Binge Baking

we are planning on going apple picking on saturday morning. my problem? i still have apples from the last apple picking trip.

well, this got through about half of them. i love the way the cinnamon swirls. coincidentally, i had to run to the store to buy cinnamon, the most important part of the applesauce and fall baking. i am still not sure how i didn't have any. anyway, i have enough apples to make more applesauce to last us a month or so, but i was also thinking about a crisp or cobbler. i don't know.

or, i could just make 14 more batches of these peanut butter apple cookies.

i can't stop eating them. i got them out of the oven and threw them into a cool pan so i could bring them to work and eat them there, and also since i couldn't leave them in the hot oven to cool. but, mostly so i could eat them. think soft chocolate chip cookies, except peanut butter flavored, and instead of the chips, there are apples! oh, and of course, a hint of cinnamon, because fall is not complete without it. ☺

aside from cookies and applesauce, i also made beef stew! as much as i hate the cold, i love having soup or stew to warm you on a cold day. same applies to tea and hot cocoa. last week when we had a couple of colder days, i brought my first official mugs of cocoa to work with me (homemade cocoa mix from last christmas....still delicious).

luckily, it has warmed back up a little, and this weekend is supposed to be somewhat nice for this time of the year. i plan on bringing some tea with me, anyway. i am always cold. i'll have to make another pie, some more muffins and cookies with the apples from this weekend. i know, why go twice if i haven't used up the others? mostly because it's fun. also, i like fall, and fall treats. apple treats, anyway, though i did promise a pumpkin pie, which brings me to my next item on the list....

(yes, i was adding snapchats all over my story today.) i made some pie crust! i looked up another recipe on the internets, which is actually linked to the pumpkin pie recipe i am going to try. unfortunately, i ran out of time today. i had to run an ace bandage to ron at work, since his elbow/arm is sore. i brought some cookies to make him feel better, too. ♥☺♥

so the dough is chilling (literally) in my freezer until probably sunday night? sure. that sounds good. i have to work, but i can roll it out, toss it in the oven, and make pie while i wind down for the night. the next few weeks are going to be long, but hopefully fun. we have a lot of midnight sales, i will be making cookies, and doing other stuff on the weekends. i just hope i can fit it all into some kind of time frame.

not to mention the holidays are upon us. like it or not, even in october, and not quite to halloween yet....all the holiday gear is showing up.

....and all the holiday pins. stupid f*cking pinterest. i mean, 90% of everything is still pumpkin, but even now, slowly all of the peppermint, gingerbread, and red and green and glitter is seeping its way into my feed, and it's making me want to skip thanksgiving and cover myself in glitter and christmas lights.

but i know better. i have to wait it out a little longer. that doesn't mean i can't start planning though. i will probably make it a short list this year, i am also hoping to give myself enough time to make things all nice and pretty. last year i was kind of crippled, and i have been spending less and less time on my baking, which really sucks. i used to take two days off and binge bake hardcore, getting everything done. i think work has definitely gotten the better of things though, and being management doesn't make it easy to get any days off during holiday crunch time. maybe i can still try, though.

here's to hoping!

anyway, i suppose i will call this post over for now, i have a long day tomorrow, and then apples on saturday! oh, and we are visiting my cousin, i think we are adopting a kitty from her soon! should have some pictures next time. thanks for reading!

Quick Update

As i said before, i had a long weekend working doubles, so i was not able to make or do much. I did put these together yesterday morning before work, though!

My second time making these granola bites! I ran out of coconut oil, so its half coconut oil and half butter. Cancels out anything good about them! They are still pretty tasty, though, and mostly good for you.

Ron signed up for a gym membership, so we have been going for a couple days now, which was another reason i made them. I was finally able to run again to keep up with my app. I went 22 mi utes, and 2 1/2 miles today! He rode the bike for over an hour and went 20.61 miles. I am happy we have something to work toward, and that he is getting motivated to do things.

Anyway, i think applesauce is on the list for tomorrow, and hopefully beef stew, too!

posted from Bloggeroid

Pictures Part 2, Crock Pot Lasagne

Here it is. Thursday. Coincidentally, its also half way through october. Where did the time go, seriously? Last i checked it was still june or something.

