Woof-o-ween

I finally found the dogs costumes I had gotten last year. Willow is gonna be a witch and Marly will be a football player. I dressed them up this weekend just to see what they were going to look like...adorable as usual! We're just gonna stay home Saturday night and hand out candy but they'll still be fit for the occasion!

Dinner & a Movie

Sunday night we decided to order pizza and rent a movie. I had been wanting to see this for a while and Brandon said I could choose what we watched so of course I grabbed it. When the very first line was said I freaked out.....this movie was based on my book I had just read!! Ok so I should've put 2 & 2 together way before this but I didn't...and of course thru the whole movie I kept commenting on what she "should" be doing next. Like many books made movies this one was definitely not exactly like the book was so it was a little frustrating at times. All in all I thought it was a good movie and probably would've like it better had I not read the book before. ;)

3rd Book

I've finished my 3rd book already. It is the 1st of 3 that I bought together. It's about a girl who is obsessed with shopping and finds herself in major debt with her credit cards and also her bank. You'll just have to read the book to find out what happens. It's a good one!

Say Cheese!

I finally got me a new Point & Shoot camera. It's a Canon Powershot SD1100 IS and is such an upgrade from my old Canon. I've taken a few pictures on it already (just got it in last night) and I love it! It's real expensive new from Amazon but I found a nice used one on Ebay for around $100!

Here's some pics we took last night. My husband thought it would be fun to take some of deer that were on tv. lol!

The Dogs

I realized that I don't think I've ever actually posted anything about our dogs...oops! We have two yorkies, Willow who will turn 4 on Dec. 10th and Marly who will turn 1 on Dec. 1st. We've had Willow for about 2 years now and Marly is actually a puppy out of a litter Willow had last year. They for sure are our babies right now and are very much preparing us for children! So...without further ado, here they are! (in need of a grooming I might add)

I was very lucky to get this picture Saturday. I can never get them both to sit still long enough for me to get a good one. Marly is actually very good about posing for me as long as I have his attention. Willow on the other hand is JUST NOT HAVIN IT!

Covered Bridge Festival

Yesterday was our annual trip to the Covered Bridge Festival in Mansfield, IN. We left at 6:00 in the morning, made a quick stop for breakfast at McDonalds and arrived at the festival around 8:30 their time (which is an hour ahead of IL time). We ended up about walking the entire thing but I really feel like I didn't get to see everything I wanted to. We left at noon and headed to Terre Haute to eat lunch/supper at Applebees. Overall it was a good day and I got some nice stuff for the house plus 2 real cute purses but I wish I could've had more time over there....there's always next year!!

My purses!

The view from the bridge...beautiful!

I took both of these with my phone so they aren't the greatest quality but you get the idea. ;)

I think I'm just bad luck.

Brandon has been hunting the past couple weekends so I've felt like I haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time with him. He gets up at 5:00 Sat. & Sunday mornings then comes home around noon and usually ends up falling asleep in his chair then goes back out at 3:00 until about 6. This weekend I decided I'd just go with him Saturday evening. We got up in the stand around 3:30 and waited for the deer to come........it came to be 5:00, and still no deer. I was getting cold and bored and I think he was too but for some reason he wanted to stay out. We still never saw a single one and finally he decided we could get down around 6:30. He told me that it usually wasn't like that, that he always sees them come out around 5:00. I went hunting with him twice last year and we didn't see any those times either. So I think I'm just a bad luck charm. :(

Us right when we got in the deer stand.

And while I was sitting there pretty bored I took some pics of the trees across the field.

Love the trees in the Fall!

Witts Smokehouse & Deli

Friday night we decided to try a new restaurant. We have driven by it many times just never stopped so I suggested we finally go try it. When we walked in it was definitely different than what we expected. We thought it was a nice sit down barbecue restaurant...we were wrong! You have to order at the counter then they call your number when your order is ready. There were only a few tables you could sit down at but luckily we found some empty spots at the "bar" in front of the windows. We ordered a bbq pork pizza and it was actually one of the best pizzas we've ever had! They even have different sauces you can try right there where your sitting. Even though it wasn't what we expected, we will definitely go back!

Our pizza!

Better than Sex Cake

I made this last night for dessert. I had gotten the recipe from a friend at my bridal shower. Yummy! No pic, sorry :(

Better than Sex Cake
(Source: Friend)

Ingredients:
1 box Devils Food cake mix
1 jar caramel ice cream topping
1 can sweetened & condensed milk
1 container cool whip
1 Heath Toffee Bar (crushed) *I used Heath baking bits*

Directions:
Bake cake as directed, While warm immediately poke several holes in cake with the top of a wooden spoon or something round.
Pour can of sweetened & condensed milk and caramel over cake.
Allow to cool completely.
Spread cool whip over cake & sprinkle with candy bar & refrigerate.

