Halloween Party

Our therapy department Halloween party was a success! Party planning was so fun, and I got lots of good ideas from my sister, who is a master at this kinda thing.

Above: Chocolate dipped Oreos, peanuts with candy corn, and cream cheese with pepper jelly and wheat thins.

Above: Caramel Pecan Pie Bars (AMAZING-- recipe coming this week), brownies, and Halloween Bark from Pioneer Woman.

We also served gumbo with french bread and bacon wrapped dates. Friends brought drinks, onion dip with chips, ranch dip with pretzels, and warm sandwiches.

Here are the crazies I work with.

Everyone!

Fall Front Door

Fall--- ahhhh. 

The thought alone of pumpkin, cool weather, cozy sweaters, and warm drinks makes me giddy and happy inside. I made a farmers market run Saturday morning to find a few things for our front porch. You should have seen me driving with the corn stalk sticking between my drivers seat and passenger seat. But I love it... Totally worth the ants in my car and the itching and sneezing I endured on the drive home (followed by a shower and a dose of Benedryl.) 

Just wanted to share one more thing-- I was amazed at this view of sunlight streaming in through our front door Sunday morning. How beautiful??

Hope you have a great week! 

Fall Decor

The low temp will be 42 tonight, so I finally feel that some fall decorating is justified! :) 

Welcome...

Dining room centerpiece

The ceramic pumpkin was made by my sweet Great Grandmother. My Grandmother gave it to me this weekend when we were in Louisiana. 

Entryway 

Above the fireplace 

Can't wait to share some fall recipes with you!! 

Creamy Bacon, Leek, and Cauliflower Soup

Soup. 

Another thing I'm making a LOT of while Billie is away. 

Billie isn't crazy about soup. 

(Something about not being filling or not enough protein...) 

Well, not for this girl! I love soup. Thick, creamy soup. Even when it's 97 degrees. 

Speaking of, can it please be Fall soon?

Recipe copied from: Apron Strings Blog 

 

BACON LEEK & CAULIFLOWER SOUP
5 slices bacon
2 large leeks, chopped and thoroughly cleaned
1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
3 large shallots, minced
4 cups chicken stock
approx. ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon sea salt (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
freshly ground black pepper to taste
sriracha sauce, at your discretion
*I added canned coconut milk, because I ran out of broth and the soup was SO thick. I also added thyme. Just because.

Place bacon in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium high and cook until crispy and browned on both sides. Remove bacon, leaving the rendered fat in the pan, roughly chop and set it aside. Add leeks and shallots to pot and saute together for a good 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in cauliflower and cook for another 2-3 minutes before adding the chicken stock.   Bring mixture to a boil and then immediately reduce to simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes,until cauliflower starts to soften.

Add most of the bacon back in, reserving a little for garnishing purposes. Same goes for the parsley – add most of it, save a little for topping each bowl. Add salt, apple cider vinegar, and pepper, then purée either with an immersion blender or by batches in a regular blender. Seasonings adjusted to taste.

Garnish with reserved bacon and parsley, sriracha if desired.

Thanksgiving Day in Pictures

Morning view from my parents' house

All the pretty at my Mama's table...

My nieces love Uncle Billie!

Unwrapping the Christmas tree...

My sister and nephew

Red wine + Gluhwein = "Christmas in a Glass" from a vineyard in Arizona

Meanwhile in the office... manly bonding.

Curried Carrot Bisque

My church friend, Meg, hooked me up with this recipe. And it. is. good. Sweet, thick, curry-ish, and bisque-y. You can almost taste it right? :)

 
Curried Carrot Bisque
Makes about 6 cups

8 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (I didn't peel)
1 onion, chopped
1 tart apple, peeled and chopped (Again, didn't peel)
1 tsp. curry poweder
1 garlic clove, crushed (used minced)
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk or cream (I used 1 can of coconut milk to make it paleo)
chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I topped mine with chopped cashews)

1. In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients except for milk/cream. Cover and cook on love for 9-10 hours.
2. Puree, then gradually stir in the milk or cream. Top and serve!
* I added coconut milk in at the very beginning, not the end. And the recipe still turned out just dandy!

Halloween Night

I was hoping for no trick-or-treaters at our house this year. 

Why? 

Because I refused to buy candy.

Why?

Because I know how I act around candy. 

But... I bought candy.

Why?

Because my hubby was convinced we would have Trick-or-Treaters. And he was right. 

Why? 

Because he's always right.

Then we ran out of candy after an hour.
Why?
Defer to the answer above.
I admitted I was wrong. We're moving forward. 

But the little clown, dinosaur, and princess who arrived first at my door were so absolutely adorable... They immediately put us in the Halloween, candy-giving spirit. (Followed by a BUNCH of super heroes.)

