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Did you know that autumn is officially here? Not that we are having real fall weather here (we will hit 90° today) but still the calendar says we are official as of September 23rd. And since we are official it's on to everything pumpkin and Halloween.  I try really hard to wait till after the official day of fall before I pull out all my pumpkin recipes that I have been saving for a year and try not to make them all in one day. But it's really hard to choose which ones to make because I have at least 50 saved in my bookmarks not to mention they are popping up everywhere on pinterest . As a random side note, I completely and totally love pinterest.  I could spend hours on there and I find the most amazing things (not that those things get accomplished--especially the crafty projects).  But the recipes are to die for.   That's where I found this lovely lady.  Isn't she beautiful? So pumpkiny and so fall.  And so delicious.  The kids devoured almost the w...

We are a pack your lunch at home kind of family.  Mostly because our lunch is like $2 a kid per day--seriously I can feed you way cheaper from home for that! But that means sandwiches, wraps, leftovers, or whatever we can think of that is not the usual packed lunch fare. I always try to stick in a kind of fruit (fresh or canned, fruit leather), a veggie (cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, pickles--does that count? or whatever is in the fridge), chips, a main item (sandwich, wraps, rice--my kids love this, leftover pizza , spaghetti, stroganoff , hawaiin haystacks , etc.), and a fun thing (granola bar, pudding, cookie, etc.). By son gets so sick of sandwiches that I am always looking for something new for the main item.  I came across this lovely little creation and they were fantastic.  They are super fast for dinner and then we used the leftovers in the kids lunch. They loved eating them the next day and I love adding something to our lunch repertoire.   Pizza Pancakes (...

 Ahh...what a great weekend we had.   My husband had a conference in Boise and I got to go with him.  I love times that we get to get away and spend some time without the kiddos. He was in meetings all days for two days so I got do whatever the heck I wanted: read a book with no interruptions (heaven!!), watch some cooking shows (with no "this is boring, why can't we change the channel"), take a nap, or soak in the tub (with no knocking and asking for help with something). Amazing! I think being a mom makes you appreciate being able to do nothing at all.  No one to get a drink for, no one to fix a snack for, no one to help wipe, no one that needed me for two straight days. Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I love going to back to them, but it's this kind of stuff that makes me a better mom and wife.  It makes me miss them and want to see them.   And it makes me excited to get back to them and fix them some yummy food.  I love muffins and it's ...

I know corn on the cob season is almost over but as we were sitting at dinner the other night reflecting on how delicious the corn was that we were eating, my husband and I started talking about how people cook it so differently. Growing up my dad was in charge of cooking the corn.  It always came out perfect and I assumed that everyone knew the best way to have this amazing little veggie. As we were talking I realized that we had had some disgusting pieces of corn.  Mostly because the cooker didn't know how to cook it.  Corn is simple and doesn't need to be cooked very long.  This is one of the biggest mistakes people make. This is what we do.  Barring that you don't have old corn, it will turn out amazing. 1.  First get the freshest corn you can find.  I prefer a bi-color (yellow and white) because they tend to be sweeter.   2.  Schuck the corn and remove as much of the "hair" as possible.  Rinse each ear. 3.  In a large pot, brin...

 I love when school starts.  My kids are usually quite excited to go back and I am excited to be back into a schedule and a routine.  It also means that fall is coming, my favorite season.   But there are certainly some disadvantages.  One of the things I dread is the dropping off and picking up. The past couple of years I have been carpooling with another mom but now that doesn't work so I feel like we are at the school constantly just waiting and waiting and waiting. It doesn't help that I have to drop the older three off at 8 and then my youngest at preschool at 12:30 then it's pick up the older three at 2:45 and then the youngest at 3:45.  Arghhh...lines! I would feel a lot better if people had line etiquette.  I have such a hard time not yelling at those certain individuals that think that their time is more important than yours and zoom ahead of you in the lane that the school has told us repeatedly not to use for dropping off or picking up. ...

Ahhh peaches!  I love this time of year and this is a major reason. I love peach season.  Juice dripping down your chin, the smell of peaches ripening, the sweet taste of a fresh peach.  Heaven! The best part is that there are so many ways to have these ladies and we have been very blessed this year to have a lot of them.  We have been eating them everyday.  As soon as they are ripe, we eat them.  My mouth is watering just thinking about them. They are pure yumminess.   Our favorite way to have them is fresh peaches with a little bit of sugar and cream.  But we have been also having them in our oatmeal, with our cheerios, making peach pie and regular peach crisp, and then this raspberry peach crisp.  Perfect for a cool fall day and topped with vanilla ice cream because a good crisp will be nothing without it's best friend. So go enjoy some peaches while I can 6 boxes of them--wish me luck! Raspberry Peach Crisp ( click here for printable vers...

