Friday Favorites

Happy Friday Everyone! It has been a busy week: School started for the kiddos, my hair appt (I was gonna go darker and shorter) , (but the salon lost power, so it will be next Tuesday), a dentist appt for both kiddos, dance, Witten's 3 year checkup...  

Today I am linking up with Andrea, Narci and Erika to share to Friday Favorites...... 

ONE

I saw where Oreo came out with these! I was on a hunt for them, but finally gave up. My husband left a package on the counter with a note. #browniepoints He found them on Amazon and ordered them. They are great! They have a graham cracker cookie and key lime in the middle. Perfect bite of summer. #justintime

TWO

I was at Target and saw this Essie Gel Coat. You paint your nails with any type of nail polish and put this on as the top coat. It gives a gel look and lasts much longer. I don't know about you, but my nails always chip within a day or two and with this it doesn't! Now maybe I will keep up with my fingernails. :)

THREE

The kids started school on Tuesday! I love their outfits, but especially Witten's shirt. :) He is quite the smarty pants (seriously), so this shirt was perfect for him! :) Him and my niece, Katelyn are in the same class, so that's fun. This will be Kinsley's first year without a nap at school.

FOUR

I got out some pumpkins and fall decorations this week. My husband brought this pumpkin home back in August and I love it! It's one of my new favorite pumpkins in my collection. He found it at Hobby Lobby. He knows my happy place. :)

FIVE

I have a love/hate relationship with Time Hop. I LOVE looking back and seeing some of my favorite memories, but it also makes me want to go back (especially the one where Witten was 4 days old). These two are some VERY favorite memories: 1. Witten and me leaving the hospital.. so sweet.  This boy brings happiness to each and everyday. Lately when I say, "I love you to the moon and back."... e says, "Well, I love you to the sun and back!!!" It melts my heart. 

2. Beau and I ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza by the famous Christmas Tree. :)

Also today, I am linking up with September Wife and The Farmer's Wife. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies

A neighbor/friend of mine Christina, posted a picture of some cookies on her Facebook and they looked amazing. I asked her to please share the recipe and she did. Not only did she share the recipe, but hand delivered a small bag of them to us. They were so good and were the perfect bite of fall. 

She also has several other Autumn recipes and cakes on her blog, http://www.butterflykissesntastydishes.blogspot.com.

I am going to share with you the original recipe, but I also made them a way my husband suggested. They were both delicious. The ways to make these cookies are endless. 

Shopping List

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened, do not melt

1 egg

1 cup of Musselmans honey cinnamon applesauce

1 cup light brown sugar

2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of oatmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons of apple pie spice

1 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375

In a large bowl, combine egg, softened butter, apple sauce and brown sugar. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. 

Fold in chocolate chips. Use a small ice cream scoop or cookie dough scoop out onto your baking sheet. You can lightly spray it or use parchment paper. 

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Now I made them using butterscotch chips and 1 cup of pecans. They were very good too. My husband isn't a huge fan of chocolate chips and loves nuts! Either way you go, they will be the perfect taste of fall. 

Other options:

cinnamon chips

raisins

Dinner: Tortilla Stack

Mexican food is one of my favorite cuisines, so I like to make tortilla stacks, casseroles, etc. The tortilla stack is very easy and quick when you want to put together a good, simple meal for your family. You can also make this in advance and leave it in the refrigerator for up to two days. You can also mix it up and add your own twist to it. 

Shopping List

1 lb of ground beef (I use 93/7)

1 4.5 oz can of green chiles

flour tortillas (I used about 4)

8 oz tub of sour cream (I used light)

1 tablespoon of taco seasoning

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 cup of corn (you can omit this if you like, my kids love corn)

2 cups of shredded cheese (I used cheddar, you can use your preference)

Preheat oven to 350

Brown your meat in a large skillet, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. 

Combine meat, sour cream, chopped chiles, soup, taco seasoning and 1 cup of cheese in a bowl. Mix well. Add in your corn (I used frozen).

Lightly spray your 8x8 baking dish with Pam. Spread half your mixture over the bottom of the pan. Put a layer of tortillas on top (I tore mine to fit). Top with remaining mixture and layer tortillas again. Top with 1 cup of cheese. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden. 

Other ideas:

You can substitute beef for shredded chicken

You can use green chile enchilada sauce or traditional red enchilada sauce in place of cream of chicken

We love this tortilla stack! My kids ate it up to and they are pretty picky eaters. Enjoy!

Greek Yogurt Popsicles

The kids and I have been making Popsicles and ice cream all summer long. The kids really love the Greek yogurt Popsicles and I do too. They are a great snack in the hot summer.

Please excuse the lack of pictures.... These were awesome though!

Creamy vanilla mixed berry 

Makes 4 Popsicles

1 5 oz Chobani vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup strawberries

1/4 cup of blueberries

Mix together, pour in Popsicles mold. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

Creamsicle

1 5 oz Chobani Greek yogurt

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

1/3 cup orange juice (pulp free)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together, pour into Popsicle molds and freeze. I froze ours for 6 hours. 

Lemon Blueberry
1 cup of Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt
1/3 cup of lemonade
1/3 cup of blueberries
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together, pour into molds and freeze 6-8 hours.

I think our favorite was lemon blueberry.

Grab your favorite fruit, mix-ins and make some Greek yogurt Popsicles. The possibilities are endless!!!

We love Greek yogurt for snacks, popsicles, and other fun recipes. For more creative ways to use Greek yogurt, check out Chobani's other healthy recipes here. 

#madewithchobani

Witten's 3rd "Farm" Birthday Party

On Saturday September 5th, we celebrated Witten's 3rd birthday at the farm. 

Witten is such a laid back, sweet, loving boy! He absolutely loves farm animals, so this was perfect for him. We didn't get to do a whole lot of cutesy stuff because let's face it, it was in the 90s and windy. Cupcakes had to be brought out last minute and any other items would blow away. It's okay, he had a blast and that is all that matters! I had several kiddos tell me how much fun they had also. 

When you entered the farm, guests were greeted with this sign. 

We took a couple pictures by the tractor before everyone arrived. 

We started out the party just playing, looking at the animals and chatting. The farmer was giving everyone time to arrive before we went on the hay ride. 

Kinsley, Anderson, and Witten (Cousins)

Witten really enjoyed telling everyone that he was 3. He told Grandmama first thing. :)

Once most of our guests arrived, we went on the hay ride. Witten was little nervous at first, but liked it (once I got him on with me). 

The ride took us out into the pastures. We saw goats, pigs, a horse, bunnies and chickens. Witten really enjoyed this, but it was HOT. The only animals missing were ducks, cows and sheep. It was still fun though. The kids enjoyed feeding carrots to the goats and horse and bread to the pigs. 

After the hay ride, feeding and petting the animals we had cupcakes.  I think the cupcakes turned out super cute and no one could believe where I got them. TARGET (Did I ever mention that's my favorite store?). 

After singing Happy Birthday to Witten and eating cupcakes, the kids were anxious to bust open the pinata. 

Gift time

I had some farm cookies done by amc cookies and sweets. They looked awesome and were so good. 

We had the best time! It was a great day. 

Once we got home, we ate lunch, took naps and spent 3 1/2 hours playing with toys! It was a fun day. 

Party success!