 I made my two older boys Halloween Trick or Treat bags two years ago and somehow neglected to make my youngest one. I already had the felt so I whipped this one up this afternoon so he can have a cute homemade bag too. I did a couple of things different this time. I sewed the owl design on after gluing it to the front panel instead of relying solely on felt glue since we have been using these for several years. I also used ribbons for the handle instead of felt because after awhile the felt handle starts to get kind of wrinkly and ugly. I am loving this owl trick or treat bag and my three year old is so excited to use it tonight. Happy Halloween! You can see my homemade trick or treat bag post from a couple of years ago for the instructions of how to make these adorable bags. Linking up at Inspire Me Monday
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 Feeling a little ghoulishly festive this Halloween? These mummy dogs are super easy and everyone will love them. They are really just dogs in a sweater with a festive name. Plus the kids can join in the fun and help make them.  Ingredients: Hot dogs Canned crescent rolls or breadstick dough Condiments for dipping 1. Roll out crescent dough and cut into strips (pizza wheel works great for this) or separate breadstick dough. Roll or pull and stretch breadstick dough into long ropes. 2. Wrap dough strips around hot dog trying to get a mummyish look. You can cut the dough to make the eyes and mouth if you like for fun. 3. Place about an inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at the recommended temperature on the dough package (probably 350-375 degrees F) for 18-20 minutes.   My five year old really wanted to be a bat for Halloween this year. We have lots of costumes in the costume bin, but no bats. A ready made bat costume was no where to be found. So I looked on Pinterest for ideas and decided on this. There is a great tutorial here. I also looked at a picture of a real bat wing to know how many curves to cut out of the wings. There are only three.  This is really simple to make except it can get a little tight in the shoulder area so make sure to leave extra room when measuring your fabric. I actually cut the shoulder to underarm area at an angle to give him more range of motion. I also added a tie at the neck to secure it from slipping off. He already had a silly bat hat that he wanted to wear so I didn't need to make any bat ears.
Pretty simple and I only spent $4 on fabric. He's a very happy bat and will be wearing this at least two more times before Halloween week is over. Linking up at Create with Joy Disclosure: I received products for review. All opinions are honest and are my own.  Abe's Market is an online marketplace for natural products. You may have seen my sidebar ad for Abe's Market. As an affiliate with Abe's Market, I was able to try some of their products. Our goal is to provide the best natural products that are good for you, your families and the environment.  I chose to try Common Good hand soap in lavender. It's more expensive than what I would normally spend on hand soap at $6.99, but it does a great job, smells wonderful, and it is a generous 12 oz. size. I feel good about my boys using this natural soap and would purchase it when it is on sale. Abe's Market has great sales all the time. If you sign up for their mailing list, you will get email updates when there are sales. We use biodegradable, plant based ingredients that are free from artificial fragrances, dyes, parabens or phthalates.  I tried Common Good dish soap in bergamot. I like using natural dish soaps, but was disappointed with the quality of this product. The scent was fine, but the soap did not produce enough suds for me. I like to see suds when I am washing dishes. Our formula is concentrated so you wash more dishes per bottle, biodegradable and uses plant based ingredients that are free from artificial fragrances, dyes, parabens or phthalates. Our bergamot scent is 100% pure essential oil, from a light Italian citrus commonly found in Earl Grey tea.  I am new to the idea of using essential oils and thought I might like trying this one because I frequently have allergy issues. I tried Breathe Allergy & Lung Support Essential Oil. Honestly, I need to use it more to give a thorough review, but have used it several times before going to bed and thought it did help me to get a good nights rest when I was congested. WHAT IT IS: One of the most versatile blends we offer, “Breathe”, is suitable for so many conditions we consider it to be a must-have for traveling.  I tried the Cheeky Salve lips and cheeks healing balm. This is a product I would buy. It works well on chapped lips and faces and I can feel good about using it on my kids. We have very cold winters and our fair skin is easily chapped. I will keep our Cheeky Salve handy this winter. Ages: for all ages, 0 - 150 years  I tried Primal Pit Paste in lavender and loved it. I had never used a natural deodorant before, but will be buying this again. Actually, it will take me a long time to use up, even though I use it almost every day. I love that I can not only pronounce all of the ingredients, I know what they are. Primal Pit Paste is an organic, all natural deodorant that actually works! Baking soda kills the bacteria that causes odor and organic arrowroot powder helps you feel dry while allowing you to still sweat and release toxins. For a great selection of natural products check out Abe's Market. Disclosure: I received products for review. All opinions are honest and are my own.
 Get 10 Free Vegan Halloween recipes from Abe's Market. The Cujo Chow (a healthier, scarier version of puppy chow) and the spider pancakes look awesome! What is your favorite Vegan Halloween recipe?
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Global Influence. Any opinions are honest and are my own. I don't have much time for primping in my busy schedule, but I have learned a few things over the years that have simplified my beauty regimen and helped me to feel youthful and attractive.
Suave is encouraging families to live better every day by offering products for the whole family at a great value at Walmart.  Stop by your local Walmart – the one-stop shop for all your Suave needs. For continued savings, sign up for Suave Family Perks and submit your receipts to accrue points and redeem for Walmart gift cards. Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Global Influence. Any opinions are honest and are my own.
