Halloween 2011

Here are pictures from Halloween 2011 and our little monkey!

Game-Day Menu

We opted out of going to the Auburn vs. Ole Miss game today and decided to stay home, hang out as a family, and get things done around the house. As of 2 hours ago, here's our game-day menu we whipped up in no time:

1) Appetizer: (wondering what to do with the leftover black-eyed peas that you froze from the black-eyed pea hummus from 2 posts ago?)

Black-Eyed Pea Dip

1 (15 oz) can black-eyed peas (or your extra ones you cooked in the crockpot for hummus)
1 tsp seasoned salt (we just use regular salt)
2 Tbsp minced onion
1 Tbsp dice jalapeno pepper
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 (3 oz) can deviled ham
3 oz grated mozzarella cheese

(If using peas from can)...cook peas 2 minutes, and drain. Lightly mash peas, and mix with salt and next 6 ingredients. Pour into a 9-inch round baking dish, and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Serve warm.

**This is from "Food for Thought" Junior League cookbook, and it's always a crowd pleaser

2) Dinner: Pork Tenderloin---Andy put a great meat rub on it and grilled the tenderloin
(Vegetables?? I heated some up that I had in the freezer, but I may or may not have opted out of them for the next food item...)

3) Dessert: Easy Skillet Apple Pie

I've been wanting to make this from the September 2011 Southern Living magazine. So while baby boy was sleeping, I start peeling and coring apples! And it truly is easy and oh-so-delicious. We topped ours with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. Delish! (Do I sound like Rachael Ray or what?)


Easy Skillet Apple Pie
Recipe here

2 lb Granny Smith apples
2 lb Braeburn apples (I used Gala because it's what I had)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (but next time I may use a little less)
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 (14.1-oz) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 egg white
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Peel apples, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup granulated sugar.

Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 1-2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 piecrust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over piecrust, and top with remaining piecrust. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of piecrust with egg white; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp granulated sugar. Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning if necessary. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before serving.

(Note, I did not do the egg white and sugar. I cheated, took the short cut, and instead sprayed with Pam. Ha! But it turned out fine.)

I have made my own piecrusts before, and while they taste great, you can't beat the time you save on refrigerated piecrusts.

Enjoy!


C'est l'Halloween!

Making Family Memories

Jenny Camp made this adorable "War Eagle" shirt for Jackson! We love it and proudly wear it all the time. Thanks Jenny!

This past week has been so fun making lots of family memories. Andy was able to take off work, and we headed to Nashville for Andy's cousin's wedding.


(this teeny family photo courtesy of Ashley York's iPhone)


(We were getting ready to leave the reception, hence my wearing of my winter coat in all these pictures.)

Mary Lauren married a wonderful guy named Chris, and we look forward to getting to know him better in the future. The wedding was outdoors (and a bit chilly!) at beautiful Wolf Den Farm. (A band member from Kings Of Leon got married here, and Aunt Julie said they copied a lot of their amazing details.) Everything was exquisite, from the bride, to the food, to the amazing Mo-Town band, to the flowers, to the mother and father of the bride, etc. It was fun getting together with family and celebrating Mary Lauren and Chris. Jackson was such a trooper, staying up well over 3 hours past his normal bedtime. We also got to stay with my Aunt Karen, and she got to meet Jackson for the first time. For Saturday lunch, met up with the Camps and with Jay Lurie for a great chicken finger lunch near Vanderbilt's campus (right now I can't remember the name of the restaurant). The Camp girls, Maddie and Emalyn, are so cute and Maddie loves to entertain Jackson (thank you Maddie!). We also went and saw Jay's awesome loft in the Gulch in Nashville. Cool and amazing and perfect bachelor pad are understatements. It was an awesome place. I didn't have my camera with me, or else I'd have more pictures of our great weekend in Nashville.


Me and Ashley

We came back from Nashville, spent one night at home, and headed out the next morning for Seacrest Beach. Andy and I love going there, and it was fun to bring our baby with us this time.


Jackson's 1st time in the swing. Great playset in Alys Beach, right next to Seacrest


Jackson loved splashing around in his new "ride"





Finally, a family picture! Jackson was de-clothed because he was covered in sand, and he was laughing at the sweet lady taking our picture. But hey, it's the best we could do :)




This is the newest face Jackson has been making, and it cracks us up every time he does it


Jackson LOVED the sand. So much so that he wouldn't take his eyes off of it.


