Happy Thanksgiving!!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Seriously though we hope you are enjoying your families or whatever makes you the most happy this time of year! We are so thankful for you and your support! We love our readers so much!

See you back on Dec 1 for some great new posts! 

AND THE WINNER IS....

We are so excited to announce that we have a winner!!

 Thank you to all who entered!! 

We have loved reading your wonderful traditions and especially noticed how much in common we have with our little group of readers! 

Thank you for sharing and coming along with us on this journey! 

Also keep an eye on us! 

We plan on doing lots of give aways!

 MONTHLY EVEN!! 

OK...so the winner is 

AMANDA BITNER

 (Be sure to email us in the next 48 hours with your contact info so that we can get your gift card to you!! After 48 hour a new winner will be chosen if we don't hear from you)

 CONGRATS!!

Thanks to Random.org for helping us choose our winner for us!!

Link it Up!

I am 11 days into 16 days working. No days off. That is rough. Not that it is an excuse of why my blogging has been off its A-game but really it is the excuse. Working so many days in a row has been difficult. Difficult on my body, the kids and really my sanity as well. So I apologize to all of you and apologize to my better blogging half, Emily! This post was suppose to be up yesterday but you know. UGH! 

With the weather turning cold we will be spending a lot more time inside. It is the perfect time to finally make an A-frame tent for the kids! They need a secret hideaway for their sanity that can be stored away easily for my sanity.

I want this! The mod boho shop is full of awesome stuff!

I needed this post (with video!!!) of how to do double and treble crochet stitches. Double I have down but I didn't know how to do the treble stitch.

I think this would be a great dress to wear out and about- pun intended! Can you just imagine sewing this in some camo print knit?

I can't begin to tell you what it would mean for this bell to show up at my house on Christmas day. It is beyond beautiful. And made locally. Booyah!

After being disappointed by the jet puffed peppermint marshmallows I am ready to try my hand at making some myself. This is a simple recipe- I think. HA!

THIS! How to get shit done even when you aren't motivated. I need this a million times in my life.

Crock mashed potatoes are our jam lately- they are no fuss. You gotta love set it and forget it food, right? I love this recipe but we do peeled russets because it is my flavor preference. 

15 career tips from smart women.

This smokey liner tutorial is right on time for the holidays.

How to clean a microfiber couch. I don't want you to know how badly we need this right now. Seriously.

This is a great boy and girl shared room tour. We are about to start decorating the kids room finally and I am finding it really hard to make it work well for both of them.

Check out this cute Thanksgiving craft to do with the kiddies. It is a nice change from handprint turkeys.

Oh and of course don't forget to enter our giveaway!!! A 50 dollar Amazon gift card will definitely come in handy this time of year. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Chowder-AND Bonus Parm Garlic Toast Recipe

This soup is good! So good my family horked it down like they were human hoovers! Most had 2 bowls and some ate 3. Its REALLY good! 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Chowder

1/2 C Butter
1/2 C Flour
2 1/2 C Half and half
2 1.2 C milk
2 chicken bouillon cubes broken
8 oz cream cheese
3 lb boneless chicken cooked and chopped
1 pkg pre cooked bacon cut to bite size 
1 C diced ham
8 oz swiss cheese grated 

In a large pan melt butter and then add the flour to make a roux. Cook for about a minute. Add the half and half, milk and the bouillon. Heat for a few minutes and then add the cream cheese. While continuously stirring, bring to a boil and add chicken, bacon. and ham. Take off heat and stir in Swiss cheese. Bring back to the stove on low heat and stir until cheese is melted.

BONUS RECIPE

This is a super quick alternative to garlic bread. Just broil and wah-la!!

PARM GARLIC TOAST
(All of the ingredients are to taste)

Bread
butter softened
garlic powder
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to broil. Line a pan (We used 10x15 jelly roll pan) with parchment if desired. Butter each piece of bread and cover the pan with it. Sprinkle the buttered bread with garlic powder and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Broil until browned and bubbly. YUMMY!!

NOTE!! Dont forget to enter our give away for a $50 amazon card! HERE!!

Porcupine Balls

In some ways I hate posting recipes. I find it really hard to figure out exact measurements when it comes to recipes. I cook more intuitively. Which is not to say I am a good cook it just means I throw in whatever sounds good. Guess what happens half the time? You guessed it! It doesn't work. I throw in one too many weird ingredients and it ruins the whole thing. But alas I continue doing it. I love the tossing and tasting experimenting of cooking. It feels freeing and grown-up. Ha! Yes you read that right, I said grown up. I throw caution to the wind with ever teaspoon of celery seed and dash of soy sauce I toss in. I do it like I have experience. It brings me joy.

