Pumpkin Streusel Bread

Yes, I am the one that posted the Christmas ornament the other day...

But, I do realize it's still fall and Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away.

So here is my recipe to show that I am still enjoying fall for the time being ;)

I am a Serious fan of all things pumpkin.

Hunter apparently is too and he just didn't know it!

I really wanted to make an awesome pumpkin bread this year but every recipe seemed to have chocolate chips. 

Although I do love chocolate, I think it takes away from the awesome flavor of pumpkin.

That's when the idea of streusel popped into my head!

Thank goodness it did!

This recipe was a complete trial, but a complete success as well!

Yay!

So, I also may have gotten a little crazy ingredient-wise...

This recipe made me two loaves of bread and 12 muffins.

Perfect to take to a friend! :)

Ingredients:

• 1 can Libby's pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1) Mix Pumpkin, Sugars, Oil, Water, Vanilla, and Eggs until well combined. I used my Kitchen Aid and used the flat beater attachment but I'm sure a hand mixer would work just fine.

2) In a separate  bowl, combine Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg.  Stir together then gradually mix into the pumpkin mixture until all ingredients are combined. I used a half cup measurement to gradually add the flour mixture in. 

3) Spray bread pans with non stick spray, then coat with flour getting rid of excess flour after.

For the muffins I used cupcake liners but I'm sure non stick spray would work just fine. Then pour mixture evenly into pans. I filled each muffin about halfway. Once filled place in oven uncovered and bake 45-55 minutes for bread and 20-25 minutes for muffins.

4) Make streusel topping. Okay, making streusel can be reallyyy annoying. I know. But it's worth it!

Start by making cubes out of 1/2 cup un-softened butter.

Then add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and a pinch of salt.

5) With a fork press the sugar mixture into the butter until crumbles form. It takes a little while, so don't give up!

6) Once your bread has been baking for half the time, take it out and quickly put streusel on top. Same with the muffins. Then place it back in the oven uncovered for the remainder of the time. This will alleviate burnt streusel. 

7) Let sit for about 10 minutes, then serve while still warm! With a little bit of butter if you wanna do it my way :) 

Yum!

And now I'm off to finish my next Christmas craft....

;)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

Cilantro Lime Ranch

Dinner last night was superb.

In fact, I could probably eat it once a week, but I don't want to get sick of it. 

I love me a good salad, especially when the dressing is so good you wanna lick the bowl. 

Good thing I can do so in my own home! 

Hunter was a huge fan of this meal, even though he didn't seem too excited when I said salad was for dinner. Just salad. 

It's all about the dressing people. 

Ingredients:

1 tomatillo 

1/2 fresh Jalepeno (more or less depending on your spice tolerance) 

1 bunch of cilantro

1/2 lime 

About 1 1/2 cups already made ranch dressing

Directions:

Cut tomatillo into about six pieces and place in blender taking out middle. (Like you would a tomato) cut Jalepeno in half and toss that in your blender as well. Cut off cilantro stems and throw it in the blender. Add your ranch and squeeze your lime then blend until all is well mixed. Such a yummy taste! 

We made our salads cafe rio style cause the dressing is similar. If you don't know what cafe rio is... I'm sorry. But really look up the closest one and go get a sweet pork salad! On with it... I made chicken with fajita seasoning. We put the yummy tortilla land tortilla on the bottom of the bowl, next cheese, then black beans, rice (fajita flavor of the Lipton package. It's really good), chicken, lettuce, tomato, cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, tortilla strips, dressing, in that order. SO GOOD! This should probably be on your menu this coming week 👍 happy weekend! 

All my love, 

Aleigh Joy 

French Toast Rolls

Sorry us Moore gals have neglected the blog a bit. Between Tracy and I having our babies, Shell getting pregnant with her third, Alana moving from Northern California to southern and then to utah while her husband finishes podiatry school, aubrie raising sweet little Rylie pie, and all of us visiting California to witness the marriage between brother in law Brandon and our NEW sister in law Ashleigh, we've been a bit busy! 

No promises we'll keep up the way we see to but we'll try ;) 

I seem to have had quite the sweet tooth lately. 

Or I'm just getting lazy with dinners and making the same few things over and over.

 All my recent tried recipes have been sweets. 

But seriously this one is yummmmmmyyy. 

And dangerous.

