Apples! Apples! Apples!

Last week we enjoyed the Fall weather and headed out to my in-laws acreage to go apple picking! It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time picking TONS of apples with Damian's parents! 

Damian got really into the apple picking! Ha!

We managed to pick 2 BIG boxes of apples! And they are VERY delicious!!

Damian and his parents! 

 Apple picking was a great time! But then I realized, hmmm....now I actually need to DO something with all of these apples! I plan on peeling and freezing quite a few, but I wanted to whip something up with some of the apples right away. 

Now most of the time I make things from 'scratch', but sometimes its nice to just make something that is quick, easy, and with just a few ingredients! So I decided to create some 'Apple Spice' cupcakes! And I was VERY pleased at how they turned out!! 

Apple Spice Cupcakes

What you need:

1 'Spice' boxed cake mix

3 eggs

1 1/3 cups water

1/3 cup oil

2 packages dry vanilla pudding

2 cups chopped apples

Preheat oven to 350'

Prepare cake mix according to the box directions.

Chop apples and add into cake mixture.

Add dry pudding mix.

Combine well! 

Scoop into muffin tins and bake for 20-23 minutes.

Let muffins cools.

ENJOY!

**While reading one of my baking cookbooks I discovered that adding dry pudding mixes is a great way to make cupcakes moist and fluffy! And I was very impressed with the result in these cupcakes! Try it!! 

I decided that I wanted to 'ice' these cupcakes so again I took the 'easy' route and used store bought cream cheese icing! Sometimes easy is just better!! However I wanted to add a little something to the icing so I added 1 tbsp cinnamon to the container of icing.

Cinnamon Icing 

Combine 1 tbsp ground cinnamon with one container cream cheese icing.

Mix well! 

Ice the cupcakes and VOILA! 

An EASY and YUMMY fall apple inspired treat! 

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Today is the first official day of Fall! 

The days are getting noticeably shorter and the weather is getting cool. I LOVE the Summer and all that goes with it, but I also LOVE Fall!! Maybe its because I am a Fall baby...I come by it honestly! As you all know I also LOVE to decorate my house, and each season I try to add a few new touches. This past week I spent some time doing my 'Fall decorating'! 

This is how our house looks all dressed up for Fall...

Our front entrance way...

The mantle...

 Our kitchen table...

By the kitchen sink...

Fall towels!

In the main floor living room...

On the coffee table...

On the bookshelf...

The other end of the book shelf...

Main floor bathroom...

On our front door...

I actually made this wreath and it was VERY easy to do! I bought a cheap foam ring from Michaels, some twine, and some felt! And about an hour later I had my wreath!

And it would not be FALL without a few treats!!

ORANGE OREO's!!

And my first Pumpkin Spice Steamer of the season!! 

(I don't drink coffee so NO pumpkin spice lattes for moi!!)

HAPPY FALL!!!

28!!

Today I turn 28 years old!! Yikes that's hard to believe!! I definitely feel like I'm getting older, although according to the clerk at the dollar store I look like I'm in grade 12!! Ha! Ummm,thank you?!

So I've kinda set the tradition on this little blog of mine, to do a special blog post on whomever is celebrating their birthday. And since today it's ME, I thought I would do something a little bit different!

 So here it goes...

28 random things about ME on my 28th birthday! 

(Some things you may already know and some things might surprise you!)

1. I have BIG feet! Like size 10 kinda big! It makes it extremely hard to find nice looking shoes most of the time because they never have my size!!

2. I went to my very first football game when I was 2 weeks old! Guess that's what happens when your Dad is the head coach and your born in the middle of football season!

3. I moved 1 time from the age of 0-22. I moved 6 times from the age of 22-26! Ha!! Don't worry...I don;t plan on moving again for at least 10 years!! 

4. I LOVE peanut butter!! I currently have 4 varieties in my pantry! Regular, Whipped, Cinnamon Raisin, and Banana granola! And I wish they would sell peanut butter Cheerios in Canada!!!

5. I am ALWAYS cold! No matter the temperature outside I am freezing and have the heat blasting in my vehicle! My friends just lllllove this!! Ha! And because of my coldness, I am a big time SCARF lover!! I have collected so many scarves over the years that I need 2 hanger to hold them all!

I LOVE me some scarves!!

6. When I was 18 I spent a whole month in England visiting my friend Nicola! It was an amazing trip and I pretty much got to see the whole country!! And I seriously can't believe that it's been 10 years since we have seen each other!! 

7. I danced competitively for 17 years! I did ballet,pointe,jazz,tap, lyrical, modern, hip hop and musical theatre. Tap was always my favourite tho!! 

8. My favourite color is RED and has been for as long as I can remember!

9. I met my husband at a wedding! He was the best man and I was the Maid of Honor! And the rest is history...

10. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was about 5 years old. Apparently even my first grade teacher saw the bossy girl teacher in me! This was my last grade one report card...

