8 Frisch's Kids Meals for $1 - a great treat for the kids in your life!

Looking for an affordable and fun treat for the little goblins in your life? Frisch’s Halloween Kid’s Coupons are now on sale at all area Frisch’s Big Boy locations! While they might be a bit pricey to hand out to trick or treaters, I think it's a great treat to give at a Halloween party or to some special friends.

I plan to purchase some for my own kids family - knowing the holiday season is upon us, these will help remind me to take a break from the busy-ness of the coming days, to slow down, relax and enjoy.

The coupons are good for one FREE Kid’s Meal and include a mini soft drink or small milk.

A pack of eight Frisch’s Halloween Kid’s Coupons are just $1 – no other purchase necessary.

Available for a limited time only (until October 31)

Coupons are valid for redemption in the dining room only, November 1 - December 14.

Kids must be accompanied by an adult, but an adult meal purchase is not required.

Ghostly Cupcakes!

I saw these simple and darling cupcakes at Hoosier Homemade the other day (okay a few weeks ago, so I'm just getting around to all things Halloween!) and I knew I wanted to let Sweetpea try her hand at them. Our icing was a bit soft to stand up like I wanted them too, but they are still cute, don't you think? We had to use yellow for the eyes, because "yellowismyfavoritecolor!" and she thought this ghost just had to have a nose too! :)

These "cupcakes" are actually sweet potato muffins, which I shared at Amy's Finer Things a while back. They are a great healthy muffin, and with a little frosting they taste sweet enough that my husband eats them (that is saying a lot, trust me!).

Now Sweetpea likes these muffins without icing, but just in case you wondered if she liked these little ghosts -after she finished eating this one tonight she said, "mommy, I look silly! Take my picture..." And so I did!

5 ways to stay committed to your workout routine {and a healthy lifestyle in general}

Do you find yourself dreading workouts, cheating on your diet, or feeling like the healthy changes you've made aren't something you can live with long term? It's often much easier to get excited at the start of a healthy lifestyle change, but there are tricks to motivating yourself when your motivation starts to fizzle. Here are my top five ways to stay motivated:

1. Commit to it! So often, getting started is the hardest part. When starting a program, set a minimum time frame to stick with it before giving up or moving on to something else. This goes for individual workouts as well - when I really don't feel like working out, I make a deal with myself that I will work out for ten minutes, and then I can stop if I want to. Most times I keep going, but sometimes I do stop, and that's okay!

2. Reflect on your reasons for starting this journey when you're feeling down or discouraged. Is there someone in particular you want to be healthy for? Is there something you really want to do? Keep these inspiring thoughts close at hand - the fridge is a good place for them, actually, or the front door...a vision board or inspirational quotes posted in several locations can't hurt!

3. Remember your workouts are built in "me time" to care for yourself, decompress and/or get out some aggression. I find my workout time to be a great brainstorming opportunity, and I often text myself ideas I don't want to forget!

4. Treat yourself to little indulgences that are especially for during or post workout. (or at the end of a day when you've eaten particularly healthily!) I have special body wash and lotion that are reserved exclusively for my gym bag, and I hold back my favorite magazine to read while I'm on the elliptical machine.

5. Measure your success - if you find numbers or progress especially motivating, then be sure to track your success. This can be with the scale, a measuring tape, or the way your clothes feel. Don't get too tied to the numbers, however, remember to keep track of your energy level, sleep habits, and general mood, which should all improve as well!

Easily clean tomato stains!

The other day, I posted about cleaning up after stuck on food messes...but what if you're tray still has that yucky orange tomato glow after it's clean? Our girls love spaghetti, so this is a regular occurrence. If you're like me, you have some food storage containers that look like this too.


I did some investigating, and came up with a solution that is very effective and nearly free! Spray or wipe down the surface with lemon juice, and then lay it out in the sun for several hours. I laid our tray out before running some errands, and when we came back, after a quick wipe down, it was as good as new!

Joy

Sweetpea is on cloud 9, giving a big hug to one of her favorite Sesame Street characters, Zoe!