So, if you're on a diet... Run. And fast. 

As always, I just eyeball things but I don't think there's a way you could mess this up.

Ingredients

4 tbsp. softened Salted butter

4 slices bread (if in Utah, use grandma sycamores) 

1 1/2ish tsp cinnamon

2-3 tbsp white sugar

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

Directions:

Take crust off bread and use a rolling pin to flatten slices. In a small bowl mash 2 tbsp butter, sugars, and cinnamon together to form a paste. Spread evenly onto bread slices and roll up! Whisk egg, vanilla, and milk together. Dip rolls into egg mixture. Fry on a frying pan with remaining butter til crisp on the outside. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and put some syrup for dipping on the side! So bad, yet sooo good! ;)

All my love, 

Aleigh Joy 

Cilantro Lime Chicken Fajitas

We LOVE Mexican food over here.

Being from San Diego where there's a taco shop on every street corner, that's kind of a given.

I seem to make some sort of Mexican dish every week for dinner. 

I've been wanting to perfect my fajitas because every time I've made them they just didn't come out the way I had hoped.

This time however, they came out SO right and I'm so excited to share!

I give all credit to my 37 week pregnancy cravings for coming up with this one.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 boneless chicken breasts or 5-6 tenders
• 2 heaping cups of assorted sliced bell peppers give or take
• 1 cup sliced onion give or take
• 1/2 of a lime
• 1/4 cup cilantro (a little less is just fine)
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 4 tbsp. your choice oil
• 1 tin foil package of fajita seasoning mix (found next to taco seasoning)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. First chop your veggies, then chop your chicken. Fajita style. Aka long strips. Put two skillets on your stove and add 2 tbsp of oil to each. Turn it to medium heat and let that oil get hot!
2. I test my oil by splashing a tiny bit of water. If it sizzles and crackles and pops, its ready. So, once it's ready add your chicken to one pan and your veggies to the other. Let them both cook through separately but don't let your veggies get soggy. Yuck.
3. Once both are cooked to your liking at the veggies to the chicken pan. Add half the packet of fajita seasoning. You don't wanna overdo that stuff so start out that way and add more if you fancy more. Then add your soy sauce and give it a good mixing. 
4. Next turn your heat to low and add the juice of 1/2 a lime, garlic, and your cilantro. You really don't need to squirt every last bit of the juice because I sure didn't but get a good amount. Stir it all up and let every bit of the mix get covered.
5. If you feel the need, you can also add some salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve your Chicken onto your choice of tortillas! I am a full supporter of the uncooked tortillas they sell at costco. Soo great. However, I need some protein in my life so I had mine on an ezekial sprouted grain tortilla. But really, any tortilla is fine. Lay all the toppings you desire out on the table and have your family add to their fajita as they please. 
7. Enjoy!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls

Hey there, it's been a while!
I think all of us girls can agree that December and January FLEW by!
So... the blog got neglected.
But! I have quite a few recipes lined up to be shared!
Let's hope I get around to it ;)
I'm due to have my first baby in about 3 weeks so it's been a little crazy over here, but I'm living up eating what I want until our sweet pea arrives ;)
Then, the New Year's "goal" kicks in.
So until then, I'll probably be making these bad boys quite a few more times!
I went to Ikea the other day.
As I stood in line I smelled the cinnamon rolls and suddenly I was craving cinnamon rolls... go figure.
I mean, they're only a dollar.
So, I got one. And, was seriously unimpressed.
Such a let down.
That craving has stayed alive since then... therefore crescent roll cinnamon rolls that only take like 15 minutes!
Score.

Side note: My measurements are incredibly lame for this because it totally just kinda happened tonight. But, I think it'll be pretty hard to mess up so just go with it.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Pillsbury crescent rolls
• A little less than half a stick melted butter
• Brown Sugar
• White granulated sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Cream Cheese frosting (homemade or from a can. Whatever floats your boat)

Directions:

1) Pre-heat your oven to 375. Then roll out your dough. I put mine on parchment paper because it makes clean up SO much easier. Then I went over it with my rolling pin once. Make sure to close the holes from seams. It avoids a huge mess.

2) Spread your melted butter evenly on the dough. I used a rubber spatula and avoided getting too close to the edge.

3) Sprinkle a VERY generous amount of brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon on top of the butter. I may have been more generous than necessary but I sure didn't want a lame Ikea cinnamon roll...

