Hey Everyone!!
I am so excited that Thanksgiving is only 3 days away!! I love the baking, cooking, the smells, and the company. We will have the farmhouse full this year as there will be 20 of us cramed in. Having a big family is great... except when it comes to a holiday meal. We will have enough room though, thankfully there are a bunch of small kids so they don't take up much room!
This year we will be celebrating on Friday afternoon, as most of my brothers go to their in-laws on Thanksgiving day. I will be at my boyfriends house for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Their family is very health concious and I was asked to bring a gluten-free, dairy-free... and if possible a sugar-free pumpkin pie. This is the main challenge for the week... trying to figure out how to make pumpkin pie with no gluten, no dairy, and no sugar..... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!! I have some ideas, but will be posting final results later in the week so stay tuned!!
I have been loving the weather, hopefully it stays nice so we can let the kids play outside after Thanksgiving dinner!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Fall Happenings!!
Hello Everyone!!
Hope you all are enjoying the wonderful fall weather!! I love this time of year, the white stuff (snow) can wait to make an appearance for a few weeks yet. I love this weather for cleaning and getting things organized. The house isn't too hot, I can burn candles and the smell of cinnamon is always around! I have been trying to slowly get my parents house ready for the holidays by cleaning and fixing on the weekends... this weekend is busy with craft fairs and shopping for Thanksgiving so I really hope I can get the house cleaned in time for Thanksgiving dinner on Friday!
The past 2 weekends I was deer hunting with my dad and my brothers, this was my 9th year of hunting and as always, I loved every moment in the woods! This is the only time I ever really have one-on-one contact with my brothers or my dad. I usually do all my communicating with the females in the family. Here is a pic of the Buck my boyfriend shot! It was his second year hunting and this is his first deer!!
I have been helping with fixing tractors and washing since harvest got done so early, we have time to get everything put away properly.. for once!! I have been able to learn how to drive almost everything on the farm, but this is my favorite - a little ford tractor!!
I will be posting as much as possible the next few weeks, I have lots of recipes and workouts that I have finally perfected or figured out to share with you all!!
Hope you all are enjoying the wonderful fall weather!! I love this time of year, the white stuff (snow) can wait to make an appearance for a few weeks yet. I love this weather for cleaning and getting things organized. The house isn't too hot, I can burn candles and the smell of cinnamon is always around! I have been trying to slowly get my parents house ready for the holidays by cleaning and fixing on the weekends... this weekend is busy with craft fairs and shopping for Thanksgiving so I really hope I can get the house cleaned in time for Thanksgiving dinner on Friday!
The past 2 weekends I was deer hunting with my dad and my brothers, this was my 9th year of hunting and as always, I loved every moment in the woods! This is the only time I ever really have one-on-one contact with my brothers or my dad. I usually do all my communicating with the females in the family. Here is a pic of the Buck my boyfriend shot! It was his second year hunting and this is his first deer!!
I have been helping with fixing tractors and washing since harvest got done so early, we have time to get everything put away properly.. for once!! I have been able to learn how to drive almost everything on the farm, but this is my favorite - a little ford tractor!!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Halloween Time!!!!
Fall just keeps getting better and better!! Besides the beautiful colors and activities, the holidays that follow fall are the best!!
Halloween is a time for little kids to dress up and for one short night.... their dreams come true when they get to pretend to be their favorite TV person, hero, or animal! I love seeing my nieces and nephews all dressed up fighting eachother for candy. It is a great sight!!
Since Halloween is on Wednesday this year, that means that this weekend was when most people had their traditional Halloween/costume parties. I had the opportunity to take part in two parties this weekend. One on Friday and one on Saturday evening. I also had two separate "costumes" since I am a cheap college student, and don't live by any costume stores, I decided to get creative with the clothes I already had since the two costumes I did have were being borrowed by friends. The first night I was a cowgirl, which was easy since I have boots, jeans, a button-up shirt, and a hat. The next night was a bit more challenging!! I ended up taking my old NAPA auto parts shirts and created a "NAPA girl" outfit.
I thought it was a very successful weekend!!
Halloween is a time for little kids to dress up and for one short night.... their dreams come true when they get to pretend to be their favorite TV person, hero, or animal! I love seeing my nieces and nephews all dressed up fighting eachother for candy. It is a great sight!!
Since Halloween is on Wednesday this year, that means that this weekend was when most people had their traditional Halloween/costume parties. I had the opportunity to take part in two parties this weekend. One on Friday and one on Saturday evening. I also had two separate "costumes" since I am a cheap college student, and don't live by any costume stores, I decided to get creative with the clothes I already had since the two costumes I did have were being borrowed by friends. The first night I was a cowgirl, which was easy since I have boots, jeans, a button-up shirt, and a hat. The next night was a bit more challenging!! I ended up taking my old NAPA auto parts shirts and created a "NAPA girl" outfit.
