Saturday Seeds

This Week on Pennies on a Platter:
This section highlights the recipes posted this week on Pennies on a Platter and other updates to the blog, if any.

Since I didn't have a "Saturday Seeds" post during the week of Thanksgiving, I'm including the recipes from that week, as well.

Crock Pot Corn Pudding - My favorite corn casserole, made in the crock pot.  Perfect for potlucks or for freeing up your oven during your holiday feasts.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake Bars - These can be eaten with your fingers or a fork. Either way, you can't go wrong with the pumpkin and chocolate combination.

Classic Green Bean Almondine - This recipe came requested by my readers.  It's one of my favorite ways to prepare green beans.

Apple Pie Dip with Cinnamon Chips - A twist from your typical cheesy and savory appetizer dip.  Or, serve it up for dessert!

Muddy Buddies (Puppy Chow) - You probably already have this recipe in your files and have made it a million times. But, if not, you don't know what you're missing until you try it!

Peppermint Mocha Muddy Buddies (Puppy Chow) - My holiday version of the original Muddy Buddies recipe.

Loving Lately:
Here I will share with you my favorite things of late, along with other snippets that have caught my eye from some of my favorite blogs and websites.

The Picky Palate Cookbook by Jenny Flake - I received this cookbook when it was first released and love it!  There are so many recipes in it I can't wait to try, because they all seem so easy and approachable. Plus, the author, Jenny, is super sweet (and approachable) and a super mom...really!  With the addition of her recent newborn, she now has THREE boys!  Go Jenny!!

Thanks to Kristan and Bridget, I found a new favorite mascara that doesn't break the bank. I've been using this for about a month now and love it. It never clumps, my eyelashes seem fuller, and I also happened to pick up its eyeliner counterpart that I'm loving right now, too!

Favorite iPhone App: MotionX-GPS Drive - Ben and I both have this installed on our iPhones and have used it countless times in the last few months.  We travel a lot, and our 5+ year old Garmin was starting to take us to unknown places.  So, Ben found this app and we haven't looked back.  You can download it for just $0.99 which includes 30 days of free LiveVoice Guidance.  Right now, for the holidays, they are offering a 60% discount off their usual price of $24.99 for their 1-year LiveVoice Guidance package.  So, go snatch it now for just $9.99 like we did!  Seriously worth it.

Favorite Scripture Passage This Week:  My mother-in-law recently painted this on the walls of their church in Maryland.  It's beautiful and such a great daily reminder of God's sovereignty, abundant grace and love. "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." -Zephaniah 3:17

My Life as a Professor’s Wife, Mom, Christian and Food Blogger
What more insight into my life as a Professor’s wife, mom, Christian, friend, relative and food blogger? Then, read on! If not, ignore this section.This is a place for me to write what’s on my mind and journal some of the crowning moments of my week.

It's finally Fall in Mississippi where the temperatures are consistently in the 50s and 60s (although today and tomorrow are in the 70s).  I'm sporting my boots without sweating and cardigans are in full swing.  🙂  There are even leaves on the ground for the kids to play in!

For Thanksgiving, we spent almost two weeks on the road, first to Chicago for a conference and visiting friends, and then to Michigan to be with family.  While in Chicago, we took Judah to the Hershey's store and Lego store.  Seriously fun!  We only had a quick evening and following morning to spend in the city, but we really made the most of it!

Before heading on the road to Michigan, we stopped at a highly recommended breakfast cafe' right around the corner from our hotel called Meli Cafe.  Known for its abundant menu of fresh juices, I just had to order one and chose a carrot, orange and honey combination.  Ben loved it, but I realized my dislike for carrot juice and reinforced my hatred of honey. Oops!  Wrong thing to order for me!  However, I LOVED my blueberry muffin french toast that I shared with Judah, and Ben really liked his Eggs Benedict.  It was pricey, but worth the visit.

I didn't take many pictures in Michigan, even though I had my camera with me the whole time. Bummer!  My sister and I took our sons to see Santa at the mall, which you can see didn't go all that well.  haha!!  I also had to share the photo of my grandma (Judah's "Mimi") who Judah just adored and made sure he sat next to at our Thanksgiving meal.  Even though he doesn't use a high chair anymore, he wanted to sit in it so he could be next to her.

My nephew's birthday is the day before Judah's, and he is turning one this year (tomorrow!)  So, we decided to celebrate both the boys' birthday with our family right after our Thanksgiving dinner.  My sister ordered a Thomas the Train cake at Meijer for the celebration.  This Monday, we will be celebrating Judah's birthday again down here in Mississippi with his friends at Chick-fil-a! Yay!

For the past few months, I've been hosting and teaching a toddler school for the 2 and 3 year olds in the seminary townhomes.  They come over each Wednesday morning and we learn our ABC's, shapes, colors, days of the week and do a craft representing the letter of the week.  This week, the letter was "K" so we made crowns and were Kings for a day! Or, for an hour at least.  🙂

Yesterday, we took Judah to see Elmo Makes Music with our friends who also have a toddler son.  Our seats were GREAT, but the whole venue wasn't very big so it was a very intimate and fun experience with the Sesame Street characters.  Judah even got a "high five" from Elmo!

No pregnancy pictures this week.  But, things are going well.  We have our 20-week ultrasound one week from this Monday (December 10th) so we'll find out the gender soon!  Any guesses?  My feeling is a girl...but we'll see!  Supposedly, at 18 weeks pregnant, as I am right now, the baby is about the size of a mango.  Cool!

I've started my Christmas baking.  Have you?  Enjoy your first day of December!!  🙂

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