HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I hope your night is full of ghouls and goblins!

Here is a little treat for those gluten free peps out there.
Everyone will love this as well! Haws didn't even know the difference between the gluten and non-gluten version!

This makes 2 loaves. When I made it, I just cut everything in half to make one loaf and it turned out great!

Light Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

1 (15oz) can of pumpkin puree
1/4 c oil
3/4 c applesauce
4 eggs
2/3 c water
3 c sugar

3 1/3 c gluten free all purpose baking mix
1/2 tsp xathan gum
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cloves
1 1/2 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9x5x3 in loaf pans.
In mixer, mix pumpkin, oil, applesauce, eggs, water and sugar until well blended. In separate bowl, combine baking mix, baking soda and powder, salt and all the spices. Stir dry ingredients and chocolate chips into the wet mixture until blended. Pour into pans.

Bake for about 40 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

Robin and Cody

My very dear friend Robin got married last weekend to the wonderful Cody.
I was honored to be one of her bridesmaids and had so much fun being a part of their big day.
Aren't they a great looking couple? They are even better once you get to know them. Cody really is the perfect guy for Robin and I am so happy that she found him and gave him a chance :)
Who knew a Christmas scarf would lead to a marriage... you just never know.
Love you guys!

Coming out from the Temple.

The Wedding Party

Outside the Santa Ana Country Club where they had their reception. It was beautiful!

The Girls

Cody proposed to Robin inside a photo booth at the fair to capture the moment. So it only seemed right to have a photo booth at the wedding to capture those moments with all of their guest.

Here are just a few.

These are all the girls who get electrolysis from Tracey. She is awesome and Robin has been a great marketing person for her. These girls are nice and smooth :)

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Ever since one of my clients told me about cooking a stew in a pumpkin, I have been wanting to try this.
It was super easy and turned out delicious!
There are a lot of different things you can put inside the pumpkin. Any type of stew would probably work. Perfect for fall weather... if we ever get it!

Here is what I did:

One small pumpkin
1 can organic red beans
1 can organic diced tomatoes
1/2 med onion, chopped
1 zucchini, cut lengthwise and chopped
1 tsp cumin, curry, garlic salt, italian seasonings
1/2 tsp nutmeg, cinnamon, red pepper


Preheat oven to 325. Cut off top of pumpkin and spoon out all the seeds. Combine the rest of the ingredients and place in the pumpkin. If you have left over filling, you can place it in a separate baking dish and cook along side the pumpkin.
Cover the pumpkin in foil in case it spills and place in a baking dish. Cook with the top off for about 2 hours. When serving, scrap the insides of the pumpkin and mix the flesh with the stew. Yummy!

Pa's Pumpkin Patch

I don' know why this is coming out in bold... but oh well.
The other day my mom was watching Joshua and Luke, so we decided to take them to the pumpkin patch. Have you seen the pumpkin patched lately? They are not just your pumpkins, but a small fair! Crazy, but the boys loved it.
Joshua was daring enough to go down the big slide.
This picture makes me crack up every time I see it. I had to share.
Check out the look on his face! Priceless.

I also love this picture of Lukey. He was inside the petting zoo, loving the pigs.
Something about the color of this picture makes him looks a little devilish :)

Even I got to go for a ride on the chu chu train.

SO EXCITED!!!

I was so excited when I was shopping at Trader Joe's today and found this new product!

I have been craving mac and cheese for some reason and even thought about trying to make my own gluten free version... but how convenient is this? I tried it out today and I was very pleased with the taste, given I haven't had the regular stuff in a while. I still want to make some homemade kind... anyone have a good recipe???
By the way... this is even better with TJ's organic ketchup. It's the best!

September baby girls

I am finally getting these pictures up of the two beautiful baby girls who entered the world in September. They both decided to come a little later than expected, we are so glad they are finally here!

Kelly was due Sept 10th. On September 13th (which is my mom's birthday too!) my dear friend Kelly and her husband Stan had their baby girl. They named her Teagan Grace and she was 7lbs, 9oz. and 20 inches. She is adorable! Thanks to needing to be born via c-sections, she has a beautifully shaped head :)

Kelly, don't kill me for putting this picture up, it was the only one I had of the 3 of you. Kelly is going to be such a great mom and Stan is such a happy father. You can tell Teagan has really stolen his heart.

I love holding newborns, they are so content. Even in my arms.

Then my friends and coworkers, Rebecca and Paul, welcomed their baby girl, Isabella Raine on September 21rst. Rebecca was due Sept 9th and did not find out what she was having, so there was a lot of anticipation leading up to the birth. They also had the baby at home, all natural! We are so happy everything went so well. Isabella was 8lbs, 9.5oz and 22 inches. She is a cutie and mom and dad are in love.

CAN SOMEOME PLEASE TELL ME....

What is this fruit??? We were walking in my parents neighborhood and came across two trees bearing this fruit. I picked one (don't tell) because I wanted to take it home to try it. Now I am afraid it is some kind of forbidden fruit and it will poison me! Anyone know what this is???