Pumpkin Chicken Chili Fall Recipes #pumpkin #recipes

I know that pumpkin may sound like an odd ingredient to put into a chili recipe. But this chili is perfect for Fall night dinner, and certainly makes use of the stray can of pumpkin left over in the pantry.

No worries of your chili tasting like pumpkin pie, it won't, it will be unusual though, and I mean that in the best way.

This is the first time I have made Pumpkin Chicken Chili, but it certainly won't be the last. My family loved it, and the next time I make it, I'll make a double batch, and freeze half for another dinner.

I used chicken thigh meat instead of chicken breasts because I like the more flavorful dark meat. And it's less expensive, too.

Fall Field Trips and Keen Footwear #boundlesswonder

* I received a pair of Keen shoes to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Post by-Laura

The Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The cool air, the falling leaves, nature turning colors, it's amazing. It is also a time for pumpkin patches and trips to local farms to see all the Fall foods being harvest. We recently visited a local farm in Auburn CA on a school field trip for my son. I knew when we were getting ready for the day that it would require more than his favorite Keen sandals that I cannot get off his feet, he only wants to wear them. He tried wearing his Keen sandals in the rain the other day, I had to put my foot down on that. He did wear his new Keen Encanto Wesley High Top sneaker on this field trip.

I knew from previous years I did not want him wearing clunky rain boots on this field trip so he could run and play without burden. The Keen kid shoes offer him the flexible support he needs and with a padded collar for comfort. The shoes are okay for light rain but not puddles so I knew they would be perfect for a sunny Fall day on the farm. This is also his first big boy tie shoe that I am excited to be teaching him to tie his shoes on.

We walked all over this amazing big family farm for a few hours. We explored our way through a kiwi maze, we gathered chestnuts and ate them freshly roasted, we visited a "haunted" bathroom and explored a pumpkin patch all without the battle of him complaining boots are too heavy or uncomfortable.

He will definitely let me know if he does not like a shoe I have bought him. He will not wear one and will give a very detailed reason as to way. Over the last few years switching to Keen footwear as a regular shoe for my son he no longer complains of achy feet. I love the quality and durability of Keen footwear. My son always outgrows a Keen before he totally beats it up, to me that is a great shoe!

I loved seeing my son smiling on a beautiful Fall day exploring a family farm. We learned so much from the family farm about harvesting, planting, growing and ways to incorporate farming into our own lives.

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Did you know it's National Pumpkin Day? I love celebrating all things pumpkin, so I just had to share this super easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake.

I've recently started being a nanny two days a week for the most adorable ten-month old baby boy. His parents are wonderful people, so it's really been a blessing for all of us to meet and start this relationship. I'd forgotten how amazing babies are and how much work they are. But I love doing this and the baby is one of the sweetest little guys I've ever met.

And all this brings me back to this yummy cake. I bake all the time, for blog posts, for family birthdays and all kinds of occasions. I really love baking. But I've been busy this last week and haven't baked anything.

Yesterday before my grandchildren left for school, they asked me if I could bake them a treat. I'm happy to be a Nana that bakes, so of course I said yes. I normally always bake from scratch now, but remembered I had this yummy, time-saving recipe.

It calls for a box of yellow cake mix, canned pumpkin, and a can of ready-made frosting. From start to finish, it only takes about 40 minutes. Bake it in a 13x9 inch baking pan and it makes about 12 servings, depending on the size of your slices.

My grandchildren loved it and so did the rest of my family. It's perfect if you need a quick dessert on short notice, or a great afterschool snack cake.

Recipe for Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:

1 package of yellow cake mix (about 15 ounces)

1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

2 eggs

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3/4 cups mini chocolate chips, divided

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 container ready-made cream cheese frosting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 inch metal baking pan and line with parchment paper.

Beat cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, water, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl with electric mixer 2 minutes, or until well blended. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and pecans. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan completely, then frost cake with frosting and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.

-Post by Patricia



Fall Snack Mix For Kids Made With Goldfish® Crackers

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MixMatchMunch #CollectiveBias

My grandchildren started their new school last week and I'm thrilled to say that they love it! They had never moved before, so we weren't sure how they would feel about attending a much bigger school and having to make new friends. But it all went well, and I couldn't be more relieved.

They came home with lots to tell us, and of course after a long day, hungry for a great afterschool snack. Since they love Goldfish® crackers so much, I thought I would put together a snack mix that included them with a bit of a fall theme.

My grandkids love hearing about when their mom was a little girl and that she loved eating Goldfish crackers just like they do. I always get lots of smiles when they're eating them and listening to stories about her.

It's really so easy to put together a great tasting snack mix with your favorite ingredients. I like to make a big batch of it and store it in a covered container so that it's ready right when they get home from school.

This fall snack mix includes Goldfish crackers colored variety, dried cranberries, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, stick pretzels, and white chocolate chips. The kids really love it, and I get cool Grandma points!

