Uncle Schucks Corn Maze

On friday after our company meeting our department headed out for a fun team building activity. We went to Uncle Schucks Corn maze in Dawsonville. They had 2 different mazes (1 easy and 1 hard). It took us probably an hour and a half to get through both. I learned that I can follow a map pretty well. It was also easier because it was during the day. The only other corn maze I have been to was at night and the object was just to get out. This one had a bunch of different check points that you had to get to.

Here we are in front of the banner. Me, Lacey, Leah and Donna. 

This is what the path looks like from the look out bridge. They have a couple of these to try to help you figure out where your going.

 Here we are taking a little break. It was so windy that day, but the corn blocked the wind so it got so hot.

 Another activity while you are finding the checkpoints was this FSI, Farm Scene Investigation, where you had to see who committed the crime. So here we are acting surprised that we found out who it was. Love the faces.

 Lots of corn!

 Not only did we do the maze, we participated in all the activities which included posing for photos with all the signage,

Taking hayrides through the corn,

Watching the goats on this very odd apparatus,

 And looking at all the fun pumpkins

 Look at how gorgeous it was outside all day! We had such a fun time! Thanks to Leah and Lacey for all their photos.

Newsletter Time

For the past year David and I have been in charge of our neighborhood newsletter. I am the basically the editor and David does a feature home improvement corner article. We publish once per quarter (as you can calculate I am a little behind in October). We had printer issues that are now fixed, I'll have to show you our HUGE new printer once I take a photo of it. This weekend we assembled and finally mailed them out. I get the community news from our HOA president and then I can write/talk about anything I want. I would love neighborhood participation and articles, but no one has emailed us except one guy asking for a basketball court. It can be a pain in the butt, but I hope people like it. We have 155 houses in our neighborhood so today they will all be reading about Fall 2010.

 There is also a back that includes contact information, David's home improvement corner and another little article. So this weekend was filled with cooking and newsletter fun! Happy Fall!

Freezer Cooking!

Do you ever feel that when you get home from work, make dinner and clean up that its time for bed? Well, it is getting dark earlier so that doesn't help. I love to make dinner every night and sometimes it takes too long so I've been reading up about Batch Freezer Cooking. A bunch of the food blogs I read talk about this all the time. I have done it a few times, but not in the capacity that they are speaking of. You can spend 1 day and prep/make a bunch of meals for your  freezer. I know what some of you are thinking. "I don't eat leftovers" or "It will go bad in there". Those are both false statements. Life As Mom has GREAT posts about freezer cooking, so start by clicking here.

Let's get started! Click here to read more and download a free freezer cooking planning sheet. Need more information? Here is some more reading for ya.
So, what can you make and freeze? Let me show you a recipe I recently made. I made 1 for me and 1 for a friend who had a baby recently so don't forget to double the recipe).

Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo from Our Best Bites-
Ingredients- (You can double the recipe if you want to make more than 1 dish)
8 oz. penne or bowtie pasta

1 jar of sun dried tomato alfredo (or any alfredo you like)

2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped (about 2 c. chopped chicken) I marinated mine in Italian dressing.

6 oz. (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped

1 14-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 c. chopped green onions (about 1 decent-sized bunch)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

 Here are the cut up grilled chicken and green onions.

 Artichoke and diced up bacon.

Prepare pasta according to package directions.When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, green onions, and 1/2 c. mozzarella. Season to taste.

Transfer mixture to an 8x8" baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. I used a glass 9 x 13 because I didn't have the other.

Let it cool to room temperature. When freezing seal with a tight top or aluminum foil. Once you are ready to cook it you can take it out of the freezer and thaw it in the refrigerator. Bake it at 350 for 20-25 mins. Now wouldn't you like to come home from work and pop this in the oven and be ready in 20mins with no work?! Here is what else you can cook and freeze: meatballs, shredded/diced chicken, meatloaf, stew meat, pizza dough, baked ziti(which I made last night for our neighbor who just had a baby), lasagna, plus many more!

Weekend Fun!

It's time to do some fun fall activities to get ready for Halloween! This afternoon at work we are going to Uncle Shucks corn maze as our department team building activity. I can't wait!! We are so excited to do the corn maze and see all the pumpkins.

This is what this years maze looks like!

Stuffed Green Peppers

This recipe is a good, healthy recipe from $5dinners. I would serve it with salad or bread to make it more filling.
Ingredients-
1 cup brown/white rice
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup cooked red kidney beans
1 can or frozen bag of cooked corn
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
4 green peppers
Few pinchfuls of Shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook the brown/white rice as directed on the package. 
2. To the cooked rice, add the chopped onions, diced tomatoes and green chilies, cooked black and kidney beans, corn, ground cumin and salt and pepper (to taste).

3. Slice the stem out of the top of the green pepper and place in a pot with boiling salt water for 5 minutes. Remove from water, slice into 4 sections per green pepper (sorta like a boat shape).

4. Top with a pinchful of shredded cheese. I used mozzarella, but it needed a bit more flavor so cheddar would be good.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly.

Goodwill Shopping Finds

This past weekend David and I stopped in at Goodwill to look for spare parts on a video camera stand. I found a couple goods finds while I was in there.  I've been wanting to make a menu board for our kitchen similar to this one. So as we were leaving I spotted this beauty.

 

For only $6 I am going to make this into my menu board. It even has chalk holders and a place to hang keys and what not! I love it!! I just need to get some vinyl letters and maybe touch up the paint. What do you think?

I also found these bright, fun place mats. It's never too early to celebrate America is it? These were only $4 for 6. I'm excited for these. You always have to be thinking ahead to get some good deals. I think they will add to my 4th of July decor!

Charming Charlies

This weekend they opened a Charming Charlie's store at my local mall. I have heard things about how they have jewelery sorted by color, but this store beyond exceeded my expectations! It was amazing!

Not only do they have earrings and necklaces but they have boots, bags, gifts, dresses, scarfs, anything you'd want to buy. Everything is reasonable priced too. The dresses were about $30, boots for $40, bags for $30-40, earrings for $7. I wandered around for about 30mins just in awe.

I am not an accessory person, but this store could make it easy for me to try to be! I recently received a gift card from work and I think I am going to spend it in here! This would make a fantastic gift for anyone.

They did a great job decorating the store, they had chandeliers over every display and it was so pretty. I didn't make David go in, we made a deal that I didn't have to go into any electronic stores if he didn't have to go in this store. If you haven't been to one and have one in your area, you need to go check it out!