I thought it was a very successful weekend!!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Fall Fun/Kiddos
Hello Everyone!!
Hope you have all had time to go to the pumpkin patch or the apple orchard, this is a wonderful time of year!! This weekend I had to babysit my 4 year old niece and my 11 year old nephew. ..Yippy, those kids really know how to drive me crazy!!
We did everything from going out to eat Chinese, going to the movie theater to see Ice Age 4, and carving pumpkins (more on that tomorrow!) My niece is a real girly girl, so there was a lot of nail painting and make up! My nephew is older and “too cool” to do anything fun, ugh!! I miss the days he use to let me paint is nails and make him look pretty too!! Ha
This weekend I did get away from the kids to have a date night with the boyfriend, his grandparents, his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend. I have known their family much longer then my boyfriend and I have been together, so it was a very fun evening.
I also happened to get in the cleaning mood…. This really doesn’t happen often on the weekends! I ended up cleaning and vacuuming out my car and trunk, and then made my way to clean my mother’s bathroom and kitchen spotless. I usually only clean for holidays, but I guess this will make my holiday cleaning a bit easier since I am getting a head start.
Back to school/work tomorrow, graduation cannot come soon enough!! T-minus 6 months!!!
Hope you have all had time to go to the pumpkin patch or the apple orchard, this is a wonderful time of year!! This weekend I had to babysit my 4 year old niece and my 11 year old nephew. ..Yippy, those kids really know how to drive me crazy!!
We did everything from going out to eat Chinese, going to the movie theater to see Ice Age 4, and carving pumpkins (more on that tomorrow!) My niece is a real girly girl, so there was a lot of nail painting and make up! My nephew is older and “too cool” to do anything fun, ugh!! I miss the days he use to let me paint is nails and make him look pretty too!! Ha
This weekend I did get away from the kids to have a date night with the boyfriend, his grandparents, his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend. I have known their family much longer then my boyfriend and I have been together, so it was a very fun evening.
I also happened to get in the cleaning mood…. This really doesn’t happen often on the weekends! I ended up cleaning and vacuuming out my car and trunk, and then made my way to clean my mother’s bathroom and kitchen spotless. I usually only clean for holidays, but I guess this will make my holiday cleaning a bit easier since I am getting a head start.
Back to school/work tomorrow, graduation cannot come soon enough!! T-minus 6 months!!!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Favorite Foods - Workouts
Hey There,
Happy Monday everyone!! Hope you all had a great weekend.
I am going to let you all in on some of my favoite foods I have discovered these days, first off, lets talk breakfast!!
My regular breakfast use to be granola, berries, and almond milk... lately I have been switching it up and having some french toast made with ezekiel - low sodium spelt bread, with lots of cinammon, earth balance (vegan butter), peanut butter, and bananna slices - YUMM!!
My morning snack has been almonds and prunes - don't judge ;)
Lunch, as I have stated before is usually leftovers from dinner the night before - or a turkey sandwich.
Dinner - lately I have been having lots of chicken and steak, potatoes, squash, and large veggie salads.
My workout very on my energy level - but I have added morning workouts now!
an example of one day of workouts include
5:45am
2.5 miles on the tredmill
200 ab crunch/bike crunch
leg lifts
random arm workouts
7:30pm
2.5-3 miles on the tredmill
200 ab crunch/bike crunch
5 miles on the bike
(I swim 1/2-1 miles once or twice a week usually.... but I currently have an ear infection so I am staying away from the pool!!)
I am now 7 pounds from my goal weight - I am hoping to reach this goal by Nov. 1st... so im hoping to do major work this month!!
Have a great week y'all!
Happy Monday everyone!! Hope you all had a great weekend.
I am going to let you all in on some of my favoite foods I have discovered these days, first off, lets talk breakfast!!
My regular breakfast use to be granola, berries, and almond milk... lately I have been switching it up and having some french toast made with ezekiel - low sodium spelt bread, with lots of cinammon, earth balance (vegan butter), peanut butter, and bananna slices - YUMM!!
My morning snack has been almonds and prunes - don't judge ;)
Lunch, as I have stated before is usually leftovers from dinner the night before - or a turkey sandwich.
Dinner - lately I have been having lots of chicken and steak, potatoes, squash, and large veggie salads.
My workout very on my energy level - but I have added morning workouts now!
an example of one day of workouts include
5:45am
2.5 miles on the tredmill
200 ab crunch/bike crunch
leg lifts
random arm workouts
7:30pm
2.5-3 miles on the tredmill
200 ab crunch/bike crunch
5 miles on the bike
(I swim 1/2-1 miles once or twice a week usually.... but I currently have an ear infection so I am staying away from the pool!!)
