Pumpkin!

As promised, I have a couple of pumpkin recipes that my family has loved and I wanted to share. I really love pumpkin but have always had it in sweet dishes. Pumpkin pie is my holiday favorite and there are several pumpkin bread recipes on Allrecipes.com that I love too. Of course pumpkin is very healthy for you, but when you have it in pie and sweet bread, the bad overshadows that good. So I found a couple of recipes for main dishes that have pumpkin and you would never know it. The first favorite is Pumpkin Turkey Chili. Here is the link Pumpkin Turkey Chili on Allrecipes.com.  I add a couple of things to it to and make it like this:

1 T Vegetable oil
1 c chopped onion (I keep dried/minced onion on hand and use about 1/8 c instead)
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped yellow bell pepper (or your preference)
1 clove garlic minced (I like a lot of garlic so I use 2)
1 pound ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz) Note: make sure it is pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie mix!
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can whole kernel corn (15 oz)
1 can black beans (15 oz) drained and rinsed
1 T chili powder (we don't like it very spicy)
1 T ground cumin
1/2 t ground black pepper
1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 c lowfat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c nonfat sour cream

The cooking instructions are really easy. Heat the oil in the pan and add garlic and veggies. Saute for a couple of minutes and add the ground turkey and cook until evenly brown. Drain off any fat (if you are using the leanest turkey there won't be much, if any) and add the canned ingredients and spices. If you are in a hurry, cook until everything boils together and serve. If not, let it simmer on low. This is great in the crockpot too.  Add some of the cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream to each serving and enjoy! We also like to serve it with tortilla chips.
You will be amazed that you cannot even taste the pumpkin in this chili!!

Next post: Pumpkin Turkey Meatloaf!

Popcorn

I've been experimenting with a few recipes lately and a couple of them are so easy and yummy, I had to share.  This afternoon when my daughters came home from school, they asked me the same question they ask me every afternoon..."what can I eat for snack?" This usually brings on a conversation where I list three or four healthy snack items (carrots with ranch, string cheese, fruit, etc.).  Of course none of those are appealing enough. I am a current Weight Watchers member and trying to get back on track and so I don't keep many sweets in the house. Fortunately, a good compromise with my girls is to let them have a bag of microwave popcorn. But, wait, we're out! Several months ago I read on someone's blog (I apologize that I have no idea who or what blog it was) that you can put regular popcorn in a brown paper bag and microwave it. I didn't bookmark or save it because my hubby talked me out of it. He said it would burn and make a huge mess and would never work.  Well, today I decided to go for it. I have no idea what the original recipe was so I put in about 1/3 c of popcorn. I folded the top of the bag down about 1/2 inch and then again and pressed it tightly shut. I thought maybe it needed a small vent so I poked a hole in it. That didn't hurt it, but didn't help either. My second batch I did not put any holes and got a perfectly popped bag of popcorn. Wahoo!! (It took about 3 minutes in my microwave, but I waited until the popping slowed just like with a regular bag of microwave popcorn.) It didn't burn or explode or cause any commotion. I couldn't wait to tell my husband. He couldn't believe it. I will be making another batch tonight just to prove it. Hee hee!! Happy popping!!
(PS - Tomorrow I'll share two new pumpkin recipes I love!)

Black Friday Beauties!!

Please take a look at some of the beautiful items from my friends on the CAST Team at Etsy.

Click here to view on Etsy.

 

Dazzling Descriptions to Delight your Fans!

Wow, it's been too long since I've posted! But, in my defense, I am taking two online college classes, working part time, volunteering (helping Jon run our church's Awana Clubs), being the taxi for our two busy girls and making sure they get everything done they need to do, and on, and on, and on... LOL!  
I get so excited around the holidays though and have been on a creative roll with making new earrings. I love making them, I love taking pictures of them, but I hate writing the descriptions! I have spent a year with my shop on Etsy now and have been Tweeting and Facebook-ing and a little bit of blogging, but still haven't been able to jump on top or even to the middle of the pile of jewelry creators online. So, I went searching for some good descriptive words. In my search I decided to put a list together to keep as a reference. Here it is and maybe you can get some use out of it too. Thanks to www.descriptivewords.org for examples.

