punkin butt

Boujee as a pumpkin... he really doesnt like costumes but he just looks so cute in them!

SHARKS!!

i dont have a ton to say about this picture it just makes me laugh.

Great American Dine Out - DO IT!

i found this on a website i have been addicted to lately, its called: Hip 2 Save.. 


Through September 25th, YOU can participate in the Great American Dine Out and help support No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength’s campaign to end childhood hunger in America by 2015!!
Great American Dine Out funds help Share Our Strength connect needy families with food in the following ways:
* Enroll more eligible kids in school breakfast, after-school snacks and meals, and their families in SNAP.
* Bring community gardens and farmers markets to low-income neighborhoods
* Bring affordable, fresh fruits and vegetables to urban corner stores.
* Teach at-risk families how to plan, shop for, and prepare healthy, low-cost meals at home.
* Help local food pantries, food banks and soup kitchens meet the pressing demand for more nutritious food.
* Increase awareness and understanding of childhood hunger and solutions to it.
Wanna help support Great American Dine Out?! Head over here to find a participating restaurant in your area.
Here are some of the ways that restaurants possibly in your area are helping to fight childhood hunger…
* PF Chang’s: Donating 50¢ to Share Our Strength for every order of lettuce wraps sold up to $50,000!
* McAlister’s Deli: Proceeds from all cookie sales on 9/25 and 9/26 will be donated to Share Our Strength.
* Boston Market: Donate $1 to Share Our Strength in-store and get a coupon for a FREE side dish on your next visit!
* T.G.I. Fridays: With a $5 donation to Share Our Strength, receive a coupon book worth $15!
* Corner Bakery Cafe: $1 Donation to Share Our Strength gets you a FREE Whoopie pie and a $5 or more donation gets you a coupon booklet worth $20!
* Joe’s Crab Shack: Make a $1 or $5 donation to Share Our Strength and get a coupon for a free piece of Key Lime Pie or an order of crab nachos next time you visit.

enjoy pf changs, in your undies!??!

did you know that PF Changs  has frozen entrees you can purchase at the grocery store??!

i absolutely love PF Changs!! i found ginger chicken in the frozen isle at target the other day and thought id give it a try.  matt made it tonight with a bag of chicken fried rice from trader joes and it was AWESOME!!

i highly recommend trying one of these meals out.. go on, you can eat in your undies too.

Church in La Crosse

I love this building... and when the sky looks beautiful it makes the world appear to be a better place.

albino spiders... EEEK!

i HATE spiders.  not as much as snakes but pretty damn close. they creep me out, move too fast, all i can  think about is how many ive swalled thus far in life..im sure there's a fact somewhere about ppl swallowing a large percent of spiders in their lives.  sick.  i wonder how much it costs for a company to come in your house and spray toxic chemicals to assure those little suckers are gone... i wonder if thats even safe.. or how often you'd have to do it so they dont come back?

the other day i was doing a re-org of the kitchen cos the weather has been getting pretty chilly in the am  and concerning the saftey of my beloved plants this become priority.  i was in a panic state to find the ideal spot for maximum growth as to further my status as the best gardener ever.  

there are only 2 windows in this dump of a rental townhouse we've got (the only plus side is cheap rent.. well and its not quite a total dump it just lacks a dish washer and matt refuses to take on the job himself.... pfft, i totally would do it myself however i hate the soggy hand feeling of sticking your hands in that nasty soap water and it takes SO long, besides after meals is the perfect time for me to do sudoku while matt does the dishes, duh) nevermind, so i moved the kitchen island in front of the window as a plant stand.. this was not exactly the purpose as we truly have about 1 sq. foot of counter space.  this palce was defo designed to appeal to the microwave chef. and those who use all disposable silverware. thats a whole bucket of issues im not going to carry on about now.  

