recipe // meat sauce

I have been raving about my neighbor's meat sauce since the first time I had it! So good and full of veggies that my kids have no idea they are eating is a major win for me!

Since the first time they had us over for a delicious dinner, I immediately inquired about the magic sauce! This magic sauce is healthy and my kids just seemed to inhale it always asking for seconds. Seriously! These boys can not get enough of the magic meat sauce!

So! Because I like to share, and my beautiful neighbor straight from Italy said she would love for me to share this with y'all, here I am to clack it all out!

Meat Sauce

2-3 Carrots Sticks (Chopped)

2-3 Celery Sticks (Chopped)

1 Onion (Chopped)

4-6 Garlic Cloves (Chopped)

2-3 TBSP Olive Oil

Ground Pork

Ground Beef

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 TSP Italian Seasoning

1 Can of Crushed Tomato

1 Can of Tomato Sauce (if you prefer your sauce to be more sauce-y than meat-y)

1 Can of Beef Broth

Dash of Red Wine (If you have it!)

Parmesan Cheese (Now this portion I can't speak to since we don't do dairy, but if you do enjoy dairy in your home, add some!) 

Directions:

To start you will chop all the veggies so that they can be put into a food processor. Process away (This is how all the goodness gets enjoyed by your kiddos!). Meanwhile, add olive oil to your pot which should already be on Medium High heat. Once all the veggies have been processed, throw it all into your pot along with the ground beef and pork. Cook all foods together till the meat is cooked through. 

Once your meat is cooked through, add your crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, Italian Seasoning, dash of red wine, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for as long as you like and can, stirring occasionally. The more the flavors sit together the more lovely the sauce will be!

Make your noodles (Hubby and I like spaghetti squash while the boys enjoy their whole wheat noodles.) and pour the magic meat sauce over to enjoy - nice and hot!

NOTE: The wonderful thing about this recipe is you can put as many or as few of each of the listed ingredients! It really all just melds so beautifully together no matter what! I've not had fresh garlic before and just added garlic powder to taste. Another time I only had ground turkey and ground beef - still yummy! Four carrots, one celery, small onion - perfect! No can of broth, only beef cubes and water - Yes! 

This stuff is divine and I seriously sometimes want to just eat it as a soup! It's great over bread, on any noodle, lasagna, etc etc etc and it freezes beautifully!

Let me know if you give it a go! Your kids will love it and you will love, not only the taste, but the fact that the kiddos are getting some good veggies in them! 

Meatless Friday: Curry Chickpeas over Rice with Fresh Baked Bread

I'm joining Gina from Someday Saints for her Meatless Friday series! We've been enjoying some yummy meatless meals over here so I'm excited to share! 

This meal I'm sharing is pretty easy to whip up. It's one of those dinners that happened after being low on all. the. groceries. We hadn't been grocery shopping in awhile which made life tricky last week. Thankfully I can report it turned out to be pretty yummy!

Curry Chickpeas over Rice with Fresh Baked Bread

Head over to Gina's from Someday Saints to get the full post with recipes!

Hope y'all get a chance to enjoy this meatless meal. If you do, please come by and let me know what you thought! I know curry isn't for everyone, so for those who give it a go, pray you enjoy it!

Gina, thanks so much for having me again! And thank you for this series that is helping me keep our Lenten Meatless Fridays exciting in little ways!

Photo Party: Thanksgiving Day Love

Sharing a few of my favorite moments and captures from Thanksgiving day.

It really was so special to be able to host Thanksgiving in our new home sweet home. I loved filling this house with all the memories, smells, foods, laughter, hugs, and smiles. It was awesome. 

My parents stayed with us with their new little pup, Dakota, and the boys were in Heaven.

Naptimes were a little off, per usual over the holidays, but my dad definitely took advantage. The boys loved napping on and with their grandpa.

The cranberries, y'all! I snatched up a bag of fresh cranberries while grocery shopping. Something I've never done before. I have never purchsed fresh cranberries ever. ever. ever. And, I can't tell you how happy I am that I did!

