Corn Maze + Family = Fun!

We spent last Saturday at a corn maze near Denver. I have not figured out how they do these amazing mazes, nor have I figured out how to not get lost while in one! We had a great time tromping through the corn fields.

We also let loose with these "grown up" tricycles! Here is Son #3 with his Uncle!

We also shot corn out of cannons.

And we could not resist shooting the pumpkin cannon!

Even Son #4  had a blast! He looked so cute in his vest!

My new nephew

We were able to home to Colorado this past weekend and we got to have a great visit with family. I am always excited to get together with family. This visit we got to meet our newest family member .... Baby Ethan. He is such a sweet little guy! There is no way that any of my boys were this little, right?!!?

 

Menu for Week of October 10

As usual we have a busy week laid out in front of us. Soccer, music lessons, Awana, and a camp out for Son#1.  To help out with the time crunch, this week's menu has some great things to help me out. Two crock pot recipes,  a dish that will be used for one meal and the leftovers will be featured in another night's dinner, and several easy on the wallet meals. I hope that you have a great week!
Sunday: Taco Bar-bumped from last week
Monday: Spaghetti - I will post this recipe this week.
Tuesday: Rice a Roni Chicken-  Cook diced chicken breasts in a little olive oil on top of the stove. Meanwhile, mix up two boxes of chicken flavored rice-a -roni. Scoop the rice and the chicken into a crock pot and set to low for 3-4 hours.
Wednesday: Baked Potato Bar
Thursday: Foil Wrapped Tilapia
Friday: Calzones with leftover spaghetti sauce for smothering
Saturday: Hamburgers and Homemade Fries

Crock Pot Roast Beef

Who ever invented the crock pot was a genius! I am so thankful for my trusty crock pot. It is such a relief after a long evening of running kids to practice to have a nice hot meal waiting for me at home. It eliminates the temptation to hit the drive through! This is one of our favorite recipes. Whenever the grocery store has a good sale on beef roasts, I will grab a couple and throw them in the freezer. I hope you give this delicious roast a try.

Crock Pot Roast Beef
1 beef roast
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup of brewed coffee
1/2 cup water
1 beef bouillon cube
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp pepper
Place all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours or until tender. Transfer roast to a platter. Measure drippings after straining onions. Whisk together 1/4 cup water and 1 TBSP flour for every cup of drippings. Whisk flour mixture into drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.

This makes the best gravy! So flavorful!

Beautiful Fall

Are the leaves turning where you live? They sure are in the mountains of Utah. We went for a drive after church this past weekend and saw God's amazing hand all over his creations!

 We drove by a lake that had dozens of these brave people doing this. It was mesmerizing to watch!

We stumbled across Bridal Veil Falls. It was so pretty! We are going to go back soon when we all have appropriate shoes on and get a closer look!

Menu Plan Monday Week of 10-3-2010

The weather is starting to turn fall-ish. At least for part of this week, anyways. I am craving soups, roasts and baking treats! I got a couple of them in the plan for this week. I just discovered that on Wednesday nights, our church offers a very cheap meal for anyone right before Awana, so the boys and I are going to give that a try before all the soccer and Awana madness of  Wednesday nights. Here is what we will be eating this week:
Sunday: Yo Yo- You are on your own night- we had leftovers stacking up, so we made a dent in those.
Monday: Breakfast for dinner night- Pancakes and Bacon
Tuesday: Crock Pot Roast Beef- I will post recipe this week.
Wednesday: Trying out meal served at church
Thursday: Crock pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Friday: Oven Ham Sammies - a new recipe to us, but the reviews sounded good
Saturday: Taco Night with Pioneer Woman's Pico De Gallo and Guacamole