Time for Christmas cards!

Now that Thanksgiving is over it's time to get on the ball and mail out those Christmas cards! Each year I have always been a little bit slow with sending them out and end up having to send them as New Years cards but this year I would like them to be on time!
Photo cards have to be my favorite of all. I know everyone we send them too loves seeing our smiley faces! After all when you add a photo too the card you are sure to put a smile on their face too!! I have used Shutterfly in the past for my sons birth announcements. I got them in such a timely manner and the quality was awesome not to mention the great price! I also use the site for my photo storage so I do not lose all my precious pictures. Storage is for free by the way.

I have been looking threw these photos for this years cards. I really like that they have a selection of the not so tradition cards.
Here are some I like:







They even have a huge selection of address labels you can add to your cards!





I have also been thinking about Christmas gift ideas! Here is one of the calendars I like:



And you can't forget gift tags!

Shutterfly has everything for your holiday needs!

Pin It

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my husband having a good job during these tough economic times. Thankful for my own good health, and for my healthy, happy children and marriage.
Our warm home, my wonderful parents and brother.
An abundance of food, technology (my blackberry and xbox kinect) and laughter!
Just to name a few


This year I will actually be celebrating turkey day this coming Saturday. Hubby works Today and tomorrow. It was planned to just be the 4 of us this year but my mom called me yesterday morning saying that I needed to make room for 2 more because her and my dad were going to do the 5 hour drive on Friday for them to be able to eat with us. Awesome! The menu consists of deviled egg, summer sausage with cheese and crackers, ham, stuffing, green bean casserole, perogies, rolls, pumpkin and blueberry pie! Yum!

Gobble gobble til you wobble wobble!

Pin It

Lets talk appetizers

Today I was writing out my menu for Thanksgiving and I got stuck on what kind of appetizer to make. So then it got me thinking about my Christmas menu and what appetizer i wanted then! Appetizers around my household are a big thing as it's the only thing we usually eat before the big meal on holidays. You know how it goes, snack light so you can stuff yourself silly with turkey and stuffing! If your lucky fit a small piece of pie in there. I've never cared for the too fancy salmon on a cracker, a mush of veggies on a piece of bread or some moldy cheese. I like simple and tasty! After all you don't want to spend all your time on an appetizer. You need to save your energy for all that turkey business! Here are a few simple snacks. Some you can even prepare days before hand, freeze and when your ready take them out and bake.

Cheese Pumpkins

Crescent Jalapeño Poppers

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Tartlets

Fruit Gobbler

Traditional Southern Deviled Eggs

Stuffed Mushrooms

Pin It

TuesdaysTip

Here is a little tip for you! If you own a lysol no-touch hand soap system then you know that the refills are about $4-$6 or they are at least where I live...
That is just about the cost of the whole system! I knew there had to be a way to refill them. And sure enough there is! You do however have to be careful because the cap is very fragile and you have to make sure not to mess with the little hole where the soap connects to the system otherwise it will leak.

Simply slide a butter knife slowly under the cap. The once the knife is under there you slide it over to the other side and it will pop off. Make sense?

.
POP! no cap...

Refill with liquid soap ($4 for that HUGE bottle)

TA-DA!

Pin It

1/2 Birthday

Today my little ...err... BIG boy is 6 months old! To celebrate the special occasion Blake got a new pair of slippers and I made him a mini album of his milestones and pictures from 0-6 months old then I also sewed together a little crinkle/tag toy! I would upload photos of those but I am currently having some computer difficulties :(

Heres to 6 fabulous months with the cutest boy I know!


Blake sitting up (excuse the messy bed)

Learning how to use a sippy cup!

Pin It

Homemade Baby Food

While I was pregnant with with my son I made the decision that when it came time for him to start solids that I would make his food. With all the reading did I figured hey I can do that too! That time has come. Blake is almost 6 months old so it's time to get the fresh fruits and vegetables and mash away!

I have so far introduced him to a few different foods. Some of his favorites include apples and carrots. Both separate and other. That is exactly what I made this morning. I picked out some nice Red Delicious apples and a small bag of carrots. I recommend buying organic when it comes to apples and carrots as they are both on the EWG's "dirty dozen" list.

This is how I made puree carrots and apples:

Baby's Applesauce
(I've read Macintosh, Gala or Braeburn apples are best)

Any amount of apples (I used 3)

Water

Stove Pot

Wash, peel and core apples, put apples in large pot with just enough water to cover the tops of the apples. Boil until tender. Strain cooked apples while saving the left over water. Put apples into food processor and puree while adding leftover water until desired consistency.

Easy as that!! I then put the puree in ice cube trays, covered with plastic wrap and put them in the freezer. Each cube is equal to about 1 ounce. After they are frozen I popped them into a labeled ziploc. Then when your little one wants a meal just take one out, defrost and your little one is good to eat!



Apples Boiling


Puree



With the carrots I choose to steam them. Next time I make the applesauce I think i will try steaming them too.

Steamer

Carrots

Water

My rice cooker has a steamer basket that it came with so I steamed as directed, until they were tender. Strain carrots, put carrots into food processor and puree. I choose not to keep the water instead I used fresh water for thinning. Follow same steps above for storage.


Carrots Steaming



Puree



Ready For The Freezer



Final Product!

This is an awesome site I go upon for most of my recipes and storage help.

Pin It

Thanksgiving Subway Art

Everyone seems to be on the subway art kick. SO, I decided to make one too! This is what I came up with for Thanksgiving!! Click, print and frame.
Enjoy

Pin It

Pumpkin Waffles

November here we come! That means turkey time!! I can not believe the year is almost over! wow! Blake will be 6 months in 10 short days!

Did everyone have a great Halloween? Ours was pretty good. Here are a few photos!!

Roar!


Scary Lion


Trick or treat!



Yesterday morning I made pumpkin waffles to get us into the Halloween spirit. It was my first time making them and they turned out wonderful! Definitely a recipe I will be keeping.

What you need:



Easy Pumpkin Waffles

2 1/3 Bisquick Baking Mix
1/2 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil (I used corn oil)
2 Tablespoons Packed Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice (not shown)
2 Eggs

Heat and grease waffle maker, mix all ingredients till smooth. Bake until golden brown.



Children patiently waiting to be fed




Enjoy!

Pin It