Easy Ways to Turn a Halloween Porch into a Thanksgiving/Fall Porch

Happy Halloween!! I love Halloween and I'm so excited for my son to go trick-or-treating as a farmer with his dad and for me to stay home with our almost 5-month-old son, who will be dressed as the farmer's cow. Should be a fun night! (I'm praying for leftover chocolate!)

I know what you're thinking. Why in the world am I just now posting about a Halloween porch? And the answer is: I have no idea. But I purposely set up my porch for Halloween to be easily transitioned into a Thanksgiving porch and I want to share my ideas with you today!

First, here's what my porch has looked like all month long:

 

Nothing too fancy, but just enough to add some fun to the porch. I wanted to do something festive for Halloween without having to go overboard on budget.

 

There's a good chance that a lot of you bought pumpkins this year and didn't carve some of them. We are part of that group, and now I'm excited to be able to hold onto them for just a little longer into November. The nice thing about these uncarved little gems is that they don't go bad as fast and you can leave them out for more of fall.

After my Halloween chair (purchased at a craft boutique) goes back in storage, I'll do some rearranging and my pumpkin with the vinyl "M" will sit with the other pumpkins. A vinyl letter representing the family name on the front of a pumpkin adds a nice touch and a bit of pop on a fall porch. (Thanks to my brother-in-law and twin sister for that!) And chances are you can still buy bails of straw at the grocery stores if you want that look for November and don't already have some! I have one bail sitting here with these pumpkins.

We put three straw bails to the right of the door with another cluster of different sizes and colors of pumpkins. I found a fun Halloween printable on etsy and put it in an inexpensive frame and placed it with the pumpkins. I love how much it added for Halloween! For November I plan on putting this subway art in a white or brown frame and placing it in the same spot:

You can download this subway art here.

 And I found this little guy at a mini bazaar in Idaho for $14. I have a pumpkin welcome sign that I plan to replace the owl with come November 1st.

And that's my front porch plan! I love fall and I want to make it last as long as possible...although it's feeling more like summer here, as we're sitting at a high of 75° here in northern Utah today. The kids are going to have a great night of trick-or-treating ahead! 

I hope you all have a fun and safe evening!

Chocolate Chip Applesauce Muffins + 2 Winners

There's no doubt that I love chocolate. I remember the first time I ate a chocolate muffin. It was one of those massive chocolate muffins from Sam's Club and it was delicious. I split it with my twin sister and we were in heaven.

My mom, sisters, and sister-in-law (and all the babies) drove from Idaho and stayed at my house last weekend for mine and my twin's 28th birthday and I thought about going to Costco and getting some of those big chocolate muffins. Then I saw a recipe for these Chocolate Chip Applesauce Muffins over at Mama Chocolate that I really wanted to try. What I love most about these is how good they taste, yet they're healthy. I'm not kidding-I was expecting wheat flour, applesauce, and the serious lack of cane sugar to make these muffins taste a little more on the bland side. I was totally wrong! They are SO good, and we had these little guys for breakfast every morning over birthday weekend. These are a chocolate muffin I don't have to feel guilty eating so many! And I hear they freeze really well. Amongst the whole group, we ended up polishing off an entire batch of these in four days. But the next time I make them I plan on setting some aside to freeze and pull out for future breakfasts.


Chocolate Chip Applesauce Muffins
Mama Chocolate
makes 3 dozen muffins

• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 c. baking cocoa
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 3/4 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl or your stand mixer bowl, combine both flours, brown sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix it well.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs, applesauce, milk, oil and vanilla. Slowly add this mixture to the dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula or spoon.

Coat muffin pans with cooking spray OR place cupcake liners in the cups. (I did both. My friend had a baby on my birthday - So fun! - so I did some of these muffins with Halloween cupcake liners and the rest without.) Fill each cup 3/4 full with batter. (If you look closely at my pan, you can see a line around each cup indicating how full to fill them. I love that about this pan! It's from Wilton.)

Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pans. Place on a wire rack after they cool for a bit. These are awesome served warm!

And the winners of the Custom Cutie Wipes Cases are:

#21 - Jarae Wilcox

#28 - Julie Laws

Congratulations! Check your e-mail for a message from me.

Five on Friday

It's Friday! I love the weekends.

I'm starting a new segment today called "Five on Friday". I thought it would be fun to feature five of my current favorite things and tell you why I love them so much. This time around my favorite things all happen to be food items. Shocking, I know! While you're letting your brain process the madness, let's get this party started! And in no particular order...

#1 - Crystal Light Energy

Ok, I lied. This really is my number one favorite thing right now. These are little packets of Crystal Light that also contain a bit of caffeine to put a little pep in my step for the day. You simply open a pack and pour it in a bottled water. Shake it up and enjoy! 

These two flavors are my all-time favorites:

Peach Mango and Pomegranate Lemonade are THE best. And yes, from Great Value! Walmart makes their version of this stuff and, not only is the price better, but there are better flavor options. I highly recommend having a few boxes of these lying around!

