Halloween Traditions!!!!

 

I hope this post finds everyone well and filled with candy... Just kidding on the last part.. ok maybe like 2 pieces

Throw back to Halloween 2010

Halloween fills me with memories of fun and horror. My dad was so into Halloween when we were growing up. Well in actuality my dad would make every day Halloween if he could... He loved scaring us!!!!

Our house was "that house" the one that had the scarey music playing outside, a scarey- specially made mannequin outside whose eyes lit up when people came to the door.

My dad would spend hours doing professional make up on us (real make-up not the stuff you buy at the stores) to make sure we were scarey enough to go out LOL. 

A few weeks ago when Brian and I were going through my records (during our dance party) we found this piece of treasure... 

 

Please excuse port work out picture LOL And the "spirit" in the picture

So I will be playing this tonight for my little trick-or-treaters!!!

Any who.... on with my traditions (well more of them at least) 

The one thing that has never changed in my house,  even as all 5 of us (myself and my 4 siblings) grew up has been our Halloween dinner!!!!! From Pennsylvania to Florida, the super cold (PA) to the not so super cold (its about 80 degrees as I type)FL, dinner has always been Chili, rice and cornbread. 

Now I know what you are thinking... how can you get excited over Chili? Well I will tell you, this is no ordinary Chili... It's DAD'S Chili!!!! 

*My dad was an amazing cook and I miss his cooking every holiday and family get together

My dad would cook his Chili for hours (just like his pasta sauce) until it was "just right." And no matter how cold or hot it was outside all 7 of us sat together and tore up that pot of Chili (which was probably big enough for a small country). 

So although my dad is not here to make his chili, my mom has taken on the task... with the help of my dad's secret recipe of course!

The house smells AHHHH-MAZ-ING!!!!!

And then there was dinner.....

 I am a happy girl!!!!

 Mia momma... Thanx for the yumminess

I even added cheese SHHHH

It never dissapoints!

Question for you.... Do you have any Halloween traditions? 

I leave you with some fun pictures of a family trip to NY and a stop at a costume shop... Enjoy ( I think I was about 18 yrs old at the time of these pictures LOL)

 My bro and I pimp style LOL

 

 Attack of the teddy bear?

 "My precious" mom tehe

 mio papa!

 Only my sister can look good with a horse head on LOL

 Can you smell what Renee is cookin'

 We are scared!!... we saw what she did to the 3rd pig

Eat my shorts

Ciao and Halloween Traditions

Alexis

Blondies.. My Healthier Version

I recently participated in Foodie Pen Pals in which you send your favorite treats to one person and another person sends you theirs.

In my box I received a recipe and some ingredients for Cake Batter Blondies.

I looked at the recipe for a few days... scared to make them. I had just finished my detox  and didnt want to make my stomach hate me LOL. So I waited... onceI looked it again and decided to make some changes.

Now I am not at all saying this is a healthy snack... I am just saying I made some changes to make it a HEALTHIER option for your sweet tooth, or a party. (Mine will be used for football Sunday)


Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 cup apple sauce.. unsweetened
2 eggwhites
1/2 cup almond milk
3tsp sprinkles
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1) First mix cake mix, apple sauce, egg whites and almond milk into a bowl. The mix will be pretty dense.

2)  Fold in sprinkles and white chocolate chips

3) Place in baking dish. I used an 11x7x1.5. *But I think next time I will use a bigger dish to make them thinner

I use parchment paper so I do not have to clean dishes LOL I am lazy

4) Bake on 350 for 30-40 min ( I hade to cook it a little longer because of the thickness) 

5) Cool and enjoy. 

  I cut mine into 20 pieces

My little square of goodness

Nutrition Facts based on the size I made: 

Fat = 2.54g

Calories = 115

Sugar =  14.88g

Just so you can calculate your nutrition facts... if you are a freak like me

the totals for entire batter are: Fat = 50.75 Calories = 2300 Sugar = 297.5

Ciao and healthy substitutions

Alexis

Foodie Pen Pal!!!

I am super excited about this post. Lindsay over at the theleangreenbean.com has created a foodie pen pal program. Its for bloggers and readers. The idea is to send out your favorite snacks, recipes or homemade treats to other bloggers or readers.

 Source

 If you are interested here is some info.


-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*
If you’re interested in participating for November, please send  an email to theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)


On with my post!!!! For the month of October I received my box of goodies from Hannah at hannaahviolin.wordpress.com 

 

Hannah is a violin teacher and blogs about teaching, running and all other things that happen in life. 

I waited in anticipation everyday for my package to come. I know it sounds lame but think about it... after 18 the only thing that really comes in the is bills LOL. 

Then one day I came home and there is was!!!!

Inside was this super cute pumpkin card. I LOVE PUMPKINS!!!

I also got a note explaining all the treats and even a recipe 

In my box of goodies I found Pumpkin spice bread, Peanut Butter Hot chocolate, Cocoa Almonds and some ingredients to make Cake batter blondies. 

 AHHH- maz-ing

I think this may have been my favorite. I love Pumpkin!!! I was running behind schedule and not in the mood to make lunch... so I grabbed the bread I received from my pen pal and made a PB&J sandwich. IT WAS SO GOOD!!!! What is better than pumpkin and PB? ummmm nothing!!!!

Hannah also sent me a recipe for cake batter blondies. I used the recipe she sent me but made a few changes to fit my dietary needs. The recipe she sent me came from girlmeetslife.com

Hannah sent me the dry ingredients needed to get started

 My little square of yumminess!!!!

I made a few calorie cutting tricks to make my version. It was super yummy! I can only imagine what the regular version tastes like...

I was extremely happy to participate in this pen pal exchange ( I just hope the person who received my goodies liked them too lol)  I can't wait to do it again in November. 

If you want to participate and have any questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them for you. 

What was the last fun thing you got in the mail? 

Ciao and fun mail calls

Alexis