October Highlights

It's been a busy month, but we've had a few major milestones and fun celebrations worth blogging about. Probably too much for just one post! It's been fun for me to be in our own house as the weather is getting chillier and get to play domestic goddess, baking and cooking and making the house feel all cozy. Gotta enjoy this lifestyle while I can!
I love making good food for the people I love. Sierra loves to help - she sticks it out a lot longer than Lily. Isn't she such a cute kitchen helper!?

 

 Some other things to remember in no particular order:

Deer sleeping just over the fence of our backyard and looking for food every day for almost 2 weeks where we could have a close up view of them. (that rail is my back patio)

Sierra's crazy cute fashion sense.

Lily starting her first sewing project - by hand - while I sewed their Halloween costumes.

Lily getting 2 teeth pulled at the dentist and doing awesome without having to be sedated!!!

Face paint at the school carnival.

Me painting an actual painting for the first time in how many years??? a kid's bathroom painting, but still!

Getting the broken up concrete the previous owners of our house used for decoration in our backyard removed. Woo hoo! Many thanks to our amazing neighbor who went above and beyond to help us do it! Fixing the falling down fence after it. (One less thing to have to do in the spring!)

Getting yummy pumpkin and huckleberry donuts at the pumpkin patch again this year. Always a good time.

Sierra saying Goodbye to Diapers!!! Oh yeah! Keep forgetting to share that one!

I will post more pictures of some of these fun things soon but in the meantime here are a couple of our favorite yummy recipes to share:

Sour Cream Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup mashed banana*

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup sour cream

Spray 1 loaf pan with cooking spray. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients, then bananas and sour cream, stir in nuts. Mix well and pour into pan. Sprinkle top with more chopped pecans if desired. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until cooked through.

*Sometimes I make up the bananas with a little carrot shredded in my food processor.

Chocolate Chip Blueberry-Zucchini Muffins  (Makes 12 muffins)

1 1/2 cups flour (1 c. all purpose + 1/2 c. whole wheat)

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup oil (I use melted butter, olive or canola & a little coconut oil

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. shredded zucchini & carrot.

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (or 1/4 c. chopped blueberries & 1 c. chocolate chips.)

plus cinnamon crumb topping (below)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your muffin tin and paper liners.

Grate zucchini & squeeze out excess moisture with strong paper towel, shred carrot in food processor.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, egg, olive oil, milk and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in the zucchini. Add the flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in the blueberries/chocolate chips. Spoon batter into the muffin cups.

Cinnamon Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/4 cup sugar, 1/6 cup flour, 2 Tbsp butter, and 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins are starting to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

If you add blueberries they will come out looking funny colors, but the taste is amazing! Tip: Don't seal up to store or they'll get soggy. Best eaten up the first day!