Thanks to Pinterest, I pulled off the most delicious Spiked Cranberry Sauce with Apple Cider and Spiced Rum. Y'all. uhhh-mazing! I used Apple Cider instead of Hard Cider since it's what I had and it still turned out fantastic!

My brother and Erin came over. We love every chance we get to spend with them. The boys just eat it up and are just so happy when they get to play with their Uncle Geye-co (as Linus has been calling him, lately.)

This turkey. Oh. My. Goodness. This turkey was perfect. Thanks to my mama! She makes the most amazing stuffing and turkey. This made everything else taste perfect.

Our spread. Oh the how glorious the spread was. Full bellies. Happy taste buds. Vino. Cerveza. All. the. goods. Last year was awesome, but oh how we rocked this year too!

This year the Spiked Cranberry Sauce and the Sweet Potato Casserole made my taste buds so very happy! I've made the same Sweet Potato Casserole recipe every year since the sweetest friend shared her recipe with me a number of years ago. I could eat both of these plates every. day.

These guys. I love them. My daddy and my brother. They're both kind of amazing men. True story.

My beautiful mom and me. She made being in the kitchen much more organized and since she made the turkey, made my life worlds easier (I'm not good with big raw birds. I do it when I have to. But, not a fan.).

The weather was AWESOME! Thank you, Texas!

Linus decided to race Dakota. I don't remember who won.

The pup was scrambling the entire time she was here. Because of puppy tendencies to trail closely behind people and their shoes, she was nearly stepped on way more than I'd like to share. But, I'm happy to report, she made it and is perfectly wonderful.

I know the picture is blurry but I love the photo below. I love seeing my brother happy. It makes me happy.

See the fun that ensues when Uncle Geye-co is here.

We gave family photos a go. Some turned out really well so I went ahead and emailed them to the family rather than share them on here. I snapped quite a few so I'll spare you mostly. Mostly, because I'm going to share just a couple.

Lots of play happened.

Hugs, snuggles, and smiles.

And my mom snapped a couple of the boys and us. I'm a fan of this one. 

Thanksgiving was filled with tons of goodness this year. And, like I mentioned before, I'm so very thankful this year for my husband. With getting a herniated disc in my lower back a few months ago, he has been so very amazing. Always there. Always wonderful. Always loving and supporting. So very thankful, not only for this time that he has endured with me, but also for everything we have had together since the day we met. 

So, that's a wrap for our Thanksgiving day photo party. How was your Thanksgiving? Any new favorite dishes this year? Mine was definitely the Spiked Cranberry Sauce and the Sweet Potato Casserole - hands down! 

Meatless Friday: Avocado Omelette

Happy Friday! I'm so excited to be sharing this recipe for Meatless Friday with Someday Saints readers! I love Gina, and absolutely love this series since we're fairly new to incorporating Meatless Fridays year round in our home.

The star is avocado, which in my opinion, is the star of ALL the foods! I love avocados for snacks, in pico de gallo, in salsa, in salads, burgers, pastas, sandwiches, and last but not least, in breakfast!

For our Meatless Friday meal last week, I diced up a whole avocado (because I'm generous like that), shredded some leftover manchego cheese we had from a previous Feast day, and diced up yellow and orange bell peppers with some garlic.

Made some toast and Voila! Yummy, hearty, and amazingly delicious.

At first, I was a little concerned for our dinner that night since we were needing a grocery run and I wasn't entirely sure how the ingredients I did have would work together, but then after I started sauteing the pepper mix, knowing I had an avocado, I knew all was going to be just fine!

Avocado Omelette

Ingredients
4-6 Eggs
1 Avocado
Shredded Manchego Cheese (any white cheese will do)
6-8 Cloves of Garlic (I'm a fan of garlic so you can use less if you like.)
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1Yellow Bell Pepper
1 TSP of Basil
1 TBSP of Olive Oil
Sliver of real butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

To start, I dice up the avocado, garlic (minced), and yellow and orange bell pepper. Then crack eggs into a small bowl to scramble as well as add a dash of salt and pepper.

Heat up two pans: One set to Medium (for omelette) and the other set to Medium High (to saute peppers). Put in a sliver of real butter into the Medium Heat then add the omelette mix. Let it cook through.

