Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

So my darling Carol-Anne turned 7 on Saturday. We celebrated her birthday on the 10th with my family and also had our great pumpkin harvest. It was so much fun!!! Here's some pics:

Scentsy Party!!!!

Hi Everyone!

I have a Scentsy Party open until October 10th if anyone is interested in ordering new scents (which are amazing!!!) or new warmers to replace the ones that husbands might have broke or just because you need one! Scentsy has a wonder new assortment of warmers and smells, just right for the fall and winter season! Click the link below to browse their website and catalog. Drop me an email or leave me a comment if you'd like me to bring the sample scents over to your house or you can come over to mine. Or just visit me at work if you're one of my wonderful coworkers!!! My email is sinackunz04@hotmail.com

http://www.scentsy.net/

Apple Muffins

The leaves on the trees on Mt. Timp are changing! Beautiful reds, yellows and oranges! It's really put me in the mood for some Apple Muffins!!!

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 cups diced Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  
  My folders:
  
  
  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Pour into the flour mixture and sprinkle the diced apple into the bowl as well. Stir just until everything is blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups to the top. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of melted butter while tossing with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.

Oh my heavens, yum! Maybe I'll take some of these with the kids and I on a little walk to see what else is changing! Enjoy!

Is It Autumn Yet?

I'm so wishing for autumn! I just can't wait! It's my favorite time of year with Thanksgiving being my favorite holiday! While up in the mountains on Sunday, we noticed a few trees changing their leaves and it was just so beautiful! Here's a recipe to get you in the mood for Autumn!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Bread-IV/Detail.aspx

It's a wonderful recipe and makes the house smell just glorious! Nothing like a nice slice of warm zucchini bread to make your day! Wish for Autumn!

Summertime Recap

It's been such a fun, very short summer! The family and I have had so much fun! Summer started off very cold and rainy, and came down with a case of severe cabin fever. So off we went to the Natural History Museum in SLC. What a fun time we had! The kids are into the movie series "Night at the Museum," so this was loads of fun. Dinosaur skeletons, rocks, frogs and bugs! After the Natural history museum, we went to Hoogle Zoo with my Mom, sister, sister in law and niece and nephew! We had pretty good luck with the animals, and our favorites cooperated and let us see them! So much for June!

In July the kids went up to Idaho for about 10 days to spend some time with Grandma and Papa Kunz. Before the picked up Jaz from the airport they were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with Grandma and Papa Kunz. Both kids just loved that! My sister in law Jaz made it into town with her husband, and we were all able to get together on July 4th for a little mini reunion. Loads of fun camping at Bear Lake with lots of tubing and boating! We then had a nice family dinner on Sunday the 5th and took some very nice family photos, photos which I'm still waiting for someone to send me a copy of. Someday right? After Bear Lake I took the kids with my Mom to Lagoon for Harmon's Lagoon Days. We had so much fun! My daughter is a little evil kenevil, loving the crazy rides! John he prefers the more tame rides, but loves the Haunted Houses! It was a great day with the Gram and the kids! We also visited the Farmer's Market in SLC, and thought that was great fun, after walking around the Farmer's Market, we went to Boondocks to play mini golf, ride the bumper boats and play arcade games. It was great fun, especially the golfing features that shot out flames! Also during July, we spent a lot of time riding horses out at my parents' house, practicing for a horse show in August!

The kids went camping again with their Kunz grandparents, up on Palisades Reservoir. They had a good time. John was able to get his mandatory ride in Papa's John Deere Tractor while up there. After their little camping trip they came home for a night and then I got to go on vacation with them up to Idaho Falls! It was my first paid vacation ever and we had such a wonderful time! It was cold and chilly up in Idaho Falls, my type of weather even in August! We visited with my Sister and her family, my two wonderful Aunts, a handful of cousins and had a blast! I took the kids and my sister and nephew to Bear World and oh my gosh the bears were right there! John was a little unsure at first, but then really got into it! We followed right behind a feeding truck and really got close to the bears. Good thing they liked their food better than my car! The day after Bear World, my Aunt Char, my kids, Clint and I took a day trip over to Jackson Wyoming and played tourist around the town square. So much has changed, but yet a lot is still the same. It was cold and rainy, and just wonderful! I miss being up in Jackson sometimes.

