Too Much Candy

     Halloween is over and now what to do with all that candy! I personally take out a few of the pieces my kids like and the rest goes to work with me. What do you do?
     Speaking of too much candy, kids today get too much of a lot of things. Starting with too much food at Thanksgiving and too many gifts at Christmas. This year I am toning down the food and the gifts. I think our kids get the wrong idea about the holidays. Its about family, friends and giving.
    This year I'm taking the kids grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. They will plan and shop for dinner for another family. Christmas will be the same. They will each get a certain amount of money and they will shop for kids who don't have a lot. It will be good math skills and what a gift for them, to learn about giving.
     Make some new traditions for you and your family. Its a great feeling. Like Oprah says; " theirs nothing greater than giving to make you feel great!"

LEIGHANN

Giving Back to the Community

Unique Surfaces is  hosting a Holiday Open House, Bake Sale and Craft Show. November 12th  at the their showroom in downtown Davison. Their will be drawings for some unique gifts and a grand prize of a 100 dollar visa shopping card. Entry fee is a jar of peanut butter or jelly. With all proceeds going to outreach east a food bank in Davison.
Don't miss out on a wonderful day full of Crafts and Goodies for the Holidays. 10:00 until 4:00 at Unique Surfaces in Davison. They are Davisons best kept secret.


LEIGH ANN

P.S.I will be there!

peanut butter and jellie drive

       Unique Surfaces and Design is going to host a peanut butter and jelly drive. It will be November 12th from 10:00 until 4:00. Their will be a drawing for a 100.00 visa gift card and other wonderful and unique gifts. The fee for the drawings is a jar of peanut butter or a jar of jelly. If you like sweets, then stop in for some wonderful bake sell items. Uniquely different and delicious. This is not your grandmothers craft and bake sell. Just in time for the holidays. Come and get into the spirit of the holidays with Unique Surfaces and Design!!!

It should be a Great Time! I hear Indy Biz Chic's will be there!



LEIGHANN

great deals

        Housewares Deals.  This is a great website. Everyday they email me the deal of the day. They have dishes, glasses, knife sets, pots, pans, baking pans etc.......   On Labor Day I got a 14 piece knife set in a wooden block (Farberware) for 22 dollar and no shipping! Great deals! Great website! Think Christmas presents!
        Also, look out for the Big Toy Book from Toys-R-Us in your Sunday news paper. It always comes out sometime at the end of October. Usually they have 10 dollar coupons in their adds in the Sunday paper as well.
I always get the Sunday paper for the adds and great coupons. I saved 86 dollars this week on my grocery bill!


LEIGH ANN

Its That Time Of Year

And no I don't mean the holiday season. October is breast cancer awareness month. If you need a mammogram than I suggest stop what your doing and make that call right now. Today, I'm going to the doctors for my yearly and will schedule my mammogram. I have personal reasons for reminding women to have their annual check ups. My mom died at the early age of 38 of breast cancer.(Don't be a statistic) So, I have had mammograms since I was 21. Early detection is the best tool you have to protect yourself. So use it! Don't let another day go by without scheduling that important appointment.  Take Care Of You!!!!!!

LEIGH ANN

wine

  Fall, Autumn and Halloween  is here! I am all about the pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie and cut out pumpkin shape cookies. Yesterday, my neighbors gave me a glass of wine. They called it Autumn in a glass. It could be drank hot or cold. If warmed up on the stove, you could put cinnamon sticks and whole cloves with it . Your house would smell wonderful! This would be a great drink to serve to adults before or after trick or treating. If invited to an adult Halloween Party it would make a great hostess gift. Put the bottle in a basket with a couple of wine glasses, cheese cloth and spices. Wow, the host and hostess will love it! Anyone wanting to know the name yet? Can you guess what it is? I love the name especially for this holiday season. Okay, okay I'll tell you.
                        WITCHES BREW 
If your a connoisseur of wine than I'm sure you have already tasted this wine. If not get some! 
                                 YUM!