Meanwhile, add a TBSP of Olive Oil to the Medium High heat followed by the peppers, garlic, and basil. Sautee for about 5-7 minutes. There is something incredibly delicious about the basil with the sweet peppers and garlic!

Next, add avocado to center of the omelette (that should be 90% cooked through) as well as the shredded Manchego Cheese. Turn the other half of the omelette over the avocado/cheese mix to heat through.

Serve the omelette onto a plate and add the pepper mix on top.

I could not have been more excited about the flavors in this omelette! Then, knowing I had the toast with a slab of real butter on it (I'm a recent convert to all things real butter) and my tastebuds did a happy dance!

Let me know if you end up making this and what you think!

Thanks so much for having me, Gina! And, thank you for all you do and share on Someday Saints!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

I've been making pumpkin everything since the first day of Fall. It's been awesome and not yet overwhelming. I hope!

Either way, my taste-buds and my children's taste-buds have been wanting pumpkin everything. Especially in the morning. And, especially when they get to help mix ingredients.

Our favorites have been making pumpkin muffins together. The other has been making pumpkin pancakes. Today I'll share the muffins since we have made these more regularly.

We've done the "two-ingredient" route a number of times. In fact, that's how I first got started on the pumpkin muffin train years ago just after grad school. I box of cake mix plus one can of pumpkin, easy peasy! Since that time I've always tried to keep a box of Spice Cake mix and a can of pumpkin on hand when in season. For the most part I've done well, but when the boys get stuck on wanting to make pumpkin muffins and I haven't re-stocked those two simple ingredients, a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do! Especially a mama that is sure to keep all baking supplies (cake boxes not included) in stock! 

I found this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and loved it! But, since we more often use whole wheat, I've recently decided I love Cardomum in Pumpkin Spice, and I feel all things baked need vanilla extract I have a slightly different version.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 TSP Baking Powder
• 1/2 TSP Baking Soda
• 1/2 TSP Kosher Salt
• 1 1/4 Cup Sugar Cane + 1 TBSP Sugar (for cinnamon-sugar topping)
• 1/2 TSP Cinnamon + 1 TSP Cinnamon (for cinnamon-sugar topping)
• 1/4 TSP Nutmeg
• 1/4 TSP Ginger
• 1/8 TSP Ground Clove
• 1/8 TSP Cardamom
• 1 Cup Canned-Pumpkin (Not pumpkin-pie filling)
• 1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/3 Cup Applesauce (I use this to help soften the Whole Wheat texture)
• 2 Large Eggs

Heat up your oven to 350F. Butter up your muffin tins so that the muffins don't stick.

In a large bowl, mix up all the dry ingredients. Then, because I don't like using more dishes than I have to, I put all the wet ingredients in the center of the dry ingredients. Start mixing all the wet ingredients in the middle and then incorporate the dry along the way. Stir all ingredients together until combined.

Now to fill your muffin tins: you can do a variation between mini-muffins and regular sized muffins. When I make this recipe I get one dozen regular sized muffins filled 1/2 full, and one dozen mini muffins filled with about 1/2 TBSP of moist ingredients. Depending on which tins you go with, fill them up accordingly!

Next, stir together 1 TSBP of Sugar and 1 TSP of cinnamon to give you that yummy top! Sift the mix of cinnamon and sugar over all the muffins and be generous! Then place those goodies into your pre-heated oven. Mini muffins take 15-20 minutes and regular-sized muffins take 25-30 minutes. Set your timers!

Once the timer goes off, take them out, do the toothpick test and make sure the centers are cooked through. Let them sit in their tins for about 5 minutes and then transfer the goodies to a rack to cool to a nice warm temperature.

Slather some creamy butter on them and eat up! They are delicious! They'll keep for a good two to three days but can also be kept in the freezer for longer.

They're awesome for breakfast, the boys love to help make them, and they taste like all things Fall!

Let me know if you end up trying these out! They are so yummy, easy, and give you warm seasonal fuzzies! What have you been baking more often since the first day of Fall came about?

