Thanksgiving decor and food!

One day at work a guy asked me what I was in charge of for Thanksgiving, I proudly responded; "Decorating!". He laughed and laughed and laughed. He told me that Thanksgiving was about the food, Christmas and Halloween were for decorating but Thanksgiving was for the food. I explained that the food doesn't taste as good if the room doesn't look as pretty! So here is how I plan on decorating for Thanksgiving. I will take pictures when I have everything set up to show you how it turned out.

To start off my mom's house has these two huge walkway openings that are screaming for decorations.  I plan on making these coffee filter pom pom's to hang from there.

Show me cute

I have been currently working on these Paper Bag Flowers to hang on the wall in the dining room.

Pinterest

For the table I like to keep it simple, you do have to have lots of room for food. I typically do a butcher paper table cloth to keep clean up easy, this year I think I will go with white table cloth with Paper bag placemats, crayons and newspaper leaves.

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

You can see how I have decorated in the past and my tips for a stress free holiday here! 

The Silverware printables, I plan on putting crayons in not silverware.

Now this is the holiday of lots of food and Mondo and I are helping cook. We are in charge of the turkey, he wants to fry it, and cornbread stuffing. Mondo always makes sweet potatoes because nobody else will make them with marshmallows. We also started a new tradition a couple years ago of serving soup with dinner.  I think I want to make this butternut apple one from whole 30 recipes Instagram. My mom and I are planning making mini pies so you can not feel so guilty for trying all the pies. Our list is pumpkin (duh!), apples, pecan, lemon meringue and these cranberry cheesecakes! This is also to add all the food everyone else is bringing, my sister in law and Aunt plan on bringing dessert too! Every holiday or party I always like to make a mocktail, it is so much fun! This Thanksgiving I plan on making this one, cranberry punch. Although, this cranberry pineapple looks yummy too. 

Which one do you vote for?

I can't wait to see and taste all this yummy food. Wednesday while mom and I are baking pies I think I need to taste test each one, you know make sure the mini version tastes as good as the full size!! What do you plan on making for Thanksgiving? Any favorite recipes??

Don't forget to check back Dec. 1st for the 25 days of blogmas and a giveaway!

Dorinda

Fun Fall Activity for a Toddler

We went on a leaf hunt. Although, at the time there weren't many leaves on the ground, now there are a lot. Just waiting for the rain to clear up so we can make a big pile and jump in!! On our leaf hunt we collected leaves, Mackenzie loved this job! Once we collected them I scratched my head for what to do with them. Well, I brought them inside and washed them to save for another day!  I finally decided to make a leaf garland. It was super easy.

I took some plastic straws and cut them in about 1/2" sections.

I then taped those sections to the back of the leaves. I used scotch tape but, they have slowly started to fall down as they dried. So, I would recommend something stronger.

We then took kite string and laced them on. Lacing is a great activity for toddlers, perfect for hand- eye coordination. Mackenzie has some lacing cards and hasn't shown a lot of interest. Needless to say I ended up lacing.

Hang up and all done.

I love how it turned out, I plan on making another but, again I need to wait for the rain to go away.

Next fun fall activity for a rainy day. 

Super easy to make cloud dough. I have actually never used the baby oil we got at our baby shower for Mackenzie. I don't know what to use it for? Is that weird? So, I finally opened it and used it to make cloud dough. This is super easy just 4 cups flour and 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons baby oil. I used a whisk to stir mine and even though it was clumpy as we played with it, it smoothed out.

To make this a fall activity I found fall cookie cutters to play with.

During play time I put it in a cookie sheet on the table above a wood floor. Warning this is messy, clean up is a breeze though. If you don't have an easy to sweep floor it might be nice to do it on a shower curtain (get a cheap one at the dollar store) or I am sure it will vacuum easily. Just expect a mess!!

Both these activities Mackenzie loved and it was nice to do something fun with out a lot of work! Next month I am starting our at home preschool, I will share my ideas with that. November is the color Yellow and the shape is a square. Do you have any activity ideas to share?

Talk to you next time.

Dorinda

Whole 30 and me

To start off this will be a boring post without any pictures unless I give a weekend update. My uncle, his wife and 6 kids visited this weekend! It was so nice having them here!! They never come this way we always go to them, so a nice change of pace. Pretty much the only excitement we had was Saturday. My parents picked me up after work and we headed to Greenbluff (a mash of farms and pumpkin patches near here). We only had time for one farm that day. My uncle and his family went into a corn maze while Mackenzie and I played in the pumpkin patch. We also looked around a little with my mom, dad and aunt, and tried a pumpkin doughnut. Mondo and I plan on heading back in a couple of weeks for a family day there and to get some pumpkins!