11. I love TOMS. I have 6 pairs and I wish I could wear them to school everyday! This is currently my favourite pair!

12. I did a year in the Dance Program at Grant MacEwan before I entered the Faculty of Education. And I HATED it!!! Dance was always my passion but I NEVER wanted to make it my career!!

13. I have loved to cook since a very young age! I still have my very first cookbook that my Mom and Dad gave me for my birthday one year. The pages are falling out and its been spilt on many times! But I will never get rid of it!

14. I am a candle person!! I have a candle burning in our house all.of.the.time!! And of course they always match the season! I think I am helping Bath and Body works stay in business! Ha!

My candle stash!

15. Speaking of Bath and Body works...I also may have a slight obsession with their soap as well....ha ha....this is my soap stash....my husband says I have a problem...lol

16. I have never smoked anything in my entire life! Not even a cigarette! And neither has my 60 year old father!! I have always been impressed by that considering he was a professional athlete!

17.  I was a camp councillor for 3 summers while I was in university. It always shocks people that at one time I was a VERY 'outdoorsy' person!

18. I have had the same core group of friends since I was in grade 7!! And my longest friendships have been with the twins!! They were probably my first 'real' friends in grade one! That's 22 years and counting ladies...

19. I eat soup almost everyday for lunch. I make big batches of soup and freeze it! And if I'm not eating soup, I'm probably eating a salad or a wrap!

20. I HATE to read. Ha...good teacher, right?! Let me rephrase that....I LOVE books! Children's books, that is! I do not enjoy reading for entertainment. I am fairly sure 5 years of university ruined that for me! However I have a passion for children's books and have collected A TON in my 6 years of teaching! This is my office at home...

21. I played hockey for 1 year. I took a year off from dancing because the politics got to be a little insane and decided I wanted to try it out! I LOVED it!! But I also missed dance ALOT, so I returned the year after!

22. I am not a breakfast person! I love breakfast food, but I would MUCH rather eat it leisurely at 10:00am, rather than in a rush at 6:00am! Breakfast for dinner days are my favourite!!

23. In high school I loved the show Trading Spaces! I would watch it every weekend!! I have always been big into decorating and diy projects! Its been awesome having a big house to decorate and redecorate over the last few years! I love posting my little home projects on my blog!

24. I have the best and most crazy family in the whole wide world!! I love these 6 people to the moon and back!!!!

25. When I was 18 years old I went sky diving with some of my 'camp councellor' friends. It was one of the coolest things I have done in my life for sure! My poor parents were completely mortified that I was going to jump out of an air plane, so they came to watch...just in case...Ha!

26. I do not eat leftovers. I think they are totally gross!! Food sitting in its own 'grime' for a week makes me ill.  I cook a new meal for dinner every night, and any leftovers that we have my husband takes for lunch the next day! I do have ONE exception tho....I WILL eat cold pizza leftovers the next day! Ha! YUM!

27. My 'dream job' would be an Educational Advisor/Consultant for student athletes! Or owning my own private preschool! Guess we shall see what the future holds...

28. I started this blog 8 months ago and have REALLY enjoyed the experience so far!! And what shocks me is that people actually read it!! I have over 7000 page views! If you are reading this right now I would like to THANK YOU!! You are contributing to my little blog journey and I am forever grateful!!

WOW! If you made it through all of that WAY TO GO! HA! 

Apparently I am a fairly random person!! 

Happy Birthday to ME!

Thank you to everyone for making this past year an amazing one!! 

This next year is going to be just as exciting!!

 Bring on 28!!

Back to School= Crock Pot works overtime!!

I LOVE my crockpot!! I have had the same crock pot since I moved out of my parents house years ago, and  every September my crock pot becomes my 'go to' kitchen gadget! September is always a CRAZY busy month with back to school and settling back into routines. Which also means dinner needs to be fast and simple or else we end up eating Subway! Ha!

 So today I am going to share a few of my favorite crock pot recipes that have been making an appereance on our dinner table lately! These are all simple 'weekday' crock pot meals...which means they have only a few ingredients and require minimal effort to put together!

I hope you enjoy them as much as we have! 

Ranch Chicken Tacos

What you need:

4-6 boneless chicken breasts

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 packages ranch seasoning mix

1 package taco seasoning 

*Taco Shells

*Taco toppings: cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc 

Place the chicken in the crock pot. 

In a bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, ranch seasoning, and taco seasoning. 

Pour mixture over the chicken.

Cook the chicken on LOW for 6/7 hours. 

Remove chicken and shred with fork.

Place the shredded chicken back into the crock pot and cook for another 10 minutes. 

Create your taco with any desired toppings.

ENJOY! 

Cheesy Italian Tortellini 

What you need:

1 pound ground turkey
1 can (28oz) can of diced tomatoes with herbs, undrained
1 jar regular pasta sauce
1 package cheese filled tortellini (not frozen)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (fresh)
1 cup shredded mozza cheese

Brown turkey in a frying pan until brown. Then drain fat.
Spray the inside of your crock pot with Pam.
Add turkey, pasta sauce, mushrooms and diced tomatoes.
Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours.
Stir in tortellini.
Sprinkle cheese on top and cover and cook on LOW for an additional 10-15 minutes.
ENJOY!

