Celebrations

This week has been a good week.  I've cooked the same dinner several nights in a row (Parmesan Tilapia and Creamed Spinach), and HH has been very tolerant about it.  I have new dinner recipes, I just need to get out of the funk and back into making them.
I was able to visit with a good friend who had just returned from surgery at Mayo.  It made me happy to see her on the mend.
Our renter called from our condo back in Kentucky.  The freezer is on the fritz.  I authorized a service visit, and will find out today if we are replacing a part, or if the entire refrigerator needs to be replaced.  I am hoping that it is just a part since the fridge side works fine.  She was super nice about everything.  This is the first time in fourteen months that she has called us.  She always pays two weeks before her rent is due, and sends an email to confirm that her payment has been received.  I really hope she wants to stay for a bit longer than July 2014.  (She signed a two year lease.)
Funny things that my students say.... A boy who was out of town for two days at a doctor's appointment handed me back a folder full of make-up work.  I was surprised because I had just asked him to complete three items, and we would work a bit each day to catch up.  He said, "If you don't write my mom a note, she will make me do everything."  Another student said something about free time, to which his classmate replied, "Free time....we don't get any free time in here."  I said, "Yes you do, from 3:15 until 8:00 am."  It was cute that they realize we really work each day in school.
Now, onto the recipes....
Peanut Butter Pie

I had planned on making two pies, but when I doubled the recipe, it was easily enough for four pies.  I took one to each grade level in my building.  Very easy to make, you just need the time to allow it to chill before serving.
White Chocolate Butter Bars

These bars turned out great, but did take forever to set.  I had to add over 10 minutes to the recipe time. After church, a boy was cleaning up, and he got ready to take a half-eaten bar to the trash, and his mom said, "Son, stop it, you can't throw that away."  She was planning on taking it home.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Banana Cream Pudding Cookies

Nutella Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream
My best friend is a secretary and her family owns a ranch in town.  I found these edible cap toppers on Etsy.  These cupcakes are way up there with anything you would find in a gourmet cupcake shop, and I feel that they are the best I have ever made.  I still am not ready to put forth the effort to do fancy icing, but I think they turned out lovely.

Here they are all fancied up on the cake stand that I am presenting to my birthday friend.  

Treat for the Nuggets:
I saw this on a blog, and HH helped me to make all the faces and color them in with Sharpies.  It is a super easy activity, and I could see kids doing it themselves.  I know some schools are switching to "healthy only" items for Halloween/Harvest parties.

Yummy Weekend

I saw all my parents/families except ONE for Parent Teacher Conferences.  With an early release (and no Friday youth), I had time to make some extra goodies for some of my favorite people/places.
Caramel Milky Way Cookies

I loved the taste of these cookies.  They were very messy to make though.  My hands were slathered in dough.  I probably could have made three or four more cookies had I not needed to wash my hands so frequently.
Indigo Berry Brownies

I love how this recipe dresses up a plain old box of brownies!
Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

This was a recipe FAIL.  It smelled amazing, and the edges were great.  Unfortunately, there was some lapse time and I figured out that the middle wasn't cooked.  I had to throw it away.  What a shame.  From the edge sampling, I will be making this again.
Pumpkin Better Than .... Cake 

Inspiration for lunch came from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

HH and I watched so many episodes of LOST yesterday, I am ashamed to admit the actual number.  It was a perfect down day/evening.
I made our hotel reservations for A Weekend to Remember marriage conference in Sioux Falls, SD.  We are going down a day early, and coming back a day after the conference ends.  We have a great hotel, and I'm looking forward to making some great city time.  

Tomorrow for Ladies Bible Study, I am bringing:
Banana Cream Puff Bars

Almost to my 2.5 day weekend!

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I last posted!  We had a great visit with HH's mom last weekend.  We had our normal Friday night activities at the church.  On Saturday, we had a special live event through the internet with one of my favorite speakers, Beth Moore. 

 

 

On Sunday, we had church and started our new Bible study by Beth Moore. 

 

 

After such a busy weekend, we chilled for the small remainder of our weekend.

 

Tonight is Parent-Teacher Conferences from 4:00-8:00.  Tomorrow, the students are off, and we have conferenes 8:00-12:00.  I presently have no conferences scheduled for tomorrow, so I hope to get lots done.

 

No-Bake Golden Oreo Truffles

(with fun orange sugar crystals for Halloween)

 

 

Blueberry Maple Muffins

 

 

 

Pumpkin Black Bean Chicken Chili in the Slow Cooker

 

 

This chili is very mild.  I asked HH if he would have guessed that it had pumpkin in it, and he said no.

 

Blueberry-Lemon Buttermilk Bundt Cake

 

My good friend from church requested that I make this for her birthday.

 

Scaredy-Cat Brownies

 

 

I'm in love with edible eyes.  I must find more fun things to make with these throughout the year.

 

White Bean Bisque

 

I was supposed to use kidney beans or cannellini beans, but I only had chickpeas.  I told HH that we had "Hummus Soup."

 

On a funny note....

 

I got home from work Tuesday evening, and saw a clean sink.  I smiled and thought to myself, "HH did the dishes.  That was so sweet of him."  About twenty minutes later, I realized that I had done the dishes at 5 AM, and had forgotten!!!

 

 

 

 

Biscoff Spread

Hawaiian Wedding Cake

 

I mixed this up for Wednesday night, but should have read the directions.  It didn't have enough time to cool as it should have.  For best results, store in the refrigerator overnight.

