Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween today!

Fall Foliage

One of the many reasons that I love Fall is because of the Fall foliage. I love how the trees and bushes will turn from their summer green to the amazing yellows, oranges, and reds. 

"I'm so glad that I live in a world where there are Octobers" Anne of Green Gables

Here are some amazing photos of Fall foliage that I think are the most amazing!! Enjoy!

Crock Pot Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate

It's that season! Pumpkin spice everything. I found this yummy pumpkin spice white hot chocolate recipe that is to die for. It only takes three ingredients to make and can simmer in your crock pot all day if you want. The secret ingredient is amazing!

Yes that's right, pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer. I don't drink coffee, but I use coffee creamers to make my hot cocoa even better. Now I said that this recipe was super easy to make so head on over here to get the instructions on this yummy recipe!

25 Family Friendly Fall Activities and a Yummy Apple Cider Recipe

Ugh I'm dying here! The days are still long and hot, it's not quite Fall, but I can feel it coming and I can't wait. I love everything about the season and all of the fun family activities that happen during the Fall. I decided to put together a small bucket list of some of my favorite Fall activities, along with a fun recipe for home made apple cider.

 Visit a pumpkin patch

 Roast pumpkin seeds

 Carve or paint pumpkins 

 Jump in the leaves

 Attend a high school football game

 Make a bon fire

 Bake some Pumpkin cookies

 Get lost in a Corn Maze

 Go on a hay ride

 Burn Fall scented candles

 Go apple picking

 Bake some apple pie

 Open the windows to let the crisp air in

 Make apple cider

 Roast smores

 Donate to your local food bank

 Make some chili and cornbread

 Create a giving tree and talk about what you’re thankful for

 Watch Hocus Pocus

 Go to a haunted house

 Decorate for Fall

 Go for a drive in the mountains to look at fall leaves

 Make caramel apples

Go apple picking

Make a scare crow

Homemade Apple Cider

Ingredients:

12 apples (6 granny smith & 6 red delicious)
1 orange
1 cup brown sugar
One whole nutmeg
4 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves

Things you’ll need:

Stock pot
Strainer
Potato masher
Cheesecloth

Wash and cut your fruit into fourths and add to pot. Add brown sugar and chop and dice nutmeg. Lay your spices into the cheesecloth. Wrap it up tight into a pouch. This provides all the flavor without any bits and pieces. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, covered for a least an hour. Mash up your softened fruit in the stock pot. Simmer for two more hours. Once finished allow to cool completely. Line a bowl with strainer and cheesecloth. Ladle in the strainer than squeeze out all the goodness from the cheesecloth. Serve warm.

What are some of your favorite Fall bucket list activities? Comment below with your family favorites!

35 Emergency Foods You should Include in your Food Storage

Modern life has led people away from their backyard gardens and well-stocked root cellars. These once farmhouse staples helped ensure that families could feed themselves no matter how long the road to town was, what the weather was like, or their economic situation.

While access to grocery stores makes it seem like there’s no need to worry about keeping food on the table, there are many potential emergencies that could happen: losing your job, blizzards, or even economic collapse. These things could leave your family without a secure food source. Even if you don’t live in a farmhouse it’s easy and wise to stockpile emergency foods.

Below you’ll find a list of 35 emergency foods you should be stockpiling. With all of these foods on hand, you’ll be eating well no matter what happens.

1. Flour/Wheat Berries

Obviously, flour is a staple of the modern diet, but there are a few things to consider before running out and buying big bags of it. First, whole wheat flour doesn’t store well. The oils have been released from the wheat berries and it can go rancid quickly. Second white flour offers little nutritional value. For these reasons, the best option may be to purchase whole wheat berries which store well while retaining their nutrition, especially those in #10 cans. Whole wheat berries can be easily turned into flour with a hand crank mill, they can be cooked whole as hot cereal, or they can be added to soups and stews. Wheat berries can also be planted.

