Weekend Home!

This past weekend I flew home to attend a football game at my old high school where my little sis is following in my footsteps. :o) She is a Songleader (the dance team) which I did for 3 years while in high school. She had a half-time show so I was able to go and see her perform!

It was so fun to see the girls doing all the same cheers and sidelines from when I was there and to see a lot of the same teachers and families I grew up with! A total blast from the past.

 DP High! Go Big Blue!

 Anna on her cute little box.

 About to dance their hip-hop number for the halftime show.

 Us in our lettermans jackets. Oh and don't worry, afterwards my dad and I shared a huge burrito from Freebirds. Can't go to SB without some Freebirds in your belly.

 Breakfast with the fam at the Boathouse looking out onto the water. We had fun chatting with one of my BFF's Kate.

 Mom, Anna and I had fun shopping together at Old Navy and World Market after breakfast and then Anna and I decided to try our hand at some pie-making skills. I've told you before I stink at making pies. We tried the cute pies in a jar. (Anna put it together). And it turned out so cute!

And then we did a full berry pie with home made crust! It turned out great! It wasn't soupy or anything. I was very proud of us to say the least. I can now go to Austin for Thanksgiving with the confidence that Anna and I together can produce some good pies for the family.

We topped this puppy with some delicious Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream and had it two days in a row!

The best part about this pie? I used the frozen berry medley from Costco! Sooooo easy and super yummy.

Sadly I can't find the recipe I used! Found it on Pinterest and then didn't pin it! Grrrr. But I remember the recipe for the filling so I'll give you that and then just pair it with your favorite pie crust recipe.

Berry filling:
5 cups frozen or fresh berries (I would've actually liked more in our pie so I might add a few more.)
3/4 c sugar
4 T cornstarch
2 T lemon juice
1 t lemon zest

Mix it all up and let it sit for about 15 min before filling the pie. Soooo yummy.

I'm sad I didn't get pictures with my parentals but I had lots of fun spending time with them. I always love getting to go to my other home. :o)

Party at the Pendletons: Halloween 2012

Two years ago Jer and I threw a couples Halloween party at my parents' condo clubhouse and we thought it was so fun we decided to do it again!

Chelsey provided some awesome decorations including this brick wall everyone walked through to get to the party. Above are the winners for best couple costume.

 Picachu (sp?), Ash and Pokeball.

 Tree Huggers.

 Guts game. Guess Larry's body parts.

 Prizes and costume contest ballots.

 Up guy and his balloons.

 Tetris.

 Goblin Goop (made by Caleb).

Axl and Slash

 Me with the pirate baby.

Candy corn relay.

Balloon pop battle.

 Pirate family.

 "On Time"

Sisters.

 Progressive.

 Up.

 Doughnut eating contest.

Winner!!

We had so much fun and are so grateful for such awesome friends. Can't wait for next year!

Pre-Halloween Fun!

October has been a very fun and eventful month for us. We take our holidays very seriously and as such, celebrated Halloween to the fullest.

 On Sunday night, we went to a party at Chef's Table (Jer works there) where they were serving up brains. ;o)

 

Jer coming in a close second in the doughnut eating contest. (We were Slash and Axl rose from Guns n' Roses.)

 This past Monday night we had an FHE with the Evans' and the Chris and Alisons. We carved/painted pumpkins, ate chili and caramel apples and watched Hocus Pocus!

 My pumpkin.

 Chris and Alison's. (The Hulk)

 Jer's. (I somehow didn't get a shot of the Evans'!)

 Eating caramel apples with all the fixins! Caramel, chocolate, nuts, and heath bar.

 Cute Chels and Christian.

Jer's scary pumpkin lit up at night.

It's sad how quickly a holiday can be over but we are looking forward to two more fun holidays close ahead.

Stay tuned for a post on our fun Halloween party we had on Halloween night!

Mending.

Today we had an interesting day at church.

At 11:00 during singing time, someone came up and told us they had shut the water off in the building for a leak and that no bathrooms would be available, thus, everyone needed to go home.

