Happy Halloweenie

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You can make your own custom pumpkin at www.pyzam.com. Go ahead.....you know you want to!

It's a dreary day here for the trick-or-treaters, so pray that the rain holds off until after my kids get their sugary goodies. I won't like taking a baby in the rain door to door just for those nasty orange wrapped peanut butter candies!

This is the very first year that my oldest doesn't want to trick-or-treating as a family. Waaaa! She would rather hang out with friends or just stay home. Darn it...why do they have to turn into teenagers?! Atleast our 9, 10 and 11 year olds are excited. Plus, next year I have a new little person to start the tradition all over again with!


Edit: Hey...head on over to Mormon Mommy Wars (see blogroll for link). They have an awesome pumpkin carved like Gordon B. Hinckley!!!

Try it Tuesday

Fiber One Bars



Being back on WW has made me want to try several new things. Fiber One Bars being one of them. I tasted the Chocolate & Oats bar (they also make a Peanut Butter & Oats). My review? Eh...I've had better. That's what I first thought anyway. But then I had an idea. Things usually tasted sooo much better to me when they are heated up (i.e. Vitatops), so I popped the Fiber One bar in the microwave and heated it. Wow! Big difference! It tasted more like a hot fresh chocolate chip oatmeal cookie! I gobbled it up. For 2 WW points, it was worth it.

So then I went to my exercise class after eating the thing. Oops. There was my mistake.....leaving the house.





They don't call it a Fiber bar for nuttin' ya know. I was able to hold it all in until I got back to my car. From then on out, it was a rootin' tootin' heck of a day.

The Fiber One bar has a whopping 9 grams of fiber. I love that fact, but on the flip side...I hate it! Of course I will still buy these and eat them fresh outta the microwave, but there will be a price to pay. Don't worry....I won't make you pay the price. I'll stay home that day. Unless you eat one too..then we can start a band with our backdoor trumpets!

Funky Fun

My 10 & 11 year old girls gave Ava a bath and decided to have fun with her hair. People are always commenting on how much hair she has and how dark it is. The girls thought giving her this 'do would funki-fy her!

Darn it!

Anyone else having trouble uploading photos to their posts??

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

It's recipe time!
This recipe couldn't be any easier. They call them muffins, but I tend to think they are more like a cupcake. They are great for fall or any 'ol time!



Pumpkin Cake Mix Muffins

1 box of cake mix, spice flavor
15 oz. can of pumpkin (100% pure, not pie mix)
1/2 cup water

Bake at 350 for 20 min.

If you would like to count Weight Watcher points: Bake 24 muffins at 2 pts. each.




This is a photo of another version using chocolate cake mix instead of spice. It's really more for those who would rather not taste the pumpkin (ie...Leanne!)These will in no way taste like pumpkin. Just substitute the spice cake mix for a chocolate one. Weight Watcher points are the same.



You can also make the same recipe using only 1 can of diet sprite or any other flavor pop in place of the pumpkin. The 1/2 c. water will NOT be needed. You can then play around with different cake mix flavors and pop flavors. Leanne likes Rootbeer with chocolate cake mix, but I bet orange pop with white cake mix would be a treat too. Mmm.

Try it Tuesday

Betty Crocker Warm Delights Mini's



I bet some of you have tried these little goodies already. I had always wanted to splurge on the regular sized versions of these desserts, but never could bring myself to do it since they are about 370 calories and 12 grams of fat (8 WW pts..ouch). Needless to say, I was excited when Betty came out with these smaller versions! At only 150 calories each (a more manageable 3 WW pts), I could afford to eat one finally. I tried the Molten chocolate cake. It was pretty good. I wouldn't eat it all the time, but I'd say it was worth trying. I'm a sucker for warm desserts, so the mini was a nice treat. They are easy to make too. The mix comes in a small bowl. Just add a bit of water, stir and heat for about 30 seconds in the microwave. As a bonus, I tossed the bowl in the dishwasher and now I will recycle it as a baby feeding dish! Perfectly sized to feed Ava her cereal.