LEIGH ANN

You Again

          Went to the movies on Saturday to see You Again. It was cute. Glad to see that it was PG so my kids could see it and I didn't have to see animation or a talking animal movie.
          They had a great topic especially for my kids to see. High School and school in general can be hard on everyone. I wish kids weren't so mean to begin with but because they are, dealing with it can be even harder.
          So, waking up today and on the news was a man who committed suicide because someone was cruel and felt the need to share something very personal with the world. Who would want that on their conscious? Why would anyone deliberately get involved in someones personal life uninvited and use that information to hurt and not help?
          As a mom, I hope I teach my children that, what people think or do may be hurtful but what we do with that pain will make us stronger and a much better individual. After all we are individuals and the world would be pretty boring if we all looked and acted alike.
         I'm not saying that I have never hurt someones feelings, but I can honestly say that I have never intentionally hurt anyone feelings. I apologize to anyone out there if I have mistakenly hurt their feelings or made them feel bad in anyway, shape or form. I just needed to say that. Thanks.
        HAPPY MONDAY AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

       Bean soup for dinner. Corn bread too.!

LEIGHANN

PUMPKINS

      Today we went to our favorite place to buy pumpkins. So, we bought 5 pumpkins and two corn stalk bundles. Its cold and windy. A perfect day to do fall things like decorate for Halloween and bake pumpkin muffins. Just like I promised, I will share my pumpkin chocolate chip mini muffin recipe. I found Libby canned pumpkin in the store yesterday so I made them today and their almost gone. The neighbors, papa and us have devoured them. There might be a few for tomorrow morning to enjoy with my coffee if I go hide them right now!
So here it goes 
                           PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MINI MUFFINS
          3 CUPS FLOUR
          2 tsp CINNAMON
          1 tsp SALT
          1 tsp BAKING SODA
          4 EGGS
          2 CUPS SUGAR
          2 CUPS CANNED PUMPKIN
          3/4 CUP VEGETABLE OIL
           2 CUPS MINI CHOCOLATE CHIPS

* IN A LARGE BOWL COMBINE FLOUR, CINNAMON, SALT AND BAKING SODA. (SET ASIDE)  IN ANOTHER BOWL BEAT EGGS, SUGAR, PUMPKIN AND OIL.STIR IN DRY INGREDIENTS UNTIL MOIST. FOLD IN CHOCOLATE CHIPS. SPRAY A MINI MUFFIN TIN WITH NON STICK COOKING SPRAY OR LINE WITH PAPER CUPS. BAKE FOR 10 TO 12 MINUTES IN A 350 DEGREE OVEN.

      This is just one of the fabulous recipes that will be in my Ebook! Enjoy. If you like pumpkin and chocolate then these will definitely become a favorite recipe for you and your family too!
 

LEIGH ANN

why is it my job?

                Why is it my job to figure out what my family is going to eat for dinner? Is it because I'm a female? I'm the mom and wife? Really!! Is it because women wanted equality and wanted to vote?
                 I like to cook and bake. Yet sometimes it seems like a job. Why?
                 Its expected. That's why I don't take out the garbage because it would also become expected!
                 So instead of getting my family to help, I try to come up with ways to make my life easier. For instance, make twice as much so we can have left overs. My moms best one was meat of the week. This is where you make a big ham or roast and then create a week worth of meals around that particular piece of meat. Interesting uh!
                Yes, I am a personal chef. That's why I am qualified to write an Ebook. Cooking with muffin tins have made my life easier in the kitchen!!!! When my book is done, hopefully it will make others life easier too!

LEIGH ANN

TGIF

     Yeah its Friday! Tomorrow its going to be rainy (in Michigan) and cool. It will be a great day for house cleaning (since I'm not done Fall cleaning yet) , putting a pot roast in the oven and making some great muffin tin desserts with the kids. Sometimes its nice to have to stay indoors and not feel like you should be outside and not wasting one of the last sunny days before winter.
      What are your favorite rainy day activities? Some people would sleep until noon, rent their favorite series of movies( like The Godfather, the rocky movies, star war trilogy  etc....) do a favorite craft or hobby, read a great book, catch up with friends by hosting a card party???? IDEA That sounds like fun! My friends and I are into card games especially Texas Hold em! Fun!
     Anyway, I'm going to enjoy my rainy day! Are you?