I think most of us adults could have held it for another hour, it was the primary kids they were worried about. :o)

So, we went home early and I decided to read a book:

My mom left it for me the last time she visited so I decided to start it. I came across a great quote that I felt applied to the Sabbath day and the Gospel in my life.

"...there's an art to mending: if you're careful, the repair can actually add to the beauty of the thing, because it is testimony to its worth."

What a beautiful thought: we are worth mending. Not like an old sock with a hole in it that we throw away and replace. And what's more, the fixing of the trials and things that wear us down can make us more beautiful.

I haven't gotten far enough into the book to know if I would recommend it or not, but I love this quote and have a feeling I'm going to like the book.

Maybe we were a little excited to go home an hour early from church (so that leak can be mended), but Jer and I both mentioned we were grateful that we were able to attend Sacrament Meeting and work on some much-needed mending of our own, made possible through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Great Deals!

Just FYI:

KSL deals is giving 20% off any deal purchased today with the promo code 20extra at checkout.

Here is the link.

We got two awesome deals to Sub Zero and Los Hermanos!

ALSO

Living Social is giving $10 off any deal with the promo code get10 at checkout.

Here is the link.

Enjoy!!!

Supa Soups!

Today was a soup day. Actually, this week was a soup week.

But it was definitely called for because the weather took a sudden turn downwards (temperature-wise) and it just makes me want to light my candles, put on my Netflix and make some soup!

In addition to a surprise Zupas lunch with my hubby today, (lobster bisque is TDF.) this week we had a yummy new chili for dinner group provided by the Wildes, delicious taco soup compliments of my MIL, and thanks to the lovely occasion of a friends bridal shower I made a new acorn squash soup that turned out great!

And without further ado, here are a couple of the recipes.

Acorn Squash Soup

Click Here for the recipe. (I love the name of this blog "A Cozy Kitchen". So true. My kitchen might be my coziest place.)

And next is my MIL's Taco Soup creation. (I hope its OK that I'm posting this recipe, Di! We just loved it so much, we thought the world should know. :o))

I don't have a picture but here's the recipe:

2 lbs hamburger- browned
2 pkgs taco bell taco seasoning
3 14.5 oz. cans Mexican Fiesta Diced Tomatoes (Western Family)
2 15 oz. cans pinto beans (You can really use whatever beans you prefer)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans Stokes chili sauce (red or green)
Cilantro and lime juice to taste
2 tsp baking soda (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin
frozen corn (as much as you want)

Throw it all in and let 'er simmer!

Serve with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips.

Halloween Trick

If you know me, you know I don't live for the trick part of "Trick-Or-Treat" during Halloween.

This year, I decided I wanted to try it out knowing what a trickster of a husband I have.

I found this idea on Pinterest.

Yes, I food-colored the milk. I labored over which color I wanted it to be. This color I thought would be the most convincing that something was DEFINITELY weird. Guys, I had to put like 30 drops of food coloring to get the milk this color. And I only dyed 1/4 of a gallon!

I made a milk-based pasta sauce tonight (recipe to come, soooo yummy) and it was most definitely blue. Like, I don't know how you could miss it.

Jer didn't notice.

I asked him if he wanted me to pour him a glass of milk for dinner. Nope, he wanted water.

FINALLY I asked him if he could get me some water out of the fridge. (The Brita lives right next to the milk.)

J: "Honey, what happened to our milk?!"

C: "I don't know, what do you mean?"

J: "It's blue!"

C: "Well why don't you try it and see if it has gone bad."

J: "No I'm not trying it, it looks contaminated!"

So then I told him I food colored it. He thought it was pretty funny, but I think I need to step up my game next time. I still can't believe he ate blue pasta sauce without a question. :o)

And now for the recipe, yours won't be blue unless you dye your milk like I did. :o)

Tuscan Garlic Chicken








Here is the link to the recipe.

My Changes:
*I pounded my chicken first for a thinner piece of chicken (cooks faster and picks up more flavor.)
*I halved the recipe and it worked great.
*I added fresh mushrooms to the sauce. Yummy.
*We used whole wheat linguine.