Cheddar Apple Salad

I love eating salads. They are so versatile. You can throw just about any ingredient in and make it work. This salad is sweet with some yummy cheese and crunchy pecans. Perfect for fall.

Here's what you need:

8 cups torn salad greens of your choice (I use romaine and iceberg)
1 cup chopped apple - tart is best, but any kind will work
1/2 cup chopped pecans
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
6 slices bacon, cooked and diced

For the dressing:
1/2 cup poppy seed dressing
1/4 cup balsamic viniagrette

In a large bowl, toss the salad ingredients together. Whisk the poppy seed and balsamic dressings together. Pour over the salad and toss to coat. You may not need all of the dressing, so just save it in the fridge for future use. I only used about a two-thirds of it so I didn't drown the salad.

Also, if you don't think all of the salad will get eaten, you can leave the dressing off and serve it on the side. Cause lettuce does some funny wilting stuff once it comes in contact with dressing.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Bars

If peanut butter and chocolate is your thing, this recipe is for you! These little babies are addictive and so yummy! The chocolate filling stays smooth and creamy while the peanut butter cake layer is moist and delicious.

Here's what you need:

1 yellow cake mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs

Mix these ingredients together until well blended. Reserve a little less than half of this mixture for the topping. Press the remainder into a greased 9x13 pan.

For the filling:

1 pkg chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 TBSP butter
2 teas vanilla

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips, condensed milk and butter. Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.

Spread the chocolate filling over the mixture in the pan. Drop the reserved cake mixture over the filling by teaspoonfuls. A little chocolate will peek through, and that's okay.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool before cutting into bars.

Menu Plan October 30-November 5

Am I the only one who thought October just zipped by? How can this be the first week of November already? I remember my parents saying that the older you got, the faster time seemed to fly. Now I know what they meant!

Anyway, here's the meal plan for the week:

Sunday
Leftover soup from our soup supper with friends on Saturday

Monday
Baked egg rolls, fried rice

Tuesday
Black bean chili, homemade bread

Wednesday
Jamie Oliver's Crunchy Garlic Chicken, lemon pepper broccoli

Thursday
Cheeseburger rice, green beans

Friday
Pizza

Saturday
Chicken and corn chowder

So, what's on your menu this week? If you're looking for more meal planning inspiration, visit Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Hundreds of bloggers share their menu plans, so you're bound to find something to inspire you.

Fun at the Pumpkin Farm

Last week we went to the pumpkin farm for an afternoon of family fun. The weather was perfect, sunny and breezy.

There was a petting zoo that the kids really enjoyed.





They also loved the hay maze. Which way should they go?


Playing in a corn crib, something I've never done.


This is an old-fashioned smokehouse. We were given samples of freshly fried pig skins and cookies that were baked in a wood stove, just like in pioneer days.


The children were allowed to pick a small pumpkin to take home.


It took some time to find the perfect ones.


And then we headed home.

Cultivating a Deeper Relationship with My Daughter

As the Princess gets older - she's nine going on nineteen - I want to keep our relationship open and loving. You always hear people say, "Just wait until she's a teenager, then she won't even talk to you!" In an effort to avoid that dire prediction from coming true, I want to start cultivating a deeper relationship with her now.

So I borrowed this idea from Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooling Mom. It's a notebook in which she and I write back and forth to each other. I started by asking her to be my pen pal. I told her she could ask me anything and I'd give her an honest answer. We'd keep our communications just between us. Then I placed the notebook on her bed. When she wrote back to me, she put the notebook on my bed.

So far I've shared my favorite Bible verses and she's shared a few with me. She's drawn some pictures of the two of us, too. I know that it's often easier to write out thoughts and feelings instead of expressing them verbally, so I hope this keeps the lines of communication open between us, even when she hits the dreaded tween years.

Oh, if you want to know how I made this, it's very simple. I had a composition notebook that I covered with scrapbook paper. I used a glue stick to adhere the paper. Then I used stickers for the words Mom and Me. Easy peasy.

Pity Party Post....or how I spent my Saturday

I spent it in the hospital. Doing nothing. And I'm exhausted!

Okay, let me back up. I went to bed around 11:30 on Friday night. I began having terrible pain in my upper back, left side. It moved around swiftly to my chest. I tried not to panic, thinking that maybe I had pulled something in my back. After an hour, the pain was just as intense and I thought that perhaps I'd better get checked out, just in case.