Five Favorites: Tips for Simple Hosting

Hi there! I'm sharing five ways on how I keep hosting simple and fun (for me) on those days that you just need to keep hosting easy!

First up, my apron! After reading this post from Like Mother, Like Daughter, I decided to be more intentional about sporting this lovely apron my husband got for me way back when. 

The lovely Leila shared about how there's something transforming about wearing an apron. After the first few times I wore it while in the kitchen, I fell in love and was kicking myself for not wearing it all times prior! I feel so domestically successful while wearing it, even if my domesticity ends up not being a success.

Non-successes don't affect me because I was wearing my apron. And, that to me is winning! My little visual representation of success is always a good way to start off a hosting day. 

It also keeps me clean, which is a major win! Honestly, there's probably a whole post I could write about apron-wins. But, for now, clean-mama is unicorn-mama. Especially while doing the dishes, cooking, baking, or cleaning! No sopping-wet-stain-filled shirts or jeans or leggings or sweaters because I'm wearing my trusty apron.

I love it!

You may be asking why the apron helps keep hosting simple? Well, I don't have to change after I finish up setting everything out! After getting all the foods on your serving table (and/or cooking all the foods!), company is normally arriving and the last thing I ever want to do is leave because I have to change my food-ridden, sopping wet, stinky clothes! Aprons keep hosting a little easier and keep me a little more present.

Next up, simple salad, fruit, and veggies. These fillers are awesome and perfect and easy-peasy for keeping hosting simple. I always set out one salad (During hectic seasons, I buy the pre-made ones.). Carrots and tomatoes or broccoli and cauliflower with some ranch dressing is also always a must.

These are all fillers that I normally have in our fridge and are easy to set out. The fruit is also something I normally have on hand and also so easy to set out. I love all of these because they fill bellies, are easy on our budget, and takes a good 10 minutes to put out - tops!

During really hectic times, you gotta do what you gotta do. This last hosting round, with my back issues and having two young ones running around, the main course needed to be as easy as possible. Thank you, pizza for $5/box! This is always an easy main course, but if you'd rather keep it homemade, crockpot meals go a long way and are also easy to make and serve.

Also, no matter what I'm serving as a main course, I always make chicken nuggets for the kids. You can never go wrong with nuggets or any sort of frozen kiddie to-do. Pop it in the oven 15-20 minutes before guests are to arrive and you have a little something for any and all kids.

Onto dessert! I always include a dessert because it's fun for me. I love to bake. So, in turn, baking isn't much of a chore to me since I delight in it so much. I normally make two things: one dessert that is mostly or all dairy free for anyone with food allergies and something without food restrictions.

But, the alternative to baking if it's not your thing, is while you're picking up your pizza or other main meal of pick-up-choice, swing buy and pick up some cookies from  your nearby bakery. Cookies are as simple as you can get and always a hit!

Recipe for the muffins are here.

And, recipe for the cookie bars are here.

Last favorite way to keep hosting simple is easy clean-up! Always be sure to use dishes that can fit in your dishwasher. Anything else that you are using, make sure they can be thrown away: paper plates, plastic silverware, and napkins.

Also, we normally keep the drink options simple. If you come to our home you are more than likely to be greeted with a nice ice-filled cup o' water. We're kind of lame like that, but it's easy clean-up (you don't have to worry about kids spilling it anywhere. Because, water.) and it makes serving your guests efficient and easy to upkeep. Also, water is just good for everyone so we're really doing our guests a favor, right? Haha, I'm sure some of our guests would beg to differ, but I appreciate them obliging us and our typically limited drink option.

There you have it friends! These are my five favorite hosting hacks that keep our busy weeks or seasons much more manageable.

How do you keep hosting simple? Certain recipes? Certain foods? I'd love to hear about them!

made with love // fall yarn wreath + a yummy recipe

This mama has been putting her crafty pants on lately! I love making things in the kitchen and for our home. Knowing it came from my hands gives it that much more of a touch of love that makes me happy.

And, after enjoying Bonnie's fun Fall Blog Hop with so many amazing bloggers that I love, I put my crafty pants into overdrive and pulled together this yarn wreath with all leftover craft supplies + flowers from the dollar store that were...$1. The fact that I spent $1 this year on this lovely craft makes me smile. 

