Kirsten, over at  the Black Lab Baker has tagged me with a 7 Things Meme.  This is actually my first meme and really had to think long and hard about what to write. She also gave me I Love You This Much Award. Kirsten and I had stared to chat over the Barefoot Blogger Challenges (which unfortunately I have to back out of, I just cant keep up. We realized we had several things in common and just had a blogger bond very quickly. Check out her blog it is great and has lots of yummy pictures.


7 things I’ve done before
1. Given Birth
2. Sprayed Pepper Spray in my eyes when at a hospital
3. Worked as a lifeguard and at a Tanning salon to get free sun exposure (I know not good!)
4. Went to Opening Day for a bad team in the freezing cold and rain.
5. Voted every Presidential Election since turning 18.
6. Broke my finger playing volleyball, apparently it now looks like a witches finger.
7. Broke my leg and walked on it all day not knowing it was broken.

7 things I do now
1. Clean up the same toys day in and day out
2. Clear out my Google Reader from all the blogs I subscribe too.
3. Do the dishes everyday.
4. Manage our home
5. Take a writing class
6. Change Diapers
7. Chase a dog that steals everything

7 things I want to do
1. Move to the Chicago Area
2. Get a Massage (plan on making the appointment this week!)
3. Go out to dinner with only my husband (maybe for our anniversary in a couple of weeks)
4. Take a bubble bath with no interruptions
5. Run a 5K
6. Be a better writer
7. Go to Hawaii

7 things that attract me about the opposite sex
1. Sense of Humor
2. Desire to succeed
3. Playfulness
4. Dark Hair
5. Willingness to tell me my hair doesn’t look good, or an outfit is awful
6. Good Morals
7. Loves children

7 favorite foods
1. Steak
2. Brownies
3. Nachos
4. Baked Potato with only butter, sour cream, salt and pepper
5. No Bake Cookies
6. Sweet Potato Casserole
7. Chicken Marsala

7 things I say most often
1. No
2. Do not touch
3. Alex drop it
4. She has something
5. I am tired
6. Brian!
7. Arg

It’s that time of the month were the blog world is flooded with people posting on the Daring Bakers challenge.  This month is a special month for the Daring Bakers. We are celebrating the life of a wonderful blogger. Sher at What Did You Eat passed awayed in July. This was her month to share hosting with Glenna and Rosa. Glenna is taking a blogging break, so Rosa jumped in to host in honor of Sher. Before passing they had talked about what they wanted the challenge to be. Rosa honored a conversation they had, so today we have 1000’s of pizzas being shown for Sher!

Now on to the challenge.  Last year for Christmas my husband got my the Bread Bakers Apprentice.  I am so glad he did because several of our challenges come from this great book. I yearn to be a bread maker. I wish that when I touched yeast we had a magically connection. Unfortunately, we do not. I haven’t figured out why or what seems to be going wrong but we are not friends. (I feel like I write this every time we have a yeast challenge!).  I still buckled down and made the pizza. I am sure that something wasn’t quite right but it still worked out. I did have a little accident. I forgot to watch the cheese pizza and it got a little burnt. Not a big deal because I actually like my cheese on pizza super crispy.

The recipe made 6 pizza dough balls. I cooked two per our challenge and the rest went into the freezer. I am hoping to make a dessert pizza and a our favorite alfredo pizza with the extras one day. The two I made this time were your basic cheese and a BBQ chicken pizza. The fun part was to toss the dough and I sure wish my husband was home to get a picture. It was fun and made me feel like a super cook for making a homemade hand tossed pizza.

I do plan on making this recipes again someday and hopefully improving my yeast relationship. If you have a minute take time to look at all the awesome creations other Daring Bakers have made this month!.

Check out the full recipe here courtesy of Rosa!

I love all the little things the blogging world has to offer. I wish I found out about blogging years ago when I had more time and less children. Oh well, I am working on doing both but it is a struggle for sure. I don’t know how some of you do it so well.  The past few years I have seen blog post about Blogging by Mail. It was always fun to see the different products people sent to each other. This year I decided to join and I am glad I did. It was lots of fun and I got a great little package out of it.