I am now 7 pounds from my goal weight - I am hoping to reach this goal by Nov. 1st... so im hoping to do major work this month!!
Have a great week y'all!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Roasted Seeds!!
Oh hey there!! How is your crisp fall weekend going??? Mine is going wonderfully, as usual.
I have finally gotten ahold of some of the acorn squash that was growing at the farm, and was more then excited to have some yummy roasted squash!! But this year,... I tried something new!!
I have always loved those yummy salted pumpkin seeds you can buy in stores, but since sodium has been a big issue in my diet lately, I decided to recreate this amazing snack!! I decided to research if you could roast squash seeds,,, and yup, you can, and I did!!!
To make these wonderful treats,
Separate seeds from the guts inside the squash/pumpkin.
Now you need to boil seeds in salt water (1 tsp of salt is plenty) for 10 min, bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Strain seeds and pat dry
spread on a jelly roll pan with 1tsp of Olive oil, a pinch of salt (or more if you like) and then whatever seasoning you wish, I used 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice!
Try not to let seeds over lap, bake at 350° for 10 min, stir, then bake for another 5-10 min... watch very closely as they will burn quickly, test a few every few min and get the seeds just crispy.
Then let cool and enjoy!!
I have finally gotten ahold of some of the acorn squash that was growing at the farm, and was more then excited to have some yummy roasted squash!! But this year,... I tried something new!!
I have always loved those yummy salted pumpkin seeds you can buy in stores, but since sodium has been a big issue in my diet lately, I decided to recreate this amazing snack!! I decided to research if you could roast squash seeds,,, and yup, you can, and I did!!!
To make these wonderful treats,
Separate seeds from the guts inside the squash/pumpkin.
Now you need to boil seeds in salt water (1 tsp of salt is plenty) for 10 min, bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Strain seeds and pat dry
spread on a jelly roll pan with 1tsp of Olive oil, a pinch of salt (or more if you like) and then whatever seasoning you wish, I used 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice!
Try not to let seeds over lap, bake at 350° for 10 min, stir, then bake for another 5-10 min... watch very closely as they will burn quickly, test a few every few min and get the seeds just crispy.
Then let cool and enjoy!!
Monday, October 1, 2012
HAPPY OCTOBER!!!!!!
Hello Everyone!!
It is finally October, my favorite month of the year!! Its the unofficial beginning of fall, I never feel like it is fall till October. It is also now 4th quarter so in banking terms.... my job now SUCKS!! Also, I now don't feel so bad about making pumpkin desserts because with holloween coming its not too early anymore :)
I also usually love October because its "harvest" month... but that is not the case this year as we are now done with harvest... before October... that is a new record in my books!!! Yep, we have all of our crops out of the fields and dry!! Soo crazy!! The only field work that has to be done is disc ripping and spreding fertilizer on the bean ground so we have proper nutrients in the ground for the corn crop that will be plated there next year.
I got to ride in the tractor with the boyfriend lastnight, we were working on disc ripping one of his fields by a lake and to our suprise, we were not alone in that field!! We were working on the headlands (ends of the field) when I noticed a deer in the field with us!! I have been deer hunting many years now so obviously I needed to get closer, it turned out to be a 10 point buck and to say the least I got a little excited!! Even though the deer hunting season is a whole month away... I am ready right now!!
The final, and maybe best part of this whole weekend/first day of October, is the passangers I had in my car when I left the farm... my mother gave me tons of things from her garden including tomatoes, a HUGE zucchini and 5 of my Favorite squash!! YUMM
It is finally October, my favorite month of the year!! Its the unofficial beginning of fall, I never feel like it is fall till October. It is also now 4th quarter so in banking terms.... my job now SUCKS!! Also, I now don't feel so bad about making pumpkin desserts because with holloween coming its not too early anymore :)
I also usually love October because its "harvest" month... but that is not the case this year as we are now done with harvest... before October... that is a new record in my books!!! Yep, we have all of our crops out of the fields and dry!! Soo crazy!! The only field work that has to be done is disc ripping and spreding fertilizer on the bean ground so we have proper nutrients in the ground for the corn crop that will be plated there next year.
I got to ride in the tractor with the boyfriend lastnight, we were working on disc ripping one of his fields by a lake and to our suprise, we were not alone in that field!! We were working on the headlands (ends of the field) when I noticed a deer in the field with us!! I have been deer hunting many years now so obviously I needed to get closer, it turned out to be a 10 point buck and to say the least I got a little excited!! Even though the deer hunting season is a whole month away... I am ready right now!!
The final, and maybe best part of this whole weekend/first day of October, is the passangers I had in my car when I left the farm... my mother gave me tons of things from her garden including tomatoes, a HUGE zucchini and 5 of my Favorite squash!! YUMM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)