Bread pudding

We LOVE bread pudding at Christmas! This is a cranberry version, but cinnamon raisin is amazing, too. I use the recipe from the better homes and gardens cookbook. And top it with the knock off kneaders vanilla cream sauce recipe. Or vanilla ice cream. Or whip cream. Good warm or cold. Very Christmas-y. 

Garage

So this has nothing to do with food, but is there anything better than an organized garage!? This is better than donuts!

Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese orange frosting. I took them to our Young Men/Young Women Christmas dinner. And are a few myself. :)

Cheddar cheese cubes, grapes, trail mix of goldfish, mini triscuits, peanuts, and gingerbread marshmallows. 

Chewies

I should not be left in the house alone with these. Buttery graham cracker crust, topped with sweet and condensed milk, followed by chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut. Then baked to warm ooey gooey goodness.  Must eat with a glass of milk. :)

Chicken noodle soup

Nothing quite like homemade chicken noodle soup...

MENU December 7 - December 13

Onion bagel with chive cream cheese, cherry tomatoes, mini mandarin 'cuties', and soda cracker candy. 

Soda Cracker Candy

Have you made this before!? It's basically saltine crackers covered in homemade caramel, chocolate, and chopped pecans. After it cools and sets, you break it up into pieces, like peanut brittle. Yum! I first learned this recipe from my now sister in law, Lindsay, long before I married her brother. I always think of her when I make it :)

MENU December 1 - December 7, 2014

Pumpkin pie

I was at Costco a week before thanksgiving. I put a pumpkin pie in my cart. The lady next to me said "do u think that will keep till thanksgiving?" My response? "I don't know. I plan to eat it this weekend!" Then I giggled. She seriously looked at me like I might be committing a sin. Who says we can only eat pumpkin pie on thanksgiving!? I want it now!

Thanksgiving!

We hosted thanksgiving at our house! So I thoughtfully made up this schedule. Everything was done at the same time, which is really hard to do! 

And I took this one photo, which ended up fuzzy. :(  We had my parents, my sister and her friend, my brother, and of course, our little family. Happy day!

The menu consisted of the basics. Homemade stuffing, yams and apples, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls, and jello salad. 

Cranberry sauce

I LOVE cranberry sauce!!! I'm making extra this year. I plan to use the leftovers in a cranberry cake recipe I found. Pics to come!

Spider Eggs

Happy Halloween! These are the easiest, cutest like bites. Regular deviled eggs, with cut olives to create "spiders". And kids love to help add the spiders!

Apple crisp

It must be autumn!

Ham sandwich, cottage cheese, grapes, and teddy Graham's. 

MENU September 28 - October 4, 2014

MENU September 21 - September 27, 2014

Tomatoes!

My 5 year old was outside yesterday and she made a discovery. Our tomatoes finally turned red!!! So excited!

Oh happy day!!!

This lunch was made by dad! What a rock star!

Bagel with veggie cream cheese, cheddar sticks, canteloupe, and peanuts. 

Apples!

We went to visit our dear friend, Brother Lynn, and came home with a bag of apples! They are golden delicious and boy are they ever! So we made applesauce. I just used our handy dandy peeler, slicer, corer, put them in a pot with a splash of lemon juice, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. I covered and simmered them for a few hours, then smashed them with a potatoe masher. Delicious! 

And Brother Lynn made me promise to make apple cinnamon pancakes. We made them late Saturday night, put them on a cookie sheet, covered them with plastic, and put them in the fridge. Then Sunday morning I scrambled some eggs, and reheated the sheet of pancakes in the oven for 10ish minutes. It was perfect! Saved lots of time and cleanup, plus I got to sit and eat with my family. Usually I am standing at the counter flipping pancakes. Success! I'll do it that way again. And of course, homemade syrup. 

Bagel with veggie cream cheese (my kids fave), quesadilla, homemade applesauce, ants on a log, pretzel/peanut/nutter butter mix. 

MENU September 14 - September 20, 2014

PB&J, half banana, cottage cheese, pretzels, and nutter butter cookie bites. 

Bagel and cream cheese, cheese sticks, cashews, cucumbers and ranch, and a no bake cookie. 

Bubblegum

We've discovered blowing bubbles! Big time :)

Apple cinnamon peanut butter wraps, watermelon, Fritos, cherry tomatoes, and string cheese. 

MENU Sept 7 - Sept 13, 2014

Buttermilk waffles with raspberry jam, cherry tomatoes, apple, cashews, and string cheese. 

MENU August 31 - September 6, 2014

MENU August 24 - August 30, 2014

Cabbage

Here's Larson's entry for the Bonnie cabbage contest. It weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz. He did a great job taking care of his cabbage all summer. And because it was his, he chose how we cooked and ate it. 

He wanted it steamed with butter and salt. Great choice! We also had watermelon from our neighbors garden and tomato soup. 

Birthday boy!

We had a celebration at our house today! Larson turned ten. And because it fell on Labor Day, we had our whole family together. And no school! Here's what he requested for dinner...

Waffles with syrup, whip cream, and raspberries, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Doesn't get much better than that! Especially since we also had donuts for breakfast! Yikes!

Sugar

Looks like the Rupp's are ready for a fun weekend full of sugar. Rice Krispie treats for a family reunion and better than "anything" cake for Larson's birthday party. Party on!

FSTG chips, cukes and ranch, grapes, and string cheese. 

Day 1...Here we go again!

Time for school lunches again! Onion bagel with vegetable cream cheese, half an apple, trail mix of goldfish, peanuts, & fruit leather, and a windmill gingerbread cookie. I'll miss my little stinkers while they eat lunch at school! :(

Tomatoes

It's a happy day when you get to eat colorful tomatoes! Thank you Bradbury's!

Zucchini Cake

When you have lots of this...

You make this...

We have one zucchini plant this year, plus our awesome neighbor Nedd brings us veggies. We love it! And my cousin brought me a BIG zucchini yesterday. I suppose I should make some bread and muffins, too. One cake isn't gonna cut it! Happy harvest!

Snicker doodles

We're making snicker doodles for my cousin Katherine's wedding. I love the recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. As a matter of fact, most every recipe I've tried from it has been fabulous. It's definitely my go to. Pray it doesn't rain tomorrow for Kat's outdoor reception!