LEIGH ANN

clean house

      Today was house cleaning day. So much fun! I can say I feel good (and tired) after I clean house. Its like working out. Maybe my endorphins kick in. Anyway cleaning house would be a lot easier if my family would pick up after themselves. If  they could accomplish this than the actual cleaning would go a lot faster. Really the time would be cut in half. I could get right to cleaning instead of organizing, folding, hanging and stacking.
      Let me ask a question; do you dry dust or wet dust? My family has allergies so, wet dusting is what I do. It is disgusting to see how black the water can get. To think we are breathing that dust is just unhealthy. Speaking of clean air, don't for get to change your filters on your heating system. This is the time of year we either clean or change our filters. We also change all the batteries in our smoke detectors! Check them out before your couped up for the winter and unable to open windows and let the germs out.

Happy Cleaning!

LEIGH ANN

cooking is so fun!

     Still writing and revising my Ebook. I love being in the kitchen and cooking for family and friends! Today I had a lot of dishes to clean up. I was able to make four recipes today. The best part is, dinner is done for today and tomorrow! I highly recommend getting involved with something you enjoy doing. It gives me something to look forward to, plus its mine. Not my husbands,kids or friends. Just mine and mine only to relate to. So for all those who feel like all they do is take care of everything and everyone else, do something for you.Only you!
Go now and fine that something!

LEIGH ANN

Ebook

      Haven't blogged in awhile, but have decided to write an Ebook. I love to cook and one of my most favorite utensil in the kitchen  is my muffin tin. It helps me with portion control. It also lets me give my family what they like without having a restaurant menu. Look for the book to be published online in the future. I'm not sure when it will be done. I'm cooking, taking pictures and refining my recipes. You will love it!. It will change your life!



HAVE A GREAT DAY!

LEIGH ANN

baby teeth

I'm thinking about writing an E-Book on how to grow healthy baby teeth. I' m a Dental Hygienist and have worked for a pediatric dental clinic for the past twelve years. I think it could be a good educational tool for parents. What do you think? If anyone is reading my blog, let me know if you think parents would like to know what I know.


Leigh Ann

Labor Day Deal

        I know today isn't Labor Day, put I got a great deal on Labor Day thur this great website. If you haven't heard about housewaredeals.com , then you have been missing out on some great deals. I got a 14 piece knife set for 22 dollars(that's including shipping). Farberware knife block set. Everyday they have a deal for your home or kitchen. Great deals! Today's deal is a 34 piece serving set for 8, for just 42 dollars. They'll even send you a daily e-mail to let you know what their offering. Convenient and practical! Love It and I love my knew knife set! Check out this website! Christmas is coming!

Leigh Ann

todays color is orange

        We've all been told to eat the color of the rainbow. So, today's color for dinner is orange and no its not carrots. It's squash! I love squash, especially acorn and butternut squash. Here is my recipe for butternut squash.

 SIMPLE BUTTERNUT SQUASH

  

1 butternut squash

butter to taste

salt to taste

optional cinnamon and brown sugar

            - Cut the squash in half length wise.Scoop out seeds. Fill a 9x13 pan 1/4 with water. Place squash in pan with water skin side up. Cook in oven on 350 until you can put a fork thur it easily. (About 45 min's to 1 hour. Depends on how big your squash is.)

            - When squash is done, I scrape the squash out of the shell. I mash it like mash potatoes. Then add the butter and salt. Sometimes when I want it to be a little sweet I'll add cinnamon or brown sugar. Its all good!

                  Try something orange today and maybe tomorrow too!

Leigh Ann

casserole recipe

 When I was little we ate a lot of casseroles. A friend of mine was eating this casserole for lunch one day and I asked for the recipe. It was easy and good. Plus, it was a way to get my kids to eat vegetables! I also got to use two Campbell's soup cans which got my kids two soup labels for school. BONUS!!!

                                       TATER TOT CASSEROLE

1 lb. hamburger or ground turkey
1 bag of mixed vegetables
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 small onion
1 pkg. tater tots

   - Brown meat and chopped onion. Mix meat mixture, soups and vegetables together. Places mixture in a 9x13 pan. Place tater tots over meat mixture and bake for 1hour at 375.

