October is here. The leaves are just starting to change from green to vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow. Pumpkins and mums adorn front porches. The air feels cool and crisp in the early mornings.
With fall comes my cravings for comfort food. Tonight for dinner we had baked potato soup - loaded with cheddar cheese and bacon (and as I think about it I bet some chopped green onion and a dollop of sour cream would have been D-lish too).
As we ate our dinner one of my favorite fall foods was baking in the oven - pumpkin bread! The house was filled with the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. Unfortunately it is better to wait until the next day to slice into this yumminess. We all had to be content with just a taste from the crunchy top I cut off in order to level the bundt for plating. But it will make for a very tasty breakfast tomorrow!
I have a love for Starbucks and their seasonal specials. Maybe my fave of all seasonal flavors would be the Pumpkin Spice Latte. But let's face it - a daily, or even weekly, trip to Starbucks is not exactly budget-friendly. I decided I must search online to find a good substitute for my Starbucks fix. I found this website, Deliciously Organic, and their recipes for homemade flavored coffee creamers. The recipes are simple enough and require a few basic staples plus a special ingredient here and there like specific flavored extracts. The first one I had to try of course would be the Pumpkin Spice creamer. I had a cup of coffee earlier (yes, I had a large cup of regular coffee at 8:00 pm) with some of the homemade creamer and I am very happy with the results. It is not quite as sweet as say the flavored store bought creamer but I'm willing to bet it is probably a little healthier since there are no preservatives or artificial flavors, etc. I can't wait to try the Peppermint Mocha in December!
With fall also comes a more regular routine for our family. School has started as well as all of our fall activities. This year Gabrielle is in school five mornings a week and Samantha is going to our church's Parents Morning Out one day a week. Both girls are taking dance and Gabrielle is in our church's children's choir again this year. Not only are the girls busy but my Bible Study has resumed as well as a busier work schedule for myself and Ed. We are all certainly staying busy and it seems we are always on the go. But with a busier schedule and routine I am happy to say we have started back our Family Friday nights - a night set aside to do something fun as a family.
Tonight we started with a good old fashion game of "Go Fish!" Gabrielle received a set of Disney Princess playing cards for her birthday. With the girls being young we play on teams of two so each child has an adult to help out a little. I am surprised though how little help they need, even Samantha picked up on the game rather well. After playing cards we surprised the girls with "The Lion King" DVD that was just re-released this week. By then it was just past 8:00, Samantha was exhausted and went straight to bed. We allowed Gabrielle to stay up and watch the entire movie even though she had seen it before. I'm hoping since she was up until almost 10:00 she will sleep in a little tomorrow but my guess is both little ones will be bright eyed and bushy tailed by 7:00 am despite the later bedtime.
I have been giving a lot of thought to my blog this week and I think I have come up with a few ideas to freshen things up a bit. Hopefully this is the first of many more regular posts in the future. Even after the late night cup of Joe my eyelids are starting to feel heavy so until the next time - good night and happy fall!!
Fall is here and I L-O-V-E this time of year!
With fall comes my cravings for comfort food. Tonight for dinner we had baked potato soup - loaded with cheddar cheese and bacon (and as I think about it I bet some chopped green onion and a dollop of sour cream would have been D-lish too).
As we ate our dinner one of my favorite fall foods was baking in the oven - pumpkin bread! The house was filled with the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. Unfortunately it is better to wait until the next day to slice into this yumminess. We all had to be content with just a taste from the crunchy top I cut off in order to level the bundt for plating. But it will make for a very tasty breakfast tomorrow!
I have a love for Starbucks and their seasonal specials. Maybe my fave of all seasonal flavors would be the Pumpkin Spice Latte. But let's face it - a daily, or even weekly, trip to Starbucks is not exactly budget-friendly. I decided I must search online to find a good substitute for my Starbucks fix. I found this website, Deliciously Organic, and their recipes for homemade flavored coffee creamers. The recipes are simple enough and require a few basic staples plus a special ingredient here and there like specific flavored extracts. The first one I had to try of course would be the Pumpkin Spice creamer. I had a cup of coffee earlier (yes, I had a large cup of regular coffee at 8:00 pm) with some of the homemade creamer and I am very happy with the results. It is not quite as sweet as say the flavored store bought creamer but I'm willing to bet it is probably a little healthier since there are no preservatives or artificial flavors, etc. I can't wait to try the Peppermint Mocha in December!
With fall also comes a more regular routine for our family. School has started as well as all of our fall activities. This year Gabrielle is in school five mornings a week and Samantha is going to our church's Parents Morning Out one day a week. Both girls are taking dance and Gabrielle is in our church's children's choir again this year. Not only are the girls busy but my Bible Study has resumed as well as a busier work schedule for myself and Ed. We are all certainly staying busy and it seems we are always on the go. But with a busier schedule and routine I am happy to say we have started back our Family Friday nights - a night set aside to do something fun as a family.
Tonight we started with a good old fashion game of "Go Fish!" Gabrielle received a set of Disney Princess playing cards for her birthday. With the girls being young we play on teams of two so each child has an adult to help out a little. I am surprised though how little help they need, even Samantha picked up on the game rather well. After playing cards we surprised the girls with "The Lion King" DVD that was just re-released this week. By then it was just past 8:00, Samantha was exhausted and went straight to bed. We allowed Gabrielle to stay up and watch the entire movie even though she had seen it before. I'm hoping since she was up until almost 10:00 she will sleep in a little tomorrow but my guess is both little ones will be bright eyed and bushy tailed by 7:00 am despite the later bedtime.
I have been giving a lot of thought to my blog this week and I think I have come up with a few ideas to freshen things up a bit. Hopefully this is the first of many more regular posts in the future. Even after the late night cup of Joe my eyelids are starting to feel heavy so until the next time - good night and happy fall!!
1 comment:
Yay for blogging! And yay for Friday night family fun again!!
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