SMORES....and MORE

If you don't have a campfire to make those perfect smores!  I have found an easy indoor way for those yummy smores.  Now, my family tends to like chocolate graham cracker for their smores but you can use whatever you want.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, line baking sheet with aluminum foil, place as many graham crackers as you want on baking sheet and add one jumbo marshmallow to each.  Bake for about 5-6 minutes until that marshmallow is all swollen and turning brown.  Remove from the oven and place chocolate squares on the marshmallow and your cracker to top...YUMMO!  Hope you enjoy!


Well, the cool weather we have been having has made me dig up some of he fall-ish recipes that I love!  Hope you enjoy too!

Apple-Cranberry Crumble

Filling:
2 TBSP flour
2-1/2 lbs baking apples
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 tsp allspice
2/3/ cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2/ cup sliced almonds ( unless you have an allergy like us)
5 tbsp. butter (melted)

Peel, core and cut apples into wedges.  Combine all the filling ingredients, and spoon into a 2 quart baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and remove.  Mix the topping ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle on filling. Return to oven, and bake at 400 degrees until the top is crispy and brown.


Pumpkin Pecan Crunch

1-15 oz can pumpkin
1-12 oz evap. milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
5 tsp pumpkin pie spice (divided)
1 T. vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
2 sticks butter melted
whip cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar 4 tsp pumpkin spice, pour into 13x9 greased pan.  Mix cake mix, 1 tsp pie spice and stir well.  Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mix, add pecans to top then drizzle butter over the top.  Bake 50 minutes until brown.  Serve with whipped cream!


Pumpkin Praline Pie

Filling:
1 frozen pie crust
3/4 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
1-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1-15 oz can pumpkin
1-1/4 cup evap. milk
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
3 tbsp cold butter
1-1/2 cups pecans (roughly chopped)
2/3 cup light brown sugar

In bowl, whisk together pie filling ingredients, and pour into crust.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to  350 degrees and bake another 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine butter and sugar until crumbly.  Stir in pecans.  Spoon mixture on top of pie and bake an additional 10 minutes or until topping is golden.  Allow to cool!


I can smell the kitchen now! ENJOY!

Being Thankful....

So, again it has been awhile since I have been blogging!  Busy days with three boys back in school...a one year old that misses them dearly, a job in which I take my one year old who misses his brother's dearly and thinks mommy should be able to play while at work...lol,  a house to keep, and the list goes on...and on (but it is MY life and I love it)! 

We were able to sneak away this weekend for a little R&R at the lake but not everyone felt the greatest.  We started the weekend with me shutting Jack's fingers in the door...IT WAS AWFUL!  I felt so bad!  Mason proceeded to get the "fair crud" with a stomach ache all weekend and Noah just wasn't himself.  All in all it was a good weekend, just hoping no one else decides to get sick this week!  We got a surprise visit from my mom and grandma while we were there.  They didn't stay long but it was good to see them and I am so glad they stopped by for a few minutes! 

David is in full on work mode.  Stretching himself way too thin with clubs, archery, ATV safety and it is taking it's toll!  I keep telling him he is one man doing a job of three and he needs to take it easy and schedule some down time.  But you know how far that got me...in one ear and out the other!

The kids are busy with school and momma is busy trying to keep up with everyone's homework at night!  Whew!!!  They are fixing to gear up for flag football which starts in a couple of weeks which we are all excited about!  It means fall is around the corner which is the best camping weather with campfires and smores!   We love fall when the weather cools down, the leaves are turning and we love spring when it is warming up and it's time to get the camper out of hibernation from the winter! 

Something I am working on is trying to be more thankful and complain less.  I know you are thinking Rachel complain...never!!! lol  Yes, I find myself in a rut of complaints sometimes when I have absolutely EVERYTHING in the world to be thankful for!  I am trying to see that everything I do and have as simply a gift from God!  I can take that gift and use it to its fullest and be thankful that I have it!  Every task that I carry out throughout the day needs to be a blessing because God has given me the ability to be able to do it.  I know you are thinking...so you are going to be thankful when you empty the dishwasher?  Well, yes  I am!  I will be thankful that God has given me two hands to carry out the task and a dishwasher to work for me so I don't have to stand over the sink and wash them myself!  So, you are going to be thankful that you are cleaning house?  Well, that is a hard one but, yes, I am going to see that God has given me the ability to work so that I can have this house we live in.  He has given me the energy to see to what needs to get done...some days!  I know it is hard to be thankful for everything. God does tell us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  I am sure I will falter and fail but I want to be better and with God on my side there is no doubt I can succeed if I try!

Thank you God for your promise of salvation!  Thank you God for covering me with your blood so that my sins are washed away.  Thank you God for loving a sinner such as me.  Thank God for allowing me to wake up every morning to a loving husband, who works way too hard and for four wonderful little boys.  Thank you God for giving me the strength to carry out each day, lifted up in your hands to carry out the tasks that need to be done!  Thank you God for a husband who loves me, through thick and thin, tired and cranky, bed head and no makeup! Thank you God for making me a mom and giving me these precious gifts that I get to call my sons!  Thank you God for my church and the family that we have grown with there for the last ten years!  Thank you God for loving caring parents who are always there for me! Thank you God for allowing me to work and take each child with me for the last 11 years...let my work be to your glory in whatever I am doing!  Thank you God for a roof to cover our heads and to protect us each night.  Thank you God for the sunshine to warm our souls and the darkness to give us rest.