Monster Mash

I've started to think our family is more of a cold season group.  Not to say we ski or anything of the sort, but we seem to enjoy the process of coming together and creating things as the air gets cooler.  We are a family of baking and extravagant art projects that we accomplish together.  Everything does seem more fun when you have a partner in crime!

The cooler breezes are sweeping through the city and all the little monsters are getting ready for that one glorious night, Halloween.  The excitement of choosing a new costume, collecting candy around the neighborhood, and, in our house at least, a cookie decorating party is on the horizon.  Decorating the home seems to be a family event that is taken a little serious in our house.  One year our daughter even asked for a Halloween themed birthday party, at the end of September, just because we love decorating so much.  These past few years we have been a little slack on the decorating though because a lot of our possessions reside 2600 miles away from us.  And as most of you home decorating enthusiasts know, going big, isn't always cheap.  We have been slowly building up our decorations again.

This year, as many of you have, I searched Pinterest to find exciting and good ideas for cheap ways to liven up our home this October season.  I found an seriously cheap, we are talking less than a dollar, idea for the front door.  Granted, I had all the supplies laying around my house in random spots, but this door idea was simple.  I was super excited to get the kids involved as well.  As it turned out only the youngest monster was truly excited to help get this project done.  And in his own way, Boots, made this door project his own.

Over at Honey & Fitz there is a super easy tutorial for creating a Mummy Door.  It's cute, cheap, easy, and all the things this mom loves!  When Boots decided to help me we went on a hunt for white streamers.  Unfortunately we did not have any in our house and he refused to make a trip to the store with me.  So in the wake of feeling like my cheap decorating idea was being blown out of the water, he suggests we use black streamers.  Of course to this I said "But Mummies aren't black" and his simple response was "But Monsters are".  The 9 year old wins.  He is true and correct in the sentiment that some monsters are black and in this statement he also saved the day.

We gathered our double sided sticky tape, lined the door, and then began stretching the steamers back and forth.  Boots was rather bothered that he couldn't reach the top, and thus instructed that it was my area to complete.  I would have liked having more streamers, we only had 2 rolls, I would suggest picking up maybe 4 for this project if you don't already have some.  But then I do tend to attempt at overachieving at the most random of things.  Boots believes that once we added the eyeballs, that he made from paper plates, and the mouth, that we cut and colored on a large poster board, it would all come together.  Man he was Right!  I think that our Monster front door is the perfect addition to our other random decorations.  But you can be the judge of that.

Sophia's Bakery

Sophia 1 Day Old

  I have one daughter.  5 children and only one beautiful little girl that is not so little any more.  I don't know if it is a blessing or a curse to her that she is the eldest, but I think it is just perfect!! Bright, innovative, smart, funny and driven my daughter is the sort that dreams are made of.  I know, I know, I should knock on wood and hope everything doesn't spiral out of control because I am praising her, but honestly I couldn't be more proud of her.  She is 15 and she has a dream to be a Baker.  Which warms my heart and excites me because I love food so much!!!

2 Months Old

   Sophia has always been full of fire and adventure.  When she was little, even now, she was always curious about food and willing to eat anything we put on her plate.  On one occasion she got a little feisty about not getting enough "bites" from her father's plate, took it upon herself to grab some and stuff it in her mouth before we could warn her that she was currently ingesting a roasted chili pepper!! Well as luck would have it, she chewed it up, had a little beaded sweat on her brow, and said yum!! I knew then that the food world would be good to her.  To this day she loves spicy food and doesn't shy away even when it seems a bit to much for others.
   Throughout her life I have attempted to bake and cook with my daughter (all of my kids really).  In some way I hope to instill the love of food that my mother set deep into my soul.  There is just something heartwarming and beautiful about creating something with your hands and your heart to share with other people.  Food always seems to be a winner.  Even though the actual edible treat doesn't last forever, the loving memory of it will always stick with you.  And when you only make certain things, like delicious Grandma's Snickerdoodles, at Christmas time, it makes the season seem that much more exciting knowing they are on their way.

2 Years Old

4 Years Old

  I guess a little something has stuck with Sophia.  Even if she doesn't think it comes from me, I like to think there's a little bit more of me inside of her than her scary identical looks.  At the beginning of High School, just 3 short years ago, she headed in full force with the intention of becoming an engineer like her father.  A profitable and noble job as any I suppose but in my opinion seems boring as hell!! Someone has to do it though.  Sophia has the brains and the sense to do such a job.  All Honors classes, all good grades, quickly on her way to a stellar graduation. And then she started baking.  I suppose it was helping her step mom keep up with dinners, or maybe just creating little snacks here and there for herself, but I like to think in a small way it was her inner desire to create something amazing that came from me.  But she has since changed her outlook on her future and decided that she would like to bake!!
I am crazy excited for this!! She has stepped forward in a direction I think that most kids her age are afraid to go.  She has created a Tumblr account, a Facebook account and a new Blog all to promote herself and her baking.  She self promotes through all of these venues and word seems to be spreading fast.  This last year in school she was creating tasty little treats for her schoolmates and selling them at reasonable prices, always selling out quickly!!! I think this really helped spurr her desire to do it on a larger scale.  This summer she even made a bunch of treats for a friends Bat mitzvah, employed by the mother, and she was a total hit!  I believe this really was a great boost to her confidence that she can in fact do anything she sets her mind to.