Anyway, i come to you from my lunch break at work today with thr link for the lasagne i made in the crock pot over the weekend! They give you a recipe for the sauce too, but to make it extra easy you can use the store bought jars. I had half home made, and used one extra jar. Other than that,you just need noodles (that go in dry), cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese. Alternate the layers of cheese and sauce, set it to low for 4 hours, and ta daa! Lasagne away from home! Or after a short day of work. Your call.☺☺☺



Here is the link: http://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/2015/02/slow-cooker-lasagna.html



Looks like lasagne. Tastes like it too! We rode bikes to a local italian bakery and got some fresh bread to eat with it the second night. It was pretty awesome. The internet is magic. So are slow cookers.

Anyway. The rest of our trip back was fun. We stopped at cape henry lighthouse which is at the fort story military base, and even got slme quaker steak wings and burgers! Enjoy the pictures!

sunrise on the boardwalk monday

double rainbow at the bridge!

panorama of the chesapeake bay bridge stop off sunset

so those were pictures from my phone. i realized after i started adding them that a) i was late coming back from my break, and b) i had more pictures on the camera at home. so here i am, eight hours later finishing this up! oh well! hope you are enjoying the pictures anyway!

fancy!

goodbye blue skies

outdoor art at virginia's moca

the real life right hand drive skyline :D

rain on the boardwalk from the bridge

pink sunset death clouds

 yay! and then we went for an 11 hour drive home. just for the record, both lighthouses were across the street from each other, one is an older one they don't use anymore, and the other obviously gets used, which we could also see from the bridge! it morse codes the letter "u." ahh. these doubles are killing me, but i gotta make money somehow. (says the guy who just took a mini vacation, but i wouldn't have gone if i didn't have vacation time. also i like to think bringing food saved us some money from eating out at every meal.) i seriously have to make up for it though, because car repairs and vet bills (amongst other things).  BUT. that is all i am going to rant about for not having money. i'm sure you will hear plenty about that in the coming months with the holidays. i have to make up my cookie list for this year, soon! 

to my husband- thank you again for the last 3 married years, and 8 together. i wouldn't be who i am today without you. i love you so much! ♥♥♥

anyway, thanks for reading! hoping to have something good for next week!  ☺

posted from Bloggeroid

Picture Day Part One! And Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe

yes, the pictures continue. long anniversary weekend away, but not long in a bad way. i seriously wish i could just go away and start over or something, or at the very least take more extended vacations from work. not that i can complain for being gone from there for 6 days. something new is always welcome, though, and i am still hoping for that to finally happen for me someday.

after being in the car for 10-12 hours, though, you kind of just want to get out of the car and be anywhere but there, so needless to say, i was glad to be home at like 5:30 this morning. i think the kids were happy, too, or at least when i finally woke up around 10:30 and opened the windows for them. i was sorting laundry on the floor, and fat baby was on the corner of his door as close as he could get to me just watching. usually he does that when i have food, but i didn't. he was just happy to be out and see me i guess, at least that's what i'm going with. he is silly.

anyway, so instead of going out to eat all weekend long, we only got breakfast one morning, donuts another morning (that lasted us 2 1/2 days of snack times), and stopped on the way home for dinner the last day. i think it worked out pretty well! we didn't really have to buy much down there to complete said meals, as well, so yay saving money! i will totally be doing this again, just for the record. crock pots are magic.

the first night we had this honey garlic chicken with veggies. just do me a favor and click that, then make it. you won't be sorry. i put it together before we left, froze it (sans veggies- i just froze the chicken and sauce and kept the carrots and potatoes cold), and by the time we got there, it was just thawed. i threw it all in the crock pot with those fancy liners to clean up easy, we went for a walk, swam, and rode a surrey, and came back for dinner!

i didn't take a finished picture of this one, but it kind of looked like in the website picture, minus the green beans, because neither of us like them. we had dinner on our balcony, and people watched the boardwalk, so it was pretty fun. windy, but fun. we ate most of our food on the balcony. listening to the ocean is pretty awesome.

anyway, i showed you the seagull pictures last time, here are some other pictures over the first day and a half. i will give you the other crock pot recipe wednesday, or thursday, just for the sake of having something to post. enjoy the pictures!

 

that is all for now, i have more pictures to share later. thanks for reading! ☺