He enjoyed eating it too (we promptly grabbed him up right after he started shoveling fistfuls into his mouth)


Still examining the remnants of sand on his hands

We headed home a day early to see my grandparents, who were visiting Birmingham all the way from sunny Orlando.




It's game day, baby! War Eagle!

Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

Y'all, I love hummus. It's healthy, packed with calcium and protein, and a great snack or appetizer.
I'm always surprised at the high prices for hummus in the grocery store. Well, let me tell you, I'm in LOVE with this recipe! Thanks to Literally, A Spoonful, (and this blog creator happens to be a friend of mine from Auburn University School of Nursing), I now know how to cook beans in the crock pot (and my oh my, are they cooked to perfection!), and now how to make hummus. Yum-O.
We're having some Young Life leaders over for dinner tomorrow night, and I can't wait to serve this hummus with carrots and broccoli as an appetizer, to get some good veggies in their nutrition-deprived bodies (you know how those college meals go).

First off, I put a 16 oz bag of black-eyed peas in my slow cooker, covered with about 2 inches of water (make sure all the beans are covered), add a few pinches of salt, and let cook on HI for 4 hours. Easy-peasy. Once cooled, freeze half of the black-eyed peas for a later recipe, and then put the 2nd half in a food processor. Add 3 cloves of garlic (minced...but I buy the already-minced...what can I say? I'm all about ease of cooking these days), 1/2 cup lemon juice (again, I buy already squeezed, but I know fresh would taste that much better), 1/3 cup tahini*** (see notes below), 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika. Process until smooth. Serve with cut up carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, toasted pita wedges, etc. Recipe here.

Go to Literally, A Spoonful's blog, as she has much prettier pictures. I worked today and hit a baking/cooking spurt when I got home (which I know I'll pay for the fatigue in the morning!). Therefore, I have no energy, nor desires, to take pics of what I've made. But, it's really, truly, truly, truly delicious and easy. I, for one, do NOT like black-eyed peas, so this is a delicious way to get them into my diet!

***About the tahini, I was at Publix the other day and was appalled to see an 8 oz. jar of tahini (ground sesame seed paste) for around $9.00. I turned to trusty ole' Amazon, and I found these lovely 2 pack of 32 oz. jars of tahini straight from Lebanon for under $15. Thank you Amazon! I got them in 2 days (courtesy of amazon.com/mom)!

K, off to finish up baking this Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake from the front cover of Southern Living September 2011 magazine. (I'll let you know if mine turns out as pretty as SL's picture)

Top 10

Top 10 Things I Love (in no particular order)

1) This sweet baby


2) GiGi...a wonderful grandmother to our son! Happy Birthday Mom!


3) Two of my three "boys" (and no, this picture was not posed. Tucker wanted to check out Jackson's new squeaky chew toy)


4) This great Daddy


5) Young Life

Awesome organization throughout the country. Andy and I are specifically involved with Young Life Birmingham
If you're ever looking for a way to get involved in the lives of high schoolers and middle schoolers, this is it. Awesome!

6) Juice Plus

Below is a great video on nutrition, and how crucial that is for health in our bodies, nutrition with our children, etc. I've been on Juice Plus for years now, and I'm amazed at the difference it's making in keeping me healthy. When Jackson turns 1, I plan on opening up the Juice Plus capsules and pouring it into his morning oatmeal. That way I'm assured he's getting 17 vital fruits and vegetables, packed with antioxidants and phytonutrients. As he gets bigger, I'll make sure he eats the Juice Plus gummies for children. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions, or you can go to this website for more information.


7) These books


These have been such a great encouragement to me. Check them out.

8) This new cross from Three Sheets


9) Smocking--I'm attempting to pick it back up again. I thought Jackson would like some cute little footballs on a John John (actually, Jackson won't even notice the footballs, but I will!) :)


10) Best friends

I love celebrating babies with best friends! Excited about Baby Anderson debuting in February 2012


Look who's standing up! :)

(Disclaimer: He was upset when I briefly left the room to get my camera. I picked him up immediately after capturing this funny shot.)

