Halloween!

We quickly made up some fabric ghosts today and put them up in the yard! The boys love it. We did this many years ago in Nebraska but they were up for ONE night and somebody stole them from the front yard — sticks and all! This time, we hope they stay for awhile. I think I’m going to insert some lights on the ground like they’re gathered around a fire. I love this because it’s cute, cheap ($1.50 / yard fabric — about $15 total in supplies!), and most of all…easy!

I love this pic from our entryway toward the ghosts. You can see the inexpensive spiderweb rug we made last year and I posted about it here. If that rugs lasts through this season (which I’m sure it will!), it will have paid for itself, it was such a cute, cheap project and I love a wide oval shaped rug on the porch.

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Lastly, this pic is of my FAVORITE ghost ever. I love his shape and his black felt eyes on white corduroy fabric. He has ragged edges and covers my vacuum. He was originally the smallest in a set of three that I sewed to cover upside-down tomato cages covered in lights. They blew away in a storm and this one was the only one I could save. I hope to resurrect the other two and put out the three lit-up ghosts this year, too. I’ll be sure to post pictures if I get that project done, too!

One Idea for Keeping a Journal

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I am not the very best journal keeper, but I do try to document our lives every year or two…or five. I ran across this idea from Gretchen Rubin’s article in the February 2012 issue of Good Housekeeping and thought I’d share it, although when you multiply one sentence times four children and a husband (not to mention 3 pets!), it gets overwhelming and I don’t think one sentence could sum up any one of our crazy days. On the other hand, it might be good to choose one superlative memory from each day. Surely during a year of this solid endeavor, every child would be covered.

Another tip: I like to write down “Top Ten Things” for each of my kids. Sometimes it’s difficult to think of ten different things but I love looking back at the minutiae of their lives: stuffed animals, funny sayings, food preferences or dislikes. It’s the stuff that makes up great memories. I think I may try to cut that down to one thing each day, choosing just the very best memory and see how that goes for awhile! Happy writing!

Benjamin Franklin & Alma 37:6 — Small & Simple Everyday Things!

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Two facets of the same subject: First, I love this quote by Benjamin Franklin. “Human felicity is produc’d not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.” Secondly, it made me think of one of my all-time favorite scriptures. Alma 37:6 “Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.” When we study that concept in seminary, I always try to warn my students that the reverse is also true: small and simple things can lead you down the path of spiritual destruction as well — those flaxen cords! But, mostly, I love this scripture for its acknowledgment in the great power of simple choices made repeatedly over time. Strength truly is consistency over time — whether it’s food, exercise, spirituality, or another choice. I love when quotes from unrelated parts of the world combine to affirm a universal truth!

Cheap & Easy: Crock Pot Peanut Butter Granola

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This is one of my teenage son’s favorite recipes. I like it, too, because I can “clean out the pantry” and add things based on what I’m trying to use up: sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, chocolate chips, cinnamon, etc., and adjust the recipe accordingly. If you’re like me, you don’t measure things and eyeball it anyway! Should you want raisins, I’ve never tried those but you could stir them in afterwards, although warming the raisins can’t hurt them. I love my slow cooker so much I’ve always had a little ceremony for them when finally break down. They are a definite workhorse in my kitchen. For large gatherings, I use both my slow cooker AND my 9.5 quart doufeu…easiest way I know of to feed a crowd.

CROCKPOT PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA

1/3 cup coconut oil (I like Jarrow’s unrefined, organic, virgin from Amazon)
1 cup peanut butter, generous
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 c ground flax seed
7 cups rolled old-fashioned oatmeal (NOT quick cooking)
honey to taste — usually 1/4 cup
3/4 c brown sugar

Allow oil and peanut butter to soften and stir to combine in the bottom of a large crock-pot. Add remaining ingredients, stirring to combine well and then stirring every 20 minutes or so until it’s as toasted as you like. I generally stir every half hour to an hour and leave the crockpot on low for four to six hours. You KNOW it’s a good recipe when your kids are a) willing to give up cold cereal for it and b) volunteer to stir it for you. It’s a hit at our house, anyway!

Something Delicious I Just Made Up: Hatch Pepper, Havarti & Cream Cheese Cheesesteak Sauce!

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This was a complete accident. I wanted to make the Homemade Chicken Cheesesteaks recipe from How Sweet It Is but I didn’t have the right ingredients. Sometimes, that’s a blessing. Here’s what I came up with and this is really, really yummy. I’m writing this now so I don’t forget what I did to create it! It was great on mesquite grilled chicken as well as with tortilla chips.

Hatch Pepper, Havarti & Cream Cheese Sauce

3 hatch peppers, roasted on the gas flame (or purchased roasted but in my tiny town, they’re not available that way), then sliced and seeded if you want – we didn’t bother
4 oz havarti cheese, sliced thinly
4 oz cream cheese, cubed or sliced as thin as you can
1 small to medium onion, sliced
6 T butter, approximate
1 T. balsamic vinegar
3/4 c. milk

In a cast iron pan, saute roasted peppers and onions in butter (about 2 T) until the onions are transparent and soft but not carmelized completely. Remove from flame and stir in about 1T balsamic vinegar. It will steam up so be careful — this smells heavenly (hello, fajita toppings!). Salt and pepper to taste. Remove peppers and onions and set aside for now.

Add more butter to the pan (I used 3 to 4 T). While the butter melts, whisk in about 3T flour and add about 3/4 cup milk slowly and keep whisking as it thickens (we used goat’s milk and it added a wonderful tang!). When mixture is smooth and thickened add havarti and cream cheese and whisk together. Return onions and peppers to pan and stir gently — salt and pepper to taste. At this point, I turned off the heat.

I took some out to hubs grilling the chicken and he said, “Man! That’s yummy!” Good sign. I think we’ll be eating this more often around here.