First Family Pumpkin Carving

Baby Legs

I almost forgot that I had these adorable Baby Legs for Harper! They are still a little big on her but they still do the job of keeping her legs warm! These things are awesome because they are cute leg warmers that I can easily pull over her legs and she instantly has pants! :) They look cute with onsies, skirts, dresses...and when she gets a little older she can use them like leggings!

Halloween Playdates

It's been a busy week...Harper and I have attended 2 Halloween Playdates and we still have one more Halloween gathering to attend tomorrow! So Harper is definitely getting use out of her costume! If you are wondering, Harper is a punk rock baby! :) On Wednesday we went to Aunt Ellie's house where we got to play with some friends and Aunt E took a picture of Harper in her costume, we can't wait to see the pics! Today we went to a playdate with 30 other babies and their mamas...what a sight that was! We ate yummy treats, had a costume contest and took some cute pics of all the kiddos together...so much fun! Harper and I are very lucky to have met some wonderful new friends!

My little pumpkin fairy! Thanks for the cute outfit Granny!

Recipes

I spent a little time in the kitchen on Sunday and whipped up a few good recipes that I wanted to share. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup egg substitute
2 tbsp. canola oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup raisins

1.In a small bow, combine oats and buttermilk; let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in egg substitute and oil, set aside.
2.In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the wet ingredients just until moistened; add raisins.
3.Pour batter by heaping ¼ cupfuls onto a hot griddle coated with cooking spray; turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown.

Pumpkin Butter (Makes 2 Cups)
2 Cups Pureed Pumpkin or 1 15oz Can Pumpkin Puree
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
1/4 Cup Honey
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1. Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
2. Cool and serve.
*Place in appropriate tupperware or ziploc bag and freeze up to 4 months. Defrost in fridge.
*Serve on a toast, waffle, on a rice cake with a smudge of cream cheese, make a pancake sandwich

Baby Gate

So we finally got a baby gate up in the house...Chris installed it in the doorway right next to the kitchen that goes into the play room. It's a cool gate that has a door that swings open too! When we ate dinner we decided to test it out so we put Harper on the other side and she instantly was in love...another thing for her to pull up on!!!

Sweet Berry Farm

Today the Lucas Family took a mini road trip to Marble Falls (about an hour away) to visit Sweet Berry Farms! Well let me tell you, this place wasn't a secret, there was SO many families there! It was quite a charming place though...in the fall they have the following going on...pumpkin picking (what we went for), scare crow stuffing, flower picking, face painting, pumpkin painting, goat feeding, hay rides, corn maze...and I think that was about it. Well we scored a cool pumpkin and we managed to get some great pics of Miss Harper too! And we even managed to stop by T's on the way home for a little hanging out time at the honky tonk...life is good!!!

Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes

With cooler weather in the air comes the desire to want to eat cold weather favorites like meat and potatoes...and that is what we dove into tonight for dinner! I made a super juicy and flavorful vegetable meatloaf with chipotle mashed sweet potatoes on the side. You have got to try these recipes! I am going to make meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers for dinner tomorrow, yum!

Vegetable Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small zucchini, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, smashed to a paste with coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (90 percent lean)
1 cup panko (coarse Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the zucchini, bell peppers, garlic paste and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables are almost soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the egg and fresh herbs in a large bowl. Add the turkey, panko, grated cheese, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and the cooled vegetables; mix until just combined.

Gently press the mixture into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in a small bowl; brush the mixture over the entire loaf. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 whole canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can of peppers
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Put cubed potatoes into steamer basket and place steamer into a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of basket. Allow to steam for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Add butter to potatoes and mash with potato masher. Add peppers, sauce, and salt and continue mashing to combine. Serve immediately.

Harper in the kitchen

Harper has moved onto a new toy, her mini kitchen! She loves it and it's just the perfect size for her. I can't wait until she is old enough to get into the real kitchen, she is going to be mama's little helper!

Who wants a milkshake?

Don't bother me, I'm cookin!

Spicy Pesto

If you like pesto and want to try something a little different, give this a try! This delicious pesto is courtesy of Giada...and you don't have to make it spicy if you don't want to! Since my lovely hubby doesn't have a spicy tongue like mine I took the ribs and seeds out of the jalapeno and the pesto still had a mild jalapeno taste to, just enough (but honestly, I would have liked it spicier!). Toss it with some pasta or use it as a spread, it's good!

Pesto:
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 (2-inch long) red or green jalapeno pepper, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 cups grated (4 ounces) Asiago cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces baby spinach
3 ounces arugula
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
In a food processor, combine the walnuts, garlic, jalapeno, cheese, salt and pepper. Process until the mixture is smooth. Add the spinach and arugula and process until blended. With the machine running, gradually add the olive oil.

Halloween at the Lucas Casa

So it's Halloween and I decided this year to decorate a little more for the holiday then I normally do...and a sweet little baby girl might be the reason for that! ;) My decorating was centered around the fireplace and mantel area with a few other touches here and there. I also stole a fun tree decorating idea from a friend...I picked up a small tree (just the right size for Harper) and decorated it for Halloween!! Next month we will decorate it for Thanksgiving and then Christmas...it's a 3 month tree! :) On Saturday the Lucas Family is taking a mini road trip to get a pumpkin, will blog on this later!

Eating time...it is a changin!

This week I introduced Harper to a spoon and feeding herself and boy does she love it! I put some food in her spoon and she takes it right to her mouth every time! I also gave her some pieces of cooked chicken and avocado last night and she did really well with those too! Our little baby is growing up! I think she really loves this new found independence, she has a proud look on her face when she is eating, too cute!

Harper's 1st ACL!

On Friday Daddy & I took Harper to her first Austin City Limits Music Festival! Daddy LOVES this festival and looks forward to it every year...he actually has gone every year since it started!! So as you can imagine, this was a very important day...to introduce Harper to all the fun! Well the day before Harper developed a very runny nose and she had a really hard night so I wasn't sure if it was going to happen...thankfully she took a very long morning nap which re-energized her and got her through the afternoon! We packed all the baby necessities into Daddy's backpack (not that much stuff really) and I put Harper in the Bjorn (her ride for the day) and were were off! We got into the festival around 2pm and Mommy and Harper left the festival at 5pm. She did great and we all had a very fun afternoon together as a family...already looking forward to next year!

A good friend of mine took some pics of Harper and Mommy & Daddy when Harper was around 6 months old...these are a few of my favorites!

Crib Fun!

Shortly after finding her like this we moved the crib mattress down and put up the crib rail covers!

I like Daddy's hat!

Mobile Baby

Now that Harper can pull herself up she likes to pull herself up on everything! On legs, toys, Jack...whatever! She also is having more fun crawling with her knees off the ground which is totally adorable! She is loving her new found independence!

Newest Longhorn Fan!