Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

So I have this cinnamon roll, and it's pretty epic. But one day, I wanted to make a friend, who loved pumpkin, a pumpkin cinnamon roll. And so, the extra epic pumpkin cinnamon roll was born!

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls

Makes 12 large rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:

4 TBS butter

2/3 c milk

2 eggs

4 TBS sugar

1 TBS yeast

14oz pumpkin

1 tsp salt

5 cups flour

Filling:

1/3 cup butter(softened)

1/2 cup sugar(brown or unprocessed)

1 TBS cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Frosting:

3 oz cream cheese(softened)

1/4 cup butter(softened)

1&1/2 cup powder sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

Melt butter in a small saucepan, add milk and heat until just warm. Pour into stand mixer with eggs, sugar, yeast, and pumpkin. Let stand 10 minutes. Using dough hook, mix in salt and flour 1-2 cups at a time. Continue mixing until dough forms. Cover and let rise 30-45 minutes, or until doubled. 

Turn out onto floured surface. Roll out to 13X8" "rectangle". Spread butter over the dough. Mix together sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle over the butter. Roll dough up so that it's as long as possible. Slice with a sharp knife into 12 pieces. Place in a buttered 13X9" pan. Cover and allow to rise 30-45 minutes, or until huge.

Preheat oven to 325. Bake in preheated oven 25-30 minutes. 

Mix together all frosting ingredients until smooth. Spread over warm rolls and eat until you fall into a food coma! You're welcome! ;)

French Bread

You can make this as is, or spread some garlic butter on the dough before you roll it up, or my new fave is to add garlic cloves right into the dough! :)

1 TBS yeast

2&1/2 cups warm water

1 TBS sugar 

6 cups flour(I usually use unbleached all purpose)

1 TBS salt

5 TBS oil

2 TBS cornmeal

1 egg white, beaten

Mix together the yeast, water, and sugar and allow to proof(set until the yeast starts to get foamy) about 10 minutes. Mix in the salt, oil, and 1 cup of the flour. Then mix in remaining flour 1 cup at a time. Unless you have a stand mixer with a dough hook and you are lazy like me, then you can toss in the oil, salt, and all the flour at once and let it knead for 5 minutes or so. If not, once all the flour is mostly incorporated turn it out on a floured surface and knead it until it's smooth. Cover in an oiled bowl(unless you are lazy like me, and then just cover the mixer bowl) and let rise about 45 minutes, or until almost doubled. Roll out into 2 13X9" rectangles, then roll up and seal the ends. Sprinkle the cornmeal on a baking sheet, and place the loaves on the sheet. Cut 3 diagonal slices in the top with a sharp knife, and brush with egg white. Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 30-35 minutes. Eat! And then thank me for those extra 5 lbs! ;)

Steak Antipasta Yumminess

This is something I threw together the other night for dinner and it turned out spectacular! I'll add pics the next time I make it! :)

-1 lb mini farfalle pasta(or whatever your family likes!)

-1 large-ish flank steak

-1-3 TBS Montreal steak seasoning(I just sprinkle the junk out of it!)

-1 jar sun dried tomatoes(if they aren't julienned, slice or dice them up)

-1 large-ish jar of artichoke hearts, chopped up

-1 jar kalamata olives, sliced up

-Parmesan cheese for topping

Boil pasta according to directions, and strain. Meanwhile sprinkle flank steak heavily with seasoning. Cook on grill, or griddle, or whatever, until it's nice and seared on both sides, and done to your liking on the inside. Remove to cutting board and let stand 5 minutes. Slice. Throw everything except the cheese into a bowl, or whatever you serve pasta-like giant dishes out of! Stir. Serve. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for extra yumminess! Eat! You're welcome! ;)

Spicy Ranch

Ok, this is my husband's very favorite dressing. Not exactly home made... Maybe more like home altered? ;)

1 cup ranch dressing

1/2-1 whole diced up fresh jalapeño

3 TBS hot sauce

Throw everything into a mason jar and shake the junk out of it. I'd use it within a week or so just to be safe but it doesn't last long around here, which is good since the longer it sits the SPICIER it gets! :) Enjoy!

