Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I know that y'all tired of hearing about pumpkins on this blog, so I promise this will be my last pumpkin related post. This recipe is just too good and too easy not to share.

Ingredients:
1 can of pumpkin
1 bag of spice cake mix
1/4 of a bag of chocolate chip morsels

Directions:
Mix the can of pumpkin and the spice cake mix (just the mix, not the other ingredients on the box) together.
Mix in the chocolate chip morsels. You can use more or less than a 1/4 of the bag, depending on how many chocolate chips you want.
Place the mix in muffin liners in a muffin tin.
Bake a 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Carving Greatness

For those of you who don't know, my husband is a pumpkin carving expert. I am not exaggerating! He went online to look for ideas for what he should carve this year and he found his own pumpkin from a few years back in a You Tube video. I keep telling him that I'm going to email pictures of his pumpkins to the Today Show, but he just laughs at me. I don't think he realizes that I'm serious. He really does have a gift for pumpkin carving. I guess the fact that he was an art major in college helps, but not just anyone can do this.

Decision 2012

Check out some of his pumpkins from the past few years. 

 

Pumpkin Pickin'

This weekend we took Eliza to Denver Downs Farm in Anderson to see the pumpkin patch. Denver Downs was great, and very family oriented. Before we went I knew they had a pumpkin patch, but I had no idea about all of the other activities they have for kids. There is all kinds of stuff to do and see, and we had such a good time. I can't wait for y'all to see what Ryan is working on for his pumpkin this year. It's going to be awesome and I will definitely be back soon with pictures!

Tailgating Recipes

Since fall and football are both in full swing I wanted to share a few of my favorite tailgating recipes with y'all. All of these are recipes that I got from friends and family. They take no time to make and taste really good. Enjoy!

Apple dip

Ingredients:

2 bars of cream cheese

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

1 cup of regular sugar

2 tsps. of vanilla

1 bag of Heath bar bits

Green apples

Pineapple juice

Recipe:

Let the cream cheese sit at room temperature to soften

Mix the cream cheese, brown sugar, regular sugar, and vanilla together 

Mix in the Heath bar bits

Let the apples soak in pineapple juice overnight before serving

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Corn dip

 
Ingredients:

16 oz. of shoepeg corn

4 oz. of sweet butter (1 stick)

16 oz. of cream cheese

1 tbsp. of diced jalapenos

1/4 cup of jalapeno juice

salt and cayenne pepper (to taste)

Fritos of Tostitos 

Recipe:

Let the butter and cream cheese sit at room temperature to soften

Mix butter, cream cheese, and corn together

Add in the jalapenos and jalapeno juice

Bake for 20 minutes at 350

Serve with Fritos 

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Texas Caviar

Ingredients:
14 oz. can of black eyed peas, drained
15 oz. can of white shoepeg corn, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped purple onion
1/2 of an 8 oz. bottle of zesty Italian dressing
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained
Fresh cilantro, chopped to taste

Recipe:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl  
Chill, covered, for 2-24 hours, stirring occasionally
Serve with Tostitos

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I've got a few more of my favorite fall recipes that I'll share in another post, so until then, happy hump day! :)

Lots of Celebrating

We had a great time celebrating Eliza at her party yesterday. Her actual birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but this was the only weekend that we could get our whole family together. We are really dragging out this birthday as long as we possibly can. :) I am working on a post with pictures from her party and I'm hoping to get that up later this week, but until then I have some pictures from the week of her real birthday.

We had a lot to celebrate during the last week of September. Not only was it Eliza's first birthday, it was also our anniversary. Ryan and I went out to dinner on Tuesday night to a great Italian resturaunt in downtown Greenville. We had such a good time talking about the past couple of years and looking forward to our future. Then, on Wednesday night my mom and Ryan's mom and dad came over, and we celebrated Eliza's birthday with takeout food and cupcakes.

....And, completely switching gears here. On Friday night I headed down to the beach for my best friend's bachlorette party. While I really missed Ryan and Eliza, I had great time relaxing and spending time with girlfriends. On Saturday we spent the day on the beach and that night we had a lingerie shower and went out after dinner. We all wore wigs and made quite the scene everywhere we went. Eleven girls in neon wigs will turn a few heads. I can't wait for Bennett's wedding at the end of this month!

12 Months

I can't believe I am writing Eliza's very last monthly post. I will still do updates as she grows and changes, but this will be the last official update. It's amazing how much she's changed in one month. She is walking more now, but she prefers to crawl. She can walk across a room, but she does it very slowly. She is quite the cautious baby.

Her new favorite activity is taking everything in her crib and throwing it on the floor. Once she's thrown all of her toys on the floor, she will wave bye-bye to them. She's also learned some new "baby tricks," as we like to call them.  She will her head yes and stick out her tongue when we ask her where it is. Her favorite toys are her lovie, balls, and anything that makes music.

Eliza now weighs 21 lbs and she is 18 inches long. She is still wearing size 4 diapers and size 12-18 month clothes. She has actually lost weight since the last time we took her to the doctor. My good little eater has turned into quite the picky one. We are trying to transition from baby food to all table food, and it is not going so well. We have tried all kinds of things, and every time we give her something other than yogurt or apple sauce she will close her eyes, shake her head no, and wave her hands in the air.  She also likes to throw her food on the floor and put it on top of her head. We are going to keep trying different things, but I have a feeling it's not going to be easy.

We have dropped all of her bottles and made the switch to whole milk. This transition has been a little easier. She has between 12-15 ounces of whole milk a day now. She also loves any kind of juice and prefers to drink out of straw. Eliza has been battling an ear infection and a pretty bad cough for the past couple of weeks, so I think that may have something to do with her eating habits. I know I should be thankful that we've made it this long without her getting sick, but she is just so pitiful right now. I feel so bad for her. Poor thing!

 
My sweet girl is so big! I said this in my last post, but this has been the best years of my life. It has been one of the hardest, but also the best. I have learned so much about myself, and while watching my little girl grow and change, I have also grown and changed. Eliza has brought so much joy to Ryan and I this year, and we love her more and more everyday! Happy one year Eliza!

We are having a little party for Eliza this Sunday, so I'll be back soon with some pictures from her party. I realize it will be two weeks after her actual birthday, but this weekend was the only time that we could get our family together to celebrate. Have a good weekend everyone!