2. Salt

Salt is so much more than a seasoning. In a survival situation it is essential to preserving food. It can be used to salt meats and pickle or can garden produce.

3. Sugar

This is another essential preservative. With sugar, it’s easy to put up fruit and jam for winter.

4. Honey

Honey is more than just a tasty treat! It’s natural preservative, immune system booster, antibacterial, and anti fungal. Make sure you get real honey and not the fake stuff.

5. Baking Soda

It’s cheap and absolutely worth stocking up on. It’s an important leavening agent in many recipes and can be combined with a little vinegar and used in place of eggs in quick breads and cake recipes. It also makes a good, natural cleaner and deodorizer. It’s just over a dollar a pound.

6. Baking Powder

Another leavening agent, baking powder is an important part of many recipes. It’s also cheap and easy to store.

7. Dry Yeast

It may be advisable to store both bread yeast as well as yeast for brewing beer or wine. Even if you have these on hand, it’s also important to learn how to make sourdough or wild yeast starters so that you could make your own bread even if your supply ran out.

8. Dehydrated Milk

It may not be as tasty as fresh milk, but dehydrated milk can add essential fats and proteins to your diet in a survival situation. It’s also important for many recipes that just wouldn’t be the same with water, plus it lasts a long time.

9. Rendered Lard

Modern recommendations are to freeze lard, but not that long in the past it was commonly just kept in canning jars or crocks and even used to preserve meat. If you’re making lard at home, make sure you render it, removing all the perishable parts.

10. Vegetable Oil (olive, coconut, etc.)

Vegetable oil can add important fats to a survival diet and is important for many dressings and sauces. It’s also great for many herbal preparations and soaps. Oil doesn’t last forever so it’s a good idea to rotate your stock or at least regularly check and make sure your oils haven’t gone rancid. I’m a big fan of Nature’s Way Coconut Oil.

11. Dried Flint/Dent Corn

Flint or dent corn are varieties that are grown to be dried, ground, and used as a grain not sweet corn. They last virtually forever and are easy to grind to make cornbread, tortillas, grits, etc. Plus you can plant some to grow more as needed.

12. Pasta

While you can always make your own pasta, having some on hand is convenient in an emergency. It offers a quick and filling meal, plus it’s fairly lightweight and easy to store.

13. Cereal

Many families are accustomed to eating cereals, but they’re also important because they’re fortified. Most cereals contain a large part of your daily vitamin requirements.

14. Popcorn

Plain popping kernels are easy to store and great for keeping spirits high. For the amount of space they take up, they offer a lot of snacks.

15. Instant Potatoes

Instant potatoes offer a lot of benefits for little cost. They’re filling, cheap, last practically forever, and are lightweight and small in storage. They also only require boiling water, so you won’t use much fuel making them.

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8 Fall Decor Ideas

Fall Mantel

Hello Fall

Pumpkin Table 

Fall Wreath

Fall Centerpiece

Give Thanks Quote

Fall is my favorite season of all. I love the smells and the colors. I love the crisp cool air and being outside. One of my favorite things to do is decorate for the holidays and bring some of the fall colors inside. These are a few of my favorite fall decor ideas.

What are some of your favorite fall decorations?

Back To School Tip

Let me first say that me and organized don’t usually belong in the same sentence, but for 3 school years now this system has totally worked for me, so that’s gotta say something.

I have 3 kids, one that is off to college and twin middle schoolers. Over the years we’ve evolved how we handle homework in our house. We have discovered that what works best for us is to have everyone working at the kitchen table together. Then mom and dad are close by if they need help and there are less distractions. (this post contains affiliate links)

This however created a problem in the kitchen.  It seemed I always had pens, pencils and paper all over the table even after they were done.  A couple of years ago, I got the idea to create a Homework Station on my kitchen table.  Everything they need contained in one place and it’s easily moved out of the way when needed.