So here is a recipe for porcupine balls that is really meant as a guideline. 

Porcupine Balls

2 pounds ground meat

1 cup instant rice

1 tsp celery seed

1 egg

1 onion finely chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 tbsp parsley

1 12 ounce can tomato sauce

1 small can crushed tomatoes

Mix meat, rice, celery seed, egg, onion, garlic and parsley until completely combined. Make into even sized balls. Cook in large sauce pan or electric skillet turning to brown each side. Once brown add 1 cup water, crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer 25 minutes or until rice is fully cooked. Then enjoy!

This boy loved them! I also sprinkled some garlic seasoning and italian seasoning over them will they were simmering. I used half ground turkey and half ground beef to add some richness. Next time I make them I am going to make half with brown gravy and half with tomato sauce just to please our varying palates. Lola does not groove on tomatoes. We served them with crock pot mashed potatoes and green beans. YUM! 

PS!! Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a 50 dollar Amazon gift card!  

Smores Pie-Quick and Easy Last minute No bake pie Recipe

This Pie is awesome! Very easy, very tasty and simple and no bake is always a plus when you are using the oven for so many other things this time of year.  My sweet Gabby made this one up for us and another for a family friend and it was marvelous! Give it a try!

Yummy S'more Pie

1 package of instant pudding 3.9 oz size

1 can 12 oz of evaporated milk

1 9 inch graham cracker crust

3 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups frozen whipped topping (cool whip style) thawed

1/2 C chocolate chips

Whisk 1 1/4 C evaporated milk and pudding mix in a bowl until blended and pour into the graham crust. Microwave 2 Cups of the marshmallows and 1/4 Cup evaporated milk for 30-45 seconds until smooth. Let stand for 15 minutes. Gently fold the whipped topping. SPoon over the the chocolate layer and smooth. Add 1 cup of marshmallows and the chocolate chips to the top and then refrigerate for 2 hours.  Once set using a torch to brown marshmallows. Serve and enjoy!!

Our First Ever Give-away!!

image credit

Emily and I love Christmas. We are total freaks for it! We start planning Christmas in January. That is a true love. This season really is the most wonderful part of the year to us. The lights, smells and sounds are like magic.

 This year we decided that it would be fun to be Santa's elves! They can't be everywhere all the time, right? So Em and I are going to spread a little Christmas cheer with our first ever giveaway!

We are giving away a..... 

50 dollar Amazon gift card!

To be spent however you would like! Who can't use an 50 extra dollars this time of year?  

Our rules are simple. All you need to do is follow us via twitter, IG or GFC over there on the right. Then leave us a comment on this post with your favorite Christmas tradition and where you followed us. Easy Peasy lemon squeezy.  (if you are already a follower please add a comment letting us know you would like to be entered along with your favorite Christmas traditions)

A winner will be picked and announced next Monday. Make sure we have a way to get a hold of you!! The gift card will be sent straight to you from Amazon all wrapped up and ready to use. 

Lets get this Holiday season started!! 

Our Christmas Daily Advents-Making the Christmas Season More Memorable

A long time ago we were having the talk we always have with our kids to discuss last years Christmas to discover what worked and what didn't. (PS if you don't have this little talk you should!! It is amazing what is important to them and what we as moms and dads are doing that isn't necessary and can relieve stress by letting it go.) It became clear that when we discussed the presents/gifts they couldn't remember most if not all that they had received. This was less than a year before!! (in their defense  they were little but still....)

BUT

They could remember with some awesome clarity the things that we did together. 

Welcome to the birth of our

DAILY ADVENTS
(this is what we will be doing this year)

Nov 28: Decorating the house and tree

NOV 29: The Family Thanksgiving Dinner

NOV 30: Wisemen still seek him (FHE)

DEC 1: Make our advent calendars

DEC 2: Sign Christmas cards and Hot cocoa bar

DEC 3: Sibling shopping and Crazy candlelight  dinner

DEC 4: Read our fav Christmas stories

DEC 5: St Nicholas Shoes

DEC 6: Ward Christmas Party

DEC 7: First Presidency Devo and munchies

DEC 8: Northpole breakfast for dinner

DEC 9: Sing along

DEC 10: Make gingerbread houses

DEC 11: Eggnog and popcorn night

DEC 12: Ho Ho Someone or Toys for Tots shopping

DEC 13: The Forgotten Carols and dinner

DEC 14: FHE Lesson w the grandparents and   Christmas dinner

DEC 15: Elf on the Shelf Arrives (all 30 days was too much)

DEC 16: Make and deliver neighbor gifts

DEC 17: Random acts of kindness day

DEC 18: craft night and plant candy cane     seeds

DEC 19: jingle bell jaunt

DEC 20: baking and treat making day

DEC 21: Family Christmas Party

DEC 22: Saran Wrap ball

DEC 23: Jammie movie marathon and pizza party

DEC 24: Lunch out and movie, family puzzle           building, make cookies for santa.             finger foods, open jammies and a             family devotional.