Here's what the yarn wreath progression looked like in photos:

I double wrapped the wreath under an hours worth of time. Picking it up here and there throughout the day.

Supplies

1 bunch of flowers from the dollar store

1 bunch of yarn

bare Wreath

Leftover Burlap Ribbon

Paper Clips (2) - used the paper clips to start and stop the yarn. Just stuck a paper clip into the wreath, tied down the yarn to start, and tied down the last piece of yarn to finish.

I went to hang up my new lovely Fall piece in our hallway because I loved how the deep red brought out some red loveliness from our icon wall.

Then I left for awhile to come back to this sweetness. He literally was sitting there telling me he really likes me weethh and that it is really beooteefull. That right there was so very validating. I want my son to see and find beauty in our home! Finding him sitting there made my heart pretty happy.

Now, onto the recipe!

A few weekends back, Uncle A and Bekah visited us and we had an amazing time feasting on tomato basil soup and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. While Bekah and I were talking, she told me that her and Uncle A had been enjoying homemade popcorn of all sorts of different seasoning variations.

Naturally, this piqued my interest and you can bet on our next grocery trip out I bought some popcorn kernels, coconut oil (this is a must!), and assumed I could figure out some sort of fun seasoning at home with my cabinet.

This not only piqued my interest because it sounded yummy and fun, but also because I remember as a child when we would pop popcorn at home. I remember all the different popcorn seasonings we would sprinkle over our popped kernels with this bad boy:

Fun times down memory lane! Mom, do you still have this? If you do, maybe you should bring it up over Thanksgiving along with the photo album? Maybe?

So that's the story and now here's the recipe.

I found this one that led me to this one. I loved the recipe and would only suggest adding a smidge more than just a pinch of salt. Say two pinches? I over-pinched, but it was still amazing! And, instead of just one TBSP, I would add two, because 2 TBSP of sugar just felt like a better idea. So after over-pinching and over-sugaring, I bring you the recipe for this lovely Homemade Coconut Kettle Popcorn.

Homemade Coconut Kettle Popcorn

Recipe

1/4 C. organic virgin coconut oil

1/2 C. organic popping corn kernels

2 TB. organic sugar

Sea salt to taste (I pinched twice)

Instructions

Pour in 1/4 C. of organic virgin coconut oil over Medium-High heat in a heavy pot and cover. Add 1/2C. of popping corn kernels (We used the Ancient Heirloom Popcorn Kernels pictured above and loved them!) and then cover pot again. After the first popped kernel add in the 2 TBSPS of organic sugar, recover heavy pot, and be sure to shake pot every so many pops. Watch the popcorn magic happen. Once you start hearing pops every 2-3 seconds take off heat and keep shaking.

Pour your popped corn into a bowl and salt to taste (I say two pinches.) and mix as to spread out the salty goodness. Finally, put your Homemade Coconut Kettle Popcorn into your mouth and let your tastebuds smile. I promise they will!

There you have it friends! Some crafty Fall fun and some delicious popcorn! ENJOY! And please come back to let me know how it all turned out!

A little Feast for Michaelmas

I was so excited to celebrate Michaelmas this year - the Feast of Michael the Archangel as well as all Archangels (Will do a better job next year on highlighting all the others we know and sharing their story!). It's a beautiful feast and a beautiful time in the year to feast.

We've been talking to the boys about angels, both Archangels and Guardian angels, lately. My oldest has been getting into the habit of leaving his room often at night and we thought we'd share more about the beauty and gift of angels. he loves knowing there are angels caring for him at all times and it's a good reminder for us to be more mindful of this gift! So, in turn, this time in our life played beautifully with Michaelmas.

I'll be sharing how we started and ended our day, as well as how we feasted.

In the morning during a simple breakfast we read about St. Michael the Archangel as well as a few other angel book favorites. Right now, deciphering between Archangel and Guardian angels, and how angels helped St. Pascual, etc. may be a little over my 3 year old and 1 year olds' heads. Regardless, I could tell my oldest loved talking about all things angels which was such a delight to me.

