A Visit To The Pumpkin Patch & Crock Pot Barley

The rain stopped earlier than what was forecasted on Sunday and it was quite warm so we decided a trip to the pumpkin patch was in order!
Along one of the pathways we came upon this sign:
My kids were all over that and turned picking a cob of corn into their jobs.
Little did I know that they thought their cobs would be popped on site!  That sure led to a bit of confusion and they were bummed when the popping instructions said they needed to wait 4 weeks before they could do anything with them.   LOL!!
My kidlets had spend some time on the net searching out the perfect pumpkin carving templates so when we arrived they knew the basic shape and size that they needed.  Long, but fat.  Right.  Here’s what they ended up with:
Apparently they’re perfect!  I’ll reveal the finished jack o lanterns in my next post!  I was more interested in taking picture after picture around the farm than I was picking pumpkins.  HA!  These are a few of my favourites:
There’s just something about the hues of fall that grab my eye.  Bright and subdued all at once.  There was also an area where the kids could measure their heights.   
I think DS cheated a little by standing on his toes!
Onto a completely different topic now; I’ve been craving barley like a mad person lately, but haven’t had the time to cook any.  I finally decided to give it a whirl in my crock pot.  I added 1 cup of pearl barley and 3 cups of water as per the package instructions, then set it on low for 3 hours.  The results were perfect!
Not mushy, not sticky, still chewy and firm.  I had a nice helping at dinner along with some pan seared basa fillets and edamame that I cooked with a small onion, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper.
Awesome eats right there.  I just wish my family thought so!  DOH!  Other eats have looked like this: Pulled pork with leftover barley and edamame.
  Butternut Squash Soup with Mary’s crackers.
Before I sign off , please remember to check in with the Thanks & Giving food drive to see what the food item of the week is!!  Also, if you’re participating, let me know how you’re doing so far! 
It looks like we’re gonna be getting some BAD weather tonight.  They’ve dubbed it a “weather” bomb”.  It’s already started to rain and the satellite has gone out so I thought to post now in case I can’t later.  Hope you’re all having a great day!
Bye for now!!

Muffins, Soup and Food Item #3

Happy Sunday!!  Hopefully you’ve all been enjoying the past few days.  I know I have!  Like usual, hockey has been the main activity of the past few days but today is a day off!  YES!  We had a late afternoon game in another town yesterday and my hubby worked in the morning so I had tome to do my vacuuming and floors.  The joy.  HA!  Today my hubby and the kids went out to the farm.  I stayed back because my in laws bought a new computer and hubby was setting things up for them.  And I am not a patient person when it comes to computer shenanigans.  Instead, I did laundry and some baking.  Awhile ago I downloaded the Smart School Time Recipes booklet and I finally chose a recipe to try. These would be Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins except I ran out of chocolate chips so I used cinnamon chips instead. 
The turned out fabulous!  I made 6 big muffins so I had to adjust the baking time from 15 minutes to 25. As you can see, they’re perfectly golden brown.  Thanks for the recipe, Katie!!
Before I vacuumed the place yesterday I roasted a butternut squash (from my garden) an onion and some garlic to make my Butternut Squash soup.   The 45 minutes roasting time was just long enough to haul the vacuum around and make the aroma in the house heady.  I enjoyed a hefty serving come lunch time:  
I topped my bowl off with some cubed goat’s milk feta for a little extra creaminess.  A great lunch for a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon!
Did I mention that DS scored not one, but TWO goals in yesterday’s game???  BOOYA!  I was freaking ecstatic for him!  He was getting a bit discouraged that he couldn’t get past any goalies so far this season, but my hubby has been driving it into him that as long as he keeps his feet moving and takes every opportunity for a shot, the goals will come.   And so they did!  And wouldn’t you know that on the way down I snapped a few pictures of him after I had promised none at the rink???  DOH!  Well, here’s what I got, anyways…
 
And DD is always ready for a photo shoot!

So let’s talk about what I am thankful for this week (and always).  I am super lucky that my parents and in laws are all healthy and active.  Heck, my father in law is in his 70’s and still runs a horse farm with my mother in law for goodness sake!  I lost all my grandparents at a very young age so I have very vague memories of them.  I am SO thankful that my children have the opportunity to know, and grow, knowing their grandparents.  It’s such a blessing!  And on the lighter side, I am thankful that it has been raining all weekend because with the temps as cool as they are it could very well be snow!  Actually, we had a dusting of snow on the deck Friday morning.  *shiver*.  BTW, did you know that “snow” is considered a swear word in the Krista’s Kraving’s household?  LOL!!
I’ve been cooking bigger batch meals lately so there’s not too many food pictures today as most dishes were eaten more than once.  Here’s what I’ve got, though!! Kamut flakes above!!  I used a half cup, 1 cup water, craisins, banana and pecan pieces.  It’s been too long! Goat’s milk yogurt, pumpkin butter and granola became lunch one day… This was Thursday’s dinner.  I had enough time after work to roast some bone in chicken breasts.  On the side is brown rice and a mixture of sautéed pancetta, zucchini, spinach and goat’s milk feta.  Great flavour combination happening there, I tell you!  We all felt like breakfast for dinner last night so we stopped off at an all day breakfast joint for some eats.  This place has a great latte selection:
I ordered the pumpkin chai latter with skim:
I ordered the “Oxford” omelette for my meal.
It came with home fries (which I usually tell them to hold because I despise them!  But I forgot) and dry WW toast which later got some orange marmalade spread over it;
It was much better than I thought it would be….and I thought it would be good!  I’ll have to remember that mix of veggies next time I make eggs at home.
Now on to the Thanks & Giving food item of the week…. Hamburger Helper!  Just to review, week one was tuna and week 2 was mac n cheese.  Don’t forget to link back to the food drive, please!  The more the merrier.  Let’s help get food on the table for those less fortunate than us this Christmas!!!
Did you see the full moon Thursday night?
I snapped theses while in the Tim Horton’s drive thru!  Love them.
Bye for now!!