Fall Festivity Extravaganza Wrap-Up

With Thanksgiving now behind us it is my (other) favorite time of year: time to gear up for CHRISTMAS! Yes my house is already completely decked out for Christmas, tree and all (I'll post pictures later). But with fall leaving us behind ('leafing us behind'? hahahah) I wanted to just do a quick wrap up of the fun recipes and things I/we did in the last couple of months. Here ya go!

We made pumpkin pie from scratch! (welllll I made the filling from scratch...)

We made (and devoured in one sitting) roasted pumpkin seeds! 

Husband and I went on a super fun festive fall hike (say that five times fast...)

We made these delicious candy corn sugar cookies! 

We went to a farm and bought apples to make this amazing and easy home made applesauce! 

I hope you had as much fun this fall as I did. Now let the Christmas festivities begin!!!

Holiday Party Dip

I got this recipe about 5 years ago from my mother-in-law and I have made it for pretty much every holiday party I have been to ever since. I get requests for it every year and it's hilarious to me because it is sooooo easy to make. It's like 4 ingredients - including the pita chips! It's basically a twist on a cheese ball (because seriously, who needs a BALL of cheese, I've always found that weird).

Ingredients: 

• pita chips
• 1/4 c. pesto
• 8oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes (I buy the julienne kind)

How To Make It

• chop up the sun dried tomatoes a little more so they are smaller chunks 
• mash the sun dried tomatoes, pesto and cream cheese together until they are thoroughly mixed
• dip delicious pita chips and stuff it all in your mouth
• happy holidays! 

Closet

Oregon State plays their final home game this weekend. Thought I'd show off a little school pride today, GO BEAVS!

Ruffled Dress: Old Navy

Sweater: Target

Patterned Tights: Forever 21

Boots: Nordstrom

Belt: Forever 21

Closet

I really wish you could tell that these are olive corduroy pants. I just got them and I LOVE them, they are so great for fall and so. comfortable.

Sweater: H&M

Maroon Tank: H&M

Olive Corduroys: H&M

Boots: Nordstrom / Steve Madden

Christmas Stovetop Scent

This weekend I decorated for Christmas (yes, I'm that girl, get off me, I like Christmas). My cousin Molly came over and helped out and we made a Christmas themed day: we drank hot cocoa spiked with peppermint schnapps, decorated, and watched a Christmas movie. It was lovely and relaxing and perfect. I didn't buy a tree yet (come on, I'm not that crazy) there wasn't really the smell of Christmas in the air, so I decided to try one of the "simmering potpourris". I didn't have everything just lying around the house so I improvised a little but here it is:

 Ingredients: 

• 2 clementines
• 3 sage leaves
• 1/2 of a whole nutmeg
• a pinch of cloves
• 1 c. cranberries
• small handful of pomegranate seeds 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 

How To Make It Smell

• Uhhhh, throw it all in a small pot with water filled up 1 inch below the brim and place it on your stovetop on low. It's not rocket science...

Closet

Sweater: H&M

Dress: H&M

Leggings: H&M

Boots: Nordstrom

Scarf TJ Maxx

Quick Quesadillas

Husband has had a night time training session all week so I have been scrambling to make dinner in the 1 hour we have between work and training - that is one hour from the time I leave my work desk until he has to be at training, so yeah... pretty tight.

Last night I had a bit of an "aha" moment: we had chicken quiona soup two nights ago and I had some left over tortillas from some crunch wraps I made last week; I always have pico de gallo and cheese on hand. BAM! quesadillas! I realize most of you know how to make quesadillas, but juuuuust in case you don't, here it is.

Ingredients: 

• tortillas - burrito sized, not those little wimpy ones
• cooked chicken - chopped (can be light or dark meat, whichever you prefer)
• 1 avocado
• cheese of your choice
• pico de gallo (home made recipe here)

How To Cook It

• preheat a non-stick pan to medium high heat OR use a panini press or griddle (I used a panini press, if you don't have one, get one! Mine is amazeballs! It's a griddler and panini press, and it's plates detach for easy cleaning.)
• place a handful of chopped chicken on half of tortilla, followed by 1/4 of a chopped avocado, and a couple spoonfuls of pico de gallo
• top with cheese (however much looks good to you, this isn't rocket science)
• fold tortilla in half and place on the panini press until the tortilla starts to get crispy and a little golden brown (if you're using a non stick pan obviously flip it when it starts to get golden brown)
• cut in to quarters (I used a pizza cutter) and serve

Closet

Warm relaxing weekend wear! I just got this flannel from H&M and I love it. It's long and actually flannel and soooo comfortable. Perfect for the "in between" weather of fall and winter. You can't really tell in the picture but it's burgundy and black. Also, sorry about whatever monstrosity is on my mirror right now. Gross.

Flannel Shirt: H&M

Long Tank: Charlotte Russe

Jeans: Vigoss Brand purchased at Nordstrom Rack

Shoes: Vans

Infinity Scarf: Hand knitted by my step-momma!