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I can never, ever get enough pumpkin food in the fall. "All things pumpkin" is my theme from September 1st - November 30th. Thankfully Virgil likes pumpkin almost as much as I do, as long as he has a package of Oreos in reserve. ;) He has been working almost non-stop on our new house the last 3 or 4 weeks and the other day I decided to surprise him with a coffee break. I didn't have much time, so I threw together 2 of my favorite cake recipes. The result: our new favorite coffee cake!  There was only one other guy helping Virgil that morning and they almost ate the whole coffee cake. And I knew I would be making it a lot more.  With only 5 ingredients it can be mixed up in several minutes. It makes a great last minute dessert, coffee break or even tea party food!  Pumpkin Coffee Cake1 Yellow Cake Mix 1 {15 oz.} Can of Pumpkin 1/3 c. Butter cut in slices 1 c. Brown Sugar 1-2 T Cinnamon Beat the cake mix and pumpkin together and put in a greased 9x13 pan. Put the little slices of butter over the batter and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over it all. Bake according to package instructions. Let cool slightly and enjoy! That's all there is to it. :)   I would love to hear about your favorite fall recipes! Send them to me in a message between October 26 - October 31 and I will enter your name in a drawing for this lovely Thanksgiving sign, created by my very talented friend from It All Began With Paint {check out her awesome store!} Plus I will feature your recipe here at Walls of Home! The sign is 11"x3.5" and 1.5" thick. The drawing will take place November 1. And hey, if you like this recipe, spread the love of all things pumpkin and share this post with your friends. The more the merrier! <3  Have a happy week, friends! Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy endures to all generations. ~Psalm 100:4&5  If you liked this post you may also like these:
I love lunches that are easy to throw together in 20 minutes or less. I also prefer meals that are full of flavor and interesting things, edging into gourmet and special. After all, life is a wonderful thing to celebrate, right? My husband's office is right beside our house and that means that he can often come in and eat lunch with us. {I know, I'm so lucky!} This has forced me to stay creative with lunches, instead of just grabbing whatever I feel like to keep me going. I believe part of honoring Virgil is giving him meals that require a little thought about his particular tastes and preferences. This particular chicken salad sandwich is one of Virgil's favorites - one of the few things he actually requests, which means it's pretty high on the list! The apples and walnuts are a crunchy surprise and add a strong hint of Fall flavor to an otherwise ordinary sandwich. Here's hoping you love it as much as we do!  Apple & Walnut Chicken Salad Sandwich 1 Large Chicken Breast {like from the deli section}, cooked and shredded 3/4 cup Mayonnaise 3/4 tsp. Onion Powder 1/2 tsp. Salt 1/2 Apple, chunked 1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped 1/2 cup Grapes, chopped {optional} Mix the mayonnaise, onion powder and salt together. Add the apple chunks and walnuts to the chicken and mix all together with the mayonnaise mixture. {You can add more or less mayo, depending on how moist you like your salad and the actual amount of chicken you use.} You can also use a rotisserie chicken instead of the chicken breast, if you have it on hand. It's a great way to use up some leftovers in your fridge! Serve with bread and enjoy!  I think this is the first non-sweet recipe I've posted. Hmm...I might have to get better at that! ;) I hope you all have a lovely day! The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall,  If you like this post you may like these too!
Cupcakes are one of my very favorite things to make...and eat! But they can be so time consuming that I don't make them very often. A friend invited us to their place for supper kind of last minute the other evening and I offered to bring dessert. I didn't have very many ingredients in the house and wasn't sure what to make. And then I saw a chocolate cake mix and remembered some delicious chocolate coffee cupcakes I had made once. I decided to simplify it x10. They turned out really great and everyone thought they were delicious! So I decided to share them with everybody else that is busy but still likes yummy and gourmet looking things. I hope you love them as much as we did!  Chocolate Cupcakes You will need: 1 Cake Mix Eggs Milk Butter, melted Vanilla Each cake mix is different, so the amounts of ingredients will vary according to your cake mix. Simply use milk instead of water, 1 extra egg and melted butter instead of oil, doubled, plus a tsp of Vanilla. My cake mix called for: 1 cup water, 1/2 cup of oil and 3 eggs. So, I added: 1 cup milk, 1 cup butter, melted, 4 Eggs and 1 tsp. Vanilla. Mix it all together and put into your lined cupcake pans and bake according to the package instructions. While its baking mix up the frosting. I used my Mom's trusted buttercream frosting recipe with just a few tweaks to add a mouthwatering coffee flavor. I freely admit I would rather eat the frosting by the spoonful than a cupcake. ;) Coffee Frosting 4 cups Powdered Sugar 1/2 cup + 1 1/2 T Shortening 1/8 tsp. Salt 1 tsp. Vanilla 1/4 cup Hot Coffee Start mixing everything but coffee - add the coffee in very slowly. Whip it up really good and it's ready to go! If you like as much frosting as cupcake {like me!} then you will want to double your frosting recipe. Here is the recipe for that: Coffee Frosting {Frosting Lover's Version} 8 cups Powdered Sugar 1 cup + 3 T Shortening 1/4 tsp. Salt 2 tsp. Vanilla 1/2 cup Hot Coffee Mix the same as above and pile it high on your cupcakes! I used a Wilton 2D tip to get the look I wanted. Garnish with a coffee bean or little bits of chocolate if you like. Now enjoy!!  P.S. You can use this recipe on any cake mix to give your cakes and cupcakes rich and delicious "from scratch" flavor! The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with His hand. - Psalm 37:23 & 24 God bless your day, my friends!   Finding healthy, yummy and easy to eat snacks for toddlers is not easy. At least not for me. It's hard for little ones to eat veggies (and honestly, they just aren't that filling!} Fruit is good, but not for every snack. And when I read the ingredients on most boughten snacks I just feel like an awful Mom to feed it to my kids very often. I start imagining what all that sugar and preservatives, not to mention high fructose corn syrup, is going to do to their little systems and I can hardly give it to them! So yesterday I decided to just try to get a little more creative. I have made Graham Crackers before, but they're not much healthier than a cookie. So I decided to be brave and try to replace all the sugar with good, raw honey. And all the white flour with whole wheat. And they turned out!! I was so excited. :)  I think it's all the butter that makes these so perfectly good. They have such a mellow, buttery, healthy flavor that is completely yummy. I cannot wait to try them with a marshmallow and some chocolate. Maybe even homemade marshmallows. :)  So, without further ado, here is the recipe. {adapted from Brown Eyed Baker at: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/homemade-graham-crackers-recipe/ Honey Graham Crackers Yield: about 20 crackers - Prep time: 2 hours, 20 minutes - Cook time: 15 minutes You will need: 2 7/8 cups Wheat Flour 1 tsp. Baking Soda 1/2 tsp. Salt 1 cup Butter, room temperature 3/4 - 1 cup Honey Directions: Mix the Flour, Baking Soda and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Cream the Butter and Honey together with an electric mixer {I used the dough attachment on my blender} for about 2 minutes, or until it's nice and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just well blended, right around 30 seconds. Put the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours. It will keep for up to 5 days. When you are ready to bake the crackers preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a couple cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to 1/8" thickness.  Cut them out in any shape you like. {this is the fun part!}   I love this dough because there is no eggs and I let the kids eat lots of it. It makes baking so much more fun! :) Make sure you space the cookies at least 3/4" from each other on your cookie sheet. I sprinkled them lightly with Raw Sugar, just because it makes them look pretty. Cinnamon and Sugar would be good too. Prick them with a fork for a more authentic look.  Bake for 15 minutes or until they are a nice golden brown. You don't want them to get dark around the edges. Let them cool slightly and then put them on a cooling rack. Make sure they are completely cool before you store them in an air tight container. Enjoy!  The kids and I had so much fun making these together! :)   Happy Memorial Weekend to you all!
I would love to hear how you like these and about any variations you came up with. :) God bless you. <3 Does anyone remember Java Coolers? I think maybe it came out at the beginning of the Iced Coffee Craze. Or maybe Iced Coffee has been in for decades and I just never realized it until I was around 13 when we found our first bottle of Java Coolers at a little Amish Bent and Dent store. Up to then my main coffee experience was drinking Dad's coffee after it got cold when I was...well at least a little younger than 13. {bleh!} Anyway, I remember us kids thought Java Coolers was the most awesome drink ever invented. It came in a bottle like Hershey syrup, but it was coffee flavored. And it made us feel really cool to drink it. I tried finding a picture of it but it must be totally outdated, because I couldn't find anything at all.  Getting back on track...I had totally forgot about it until I found a recipe for an Iced Coffee concentrate Virgil had gotten from someone before we got married. When I drank the first glass I immediately felt like I was 13 again, back on our farm with bare feet in the hot Missouri sun. It was a whole rush of nostalgia, even though it took me a while to figure out why. And then I remembered Java Coolers. And now I'm going to quite rambling and just give you the recipe, in honor of the fact that Summer or at least Spring might be around the corner. :) Iced Coffee Concentrate 2 cups Boiling Water 1 cup Instant Coffee 1/2 cup Maple/Pancake Syrup 1 cup Sugar 2 teaspoons Vanilla Just mix it together, put a a tablespoon or 2 in a glass and add milk and ice to taste.  Enjoy! For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield. ~Psalm 5:12  One of my favorite Easter memories is making Easter Resurrection Cookies. I am so glad Dad and Mom started this tradition with us. It is such a good way to "bring the Easter story home" to little - and not so little - minds. Mom would usually direct the mixing while Dad read the corresponding Bible stories. We can't wait to start making these with our kids when they are old enough!  To make the cookies you will need
Put the pecans in the zip lock bag and have your children take turns beating them with a wooden spoon while you read John 19:1-3. Explain how Jesus was arrested and beaten by soldiers. When Jesus was on the cross he was thirsty, but was only given vinegar to drink. Have each of you children dip their fingers in the vinegar and taste it while you read John 19:28-30. Put the vinegar in the mixing bowl. Eggs represent life. Jesus gave his life so we can have eternal life. Read John 10:10-11 and add the egg whites to the vinegar. Salt represents the bitterness of our sin and the tears of Jesus's followers when He was crucified. Let each of your children taste the salt before you add it to the bowl. Read Luke 23:27. The sweet part of the story is that Jesus died for our sins so we can have eternal LIFE with Him! Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 and add the sugar. Beat the egg whites on high until peaks form, about 12-15 minutes. Just like the beaten egg whites are pure white, our hearts are white in the sight of God because Jesus has cleansed us from sin. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3. Fold the pecans in by hand. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Each mound represents the rocky tomb were Jesus was buried. Read Matthew 27:57-60. Put the cookies in the oven and turn it off. Seal the oven door with tape, just like the tomb was sealed. We used to put so much tape on we had to cut it open. But one small piece of tape for each person works just as good. :) Read Matthew 27:65-66. Now go to bed! It is sad to leave the cookies in the oven all night - Jesus' followers were so sad when he was killed! Read John 16:20 & 22. In the morning open the oven and give everyone a cookie. When they take a bite and see that they are hollow inside talk about the empty tomb. The friends of Jesus were amazed to discover Jesus is alive!! Read Matthew 28:1-9. Share the cookies with friends and have your children share their meaning with kids if they are old enough. Jesus is alive!!!
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I am on a journey to know Jesus better, and be the wife, mommy and friend that God created me to be, all within the walls of my own little home. <3
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