Letting her brothers help her Christmas 2012

  Like so many of us who love to bake, Sophia finds a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and she always executes and shows her treats off in a gorgeous manner.  At only 15, with fire and determination in her beautiful heart I truly believe that my little girl is growing up fast and headed forward in a direction that is only going to bring her joy in her life to come.  This really is a moment I can say the sky is not the limit, because I think she is well on her way past there already!!! Please check her out, support her efforts and watch this awesome girl make something amazing of her life.  Maybe one day you'll be eating in her bakery and remembering the 1st time you saw her embarrassing pictures all over a blog and smile to yourself.

Baked with Love

Fresh Fruit Crumble

In a recent attempt to make my family healthier, I have been purchasing more fresh fruit and trying inventive ways to get it into their bodies.  Apples and cuties are a staple in our diets, but I have been attempting to branch out.  A while back I purchased a large container of Blueberries from Raleys on a special $5 Monday deal.  My kids were NOT excited to eat those fresh blueberries as a tasty little snack as I had hoped.  One twin even commented that they were a "weird little fruit" and so I stuffed them into the freezer before they went bad and decided I would eventually find a use for them.
Like an internet supermom I searched the web over for various uses.  I am sure there are plenty of moms out there with the same problem.  Wanting our families to be healthy but happy at the same time can sometimes be a challenge in this fast food world.  Last time I checked Chicken Nuggets from the Golden arches didn't exactly rank up there in the health department as much as they're a kid friendly favorite.
Often times, when I am scouring the internet, I am kicked back to the wonderful site AllRecipes. I think a lot of people find little gems here, but I really hit the jackpot when looking for blueberry goodies.  Who doesn't LOVE the idea of anything that begins with the word Overnight???

  I am not really a breakfast eater (I know it is "the most important meal of the day"). I do not care for eggs, I don't eat syrup really, and I just find cooking in the morning to be an overwhelming task when I have so many other things to do in the day.  But when I found this recipe, Overnight Blueberry French Toast, my family did not let up until I agreed to make it.  It was an appealing idea to me because of the "overnight" but little did I know, it was more work than I thought.
I must admit that this recipe wasn't diffucult, as much as time consuming.  I read all of the reviews on the bottom, I suggest you do as well there's some great tips, and I surged forth in creating this meal.  Now as I stated before, this meal was an Overnight journey, meaning all the preparation is done the night before you are actually going to eat it (I find these kinds of recipes are best for Christmas when you have less time the day of) and the cooking is left up to your oven in the morning while you relax enjoying your Starbucks.

I simply cream cheesed my french bread, tossed in those fresh blueberries (even though they were still frozen), mixed up the eggs, got it all situated into a baking dish and threw it in the fridge.  When morning came, I popped that bad boy in the fridge, made the suggested fresh blueberry syrup while it baked and listened to my family buzz about the glorious smells that were coming from the kitchen.  Those "weird little fruits" weren't so strange anymore!!!
The finished product, well lets just say it turned out better than I could have ever imagined and I actually ate breakfast, and enjoyed it, eggs and all.

Cookie Monster

I imagine there are a lot of people out there in the world in similar situations as myself.   I have a large family, two hard working adults and 5 rambunctious children.  We do not have a lot of luxuries, and we attempt to live a simple life that affords us the little things we have.  As I have stated before (I think) we love food.  Baking, cooking and eating are things that we enjoy together as a family.  I know that over eating can lead to obesity, but I do not mean to say that we are out of control in our eating habits. Rather we cook dinner together and warm our home on blustery days with baked goods that warm the soul.  I must admit though, when November hits, our home becomes a baking frenzy.  I think a very large portion of our Christmas fund is poured into the kitchen.

Cookies, banana bread, brittle, pretty much any concotion that sounds delicious are things that come out of our cozy kitchen.  Because I bake so much at Christmas time, we generally give more than half of it away as gifts.  Everybody loves snickerdoodles, devil bites and chocolate espresso cookies!!! 

Rarely though, in the spring or summer, do I fire up the oven because it is so hot (we do not use AC) and we are more in the mood for ice cream and iced tea.  Today is a rare occasion.  The weather has decided that it is more like winter outside (even dumping snow in the mountains now in May) and I wanted a little something to warm our home.  Of course because it is 5 months after the winter, Christmas season, my baking supplies are diminished to some bakers chocolate, half a bag of chocolate chips, a cup of flour and a lonely little cup of brown sugar.  What on earth can you possibly make with any of that??