My blogging buddy Ruth sent me the best smelling package ever. As I opened my mailbox I got a huge scent of Fall. Who cant love smelling that when they open up the boring old mailbox. As I preceded to open the package, I realized they were some great Yankee Candles in the scent of fall harvest. The biggest part of the package was chocolate covered Prezels. How did she know I heart them!! They got eaten even before I took the picture. Another love of mine in the cooking world is Paula Dean. She makes so great food, and its even better if you love BUTTER!! Inside the package was classic Southern Cheese Straws and Paula’s house seasoning. I was super excited for these too.  I always have recipes calling for her house seasoning and have just been too lazy to actually make it. Now I don’t have too, YIPPEE, Paula has done it for me. Lastly is a good old class Apple Crisp. I love fall and all things it has to do with so I cant wait to make this. Thanks Ruth for all the awesome goodies you sent me, they will be used!!

Over the past couple of weeks my body has just started to shut down. The new baby is getting a bit pushy in the stomach and the cold and allergic bug hit. Kind of knocked me out for a couple of days but with the first freeze this morning I am feeling a bit better. I was able to do some cooking and get all my Christmas shopping done. I usually like to complete my shopping early but with a baby due during the holidays I wanted to make sure it was all complete.I do have high hopes for this week. My intentions are to get some major things organized and wrap up the presents. I sure hope that I am actually motivated and ready to do it all. My mother and sister are customizing the nursery this time around and I have set a November 15th deadline for most of the work to be complete. Hopefully by Thanksgiving I will just be able to sit back and relax. I sure cant wait for Turkey Day!!

On to menu planning………….
Monday-Chicken Enchiladas (a new favorite of B’s he could eat everyday)

Tuesday- Homemade Pizza

Wednesday-Kung Pao Chicken

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Corn Soup with Cornbread

Saturday- Wedding and Halloween Party

Sunday- Chicken Casserole and Bread

Check out the Organzing Junkie Menu Planning Roundup for other great menu ideas!!

Monday- Chicken and Dumplings

Tuesday- Apple Stuffed Chicken, Salad and Corn

Wednesday-Steak, Potatoes and Rolls

Thursday-Cheese Ravioli, Salad and French bread

Friday- Leftovers

Saturday- Alfredo pizza

Sunday- Corn Soup and Corn Bread

Check out other Menu Planning Monday Ideas on I’m an Organizing Junkie.

This past weekend we hit up the Apple Festival in Weston, Missouri. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a parade and lunch in the park with friends. I came home with a big bag of apples, a gallon of the best apple cider and apple dumplings from the local apple orchard. I know some of the apples will be used for apple butter and apple stuffed chicken. I loved the apple crisp I made last year but was really craving a pie.

I decided to turn to Pioneer Women for apple pie recipes. As I went over the Scrumptous Apple Pie recipe, I realized how similar it was to my crisp with just a few tweaks. One being its in a pie crust! It was good very enjoyable. I am glad I added some cinnamon to the apple mix, made it a bit more rustic. Oh and the caramel, well I just cant resist caramel. Its one of my true loves!!!

Scrumptous Apple Pie

1 pie crust

6 to 7 cups peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup pecans
1/2 jar (or more) caramel topping

Mix peeled apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Cut the butter into the flour, then add in brown sugar, oats, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Add apples to prepared pie shell and top with crumb topping. Cover crust edges with aluminum foil and bake in a 375-degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from crust and place back into the oven for another 30 minutes. Chop pecans, and when five minutes remain, sprinkle them over the pie. Finish baking. Quiver with anticipation.

Remove pie from oven and pour 1/2 jar (or more, if you’re feeling dangerous and naughty) of caramel topping over the top. Allow to cool slightly before serving, or don’t if you can’t wait.

I think I am getting to that point in pregnancy where I just want to lay around and be lazy.  I think I am more lazy now since having my first than ever before. Everything gets done just on a more delayed schedule. I am starting to hate it very much. I want tons of energy and be ahead of schedule.  This week I am checking off a big to-do list and trying to keep up with everything. Hopefully getting it done will motivate me to keep moving along at a fast past.

Monday- Chicken Enchiladas (yes this has been on the list for three weeks now and I am finally making it!)

Tuesday- Slow Cooker Pork Chops, Rice and Salad

Wednesday- Hamburgers, Baked Beans and Baked Fries

Thrusday- Toasted English Muffin Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Cottage Cheese and Oranges

Friday- Leftovers or Out

Saturday- Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup and Apples

Sunday- Chicken and Dumplings with Egg Noodles and Corn