The Newest Addition to Our Family.....Reagan Todd

Well Chet and I are officially parents to Reagan Todd. He is a black lab and so stinkin' adorable! My mom bred their dog, Chloe, and we had Christmas last weekend in Texas. So we flew him home on Tuesday. I say we, but Chet flew with him and it was an experience (seems like it always is :-)).
Chet had to fly to Missoula which is 2.5 hours away from home, because he couldn't make it to Kalispell. He landed at noon but our luggage didn't make it until the 3rd flight at 6:30pm. So he rented a car and waited over six hours, in Missoula, and then started driving home and I had ot meet him at the Kalispell airport to drop of the rental and we were home by 10:30pm. It was a very long day for Chet and Reagan. Of cours,e he was the center of attention at the airport when he was sticking his head out of the dog carrier and he only whined for 15 minutes on the plane. He's the best!
The day Chet and Reagan made it home is the same day our guests checked in at the B&B and I was still working at the school. Reagan didn't like his crate and we couldn't let him yipe all night or else he'd wake up the guests above us. So he slept in our bed.....yikes! I know what you're thinking and I know it's bad but once our guests check out of the B&B then we'll stop that. Well....that has happened four of the five nights. But he is slowly getting better.
He LOVES the snow, and gus (my in laws dog). He's adjusted very well and we are both so in love with him. Having a puppy is a lot more work than I expected but it's so worth it. Now that I'm on Christmas break from the school I can spend more time with Reagan and my love, Chet.

A Homemade Christmas -- Gifts

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 We decided to combine our experience and knowledge of homemade gifts for this post.

We both really really really enjoy crafting and making gifts for people. It’s not always easy to figure out a homemade gift for people, but here are some ideas. Not everything is homemade, but pieces are.

BBQ Kit – BBQ Spice Rub (Nick made this), Store Bought BBQ Sauce, Homemade Candied Pecans, Jiffy Cornbread Mix

Handmade Ornaments – Courtney made some really cute pinecone ornaments and fabric covered ball ornaments.

Basket or Tin of Goodies – These are great for coworkers. Just find a cute tin or Christmas plate and fill with yummies and wrap up cute. Like these: Baking Gifts

Cookie in a Jar – These are great during the holidays because so many people receive a lot of sweets, so with a cookie in a jar, they can wait to make the cookies when they are ready for something sweet again.  These Cowgirl cookies are great; I(Courtney) tried them a few years ago.

Mason Jar Décor – I did this when I was bored over a year ago and I currently use it for straws and it sits on my kitchen counter. It can be used for make-up brushes, as a vase, as a decoration with sticks, or a pen holder to name a few.

Photo Album – Create a photo album on Mixbook.com (my favorite) or blurb.com

Scarves (Corynne’s Domain) – My mother-in-law got me in to knitting and then I started crocheting and I love it. It’s a great and fun hobby! And it makes for great gifts. I’ve made tons of different things and sold baby sets, beanies and headband ear warmers. I have tons of my stuff on my old blog and pinterest. Here’s a link for an east winter beanie: East Winter Beanie Link

And here’s a link to the baby sweater’s I’ve made: Baby Sweater Link

Also, check out Corynne's previous blog about the teddy bear she made: Teddy Bear

Candles (Corynne’s Domain) – My friend Esther got me in to making candles and it’s also a great hobby. I don’t have a set recipe to give you, but I highly recommend you trying to make candles. This and crocheting are two of my favorite things to make and give as gifts. I bought supplies from my friend and she taught me how to do everything and I’ve made at least 12 candles already. Personally, I’m obsessed with candles and they can be expensive, but making your own is much cheaper and you get to choose what color you want and what scent.

If you wrap a small piece of twine around the candle it looks really cute, but just be sure to remove the twine before the flame reaches it. Last weekend at our mom's house the twine caught on fire and luckily we found it before the whole coffee table went into flames. Eek—safety first!

We will have some more ideas after Christmas (we cannot share now, because family will know their gifts—eek!)

Hope you enjoy these ideas.

- Courtney and Corynne -

A Homemade Christmas : Baking

We are going to have a short series about all the homemade Christmas things that you can do, from gifts and wrapping to baking.  I'm starting with baking!

I decided to do my Christmas baking a little early this December. Next weekend we will be visiting family, so I won’t have time to bake then and after that, Christmas is right around the corner. I absolutely love baking and there are certain special desserts that I always like to make around Christmas time. Some of the recipes have been in the family for a really long time, but there is always something new that I add.  I did a lot of baking in one day and my feet were soooo tire by the end.