#2 - Caramel Apple Candy Corn

With fall comes one of my favorite candies! I love that awesome candy apple flavor with the candy corn texture. At Walmart recently I was on the hunt for a bag of these. There are also Caramel Candy Corn and Green Apple Candy Corn, but I love the already-combined flavors of the two this bag-o-goodness brings. Such a yummy fall treat!

#3 - Harvest M&M's

And while we're on the subject of delectable fall treats, enter Harvest M&M's. I really love M&M's any time of year. But for some reason, the Harvest and Halloween versions are my ultimate favorite. And maybe Easter M&M's. And Christmas. Ok, I love them all equally. But right now, these Harvest M&M's are one of my favorite things to have in the pantry for a quick chocolate fix.

#4 - Special K Pastry Crisps, Strawberry Flavored

These Special K Pastry Crisps are one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. I'm not a huge breakfast fan, but these I love. There are two crisps in a pack for 100 calories and they're similar to a Pop Tart. I have a pack of pastry crisps with a glass of milk for breakfast and I'm good to go. I've been trying to shed some pounds since having my baby and these pastry crisps have really helped me do that. With how busy my mornings are, I love that I can still have some breakfast and keep up with the kids at the same time. Whether you're losing weight or just want a quick something for breakfast, these are just right!

And #5 - Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love these chips right now! They're one of the best snacks I've ever had. They're light and crispy, and they're baked! I love having a handful of these for a snack, on the side of a turkey sandwich for lunch, or with some mango salsa. They're so darn good. I've heard of a cinnamon and sugar version of these that I'm dying to try as well. How good would those be with fruit salsa?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! If you haven't already, be sure to enter the current giveaway closing tomorrow night:

a wipes case from Custom Cutie Wipes Cases (2 winners!!)

And be sure to watch for a giveaway happening next week on Facebook!

all images via the products' company websites

Apricot Chicken {Crock Pot}

This is another of the many chicken dishes we've tried in the last few weeks. It's easy, it's yummy, and the whole family loved it. My favorite meals are good meals that come together easily. I love being able to throw dinner in my crock pot then "set it and forget it!" (Oh wait, that's the Ronco Rotisserie ad. Remember that infomercial? ha ha I guess that saying works for a crock pot too!) This was my first time ever using apricot preserves in cooking and I loved it. It's a great way to add sweetness without having to pour a whole bunch of sweet stuff in. I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as we did!

Apricot Chicken {Crock Pot}
Six Sisters Stuff
makes 6 servings (There are only 2 adults and a toddler who eat dinner at our house so we end up cutting most recipes in half. This was an easy one to split in half! I was grateful for that. Less math! ha ha)

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
• 1 1/2 c. apricot preserves
• 1 c. Russian dressing (I could only find Wishbone brand so that's what I used!)
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Mix together the preserves, dressing, and soup mix in a bowl. Place the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot and pour the preserves mixture over top. Cook on low for 3-4 hours. (Original recipe says to cook on high for 1 hour before cooking on low. I prefer to do all crock pot cooking on low. "Low and slow!" It makes everything super moist without drying it out.)

Cut the chicken up into pieces and serve over rice. Or keep the chicken breasts in full and serve with side dishes, as seen above. Enjoy!

And don't forget to enter the fun giveaway going on right now! Enter to win a wipes case from Custom Cutie Wipes Cases. 

Two winners!! 

Click here to enter.

Custom Cutie Wipes Case GIVEAWAY!

I am related to some pretty talented people. My cousin, Aimee, is sharing her talent by featuring her business Custom Cutie Wipes Cases with a giveaway today! These wipes cases are so cute and fun, and they make perfect baby shower gifts. Here are a few examples of her work:

Aren't these seriously so cute? Aimee can make pretty much any desired color scheme. She also has many wipes cases already made up that are available! For anybody who ever uses baby wipes, these make for some pretty glam-tastic cases! 

Aimee is generously giving away a custom wipes case to 
TWO Cupcake Diaries readers! 
If you win, you can hold on to your case for yourself or kids, or give it away to a family member or friend! Just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below to enter! (It may take a second or two to load.) 

Giveaway ends Sunday, October 28th at 12:01 am.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I turned 28 on October 18th and my birthday turned into four straight days of partying with my husband, mom, sisters, sister-in-law, and all our kids! Our visitors came from Idaho to come spend the weekend with us and celebrate my twin sister's and my birthday. It was SO fun! I did something I rarely do and completely left the Internet alone for that entire time. I did check Facebook a few times to keep up on all the wonderful birthday messages I received. But other than that, I did nothing online for four days. And it felt oddly good! It was nice to be able to clear my mind, relax, and just enjoy the great company I had all weekend. We made all kinds of good food, including Billy's Chili and Sweet Cornbread. Yum!

After a crazy enjoyable weekend, it feels good to be back and sharing more recipes! The weekend before last we had some visitors from my husband's side of the family. His brother came with his wife and their kids, as well as my father-in-law, and stayed with us overnight on Friday. His brother and our brother-in-law participated in the super intense Tough Mudder obstacle course in Tooele, UT the next morning and some of them needed a place to stay. I decided to have a treat ready for them when they arrived that evening so I made these delicious White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. The description on Pinterest said they tasted a lot like the Subway cookie, and they were truly right! These guys were scrumptious and I loved the texture. Bobby Flay would be happy!

