changed this recipe to include Craisens and coconut. I also do dark chocolate and coconut. Here's what they look like: 

Sorry, I forgot to give you the link to the recipe - you can find it here. Enjoy!