No Fuss Smashed Potatoes

I made these to go with our meal last night. It's easy & tastes great!

No Fuss Smashed Potatoes

(Source: Kraft)

Ingredients:

2 lb. red potatoes (about 5 medium), unpeeled, cut into chunks
5 cloves garlic, peeled (I just used some garlic salt)
1/3 cup MIRACLE WHIP Dressing
1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Add potatoes and garlic to large saucepan boiling water; cook 20 min. or until tender. Drain; return to saucepan.

Mash potatoes and garlic with dressing and Parmesan cheese until light and fluffy.
Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately.

Velveeta Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice

I found this recipe while looking through my Kraft magazines last night so I decided I'd make it for supper. I didn't get a picture of what I made so this is from the website. It is delicious!

Velveeta Cheesey Chicken & Broccoli Rice

(Source: Kraft)

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth

2 cups instant white rice, uncooked

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

Directions:

Cook chicken in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 5 min. or until chicken is done.

Stir in broth. Bring to boil.
Add rice, VELVEETA and broccoli; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 10 min. Stir until VELVEETA is completely melted and mixture is well blended.

2nd Book

I just finished my second book for my 101 list. I had seen it at a rummage sale and decided to go ahead & get it since it was only 50 cents. Can't beat that! It's called "The Truth about Diamonds" by Nicole Richie. It's mainly just about this girl who is big into drugs & partying and eventually cleans her life up. I really wasn't much into this book and had to push myself to finish it. It's going to be a book I put on my own rummage sale or donate to charity because I have no desire to read it again.

Wine

While I was at the store getting stuff for supper, I decided to pick out our new wine of the month. I came across "White Zinfandel" from Sutter Home. There really wasn't a specific reason for choosing it, honestly I just liked the color of it so I thought it might be good. LOL! I took it home, tried it and decided it probably wouldn't be one I'd buy again. It had kind of a tart taste where as I like the ones that have more of a berry flavoring or some other kind of sweet flavor. I'm sure I'll finish the bottle because I'm not just gonna waste a $10 bottle of wine but that'll be the end of this wine for us.
P.S. I just looked on the website and it says it's supposed to have a strawberry & melon taste...I so did not taste any of this!!

Salsa Roll-Ups

While we were waiting for the meatloaf to bake last night, I decided I'd try a quick appetizer recipe. These salsa roll-ups were just what we needed to satisfy our hunger before supper was done.

Salsa Roll-Ups
(Source: Kraft)

Ingredients:
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Philadelphia Neufchatel Cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. Taco Bell Home Originals Thick 'N Chunky Salsa
4 flour tortillas (6 inch)
1/2 cup Kraft Mexican Style 2% Milk Finely Shredded Four Cheese
1/4 tsp. chili Powder

Directions:
Mix Neufchatel and salsa; spread onto tortillas. Top with remaining ingredients.

Roll up tortillas tightly. Cut each crosswise into 5 slices.

Meatloaf

I had never made meatloaf until last night. I had seen this recipe on the Kraft website about a week ago and decided I wanted to try it sometime. Yesterday I finally printed it off and headed to the store. I really thought meatleaf was a lot harder to make but this recipe was very simple and the final product tasted delicious!

The finished product ready to be eaten!

Easy Pleasing Meatloaf

(Source: Kraft)

Ingredients:
2 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg Stove top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Kraft Original Barbecue sauce (we used Sweet Baby Rays)

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Place meat, stuffing mix, water, eggs, & 1/4 cup barbecue sauce in bowl. Mix until blended.
Shape into loaf in 13x9" baking dish. Top with remaining barbecue sauce.
Bake 1 hour or until done.

Our little family

Thought I'd post pics we took last night of us & the dogs in front of our Fall/Halloween Display on the porch.

We thought it was funny the dogs were looking at each other in the 2nd one.

Banana Bread

Last night for dessert I decided I'd try #48 on my 101 list. I got the recipe out of an amish cookbook I was given for the wedding.

All mixed & ready to be put in the pan.

Ready to be eaten!!

Banana Bread

(Source: Anonymous)

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

3 Mashed Bananas

1 Cup Sugar

2 Cups Flour

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

Mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I decided last night I wanted to bake something. My grandma had given me a handwritten cookbook for our wedding so I flipped thru it & found these that were very easy to make. It had come from my great grandpa! They didn't turn out perfect but they satisfied my baking urge. lol

Peanut Butter Cookies
(Source: Great grandpa)

Ingredients: (we actually doubled the recipe)
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
(we also added some maple syrup)

Directions:
Beat egg in bowl, add peanut butter & sugar & mix all together. Drop cookie balls onto cookie sheet, Bake @ 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.