Chocolate chip cookies

This recipe was altered from the back of a chocolate chip bag. I like the enjoy life choc chips, and organic sugar. :)

1 cup salted butter
1&1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2&1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups choc. chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla, and blend. Add in flour, and baking soda, and mix until smooth. Add chocolate chips. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 8-10 min. I like to bake mine on a pizza stone until they just start to firm in the middle. I take them out and let them finish baking on the sheet for a few minutes. Then I pull them off the stone to finish cooling. :)

Forward movement! ;)

A few weeks ago we bought a truck, a super awesome truck, for super awesome cheap. This was the first step, because well, you can't buy a trailer until you have a truck to pull it with. It's a 1983 Chevy diesel dually. That ought to do it. ;)

A few days ago my hubby brought me home a trailer, a super awesome trailer, for super awesome cheap. This trailer needs some serious TLC (read complete gutting). The plan is, to as quickly as possible, get this trailer ready to live in, and move in! It's a 40' 5th wheel trailer. That ought to do it. ;)

Forward movement.... what more can a girl ask for? ;)

Moving on

So here we are, making crazy drastic changes again. We have decided that it is no longer in our family's best interest to remain in the Army. So, this means we have less stability, but oh so much more freedom. What fueled this decision you might ask? Well, a lot of different things but here's some that topped our list... The Army is becoming less and less stable with budget cuts and proposed benefit cuts. With budget cuts and personnel cuts comes the realization that a promotion is not coming. When you have an ever growing family, you NEED that promotion to come. So the security that the military used to give us is no longer there, and we are ready for a change! Scary? Yes, but it's always scary to take that first leap towards something new.

The direction we are heading is freedom, mostly financial freedom. In order to get completely get out of debt(and STAY out this time) we are going all minimalistic. So, what does that mean, to probably the biggest family you personally know? We are selling almost everything and moving into a travel trailer. We must be insane. I know... but don't most adventures start out that way? With everyone around you (and maybe even you) saying, "you must be crazy!"

The goal is also to be mobile. We have no idea where Terence will find a job and we want to have the freedom to go where he can find a job. Being in a trailer will also make our financial obligations smaller, which means we should have a little leeway on what kind of job he finds at first. It will also make it so that we don't have to rush to find housing. We can take our time and build ourselves a nice savings before buying a house again. I know, I know, it isn't what everyone else is doing! Different is scary, and well, different. However, change is necessary, and often good. So, here we go! :)

I will do my best to post pics of our crazy life that is to come!

Lillian Michelle

She was born 2:20pm 6/11/2013. 20" and 7lbs 1oz! Such a tiny little bean! :)

38 weeks!!!

Ok so it's getting so close now!!! I'm so very excited to meet this little girlie! Here's a couple of belly pics, just for fun! :)

Laundry detergent

First, let me say this is NOT my recipe. You can find it all over the Internet in various forms. Just do a google search for DIY laundry detergent and you'll find a bunch! 

Y'all know I'm thrifty, but refuse to be so at my family's expense. So... I've been using whatever natural-as-I-can-get laundry detergent, and it always costs a pretty penny! So when I decide to finally make the plunge and try to make my own I was super excited, bc I get to choose what goes into it! :)

So this is what I used:

-4.5 oz of a natural bar soap that had tea tree oil in it(bc I liked the way it smelled and it used essential oils so my sensitive kids are ok with it)

-1 cup borax(NOT boric acid!)

-1 cup washing soda

And this is what I did:

First, I grated the soap(not the giant side that's showing here! I used the tiny side!)

Then I took the grated soap and ran it through my food processor. You don't have to do this but I wanted it to be uniform in consistency bc that's how I roll.

Then I mixed it in a bowl with the borax and washing soda.

Then, I put it in a jar with a label, bc, again, that's how I roll. You could totally keep this in a tuperware or plastic bag, or whatever! 

Total cost was about $4. This should do 64 loads, and it took me about 10 minutes to make. Totally worth it! :)

BJ's wholesale club

Ok, so we used to have a Costco membership, but since moving here to NC we let it go. We did this for 2 reasons, first, it's 45 minutes away. Second, they don't have half the stuff we bought from them in Alaska. 

Hubby and I have noticed our food budget rising at an alarming rate, which has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we have 6 kids, 1 of which is a teen, 1 of which is a preteen, and 1 of which is a bottomless pit! So, we decided to re-visit the wholesale club thing. We really are hoping to sell our house and move on post, so we decided to look at our options in Fayeteville before Cary. They're both about a 45 minute drive for us at this point, but Fayetteville will be much closer when/if we move. 

So, first we checked out Sam's club. If I was looking to save money on "safe" cleaners, it would be worth it.  I'm more concerned with food, so that was out! 