I have been pondering a question for several days now.  It's a really important one. Okay it's not THAT important but somedays if I had the answer then everyone in the world would be much happier I'm sure. Here's my question:  what happens to children (especially girls) at school that makes them think when they get home from school they can be so dramatic, emotional, and completely overwrought. I know in my head that it's because school is tiring and overwhelming for their tired little bodies....BUT do you seriously need to act like the world is over because I asked you to do your homework? Most days we work through it and by dinnertime they are transformed back into their happy selves but other days it's a little too much. When they ask WHY?!!? (in a very whiny, high pitched voice) for the 7th time do they have to put away their stuff they dropped in the middle of floor or WHY?!!? they can't watch 3 movies because they are so tired or WHY?!!? do they have t...

 Is it still grillin' season at your house? We use our grill as long as possible.  We are still having very warm days with chilly nights so we are loving being outside. One thing that never gets old on the grill is hamburgers.  The kids love them, I love them, and they are perfect for football parties.  We love watching college football at our house and all the fun bbq/party food we get to eat. I think sliders (aka small hamburgers) are ideal for football parties, bbq parties, and kids.  My son can eat a full-size hamburger but the rest of my kids can't but they always want their own hamburger and leave at least half on their plate.  Sliders solves the problem.   Woot!  They get their own hamburger, which they are excited about, and I don't have to worry about them wasting their food.   Plus when it's smaller, it seems like it has fewer calories! Note: I make our own hamburger buns so I make them little to fit the sliders.  That way you...

Well we officially survived the first two days of school.  My kids started last Thursday, weird I know, but it gave us some last minute playing time at grandpa and grandmas. I thought school (or staying at home for me) went quite well.  We had no major traumatic events, just a minor one that we survived with flying colors.  You see, the night before school started I was cutting Sarah's bangs.  She had been asking me do it for several weeks now and I had been putting it off.  So after she got of the shower that night I just had her come in the kitchen and lean over the garbage can so I didn't have to clean up any hair.  First mistake. I cut exactly where she wanted them, or so I thought.  Since she was leaning over they weren't in the right spot and I cut them a tad bit too short.  Nothing horrendous but still a little short.  She didn't mind until Kathryn, the younger sister, walked in and fell on the floor laughing. I'm serious her bangs are...

 There is something about going back to school that makes me want to make yummy, hearty breakfasts. I think it's the weather.  It starts to cool off and the mornings are cold so a warm breakfast sounds delightful.  I love the fall.  Leaves turning, breaking out the soup recipes, and crisp afternoons.  I'm excited just thinking about it. Or maybe it's just that I'm weird!  My friends say it's the latter--they think I'm crazy for making a hot breakfast almost every morning.  But that's okay, I like to be weird sometimes :). But let me tell you, there is nothing weird about this recipe.  Just plain deliciousness.  This was one of those recipes that has been hanging around in my bookmark folder forever.  I kept meaning to make it but just never quite found the right moment. I finally decided to try it out for a yummy first day of school breakfast and the kids were in love.  I was too.  They are probably my favorite waffle recipe no...

Today I am so excited to be taking part in Mom's Crazy Cooking Challenge.  Thanks Tina so much for doing this! Our first challenge was mac-n-cheese.  We take a recipe that we have never made before, cook it up, share it with our readers, link up to the party, and have everyone vote for their favorite (don't forget to "like" my recipe--shameless I know but I have amazing readers!) I found this lovely lady at The Curvy Carrot .  Isn't that such a fun name.  She has some great recipes, and a fun blog, go check her out and say hi! I have shared with you before how much we love homemade mac-n-cheese at our house.  The box stuff doesn't really cut it.  We need real cheese and real butter, mmm...delicious. Plus mac-n-cheese is one of those timeless meals.  I remember it from my childhood and I know my kids will remember me making them homemade mac-n-cheese. One of the reasons I think it is timeless is because of all the variations.  I mean you can make ...

Happy Labor Day! I hope you have some fun plans that include some great food (and maybe some football). We do.  Mostly because we have been hanging out with family for a week. Every time we get together with my family we are known to try new recipes, make lots of food, and eat amazing food. There is never a chance that we will go hungry at my parent's house.  My brother-in-law always jokes that he gains 10 pounds every time he comes and visits.  The other fun part about getting together this time of year is all the football and tailgating recipes that we pull out after a year of sitting in the dark.  We love sliders, chilis, brauts, and lots of homemade salsa and guacamole.  Mmmm....so good. I wish I had one of those recipes ready for you but we have been having lots of fun playing with cousins, visiting with family members we haven't seen in months, and having football parties so the recipe didn't get put together so here is a new zucchini bread we tried. ...

Funfetti. I love the sound of that word.  It makes it sound like it's a party in your mouth. Were one of those kids that always loved funfetti cake mixes?  You know the kind that your mom would buy just for your birthday and if you got the funfetti frosting from the store also, it was like a perfect birthday? I was totally one of those kids. Mostly because my mom made almost everything homemade, so if we got something that was halfway store bought (like a cake mix) or completely store bought (like white bread or cereal) it was heaven at our house. It's the same at my house now.  I don't think my kids have ever had a funfetti cake mix from the store.  Poor kids, they are so deprived! Not really but when I came across this recipe I thought it would be perfect for after school.  What kid doesn't love funfetti not to mention the mini cupcake on top.  I knew they would be in heaven. This recipe is fantastic.  I love the vanilla flavor and the sprinkles make...