It's National Pumpkin Day!

October 26th is National Pumpkin Day!

Here are some favorite pumpkin recipes to help you celebrate. :-)

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

Harvest Morning Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Mini Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Scones

Harvest Pumpkin Spice Scones

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer

Autumn Spice Cookies with Pumpkin Dip

Pumpkin Harvest Cookies

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Pie Crunch

Pumpkin Granola 

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

Ducklings

The ducklings are almost three weeks old.

They are so cute!

Menu Plan

Supper Menus

October 20th - 26th

Sunday

leftovers

Monday

angel hair pasta with marinara sauce, ceasar salad

Tuesday

baked potato soup

Wednesday

soft tacos, guacamole, tortilla chips

Thursday

leftovers

Friday

out for supper

Saturday

tba - waiting to see what our weekend plans are :-)

We Bleed Maroon!

Gig' em Ags!

And we love #2 Johnny Football!

Fightin' Texas Aggies Class of '91 and Class of '94. :-)

Breakfast Hash Brown Casserole

Breakfast Hash Brown Casserole

adapted from Little House Living

makes 12 servings

Ingredients needed -

1 pound bulk pork sausage

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, diced

1 cup milk

1 tablespoons corn starch

1 bag frozen hash brown potatoes (no need to thaw)

1 8 ounce package of extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

salt and pepper to taste

Cook sausage in skillet until done.  Place sausage in a 9x16 pyrex baking dish.  In the same skillet, melt butter and sauté onion until softened.  Stir corn starch into milk and then pour into skillet with onions.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Combine hash browns with onion milk mixture and pour over sausage.  Top with cheese.  Bake at 400° for 45 minutes until bubbly and golden brown.  Serve immediately with salt and pepper to taste. 

This was very simple to throw together and a big hit with my boys.

As we scooped it onto plates, piping hot from the oven, 

I thought it would also be great spooned onto

warm flour tortillas with a bit of salsa on top.  

We may try that with the leftovers.

This can also be made the night before and popped in the oven the next morning.

This recipe is definitely a keeper.

If you try it, I hope you enjoy it, too! :-)

Menu Plan

Supper Menus

October 13th-19th

Sunday

invited to friend's house for supper

Monday

build your own sub sandwich, potato chips, veggie dip, pickles

Tuesday

out for supper

Wednesday

farmhouse beef stew, big daddy biscuits

Thursday

leftovers

Friday

gnocchi with pesto sauce, caesar salad

Saturday

slow cooker green chili chicken enchilada soup (new recipe)

Mini Pumpkin Muffins

you will need -

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup pumpkin

1 egg 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

and for the topping

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine oil, sugar, milk, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla.

Add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

Mix well.

Spoon batter into mini muffin tin.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until done.

Combine cinnamon and sugar.

Dip warm muffins in butter and then cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Makes 36 mini muffins.

Tuesday Tidbits :-)

Well, the ducklings are very cute.

They are very fun to watch.

They are VERY attached to each other.

And, they are very...

poopy!!!  Oh my goodness -

these two poop more than when I had 

FIVE babies chicks in a brooder.

We're just changing out the paper often, 

and hoping their feathers come in FAST

so they can go outside where they belong. :-)

In other news,

I canned some 

apple jalapeño jam

last night.

It was tasty.

I got myself a sussy at the store over the weekend.

I've managed to break three, THREE,

oil lamp globes over the years.

So I decided this time to get a more 

sturdy one that hopefully will last me awhile. :-)

I just love a good oil lamp.

Weekend before last we lost power at the house for almost four hours

and I really missed having an oil lamp handy.

I'm also really enjoying the gourds

that my friend Sandi gifted me from her garden.

Wasn't that sweet? :-)

Having too much fun with the ducklings...

Little baby ducks...

So yesterday my daughter and I were driving home from the mall

and she sees on facebook that a friend of her's, that lives one road down from us,

is selling mallard duckings.

She didn't have to beg me very long to let her buy two.

And, try as he might, Daddy doesn't usually say no when both of his girls ask for something. :-)

And now we have two, three day old, baby ducklings -

Donald and Daffy. :-)

So far they are messier AND noisier than baby chicks!

And we had to remove the pine shavings in the brooder already

because they were eating it and that's not good.

We have them on a towel now.

And Tom T. Hall's voice singing,

"I love little baby ducks..."

has been in my head all day. :-)

Menu Plan

Supper Menus
October 6th-12th

Sunday
hot roast beef sandwiches (new recipe), chips, pickles

Monday
toscana soup, breadsticks, olive garden salad

Tuesday
texas chili, country cornbread muffins

Wednesday
sour cream enchilada lasagna (new recipe)

Thursday
leftovers

Friday
out for supper

Saturday
copy cat in and out burgers (new recipe), french fries

National Apple Month

October is National Apple Month!

Here are a dozen recipes to celebrate. :-)

Apple Pancakes with Cider Syrup

Apple Cinnamon Scones

Apple Pie Muffins

Apple Streusel Muffins

Apple Butter

Apple Sauce

Baked Apples

Apple Pie

Apple Crisp

Caramel Apple Crisp

Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings

Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings

More about apples -

Johnny Appleseed

Types of Apples

The Simple Woman's Daybook - September

September

FOR TODAY
Monday September 30, 2013

Outside my window...
are lots of huge mushrooms that popped up after the wonderful rain we got over the weekend.  HOW do they just grow overnight like that??  One day they're not there, the next day they are.  Amazing.

I am thinking...
that I certainly waited until the last minute to do this month's daybook. ;-)

I am thankful...
for the rain, my crazy kids, a husband that always knows just what to do and say to keep me happy, and a job I love.

In the kitchen...
I made maple scones over the weekend and I have a bag of granny smith apples and some jalapeños that I am planning to turn into apple jalapeño jam sometime this week.

I am wearing...
what I wore to work today - white blouse, denim jacket, brown skirt and brown flip flops.

I am creating...
a knitted baby blanket and trying my hand at some knitted baby booties.

I am going...
to our ranch this weekend!  Yay!

I am wondering...
how in the world my baby is turning 14 this week?

I am reading...
my daughter's FFA magazine and catalogs.

I am hoping...
that Loretta will sit on her fertilized eggs long enough to hatch one!

I am looking forward to...
celebrating my son's birthday this weekend at the ranch.

I am learning...
more about how to do my new job efficiently.

Around the house...
my son is working on his homework, my daughter is in the shower, my husband is exercising, and I am counting the minutes until bedtime.  It was a long Monday!

I am pondering...
if 8:30 is too early for bed? ;-)

A favorite quote for today...
"Everyone smiles in the same language."

One of my favorite things...
is a cool, crisp autumn morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
To do my best. :-)

A peek into my day...

Chupa seconds before she fell backwards off this stool.

It was funny and she somehow landed on her feet. :-)

Menu Plan

Supper Menus
September 29th - October 5th

Sunday
tortilla soup

Monday
sliders, french fries

Tuesday
leftover tortilla soup

Wednesday
homemade pizza

Friday
out for supper

Saturday
birthday dinner

*I don't know if anyone noticed that Thursday was not listed on my menu plan this week.  I got a good laugh about it.  I woke up Thursday morning and couldn't for the life of me remember what was planned for supper that evening.  I headed to work thinking, oh well, it's planned and I'll worry about it when I get home.  I got home and checked the menu and realized, duh!, I had completely skipped Thursday.  Haha! :-)  I ended up picking up salads from Chick-Fil-A when I dropped my daughter off at work!  Maybe I should skip planning Thursday more often. ;-)