Now you might wonder what I do with all these desserts, well we give them as gifts! Nick will take some to work, I will take some to work and we might give some to neighbors and friends. And we save some for ourselves. Here is a list of everything I baked. I included a few recipes below and if there are other ones you would like, just let me know.

1. Oatmeal Carmelitas – family recipe
2. Neiman Marcus Bars – family recipe
3. Lemon Bars – family recipe
4. Pumpkin Cookies – these are made from a package!?!  I hate to say that, but they are that good! I use the Betty Crocker brand and I put cream cheese frosting between two cookies to make a sandwich. YUM! I used this cookie mix - click here!
5. Banana Bread – this is homemade and I use the recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook, it has buttermilk in it, which I think adds good flavor.
6. Cracker Toffee with Chocolate – this was a new recipe found here and it is absolutely amazing. Recipe here!
7. Pecan Pie Chocolate Bars – This is also a new recipe that I found in Southern Living September Issue.

By the way, the Oatmeal Carmelitas and Neiman Marcus Bars are always a hit!!!

Here are some of the recipes –

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ cup melted butter

Filling Ingredients:

12 oz pkg milk chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 jars caramel ice cream topping

6 tbsp flour 

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 330

Mix all crust ingredients together. Press ½ into bottom of 9 x 12 pan. And bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove crust from oven. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Mix caramel with flour, pour over chocolate chips and nuts. Sprinkle with remaining crust crumbs.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into bars when cool.

Neiman Marcus Bars

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

¾ cup melted butter

3 eggs

1 – 8 oz package cream cheese softened

1 lb powdered sugar

½ cup flaked coconut

½ cup chopped nuts

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325

Combine butter, cake mix and one egg, stir together. Pat mixture into greased 9x12 pan. Beat remaining 2 eggs, then cream cheese and powdered sugar. Stir in coconut and nuts. Pour over mixture in pan.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes until golden brown.

Cool to room temperature and cut into bars.  

Lemon Bars

Crust

2 c flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 cubes butter

1/8 tsp salt

melt butter, add flour and sugar. Chill 15 minutes

Filling

6 eggs

3 c sugar

2 TBS lemon zest

1 cup lemon juice

1 cup flour

Whisk together eggs and sugar. Add other ingredients and pour on top of refrigerated crust mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes (may take longer). Sprinkle powder sugar on top.

Surprisingly a lot of these sweets freeze well, so I will put a few pieces in the freezer and pull them out on Christmas Eve.  The ones that I have froze before include Neiman Marcus Bars, Carmelita’s and Banana Bread. 

It's Crocheting Time Again....A Teddy Bear

My mother in law told me last winter that crocheting and knitting is a winter hobby and at the time I said, "No, not me. I'll do it all year long." Well....that changed very quickly once summer came. You can't beat the summers in Montana. So my crocheting bag went away, but now I have to say my mother in law was correct because now that it's winter I've started back up again. In Montana, the winter days are very short. It doesn't get light until 8am and it's dark by 4:30pm. :-( I'm debating if I should take some Vitamin D pills.
A friend of mine had a boy in September and I wasn't able to make it to her shower, but i finally finished crocheting a teddy bear and gave it to her last month. this was my second time crocheting a teddy bear and it turned out pretty darn cute.
I never thought in a million years I'd be crocheting but it's so much fun!!! You should try it! Just go to Wal-Mart and get a crocheting hook and ball of yarn and try it out. there's so many ideas all over the internet and pinterest of course. If you're interested in the pattern just message me.

It's December!

Wow! Christmas will be here soon, well in 22 days to be exact. I love this time of year for so many reasons.

1. The smells like Christmas trees, cinnamon candles and goodies.
2. Buying or making presents for people. I love finding the perfect gift for each person.
3. Seeing family!
4. Decorating for Christmas—there is so much more in the house and it's a nice change for a while. 
5. My birthday is this month and my wedding anniversary! Busy month for my hubby.
6. The festive attitude that most people have, I feel like people are more cheerful during the Christmas season.
7. I could go on and on, but lastly, Gift wrapping--I love wrapping gifts. And finding new ways to make them look cute.

So I want to tell you a little more about gift wrapping. 