You see, recently a friend of mine lost her 15-year-old son to an undiagnosed heart condition. He had a massive heart attack and was gone. Also, my best friend's dad was diagnosed with a heart problem that if he hadn't sought medical help when he did, he might not be here today. So I woke Charles up, and he took me to the ER where I was admitted right away. Hey, tell them you've got chest pains, and the usually slow intake process speeds up considerably!

I had an EKG and was given a host of meds. Blood was drawn, an IV was placed, shots were administered. I got a shot right in my abdomen, beside my belly button. Ouch! The pain started to subside and I was made comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you can be with bright lights shining down on you and medical people poking and prodding you. About 4am I was given a room so I could be kept for observation and have a few more tests. I got no rest there, either, as every few minutes someone came in to do another blood draw or check my vitals. A hospital is the worst place to get sleep! Ha ha!

Thank the Lord for good friends like my dearest friend Suzanne who took the children so Charles could be with me. I know she had other things planned for her Saturday, but she voluntarily gave them all up to help us. She's a nurse, so she was able to give me some good advice (like, don't check yourself out of the hospital AMA because your insurance might not pay anything). Yes, that option was very attractive when 5 hours after the last test (a stress test), I still had not talked to a doctor about being discharged. Every blood test, EKG and ECG had come back clear, but no one had read the stress test! Okay, I know checking out against medical advice is NOT a good idea so don't fuss at me. But that shows you how much frustration and exhaustion can mess with your thinking processes! LOL

Around 9 pm, I finally sent Charles to get the kids who were worried about me, because despite being told I was fine, they couldn't understand why I was still in the hospital. The hospital is for people who are sick, right? Why would people who were okay be kept there for no reason? Good question, little ones!

Finally at 10 pm, I went to the nurses station and demanded to talk to a doctor. Now lest you think I was ranting and raving, I was actually very calm and rational. And desperate to get home. The nurses were sympathetic, and I have to say, they were the saving graces of the entire thing. Every nurse or technician who came into my room during my incarceration....er, stay, was cheerful and professional and very kind. But this whole idea of the doctors being too busy to read stress test results and give discharge orders for someone whose other tests came back fine is ridiculous!

God bless the nurse who finally said enough was enough and called a doctor. Within 15 minutes I had discharge orders in hand. Twelve hours after the last test I was finally allowed to go home! Oh, and the stress test was normal.

So what was my diagnosis? Well, considering I never actually talked to a doctor, I really don't know. But I will be seeing my family doctor later to follow up. It's most likely a fluke. I've known two other women with almost exactly the same symptoms and test results, my mom and our assistant pastor's wife. Both had the terrible chest pain, both had clear test results. Both are fine today. So I know it's entirely possible that there might not be an clear cut answer for the what caused the pain. I'm okay with that.

On the plus side, I've gotten lots and lots of extra hugs and kisses from the kids. We're a pretty affectionate family anyway, but Mr. Lego and the Princess have been especially considerate and helpful. Charles and I have giggled several times at how loving they've been. Sweet babies!

And so you don't think I'm a total whiner, I am grateful that nothing was seriously wrong. I'm thankful to live in a place where medical help is readily available and so thorough. And you know how couples often complain they don't spend enough time together without the kids? Well, Charles and I got several hours of togetherness with no children. Just a lot of medical professionals. See, I didn't lose my sense of humor.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Stuffed peppers are so yummy, but buying enough peppers to serve everyone can get expensive. I found a recipe for stuffed pepper soup that had all the flavors of stuffed peppers but with fewer peppers. It also eliminated the chore of actually stuffing the peppers with the meat and rice filling, too. Anytime a recipe can be made easier is fine by me! And if you'll look at the original recipe, you'll see that I did some tweaking. As usual.

Here's what you need:

1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 small onion, diced
2 green peppers, chopped
4 cups beef broth
2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce
1 teas Italian seasoning
1 teas salt
1/2 teas black pepper
1/2 teas garlic powder
2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice)

In a large pot, start browning the ground meat. After a few minutes, add the onions and peppers so they can cook in the juices. When the meat is no longer pink, drain.

Add the remaining ingredients except the rice. Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until peppers have reached desired tenderness. Stir in the rice and heat through.

The kids devoured this! And it's a good thing, too, because this recipe makes a lot of soup. We had enough for leftovers the next day. But like any soup with rice, it thickened up quite a bit. I added a little water to thin it out and a few shakes of the spices so the flavor wasn't watered down too much. This soup is definitely a winner!