 

i decided to bring this plant in  

just to see what it would look like cos i have to try it out for my dose of immediate gratification,...just as i set the heavy beast of a plant down a HUGE, RABID ALBINO SPIDER WITH DEATH FANGS AND A RAGING ANGER PROBLEM came racing out on the table.. this thing was massive, at least the size of a quarter.. or a pie plate, i cant remember exactly but i know its somewhere in between the two.

I freaked.. if i had been holding my newborn child over a hot stove of boiling water i  defo would have dropped the poor thing to grab whatever closest to me guaranteed to flattened him.. i suppose this is partly why i dont have children... i hope i dont have a child and drop him and end up getting protective services after me and then the little bugger would end up in foster care and probably become a criminal because of the neglect and anger about his parents being suitable enough to care for him, yikes.

did i get him you ask.. the spider... i know the suspense is killing.... i sure did!!  flat as a pancake! no, flatter than that.. pancakes are kind of puffy so i guess more like flat as hair after you use a straight iron and not just any straight iron but the type that cost a ridiculous amount of money cos they work super well!  

so i tell matt this thinking he is going to be as disgusted as i am .. i mean obviously this place is infested with rabid albino spiders!  clearly he will immediately call the landlord asking how to get rid of these beasts!  and if they wont take care of this issue he will threaten for us to move out or call some type of higher authority to get them in trouble and never find any renters again!  To my shock and dismay none of that happend!!

his response?  "you've got the patio set up like a rainforest, what do you expect"  ... well ive been to the rainforest and i did not even see one single albino spider, not even a regular black spider.  -- obviously he is confused. besides, i didnt know all these plants would attract spiders?!  ugh.

Elevators.

have you ever seen a whole group of people waiting for an elevator yet you dont know or see the elevator so it appears they are all just staring at a blank wall with anticipation. 

why is it when you get on the elevator everyone acts like a mute afraid to say anything.. sometimes they wont even say a floor number needing to shuffle around bumping everyone to push it themselves. 

why arent elevators ceilings and floors decorated more appropriately because its the only place anyone is looking ... or at the floor numbers switching  1... 2... ohhh dear, whats coming next?!!?  

sometimes, the brave, will not look at either of those places only just stare from one avoiding face to the next as if testing each person to see who will crack first.  probly judging and saying i wish someone in here would talk or look at me so i would feel comfortable to talk to them... ugh, look at her hair, why leave the house with such a messy mop?!!  did that guy even shower today, stench is permeating from the general are he's in, gross. 

as soon as that door cracks open... sighs of relief, out we go... oh shoot, i have 3 more floors ... now we're stopping for another person.. ugh. process repeat.  im taking the stairs. 

Sunset by the big fish

I took this in June by the big fish view point on lake onalaska... it was one of the best sunsets ive seen.

Toaster Pie

Matt and i got our toaster oven the other day and i really wanted to bake something in it only because it has the option to do so.. and some type convection bake setting which im not all the way sure what that does but i wanted to do it.  I've got apples coming out of my ears from the orchard and figured this was the perfect opportunity to make a yummy apple dessert... so, here's the recipe:

No Crust Apple Pie

4 tbsp butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt 
1 c. flour
6 large apples - peeled, cored and sliced.

mix all the shiz in that order and then plop it on a pie plate, kind of squish it together so the crust holds the apples when its done.  bake for 1 hr on 350.

this was simple after getting the apples sorted, that kinda sucked actually, i made a huge mess as usual when baking.. but i feel like i need to express my creative side and creativity does not like clean and neatativity.  When adding flour the consistency changes a lot and i didnt like how tough it was to stir but realized upon completion it didnt matter how perfectly it's mixed, delish!

Thrift Bugs....

In the past couple of years ive decided to be a thrifty shopper...back in my snooty days (highschool and a few years there after... okay several years after which im too embarrassed to own an exact age) i would have proudly raised my bratty little nose in the air at the thought of second hand anything.. as if i would catch some disease.. pfft, used things!??!  opting to spend my very little cash on ridiculously high priced name brand whatever just because thats what was "in".