 

 But NONE cuter than our nieces and nephew in Louisiana...

And our niece in Washington!

And despite the crazy candy temptation, I was committed to still having a healthy night. So Billie and I each did a cross fit workout in the garage (to Halloween music, thank you Pandora.) 

Then we split a gluten-free carrot cupcake that I splurged on at the Farmer's Market today. 

This is my "that was scary-good" face. 

Scary right?? :) 

Hope you had a fun Halloween!!!

Healthy Hot Chocolate

I can't get over how amazing this stuff is. Really.

3 ingredients. 

Squeaky clean. 

Perfection. 

 

For 1 serving:

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened or vanilla)

1 Tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tablespoon (or less) of coconut sugar***

1. Heat the almond milk in a saucepan on the stovetop or in the microwave for about 2 minutes. 

2. Blend the cocoa powder, sugar, and warm almond milk in a blender until whipped. 

3. Pour into a mug and top with spinkle of cocoa powder and ENJOY! 

4. This stuff is amazing. That's all.  

***I bought coconut sugar at a health food store a while back for a cookie recipe. I was bummed that it didn't come in a smaller bag, because I wasn't sure what else I would use it for. But I have loved this stuff!  Why is it better than sugar, you ask? Unlike white sugar, coconut sugar is low on the glycemic index and high in nutrients and amino acids. Now, I still don't think any kind of sugar is great. But I think this is better than the alternative. :)

In case you wanted an action shot.

Halloween time!

Billie and I went to a really fun Halloween party last night.

Billie was a character from Grease... I wish I would have gotten a picture for you! I was pretty proud that he even dressed up! 

Check out some of the spooky snacks at the party...

Deviled egg "spiders," pumpkin fruit skewers, a salami skull, and a spinach dip- puking pumpkin. 

me and Gwen

My friend Gwen is a party planning extraordinaire. Every last thing was thought of, including this "blood" stained backdrop for pictures! She even supplied me with the witches hat and broom.  :) Thanks, Gwen!

 

On a different note, I mixed peanuts and candy corn to make this "Payday" mix for our church small group on Friday night... how am I just learning about this?! I could eat my weight in it. And I just may have.

Hope you have a really great week.

Frozen Pumpkin Dessert

This one is for all you ice cream and yogurt lovers. :)

Just one small tip... This recipe calls for frozen bananas. Yours truly froze the whole bananas. Should not have been a surprise to me when I could not peel a frozen banana. Woops!! So... my advice to you is to peel the bananas, maybe even cut them in half. THEN freeze them for this recipe.

"Andrea’s Frozen Pumpkin Dessert"

             Copied from: Food Embrace

• 4  Frozen bananas (Peel, THEN freeze)... :)
• 1/2C Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2C-1C Vanilla Soymilk (I used almond milk. You could use coconut milk as well)
• 1/4tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4tsp Ground Clove ( I would substitute pumpkin pie spice)
• Pinch brown sugar (really small pinch)-- I omitted this and used a drizzle of honey

Break frozen bananas up into chunks or at least cut them in half.  In a food processor or heavy duty blender if you have it, add all ingredients. Start with 1/2 cup of the milk.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  You might want to start the process with a few pulses first and then let it go for a bit.  If it starts getting too thick on you and won’t blend, add in some more milk.  Slowly until it starts moving again and blending.
Dish up into ice cream bowls and serve immediately!

Fall Decor

I LOVE fall. I love the colors. I love hot chocolate. I love Thanksgiving. I love cold weather clothes. I love pumpkins...

You get the point.

Now that it's getting cooler outside, I got the itch to do some serious decorating yesterday. 

Here are the fruits of my labor... Enjoy!

Tall bundle of wheat: Hobby Lobby

2 Burlap pumpkins: Hobby Lobby, fall aisle

"Berry" fillers: Hobby Lobby. I bought two small bunches and chopped 'em up. 

Real Pumpkins: Wal-Mart

Scarecrow: Not sure. Kel, I think I may have inherited this guy from you?

It bothers me that these pictures are tilted. I must lean a little.

Candles and two candle holders: Dollar Tree, yep.. believe it. :)
Beans, peas, and popcorn: Commissary
Candy-corn jar: Hobby Lobby
Candy Corn: everywhere
Small pumpkins: Commissary (I didn't see any like this at Wal-Mart)
Leaves: Outside... Just kidding we don't have trees. Dollar Tree

Wreath: from last fall... Made with items from Hobby Lobby- burlap strips are pinned in with floral pins.

There ya have it! Are you in the fall spirit yet? Happy decorating and pumpkin pie eating!