Falling for Fall

I love Fall and all the carnivals and festivities! We are enjoying every moment of Fall so far!

Our day at Hee Haw Farms!

There's little Annalise on the train- she loved it!

Dried corn in a "sandbox." Good Ol' Fashioned Fun!

We picked our own pumpkins right off the vine!

A hayride to the pumpkin patch! So much fun!

Our day at Cornbelly's Fall Carnival!

Jonah driving a tractor!

Duck races- go pink duck!

Princess Pumpkin Party- Annalise got to dress up like a princess and dance to princess songs on a stage!

We loved every minute!

Delightful Quote of the Day

Annalise was doing a puzzle and one of the animals in the puzzle was a newt.

Me: When I was a little girl I had a pet newt named Jazzy, but he ran away one night to go live in the backyard.

Annalise: Ohhhhh...so you ate your newt?

Me: NO! I wouldn't eat a newt, he just ran away.

Annalise: You WOULD eat a newt, you Little Stinker! You would eat a newt with your juice.

My Monthly Meal Planner/ Meal Calendar

I LOVE to cook and knew I needed a meal planner/calendar to make it more organized. I tried some other planner ideas about 2 years ago and found I needed something with more flexibility and less thinking! So I hatched this idea- but never knew exactly how to execute it. Finally I found a blank magnetic calendar and magnets in a kit. With these parts that I needed, making this thing was a breeze!

The beauty of this meal planner/calendar is you never need to sit down and think what meals you make every week- you only have to do it once when you make the kit. All your meal ideas are right there in front of you every month- no thinking required!

Also- if you are suppose to make chicken that night and feel like if you have to eat chicken again you will just die, then just simply swap the meal magnet for another one. Easy and flexible!

Here is where I got the kit- http://ldsscrap.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=778&zenid=874a3f9f176b88eda3a2d8168c009d4a

Here's how I did it:

• I made a list of all the meals I make and printed it out so I had the list in front of me.
• I then used Word to draw some circles and using the rulers, I made sure they measured 1 inch by 1 inch. I then typed the meal names in the circles. 
• I loaded some scrapbook paper into my printer and printed them out. I even used different paper for each type of meal, so it would be even easier to plan the month! 
• Then I cut the circles out using a 1 inch circle scrapbook die cutter punch. 
• After they were all cut, I used Mod Podge to glue the paper to the wood circles and squares that came with kit. 
• I then cut the magnet strips that came in the kit and stuck those to the back of each circle or square.

I love this meal planner! It even makes my grocery shopping easier, and cooking is so much more fun when you are organized.

Happy Planning and Cooking! 

Delightful Quote of the Day

Ah, the life of a mother of toddlers...

More like AHHHHHH the life of the mother of toddlers!

 I got the kids all dressed to go out to a store this afternoon. Jonah found a crayon and started to suck on it, but it wasn't just any crayon, it was one of those "dry erase crayons" and it melted all over his face and shirt. I rushed him over to the kitchen sink but had to leave him there just a split second to grab a clean rag and when I looked up he was drinking dirty dish water from a measuring cup he pulled out of sink! GROSS!!!

Me: No, no, no, no, no.... generally freaking out


Annalise: Mama, today I am going to be your mother.

Me: You are? Why is that? (expecting some response like, "Well, from the looks of it, you really need one...)

Annalise: Because you need some one to take care of you right now. (She said in the sweetest little voice)

Now I will spend the rest of the day praying Jonah didn't contract some disease from the dirty dish water and enjoy being "mothered" by my 2 year old!

Football Rivalry Game Day- Utah vs. BYU

Go Cougs! (I think...)

I love rivalry day! In these pictures you will see me supporting my husband's Alma Mater BYU, but back in the glorious days of being newlyweds my husband was attending the U of U and we were BIG fans of Utah Football. I didn't grow up in a football loving household and wasn't too interested in the sport, but during the seasons when Urban Meyer was the coach of Utah and they went undefeated I actually LOVED sitting in freezing rain or blizzards to see the Utes play. So I am a conflicted fan, part of me still secretly cheers for the Utes, but I am slowly letting that go to find love for the BYU Cougars (although after this game, it has gotten much harder, what happened?)

We weren't able to have the big party we usually do this year, but we still enjoyed the game and even got the little cuties in our lives dressed up in blue!

BYU and Utah Football sugar cookies I made for the game!

Apple Cinder Bacon Wrapped Pork Medallions

These Apple Cinder Bacon Wrapped Pork Medallions are moist, delicious and full of flavor! You can also slice the pork tenderloin in half length-wise to make small pork medallions for appetizers or party food. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Pork tenderloin
6-8 slices bacon
Season Salt- to taste
1 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup apple cinder vinegar

Instructions:
Heat oven to 425 degrees
Trim fat off pork tenderloin and cut into 1 inch thick medallions
Wrap medallions in 1 strip of bacon and secure with toothpick
Sprinkle one side of medallion with season salt.

Heat olive oil in a skillet until hot- cooking at medium to high heat. Set medallions season side down. Season other side. Sear each side of medallions- this takes 2-5 minutes. Put medallions on their side to crisp bacon- rotate so all bacon gets cooked.

Transfer to casserole dish.  Pour apple cinder vinegar evenly over pork medallions. Cover with foil and  transfer to oven to finish cooking for 15-20 minutes.

Let pork rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Step by Step Instructions:

Ever seen one of these at the store and wonder "what would I do
with that?" Well this is it! Take the tenderloin out of the package and
trim all the fat.

Cut the tenderloin into 1 inch medallions

Wrap each medallion in a raw slice of bacon

Secure bacon with a toothpick (make sure not to use
colored toothpicks or you will have big colorful circles
on your food ).
Season one side with season salt.

Place medallion in frying pan with hot oil, season side down.
Season pork and sear both sides until slightly golden brown.

Once both sides are seared, turn pork on it's side
and cook to crisp bacon.

Place medallions in casserole dish and
pour apple cinder vinegar evenly over pork.

Cover with foil and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Let pork sit for 5 minutes so juices can reabsorb. 

Enjoy!

Delightful Quote of the Day

Annalise got a magazine in the mail that was full of fun toys to look at. She flipped through the pages over and over asking about EVERY toy, what their names were, what they did, and so on... Suddenly a little light went off in her head, she looked at me and climbed off the couch in a hurry and ran over to the coat closet.

As she ran she said "You have a toy, Mama.." She opened up the door and pointed inside and said, "See Mama, here's your toy!"

I looked that direction to see her pointing to the vacuum cleaner!