Warm Delight Mini's come in these flavors:
Molten Chocolate Cake
Molten Caramel Cake
Chocolate Raspberry Decadence.

The full sized versions come in a bigger array of flavors such as....Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie, Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cookie and Cinnamon Swirl Cake. I hope they decide to make a mini in Chocolate chip soon!



Seen in an Ad:
Famous Dave's BEEF JERKY
Can buy them from the Famous Dave's website. The Apricot Bourbon Beef Jerky sounds yummy to me. Being a bunch of jerkies ourselves, my family loves the stuff. We'll have to try this some day. I wish oh wish that Famous Dave's hadn't high-tailed it outta our town! I miss you sweet corn muffins!

Walking away the Pounds!

Don't laugh at my poor attempt to make a witty cartoon type post! I stink at doing the above type thing. One of these days I will become a little more savvy at it.

Anyway, my friend Leslie and I started a walking program today. "Walk away the Pounds" is designed to help us fatty people shed some weight with a low-impact walking routine. Um..did I say low impact?! It was hard! I suppose we could've started out doing a mile and work our way up. Instead we jumped right in and walked 2-1/2 miles. But it's not just walking! 2-1/2 miles would be a breeze if it were just walking. Instead we were lifting our flabby arms (ok, I speak only for myself) and did lots of leg lift type walking. It was tiring, but so worth it. I hope to shed weight a little faster with this program along with my Weight Watchers plan.

If you want to join us, we will be meeting every M-W-F in the LDS cultural hall @ 10am.

Caramel Appley Day

It's fall and fall wouldn't be complete without making caramel apples would it?

Ok, I don't make them every year with my kids....but I did this year!






After a trip to the grocery store, we got started on our caramel apple making. Nope, no homemade caramel here. I'm not Martha Stewart. I have 5 kids for heaven sakes. Ok, one of these times I will do it homemade. But since I remember doing this activity with my own mother and sisters, I decided to keep the same tradition and use the round caramel pieces packaged on wax paper. As a bonus, we also bought some in a tub that just needs to be microwaved.


Not much work here....just place the circle of caramel over the apple and push the stick in. Next, microwave them for about 40 seconds.








I love how you can see Brycen's reflection in the granite!


Next we decided to add some pizazz to our apples. We didn't have any nuts or the "normal" things placed onto caramel apples, so we just decided to use red and blue sprinkles that were left over from sugar cookie decorating. That wasn't good enough for the 3 kiddos, so we crushed some Whoppers (malted milk balls). The kids had messy fun with this!





All done and ready to eat!





Trouble is.....after all was said and done, only ONE of my kiddos actually wanted to eat them!



Macie.



Both Brycen & Molly said they didn't like caramel. Go figure.

By the way, Jillian did complain that she missed the fun. But per her request, I'm stating the fact that she couldn't join since she was being, in her exact words, "righteous" by going to the Stake Youth Activity instead. :)

Bacon Exotic Candy Bar

Would you like a little chocolate with your BACON?!

I just can't get over this one. I stumbled upon this by accident this morning. The company, Vosges Chocolate, makes a bacon flavored chocolate. What?! They label it, "exotic". Ok, I believe them...but it's more on the weird side than exotic in my opinion.

The description is this: Deep milk chocolate coats your mouth and leads to the crunch of smoked bacon pieces. Surprise your mouth with the smoked salt and sweet milk chocolate combination

The title to this post is a clickable link to the company website and a description from the inventor as to why she decided to make chocolate with bacon pieces. Her long time dream?!
They charge $7.00 plus shipping for 3 oz. of the crunchy, bacon-ey weirdness. In case you're wondering...um,no...it won't be seen on any Try it Tuesdays in the future. Although.....It might make a good White Elephant gift for my family Christmas party!