I believe my maturity has shown as of late, ive realized the smarter person actually has more to show by snagging a great deal..  shockingly enough, i have lots of used things that would be quite useful to someone else, completely disease free!  who would have thought?! 


I drove home a few nights ago, annoyed, as Loud, Cold air was blasting the side of my head.  My window had finally, fully and officially, busted. Not the glass but the motor part wouldnt move the glass and i could hear the glass just sitting inside the door rattling, crying to be lifted up to rescue my hair from rats nest road. 
thats really not the point here anyway...

so i stopped at this thrift shop in the middle of a field surrounded by lots of other fields.  Browsing around noticing some fairly good deals however more so my eyes are catching many items labeled with higher prices than you would find in a regular shop with brand new things!   so, you get free things... from generous ppl wanting to help others, you put a ridiculous price on it as to make money to help ppl who are less fortunate totally ignoring that the average person shopping at a second hand store is clearly in need of items at a lower price.

cant really see the point of paying $2 bucks for a glass when you can go to target and get a whole set of 8 brand new glasses for $10.00.  --- something's not making sense here. maybe the health insurance companies have taken over the thrift stores now too.. soon enough you'll find a copay on shopping carts and service fee to use the bathroom, maybe increasing profit by requiring customers supply their own toilet paper, now there's an a+ idea.  

(((BUGS))).

now this is why i love wisconsin.

Wisconsin.  this photo was taken by a 4 year old, to me that makes one very clear point... no matter where you're looking its lovely.

Rockin' out in the car..

after dinner while driving to the cities i was scanning the ipod to find music ive been missing for awhile... stumbled upon Lady Antebellum!   3 or so years ago i saw them live at the Fine Line, downtown Mpls... love them!  I think we paid $10 to get in the door and a free cd, Bonus!  id say you wont find Lady A playing for 10 bucks anymore! 

one of the tunes that rings true for me and probably for most who've dealt with any kind of heartbreak be it romantic or not is Things People Say.  


The other other end of the stick id have to say Love Looks Good on You  -- if you're a lover and love being in love.. love this!

Couponing

I've always wanted to be really organized and thrifty by cutting out coupons and saving loads of money but everytime id get motivated I could hardly wait for Sunday morning... grab those ads and CLIP CLIP CLIP away....  thats as far as this process would go. 

untill.... recently spending time with my bf's grandparents i got into clipping a lot of coupons cos they had stacks of the flyers from the 3 or 4 diff sunday papers in the house just piling up on the counter begging to be cut!  I used a few here and there trying to increase my use as my funds started to deplete from my recent unemployment.  A friend gave me a coupon organizer book and lead me to a website called Hip 2 Save! click here for some amazing coupons!  if you love coupons, you'll love this site!

Wanna Keep Kids Busy?? Give em toothpicks and marshmallows!

I had some type of dinner event at my house a few weeks ago... a couple young ladies came up to me and asked for marshmallows... mkay... then toothpicks... mkay, what are we doing with marshmallows and toothpicks??  -- of course... building houses or forts or castles... you be the judge

i guess it sort of looks like a science project you'd create to show molecules or atoms or something?  -- i dunno but im pretty sure bunny marshmallows wouldnt be the first choice... 6 year olds dont seem to mind so have at it. 

Barney's Petting Zoo

Barney's Petting Zoo!!

This place is a lot of fun.  I took matt's neice here, there was no one else around so we had it all to ourselves!  We pet bunnies, guinnea pigs, mini horses, cows, sheep, and loads of goats.. the babies were so stinkin' cute! 

IT's cheap and a great experience for anyone, esp. those unfamiliar with farms / animals... etc. I paid $8.00 for both of us to get in and spent about $2.00 in food to feed the animals for about an hour.  Check out the cute goats!