   This  is a great dish to make for a quick meal during the week or for a potluck dish to pass.

Not finished yet. 2nd part of no blogging

         Anyway, I serve the stew over mashed potatoes or biscuits. And  by the way this a good recipe for Campbell soup labels and boxtops for your kids schools. I buy Campbell's tomato soup (two Labels) and I serve the stew over biscuits ( I make two cans of Grands (hey that rhymes) so, I get two boxtops.
          Update of the Cake Balls. They were okay. Messy to make. I did get two boxtops for the kids school. I think cupcakes are better, not as messy and less time consuming. Just my opinion. My kids would disagree!
        Gotta go,
           Leigh Ann

no blogging this weekend

Busy this weekend. No blogging done. But on Sunday I made a real simple stew. I got the recipe from my neighbor and it is a great dish to but in the oven and forget about until your ready to eat. It makes your house smell good too.(BONUS!) Anyway its called a five hour stew. Made with beef or pork. I actually made it with chicken and that was good too. Enough talking here's the recipe!

FIVE HOUR STEW

3 to 4 lbs of beef or pork (cubed)

6 large carrots (diced)

2 large potatoes (diced)

1 onion (diced)

(get it everything diced or cubed into bite size pieces)

2 cans tomato soup

2 Tb bouillon and 1 1/2 cups hot water

1 can peas with juice

- Put everything in a dutch oven with the lid at 275 for 5 hours.  DO NOT STIR!!!!

Day Two Of Blogging

Fall is coming. The trees in Michigan are starting to turn. Time to plant mums and visit the apple orchards.This is my favorite time to bake.( Now until Christmas) I love to cook around the seasons. In the winter I love to cook soups,chili,stews and pot roast. Lots of comfort foods that involve ovens or crock pots that make your house feel warm and smell great. Spring is a great time to start bringing out cold salads and ice tea. Summer of course involves grilling hot dogs(only Kogel Vienna's )and chips and dip.(YUM) Fall I think is my most favorite time of the year. I love to bake apple pies and pumpkin muffins. Yesterday was a friends daughters birthday and she told me all about these little bites of heaven she made for her birthday treat for school. There called cake balls. She bakes a cake and when its done she puts it in a bowl and uses a mixer to mix it and a can of frosting together until  the cake is moist with the frosting, then with an ice cream scooper she makes little balls and puts them on a cookie sheet to freeze. After frozen she melts chocolate and dips the balls in the chocolate and puts them on a cookie sheet to dry. Can't wait to try these. They sound like a cross between a cake truffle or a cake bonbon . Easy to transport and not as messy as a cupcake. Give these a try and let me know how they turn out. I think I'll make them tonight with my kids. Maybe we'll get creative and add some chocolate chips in with the frosting and then roll them in nuts after their dipped in the chocolate.YUMMY!!!
                                         Be creative and don't eat too many of them!
                                                      LEIGH ANN
(PS When( Libby )pumpkin in a can comes out I'll share my pumpkin muffin recipe)

BLOGGING

WOW! I'M BLOGGING!
            This is a new experience for me and if your reading this I can guarantee it will be a new experience if not weird experience for you too! Lets start by introducing myself and letting you know why I feel the need to become a blogger.
            My name is Leigh Ann . I'm 43, married and have two children 10 and 8( both girls), two dogs, 15 and 16(both boys) and this weekend will be my 12 year wedding anniversary! Can we tell already that grammar is not my strong point. (Thank God for spell check!) Sorry if your an English teacher or if your OCD about proper grammar techniques. So, why do I feel the need to blog? I don't really! Just wanted to do something different. Hopefully give myself some therapy and keep myself from snacking when I should be exercising!   
            I will be blogging about my life, recipes, the lack of time to exercise, how people drive me crazy, deals of the century and anything else that comes into my life uninvited.
           Let me end today with a quote I left my kids with today before they went to school "MAKE GOOD CHOICES!"
                                                  Have a Great Day, 

                                                Leigh Ann