This year I decided to go with a more rustic gift wrapping and I am pretty darn happy with it. I just use the cheap brown or white paper bags that come in a pack of 13 for 6.99 (and I had a 50% off coupons from michaels - Yes!). Then for rectangle gifts, I bought some brown construction rolls at lowes. I wouldn't recommend buying that paper. It is really stiff and hard to us and the tape doesn't stick very well. But I am sure there is plain brown wrapping paper somewhere out there. The ribbon is colored raffia. I made the gift tags in photoshop, printed them on card stock, cut them out, punched a hole and added string. I just write the persons name on the back. If you don't want to use gift tags, you can use a sharpie marker and write directly on the paper.  I am really happy with the way the gift wrapping turned out. Let me know if you need some tags, I can post a generic template or email one to you.

Here is another idea for gift wrapping. This was a baby shower gift for a boy. I used the brown paper again with twine and some denim scraps. Definitely unique!

Also, funny thing to share. We now have an attic in our house and it's great because you can access it through a closet on the 2nd floor, you just open the door and walk right in, no ladders, just plain simple, I love it! BUT it gets really really hot up there! Apparently we need more insulation because I lost a few candles to the heat! Yikes! I never thought about my candles. Now this one in the picture can barely stand on its own and is crooked, very interesting. Note to self, don't put candles in the attic when its 115 degrees outside. Now I know!

Hope you enjoyed reading about gift wrapping. Let me know if you try anything fun!

-Court

A New Job is a New Chapter in Life

Well as you know Chet and I innkeep and manage Cabin Creek Landing Bed and Breakfast. Winters are very slow at the bed and breakfast so I decided to get a full time job and last Monday was my first day at Marion school as the special education para educator. The great thing is Marion school is only two miles from the B&B so my commute ( wouldn't even consider it a commute) is very short and easy, which is a blessing because having to commute to kalispell (25miles from us) is difficult in the winter because of the road conditions.
I didn't really know what to expect coming in Monday morning and I was just given a schedule and they said go. It was a little hectic, but by Friday I was getting the hang of it. I help students in 2nd, and 5th - 8th grade. It's a very small school of only 110 students for K-8th. 
I think it will be a great experience in the education field and it gets my foot in the door. We are still innkeeping and managing the B&B, and during my Christmas break for school we will be very busy at the B&B with guests. 
In less than two weeks we will start another chapter by adding one more Todd to the family: a puppy. Stay tuned to hear our stories and see pictures of our soon to be lab. We can't wait!

Our Church....Fresh Life

Here's my first post about our Church. If you ever have some extra time and want to listen to a sermon then I highly recommend our Church, Fresh Life. I'm so glad we found this Church in Kalispell. We are involved in a small group and I love it! It has been a great way to meet friends and I'm so thankful for them. I also help out at the Kids Ministry as a sub and I have enjoyed that so much.
Anyways, Levi is the pastor and he is a great speaker. Each sermon I learn so much and look forward to the next week. Fresh Life has an app which is so nice because I always watch sermons on my iphone while working out. :-)
Here is the link is you ever want to watch one: Fresh Life Church

With Snow comes Homemade Soup

Being from California I'm still not used to it snowing October 22nd when in California it was 85-90 degrees. Crazy, huh? Well we had snow for about a week and had to shovel the decks every morning. It got me a little worried that it cam so soon, but it has now melted and been raining a lot, which I'm fine with. But the summer clothes had to go away and the warm winter clothes, rain boots had to come out. I always look forward to visiting California or Texas for the holidays to get some warmer weather,but I do look forward to snowboarding here.
When it snows I always want to make some kind of soup and I had been craving one in particular for a while: tomato soup with a panini margherita. It is a weight watchers recipe and it makes so much that we had leftovers for about five days and I still froze some (FYI.....it freezes great).
Here's the recipe:

Fresh Tomato Soup:

¼ cup unsalted butter

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, finely chopped

4 lb. tomatoes, peeled and chopped

3 cups chicken stock

1 fresh basil sprig

½ tsp. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 ½ cups fresh white bread crumbs

1 cup light cream

salt and white pepper

2 tbsp. shred basil leaves for garnish

1 tbsp. sugar, if tomatoes are less than their best

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion, carrot and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, basil sprig, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Discard bay leaf and stir in bread crumbs. In small batches, puree the soup in a food processor or blender. Force the puree through a strainer using a wooden spoon. Return the puree to pan, stir in the cream and warmed bowls and garnish with the shredded basil.