Mackenzie loved LOVED the pumpkins! I knew she would, she always points them out. She especially loved the "yittle" pumpkins. It wasn't a large pumpkin patch just an area where they placed a bunch of pumpkins, so at one point I just sat down nearby and let Mackenzie run and climb all over. She was having fun, ran by me and I yelled; "Where are your shoes?". Luckily they were together nearby. She also sat down next to me in the midst of a bunch of pumpkins and said; "a punkin for kenzie and a punkin for baby sister." She has been doing that a lot lately, talking about baby sister and doing things for her. So, cute and sweet!

Mackenzie lined up all the "yittle punkins"

Ok, onto the title of the post whole 30. As you are reading this I am in the midst of Day 1 of my whole 30 diet. I decided to do this after my morning sickness with baby number 2 ceased and I was still eating like a pig, not healthy choices either. I had seen a blogger post on it and did some research. This fit all my needs it would help kick the sugar monster, I didn't need to count calories, and it would be safe for me and baby since I am just eating whole foods. I was going to start in September but, one of my friends strongly suggested I read the book first. So, I waited to check out the book at my library first before I started. That is how I came up with the Oct begin date. At, the dinner table I had been talking about what foods I could and couldn't eat, the testimonies in the book as well as online, and other stuff when my mom declared she thought the whole family should do it together. So, my mom, dad, grandma, husband, aunt and daughter are all participating in the Whole 30 together. I am super excited for doing this with Mackenzie, since the age of 1, she has had eczema on her knees and elbows. The Whole 30 has had success with ridding the eczema and finding the source of it, since it almost always deals with a food allergy. 

So, I am jumping in and am super excited, nervous, dreading, fearful, of the challenge of this diet. I will post updates every once in awhile as to my challenges and success along the way. After this month I plan on trying again in the first month of baby number 2 to see how it will effect my milk before returning to work. Most women report an increase in supply! This might be something I keep up at work to keep my milk supply up. I also plan on the challenge of this to reset my system and jump start me into making better food choices for myself and my family. I am not doing this to lose weight, that pretty much is impossible since I am growing a baby, but to create a healthy life style. 

Here is the website for Whole 30, you don't have to read the book to do it, but I highly recommend it. It helps explain why certain foods are being cut out, and how to healthy bring them back in while paying attention to what they do to your body. I also will post a few links to some recipe sights, I can't eat the same foods for 30 days in a row (blech), I am excited to try some of these.

Whole 30

Nom Nom Paleo

Stupid Easy Paleo

If you are on instagram look up #whole30 for a lot more recipes and resources. 

Five Fast Favorite Fall Foods

I love fall time! Yet, it always seems so busy or to create in me a strong desire to be lazy. So simple and easy foods become my friends. Here are 5 simple and easy meals to have this festive, fun time.

1. Chips, Chili, and Cheese

The world's easiest meals and one of my favorites my mom would "make". The ingredients/recipe are found in the title. Heat up some chili, lay a bed of Frito chips, cover in chili and top with cheese. Dinner is served, this meal is great during football games where you don't want to miss a single play. Or the days spent too long at that oh so fun pumpkin patch.

2. Pizza grilled cheese

I found this on Pinterest and it quickly became one of my favorites. 2 slices of buttered bread, place mozzarella cheese on, some pepperoni, Parmesan  and sprinkle Italian seasonings. Grill! While grilling heat up some marinara sauce in the micro. Once complete dip your grilled cheese into your marinara and yum-o!!

3. French Bread Pizza

Anytime my mom required of me to make dinner this was my pick. Fry 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, until done. Cut one loaf of french bread up the center creating 2 halves. Each half spread marinara sauce, Add chicken on top and some garlic cloves. Then cover in shredded cheese. Place in oven until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. A great alternative to pizza!

Okay, so the next two are not so much on the fastish side. They are crock pot meals but, still super easy and putting the ingredients together is fast!

4. Pork chops and rice

Another one of my favorites from my mom. In your crock pot put in your rice and required amount of water. Also add 1 can of cream of something soup, my personal favorite is cream of mushroom, give a little stir. Place pork chops on top, then sprinkle one package onion soup mix. Set crock pot on low for 6 - 8 hours. Then proceed to devour.

5. Tortilla Soup

Another Pinterest recipe found to be super yummy and super easy. We always have the ingredients in the cupboard for a quick meal. One can of each, diced tomatoes, corn, black beans. One package of each ranch mix, taco seasonings, 1 lb ground beef (pre-cooked), 6 cups of water. Stir all in crock pot and let cook low 6-8 hour. When done serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Hope these recipes help you out. You can follow me for more food ideas here. I have a potato soup recipe pinned that I cannot wait to try.

food lover,

Dorinda

P.s. these pictures are not mine, I found them on Pinterest