There you go...What do you do to make the season memorable?? If you have questions on what any of these are feel free to comment!! We love nice comments from nice people!!

LOVES

Emily

The BEST Mint Brownie Recipe!! (uses a cake mix!!)

I love this recipe! I have taken some of this recipe and that recipe and developed this delightful Mint Brownie recipe that is exactly what our family loves! Its has just the right enough mint to make it the perfect chocolate mint mix AND a wonderful fudgy frosting that is so good its bad!! The browning isn't too fudgy or too cake like. Perfect I tell ya!! (atleast for what we are looking for :)) You are going to love this one my peeps!!

Mint Brownies

1 Devil’s Food Cake Mix 

 6 TBS butter (cooled to room temp)

3 eggs

Pre heat your oven to 350 and lightly spray a 9x13 cake pan.Mix cake mix, butter and eggs together. Spread the batter into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes Be careful and keep an eye on these. You don't want them to be over done. Let cookies cool completely.

Peppermint Frosting:

1/2 c. butter, softened

2 Tablespoons milk

2 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

6-8 drops of Green food coloring 

Mix together all the ingredients (add more or less powdered sugar until you get the consistency you like). Spread on top of the cooled brownie

Chocolate Frosting:

2 C. Milk chocolate chips

1/2 C +2 TBS butter

Melt chocolate chips and butter together in a double boiler OR slow and low over the stove Spread melted chocolate on the green frosting.

Winter Coat Round-Up

I have a confession to make. I haven't bought myself an actual coat in years. We live in Utah for pity sake! Utah is the kind of place that you need a coat in the winter. But every year I find a reason to not buy one. The kids need new coats, I'll buy a coat when I lose some weight, it's not that cold. Etc etc etc....  Well guess what? The kids always need new coats, I still haven't lost that weight and it is frickin cold as ice here! This year me thinks it is finally time to hunker down and buy one. So I have been doing some browsing online. And it has been fun!! Check out some of my favorites. These are all plus size and cute as cute.

This jacket... the color and cut and fur. UGH!

A leopard lined peacoat. For real though.

I am in love with leopard lately. What can I say?

This is a crazy cute puffer jacket! And it is packable. What?

I love the length of this puffer coat.

This is a great coat and it comes in boysenberry. Oh and white and navy but boysenberry! The texture of the fabric is beautiful too.

Check out this lovely swing coat. How fun is this thing?

Which should I buy? I can't decide. My excuse this year will be that I can't decide which one to buy! 

Easy Yummy Crock pot candy (pssst....this is an awesome Hack!!)

 This recipe is inspired by OMG Candy...So Delish! I love that it is made in my crock pot and that I was able to go about my other kitchen duties while it melted away for me.  It is very good!! It would make a wonderful addition to your treat trays for the holidays! Come check it out! Give it a try! Youll be glad you did!!

OMG inspired Crock Pot Candy

1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 bag of milk chocolate chips

1 bag of white chocolate chips

1 bag of heath chips

1 1/2 C of your favorite nut (we used cashews this time)

2 Cups of teddy grahams ( golden grahams cereal would work well too)

Place all of the ingredients in your crock pot. 

Mix together

Set your crock pot to warm and let it go for about 3 hours or until melted.  If you do not have a warm setting set to low and keep an eye on it, watching for it to melt. When it is melted stir and place spoon fulls on a lightly sprayed sheet of aluminum or parchment paper. Once the chocolate is set you can break into smaller pieces or not depending on how you enjoy your candy.  

LOVES!!

EMILY 

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

It is November 7th and I am finally making my first pumpkin recipe of the year. Which is coo coo go nuts cause I am a girl who loves pumpkin. This is an easy and fast cookie recipe. They go together wicked fast. They only have three ingredients for cripes sake! I love the texture and consistency of these cookies. Instead of chocolate chips we used butterscotch chip this time which is a nice twist. It seems to make them extra sweet. I hope you try this recipe and love it!

1 spice cake mix

1 15 oz can of pureed pumpkin

1-2 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375. Mix the pumpkin and cake mix until thoroughly combined. Throw in the chips and stir up. Drop on to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until they no longer look wet. Immediately transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!

A note! I baked mine at 375 but I think that our oven bakes at a lower temp than it says it is cooking at. Does that make sense? So I think that our oven is about 25 degrees cooler than what the gauge says. So if your first batch come out over cooked then turn your oven down. 