We also did this Angel Wings craft, which they enjoyed too - especially the end product.

Admittedly, the oldest enjoyed the craft more than my younger. As much as it looks like he's flying, he's really flailing trying to get them off.

We kept our Feast simple and yummy. I had been researching a little and thanks to my lovely Liturgical living cookbook, FEAST by Haley over at Carrots for Michaelmas, I was able to throw together a sweet little feast for Michaelmas allowing for more fun conversations about angels. Click here for all the explanations for why which foods were feasted on. So much richness to our faith! I love how we can draw closer to Him through his Angels and Saints. Through food and service. Through feasting and loving!

Menu

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

Thyme Roasted Carrots

Toast

No goose for us! Too pricey and rare. I just didn't have time for rare and that's okay. The carrots were delicious. Surprisingly, so! The thyme was a perfect earthy spice that paired so nicely with the sweetness of carrots. And, originally, I had intended to bake bread with the boys at home with a recipe that Heather from Mama Knows, Honeychild, but our evening plans took a turn for the fun. Before I share our evening, I'll share dessert.

Dessert

Blackberry Cobbler

So many thanks to The Pioneer Woman! She is so wonderful! Her recipes always delicious and seemingly do-able. The boys loved this five-ingredient cobbler. Their favorite part was dropping the blackberries into the mix. They were so excited!

Unfortunately, my cobbler didn't cobble as I'd hope. While mixing the ingredients I rush read instructions and didn't separate the 1/4 cup of sugar from the 1 cup. I added the two and poured it all in. Oops! So, then I added a little more sugar and a little more flour annddd a little more rice milk.

My oops aside, this dessert was yummy! My husband and the boys loved it! I loved it too, of course, but we all know me and sweets are a given.

Like I said, the ingredients were only five! Per usual, I used rice milk instead of cow's milk and ended up making my own self-rising flour (add salt and baking powder), since I haven't bought that in awhile. In all, it was a great feast.

Back to our turn of events, earlier in the day, my husband got in touch with me to let me know that his work softball team needed a sub and wanted to join. I jumped at the opportunity because I knew the boys would just dieee if they saw their daddy playing ball - and OH, how they loved. every. single. bit of it!

I put on their baseball t-shirts and off we went right after our little feast. They loved daddy up at bat and it was such a nice evening out. It was a great time for all and the boys couldn't stop talking about it on the way home.

The little ones even got to go out on the field! A request they had been making since we stepped foot on site. It was such a great day, and I'll chalk up our little softball fun as a gift to us all.

We got home, got the little sweaty ones bathed, and said our prayers. To close we prayed the St. Michael prayer as well as our little prayer nod to our Guardian angel. It was beautiful and sweet. We all thanked our angels for all they do and were off to bed.

Also, on a sweet note, my husband back when he was my boyfriend, had my engagement ring made. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen and so much more than I could have ever dreamed of. Upon soaking up it's beauty the day I said Yes to him, he shared the story and reason of the shape and words of my ring. All so very beautiful (Perhaps another post all-together?), but the part that sings with this feast day in particular is the fact that he engraved Serviam on the inside of my band as well as had his birthstone placed inside it. These were signs of his promise to me. The promise he was making to me when we got engaged and the promise we vowed to live out all the days of our lives upon saying I do to each other.

In scripture, when satan says non-serviam he declared that he would not serve God. It was his rejection. My husband wrote serviam in my ring to share a promise that he is making to serve God, me, and our family. It was beautiful. And, something I always keep with me. It's a bold declaration to keep Christ center in our marriage and in serving Him, may we be able to faithfully serve each other and our vows all the days of our lives.

It was a beautiful day that spilled into celebrating the Feast of the Archangels, Guardian Angels on October 2, and a vow to love and serve Him as St. Michael did so beautifully and courageously. Our crafts, prayers, and books were perfect to enjoy. The boys loved it, learned more about their faith, and helped me orient myself to the beauty and goodness our faith has to offer.

Thankful for these feast days. Thankful for a family to celebrate it with. And, thankful, so very thankful for our angels and all they do. Their service is a gift that I know encourages me and my sometimes weary self.