Easter Bunny Inspiration

I'm seeing SO many cute little Easter ideas running around Pinterest, and the Easter section at Target about had me in tears.  I seriously can't wait for the day when we have little one's to make Easter Baskets for & reasons to go all-out on the holiday decor.  Until then, O & the pups will continue to get pretty awesome baskets from the Easter Bunny!

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One of my favorite bloggers, Jessica, did this for the hubs last year.  I think I'll def be doing this for O this Easter :)

For the girls?  I'm LOVING these cute Easter-puppy accessories!

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Pretty sure Izzie will enjoy a new collar better than the year I made her wear bunny ears....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!  I hope y'all have a wonderful day no matter what you're doing.  I can assure you, there will be plenty of gravy & pie in my day ;)

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Happy Halloween

From my sweet Hula Girls!

Yes.  I'm that girl who, not only dresses her dogs up for Halloween, but in coordinating costumes.  Best $10 I've spent at Target all week--go ahead and judge.

Did any of y'all dress up your fur children?!  I'd love to see them--it cracks me up!  Find me on Instagram @amparsons29

Happy Halloween, y'all!

World's Easiest Pumpkin Bread

Today, as I was procrastinating at the office making my list of things to pack for our Thanksgiving trip, I decided that I should bake something to take to O's sweet grandfather on Thursday.  In case you decide last minute to take a little something along to your Thanksgiving feast, try this: the world's easiest Pumpkin Bread.

Two Ingredient Pumpkin Bread

recipe adapted from my awesome co-worker, Mary and The Nesting Game

1 box yellow cake mix & 1 can of Pumpkin

That's it.  Those are the ingredients--all two of them.  I decided to get a little crazy and add in some vanilla and a few spices like Molly did over at The Nesting Game.

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. Ginger, 1/2 tsp. Allspice, 1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix it all up, and spread into a loaf pan {greased and floured} Don't be alarmed--this is a THICK batter.  Good use for your electric mixer...

If you're feeling really adventurous you can make a crumble topping:

1 tbsp. flour, 1 tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 3 tbsp. butter.  Mix with a fork until crumbly and sprinkle over the batter before popping your pan into the oven.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  While that bakes, finish up packing or cleaning orrrrr Pinterest-ing......what?

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Black Beans

serves 6ish; adapted from Girlichef

ingredients:

vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

5 small corn tortillas, cut or torn into strips

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. paprika 

1 "shake" red pepper flakes
1 can Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies

1/2 can of tomato paste

1 box (quart) of chicken stock

2 cooked, chopped chicken breasts

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

3/4 c. half & half

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

toppings:

sour cream

shredded Monterey Jack cheese

fried tortilla strips

Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a dutch oven, or heavy pot over medium heat; add onion and cook until they are translucent, about 4-5 minutes.  Add garlic, and cook an additional minute.  (at this point, I removed half of the cooked onions, and reserved to add back in after I blended the base, for some extra texture.) Mix in spices and tortilla strips, stirring constantly for a few minutes.  Pour in the can of Rotel (juice and all!), box of chicken stock and the half can of tomato paste; whisk to incorporate.  Reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  I turned off the heat and used my immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth (you can also do this in batches in the blender.)  Girlichef recommends that you let the soup cool before blending.  I threw caution to the wind--with T-minus 7 minutes until the trick-or-treaters would be beating down the door for the mini Snickers that I already ate, I needed to get dinner on the table.

After you puree the soup, add in the chopped chicken, black beans, half & half, shredded cheese and reserved onions.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.  Let everything warm through, and then you're ready to serve!

I took a few extra corn tortillas, sliced 'em up, and fried them in vegetable oil until golden & crispy.

We topped our soup with sour cream, fried tortilla strips & (lots) of shredded cheese!

I declare this a new Halloween dinner tradition!  I love that this is SO easy to make and SO festive with the orange soup and black beans.

Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Kentucky!  It was a cold, rainy night resulting in less than 15 trick-or-treater's, if not less.  For whatever reason, I didn't really get in the Halloween spirit until this week.  Very unlike me--I usually LOVE to decorate for all holidays.  The plus side to waiting until the last minute? 70% off at Michaels & super cheap pumpkins at Home Depot...  

I did, however, make a pretty festive Halloween Dinner: Chicken Tortilla Soup with Black Beans.  I was pumped that the colors in the soup were orange & black.  I'm thinking this may be a new Halloween tradition at the Parsons' Pad!

I will leave y'all with this picture of one sweet "trick-or-treater" from our house!