 

Biscoff Puppy Chow

I made this for a friend who is going to Mayo to have a surgery next week.  Most excellent road munching.

Gooey Pumpkin Butterscotch Blondies

The teacher beside me helped herself to seconds, enough said. 

 

Biscoff Cheesecake Pudding Cookies

 

This weekend is going to be busy.  I'm trying to keep in high spirits.  I have to be at the church tomorrow by 7 am.  I'm not getting home from the church until 9:30 pm tonight.  I also have a crockpot recipe, overnight casserole, and bundt cake to make.  I think I may go back to work on Monday for some rest.
 

Happy Hump Day!

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip, Peanut, and Pretzel Oatmeal Cookies

 

I baked these just a touch too long.  I think they would have been better if I had shaved a minute off the cook time.

Dark Chocolate Mint Oreo Cookies

I must have ground the Oreos too finely, because my cookies don't have the cool green feature that the ones in the link do.

Our Dinners the past few days:

 

Chicken Bacon Pasta Ranch

 

 

Homemade Corn Dogs

 

 



I think I would not make these in the jumbo muffin tins again.  I think the smaller ones with either hot dogs, lil smokies, or polish sausage bites would be better.

 

HH's mom is coming to visit today.  We cleaned like mad yesterday evening. 

 

 

In a proud teacher moment yesterday, I am teaching my kids about nonfiction and comprehension through this story Out of the Tornado.  It was about the survival account of some fifth grade students in Henryville, Indiana.  I was so impressed at their questions and display of empathy as I read the letters they wrote.

 

Second Cookie Recipe of the Weekend and a Dinner Recipe

 Butterscotch Pudding Triple Chip Cookies

 

Creole Comfort
 
This was good, but it was even better on the second day!  I love great leftovers.  :)

 

Wife Failure of the Night:

I forgot to cook HH dinner.  I was so caught up in making cookies that it slipped my mind!

 

Funnies:

 

The other night I dreamt that there was a mountain lion on our screened in porch.  I got really mad at HH for not shutting and locking the screen door in my dream.  We have had mountain lions spotted in our area.

 

In my never ending quest to hog the bed, HH had to push me to gain some space back in the bed last night.  He says that I said out loud, "You cracked my hip." I mumbled a bunch of other stuff, but that was clearly articulated.

 

Nutella Kiss Cookies, Easy Dinner, and Church Potluck

My husband and I watched five episodes of LOST yesterday.  It was a good day.  We are in season 3, and interesting things keep happening to change our thinking.

 

I made Nutella Kiss Cookies yesterday afternoon.  I have a serious love affair with Nutella.

 

 

Dinner was an appetizer recipe with rice.  We had Brown Sugar Kielbasa Bites.  I love that it only requires two ingredients, both of which I almost always have on hand.

 



 

Nugget Love:

 

I found this idea last week for the nuggets at my friend's daycare, and was finally able to make them this weekend.  If you notice up front we have some ghetto fab cars with different color wheels.  We didn't have enough of the same color of M&Ms. 

 

 

 

I am bringing two items for church potluck today (sorry, no time for pictures):

 

Crock Pot Peach Blackberry Dump Cake

 

This was amazing!  The only thing that would have made it over the top was ice cream (as the website suggested!)

 

Rice a Roni Chicken Salad Sandwiches  (These are made on King's Hawaiian Orignial Hawaiian Sweet Rolls!) 

 

Great Past Few Days = Blog Neglect

We had a three day weekend here, but with not having to work at the youth event Friday night, it felt even longer.  It was very nice.  Here are two items that I bought recently that I love:

I love how these shirts turned out!  HH was ready to wear his this weekend, but I gave him a pass since it was supposed to be close to 100 degrees this past Saturday.  We will certainly be sporting them soon though.

I was all pins and needles at the baking (and many other things) contest.  The judges didn't open the doors until almost an hour later than posted.  I was never so happy to hear my name misprounced in my life!  I took fourth place!  My math assistant took second place, and her apple pie looked like a work of art.  

HH and I went to the Rodeo for a bit after that, but it was very hot and dusty, and HH had some sinus issues, so we decided to leave.  HH did try to bid on a horse though.  He bid $25.  I asked him what he was going to do had he won the horse, and he said he was going to sell it to our friend who owns a ranch for $26. HH decided to go back for the main show that evening, and I decided to make some cookies at the house and do some overlooked chores.  I reorganized our plastics cabinet, getting rid of some of the older pieces that were beyond gone.  I reorganized two cabinets where we keep canned/dried goods.  I washed our sheets and comforter.  I cleaned out the fridge.  It was a good night.  These cookies capped the night.... Nutella Pudding Cookies

HH and I went to Sioux Falls after church on Sunday and had a relaxing trip.  We didn't need to get a million things for the church and personal use, so that was great.  I was able to shop at my beloved Catos and rack up tons of new fall items.  HH and I bought the twins a new baby stroller.  Here is a great shot of HH putting it together:

We had early release on Tuesday due to heat, and yesterday was the kids first full day of school since August 21st.  It was a challenge, and it's going to take some getting used to going to school all day now with being out so much. For church last night, I made: Nutella Monster Cookies:

Nutella Pretzel Brownies

We've also made our next big important decision as a couple.  We've picked out our Halloween costumes for this year.  We are going to be Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head!  

Quote of the Day from one of my students:

"Mrs. F, why is it when you tell stories you talk about yourself in third person?"

I love these babes....and darned if he wasn't right!