thankful #5

• for girl time tonight
• for a beautiful day
• for having family close by
• for a gift I received of a handful of homegrown jalapenos
• for lunchtime conversations with co-workers
• for a drive to work today where Jeremy and I were able to connect with the Lord in worship
• for a God who is always the same, who is my constant in times of change
• for new beginnings
• for those pretty red berries showing up on all of the trees
• for the smell of burning fireplaces

What are you thankful for today?

Shannon

Tackling the pumpkins

This week I tackled the two sugar pumpkins that had been given to us by a friend. I cut each pumpkin in half, spooned out the seeds and strings (saved the seeds for roasting), and placed the halves cut side down in a baking dish.

I added 1/2 cup of water to the baking dish, and baked the pumpkin halves at 450 degrees for 1 hour.

They came out looking like this.

Once cooled, I spooned the flesh into tupperware to sit in the fridge until I was ready to tackle this further.

The next day (only because I ran out of time the first day) I pureed all the pumpkin in the food processor

I mixed half the seeds with cinnamon and sugar and half with salt, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper and roasted them for 50 minutes at 300 degrees

then I used 2 cups of pumpkin to make this bread

I still have 2-3 cups of fresh pureed pumpkin left in the fridge, so I'll definitely be whipping up another treat soon.

Pumpkin Bread
-2 cups whole wheat flour
-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-2 cups pumpkin
-1/2 cup oil
-1/2 cup applesauce (or leave this out and use an extra 1/2 cup of oil... but we like things on the healthy side)
-4 eggs
-3 cups sugar (I used brown because ants had infested my bag or white sugar)
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice/ seasoning
-1/2 cup water

Whisk salt, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and flour in bowl. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar and pumpkin until well mixed. Alternately add in flour and water until all ingredients are well mixed. Pour into 2 greased 9x5 loaf pans and bake for 60 minutes at 350. The texture and flavor are even better if you let the bread sit in the fridge overnight.

Shannon

Thanksgiving

I love the Thanksgiving season! Grocery stores are having great sales, coupons are plentiful in the paper and on the internet, comfort foods are abundant, families gather, people give more, and are intentionally thankful and reflective. Here are some Thanksgiving related links. Hope your holiday is great!

Thanksgiving Activity Ideas

10 Thanksgiving tradition ideas

Thanksgiving Conversation Starters

These aren't necessarily Thanksgiving related, but it's still a great list of conversation starters.

Thanksgiving Bingo

Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt

Here are some other great Thanksgiving games.

Thanksgiving Menu

Here's my Thanksgiving menu plan from last year (minus my special mashed potatoes that I forgot to list). It was so good that if I was hosting again this year I wouldn't change a thing. The brined turkey is particularly tasty.

Decorations

Here is a great list of Thanksgiving day crafts and decorations.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? Do you watch the Macy's day parade, reenact the first Thanksgiving, share thanksgiving Bible verses, have family prayer or devotion time, play an after turkey game of football, pull the wishbone, or share what you're grateful for?

One Thanksgiving tradition that I enjoyed growing up, was that at my Aunt and Uncle's house they would have a "Turkey Shoot" each year. They would tape paper turkeys to tin cans, and everyone would take turns shooting them with a BB gun.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving foods? Do you eat pumpkin pancakes, enjoy the traditional dinner spread, or do something unique?

One of my favorite holiday foods is my Aunt Lois' olive dip. I also really love my mother-in-law's dressing and sweet potato casserole, in fact, I'm getting hungry just thinking about all of this food!

Shannon

Free printables

I just stumbled upon freeprintable.net, and am loving sifting through hundreds (or maybe thousands) of printable forms, documents, cards, etc.

The categories for printable items that they have are; resume templates, letters of resignation,
letters of recommendation, invoice forms, fax forms, balance sheets, cash statements, cover letters, stationery, business cards, legal documents, time sheets, business hours, general free printable templates, calendars, daily planner refills,printable maps, teachers printable, grocery lists, clip art, recipe cards, stationery, thank you cards, chore charts, family tree/ genealogy charts, party planner, greeting cards, banners, invitations, gift tags, party games, place cards, decorations, children's printables, coloring pages, crafts, activities, memory games, bingo games, dot-to-dot puzzles, and more.

My favorites so far are the;

Yahtzee Score Card

Homemade with love canning label

Christmas Gift Tags

Master Grocery List or Grocery List with extra space

Menu Planner with Grocery List

Shannon

Links

Cooking

Since it's fall (although it still doesn't feel like it here) I'm thinking more soups. This Artichoke Soup sounds fantastic.

Cream of Mushroom Soup sounds like another great fall dinner.

And so does Clam Chowder.

Pumpkin Cobbler sounds yummy.

These White Chicken Enchiladas look like a great dinner for J (but with whole wheat tortillas and fat-free half and half in place of the cream)... maybe I could substitute ground tofu, or white beans and do a separate batch for me.

This may be the simplest Black Bean Soup that I've ever seen, we we all need a few go to quick recipes that we can throw together at a moments notice.

This Shrimp Fried Rice looks great, but I would definitely add fresh ginger, onion, and garlic.

I love this post on 5 ways to eat each off 22 healthy ingredients.

I have never heard of reusing pickle brine, but find it quite intriguing and frugal!

I'd love to make my own Chai Tea Syrup, for homemade Chai Tea Lattes. Or here are dry powder mixes for Chai Tea and Hot Chocolate.

Crafting

This Argyle Onesie is super cute!

I think this Felt Bird is my favorite homemade Christmas ornament that I've seen yet. Or maybe these Felt Stockings.

These flower headbands and ponytail holders are pretty.

I make all of the cards we give, and usually use paper and/ or stamps to do so, but I think these Yarn Cards might be a nice change.

Cleaning

This Microwave Cleaner in natural and frugal.

Shannon

Thankful #4

• deep conversation


• the church, as in the body of believers that crosses national, denominational, economic, and geographic walls


• that I can wear jeans to work


• for God's written Word


• for creativity


• great sales at the grocery store


• for a light hurricane season this year


• gmail chat


• for coffee


• for worship

What are you thankful for today?

Shannon

Moo Shu

Ever since I was a little girl Moo Shu has been my favorite dish to order at a Chinese restaurant. Here's my healthier version of this take-out classic. I also stir fried some strips of pork for Jeremy to add to his, but any protein would be great here. If you're adding a protein, stir fry it in some peanut or sesame oil for added flavor. I just used button mushrooms, but wood ear or shitake would be more authentic. Serve Moo Shu either on Chinese Pancakes, or flour tortillas (we like Whole Wheat tortillas), with some plum sauce to spread over them.

Moo Shu

-1 head green cabbage, shredded (or if feeling lazy, 1 bag of coleslaw mix)

-16 oz mushrooms, sliced

-1 (small) can sliced bamboo shoots, sliced in half lengthwise
-2 teaspoons sesame oil
-3 large eggs, lightly beaten
-1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-5 scallions, sliced

-3 tablespoons rice vinegar
-2 tablespoons dry sherry
-2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
-2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Heat sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggs, and stir-fry 2 minutes. Remove eggs from pan. Add minced ginger and garlic to pan, and stir-fry 1 minute. Add mushrooms, cabbage, and bamboo; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add scallions and next 4 ingredients, and stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in eggs and serve.

Shannon