Panini Margherita

16 slices tomato

8 slices rustic French bread loaf

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

12 fresh basil leaves

8 tsp. olive oil

Divide tomato slices evenly among four bread slices, and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese evenly over tomatoes. Arrange basil leaves over cheese, cover with bread slice. Drizzle olive oil over top of each sandwich; coat with cooking spray.

Place a grill pan or skillet over medium-high. Place sandwiches, oil sides down, in pan. Drizzle 1 tsp olive oil over top of each sandwich, and coat with cooking spray. Place a piece of foil over sandwiches in pan; place a heavy skillet on top of foil to press sandwiches. Cook for two minutes. Turn sandwiches over, repeat. Then serve with tomato soup.  

Enjoy making it!

Homemade Laundry Soap

For those of you out there who want to save some money each month then this is the blog for you to read. The best part is you only need to take about 15-20 minutes out of your time. I found this homemade laundry soap recipe on pinterest and it's from the Duggard's Family website (I give them all the credit).
Ingredients:
Borax - about $2.99 a box
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda - about $2.99 a box
Fels-Naptha Soap Bar - about $1.50
5 Gallon bucket with a lid
Essential oil drops
laundry containers

They say it costs about $11.54 and that will make around 640 loads which comes out to a little more than a cent a load! AMAZING!

Here is the recipe: http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/02/make-it-homemade-liquid-laundry-soap-1/

You wont be dissappointed! My hudband and I have very sensitive skin and we've had no reactions or issues with it.

Here's a picture of me melting the soap bar over the stovetop.

College Football and Mississippi Mud Fudge Pie

Last weekend my Mom, Ron and Chloe came to visit us and we went to the OSU-TCU game in Stillwater. We had a great time! We tailgated, ate some yummy food, made new friends who brewed their own yummy beer and watched the game. Mom and Ron are TCU fans, as you can see in this picture. I need to get some more OSU gear, I had a Go Pokes scarf, but it got warm in the sun so I looked very neutral...

One of the fun things that my mom did for my sister and I last Christmas was get us each a subscription to Southern Living Magazine. Which is my favorite. It's fun to get it each month, drool over the home decor and recipes, then talk about it with each other. So about two weeks ago my mom was saying how she wanted to make one of the Mississippi Madness recipes in the Fall issue of Southern Living. Since they were coming to town, I decided it was a great time to try out the Mississippi Mud S'Mores Fudge Pie.

It was amazing and probably one of my favorite desserts, I'm craving some right now. It was sweet but a little salty with the graham cracker and butter crust. So delicious! I had also just bought a spring-form pan on clearance at TJ Maxx (Only $5—yeah!), so it was perfect timing to break it in with this recipe!

So here is the recipe —

Ingredients:
2 cups grapham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter melted
2 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted and divided
1 (4oz) semisweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups regular marshmallows, cut in half horizontally
2 cups miniature marshmallows
Chocolate Frosting (recipe at the end)
1. Stir together first 2 ingredients and 1/4 cup sugar; press on bottom and 2 inched up sides of a shiny 9-inch spring-form pan. Sprinkle 3/4 cups pecans over crust.
2. Microwave chopped chocolate and 1 cup of butter in a large microwave safe bowl at HIGH 1 minute or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals.
3. Whisk flour, next 4 ingredients, and remaining 2 cups sugar into chocolate mixture, whisking until blended. Pour batter into prepared crust.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes (I start check at 45 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven cool on  pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes
5. Preheat Broiler with oven rack on lowest level from heat. Place pie  (in pan) on a jelly roll pan. Toss together both marshmallows' mound on pie, leaving a 12 inch border around the edge. Broil 30 seconds to 1 minute or until marshmallows are golden brown. Remove from oven,and immediately remove sides of pan. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, prepare Chocolate frosting. Drizzle over marshmallows; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup pecans.
Chocolate Frosting
Cook  1/4 cup butter, 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa, and 3 Tbsp of milk in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, 4 minutes or until slightly thickened; remove from heat. Whisk in 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract until smooth.

The Final Product. Enjoy!