4) Roll up your dough starting at the top. Unless you want like 4 superrrrrr fat cinnamon rolls. Cut them up about an inch thick.Then put them in a cupcake tin sprayed with nonstick spray.

5) Bake them for about 10 minutes and they're done! Pretty simple for such a yummy treat!

6) Of course, you can't forget the icing. I had a can of store bought cream cheese frosting that wasn't going to be used any time soon. I don't like store bought frosting... but I actually didn't mind it on these! Next time, I'll still probably make my own though. I microwaved two spoonfuls for about 10 seconds then drizzled it over each roll. So, SO yum!

Now go ahead and make your own!

It's worth it, I promise! :)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy 

DIY Chicken Wire Christmas Card Holder

I love this thing!

I mean don't get me wrong, hanging Christmas cards on your fridge is totally fine, but this pretty thing makes receiving cards that much more fun!

Plus, our fridge is currently covered in ultrasounds of our tiny girl.

Also, this was SO easy to make!

Like, 3 steps easy.

So awesome.

I took this picture when I made it in November. 

We have since gotten some actual cards and I love displaying them!

Also, I attached the winter garland with velcro so I can just take it off after the holidays and keep this up year round for important mail, wedding announcements, coupons, etc...

Yay!

Supplies:

1) Picture frame. Size and color of your choice. I got mine from hobby lobby, because coupons, and spray painted it white.

2) Chicken Wire. Again I found this at hobby lobby and it happened to be the perfect size for my frame but it's also found at all home improvement stores!

3) Hot glue gun

4) Decorating materials of your choice

5) Hanging materials. I attached (well, my husband did) a little wall hanging hook. Most frames already have this but if not you can buy them at hobby lobby, or Michaels.

6) Clothespins. I found these cute Christmas ones in the dollar section at Michaels.

Directions:

1) Spray paint frame if needed and let dry completely first.

Then place your chicken wire into your frame. If you bought more than needed cut it with a wire cutter so it will fit your frame. Once you fit it properly go to town with hot glue. A staple gun would probably work here but I don't have one and hot glue worked perfectly for me. I just hot glued the edges to the frame!

2) Once your hot glue is dry... you're really already done!

I decided to make it festive so I took two garland picks found at hobby lobby, hot glued them together (I love hot glue), then made a little boy for the middle. I hot glued a piece of velcro onto the garland and onto the frame and Ta-Da! Festive. 

3) Hang on your wall and attach all your Christmas cards with your clothespins! 

Andddd... done!

Merry Christmas friends!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

The Best Crockpot Seasoning: McCormick Grill Mates

I LOVE these!

I'm sure they are wonderful for the grill...

But they are so perfect for a crockpot meal.

There are so many different flavor options and they are on sale so often!

Switch up the meats and veggies you put in and the possibilities are endless.

I've done smoky applewood with shredded pork, Brown Sugar Bourbon with little steaks, Island wood fire grill with pork chops, Baja Citrus with chicken... seriously there are so many ways to use these handy things.

This time I'm going to show you what I did with the Zesty herb packet (my favorite one), russet potatoes, and green beans.

No matter which packet I use, I do the same thing, just with different veggies and meats to keep it interesting ;)

Ingredients:

1) 1 packet of McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning

2) Your choice of meat (this time I did 5 frozen chicken tenders)

3) Veggies of your choice (I did the frozen green beans from costco and added potatoes as a starch because I LOVE potatoes in the crockpot!)

4) Water

5) Vegetable, canola, or olive oil

Directions:

1) Place your meat in first, then layer whatever veggies or starch you want on top.

2) Mix together seasoning packet, about 1/4 cup oil, then fill the rest to the 1 cup line with water

(make sure to mix it good, I also add a shake or two of salt and pepper)

3) Pour mixture evenly over the top of everything in crockpot

5) Cook on low for at least 4 hours. I like letting it go a little longer so the flavors really soak into everything. I stir it a few times periodically while it's cooking so nothing burns on the sides and it all has it's turn to soak in the seasoning. Yum!

And that's all! Serve it up and enjoy!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos

We've all said it before, but I'll just go ahead and say it again!

Who doesn't love their crockpot??

It makes life on the go SO easy!

This 5 ingredient shredded chicken was so flavorful and easy to do.