Ecker's Apple Orchard in WI

I was kid sitting matt's neices this summer and wanted to take them to an apple orchard..  I came across Eckers Apple Farm and decided we would go there as the girls were off to school soon and i wanted to take them!  If you click the link and go to the website you will see they opened August 21st!  Which is exactly why we went on Aug. 21st at approx 10am when they were said to be open... they were open however not for pick your own apples :(  I was sad... they let the girls pick their own from one tree, they didnt seem to mind that much which i guess was the idea however i was disappointed.. i felt misled!  I explained that the website told a different story and basically the ladies in the store said it didnt matter than i should wait for the sign (picture posted) to read "Pick Your Own Apples"  --- i explained we drove at least 45 minutes and it was hardly worth to drive back just to see if the sign said so... jeesh!  I guess i should have called.. i guess they should update their website properly!!

anyhoo... sorry for the complaining... i ended up buying a few ginger gold apples which i had wished id bought more after trying them!! they were spendy at $2.00 a lb however they were amazing.. crisp, juicy... all you dream an apple to be. 

Last weekend matt's sister in law and i went to an apple orchard in the general area of this one called Fergusons Morningside Orchard.  It was HUGE!!!!  we walked into a big barn that had apples out to test, jars of pie filling and apple related products, a counter with carmeled apples and some pastries, you could smell the excitement of the early apple season and all its possibilites. 

After walking through the shop area you come to a bunch of bins with apples next to some bags hanging with prices a small bag is $10.00 a large bag $19.00 (i believe the lrg to be equivilent to 1/2 bushel)  -- we wanted to pick our own instead of grab out of the bins so i picked up the small bag and off we went with a map of the orchard... up the path, around the bend.. and..... its all the way up THAT hill??!  no one around to point you in the direction if you appear to be confused and because of the map we set off up the long long long exhausting jaunt of a hill.  when we finally reached the sign reading "wealthy" i gasped a sigh of relief and hurried to find a decent tree to pick some apples and get moving!  Filled the bag and trekked down the hill.  as returning to the bin area i ended up choosing a larger bag and was able to add different types of apples to it.  i also purchased a can of cherry pie filling (matt's fav).  I havent used the wealthy apples as of yet to tell you how amazing they are... on the other side of the map you would find a chart telling you which apple to use for what... wealthy seemed to be good for baking, pies and sauces.  i plan to bake a pie, attempt apple butter that doesnt taste like lemons and maybe research a few more ideas.  I did however try the ginger gold apples and they were TERRIBLE!  so mushy ... i was discouraged.. the price was only $1.00 a lb and i knew why... i should have paid $2 for the better apples! 

do you have any good apple recipes?  where is your favorite orchard?  what's your favorite apple and why?

MN State Fair!!!

Holy buckets of People!  I lived in MN most my life until just recent and have been a frequent state fair goer... i think its just something you have to do if you live in MN, right?!  i hate all the crowds of people who seem to forget any manners they have and will plow over a 2 year old to get ahead of an old lady for a porkchop on a stick however there is defo some gooooood ppl watching that comes with that. 

I like trying diff foods... and having some fav's too of course.  my news fav are the deep fried pickles with cream cheese in the middle and ranch dipping sauce... DELISH and a heart attack causing way to make pickles seriously unhealthy but americans seem good at doing that with anything and everything dont we?! I love the corn on the cob.. not deep fried. just as is!  Tried the choclate covered bacon this year.. expected more out of it.. could have used thicker bacon, come on, if you're going to do it, DO IT!  Was not a fan of the chocolate covered frozen banana.. would rather have a plain old regular temperature banana. 

love the rides... some really good spinny get ups that will be sure to activate your vertigo.. this didnt stop me tho!  im a ride enthusiast and i highly recommend you go on them at least once. 

Side Note: we went to valley fair on a saturday during the state fair and it was much less crowded than normal.. lines were approx 15 - 20 mins on the big rollercoasters and maybe 5 on others.  i would defo do that again! 