-Court

2 New Recipes

Well it's that time again to catch up on blogging and give two more recipes: creamy avocado salad dressing and a paleo chicken curry recipe. No they don't go together whatsoever, but I tried both recently that were SO good and I think you might want to try something new.
I was overdue to try a new salad dressing and finally decided to make one I found on pinterest and it was AMAZING!
Recipe:
1 avocado
1 jalapeno, seeded
1/4 cup cilantro
1 lime, juice
green onions
3 garlic cloves
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup mayo
salt and pepper
Put everything in a blender and serve over a salad.

(This is a picture of our delicious candlelit steak dinner with the creamy avocado dressing)

Paleo Crock Pot Chicken Curry Recipe. This is a great one to make when you're busy and want to throw everything in the crock pot and let it cook all day. So simple, delicious and super healthy!
Recipe:
3 chicken breasts
1 can coconut milk
4 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
green pepper
red pepper
curry powder
basil
garlic salt and pepper
Add everything in the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. I served it over quinoa and siracha and there were no leftovers.

Body Rock Workout

I've discovered a new workout plan and videos and I LOVE it so far. I just finished my first week and it was soooo good. It's called body rock tv and you go to bodyrocktv.com and do her workouts or follow along with her each week. It's 12-15 minutes, four different exercises at 50 seconds each with 10 second in between and you repeat 3x. Each day she offers a quick three minute bonus video. The thing I love about it is every day it's so different so there's muscle confusion, which is the best way to see results. You're always doing something new and it's quick. You can obviously go at your own pace and go slower if you need to. The second thing I love about it is most of the videos you can do anywhere and utilize things you have in that room. For instance, she posted one video when she was in Mexico or at some resort and did it by the pool and used huge water bottles as her weight and she still had a good workout. I did half a video in the motorhome when we were traveling the gulf coast and the next day I was sore. So I'm tellin' ya if you're bored with your workouts or don't have an hour to devote to working out then try this.
http://www.bodyrock.tv/

New Things and Old Things Revived

I have a few new "finds" that I wanted to share with you all! I love finding good deals and/or unique items that may not be the greatest deal, but I still like them a lot.

When Nick and I visited California in September, we had the chance to stop by our friends new shop Apples and Oranges at the OC Mart Mix in Costa Mesa. This is a little blurb from their facebook page that explains what the store is all about: Apples & Oranges is a non-profit organization which allows artist, designers, and charitable organizations to be able to have a place to showcase their products with a purpose.

They really have great stuff and I came home with this little hand made pottery item that is a little jewelry dish. It sits right next to my bathroom sink and I put rings and earrings in it. How cute is it?!?!

I love it and I also love supporting local artists(even thought I'm not local to Costa Mesa anymore). If you live in Orange County, then you should check it out.




My other new "find" it this set of teak wood bowls (six small bowls and one large) at a local shop here in Skiatook called The Shop Out West.  They carry all sorts of stuff, antiques, unique furniture, guitars, dolls and lots of other items. I stop in every once in a while to see what new stuff is for sale. I think I scored with this bowl set for $20. It needs a little TLC, but nothing a little mineral oil can't fix. They will be as good as new once I am done with them. As you can see I am using the large bowl for the ridiculous amount of onions I have right now. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to buy onions at Sams Club.


Lastly, I decided to work on my kitchen decor a little and went to Hobby Lobby to see what I could find. I ended up with 3 really great items that fit so well!  I got this lovely rooster and 2 spindle candle holders. See—aren't they fun!

And the pretty Royal Copenhagen plate on the left has been sitting in a cupboard hidden, but now it is on display on top of my kitchen cabinets. This china has been passed from generation to generation. Makes me think of family and Christmas time when we would have meals on this china. 

Thats all for now!

-Court 

Our First Gulf Coast Trip

My mom and Ron invited us on our first Gulf Coast trip. We flew into Dallas and had a couple days to enjoy Fort Worth. We went to a TCU game, tailgated and had a blast even though TCU lost. That night we started our journey trip. They bought a motor home back in February so we took that and of course miss pregnant Chloe came along as well. Chloe is their chocolate lab who is expecting the first weekend of November and Chet and I will be getting one of the puppies for Christmas. We cannot wait!!!!! Our first dog together. I’m so excited.

We spent a couple days in New Orleans and it was my first time there. Let me start by saying it was very unique. It’s a great city, AMAZING food, history and lots of places to see and visit but it is one crazy party town. For me, it’s the kind of city you go to visit once and don’t need to ever go again. We had amazing Cajun food, seafood, Caribbean food, French food and that was the best part. We visited the Garden District, Warehouse District, Bourbon Street, the Dome, and casinos.