Another trial turned success!

We sure love tacos over here!

Ingredients:

1) 5-6 chicken tenders or 3-4 breasts

2) 1 cut up bell pepper of your choice

3) 1/2 cup chopped white onion

4) 1-2 chopped cloves garlic

5) 1 full jar of salsa verde

Directions:

1) Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. On top of that add onion, garlic, and bell pepper

2) Pour jar of salsa verde on top of everything and cook on low for about 4 hours.

3) Remove chicken and bell peppers and strain excess liquid. (Unless you like soggy tacos.) Put chicken in a bowl and shred. Then add to a taco shell with your favorite toppings!

(we make our taco shells over here by cooking corn tortillas in vegetable oil and then sprinkle with salt. Yum!)

Ta-da! That's all friends!

Go ahead and get ready for taco Tuesday next week ;)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

Christmas Wreath Inspiration

The Christmas season has officially begun!

Yay!

Since it's "legal" now I went ahead and decorated the outside and made my wreath last night!

I must say, I'm super excited about this wreath for both the looks of it and the cost!

I love all things gold and glittery so this wreath is right up my "Aleigh" (ha, lame joke sorry.) and it matches our tree!

Not to mention, I think it's the cheapest wreath I've made yet.

Christmas decor quickly adds up.

So, I avoided Michaels and hobby lobby and went on over to WalMart where I found everything I needed!

(confession: the JOY sign is from hobby lobby but I already had it!)

So head on over to WalMart and you'll find all you need at an unbeatable cost :)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

Be Merry Canvas

Yay! Another Christmas craft!

Because doing things your self, gives the best feeling of accomplishment :)

This simple little canvas art sign was so easy to do and turned out super cute!

I love the way is spruces up my shelves.

Not to mention, I think it costed all of $5-$7 to make and I just saw a very similar one for sale on an etsy shop for $30!

Seriously, just do it your self ;)

Materials:

1) Canvas

2) Wooden deer cutout (found at Michael's craft store)

3) Painters tape

4) Glitter (your choice of color)

5) Craft paint (your choice of color)

6) Paintbrushes

7) Hot glue gun. (or tacky glue, probably even super glue)

8) Paint pen

Directions:

1) Evenly place your tape on your canvas. I wanted thicker stripes so I did my tape 2 wide. Then paint the white part your color of choice. While it is drying, paint and glitter your deer cutout. I did two coats of gold paint and on the last coat I sprinkled my glitter while it was still wet.

2) Remove the tape and use white paint to fix any uneven areas.

3) Hot glue your deer cutout onto the center or the canvas

4) Use a paint pen to write "Be Merry" or whatever other Christmas saying you choose :)

And... Done!

Simple as that!

Yay Christmas!

and Thanksgiving... I've been craving mashed potatoes the past two weeks!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

DIY Vinyl Nativity Sign

I originally had plans to post a different Christmas craft today, then I saw that the vinyl I used is on sale on groopdealz today and couldn't help but post this one so all of you can make it at a cheaper price!

I LOVED this little project.

Hobby Lobby made it really simple for me and I love looking at it hanging in our home.

I have had a hard time finding a Nativity that doesn't look completely cheesy, and I no longer have any counter space so this helped a ton :)

Supplies:

• Vinyl your choice of color Found here (buying white and attempting to paint it gold was difficult, I suggest just planning ahead and getting the right color the first time unlike me ha)
• Wooden sign already assembled found at hobby lobby. Don't forget your coupon!
• Spray paint (or keep it all natural looking)
• Glitter (if you love glitter like me)
• Mod Podge
• Paint Pen in your choice of color

Directions:

1) First I spray painted my wood, if you want the wood natural looking then skip this step

2) In the meantime I painted my vinyl. Again, just buy the right color the first time. But if you change your mind, you can always paint over it.

3) Apply the Vinyl to the wood in the order you like. Simply place on the wood like a sticker. When you have the order you like use your paint pen to write out "O Holy Night" in the font of your choice. I then brushed one coat of mod podge over the vinyl so that it would stay on for good without bubbling or peeling. Let that dry.

4) I then applied the glitter on another really thin coat of mod podge and let that dry. 

5) Next I shook off all the glitter and used an old paintbrush with rough bristles to get rid of the excess glitter. And then, it's done! Easy! :)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy