Fall

Sunday night was spent with our dear friends, the Feigerts. We went with the underlying task of moving Danielle's treadmill from the bedroom to the garage. While the boys were figuring that out, Danielle and I went on a short road adventure to fine some fall backdrops for pictures of the kiddos. 

We took a right and kept on going :) After being chased by two dogs and a few stops we came back with some beautiful locations. I have to say, Missouri sure knows how to do Fall right. The weather has cooled, football is in season, and the colors...oh the COLORS! 

Enjoy some of our findings!

On tonight's menu was Chipotle Steak Salad from the wonderful Pioneer Woman. I have learned a couple of things on my journey cooking through the Pioneer Woman's cookbook 1. only 3 out of the 5 of us like spicy foods and most of her recipes have chipotle 2. butter and mayo are your friends :)

The recipe said to marinade the flank steak and then grill it. I decided to pour the marinade and steak in the crockpot on high for 4 hours.

While that was cooking I mixed up the dressing so it had time to chill in the fridge. It only called for mayo and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, but I added some ranch to neutralize it a tad...for the children's sake ;)

The rest is a simple salad. Whatever veggies you want. We had spinach, bell peppers (from my pepper plant), and cucumber. I had Mike take the steak out a little early, slice it, and throw it back in the crockpot. When you are ready to eat all you have to do is layer and enjoy.

Finished product!

French Onion Soup

I impress myself a little more every dinner (not to toot my own horn or anything). As I said earlier, I am cooking my way through the amazing Pioneer Woman's recipes. I heart her!

We have had 3 different paninis, BBQ chicken and pineapple quesadillas, corn chowder and the most amazing french onion soup. Again, stop drooling...you're embarrassing yourself ;)

The french onion soup was a little bit of a process and burns were acquired, however, it was probably the best french onion soup I have ever had! I went as far as to thrift store hunt down special soup bowls. It deserved to be a whole experience.

Everyone loved it! Isn't it pretty. The cheese didn't hurt :)

Albert loved it....

Mike's first bowl...having a battle with the cheese.

Pioneer woman

After watching the movie Julie and Julia for the 8 millionth time I thought, wouldn't it be fun if I did that. Since Julia Childs isn't exactly my taste preference I decided to cook my way through the Pioneer Woman's cookbook and oh my how glad I am. Just some insite, i love her, her food, her show, and would gladly go live at her house. That doesnt sound too obsessive...does it?

So far I made grilled BBQ chicken and grilled pineapple quesadilla with jalapeños and sautéed red onions. Stop drooling please :) Of course I was so busy stacking and grilling that I forgot to take pictures but trust me, it was amazing.

Next came the Spicy Corn Chowder. Once again the Pioneer Woman did not disappoint. It came out warm and creamy and spicy which are a few of my favorite things for food to be.

Fall is in the air. The weather is cooling down, pumpkin spiced lattes are at Starbucks and my little Albert started football! I love this time of year.

Saturday was the Waynesville Youth Football combine. The boys were measured for helmets and uniforms and timed for various drills.

I arrived early to volunteer for whatever they needed and ended up working at a table full of donated practice pants and gear. I can not tell you how cute a size extra small boys football pants are! This was such an amazing thing because football gear is so expensive and can cause people not to participate. Everyone left with practice gear and will eventually get their uniforms.

My husband is coaching this year, that's Coach Mike to you. He seems just as excited as Albert is. This is why we made the choice to come to Missouri. This is the first time my husband has been home long enough to coach any of the boys sports. God is great!

As you can see from my previous post it has been a while since I've posted anything. I am vowing to keep this up and post at least once a week.

Changes....we now live in Missouri (I know), it's growing on me, I have a highschooler, 2nd grader, and 3 year old, I am on the executive board of PWOC (protestant women of the chapel...Army), waiting on my to hear about my hopeful acceptance to USC in the Masters in Social Work program, I am finishing up planning a fundraiser with The Long Road Home Project, and I'm tired :)

To stay up and moving, Brayden and I went out to the garage to drag out the Halloween stuff. No, not to put it up, but to weed through it. I had to come on here and share the cute little dress up session that we had.

Brayden as a bug....

and a pirate...

and Lola because she's pretty!

Updates

Lately we have been focused on getting into our new routines. Mike deployed and the kids are back at school. I have started making weekly dinner plans, which I am proud to say, we have followed for the last three weeks. I will start posting some of the yummy recipes that we've had. Our small groups through our church start this week and I am so excited. One of them is a traveling play group. We will go once a week to a different park each time so the kids can play. Small things like this really help the time pass when Mike is gone. That's it for now.