Happy Halloween

Some Celebrations are easy to find! Halloween is a special day where kids and grown ups alike dress up and enjoy candy. This Halloween I am Trunk or Treating with the little ones and hoping to avoid the really tempting candy. Halloween can be a time to laugh, be silly, and try new things. Have your loved ones dress as a theme, make homemade costumes, go on a costume hunt and see how many different types of costumes you can take pictures of, and of course my favorite two: eat spooky foods and tell ghost stories.

No matter how you chose to do do so enjoy this last day of October by enjoying one of life's spookiest celebrations.

Wind and Rain

The Storm has hit the East coast bringing rain and wind to my life. The weather outside is now matching the mood inside. The past couple of weeks have been a little rocky. A sick child, a family adjusting to a new schedule, a few personal issues popping up. The windy emotions swaying back in forth in my life making celebrations seem small and not as often as I would like.

Sandy reminds me that storms come and they pass. We have to be prepared for the rest, hope for the best and live through what is. I am thankful that the weather is bringing me a calm feeling with the noise outside I can drown out the clutter from with in and move on with what is. I cannot stop the rain and the wind but I can celebrate living through it.

Be safe with Sandy and all of life's storms.

"There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm." -Willa Catha

America Makes Dinner

October 17, 2012 is a day to meet in the kitchen and cook as a family. This day is America Makes Dinner night. This is a great campaign to encourage us all to drive past the drive through and head into the kitchen to cook up something great.

Family dinners are a great treat for my memory. I remember the smells from the kitchen as my mom cooked up something delicious. My brother and I would sit at the table and wait for my mom to lay out the goods. I remember laughing and smiling during meals and loving most every moment.

My family is young but we eat together every night. My two little ones love this part of the day. I don't yet have the busy chatter of events and news but we do go around the table and share our best and worst moments of the day. My children love this part of dinner almost as much as they love finding out what is for dessert.

On this day celebrate the joys of family over a great home cooked meal. For ideas visit
 America Makes Dinner  or enjoy what my family will be eating with the recipe below!*receipe from Parenting Magazine

And as always Please, share any ideas/recipes you may have!

Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:

• 1 cup teriyaki sauce (or enough to cover the chicken during marinating stage)
• 1 lb. boneless chicken breast
• ½-lb. strip steak
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 4 cups cooked brown rice
• ¾-cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• ¼-pound snow peas, trimmed and cut lengthwise into thin strips
• ¼-cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1 (15 oz.) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• ¼-cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
• 2-3 tablespoons bottled teriyaki sauce (or, to taste)
• 2 scallions, sliced
• Sesame seeds, for garnish

1.Cover chicken with teriyaki sauce and marinate for at least an hour, or as long as overnight. Remove from marinade, heat oil in pan, and sauté chicken until cooked through, about 7 to 8 minutes per side. Cut into diagonal slices, about two inches thick.
2. Prepare all of your ingredients before starting to cook--do your chopping and dividing and slicing first thing. While you do this, let your steak come to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
3. Heat a heavy skillet to medium-high and coat your steak in a bit of the oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Place your steak in the hot pan, and let cook for five minutes on each side. Remove from pan and transfer to the oven (transfer to a cast iron grill pan, if you have one, or just another oven-proof pan).
5. Heat remaining oil in the original steak pan, which should still be on medium-high heat.
6. Add remaining ingredients, through teriyaki sauce, one at a time, sautéeing for 15 to 30 seconds each time you add an ingredient. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until everything is heated through and the portions in contact with the pan become a little bit crispy. Stir again, and turn heat to very low to keep everything warm.
7. Remove steak from oven and check for doneness; if it's pinker than you prefer, pop it back in for a minute or two more. If it's done, let it sit for five minutes, then slice thinly.
8.Remove fried rice from stove. Arrange steak on top of adult portions, and sprinkle sesame seeds and sliced scallions over the plates before serving (or omit from kids' portion, if so desired).

Apple A Day

We have all heard the saying an Apple a day keeps the doctor away and with so many types of apples and ways to eat apples who wouldn’t want to celebrate the whole month of October with Apples.  Not only are they tasty research has proven apples can help with a many things.

-the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry say the fruit’s flavonoids have antioxidant properties that may help reduce the chance of cancer.
-Studies have shown that women who snack on an the high fiber snack three times a day lost more weight than those who ate a different snack of equal fiber content.
-Apples act as a toothbrush helping to clean teeth between meals

A yummy Apple Treat  from France

Individual Apple Tart Tatin 1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease the inside of a 12-cup muffin tray set on a rimmed baking sheet. 2) Place the puff pastry on lightly floured surface and use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out 12 circles. Place the circles on a tray and prick all over with a fork. Chill. 3) Pour ½ cup water into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and honey and increase heat to high. Swirling the pan occasionally, cook until the sugar is dark amber, about 10 to 12 minutes. Take the pan off heat and whisk in butter one piece at a time until completely emulsified. Divide the sauce amount the muffin cups. Divide the apple slices among the muffin cups, breaking them if need to.

4) Cap each muffin cup with a circle of puff pastry dough. Bake for 20 minutes, the reduce temp to 350 degrees and continue baking until the pastry is golden-brown and the apples are tender when pricked with fork, another 20 to 25 min. 5) Transfer muffin tray to a wire rack to partially cool for 20 to 30 minutes. Use spoon to help scoop out tarts, invert them onto a platter. Or, let cool and reheat in a 340 degrees oven for 3 to 20 minutes before inverting onto serving dish.   Nutrition per tart 238 Cal 2g protein, 42g carbs; 13g fat; 1g fiber; 1g iron; 48mg sodium Recipe from Melissa Clark, author of In the Kitchen With a Good Appetite