• Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
• Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
• Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
• Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil
                  1 tbsp A1 sauce
                  5-6 lb beef chuck or round roast
                  (make sure to cut the fat off for more flavorful seasoning)
                  2 tbsp chopped garlic (or less to taste)
                  1 tbsp chopped rosemary (dried is fine)
                  1 tsp salt
                  1/2 tsp pepper
                  1 cup beef broth
                
Rub oil and A1 sauce on the roast first, then add garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper evenly on the roast. Pour the beef broth in the slow cooker and place beef roast in the cooker.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 9 hours, if possible turning the roast over every 2-3 hours to keep the beef moist.

Serve with vegetables and mashed potatoes or break up meat for sandwiches. My biggest recommendation is to cut only the beef you'll be serving and leave the extra in the juices to keep it nice and moist.


              

Avery and I were doing one of our many routine grocery shopping ventures yesterday. One downfall to having a Super Target just across the street from your neighborhood!

I have been hearing about Vita Muffins on tons of sites including; Weight Watchers, Dottie's Weight Loss Zone, and Hungry Girl and I finally decided to try them. I was doing my regular grocery shopping and saw their muffin mixes on the shelves.

They have some great flavors but their Deep Chocolate just made me drool, so I had to get them.

They were very easy to prepare, I added egg whites and water to the mix and dropped in a few semi-sweet chocolate chips after filling the muffin tin and baked for about 27 minutes and voila! This is what I came up with. Doesn't it look tasty?



Avery seemed to like them!
They definitely taste a tad different because they are made with whole wheat flour, but once you get used to them they are simply delicious and a great healthy alternative. That I would definitely recommend.

If you're craving cake and frosting this is a great alternative, warm the muffin in the microwave for about 25 seconds and add two tablespoons or less of fat-free whipped cream and devour. And the best part is that they are only 1 Weight Watchers point!

Although these days it's starting to feel like winter, at least for North Carolina, we've definitely been in the fall spirit. The smell of apple pie air fresheners, pumpkins being carved, and the beautiful, brightly colored leaves make me feel so cozy. I think spring is still my favorite season, but fall is really closing in and may take over the lead spot some year.

Almost every evening I burn one of my favorite fall scented candles: baked apple pie. It fills the house with a sweet, warm vapor that warms you from the inside. I know, a little much, but I LOVE it!!!

Last year, since Avery was 5.5 months old we decided to just paint the pumpkin and get her hand print. Well, this year it had to be done "right." My mom is huge with holidays and created some great traditions for us growing up and one of them was pumpkin carving. I love pumpkin carving. We did a simple design, not too scary and very easy to carve. Joel had some experience with pumpkin carving, but it felt nice to be the "pro."


Avery was such a good helper scooping out the seeds, but definitely thought it was yucky. I decided this year I wanted to bake the seeds for a yummy fall treat, so we saved the seeds, and washed them off in prep for baking.

This was the first time I, personally had baked them by myself, but it was super easy. I soaked them in salt water over night, and then dried them out the next morning. By that night I put a little bit of veggie oil on the cookie sheet, set the oven for 350, gave the seeds an olive oil/salt coating (using my favorite technique, ziploc baggie style,) and baked them for about 45 minutes.

Voila, they turned out delish, both Joel and Avery love them as well. Next year I may try some spices but they're great plain too!

I'm going to share my infamous Blue Yonder Fruit Smoothie. It's a Joel exclusive. It's healthy, tasty, and energizes me in the mornings.

Ingredients:
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1 large banana
1 cup of water
1 scoop of whey protein (or 1 cup skim milk)
1 tablespoon of flax seed oil

Directions:
1. Combine ingredients in a blender.
2. Blend.
3. Enjoy.

So I made my first ever whole turkey, aside from the Tyson's ones you throw in the oven. I found a great recipe online and figured why not try something new. I still have yet to use my Kitchen Aid mixer I got for a wedding gift 2 years ago, but give me some time. I'm sure soon enough Avery will be helping me cook too.

Here's a picture of the delectible chicken.


It tasted so good! I definitely recommend this recipe, very easy, plus it features one of my favorite spices: Rosemary.

The recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
• 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon paprika

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Zest the lemon. Slice remaining lemon into quarters and place to the side. With hand mixer combine butter, lemon zest, minced garlic and 1/4 cup chopped rosemary.
3. Take your hand and slide it between the skin and the meat on the breast, as well as loosening the 'pockets' between the leg and wing joints. Scoop some of the rosemary butter mixture onto your fingers and begin to stuff into the 'pockets' on the breast, leg, wings, etc. (Save approximately 1/4 of the rosemary butter mixture and rub on the inside of the chicken.)
4. Season the cavity of the chicken with the salt, pepper and paprika. Add the quartered lemon, rosemary sprigs and sliced garlic to the chicken cavity. Bind the legs with culinary twine and tuck the wings into the leg joints to secure.
5. Place the chicken breast up onto the roasting rack and into the oven. Roast for approximately 50 minutes, or until the juices run clear. Remove the 'stuffing', carve and serve.