Bring on the Fall!

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF FALL!

I love this time of year, when the weather cools down and I can go on walks or to the park anytime of the day without too much heat! Or even run in the middle of the day which I will not do in the summertime!!! There are so many neat things associated with fall and we have already started getting into the Autumn spirit at our house. When Shayla saw our neighbors had put up their Halloween flag, she insisted we needed to decorate for Halloween, so we did some fall decorating a bit and had a pumpkin snack! Here are some fun activities we have been up to this week to ring in the new season!

Decor: (See photo at beginning of post) I saw this Table Centerpiece on pininterest and made it my own! Basically it is a tall vase that Shayla helped me fill with different colored beans and grains we had on hand. Then we stuck fake leaves on top and added it to a platter with baby pumpkins.

Pumpkin Snack Parfait: Only 120 calories (cookie not included). I took a 100 calorie vanilla pudding snack and added a few Tablespoons of cool whip and 1 packet Truvia stevia. Then I divided it in half. In one half I added 3 Tablespoons cup canned pumpkin puree and cinnamon and to the other half I added 1 Tablespoon Cocoa powder! I layered the pudding and topped it with cool whip sprinkled with Cinnamon. That's it! Yum Yum!

Monster Finger Puppets: I love cute monsters and so do my kiddos! I think Mitchell liked these more than Shayla! I printed out the finger puppets from this site http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/monster-printables.htm then laminated them and put them on a large craft stick. Shayla likes doing puppet shows with them and Mitchell will walk around the house holding one in each hand growling.

Steel Cut Oats for breakfast: Yum! Warm Breakfasts are one of my favorite fall habits! Here is a delish crockpot steel oats recipe that you have to try and makes breakfast for more than one day if you don't have a houseful of kids.

Slow Cooker Fruit, Nuts, and Spice Oatmeal
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 Hours Ready In: 8 Hours 10 Minutes
Servings: 8
"This delicious and creamy oatmeal is slow-cooked overnight with apples, cinnamon, cranberries, almonds, and pecans. "
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups steel cut oats (most grocery stores or TJ's carry these)
2 cups diced apple
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 cups water
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons butter
DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine the oats, apple, cranberries, almonds, pecans, water, milk, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and butter in a slow cooker. Cook on KEEP WARM setting overnight or 8 hours.

IMPORTANT TIPS: I cooked this on KEEP WARM (vs Low) Setting as it may burn if you cook it that long on Low. Also, I used almond milk in place of regular milk and in the morning before serving added an extra cup of almond milk and stirred it in to make it extra creamy (otherwise it is a bit dry). You can keep this in the fridge for a few days and reheat to eat. You can add a bit of sweetner (brown suagr, maple syrup, honey, etc. if not sweet enough fgor you but the fruit adds perfect amount of sweetness for me)

SAME DAY INSTRUCTIONS: If you want to make it in morning vs overnight, combine oats and all ingredients in pot. Cook on high until boiling, stirring occasionally. At boiling, turn down low for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Test oats for doneness. Cooked oats will be slightly firm, yet chewy. You can make this with regular oats on stove, but do not attempt to make with regular oats in crockpan or it will be a big goopy mess!