Once home from Idaho, we really had to start working hard and practicing lots for the Utah County Fair Horse Show. Carol once again showed Butterbum, with Gram in the arena to help in the Lead Line Showmanship. They looked so sharp and beautiful! Carol really worked her stuff, being in the right position at the right time and everything! She won FIRST PLACE and brought home a huge trophy! So proud of my girl! She giggled all the way over to accepting her trophy, it was just so awesome!

John is not much into horses, so Papa Martin decided that the grandkids needed a little 4-wheeler to play with. John thinks this is right up his alley! He's still a little nervous about it, has had his first crash and just loves wearing a helmet! He says he's going to practice lots and be a good driver now! After the horse show, my Aunty Pam and her three kids came in from Oklahoma and my sister came down from Idaho for a wonderful visit! All of my siblings and their spouses came down to my parent's home and we had a wonderful family dinner. Oupa and Granny even made it! After all of this, school started for Carol on August 20th, and John started school August 27th. What a whirlwind of a summer!

Fried Green Tomatoes!!!

• 1/2 cup bacon grease
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 green tomato, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Heat the bacon grease in a large skillet over medium heat. In one small bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal and pepper. In another small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk using a fork. Dip the tomato slices into the egg and milk, then coat with the dry mixture. Place the breaded tomato slices in the hot bacon grease. Cook until browned on each side, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Bacon grease burns easily, so adjust your heat if you need to.

Dad

Ok, so my Dad is THE most impossible man to shop for. What to get this man for his birthday? He buys whatever he wants, never mind the expensive tastes. He has an ecclectic choice in hobbies and past times from horses to rc airplanes, fishing to reading. I love my Dad, but geeez, I never know what to get him! What to do!!! Help! Anyone with any ideas???

Good Cafe Rioish Chicken

Thanks Sami for this recipe! Its our new fave at home!

6 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1 can of green enchilada sauce
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 small can green chilies
1 can of Coke

Combine all the ingredients in your crock pot and stir together. Set crock pot on high and let cook for about 4 hours. Serve with tortillas and favorite Mexican food toppings or on a taco salad!

Happy Birthday John

So here's a video of John blowing out the candles of his birthday cake. I'm an evil mom and tricked him with trick candles. We did give him the slice of cake with the candles on it. We didn't want watered down cake. Enjoy

Mother's Day

Know a special mom? Um you all should know a special mom!!!! This special mom doesn't necessarily have to be you biological mother, just some female that you feel a maternal bond towards or a friend of yours that is special who happens to be a mom. Mother's Day is on Sunday. Make her this on Saturday for Sunday morning:

(Trust me)

12 crepes - if you don't know how to make them, buy them pre-made
2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1 container blackberries
1 container raspberries
1 container Philadelphia Cheesecake cream cheese
1 container Philadelphia Raspberry cream cheese
Raspberry dessert sauce
white chocolate chips

Whip the two cream cheeses together. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture on a crepe. Place 3-4 Strawberry halves in the middle of the crepe in a straight line. Roll up the crepe carefully until you have a nice little burrito looking thing. Place on a nice platter or baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the crepes. Once you have all your crepes rolled up, zigzag the raspberry dessert sauce over the crepes. Sprinkle the chocolate chips, blackberries, raspberries and remaining strawberries over the crepes. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve or to take to you special mom's home! ~Enjoy

Grilled Veggies

It's almost summer time! My newest fave on the grill, veggies!

Chop of some some of the following in nice big chunks:

Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Red and Green Bell Peppers
Portabello Mushrooms
Red Onion
Sweet Yellow onion

Toss the veggies in olive oil and some Mrs. Dash's seasoning.

Wrap up in tin foil, or if you have one of those cool grilling baskets, use that.

Place on the preheat grill and grill tender crisp! Yummo!

Scentsy Party

Just to let everyone know, I'll be having a week long Scentsy party April 13th - April 18th. Perfect for Mothers Day gifts, or to just stock up on summer time scents. Oh man, they have some really yummy news ones too, Twilight being one of them. Yummo. So leave me a post, email me or call me if you'd like to set up a time to come over to my place, or me come to yours so that you can smell the smells and place an order for this wonderful product!

Jack O Lantern Anyone?