Thankful Turkey

Every year for the whole month of November we have a "Thankful Turkey" hanging up in our house. It's tradition. Basically we hang a turkey up and add feathers to it that say what we are thankful for. It is a simple thing to do but it has a big impact. I don't even make it cutesy. I just use a coloring page template and cut feathers out of paper. That is it!   

This is the turkey we use every year. But there are tons of free templates out there. Or you could draw your own if you are so inclined!

Hang that bad boy up with scotch tape- or something cuter. HA!

The feathers and a marker. That is about it! I cut the feathers out free hand but there are lots of templates too. They can be printed on colored paper and cut out and bingo bango they are done.

We always end up with some of the most ridiculous things on there. The kids put up farts, candy and minecraft. Mostly we end up with really sweet things though. I need to figure out a way to keep this feeling all year long. The feelings of gratitude are awesome!  

How to Brine and Roast a Turkey ONLY READ IF YOU LIKE MOIST AND JUICY TURKEY!!

My sweet husband roasts the best turkey in the universe...Seriously. It is always moist and tender. SO scrumptious and tastes of that traditional thanksgiving turkey we dream about the night before the big T-Day. This is how he does it.  Its a big secret so don't tell anyone. ;) 

Brined Roasted Turkey

14-16 pound thawed turkey

1 gallon of chicken broth

1 Cup of salt

1/2 C brown sugar

1 TBS whole pepper corns

1/2 TBS allspice berries

1/2 TBS candied ginger

1 gallon of heavily iced water

1 cinnamon stick

1 red apple sliced

1/2 and onion quartered

1-2 sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme

canola oil

brining bag or 5 gal bucket

Place the broth salt brown sugar, pepper corns allspice berries and ginger in a pot and bring to a boil stir to dissolve solids remove from heat and cool and refrigerate. About 8 hours before cooking put the turkey neck side down in a brining bag or 5 gal bucket. Pour in the chicken broth mixture then add the gallon of heavily iced water. At approx 4 hours rotate the bird so that the legs are down and the neck is up. When you are ready to roast remove the bird from the brine, rinse well and pat dry.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place on a roasting pan or a baking sheet with a cooling rack. Tuck the wing tips under the body. Put your cinnamon stick, apple slices and onion and 1-2 Cups of water and microwave for 4-5 minutes. Let steep for 1 minute. Drain the liquid and insert them into the cavity of the bird and add the rosemary and thyme into the cavity of the bird. Take a piece of aluminum foil appox the length of the bird and fold into a triangle. Mold around the breast and wing section of the bird. Remove mold and set aside keeping the shape intact. Liberally coat the outside of the bird with canola oil and place in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes add the foil tent to the turkey. insert a thermometer in the thickest part of the breast meat and set temp to 161 degrees. When the internal temp reaches 161 degrees remove the bird from the oven and let rest for atleast 15 minutes. Carve and Serve!

Enjoy!

 The turkey in the brining bag inside the 5 gal bucket. You only really need one or the other but he likes both.

The foil triangle used to shield the breast meat from over cooking after the first half an hour at 500 degrees. 

Yes this is a necessary step.

PS the 500 degree oven lends to the gold brown wonderfully appetizing color.

Molding the turkey foil triangle

The foil triangle after is has been removed but is still keeping it shape so it can be slipped back on quick and easy after the first half and hour.

oiling up the bird

After the first half and hour

Placing the foil back on the bird

Placing the thermometer 

SO JUICY AND MOIST!!!

MY

Thanksgiving Round Up

Now that Halloween is over I want to skip straight to Christmas! I am trying to keep a focus on Thanksgiving though. Poor Thanksgiving kind of gets skipped every year, right? It should be a way bigger deal! A whole holiday based on being thankful for you blessings? That sounds like a good time to me! I blame retail stores. They want you in a Christmas frame of mind so you buy more stuff. True story. Anywho..... I did a little Thanksgiving free printable round-up. There are tons more out there too. Lets all decorate for Thanksgiving and give it its proper due! And do it for FREE!!

My niece created this one. She is a babe!

This is a cool thanksgiving subway Art printable

Another cool subway art printable! There is also a cute bunting printable through that link.

Both of these come from here. I love those round ones! You could make cupcake toppers, cut them out and tie them around napkins as napkin rings or make them stickers to put on leftovers! The maze printable is genius! Kids and adults alike would enjoy those while they wait for dinner.

You can get a whole kit of thanksgiving stuff here!

Another bunch of cute kids activities! Learn to draw thanksgiving!

This planner is pretty genius!

This is a free printable of JUST the labels but I have seen plenty of tutorials for folding the pie boxes of you can't find any around your town. Bust seriously how cute are these?

Check out these cute invitations!