Shrunken Heads in Apple Cider

As I was browsing through Pinterest trying to find something fun to do for our Halloween party this year, I spotted Martha Stewart's link to "shrunken heads" in apple cider. They looked so cute so I gave it a try. I ended up amending the original recipe that Martha Stewart gives here, but I think it is easier to do it my way, and it turned out great!

***WARNING: This recipe does not tell you how to make cider, only the shrunken heads :)

Makes 4 heads.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 medium sized apples
• 1 bottle of lemon juice (6.7 oz)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 cup water
• Cider
• Non-stick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS FOR HEADS

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• In a medium sized bowl mix one bottle of lemon juice with water and salt. Set aside.

• Peel your apples. 
• Slice them in half down through the core. 
• Brush away any seeds
• Using a sharp paring knife, carve faces into the round side of the apples. Deeper is better.

• Dip the apples into the lemon juice mixture immediately after carving their faces. 
• Let soak for 30 seconds each and then place on a paper towel. 

• Spray your baking sheet with non-stick spray and place the apple's face up on the tray.
•  Let them bake for about 90 minutes or until golden/brown.
• Take out from the oven and let cool.  They may still be soggy but this will be fine. 

• Heat up your apple cider (bought mine in a jug) and plop the apple heads in!

• Enjoy as your guests are creeped out and fascinated at the same time.
• Receive multiple pats on the back for a job well done!

Grad School

As I write this, I'm avoiding finishing a heavy research paper that is due tomorrow.  In order to perpetuate my disdain for school right, here are some great links to why BYU is so freakin hard... why I thought I should go to Grad School -and now don't- and why there are no jobs for Humanites PhD's!

Anyway, they're a good laugh. Check em out. 

This Thank You letter: So You Want to Go to Grad School?

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Gravy and Rice

 Good Morning! Here's a little recipe I tried yesterday for Sunday dinner. I wanted something quick and easy because I had a lot to do and needed to maximize my time.  It doesn't get much easier than this! 

And first of all, can I say how hard it is to get an appetizing picture of a crock pot meal?? Really hard! But here ya go. Let's just say it tastes way better than it looks. 

Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 chicken breasts
• 1 can cream of chicken or mushroom (depends on what you prefer)
• 1 envelope chicken gravy mix
• Rice

DIRECTIONS:

• For easy cleaning, spray your crock pot with Pam
• Layer the bottom of your 4.5 quart crock pot with chicken breasts
• Sprinkle Gravy mix onto chicken
• Spoon out 1 can cream of chicken or mushroom on top of chicken.
• Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
• Shred chicken with forks and mix sauce and gravy mix together.
• Serve over steamed rice!

I used this rice and it was amazing! Look for "Calrose Rice" or white rice with medium grain. This creates a stickier more restaurant like rice. 

Grammy's Birthday

This weekend we celebrated my Grandma's 71st birthday up at Snowbird! It was beautiful up there! The first night we went to dinner at the Steak Pit, went hot-tubbing, and then fell asleep watching a movie. I have to say it was hilarious sleeping over with my Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Leslie all in the same room. But it was fun! Here are a few pics.

Mom and Grammy

Mom and I

Dinner at the Steak Pit - Karla, Les, Grammy, Mom, Me

Yummy Salmon!

Birthday Cake

Porcupine outside the window! So cool

Simple Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread - YUMMY!

I am going to visit a few neighbors today so I thought I would bring them a yummy holiday treat. Because both Devin and I LOVE Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, I decided to whip up my own batch and keep some for ourselves!

This bread was so yummy! It was warm and moist and it had the perfect amount of pumpkin spice and chocolate sweetness.And the best part of all? It's so simple with only basic ingredients! And doesn't it look so good??

Makes 3 8-in x 4-in loaves. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 Eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1-1/2 cups canola oil
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS: 

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
• In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Stir into
• dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.
• Pour into three greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for
• 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes
• out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire
• racks. 

New Car!

I don't know how we bought two cars in one month, but we did! We swapped out my Mazda and Devin's Honda to get our Nissan Xterra and this Hyundai Elantra. I guess we just love change?  We bought them from Devin's buddy Jason at Action Auto.  They were fabulous. They got us great deals at great prices and were willing to work with us on anything and everything. Definitely check them out.

Anyway, check out my cute new car! It comes with leather, heated seats, a beautiful sound system and much more!

Halloween DIY Decor

Sorry it's been a while since my last post! Life just gets so busy.. Anyway, I wanted to share with you some of the cute DIY Halloween decor I made for our cute house! So simple and so easy. Check out the pictures and share if you love them! 

This was so easy to make and only $5!

I bought this wreath from Walmart for about $2.00 

I bought some chevron printed burlap fabric from Walmart for about $2.00.

I bought this orange ribbon from Walmart for $1.00

I used scissors and safety pins lying around the house to cut the fabric and pin it tightly around the wreath. Then I tied a big bow around the wreath. I cut more strips of the ribbon and tied those on as well for extra volume!

This table cloth was ridiculously easy.

I used the leftover burlap fabric from the wreath I made above, and cut a square out. I threw it under a bowl of small pumpkins and voila! Instant fall centerpiece. 

I just had to show off my chevron pumpkin. It doesn't look that cute in this picture because I used glitter paint that is somewhat translucent. Up close and in real life, it's adorable! 

I took painters tape and taped around the pumpkin in a zig zag shape on two rows.  Then I painted it! I let it dry and peeled off the tape to reveal this fun pattern.