So here's my girl, with the funniest grin ever! My question is - How is she going to eat her favorite summertime food, Utah Corn on the Cob?

Strawberry Jam

Now is the time to be picking up flats of strawberries for killer deals and making strawberry freezer jam. Strawberries are in season!!! Spring is on it's way! Sounds hard and time consuming? Not at all! You can find great freezer jam recipes in with the pectin packets! It's so worth it and easy to do! My kids love strawberry jam on anything from ice cream to pancakes, and of course sandwiches! Your local grocer should carry all that you need strawberries, pectin, lemon juice and cute little Tupperware freezer containers! Have fun and enjoy!

Gone to the Dogs

You know, I find our news reports and reporters getting stupider every day. Take for instance this morning on several web sites part of the news is that Martha Stewart's puppy dies in a propane blast. Ok, you all know me, I love animals and get upset when an animal that is close to me dies. But I don't go calling the AP and have the news pasted all over the world. Why is it that a celebrities pet qualifies as news? Did that animal do something good? Bad? Amazing? Something news worthy? All that pet ever was was a private companion and a source of enjoyment of the owner. Not that that isn't nice, it's just not considered news worthy. Why not report something good to uplift souls instead of a death of some one's pet? Give the world something positive to think about instead of wasting space by reporting the latest celebrity mishap or whoops. Who really cares about whose dog died and who flashed their crotch to the world. Take back our news and request to be informed on important facts not trivial matters! Ask for something positive and uplifting. I know there's not much out there positive, but once you start looking it might amaze everyone.

Roasted Asparagus

2 lbs fresh asparagus, washed with 1/3 of stem removed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat Oven to 450 degrees. Toss the asparagus in the oil and seasonings. Arrange on a cookie sheet so all the steams are flat. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the asparagus is tender crisp. Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with cheese. Serve immediately.

My Latest Sin

So I know avocados are load full of good fats, but it's still fats right. Right. But a little bit is just fine in my book. Right now Chilean Haas Avocados are in season and oh my, they are the best! On eof my coworkers, DeeDee, makes the best guacamole ever with them! Here's the recipe:

3-4 medium ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
16 oz Harmons fresh salsa - Spicy is my fave
1 large ziplock plastic bag

Place all the ingredients in the ziplock back and seal. Give to one of your children to smoosh and squeeze or do it yourself. Once everything is all mixed, snip a corner off the bag and squeeze the guacamole out into a bowl. Add an extra dash of sea salt and a splash of lime juice and Voila! Guacamole!

Busy Days

So I know I said that I'd try to blog more often with healthy recipes, but I just haven't found the time. I've been working on myself lately, and it's paid off! 10 lbs gone and down the toilet! WOOT WOOT!!! My trick - eating! I eat 6 times a day, not big things, usually about 150-200 calories. Lots of lettuce, tomatoes, and such and watch how many carbs, proteins and fats. It's working!!! I'm slightly excited. So my goal for June, is to be under 200lbs. That's right. Still a lot to go, but I'm going to do it! I'll find a recipe later, and keep you all posted on this!

Tortilla Soup

• 9 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 6 cloves roasted garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro, finely minced
• 2 red bell peppers, roasted and diced
  
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 sweet onion, sliced
• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 lime juiced
• 6 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into thin strips and toasted for garnish

In a heavy pot, bring the broth to a boil. Add garlic, tomatoes, chopped onion, oregano to the broth. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Broil the sliced onions until soft and a little brown. Ass broiled onions, red bell pepper, chicken, lime juice to soup until chicken is heated. Place toasted tortilla strips in each bowl and pour soup over strips. Garnish with a sprinkle of cilantro. Thanks to Joelene Craver's tortilla soup recipe for the base recipe!

This is the End . . . .

Of 2008!

I can't believe how fast 2005 has gone by! WOW! It's been fast paced with lots of changes and surprises! So, here's to ending the old year and starting the new year with a bang! For the month of January, I want to focus more on my eating habits. Not a diet, or following a set plan, but changing my bad to good! I'm thinking I'm going to have the kids go along for the ride and see how long we can make it last! So for the month of January, I'm going to be posting healthy recipes that I find and tweak to fit my cooking needs which fall into the category quick and easy to make! So long 2008 and hello 2009!