“Serve the LORD in sincerity and in truth... Choose you this day whom you will serve.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:14-16

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

More NC Exploring

We spend a lot of time in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  We love riding around looking at wildlife and nature.  There is lots to explore in the park and we have been taking advantage of it almost every weekend.  A few weeks ago several friends from back home were camping in Elkmont in the park and we decided to go visit them.  On our way there we stopped and hiked to Laurel Falls.  It was really beautiful, but it was Labor Day weekend and it was super crowded.  We continue to see elk almost every week.  They are in their rut right now which means they are a little more active.  The bulls are battling for territory and cows, so its been neat to see them in action.  
 Laurel Falls
 Nomes enjoying her smoothie.

 The weekend after Labor Day my sisters along with our friends Samuel & Rachel came for a visit.  We had a blast.  Friday we explored Cataloochee Valley and the river park while Saturday we went rafting down the Nantahala River.  We also spent quite a bit of time at Clyde's restaurant.
 Beautiful sunset view from Cataloochee.

 I'm pretty sure the highlight of our weekend was the impromptu hide-and-seek game we played Saturday night.  We had a blast, and Samuel gets points fro the best hiding spot.  I'm not sure how he got in or how he got out.  So glad you guys came up for a visit.  We have the best friends anyone could ask for!
 While we had visitors our kids with were with my parents.  I found this T-Rex hat at the Dollar Tree and had to get it for my T-Rex obsessed little boy.  He literally wore it the rest of the week.

More Pinterest Recipe Verdicts

So I've tackled a few more Pinterest recipes.  I'm determined that they will not just sit in cyberspace so I've brought them to our dinner table.  Some good, others...well I'll just say it could be the cook. Here is what we thought.

1.  Sweet & Spicy Bacon Chicken
So this recipe was everything I was hoping, and is probably one of my most favorite Pinterest recipes I've come across so far.  I grilled it rather than baked it which means all the credit goes to the hubby.  It was delicious and really didn't need anything extra to go with it.  In fact I'm making this again tonight!

 2.  Italian Fires
Truth be told we haven't been eating a lot of potatoes lately and when we do they are baked potatoes not fries.  We tried this a few weeks ago with some left over potatoes I had.  This is a Martha Stewart recipe, so you know its going to be good.  My concern was would it be easy and be as good in my kitchen as hers.  The verdict:  Yes.  These were good and takes just like fried fries rather than baked fries.  Everyone gave these a good thumbs up.

3.  Crockpot Pizza Casserole
This was a so so hit.  It gets points for taste, but the outsides got a little overdone.  I omitted the bell pepper since my kids are keen on it and I really made this for them.  I used ground sausage instead of hamburger meat as well.  This is one of those recipes I'll have to tweak and work out whats best for us and my crockpot.  Not horrible.  Not amazing.

4.  Pumpkin Fluff Dip
This was a huge hit with the family.  I made this last week to take with us on a picnic in the park.  Everyone loved it.  I served it with graham crackers and apples.  To be honest I was a little disappointed in it.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting (and I'm a big pumpkin pie lover).  I don't know if it need more spice or what, but the kids and husband loved it.  So to each his own.  I'd definitely say give it a try if your curious.

5.  Baked Zucchini Fries
We have been eating a lot of zucchini.  A lot.  I thought this would offer a new spin on something we've come used to eating, but it didn't turn out quite a lovely as I'd hoped.  First it was a little more difficult to make than just tossing them in the oven.  Not hard just more than I was expecting.  I couldn't find the planko crumbs she used so I used regular old bread crumbs which changed it a bit I think.  I also didn't have a cookie rack to cook them on so I cooked them right on the oven rack with a pan underneath.  All that goes to say that mine didn't turn out quite as nicely as the ones pictured above.  I felt they were a little bland so I'll add more spices next time.  I did serve them with marinara and that added lots of flavor and is probably a must for this recipe.