This year, I have been cooking more than I have in years.  For some reason, I had gotten lazy, and so the kids and I had been eating out way too much.  It got to the point that they wouldn’t touch food unless it was made from a restaurant.  Last week, I made this Shepherd’s Pie with potatoes and sweet potatoes. I got it out of this book, Healthy Cooking for Your Kids.  It has great recipes that help you make yummy food that your kids will actually eat.  It worked! My kids couldn’t stop eating it.

After that, I decided that I wanted to create this Coconut Chicken that I saw in my The South Beach Diet book.  It didn’t stop there.  I wanted to continue cooking, so I made two Spinach and Mushroom quiches, one for tomorrow and one for later.  It makes me feel good when I cook.  I am taking different ingredients, and using my hand to create something that others will savor.  It’s something that I love to do.

Cooking and food is a way to bond families. If you talk to people, you will usually get a story about how a certain recipe reminds them of a beautiful memory that they had with their family.  It’s one of the other reasons that I love food so much.  It’s something that I want to pass my love for cooking on to my  kids.  Whenever they have a chance, I have them in the kitchen with me stirring something on the oven (while I supervise, of course).

What food makes you think about family?

Dear Slow Cooker,

I don’t know why it took me so long to understand how wonderful you are.  You have helped me save money, time, and lose weight.  This project I’m on is tiring, and I now don’t have any excuses to head to a restaurant 5 days a week because I am too tired and didn’t have time to cook anything.  All I do is cut a few things, plop them in, and you do the rest. 

I don’t have any reason to snack anymore while I wait for the food to cook because you are ready and waiting to serve.  You know what I really love about you?  The aromatics that float out of you and reach my nose right when I enter the house.  We quickly eat and can move on to other things.

The time I save is crazy.  You have given me back a few minutes to almost of hour of night left, so I can spend more time with the kids.  There are always leftovers, so I can take food to work.  You should see the envious looks I get when I am in the kitchen, while everyone else has frozen meals.  I smile because they could have just as good and easy. 

You make me feel like I’m one of the Jetsons cause I just press button and POOF, the food is ready.

Thank you and love always,

Shevonne

Kettle korn, peach butter, pumpkins, and gourds are the items that the children and I brought back from the pumpkin patch. I wanted apple butter, but it seemed they were out.

For the first time ever, I saw a pig race. It was very cute to see all the pigs running to the finish line. I guess they coerce them by placing their food in their pens while they put them in a holding cage. Afterwards, we headed to the petting zoo to feed the goats, sheep, cows, etc. Isabelle preferred this area. I swear that girl is going to be a Veterinarian.

Everything was wonderful. From the potato sack slide to the jousting area, and from the barn swings to the zip lines. The only disappointment was the maze. This year the corn didn’t grow so high, so it wasn’t like other years where you felt you were in an actual maze. The kids didn’t seem to mind. It was more the adults who wished the tall corn stalks were around.

We went on the hayride, and got some pumpkins for the house. At the house, Isabelle and my cousin Mariah decorated the pumpkins. They look very decorative, and I now feel like the house has the Fall decorations that it needed. I was glad that the entire family was there, especially Mariah and her brother Steven.

My parents and I were just talking about it. Their parents are super strict and are constantly spanking the kids. It started when their father’s sister passed away, and her three children went to live with them. Since then, those kids have no liberties. Any chance that I have to invite them somewhere, I do because I want them to have a happy childhood, or at least a little bit. I sometimes want to smack my aunt on the head and say, “WAKE UP!”

Today we went bowling and then they came over to hang out. I am now typing this while watching “Goosebumps” with the kids.