Pumpkin chili goodness!

I made this last week, when it was all cold and rainy. We LOVED it and it is perfect for those cool fall days coming up (hopefully). What I love most about it, is that because of the pumpkin and turkey it's not heavy like normal chili's. You can also do a lot to this recipe to make it your own. I did A LOT of adjustments (To taste and to fit what we already had). : )

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion (Substituted with Onion powder)
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (Left out this time)
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper (Left out this time)
1 clove garlic, minced (Substituted with Garlic powder)
1 pound ground turkey
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dash salt
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream

Added:

1 can of corn

1/2 can of black beans

Cinnamon to taste

Chicken broth to make it less thick and add flavor

1/2 bag of chili powder seasoning

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

{ For more tips and details, find recipe here }

"rainy day" fun

We had some rain this week---and Wednesday morning two things came to mind when I woke up, baking (for some reason when it's cold and rainy it makes me want to bake all day long) and Disneyland (the park is usually pretty empty on rainy days...the perfect time to go beat the crowds that have been showing up lately....plus, it's just fun to be out in that weather) =). Since it was the middle of the week we had to work, but we went up right after. By the time we got there the sky's had started to clear up and it was warming up a bit, but the crowds were still away (we got to park on the first level). Perfect, just what we were hoping for!

And it was still all wet from the rain that had just gone by. It was such a pretty day to be there! =)

On Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy again! It was SO much faster this time, my earrings and my hair were flying straight up and all around......we love it! For some reason this ride makes us both laugh so hard during it...and after for a bit =) This is a must ride!

Most of the lines were just 5 to 10mins...and we waited maybe 20 for Space Mountain. It was a really fun night! We have had some great timing for D-land trips lately. *happy sigh* We love rainy days! =)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

When we got home I made these yummy little things. They were so fun and easy to make. And Brody said they tasted just like the ones his Grandma used to make....that made me and my cookies feel pretty darn good, for my first run at making cookies from scratch! It was a lot of fun...so much, I still have a baking itch... =)

They look good too, huh?

and here is the recipe...

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I added half a can more, for more flavor)
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I also doubled the spices for more flavor...your choice...add to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet (also added an extra 1/2 cup of chips) =)
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Enjoy!

Signs of Fall

(We have these great trees that line the one of the main roads on the way to and from our house, and they actually change colors in the Fall. They have just started to turn, and we love it! This one always catches my eye because of the red stripe down the left of it. =) Soon, they will all be changing!)

Fall is here

and this is how I know...

- My feet are cold

- I had to put a sweatshirt on today IN my apartment (disclaimer: I do get cold easier than most, but my sweatshirts were starting to collect some dust---and we like the windows open at lest a bit, we are fans of fresh air =)

- The Pumpkin patches are all set up

- Tonight I added our knit blanket to our bedding. One of the best things about this time of year is being all cozyed up in blankets

- If you know where to look you can start seeing some leaves change, and they will just get better =)

- The days are getting shorter

- When we walked outside this evening I was hit with the unmistakable cold, crisp breeze that fall brings, and I LOVED it. (and I am pretty sure it has a cool crisp smell that goes with it)

- I have the urge to make warm comfort foods, carve pumpkins, roast the pumpkins seeds, drink hot coco, wear scarves (light ones...it is CA after all), get out my UGG's, throw around the football & look forward to all the fun Holidays ahead! =)

- and so much more! It's a wonderful time of year!!

(more NEW pots below)

A Pumpkin weekend

Brody had a long week ending off being in Utah Thurs/Fri seeing his accounts, so we had a nice relaxing weekend! It was so nice.

Brody had his weekly soccer game Saturday afternoon---they won 10 to 3! It was a great game and Brody was on fire! I love going to his games! =) After the game I went up to the store to pick up a few things, and I ended up picking up a few pumpkins and a carver too! I couldn't resist, it sounded so fun to do while the baseball game was on (go Ray's). Here are a few photos of our pumpkin day! Just another reason I love this time of year!

At Albertsons they were selling electric carvers for about $4 so I gave it a try and it was SO fun to use!

Scooping out the pumpkin guts (but saving them for later)!

Brody wanted the big one to be a traditional Jack-O-lantern face (which I love), so we carved him out (you have to have a jack-o-lantern at Halloween)---then I had fun doing some detail work on the two small ones. This was my first time not doing the normal smiley face and it was really fun, plus, I'm telling you, that tool makes it so smooth and easy to do the fun details---I wish I had 5 more pumpkins to work with. But I do have next weekend to look forward to---my sister will be in town and we are all going to this great patch, and then more carving!

I didn't use any stencils, I made it up & drew it all free hand---and kind of spaced on the "e" & "a" in 'Treat', so they have unnecessary gaps in them! =)

Roasting the seeds

While we were carving I was putting the seeds and pumpkin guts into a colander to clean them off and try my hand at roasting them. I have never roasted pumpkin seeds before or even had them, so I was pretty excited! I looked up some recipes online and they turned out REALLY good! We love them!! We have been munching on them all day. If you would like to try them too, here are the recipes we used!

Sweet&Salty

• Clean off seeds and boil in salt water for 20 min's
  
• Let dry overnight
• 1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin Seeds
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 1 Pinch Salt (to taste)

Pre heat oven to 300*. Toss seeds in bowl with melted butter and salt. Spread single layered on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-45min's (or until golden brown). Sprinkle sugar on them right out of the oven.

Then they will look like this (well this is what ours looked like). Enjoy!!

Sweet&Spicy

• Clean off seeds and boil them in salt water for 20 min's
• Let dry overnight
• 2 Cups Pumpkin seeds
• 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Worcester Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 2 Drops Hot Sauce (I used almost a teaspoon and it still was not enough to really taste it. But we like things pretty spicy)

Pre heat over to 300*. Toss seeds in bowl with melted butter, then add salt, worcester, brown sugar and hot sauce. Spread single layered on cookie sheet and bake for 30-45mins (or until golden brown).

Then they will look like this (well this is what ours looked like)! Enjoy!!

It all starts today...

Today is the official first day of Fall & marks the start of the greatest....oh, about 3 months of the whole year! I just love this time of year when the weather starts to get all cool and crisp, you get to pull out all your warm sweaters, fun scarves and heat up the hot chocolate! It is a very cozy time of year.

I am excited to go to a pumpkin patch, carve pumpkins and spend Halloween at Disneyland again! Then before we know it, come the great seasons of giving thanks, giving and a time to reflect on a great year and look to forward, full of hope to a new year---Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. There are so many reasons that make this time of year my absolute favorite, but if I list them all this would be the worlds longest post! I can't wait to see all the Christmas decorations go up, hear the music and pick out our tree, and maybe find some snow this year! We also have lot's of birthdays and anniversary's this time of year, including ours! I love having our anniversary around Christmas, it's such a romantic time of year! =)

There is so much to look forward to and it all starts today---the first day of Fall!