I'm so proud of these three, how brave they have been with the move and adapting to our new hometown. I love being able to offer them an afterschool snack that they love and I know they won't waste. Goldfish crackers are always the perfect solution for my grandchildren's snacking needs.





I find the 30 count packs really convenient, and it includes three of our favorite flavors. Sometimes I'll pick up the bulk boxes too, just so I know we have plenty of crackers on hand.

You can find the bulk boxes on the rollback price of $5.98 at Walmart. It's a great time to stock up and make sure there are plenty of Goldfish snacks on hand for your little ones.

Ingredients:

2 cups Goldfish crackers

2 cups stick pretzels

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

In a big bowl, put in all ingredients and give it a big stir. So easy!

You can change up the kind of chips you add to your snack mix, too. We really like the white chocolate kind, but semi-sweet chocolate, or butterscotch would also taste great.

You can find Goldfish crackers in different sizes and varieties at your local Walmart. I found the 30 count packs in the aisle of other multi-packaged products.

Look for this in-store offer that may be available at your local Walmart: Save $1.00 on any ONE (1) Bolthouse Farms® 10 oz. Baby Carrots or Bolthouse Farms® 11 oz. juice when you buy any ONE (1) Pepperidge Farms® Goldfish® crackers 30 oz. or larger.

With school back in full swing for the kids, I know we'll be making more after school snack mixes with our favorite kinds of Goldfish crackers.

Have you ever made a snack mix for your kids before? What ingredients would you use to make a delicious snack mix that you know your kids would love? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Spicy Beef and Potato Soup

September has always been the start of the new year for me. Going back to school is a very big deal, I think. It was for me when I was a child, it was for my own children, and now it is the same for my grandchildren.

I'm so happy to tell you that my grandson Jayden, who started second grade on Wednesday, loves his teacher and new classroom. I know I'm not responsible for him the way his parents are, but believe me when I say I was pretty anxious to know how that first day went.

September is also the time I start thinking about cooler weather, and the hearty soups and stews that my family enjoys. I love making soup in my big pot, and there are so many easy soups that can be made with very simple ingredients.

This Spicy Beef and Potato Soup is made with ground beef, potatoes, and corn, items that many of us already have on hand. This recipe makes a nice big pot of soup, with a delicious tomato flavor, and even the kids will love it.

Recipe for Spicy Beef and Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1-1/2 cups frozen corn
4 cans (8 ounce each) tomato sauce
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon hot sauce

Directions:

In a large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook beef until browned, drain off fat.
Add potatoes, onion, corn, and tomato sauce. Stir in 4 cups water, salt, pepper, and hot sauce.
Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 1 hour or until potatoes are tender and soup has thickened.

Makes 6 generous servings.

Homemade Chocolate Donuts with Orange Glaze

Two things are for sure, we love the Fall and we love donuts. Put them together and we are in heaven. Here is a recipe for Chocolate Donuts with Orange Glaze, they are seriously mouth watering.

Happy Friday + Homemade Apple Pie

 

In honor of the weather change here in Washington, I baked an apple pie.

Apple Pie is one of those deserts that just about anyone loves, served with vanilla ice cream you can't go wrong.

My favorite addition to this recipe is the lemon zest/juice, it gives it that extra tang!

 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
•  Pie Dough, your recipe of store bought crust, whichever you prefer     
• 10 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus additional for pie top
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• Pinch ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your pie dough into two 1/8-inch-thick circles. Flatten out, slightly larger than you pie plate. Press one of pastry the circles into the pie plate.
2. In a large bowl, combine apples, sugar, lemon zest and juice, spices, and flour. Toss well. Spoon the apples into pie pan. Dab with butter, and cover with the remaining pastry circle. Cut several steam vents across top. Seal by crimping edges. Brush with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with additional sugar.
3. Bake until crust is brown and juices are bubbling, about 1 hour. Let cool and serve with ice cream!!

ENJOY!!

Last minute Apple Stamp Paint Project with the Kids

Before November is over and we pack up all things fall-like and gear up for Christmas I wanted to get in one more craft with the boys. They love paint and stamps so what better way to combine the two than with turning some aging apples into stamps!! We had all of the supplies already in our home so away we went. Here is the steps we took to make apple stamped collages:

The Supplies: Apples, knife, paper plates, paint and paper

Cut the apples in half and remove the seeds. I suggest you leave the stem because it looked really cool when it was painted as well! Side note: As you can see these apples were getting past their prime so I thought they would make a great "stamps" for this project.

Squeeze the paint onto the paper plates.

I chose fall colors such as yellow, orange and red. I set it all up and called the boys to the table.

They stamped away!!

Love the Red!!

More stamping!

Liam got really into it and it was starting to get messy haha

In the end the colors were messy and mixed up but I didn't mind because this project was just for entertainment purpose. They loved stamping and painting with no rules really. FUN!!!