An Aaron Funny

Yesterday, we were 'practicing' Trick or Treating. I don't want my little greedy Medieval kids to not be thankful for their treats, ya know? With my luck, they'd go stand at the door, holding out their buckets, grab their treat and turn around and walk away. All without uttering a single word.

So, we were practicing. I mean the whole shebang. I sent them out on the deck. They had to knock on the door. When I'd answer it, they had to say TOT. After the fake candy was handed out, a 'Thank You' was required. I think they got it down. Mostly, though, they had fun throwing around my onions that are out on the deck so they don't stink up my house.

Anyway, fast forward to this morning. I'm in my bedroom and Aaron comes in yelling through a paper towel cardboard tube thingy. We were bantering back and forth. Then I took the tube and said 'Trick Or Treat'...

Aaron: Tik Teat!

Mean Mommy: Smelly Feet?

Aaron: No, Tik Teat!

Mean Mommy: Stinky Feet?

Aaron: (frustrated) No, TIK TEAT!!

Mean Mommy: Tickle Me?

Aaron: CANDY, MOM!!

Hmm. I guess he does understand what Trick Or Treating is.

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!

*Disclaimer: No Children were harmed in the production of this photo*

Pete had some fun with that one! He actually did 4 different shots (each of the 3 kids and then the flame) and put them together in photoshop. Turned out good, didn't it? We were lucky to have cooperative kids tonight! Usually, they are far from cooperative. I did have to bribe Aaron a little with candy corn. Oh and I had to pretend to blow over when he 'roared' at me. Looked silly, but I made him laugh!

*Hint* click on the picture for a much bigger image

Since the Matty Matt was in a good mood, we took some of him too. Our little Sweet Pea!

Do you see the theme? Abby is a princess (aka Sleeping Beauty), Tyler is Prince Philip, Aaron the Dragon (although according to Abby, he's supposed to be purple) and Matthew is the Princess' Pea. Two totally different Fairy Tales, but they came up with it on their own!

Today

Just a few pictures from today!

Abby and I discovered a new hairstyle that we both like. Half up, half down. It actually keeps her hair super curly in the back and not as tangled! She wanted a picture this morning:

Tyler doesn't have preschool on Fridays, so today was their Halloween party. Last year they both ditched their costumes at school, so this year I put something Halloweeny underneath. Aren't these cool? Glow in the dark Skeleton Jammies.
Here he is as Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty (guess what Abby is going to be!)
And Mr. Mischevious climbing on Mt. Hamburger Helper. What a naughty little boy!

So, yesterday I ran into Fred Meyer to look for a Jar Lifter that they didn't have. But, I did find this. Pumpkin Egg Nog. It actually tastes pumpkin-y and REALLY good! You'll have to try it.

Here's your sample!

Sometimes shopping is frustrating!

So yesterday I went and got as many Glade Oil Warmers as I could. With coupons, they were BOGO and there was a $4 on your next order printed for each one. So doing the math, they are 4.49 at Albertsons. Use a BOGO coupon, pay 4.49 and get $8 in coupons back, so a 'profit' of 3.51 per set of 2. So I went to the last store around and it only printed off ONE $4 coupon for 12 warmers. They called Catalina and they had decided to limit the catalinas to one per transaction. So that sucked. The manager was really great though, in spite the tantrums that Aaron and I were throwing. So, we walked out empty handed. Bummer. I still ended up with about $40 in free groceries though, so I'll stop complaining.

Next stop, my regular Albertsons. I had 2 rainchecks I needed to fill. I had a pocket full of the $4 OYNO coupons, some from Albertsons, some from Safeway. I got my 50 bags of Hershey's chips and my 10 packs of paper plates. Oh, and my 4 12 packs of Dr. Pepper (more on that ina minute). I'm checking out and she tells me they won't take the ones from Safeway. I was JUST told at the other Albertsons that they would, they just don't take the Walgreens ones.