Enchiladas are a hit in our house. They are one of my go-to meals when I have leftover shredded meat and rice to use up. My husband and I are pretty good about eating leftovers, but it is a lot easier to sit down as family when there is a hot meal on the table. The kids aren't as good about leftovers so whenever I can turn the leftovers into something new, I do it.
Easter Sunday we had a fresh ham roast (uncured) that was rather large so we had lots of leftover pork roast. I made "new meals" throughout the week using the leftover pork. We had pork fajitas, pork carnitas, and pork enchiladas all from the same leftover ham roast. This easy enchilada recipe has actually been on the blog for a while, so you may have seen it before. Most of these old posts need some updating so I decided to do just that. 
I made pork fajitas just like my chicken fajitas recipe, I just added chopped cooked pork to the vegetable saute after the vegetables had mostly cooked. To make pork carnitas, I just put the leftover pork in the crockpot with 2 cans of real sugar soda on high all afternoon then shredded it to make pork carnitas. Inspired by this recipe. I then used the leftover shredded pork from the pork carnitas and leftover rice that I served with pork fajitas to make easy enchiladas.
We enjoyed our Easter fresh ham roast, then had three new meals from the leftover pork roast throughout week. We had four different meals from the same pork roast for a family of six.
For convenience I use canned refried beans or black beans when making enchiladas. They work well in this recipe, just make sure to rinse the black beans first. It's super easy to make your own shredded chicken too. Just put a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts in a small crockpot on low all day (covered in water) then take them out and shred them for this recipe. Add your favorite seasonings to the chicken after shredding if you like.
Actually this is a great use for leftover chicken or beef too. Leftover shredded meat = easy enchiladas. 
When updating this post, I didn't get a picture of the pan before dinner (hungry crew) so the old photo will have to do for now.
Ingredients:
(Pick and choose the filling ingredients you like) Shredded chicken, beef, or pork (leftover meat works great) Refried beans Black beans Cooked rice Shredded or crumbling (queso) cheese 6 to 8 large flour tortillas (burrito size works well) Salsa and/or Enchilada sauce 1. Prepare a 9 X 13 pan by spreading a thin layer of salsa or enchilada sauce in the pan. 2. Fill tortillas with shredded chicken, refried or black beans, rice, shredded cheese, etc. and roll them up placing them seam side down in the baking pan. Sometimes I fold two sides in a little before rolling up to help keep everything inside. Sometimes I just roll them up so whatever suits you. Six to eight should fit nicely in the pan. 3. Drizzle more salsa or enchilada sauce over the prepared tortillas. Then sprinkle more shredded cheese on top. 4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. 
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Global Influence. Any opinions are honest and are my own.  After twelve years of marriage and three children, I still feel beautiful for my husband. My body is far from perfect and I am not as young as I used to be, but he still thinks I'm beautiful. He loves me for who I am, unconditionally. He tells me that I'm a good mom and wife and that I am attractive. He even thinks I'm beautiful in my sweats. He always takes me by surprise when he compliments me in my sweats. Honestly as a busy Mom I am just happy when my clothes are clean and my hair is brushed, but he always thinks I am beautiful no matter what.  Dove and Dollar General believe that examples of real beauty are all around us and deserve to be rewarded! That’s why they have teamed up to celebrate and inspire us to embrace our own beauty. Stop into your local Dollar General before 10/19th, to save $2 instantly when you spend $7 on any Dove or Vaseline products.  Join Dove and Dollar General on Monday October 13th at 8p.m. on Twitter, for the #DGFeelBeautifulFor Twitter party. Jump in the conversation by using the hashtag to tell what qualities and features you feel the most beautiful for and automatically be entered for a chance to win one of five, $100 Dollar General gift cards! Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Global Influence. Any opinions are honest and are my own.
 This is one of those super easy meals in which you don't even need a recipe. Simply bring some fresh green beans and potatoes to a boil, then simmer until tender. While cooking, add some diced ham and season with fresh ground salt and pepper and garlic. Drain vegetables and add butter before serving. Add any vegetables you like. I threw in some turnips this time and think carrots would be a nice addition too.
 Quick and easy, but with a little pizazz. The honey is subtle, not overly sweet... just a little. You don't need much sweetness with french toast since it is usually served drizzled in maple syrup. Serve with a side of fried apples for a yummy fall treat. Use your favorite bread or experiment with several different kinds for fun. I used fresh sliced bakery bread and cinnamon swirl bread. Regular old sandwich bread will work great too.  Ingredients:
2 eggs 1 cup half & half or milk 2 Tbsp. honey 1 tsp. cinnamon 2 tsp. vanilla bread 1. Whisk eggs, then add remaining ingredients (except for bread). Whisk together until thoroughly mixed. 2. Dip each slice of bread into the liquid mixture making sure to coat each side. 3. Melt a pat of butter in the skillet or griddle just before placing a slice of bread on it. Do this for each slice of bread. Fry the bread until golden brown flipping to cook on each side. 4. Serve with maple syrup. |
Welcome to Home Ec @ HomeHi, I'm Faith, a former Family and Consumer Science teacher turned food blogger. I love God, my family, and food. You can usually find me in the kitchen preparing family friendly, homemade recipes and taking lots of pictures. 
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Still Goldens, Southern, IL
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