**Now I have to  mention that this is NOT my picture of the finished product. It belongs to Rhiannon at All Recipes.  I actually had taken a whole bunch of pictures when I made these, but when I went to put them on my computer the card had been corrupted and wouldn't upload the pictures to my computer. I may have had a minor freak out when this happened. Ok, it was a major one. And not necessarily because I couldn't get the cookie pictures put on my computer. I was about ready to head out the door to do a family photo shoot and was planning on taking that card with me. If I hadn't decided at last minute to upload these to my computer, I wouldn't have discovered the card was corrupted and I would have done an entire photo shoot with a corrupted card and failed at putting the family's pictures on my computer. Gah!! I could cry just thinking about that. Thank goodness we were able to run to Best Buy for a new card before the shoot. 


White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
All Recipes
This recipe makes a small batch. It's probably half the size of a standard cookie recipe. However, it was a perfect amount of cookies for the small group who came to stay with us. You'll want to double the recipe if you want to have plenty of cookies. 

• 1/2 c. butter (1 stick), softened at room temperature
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
• 1 (6.5 ounce) jar macadamia nuts, chopped

In your stand mixer or a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the egg and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt then mix it in with the butter mixture. Then mix in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts with a wooden spoon.

Drop cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet by the heaping teaspoonful about 2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees, or until lightly browned.

Totsy: Daily Deals for Moms, Kids and Babies

Christmas is already only a couple months away! Yep, I'm already thinking about that. I'm the type of person that likes to draw names in our families in September so I can get a head start and begin the thinking process for what I'm going to give. I'm not the type of person who can do all my Christmas shopping on Black Friday. I like to start slowly in the fall and gradually get it all done in time to enjoy Christmas parties and not be stressing about trying to find a gift for my brother.

I'm also a person who likes to save money. I'm sure I have that in common with a lot of you! I love finding a great deal on stuff that I know my loved ones will love. And that's why I love this gem of a website:

Totsy is a daily deals website for moms, kids, and babies and it is WONDERFUL. A lot of daily deals websites have ten individual items on sale ranging from a certain style of boot to that one brand of hair straightener-and only those ten items. What I love about Totsy is that the over 100 shops or websites featured daily have at least ten different items within that shop. So you can find a section called Stationery Essentials and find all kinds of journals, notebooks, and envelopes to choose from, like the one seen below:

This cute little hedgehog notebook is regularly $9.99 and is currently $3.50 on Totsy!

Or these toddler boy two and three-piece sets:

These sets are normally $44 but they're $21 right now on Totsy!

I'm also loving these hooded striped coveralls for babies, currently $11.75 from Baby by Leveret! (Regularly $32)

And can't forget Mom! 

I love this tunic! It's s only $10.50 on Totsy right now, regularly $32!

See what I mean! Totsy is amazing, and thanks to this site I'm going to be able to get some serious Christmas shopping done at a great price. I've already found some great stuff for my two-year-old and 4-month-old sons. It's wonderful! And I love the daily deals last more than one day. They usually last 4 days so you can take some time to decide for sure what you really want. And they give you a preview of deals coming up. It's great!

If this is the first time you've heard of Totsy, I'm excited for you to check it out! It's really an awesome option to save some money this Christmas and find some really great items for your loved ones. Have fun shopping! 

All opinions are 100% mine and I am not being compensated by Totsy. I just love this site and wanted to share it with you all!

Orange Julius Smoothie Made with NECTRESSE™ Sweetener

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nectresse™ Sweetener for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Recently I was able to try Nectresse, a no-calorie sweetener, and I have to tell you that I love it so much! We are all about sweets in this house, and knowing that Nectresse is not only no calories but also delicious, I am so happy to start using it in more dishes! This is the only 100% natural sweetener available where you shop and made from monk fruit extract.

We have a favorite smoothie recipe at our house and it comes from Sweet Treats and More. Her recipe for Orange Julius Smoothies are SO good. We decided to give them a try with Nectresse instead of real sugar and we couldn't even tell the difference! My toddler still loved it, and so did my husband. It had all the sweetness that we needed without the gross aftertaste that a lot of sweetener substitutes tend to have. This makes for one seriously low-cal orange julius!

 

Orange Julius Smoothie

from Sweet Treats and More

makes 2-3 servings

• 1/2 c. 1% or skim milk
• 1/2 c. cold water
• 6 NECTRESSE™Sweetener packets
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4-5 ice cubes
• 6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate (Use half and save the rest for another smoothie day!)

Place everything in a blender and blend together till smooth and frothy.

 

I highly recommend this Nectresse Sweetener! We love it at our house! And now you can try it yourself with a FREE sample of NECTRESSE™Sweetener so you can try it before you buy it! And before you leave this post today, check out this inspirational video featuring Lisa Ling about the benefits of Nectresse Sweetner. I'm so happy that I can still enjoy sweets and be a little healtheir about it with Nectresse Sweetener!