Do Not Forecast Grief

(No, the title of this blog has nothing to do with Auburn's sad loss last night. It's Elisabeth Elliot's title to the chapter I read this morning.)

Elisabeth Elliot was in a chapel on an island in the South, and she heard a woman weeping. After a little time, she asked the woman if she could help. The woman confided her fears to Elisabeth: What if her husband should die? Or one of her children. What if money ran out?

This is Elisabeth's response in her book, "Keep A Quiet Heart"

"All our fears represent in some form, I believe, the fear of death, common to all of us. But is it our business to pry into what may happen tomorrow? It is a difficult and painful exercise which saps the strength and uses up the time given us today. Once we give ourselves up to God, shall we attempt to get hold of what can never belong to us--tomorrow?

Our lives are his, our times in His hand, He is Lord over what will happen, never mind what may happen. When we prayed, 'Thy will be done,' did we suppose He did not hear us? He heard indeed, and daily makes our business His and partakes of our lives. If my life is once surrendered, all is well. Let me not grab it back, as though it were in peril in His hand but would be safer in mine!

Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now.

'Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof'--and the work thereof. The evil is not a part of the yoke Jesus asks us to take. Our work is, and He takes that yoke with us. I will over extend myself if I assume anything more."

May you be encouraged by Elisabeth Elliot's wisdom and her encouragement.

And Happy Birthday to my wonderful dad!!

Nevertheless We Must Run Aground

I told y'all that I'm loving re-reading Elisabeth Elliot's "Keep A Quiet Heart." Here's a short chapter she wrote that has been so encouraging to me, and I find myself re-reading it often.

"Have you ever put heart and soul into something, prayed over it, worked at it with a good heart because you believe it to be what God wanted, and finally seen it 'run aground'?

The story of Paul's voyage as a prisoner across the Adriatic Sea tells how an angel stood beside him and told him to not be afraid (in spite of winds of hurricane force), for God would spare his life and the lives of all with him on board ship. Paul cheered his guards and fellow passengers with that word, but added, 'Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island' (Acts 27:26, NIV).

It would seem that the God who promises to spare all hands might have 'done the job right,' saved the ship as well, and spared them the ignominy of having to make it to land on the flotsam and jetsam that was left. The fact is He did not, nor does He always spare us.

[Here's Emily's favorite part!!]
Heaven is not here, it's There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for.

'Running aground,' then, is not the end of the world. But it helps to make the world a bit less appealing. It may even be God's answer to 'Lead us not into temptation'--the temptation complacently to settle for visible things."

Ah, so wonderful to reflect on. Have a blessed day!

Fall Recipes

My little pumpkin



Fall is here, and I'm loving this chilly weather! It's time for stews, chilies, and warm apple crisps.

For starters, I made this easy crock-pot chili yesterday, and it's really tasty!

Slow-Cooker Turkey Chili
(from Southern Living)

1 to 1 1/4 lb lean ground turkey
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (1.25-oz) envelope chili seasoning mix
1 (12 oz) can beer (I used Bud Lite. It's what we had on hand)
1 1/2 c frozen corn kernels (I used fresh corn cut from the cob that I had frozen at the end of summer...very tasty...I now dislike canned corn)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
Toppings: shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, whatever you like

1) Cook first 4 ingredients in a large skillet over med-hi heat, stirring often, 8 minutes or until turkey crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in beer, and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2) Spoon mixture into a 5 1/2 qt slow cooker; stir in corn and next 6 ingredients until well blended. Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours. Serve with desired toppings.

(Do I take pictures of my food? No, it rarely crosses my mind to do so, and I know I need to work on that. Instead, I take pictures of my baby, so here you go!)



Creole Red Beans and Rice
(from Southern Living's "Homestyle Cookbook")

1 (16 oz) pkg dried red kidney beans
1 lb smoke sausage, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 celery ribs, sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (32 oz) container chicken broth
3 1/2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (I added a little more)
Hot cooked rice
Garnish: thinly sliced green onions

1) Rinse and sort beans according to package directions. Place beans in a Dutch oven; add water 2 inches above beans, and let soak 8 hours. Drain beans, rinse thoroughly; drain again, and set aside. {SL's note for quick-soak kidney beans: Place beans in Dutch oven; cover with water 2 inches above beans, bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 1 hour. Drain beans and rinse thoroughly.)

