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Rosemary & Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes

November 15, 2018 By Chelsia Rief 1 Comment

These Rosemary & Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes are simple, tasty, and pair with lots of different main dishes. Our new favorite way to eat sweet potatoes!

Have I got a sweet potato recipe for you! Believe it or not, this is one of those posts that I've been hanging onto for, oh...two years now!

Yes, you heard me right. I've been making this recipe for two years and it is probably my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes when they aren't grilled during the summer.

Here's a few reasons why I like this Rosemary & Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes recipe. For one thing it is so dang simple because it has only a few ingredients. It's fancy enough to make for the holidays (I've served this for Easter before!), but it is also easy going enough for dinner with your family - for example, I just made this last week when I served meatloaf for dinner. One more thing about this recipe...while it's not traditional "Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes" it is really delicious, really pretty and a bit healthier than the stuff with the marshmallows. [Read more...]

Easy Pumpkin Custard Pie

November 14, 2018 By Chelsia Rief 1 Comment

This easy pumpkin custard pie is flavored with cinnamon, cloves, and allspice - which gives it all kinds of warm, fall flavors.

I'm completely giving this older recipe from the blog an overhaul. I'm rewriting the text and updating the photos because, gosh darn it, it's too good to not show some love to it.

Every Thanksgiving feast has to include a pumpkin pie. It's basically written into Thanksgiving law...and if you don't have a pumpkin pie on your table then you forfeit...I don't know. Your first born child or something. It's just the way it goes down!

I don't know about you, but pie-making is pretty hit and miss with me. I either execute it well or it's pieced together rather sadly. Consistency is not the name of the game when it comes to my mad pie-making skills, let's just be honest. And if any of you are like me, then you may find yourself in the same boat. [Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of Nov 5th

November 5, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

I was in Target on Saturday and the store was not only crazy busy (I was wondering if there was a Pre-Black Friday sale going on by the amount of people there), but the store was a mess. Not like employees being lazy and not cleaning, but like crates and pallets filled with boxes to be unloaded and then displayed...presumably with Christmas decor.

I've been seeing so many people in IG tearing down all the fall decor and throwing up all the Christmas stuff - part of me wants to join in on the fun, but the realist in me knows two things about that scenario: a) I will get tired of all the decor up and begin missing my clutter-free home (which is not at all clutter free because we have a one-year-old) and b) Ruby will be into everything! I have a feeling our tree will have a lot of ornaments carefully placed out of her reach. [Read more...]

Annie's Apple Crisp

October 31, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

The yummy apple crisp is simple enough for a family dessert or nice enough to serve for company, but easy enough to make for a potluck or holiday hoopla!

This here is a legitimate family recipe. My mom has a small but insanely delicious bag of tricks when it comes to desserts. She makes the best Scotch Krispies, cobbler (this recipe is a combo of both of my moms), chocolate cake, and apple crisp. The apple crisp, however, is my grandma's recipe...who's name isn't actually Annie, but Doris!

I believe it was my brother who just started calling her Annie...maybe because he was trying to say Granny? I don't know, but Annie is the name I always called her. She did pass away when I was really young, like first grade, so I didn't get the opportunity to know her very well, but my mom says that I am more like my grandma than her. [Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of Oct 29th

October 30, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

In some ways October seems to be the month that keeps on going...and yet, I cannot even believe that Halloween is tomorrow and Thursday is the first day of November. Which basically means let all things Christmas commence.

Did I mention that it was only last week I put up the few fall decorations I own? I really weeded out my fall decor bin this year and donated a lot of the orangy items because it just really doesn't go with the colors in my home. My walls are blue and grey and while grey goes with pretty much everything, blue does not.

Don't tell my husband, but I actually want to repaint those walls a white-ish color. It's been on my mind for about a year, but painting is just...well it's a job. But it is the cheapest and fastest way to change the look of a home and I just want white and shiplap everything. It also helps that 86% of the colors we chose for our home when we moved in 3 years ago look nothing like they did on the swatches. So really, I'm not changing my mind, I'm just tired of living with blue walls.