Try it Tuesday

Brach's Caramel Apple Candy Corn!



Oh, yeahhhh....it DOES taste like a caramel apple in my opinion. YUM. It has become a trigger food for me just by trying it this once. So I won't be buying it again unless someone talks me into it. I'm staying away from the candy aisles until after Halloween. Brach's also makes a plain caramel candy corn, cinnamon candy corn as well as other weird ones.

It's odd how National Candy Corn day is October 30th. I guess cc isn't special enough to share the Halloween holiday on the 31st?? Or does it mean we get to stuff our faces full of sugary cc and then the very next day steal our kids halloween loot in search of another sugar rush?! Hey, 2 days in a row of candy isn't something to complain about. Just kidding. I'm watching my calories with Weight Watchers, but enjoy being "normal" every so often by allowing points for the good stuff. Lewis Black says, "Candy Corn is the only candy in the history of America that's never been advertised. And there's a reason. All of the candy corn that was ever made was made in 1911."
Hmmm.....I guess some people hate cc, but I ain't one of 'em!

Did you know?
Candy corn was invented in 1883

Speaking of inventing candy corn:



Thanks to www.candyaddict.com for the cc picture

Chinese Toy Recall

My friend sent me this in an e-mail (thanks Pam). I couldn't resist posting it.

Try it Tuesday

Garden Harvest Toasted Chips



These are from Nabisco. They boast that there is a 1/2 serving of fruit or vegetable in each ounce of chips. Hmm. They come in these flavors:
Vegetable Medley
Tomato Basil
Banana
Apple Cinnamon

So far I've tried the banana and Tomato Basil. Well, I guess I can't say that I dislike either of them....but the banana was a tad strange for my tastebuds. They really do taste like banana, but with a bit of fake flavoring included in the first taste. I probably won't buy them very often, but they weren't too bad. The Tomato Basil were good. I vote people eat these when they can't get their hands on spaghetti. They have a very pasta-ish taste. Would be good with soup. One ounce is quite a bit for only 2 WW points in my opinion. I can't wait to try the Veggie one. If you would like a coupon for $1 off, go to the Nabisco site http://www.nabisco.com/gardenharvest/

Beautiful poignant quote

For MS
To see this image up close, double click it

General Conference: Sister Beck's talk

Ok...I'm interested in hearing what everyone thinks of this lady's outlook on Sister Beck's talk in General Conference yesterday. Personally, I did feel a little inadequate when listening, but I knew it was not meant to make us feel bad about ourselves. Check out the blog post from mormon mommy wars and then let me know what you think.

http://www.mormonmommywars.com/?p=869

Photo blurp

I wanted to add this photo of my nephew Chad and his new wife Rochelle to the left side of my page, but it didn't want to insert correctly. Sooooo....I thought I'd just make a post out of it. They were married this past June. I hope they are enjoying their new life together. Love the photography. Black and white is classy.

Just for fun today

Remember playing with those little magnetic letters on the fridge when you were a kid? It was fun wasn't it?! Leave me a message on my fridge! Don't forget to click the 'save' button when you're done. Have fun!



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Love & Logic worked!

I wish I had a photo of my teenage daughter's face when I pulled a Love & Logic trick on her last night! Ok, so it wasn't a trick. It was more of a "learning experience" for her. Heh heh. She wasn't quickly going to put her things away where they belong, so I pulled the "if I have to do it for you, you have to pay me for my time" trick. I have other things to do you see. If I have to take time out just to clean up that mess, then she has to pay me for my precious time. I don't give her an allowance (trust me, they do have chores though) , so she would have to pay me by doing chores that she normally wouldn't have to do. Such as cleaning out the car, pulling weeds or washing walls. At first I felt some resistance from her...like she really didn't believe that I would actually make her pay!... but then she caught on that I MEANT it. Har har. She quickly did her task rolling her eyes of course. But I don't care about the eye rolling...the task got done and I bet she will think twice before she leaves her junk laying around.

