What do you do on a 3 day weekend?

My weekend started out Friday night by going to see my brother and his improv  group at Seattle U. They really are quite hilarious. I was thinking of staying home because I was so tired from a busy week at work, but I'm glad I went to see him! Then Saturday was my super productive day. I cleaned EVERYTHING- bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom, did laundry, changed sheets, put clothes away, dusted, vacuumed, and more. It felt so good to get everything cleaned up (and now I don't want to touch or use anything that would mess it all up!) The rest of the weekend included church, clearing up the DVR by finally watching the Grammy's and a few other shows, reading (Sticky Faith by Kara Powell and Chap Clark and Love Times Three by the Dargers), shopping, and sleeping! Saturday afternoon I turned to pinterest as I thought of what I should make for dinner and this is the result...

Recipe #1 Crock Pot Shredded Chicken

While this post is about the most recent weekend, I actually made this chicken last weekend. It turned out SO well. The recipe can be found here. It was super easy to just throw it all in the crockpot and let it cook for a few hours. When it was done I shredded it up and bagged it for lunches and put a few in the freezer.

Recipe #2 Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Now anyone who knows me knows that I rarely follow a recipe exactly step by step. (I've inherited that trait from my mom. Love you, mom!) We'll start with the fact that I didn't do this in the crock pot, I did it in a soup pot on the back of the stove. I also omitted the bell pepper (because I don't like them) and used the shredded chicken I had put in the freezer last weekend. The real recipe can be found here. I also made the honey jalapeño cornbread, found at the same site. This dinner got a big thumbs up from Luke and I've got leftovers in the fridge and freezer to take for lunches this week!

Recipe #3 M&M Samoa Blondies

Naturally, when I start to make dinner my mind jumps to what I'm going to make for dessert. So I head to pinterest and look in my cupboard for what I can create out of the ingredients I have. I found coconut in the freezer and thought I remembered a recipe for samoa blondies on pinterest. SO good! Samoas are some of my favorite girl scout cookies and these cookie bars have a very similar taste. The recipe can be found at Six Sisters' Stuff (one of my favorite places to find new recipes!)

I really love to cook and bake and I love sharing the things I make with others. Pinterest is a great place to find new recipes to try and I find myself trying at least one new recipe a week, sometimes more. I'm thankful for friends and family who are always willing to help me eat the things I create. 

I'm especially thankful for this guy who always eats everything I make! This was taken on Thursday night before we went out for Valentine's Day at BluWater Bistro. I am a blessed girl :)

A few pinteresting recipes

A while ago I made a promise to myself that I would actually try more of the recipes that I post on pinterest (instead of just pinning them and letting them sit there!). The past two days I've tried two different recipes, both of which were very successful with my taste-testing crew.



Recipe #1 Monster Cookie Bars

Peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, reese's pieces (instead of m&ms)...what's not to like?? The recipe can be found at the Domesticated Duchess. Everyone has LOVED these. I can't get Luke to stop eating them :) Whenever I tell someone what is in them he always adds that they are 60% sin...haha.





Recipe #2 Slow Cooker Kielbasa & White Bean Stew

The recipe says to cook it for 8-10 hours on low but I didn't get it started until about 2 this afternoon. Instead of dry white beans I used canned and cooked it all on high for about 4 1/2 hours. I added a little flour/butter mixture to thicken it a bit and it turned out very yummy! Everyone gave it 2 thumbs up! Found at Kalyn's Kitchen.

Mom's Visit

Thursday morning I picked my mom up at the airport for a weekend visit and  we've had lots of fun since she got here! We shopped and went out to dinner with my bro and then Friday we got a tour of Seattle U and got lunch on campus before everyone came over to my apartment for dinner. I made pork chops cooked with apples and onions, mashed potatoes, baked apples, salad, and bread and it turned out pretty yummy. I love to cook from scratch, especially when there are lots of people to eat after its all done!

Serving up dinner.

Love him.

The whole crew. I love having 6 people around our table!

And of course, we can't forget dessert! I was torn between making pumpkin chocolate chip bars and pumpkin spice cake but everyone was leaning toward the chocolate chip bars. SO in order to make it a little more dessert-like I added cream cheese frosting. According to my dad, cream cheese frosting makes everything better, and I tend to agree! They turned out delicious and, after being refrigerated overnight, taste even better. 

On a slightly different note, while we were shopping this weekend my mom bought me a crock pot for my birthday!! I'm so excited to get started cooking things in it. I've been researching tons of healthy recipes to stick in it, so if you have any I'd love them. So many crock pot meals contain cream-of soups and packaged dip mixes, and I'd prefer not to add extra sodium or unnecessary preservatives to my meals. I'm thinking of trying a lamb stew on Monday night. We'll see how it goes!