Good descriptive words for listing items.
A	adorable		ample		amused		authoritative		average
B	baggy		big		blushing		brave		bulky
	banded		blinding		bold		bright
	beautiful		blissful		box		brilliant
	behemoth		blonde		brainy		broad
C	charming		cold		confident		crinkled		curious
	checkered		colorful		contented		crisp		curly
	cheerful		colossal		contoured		crooked		curved
	chubby		comical		convex		crowded		cute
	clean		competent		cool		crowned		cylinder
	clear		concave		corkscrew		crystalline
	clever		concentric		crescent		cube
	cloudy		cone		crested		cupped
D	dappled		deep		dim		distinct		durable
	daring		delighted		diminutive		drooping		dwarfed
	dark		diagonal		disc		dull		dynamic
E	ecstatic		elevated		enchanted		enthusiastic		excellent
	elated		elfin		enormous		exalted		exuberant
	elegant
F	faithful		fantastic		firm		fluffy		friendly
	fancy		fat		fit		foggy		funny
	fanned		feathery		flat		frail		fuzzy
G	gallant		glamorous		globe		good		great
	generous		gleaming		glorious		graceful		gritty
	giant		glistening		glowing		grand		grotesque
	gigantic
H	happy		heavy		high		honorable		huge
	hard		helix		hilarious		horizontal		hulking
	hazy		hexagon		hollow		hot		humorous
I	icy		immense		inspired		intense
J	jolly		jovial		joyful		jubilant
K	knotted
L	lanky		light		little		long		lovable
	large		lithe		lively		loose		low
M	magnificent		marvelous		middle-sized		minute		muddy
	majestic		massive		mighty		misty		murky
	mammoth		mellow		mild		modern
	manly		microscopic		miniature		motionless
N	narrow		neighborly		nice
O	obtuse		orb		oval		overjoyed
P	pale		pebbly		pleased		poised		prodigious
	parallel		petite		plump		portly		proud
	patient		pleasant		pointed		powerful		pyramid
	peaceful
Q	quaint
R	relaxed		reticulated		robust		rotund		round
	reliable		rich		rolling		rough		rounded
	respectful
S	satiny		shiny		smiling		spirited		straight
	sensitive		short		smoggy		splendid		strange
	serpentine		silky		smooth		spongy		streamlined
	shadowy		sinuous		soft		spotless		stupendous
	shady		skinny		solid		spotted		sunken
	shallow		slippery		sparkling		square		super
	shapely		slliptical		spherical		steep		superb
	sharp		small		spiked		stormy		sweet
	sheer								swollen
T	tall		textured		thoughtful		tiny		trapezoidal
	tame		thick		thrilled		tough		tremendous
	tender		thin		tight		towering		triumphant
	terrific
U	unusual
V	vast		velvety		victorious		vivacious		voluminous
	veined		vertical
W	warm		weird		winding		wizened		wooly
	waxy		wide		witty		wonderful		worm-like
	wee

If you have some words to add, feel free to leave a comment and I'll update the list if I get words that are good for describing your items!

CIC Saturday! Treasuring Teachers!!

So, right now I am a preschool teacher aide. This summer I am going to go back to school so that I can become a full-fledged preschool teacher which has me really excited! Last week we had our last day of school for the year and I received some lovely gifts from my students. In the coming weeks, I need to find something thoughtful to show our appreciation to my daughter's teachers too. With that in mind, here are some great ideas for teachers from some of my CIC Teammates.

Apple Notebook from Terrbear37                     Scrabble Tile Pendant from Jesse Janes

 Measure Up Ruler Earrings by polkadotpancake        Ready to Go Coloring Tote by Whimbrella

More Teacher Gifts in this Treasury! 

Please remember to say thanks to your child's teacher!! :-)