Like many other days, I take to the internet and search eggless, dairy free, and quick recipes.  And much like other wonderful moments of discovery I come across this wonderful blog Authentic Simplicity.  Anne Simpson  (also on Pinterest) gave me the key to quick, easy, scrumptious chocolate chip cookies that just happen to be vegan.

No eggs, no dairy and veagn.  I imagine this may not sound like the most enjoyable recipe for a lot of people, but I am telling you, in a pinch, in a time when you don't have money but you're craving something sweet, or your baking cabinet is depleated, these Chocolate Chip Cookies are going to rock your world. The most simple cookies I think I have ever made really.  I made a few adjustments (I am not vegan) but they still seemed to come out just as tasty as any TollHouse cookie I have ever baked (maybe it was the chocolates).  And I must interject, they came out fluffy, soft and moist, all things that I struggle with in other recipes.  I have been advised by my wise Aunts and Mother that it is due to the elevation but I don't buy it.  I don't think TollHouse was ever the way for me to go.  I was meant for something more exciting, more daring and maybe a little more healthy.

Raley's Top-It Pizza made with Love

Recently I signed up for the Raley's Try-It program on the Raley's website. The basic idea of the site is to gain information from regular people like us and help get the word out about new products they are offering.  Right now I don't think I could be happier. My first program that I opted into was for the Top-It Pizzas!!! Anyone that knows my family, knows we LOVE pizza more than most food.  Pizza is always a winner in our house.

Because we enjoy cooking in our house, we seldom purchase pre-made pizza.  We prefer to cook in our own home which makes the Top-It Pizzas an all time winner in our house!  Not only does Raley's offer a Large pizza for $10 (larger than a Pizza Hut large) with red sauce and an herb cheese mix, they offer two Medium pizzas for $8 each (this is the same size as a Pizza Hut large).  The two Medium pizzas offered come in two varieties.  One pizza is a classic thin crust with a herb cheese mix and garlic white sauce.  My favorite is the second Medium selection, it is a whole wheat thin crust with herb cheese mix and pesto sauce. YUMMY!!!

Each of the Top-It pizzas come with your selection of toppings.  That's right, free with each pizza you get to choose your toppings! I have tried them all and have found that classic staples like Pepperoni with cheddar cheese and the Deluxe Veggie mix are our favorites.  They offer others though too like a Fiesta Chicken and the ever popular Margarita topping. I think there are optons for everyone. 

These easy to bake, make it yourself pizzas are so awesome that my kids get excited about making their own food.  This of course makes mom happy that the entire meal consists of preheating the oven to 375*, putting it in the oven, taking it out after 12 minutes and then cutting it.  Perhaps a bit of cleanup after my monsters make their creations, but it is a lot easier than a full blown meal.   

I would highly reccomend everyone trying these tasty pizzas.  This past Monday Raley's even offered the 12" Top-It pizza for $5.  Anyone that doesn't love pizza for $5 is just plain crazy in my book.  Of course as a partipant of the Try-It  program I got a pizza FOR FREE!!!! One free pizza and one $5 pizza on Monday made it a better start to the week than the regular humdrum of any other week.

Our Little Family

Conventionally I wouldn't say we have a small family, in total there are 7 of us, but I think we are a happy one. Although two of our five children are rather picky in their eating habits, each of them enjoys cooking with mom. 

For each season I attempt to bring my monsters together and encourage them to join in the making of something fun. Of course Christmas calls for the most goodies, but we try to do something all the time. Chex Party mix and Snickerdoodles (from Grandma's recipe of course) are family staples. 

This past year we have tried a lot of new foods, desserts and crafts. My beautiful daughter even started her own little bakery for school. You can find her on Facebook at Sophia's Bakery I encourage you to check out the power of a driven teenager. She loves to bake. That makes my heart happy because I love it too. There's something powerful in creating delicious moments you can enjoy. My little Boots loves too cook as well.

He is a bit of a ham and really doesn't like to eat many foods, but he LOVES making food and sharing it. Even went to school dressed as a chef during reading week to show what he wanted to be when he grows up. ( I'm not sure at the age 7 this will stick, but one can hope).

I suppose the idea here was to introduce a bit about us and our cooking adventures that are yet to be logged.  I'm still trying to get a handle on what I am doing so I can properly convey our adventures. I will try my hardest to source and link everything I ever share (with better looking links I might add). I am a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due. And that being said, I love the power of the Internet. I know a lot of it is the same information, but of course the presentation differs. I love pretty things. (Oh Pinterest *swoon*) I love to share. I hope you find something exciting on my page eventually. Please feel free to comment or share. I love meeting new people and am always open to suggestions of new sites to see and things to try!!