2) Saute sausage in hot oil in Dutch oven over medium heat 5-7 minutes or until sausage is golden brown. Drain sausage on paper towels, reserving drippings in Dutch oven. Refrigerate sausage until ready to stir into bean mixture. Add celery and next 4 ingredients to hot drippings; saute 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add tomatoes, and simmer; stirring occasionally, 7 minutes.

3) Stir in beans, broth, and next 7 ingredients; increase heat to med-hi, and bring to a boil. Boil 10 minutes; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered stirring occasionally, 1.5 to 2 hours or until beans are tender. Stir in sausage, and simmer 30 more minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve beans over hot cooked rice. Garnish, if desired.

This serves 8 people, and since it was just me and Andy eating it, I froze half of it. Also, I have "issues" with beans in the bag. I know they are so much healthier, better for you, and less expensive than canned beans. Mine beans are usually way undercooked. So I was delighted when my friend Sarah Barry posted this tutorial on her blog on cooking beans in a slow cooker. I intend to follow this next time.


Jackson, playing with his new toy from Gigi and Pops

You can find a refresher on scones here, and especially look at the Pumpkin scones (taste even better than the ones at Starbucks).

From Rushton's blog, these are some oh-so-good (but not-so-good-for-you??)
CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1 2/3 c flour
1 c sugar
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
(Mix all above ingredients together.)

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c canned pumpkin
1 stick butter, melted
(Add above 3 ingredients to dry mix.)

Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Place in greased muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Makes 12-16 regular muffins.


Emily Gross makes this fabulous Cranberry Apple Crisp. Perfect for a chilly night, and I justify it as being somewhat healthy :)

CRANBERRY APPLE CRISP

3 c unpeeled apples sprinkled with lemon juice, chpd into bite-size pieces
2 c whole raw cranberries
1 c granulated sugar
~Mix above and put in shallow 2 qt casserole dish

1 1/2 c oats
1 1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 c all purpose flour
1/2 c melted butter
1/3 c chpd pecans (optional)
~Mix and spread on top of apple mixture

~Bake uncovered at 300 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
-From Emily Gross' blog

And last but not least, I've been in a big cupcake baking mood, as I bought all these adorable Halloween cupcake liners. It makes baking even more fun. Here are some Black Bottom Cupcakes from Southern Living:

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 c sugar, divided
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1/3 cup sugar, beating well. Add 1/8 tsp salt and egg; beat well. Stir in chocolate morsels; set aside.

3) Combine remaining 1 c sugar, flour, and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine water and remaining 3 ingredients; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon batter evenly into paper-lined muffin pans, filling half-full. Spoon a heaping Tbsp of cream cheese mixture over batter in each muffin cup.

4) Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 16 cupcakes.


See you later!
(Jackson, searching for Tucker, who is hidden behind the couch on the right)

Note, while I've been fine with Jackson napping in his swing during the day, as he takes really really long naps, with upcoming trips in the near future, I realize I need to get him used to sleeping in his crib during the day. So while I've been typing this blog, I let him cry it out a little in his crib, and success: He's asleep (and he only cried for about 15 minutes). Just thought you'd be proud of me :)

8 Months Old

My little boy is 8 months old!


Jackson loves Tucker


Almost.there.



Jackson is still such a sweet baby, with 2 bottom teeth and more on the way. He eats every 3 hours, and he's enjoying "real" food more and more. His staples are still squash, zucchini, plums, and now he's discovered Puffs. He starts bouncing up and down in his high chair, eyes wide open, whenever I bring out the Puffs. It's so funny to watch. I usually try to save the Puffs for meltdowns (which he has very few of, for which I'm grateful). He still is a good napper, and while his stretches of sleep at night have shortened (aka, he's up every 3-4 hours to eat), I know this is a short, sweet season of life, and what better time to sit and pray at 2 a.m. for my child while I'm feeding him?!

More posts to come later...I just got a new Southern Living cookbook and have been making a bunch of yummy, easy recipes. I'll post later.