We already knew what Costco had, and they don't have a store in Fayetteville, so we checked out BJ's. They don't have a store in Fayetteville either, but they are opening one soon, so it seemed like a good idea to check it out before going back to Costco.

We were very pleased by what they had. They didn't have as many organics/naturals as the Costco in Alaska, but they did have more than the one here, so we bought a membership. Bonus, they were having a special so we only paid $40.

Here's a list of what I found:

-bakery bagels 9/$3.99 (no corn syrup!)

-organic cheddar cheese 1lb/$7.99

-organic celery 3lbs?/$3.59

-organic butter 2lbs/$6.99

-pistachios 2.5lbs/$13.49

-organic salad dressings(Caesar and balsamic vinegrette) 21oz/$$3.99

-organic spring mix 1lb/$5.99

-apple gate sliced provolone $6.99

-organic farfalle 2lbs/$4.99

-organic frozen triple berry(strawberry, blackberry, raspberry) 3lb/$9.99

-organic maple syrup 32oz/$12.99

-unsalted almonds 3lbs/$12.49

-apple gate uncured beef hot dogs-16 (my all time favorite hot dogs BTW!) 24oz/$8.29

-dried mixed fruit(apples, pears, plums, peaches, and apricots UNSWEETENED!) 2lbs/$7.49

-yeast 2lbs/$4.49

-organic naval oranges 4lbs/$5.99

-raisens 3lbs/$6.99

-king authur unbleached flour 10lbs/$6.49

-organic baby carrots 2lbs/$3.29

-organic apple juice 1 gallon/$4.69

-organic diced tomatoes 6 pack of 14.5oz/$5.99

-granny smith and fuji apples (I think they were 3lb bags) $8.99

-organic frozen peas 4lbs/$6.49

-organic milk 2-64oz/$6.49

-organic thyme 3.3oz/$4.99

-organic cumin 7.8oz/$5.49

-organic ketchup 2 pack of 44oz/$6.99

-Annie's Mac n cheese 12 boxes/$10.99

-roasted unsalted peanuts 5lbs/$5.99

There was more stuff too, but this is just a list of what I DID buy that day. I noticed they also had organic juice boxes, organic fruit snacks, z bars, etc!  Hope this list helps SOMEONE! :)

Peanut butter

Ok, so peanut butter is something we use a LOT of at our house, and natural or organic PB is SO expensive! One of my beauties can't have corn syrup, and I've been really trying to cut out all overly processed sweeteners for the rest of us too! Although, my hubby and I STILL can't give up our organic evaporated cane sugar for our coffee yet! 

So... What to do? Continue to pay over $5 for a jar of organic PB(which still has sugar in it) when we go through 4 jars a month bare minimum, find it in bulk, OR make my own.  We recently aquired a BJ's wholesale membership(a whole other post that needs to be made!) so I looked there for "safe" PB. No luck. But what they DID have was this giant bag of unsalted roasted peanuts, still in the shell!  I think I payed $4 for this 5lb bag!

I know, I know, not organic, but really, I'm more concerned with the sugars in my PB anyway! So, here's what you need...

A really good blender(or one you don't mind burning the motor out in!) or food processor

Peanuts-about 2&1/2 lbs before you de-shell them. This gave us about 5 cups after the shells were off. I've heard that blanched ones work good for PB too, but since this is my only experience, I can't say for sure!

Grapeseed, coconut, or olive oil-I think I ended up using about 2 TBS

Maple syrup or honey (if you like your PB sweet)- I think I used 2-4 TBS

Sea salt-I probably used about a teaspoon

First, if you bought the ones that are still in the shell you have to de-shell and de-skin them. The roasted ones are super easy to get the skins off! The kids loved helping me with this, and my littlest man(almost 4) did a super good job at this!

My littlest lady (almost 2) also helped, but she ate all the peanuts she de-shelled! Anyway, after you get them all ready, toss them in your blender or food processor and grind away! You'll need to stop often to scrape down the sides, and to prevent your blender or food processor from over heating! You can add a bit of oil if your machine is really struggling. Once it's smooth and moving in your machine like a thick liquid like substance, you can add in your sweetener and salt. This is really to taste, but I did notice that as the PB cooled it actually turned out sweeter than I thought  it was! Then, just pour your PB into a container of your choice! I store mine in the fridge because I DETEST stirring PB, and this will separate! I used an old pasta sauce jar! I got about 25 oz of PB from this! :)

Strawberry muffins

I found this recipe online, and it didn't work for us at all, so I made a ton of substitutions and they turned out super yummy! This recipe makes 36 smaller or 24 big muffins.