After we had enough in New Orleans we headed to Destin, Florida. It’s a beautiful city and we all loved it here. We stayed in an RV park right on the gulf coast. You could see the beach from our campsite. The sand was white as snow and the water was so clean, clear and warm. In a nutshell, the beaches were amazing! We spent most of our days on the beach swimming, kayaking, fishing, walking along the beach (or jogging), relaxing and of course eating delicious food. We had great seafood meals, ate right on the water, played corn hole and enjoyed some yummy wine. One evening we took a sunset boat cruise, saw dolphins and had a blast. That evening we ate at a restaurant over the water that decorated their walls with thousands and thousands of dollars. It was a basic and local restaurant that was known for their fresh oysters. The food was very good! That night we plated shuffle board and had a great time.

If you’ve never been to New Orleans I recommend going at least once, and Destin should definitely be added on your bucket list. It was rated top ten of the prettiest places to visit in the U.S. 

Will post photos once I download them onto my laptop at home!

All Things Pumpkin

I absolutely love fall. But I am pretty sure I already blogged about that. The other part of fall that I love includes baking / cooking with pumpkin. These recipes are great for fall! It makes you want to sit next to the fire with a good cup of coffee. Oooh and I love coffee too!

This pumpkin bread recipe is phenomenal and I have been making it for several years. Some new recipes that I  tried include pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin pie oatmeal and both were fantastic. 

Extra Moist Pumpkin Bread

Makes 2 loaves.

Ingredients:

4 beaten eggs

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 cups pumpkin (1 lb can)

2/3 cup water

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350

Mix all ingredients. Pour into loaf pans and bake for 60-70 minutes.

Option: Add cream cheese frosting.  But it really doesn’t need it.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup buttermilk pancake mix ( I cheated and used a mix)

1 cup cold water

1/3 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Nonstick vegetable cooking spray

Butter, room temperature

In a medium bowl, whisk pancake mix, water, pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger until just blended (do not over mix; mixture should be lumpy).

Spray a heavy griddle with nonstick spray and heat griddle over medium heat. Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter onto griddle to form each pancake. Cook for 2 minutes or until bubbles appear, then turn pancakes over and cook for 2 minutes longer. Transfer pancakes to plates. Top with butter and serve with warm syrup.

*Amaretto Syrup Option – Nick decided to get fancy a make a nutty flavored syrup to go along with the pancakes. We have 100% maple syrup in the fridge, so he mixed 1 cup of the syrup with 3 Tbsp of Amaretto and heated in on the stove top. We had to let it simmer a while to cook out some of the alcohol. But it was very tasty. 

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

I found this recipe on pinterest and the original recipe is here.

I made a few changes, so here is my receipe.

Ingredients:
1 serving oatmeal (cooked) I used ½ cup Old Fashioned Oats
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 dash cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg
1 dash ginger
1 dash cloves
1 splash almond milk (or more)

If not sweet enough, add splenda or more agave nectar.

When the oatmeal is finished cooking add the pumpkin puree, brown sugar and spices and cook to heat.

Add a splash of milk to cool the oatmeal and to get it to the consistency that you prefer.

More Appetizers to try

-- Healthy Cheese balls

Gotta try this...string cheese chopped into bite size pieces, dipped in milk and bread crumbs, baked at 425 for 8-10 minutes- serve with marinara sauce! It's baked not fried... Which means healthy! ;)

-- Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

6 servings

4 net carbs per serving

1 pound ground Italian sausage (or regular pork or whatever appeals to you)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (original recipe used parmesan)

1 pound jalapenos, halved lengthwise and seeded

1 green onion, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place sausage in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain grease.  In a bowl, mix the sausage, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and green onion. Spoon about 1 tablespoon sausage mixture into each jalapeno half. Arrange stuffed halves in a baking dish.  Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned.

These were my favorite and they were all eaten very quickly.

-- Healthy Cauliflower Poppers

What you will need:

•               2 heads of cauliflower

•               1/4 cup of olive oil

•               1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

•               1 teaspoon of pepper

Directions:

1.             Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.             Wash and clean the cauliflower. Cut off and discard the stem. Cut the cauliflower up into small pieces.

3.             In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the cauliflower pieces and thoroughly coat each piece.

4.             Place cauliflower pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for one hour and turn 3 times during cooking until each piece has a nice brown coloring. The browner they are the better.

Remove from oven and enjoy!