Thanksgiving Appetizers

Even though Im on a DIET....(oh the bad "D" word!!!! I wanted to share 2 of my favorite apps!!!!

First up Creamy Artichoke Dip
In a food processor add the following:
8 oz of room temp cream cheese
1 cup of artichoke hearts ( packed in water NOT oil and seasonings)
1/3 cup parm cheese
1 tbsp parsley
2 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp of each salt and pepper
1 clove of garlic

Whirl in the food processor and serve with crustini, crackers or crudites....it even can be a sauce for chicken or fish!


Cranberry topped Brie

First recipe for Homemade Cranberry Sauce:

1lb of fresh cranberries
1 orange
1 1/2 cup of sugar

REMOVE all the zest of the orange use a citrus zester and then chop the zest to a fine mixture

Juice the whole orange

In a glass/microwave safe dish add all the ingredients, microwave on high for 4-5 minutes stir and microwave again 4-5 minutes. Let stand and it will thicken as it cools! Set aside

On to the Brie part of this recipe; Preheat oven to 500 degrees

Cut a circle in the top of the white rind of the brie to about 1/4 of the outside edge. Remove the rind and top of the cheese. Place the cheese round in a glass pyrex pie dish, spread the cranberry mixture on the top of the brie. Bake at 500 for 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is heated thru not melted. Bring out your favorite crackers, crustini or french bread and ENJOY!

I hope you all have a GREAT Holiday with your families and create new traditions, keep the old ones and have a wonderful day! BLESSINGS

Time to Pause & Reflect: Thanksgiving!

As we enter the Season of busyness.....it should be a time to pause and reflect and BE THANKFUL for the things in our lives! I very much dislike way busy our lives have become and it is sooooooo important to STOP and reflect on what we are Thankful for! I encourage you to reflect daily on things you are thankful for and you will see how wonderful it is to remember these memories!

One thing I love is pulling out decorations for the Holidays and remember who gave them to us or where we bought them! And I love looking in magazines and getting ideas how to display them or get ideas for the kids to make things.......and I have already expressed my LOVE of Pinterest and I got some Thanksgiving ideas to inspire us......Make some things with the kids and reflect on the being "Thankful"! Today me and the kids are going to make a Bunting Banner for the Mantel and decorate for Thanksgiving!!!!

Our Pastor last week gave us a new word: SELAH; to pause and reflect.....I LOVE this! I encourage you to PAUSE and REFLECT as we enter into the Seasons of Celebrating!!!!!!

Fall/Thanksgiving Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

I got this recipe off www.allrecipes.com and I have used this for alot of our Thanksgiving Dinners. And I wanted to share with you as well! With so many foods being so heavy and filling during this time of the year, I wanted to share some lighter, healthy versions to be on your table this year! Especially since my hubby and I are on a MAJOR DIET during the Holidays this year......we need to mix things up for the Holidays.....in the cooking dept!!!

Green Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette:

Ingredients

1 cup sliced almonds
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons water

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
1 pound mixed salad greens

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Arrange almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 5 minutes, or until nuts begin to brown.
In a blender or food processor, combine the vinegar, oil, cranberries, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, and water. Process until smooth.
In a large bowl, toss the almonds, onion, blue cheese, and greens with the vinegar mixture until evenly coated.

Servings Per Recipe: 8

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 218

Total Fat: 19.2g
Cholesterol: 11mg
Sodium: 405mg
Total Carbs: 6.2g
Dietary Fiber: 2.7g
Protein: 6.5g

Life on our little pad!

I wanted to share some things going on around the house. First off David's Kindergarten class has been learning about seeds and growing veggies from seeds! And one of the things they learned how to do was grow carrots from cut carrot tops so we did that this morning. (see pix below) I started a my CRAZY HcG diet again with Kevin and I have lost 12 pds already! YIPPPPPEEEEE for me! Put an organic chicken in the stock pot and making some stock for soups and things.

I wanted to share my muffin recipe again since its comfort food time, and this is a base recipe, you add whatever veggie or fruit to it for your taste!

3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 tsp of cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
3 cups of whole flour

things I add to mine: 2 cups of shredded zucchini, 3 mashed bananas, 2 cups of pumpkin puree.....possibilities are endless!!!!!

Makes 24 muffins Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes or 1 hour for bread ( see pix below)

Also I had to add alittle humor from Splash and Olivia.....both my crazy chickens are nesting in my lavender pot.......My little girls provide me with alot of entertainment!!!!

Also I took a soldering class last night from my girlfriend Kimberly Snowden and I had so much fun....and learned alot! Im making these for Christmas presents.....For a handmade Christmas!

OMG I love Pinterest........

My mind is FLOODED with ideas from every angle of life......whoever created Pinterest is a GENIUS! Instead of searching all over the freaking web....we have one spot to gather inspiration for everything and everyone in our lives! Here is alittle inspiration I found today! ENJOY

Alittle Inspiration for Fall

I love when I come across something that I REALLY like and I wanted to share. Junk Chicks( https://www.facebook.com/pages/Junk-Chicks/180823118648724 on Facebook this evening posted some INSPIRATION for us, and I wanted to pass it along because I LOVE this idea and I will be doing this for our Thanksgiving Table! ENJOY!

What a WAY to end the Season!!!!!

A Vintage Gathering Flea Market was a GREAT SHOW!!!!! Holly Myers from Gathering Better Junque and her business partner Dolores did an awesome job for their first show!!!!! I sold all of my furniture and went out in style!!!! Made new friends which is what I LOVE most about doing shows.....saw old friends and made lots of business contacts!

Here are a few pictures of the Show; the Show was held at Redwood Spring Gardens in Willows, CA.

A Vintage Country Gathering Sat Oct 22nd 8-4pm

Hello everyone, want to take a minute and tell you about where you can come see us next. This Saturday October 22nd we will be joining several of our favorite vendors at a new show! Gathering, presents Vintage Country Flea Market. Show is from 8am ~ 4pm at 1769 County Road FF Willows CA 95988 Hosted by Richard & Janet Simmons. From 8 - 12 there is an early buying admission charge of $5, from 12 -4 free admission. The Gathering girls have picked the creme de la creme of vendors and this will be a GREAT SHOW! It will be a great family outing, there will be a pumpkin patch and Good Morning Bakery & Deli will be on hand for your dining pleasure! This will be the last Show of the Season for alot of us.....so be sure to come on down to Willows!

Roses and Rust Oct 2011

This Show had alot of stress behind it but in the end it turned out to be a magical day and it was beautiful. I got to meet lots of new friends, see old ones and even connect with a high school friend that came to visit me from SAC!!!! Between that and meeting Jacque and James Ferreira from Old Soul Studios in person my heart was HAPPY! Here is some PIX from the day! ENJOY!