Next trick....my 2 pre-teens were fighting about how dim their night light should be while they sleep at night. Well........this is so sad. Bummer. I'm really tired and if I have to do the compromising for them, then they will have to pay me for my time. They didn't care, so I settled it by putting the lamp as dim as I wanted it to be. Now, of course they had to go to bed just then, so they will be paying me when they get home from school tonight. They will be pulling a few weeds and then picking up trash in our minivan. I'm sure there will be resistance. I won't be saying, " I told you this was going to happen" or anything like that. I'll just be empathising with them. So sad. Bummer. I love you too much to argue.

No, not all discipline revolves around paying Mom, but last night, those 2 tricks fit the purpose. Kids need to realize that they are responsible for their own choices and have the power to help themselves in many cases.

Did I mention that my kids HATE Love & Logic now? Boy, Tuesday nights are so fun!

Try it Tuesday

Welcome back!

Today's product is food again!

FYI.... I'm guessing that most Try it Tuesdays will be food I bet. Figures.

I can't remember where I heard about 3 Musketeers Mint bars, but I'm glad that I did. I've always had a love affair with anything mint and chocolate. Being on Weight Watchers really limits the goodies that I can eat. This is one candy bar that I can have once in awhile and not feel too guilty. It's smaller than a normal 3 Musketeers which might make some people groan. But it's the perfect size for ME! It has the same consistency as a regular 3 Musketeers but it's white mint covered in dark chocolate. I wish it were milk chocolate, but if it were, I probably wouldn't want it since it would be higher in calories and fat. There are 2 pieces inside this bar instead of one big candy bar. These things taste great frozen. Mmm. If you are counting flex points on WW, the whole thing is 3 pts. Not too shabby! Oh..and a York Peppermit Patty is also 3 pts, but I feel it tastes a bit bitter compared to a 3 Musketeers Mint.

By the way, my dh loves me so much that he brought home 4 of these suckers for me the other night! Awwww.

Here are the nutritionals:

SERVING SIZE
2 pieces

CALORIES
150

TOTAL FAT
5-grams

DIETARY FIBER
1-grams

3 Musketeers Mint also comes in Mini's.

I want that!

Every so often I receive a catalog named, "Solutions- products that make life easier". I never actually order from it (one of these days I will be able to justify spending dh's hard earned cash), but I have a wish list that is getting longer by the minute. Here are a few things that caught my eye in the most recent catalog:

Who loves the corner and side brownies?! ME! Spend $39.95 (ouch..see? just not justifiable), on this Edge Baking Pan, and you get 'deliciously chewy edges on every piece' . It includes a mini spatula for serving. Gee...that makes the high price worth it. It's a frivolous item, but I still want this pan! Maybe some day LTD Commodities will come out with one that is similar for less than $10.

Now this is something to splurge on. It's pretty AND functional. It's a Candle Warmer Lamp for $29.95. You can, 'Enjoy your scented candles without smoke or fire danger'. Just place your jar candle on the warmer and the bulb melts it from the top. The frosted shade reflects the candle color. The description says it can extend the life of your jar candle. It's metal with a black finish. I like it! Especially since I love to light my fall candles this time of year. I can smell the pumpkin scented Yankee Candle right now. Mmm.

And last, but certainly not least...the Non-stick Oven Liner. I've always wanted one of these. Just place the reusable non-stick mat on the bottom of your oven to catch spills. Unlike foil, the durable mat won't slow cooking or reduce browning. Seems like it would be easy to clean and useful! It can also be cut to size. They sell a toaster oven size too. For $24.95, I'll again wait until I see it somewhere else a bit cheaper. I hate cleaning my oven so it stays on my wish list.

So..... that's just a few things from this catalog that I like. ....along with a gazillion other things! They also have a website if you are interested http://www.solutions.com/

Happy shopping!