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday was a chilly day to be out at the pumpkin patch, but we stayed dry (which was an answer to prayer!) - as soon as we left and pulled onto the road it started to rain, then hail! The corn maze was a bit of a disappointment, but we were there long enough to take a few pictures, pick out some good pumpkins, and eat some apple cider donuts! I was the most excited about the donuts since the donut machine was broken last year and we had to get kettle corn instead (soooo not the same, when you're expecting delicious donuts!) Overall it was a fun outing, followed up with some carving on Sunday. I always forget about how disgusting the inside of a pumpkin smells and how icky the seeds feel, but I know I'm still going to want to do it again next year. Funny how it works that way.

Also, tonight I was in a baking mood (again!) and made some banana bread and round 2 of the Halloween bark. This time I got the right kind of white chocolate that melted beautifully instead of getting chunky. SO we'll see how this one tastes compared to the last batch.

pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin

The past few days have really started to feel like fall in Seattle and I'm loving every second of it. I never thought I would see the day that I was celebrating the sun not shining. It's been cloudy all week and we're supposed to have up to 4 inches of rain this weekend! I'm so excited I could squeal :) All that to say, fall is probably my favorite season. And fall means pumpkin EVERYTHING ~ muffins, bread, lattes, cheesecakes, cookies, etc. Thank you pinterest for supplying me with a lifetime supply of pumpkin recipes!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Pumpkin Mousse Brownie Triffle

Two ingredient pumpkin cake

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate

Pumpkin Fudge

Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin Spice Thumbprint Cookies

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Pumpkin Pie Crepes

Pumpkin Better Than.... Cake

Pumpkin Spice Latte Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Perfect Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Molasses Cookies

Cinnamon Cupcakes with Pumpkin Pie Frosting

And last but not least, who doesn't love a good pumpkin spice latte??

My 3 favorite "F" words...

Family. Friends. Food :)

Tonight my brother and his girlfriend came over for dinner and it was so fun! I love to cook and its always so much more rewarding when I can share the final product with people I love and care about. I decided I would make something from Pinterest, to further work on my goal of actually making the things I pin, and I landed on a Cowboy Casserole found here. I mean, helloooooo it's got tator tots on the top! What could be better? It didn't look super appetizing all piled on the plate, but it was a hit- especially with Luke and Bob. We sat around the table chatting for a while and then dug into dessert that Cassie and Bob brought- harvest plum walnut crumble pie from high 5 pie and it was incredible! I'd take pie over cake any day and this one was so yummy. I don't think I've ever had plums in a pie before, but I'm a fan!

I love that my bro is going to school just a few miles away and I get to see him so often. We always connect Sundays at church and if it works in our busy schedules we'll hang out during the week too. Not all siblings get this opportunity to spend time together (or even like spending time together) and I feel so blessed by the relationship that we have. I loved hanging out as a foursome too- no extra family members or friends, just some siblings spending time together. Can't wait for more times like tonight in the future!

Halloween Bark

Last night Luke came over for dinner and we finished watching Lord of the Rings. He told me that I needed to watch all three before the Hobbit movie comes out this Christmas so I semi-unwillingly obliged because I knew it was important to him. Who knew I would become so obsessed with finishing the three movies asap? Between Gimli and Aragorn I was definitely a happy girl. All that to say, we had a nice evening in, but I was in a baking-make-something-from-pinterest mood :) Enter Halloween Bark! I got the inspiration from this site, but I altered mine a bit. (My mom would be so proud! hah) I used about a half a package of Halloween Oreos, probably a cup of broken pretzel pieces, a handful of Reese's Pieces, and a combo of melted chocolate chips and white chocolate (with festive sprinkles on top of course). Clearly this is an exact science and must be measured very carefully.... :) I took a container of the finished result to church today and it did not last very long in that office! I had to get it out of the house otherwise my roomie and I would have eaten every last piece!

Also, while I was in the kitchen Luke rearranged the letters from my
"Happy Halloween" window stickies....he is pretty clever, I'll give him that much!

Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes

I found this recipe for Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes on Pintrest and I thought, I HAVE to try these. So, we had a family get-together this afternoon, and I thought here is my opportunity to try something new. (In addition to making regular chocolate cupcakes, oatmeal raisin cookies, and peanut butter cookies- so when the new item doesn't go over well with a family that always expects the same things there is still some dessert to eat. ha) Anyways, I made the cupcakes following this recipe and I thought they were delicious! So easy to make and a little bit better for you- no eggs and a lot less sugar in the frosting!

Two ingredients: crushed pineapple and yellow cake mix. SO easy!

Out of the oven.

Frosted and ready to go.

Love pintrest. Love trying new things. Love these cupcakes :)