Root Beer BBQ Pulled Pork
What you need:
1 can root beer
1 bottle sweet and sour BBQ sauce, divided
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 pork shoulder roast (6-7 pounds)

Put pork roast into crock pot.
Combine root beer, dry onion soup mix, and half of the bottle of BBQ sauce.
Pour root beer mixture over the pork roast.
Cook on LOW for 8 hours.
Remove pork roast from the crock pot and shred using a fork. Discard the liquid from the crock pot.
Place shredded pork back into crock pot and add the other half of the BBQ sauce.
Heat on HIGH in crock pot  for 10-15 minutes.
Serve on a bun.
ENJOY!

Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken
What you need:
2 tbsp olive oil
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup pesto (oil drained)
1 cup chicken broth
1 package ranch seasoning mix
3/4 cup half and half

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add chicken and borwn 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
Place chicken, tomataoes, pesto, broth and ranch mix in crock pot.
Mix thoroughly.
Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours.
When done cooking, stir in half and half.
Serve over rice.
ENJOY!

HAPPY CROCK POT COOKING!!
I'd love to hear back if you try any of these recipes!

Twas' the night before...The First Day of School!!

So here we are...

Summer is a thing of the past, and tomorrow we start a brand new school year!!
I am looking forward to meeting my new group of first graders for this school year! All 32 of them...yes, you read that correctly...32!! It's going to be one CRAZY year!! Good thing I have a BIG classroom!!

I've spent the last few weeks preparing for the beginning of the school year!
I will do a tour of my new classroom on a different blog post, but today you will see a few 'parts' of my new room!

'Back to School' books are out and ready!

Meeting Area is ready to be filled with 32 EXCITED children!

Welcome bags are ready to be sent home on the first day!

Morning activity is ready to go!
*Please excuse the lame name tags on the desks...I always wait a few days for my class list to finalize before I put their actual CUTE name tags on!! ha!*

'First Day of Grade One' frame is ready for our afternoon photo shoot! I started doing this last year and my students LOVED it! I bought a new RED frame this year!

And lastly...
My crock pot is set and cooking my delicious soup for my lunches this week!

My crock pot gets ALOT of use in the first month of school! Its just so easy!!

To all of my teacher friends out there...
Happy First Day of School!!

Minute to win it!

So as you may recall, we took a family trip to Radium to celebrate my Dad's 60th Birthday earlier in August! Our main goal for the trip was family time and relaxation! But I thought it would be fun to plan a 'Minute to Win It' game night!  I did some research on Pinterest and the actual 'Minute to Win It' website, and I think I came up with some pretty awesome games!!

I planned 9 games for us all to compete in and of course I had to make an official scoreboard!

Game #1

M & M Race

*The object of this game was to see how many M & M's you could move from one plate to the other, using a straw!*

Winner: Cody! 

Game #2

Elephant March

*The object of this game was to knock 12 water bottles down using your 'trunk' (a tennis ball inside a nylon, stuck on your head!) This by far was the FUNNIEST game to watch and take part in!! We were all crying we were laughing so hard!! And people walking by our cabin thought we were INSANE!! Ha!!

Winner: Kellen & Cody!

Game #3

Cookie Face

*The object of this game was to get a cookie placed on your forehead, into your mouth! BUT without using your hands! This was VERY hard!! And again ALOT of laughter!! I was actually the only one to get this one!!

Winner: Kelsey! 

Game #4

This Blows

*The object of this game was to blow up a balloon and then use the air in the balloon to blow off as many cups as you could off the end of the table!

Winner: Damian and Dad!

Game #5

Junk in the Trunk

*The object of this game is to remove 12 foam balls from inside a Kleenex box shaking your trunk! This was another funny one to watch!!

Winner: All of us completed this task! 

 Game #6

A bit dicey

*The object of this game was to stack as many dice as you can on the end of a tongue depressor. This was another TOUGH one!! 

Winner: Kellen!

  

Game #7

Don't blow the Joker

*The object of this game was to blow all of the cards off the top of a cup, except for the last card, which was the turned up Joker! 

Winner: Dad, Kelsey, Kellen, Cody, Brit

Game #8

Dental Cap

*The object of this game was to remove a toothbrush from the holder, on the brim of a visor, and then place the toothbrush back into a cup at the other end of the table. This was definitely more difficult for the taller folks!!

Winner: Kellen, Cody, Kelsey, Brit, Mom

Game #9

Ping Pong Bounce

*The object of this game was to bounce as many ping pong balls into the cups as possible! The boys had a SIGNIFICANT advantage in this game because of their practice from years of playing beer pong!!

Winners: Cody

And the winner is....

CODY!!

Our 'Minute to Win it' night was a great success and we all had ALOT of fun!! I definitely would do a night like this again!! It was VERY entertaining!!!!