Ya feel me? [Read more...]

Miscarriage: 4 Ways to Help Cope with the Grief

October 25, 2018 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

I haven't kept my personal miscarriage stories a secret. I shared about our more recent loss back in October of 2016 if you haven't seen that post. Miscarriage is something that happens often - one in four women are said to experience a miscarriage at some point in their lives - and yet it is still not something that is talked about as often as it should be.

Perhaps it is considered taboo or unwelcome.

Perhaps some women don't feel like they can openly share, or that people don't want to hear about it.

Perhaps even still, in this day and age, women feel shame and guilt about it. So they live with it. In silence.

[Read more...]

Simple Winter Cassoulet

October 24, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Healthy, easy, and comforting, this simple winter cassoulet is a classic dish from the south of France easily adapted to dairy or gluten-free diets!

There are many reasons that France is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. With amazing landmarks, beautiful countryside, and amazing food, it's no wonder people flock to travel France.

I have yet to go, by the way - it's near the top of my bucket list of places to explore!

Since I'm unable to travel there in this particular season of life, I can at least enjoy a few things French here in the US of A, like French wine, French music, and...French food, of course! And I'm not talking French fries or French toast either, although those are dang tasty, too! [Read more...]

Weekly Menu For the Week of Oct 22nd

October 21, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hey, guys! It's good to be back online and back to my menu planning!

We had a wonderful time in Central Oregon. We went biking, caught up with friends, ate A LOT of good food...I always wish we had more time, but it is nice to get back home. Especially for the kids - none of them slept that great, I'm afraid, and a few of them caught little colds.

We got back into town last Wednesday and I got down to business early Friday morning working on this week's menu. Usually, I do my grocery shopping on Sunday or Mondays...but I'm going to try and switch my usual schedule around so that I'm doing my shopping on Fridays now. Over the past few months, it has just felt hard to get it done on the weekends - I was spending a large chunk of my Sundays working on the grocery list, when all I really want to do is soak up the remaining weekend with the family.

What day of the week do you do your grocery shopping? [Read more...]

DIY: How We Built Our Own Magnolia Silos Outdoor Table

October 12, 2018 By Joshua Rief 20 Comments

After seeing the farmhouse tables outside in Waco, we decided to try building our own Magnolia Silos Outdoor Table. It's a pretty simple DIY project!

Last year, about five months before Ruby was born, Chels and I took off for a little "baby moon". We ended up making our way down to Waco for a quick trip to the Magnolia Silos - which we would recommend to any fans of Chip & Jo, HGTV, farmhouse style, or just DIY-ing in general! We had a great time and got lots of ideas to bring home for our own family - one of which was this outdoor farmhouse table. I'd just finished building a back deck for us, and we knew we wanted a rustic table for outdoor dining, games, and just general gathering. When Chels spotted the big white tables outside Magnolia Market, she knew what she wanted. She asked if I could take a picture (below) and build one when we got home...and I agreed to try!

[Read more...]

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

October 10, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Get your autumn mood on with this simple, overnight no-bake dessert! Pumpkin Pie Pudding is easy, along with being yummy looking as well as tasting!

I think we all know by now that I'm not ready for fall and yet here it is, in all its glory! These past few fall seasons have been, well, a bit harder. Last year, I was newly postpartum and just not wanting to decorate at all because it felt overwhelming. This year, I'm not in much of a decorating mood because I really enjoyed my summer, but also, I don't want to clutter the house when I've got a baby toddling around who is eager to get into everything.

Do ya hear me? I know I can't be the only one who feels this way right now.

I do love fall food, though. It's so warm and comforting. It smells of deep, rich herbs like rosemary and sage, it makes you feel bundled up from the inside out, and I think it soothes the soul when everything else outside is kind of withering away. [Read more...]