Hello from Paradise

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Hi everyone, I'm Buffee, from The Truth According to Buffee. Today I'm guest posting for Steph while she's on vacation celebrating her anniversary! At least I think that's why I'm here? Anyway, Steph was looking for guest posters and I volunteered! I made her give me suggestions on what she wanted me to post about. She requested something fall related, maybe a craft or recipe of some sort.

I decided to go with the easy (obvious) choice and post a recipe! I typically post one recipe a week on my blog. Every Thursday I link up with my sissy, Brandee, over at Think Tank Momma for her Share A Spoon.

I love the fall. It's my favorite time of year. I love the changing of the leaves, the colors of fall, football, the smell of spice in the air, the cool temperatures, the festivals, anything and everything to do with the fall! Especially pumpkins! I really enjoy going to the pumpkin patch and carving jack-o-lanterns. I love making and eating pumpkin recipes. There's just so much I love about the fall.

Today's recipe is a simple one. Most all of my recipes are. My mom taught me how to make these. I believe she learned the recipe while attending Weight Watchers. So yes, it's easy, delicious, and healthy! What more could a girl ask for? Chocolate? You got it! I added mini chocolate chips to give it a little something more! (Yes, I'm cool like that, uh huh uh huh)! Mini chocolate chip pumpkin muffins 1 box Spice Cake mix 1 15 oz can of pumpkin 1 6 oz container of vanilla yogurt about 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine cake mix, pumpkin, and yogurt. Stir until completely combined. Fold in chocolate chips ( I never measure them, I just pour some in until it looks like enough). If you don't like chocolate and pumpkin together, just omit them. They're great without them too! Spoon mixture into lined mini muffin tins. (I use a nifty cookie scoop to do this. It makes this job so EASY). Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. That's it! It's that easy! I bake these every fall and take them to work. Everyone always loves them! I hope you'll try them out and enjoy them too! Thanks for having me Steph!

Love those {baby} legs

Simple Recipes – Eggplant Turkish Meze

This is a guest post by TwinToddlersDad who blogs about child nutrition on Littlestomaks.

A meze is a small dish, served as a collection of appetizers before the main course in a Mediterranean meal. In Turkey, for example, they keep on bringing plates after plates of these mezes and you get to taste small portions of each with fresh bread. Mezes are an important part of the culinary experience as you sit down with family and friends, enjoy the conversation and of course the delicious food! It’s not that you overeat – even though you are tempted to – because the quantities are small and each meze is shared by everyone on the table. Different types of cheese, olives, pickles and meats are presented in a huge variety of mezes. Eggplant based dishes are quite popular as mezes, they can be made easily and they taste delicious!

Recently, we started a small vegetable garden in our backyard. We planted three Japanese eggplants, and now that they are bearing fruit, we have been making some of our favorite eggplant dishes including mezes. It is amazing to see these eggplants grow starting out from the beautiful purple flowers. Here are a few pictures of these eggplants and the twins having fun with them!

Anyway, here is an eggplant meze recipe one of our friends recently made for a party:

Ingredients

1. 2-3 eggplants, peeled and cut into cubes
2. 2 tomatoes, crushed in a food processor
3. 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4. 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
5. Salt, black pepper, red pepper to taste
6. 1 cup heavy cream
7. 3-4 olives

Method

Add eggplant cubes to a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Add warm water if needed, until eggplant cubes are soft and cooked well. Remove from the pot and rinse off excess water in a colander. Mash the cooked eggplant in a plate until it turns into a mushy mix.

Add olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Add garlic and crushed tomatoes and mix well. Cook on low-medium heat until soft, stirring occasionally. Add eggplant, salt, pepper and fold in with a spatula to mix well. Add in the heavy cream and allow it to cook a little more until absorbed. Remove from the pan, garnish with olives.

Serve warm or cold.

By the way, did you know that eggplant is actually a fruit, although it is cooked like a vegetable. Check out a few interesting facts about eggplant and another one of our favorite recipe for a grilled eggplant and yogurt salad.