So here is their logic. Its a catalina coupon with the Safeway logo. Mind you, the EXACT same coupon as the Albertsons one, aside from the different logos. But they can't take it because its a catalina from another store, as they don't get reimbursed for them. Mmmmkay. I gave her a friendly reminder that they do take competitor coupons (last time I checked, they didn't get reimbursed for those). She said (and her asst. Mgr agreed) that they don't take competitor coupons that are manufacturer coupons. HUH???? Wha? I'm not understanding here. So you don't take competitor coupons that are from the competitor's store, because they are manufacturer coupons, which you do take? OK.

At the Asst. Mgr's urging, I called the 877 number when I got home, so that they could agree with her. Well, they agreed with me. I made it very clear to both parties that I simply wanted to know what the policy is so that I can comply. And that its frustrating to be told something at one store and the opposite at another. How about some consistency, people!

Ok, rant over. Here are the deals of the day.

Hershey's baking chips, I had a raincheck for 50 bags for .70 (thanks to my fabulous sister)
Dixie plates, 1.40 each
Dr. Pepper 12 packs were B3G1F (this goes GREAT with Southern Comfort)

Hershey's x 50 = $149.50
Dixie Plates x 10 = $44.99
Dr. Pepper x 4 = $25.56
TOTAL $220.05
- $114.50 Hershey's Raincheck
- $30.90 Dixie Raincheck
- $3.50 Dixie coupons (10 x .35/1)
- $13.56 Dr. Pepper sale
- $3.00 Free 12 pack
- $28 in Glade $4 OYNO (overage from the Glade deal)
GRAND TOTAL $26.59 plus a $5 OYNO from the Dr. Pepper. So I saved 88% not counting the Dr. Pepper Catalina.

So on the Dr. Pepper, I think it also includes A&W and Sunkist? Anyway, Its Buy 3 Get 1 Free this week. They are $3 each on sale. So you buy 4, $12. Take off the Free one, you walk out paying $9. BUT you also get a $5 OYNO catalina for buying $15 worth of Dr. Pepper. Nice, huh?

Another deal this weekend. Cake Mix at Safeway!!! I need some, so this is good for me. Well, a normal person probably wouldn't NEED any, but I feel pretty naked since I only have about 10 in the pantry, some spice cakes, lemon and butter pecan. NO chocolate or yellow. With a $10 purchase, you can get 10 for .58 cents each this Saturday and Sunday! So, I will just take my little catalinas that Albertsons wouldn't take and go spend them at Safeway on cake mix and chicken breast.

Apple Pie Filling

Yesterday I made some Apple Pie Filling and canned it. I've made it before, but it was thick and clumpy in the jars. It turned out fine in pies but I couldn't use it for toppings for pancakes, etc. I had read last year about something called Clear Jel. My sister ordered us some and I gave it a whirl. It turned out FANTASTIC!

First, you need some apples. I used Granny Smith, which are great for pies.

Next, you need a child slave...er...helper :)

Then you need a mom with a double chin to cook. Really, its just the angle of the picture. The photographer is precisely 45 inches tall.

This is another fun gadget that is great for apple recipes. Mine is from Pampered Chef, but you can get the anywhere. It's an Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer. You screw it on the table...

Spear on the apple...

Turn the handle and it will start peeling the apple. See the neat little strip of peel! So cool!

When it hits the end, it starts coring and slicing the apple.

After its done and you remove the apple, this is what is left.

A nice little pile of peel...

And here is your apple! Its basically a big spiral. And it does this in about 15 seconds. I don't know about you, but I can't peel/core/slice an apple in that time frame!

If you get tired, that is what your helper is for! Oh, PSA, don't forget to put the peeling bar back up...as you can see in the picture, I forgot on this one and it was coring and slicing but not peeling. Oops!

I take a knife and cut the apple lengthwise into 4 for smaller slices. You want to put the waiting apples into a solution of lemon juice and water. I use about 1/4c in a bowl. They might get a teensy bit brown but that will disappear in a bit.

Now you want to get a pot of water boiling to blanche the apples. I started it before I was done with the apples so it was ready. I add a cup of sugar for a very, very light syrup. You will put about 6 cups of apples in at a time. Bring back to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Put the warm apples into a different covered pot to keep warm. Repeat till apples are all blanched.

Here are the apples in the boiling water right after I added them. See they are slightly brown?

After blanching, much better!

Here is the Clear Jel. Its basically like cornstarch but it keeps the sauce clear instead of cloudy.
This mixture is sugar, Clear Jel, Pumpkin Pie spice with some extra cinnamon. This is now added to the apple cider and water.

Cook this mixture until it gets thick and starts to bubble. I stirred it pretty constantly with a wire whisk.When it starts to bubble, add the lemon juice.

Here it is all thick and bubbly. Boil it for 1 minute.

Take it off the heat, or turn off the burner if you have a gas stove like I do. Dump in the blanched apples. Fold them in gently.

Here is the pie filling, all ooey, gooey and yummy!

Use your canning funnel and a ladle to fill the jars with pie filling.

And the finished product! Jars should process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

Now, for the fun part:

Now for the recipe:

6 quarts apples, sliced and blanched
5.5 cups Sugar
1.5 cups Clear Jel
1 TB Cinnamon
1 tsp Numeg
2.5 cups Water
5 cups Apple Cider or Apple Juice
3/4 cup Bottled Lemon Juice

I modified it slightly. I used different spices and decreased the amount of Clear Jel. The consistency in cutting back the Clear Jel made it similar to store bought pie filling. The recipe said it would make 7 quarts but I only got about 5.5 quarts. So, I'm thinking I needed 6 quarts of apples after they are blanched instead of before.

So, here's my recipe:

8 quarts raw apples (about 32 cups)
5.5 cups Sugar
1 cup Clear Jel
1 TB Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Cinnamon
2.5 cups Water
5 cups Apple Cider
3/4 cup Bottled Lemon Juice

I'm going to make more this week using that amount of apples. I'll let you know how it goes!

Weekend Fun

First off, here are the missing pictures from Finch Arboretum. Aaron wouldn't lay in the leaves by himself, so I joined him. He even sortof cracked a smile!

Aaron and Matthew...Matty wasn't impressed with the leaves
Aw, the happy couple, another timer picture!
Ok now on to bigger and better things. Saturday, I ran some errands while Pete cleaned out the garage. Thanks to all my deal shopping and some house decluttering, we haven't been able to get the Suburban in the garage for a few months. Now it fits in there quite nicely! 3 garage door bays and one can hold a car LOL Hopefully by winter we'll be able to get Pete's truck in too.


Anyway, when I got home, the boys were playing in the 'woods.' Yes, Aaron is wearing a helmet. He likes his Helmy. He forgets to take it off.
Abby had something to show me:
Ready... Set...

Go!

Yes, you have witnessed the new sport of pine needle sledding. Fortunately, she did not follow in her Uncle Jeremy's footsteps; she emerged with fingers unharmed. They all took their turns, it was pretty funny. My sister came over a while later, and even Wola took a spin!

Finch Arboretum

Today we went to a super awesome park called Finch Arboretum. It is a great (and popular!) place for taking pictures, especially in the fall. The colors are just amazing! Here are some pictures Pete took.

Surprisingly, we got a decent family picture, courtesy of the automatic timer on the camera

Here are some with me and the kidlets

There were some big rocks that the kids enjoyed climbing on. Here is Abby in front of one of them.

The traditional leaf shot!

Tyler jumping in the leaves

Resting in the leaves

Abby post jump

Aaron...would NOT crack a smile!

Tyler again

I'll post a few more later that Pete didn't process yet. Overall, I think we got some great pictures! Matty kept getting upset when I'd take him out of the stroller and away from his cheerios, so we didn't get too many 'fun' shots of him.