3&1/8 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 TBS cinnamon 

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 TBS ground flax seed

3 TBS wheat germ

1 cup maple syrup or honey

1 cup mashed strawberries(I used my blender)

1/2 cup butter(melted)

4 eggs

2 cups strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins.

Slice strawberries and set aside.

Mix together your dry ingredients, then add the wet ones in. Mix JUST until the ingredients are blended. Over mixing anything with whole wheat flour will make them have a yucky texture but you definitely don't want lumps of baking soda either! :)

Bake in preheated oven for 12-20 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your muffins!

If you added another 1/2 cup of sweetener, and slapped some cream cheese frosting or whip cream on the top, these would make GREAT cupcakes too! :)

And the baby is a...

So I made Terence a card to tell him the sex of the baby... So here's the pics! See for yourself what the baby is! :)

Gideon????

Ok so this is quite possibly the most hilarious thing that has ever happened to us. We had this cat. His name was Gideon. We got him off Craigslist last year for FREE when we were looking for a mouser, you know, because we live in the sticks. So he was the best cat EVER. Probably about 5 years old. All this loose skin like he used to be overweight, green eyes, fixed, and BIG. He snuggled inside, and caught mice, and spent half his time outside, bonus because it meant less mess in the litter box.

Terence was deploying, and my parents didn't especially want a cat at their house. So Terence asked around at work to see if anyone wanted a cat. Then when he thought he might be coming back he just tried to find someone to cat sit. He finally found someone. So they watched the cat, and we left to go to WA.

When he got home he started asking about the cat. Because of scheduling issues and busyness it took him almost a month to get the cat back. When Gideon came home he acted funny, wouldn't jump up on the dryer to eat his food, he was extra clingy and needy to Terence, and he wasn't really interested in catching mice. Weird.

So I get home a few days ago, and I start to suspect, this is NOT Gideon. First, he is smaller, and all his extra skin is gone. Then it hits me, this cat is NOT fixed. Finally I realize the thing that really makes him look different is that this cats eyes are light brown/yellow, and Gideon's eyes were green, super green. This is not my cat.

So who would pull a stunt like, that is what I want to know, and why? I don't care too much as long as he's nice and catches mice. I think the thing I'm most annoyed with is that now I have to pay to get this cat fixed, wormed, and vaccinated. The great cat switcheroo. Who knew things happened like that except in movies??? Hope you had a good laugh. I did.

Day 9

Last day of travel! 590 miles! We made it home about 5pm. The kids were super excited to be home and so was our little dog. I think he got the short end of the stick on this trip. He wasn't allowed to get out of the car except for walks and potty breaks the whole 9 days. What a champ, he made it! We'll see if I get revenge played out on my later! Haha!

Day 8

Today was our last day with the Oddens. :( We had so much fun though, running errands, lunch at Panera Bread, and LOTS of playtime! Terence decided he'd rather I tell him the sex of the baby then hear it accidentally so I made him a card(with Steph's help!) Here's some pics of it! Sad and super excited to be heading home tomorrow morning! NC here we come!

Day 6

We drove another 650 miles from Fort Riley, KS to Fort Knox, KY. This was after not getting to bed until midnight, and then waking up at 3am to Jeffrey crying because Ryan woke up and puked all over him. I swear one day we'll get through a road trip without any vomit, but Terence says I have to wait until all the kids the house! So we were on the road by 7 and made it to my good friend Stephany's house by 7:30. The drive was great other than one puking incident and I even got to pull over and snatch some flint from the flint hills! I know I'm a dork but I've always wanted to grab some! :) I also got the BEST gas mileage in my van this section of the trip!

Day 7

Today was spent just relaxing and playing and relaxing! The kids played inside, then outside, then inside again. It was so good to spend so much time with good friends! Steph and O stayed up until 1am just talking(shocker!) :)

Day5

We covered 480 miles from Denver, CO to Fort Riley, KS. It was a nice quick trip. The kids did great. We were stationed at Riley when the kids were little so I thought it would be fun to war dinner at their old favorite restaurant. Not my favorite place but the kids were so excited. We even ran into someone my hubby worked with in Alaska. See people, small Army world! :)