Como Park - St. Paul, MN

This is a pic in the conservatory at como park in st. paul, mn that i took about 4 weeks ago.  I dont know much however i know they change the flowers to match the seasons and i know you can get married in here if you want to but its very small so you would want a very personal ceremony for this to be your choice.  i love the beauty, the culture and that you can get in for free (with a donation)  I highly recommend going if you are in the area.. there is also a zoo where you can see lots of diff. types of animals like tigers, gorilla, monkeys, seals, zebra, giraffe... many more.  there are loads of kiddie rides, the prices are a bit high but if you get an  unlimited wrist band its a better deal than going to valley fair where your kid can only go on a fraction of the rides and you have to pay $40 bucks to get in also! 

Big Green Limes!

I love limes.. the color, the smell.. they look so beautiful as a table decoration in a nice dish!  I don't really know what to do with them aside of sqeezing a slice into a bottle of corona and drink away :) 

what do you do with your limes?

Earrings

Here is an example of a pair of earrings i made last spring, these were very time consuming and probably cost the most out of any earrings ive made.  I had fun with this craft however it was a time sponge!  I spent a lot of money initially to get a wide variety of beads and accessories which i dont think was necessary.  I didnt need to purchase too many tools but i could see the need to buy better quality tools if i choose to continue making more earings.  I want to pick this up again as the weather gets cold as i think i could try selling these.. a great website for selling / buying ive found is called Etsy click here and check it out!  On Etsy there are rules about the stuff you can sell so be sure to check those out before doing so.  Comments and questions are wanted.. so do it!

Herbs - BASIL!

I planted an "herb garden" this year in one very large pot which included basil, parsley, oregano, thyme and rosemary.  The herbs did very well, however, i found out quite quickly that parsely will TAKE OVER your garden!  I will not be planting parsely next year and if i ever do will  be advised to plant it separetly.  The basil grew lovely but will take over the garden also, it grows very large and tall so you need a lot of room for this plant or it will prevent small plants from getting any sunlight.  Next year I will plant Basil separate or with a impatient in a large pot.  I will grow oregano and thyme in the same pot and rosemary with an impatient.  if you leave plenty of room apart from the plants they will grown in quite beautifully!  side note:  i tried lavendar twice and couldnt get it to flourish! I will most likely try that again next year.. i should probably read up on tips and tricks!  Fresh herbs throughout the summer were awesome, defo something i will continue to do!

tomatoes!

This was my very first year of growing .. well anything really!  this plant was given to me by matt's granny, hazel!  its a celebrity tomato plant and i highly recommend them!  i defo want to try growing 2 next year.  they are late growers, i dont think i really had any tomatos to harvest until early august.  i have picked about 8 really large yummy tomatos so far and have about two ready right now.. there are several still coming! 

Simple Recipes

Super new to this blogging world but want to share some ideas, recipes, fun stuff ive learned and know with whoever cares to stumble upon it and also creating a reminder for myself cos i seem to forget what i did yesterday if i havent written it down... well, and that is if i can find it! 

So, here goes... 

Pumpkin Spice Cake Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Betty Crocker Spice Cake ( i like betty crocker because you get the box tops for education :)
• 1 can of Pumpkin -  the only ingredient listed on the can is pumpkin, im going to try and can some of my own fresh pumkin because its not available in the stores out of season!
• 1 container of Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Frosting

Prepapre spice cake as the box indicates and add the can of pumpkin to the mix.  use muffin pans and bake.  after cooled spread cream cheese filling on top and enjoy a warm comfy treat that will remind you of mom's homemade pumpkin pie!

** this recipe was given to me by a friend who has been on weight watchers.  she makes them in large muffin pans so as to have 12 big muffins, one without the frosting is only 1 point!!  -- for all you WW fans you know this is a great sweet low point treat!

Cheesecake Jello Dessert

Ingredients: 

• Cheesecake Jello Pudding
• Graham Crackers
• Cherry  Pie Filling  or any flavor you'd like
• Lite Cool Whip

Prepare cheesecake pudding as instructions on box.  crumble graham crackers and place on the bottom of a dish, top with a layer of pudding, add a layer of cherry pie filling, add more graham crackers and top with cool whip!  -- enjoy!