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     One place I feel like I failed  as a mother is at enjoying Halloween.  It was never really that important to me, so my kids usually had last minute, thrown together costumes to go out trick or treating in.  Once in awhile I would make or buy something that would be passed down from year to year and repurposed, but not often. I wanted Halloween to be fun for them, I just wasn't that into it to give it a lot of fore thought and time. Consequently, the holiday for me was just exhausting and probably disappointing to my kids.  Surprisingly, most of my children have embraced Halloween as adults and really come up with some fun ideas and costumes.  Perhaps if I had been more like they are now, I would have planned ahead and Halloween wouldn't have been so exhausting for me.  
     My DIL told me last month what she was planning as a costume for my young grandson.  They usually do a family theme and last year they all went as Moana characters.  LIttle Spencer was Maui! My son was that giant turtle that loves shiny things and DIL was Moana.  They were adorable.  And, this year, even though Lindsey doesn't love Halloween that much, she is getting into it for the sake of her daughter and has their costumes planned.  
      How about you? It is mid-September and time to get into thinking about your kids costumes, and your own if you do that, not to mention parties and decorations.  Don't be a bad Halloween mom like I was! I'm here to help you! 

Costumes:

•     Last year, Alicia had already recognized the need for planning ahead, and shared these last minute costume ideas.  But, they don't have to be last minute! They are so cool and if you spend more time on them, they could be even cooler! 
• Disney characters are popular costumes for those who don't like scary. Our Mouse Ear tutorial will help you out and save you money!
• On Friday Faves last year we shared some of our past costume ideas that might get you started with some costume ideas of your own! 

Decorations:

• Last year, Maddy, who loves Halloween, shared 3 Fall Wreaths.  This one was my personal favorite and the most Halloweenish I think.  
• Last week I shared how to use old pill bottles to make a string of spooky lights! 
• Alicia gave us some tips for throwing a Halloween party on this post.  There are some awesome decorations suggested!  

     Of course, many of our supplies come from Dollar Tree! 

Food:

• You may just want some simple cookies for a kids party, or even let the kids do the decorating!  Here is a simple way to do it. 
• For your own friends, Lindsey shared some great Halloween themed appetizers. They look gooey and creepy, but taste great! 
• The previously mentioned post by Alicia also has some fun Halloween food ideas. 

Activities:

• Here is a list of favorite card games that would be fun for any party!
• This post has 10 Great Party Games that our family loves to play! 

     OK! Now get started! If you plan ahead you can help your kids and  yourself ​have a terrific Halloween this year!

     I was reading something the other day that mentioned that September is Better Breakfast Month.  This made me very happy because I love breakfast.  If you look on the sidebar and see that we have a category for Breakfast, go ahead and click on it.  You will find that there are many posts there about breakfast, otherwise known as the most important meal of the day. 
     Today, for Friday Faves, we are going to run with this breakfast topic.  But, I decided I needed to clarify something with my girls.  I asked them, do they mean better tasting breakfast, or better for you.  They answered "Both"!   So, today there will be two categories for Better Breakfasts: Just Delicious and Good For You + Delicious! 

Let's start with Good For You + Delicious:

• Maddy needs to write a post about the seasoned potato wedges that she makes herself for breakfast.  They are just so good.  Sometimes I ask her to make them for me when I need fries.  But, they make a great breakfast as well.
• Skinny Ms posted about 7 breakfasts to make in the crockpot.  The one that caught my eye was the Slow Cooker Banana Pecan French Toast!  I would love to wake up to that.  French toast is one of my all time favorite breakfasts and making it in this healthy way is a plus. 
• Lindsey posted about Banana Pancakes that were a big hit with her family!  
• Alicia and I have posted about some delicious Smoothies that always hit the spot. 
• And, don't forget the Sprouted Wheat Blender Waffles I posted about last year.  They are a great way to use your wheat and when it is sprouted, the waffles are so much lighter. 

     When it comes to healthy breakfasts, I really do like oatmeal during the winter months.  But, I see a lot of recipes lately for overnight oats that you can just grab and eat in the morning.  The idea of cold oatmeal, not cooked, just does not sound appetizing to me.  I like it hot with brown sugar or honey. 

Just Delicious:

• As I mentioned before, I love French Toast.  One of my all time favorites on the blog is the post I wrote about Pumpkin-Gingerbread French Toast with Lemon Sauce.  It is so, so, so good and a perfect holiday breakfast! And, the Lemon Sauce is great on so many things.   
• We have tons of pancake recipes that if you haven't tried them, you are really missing out!   Such as Chunky Apple Pancakes with Creamy Red Hot Syrup. 

• Lemon Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

• Peach Pancakes with Peach Sauce

• Of course, we can't forget Biscuits and Gravy with Bacon! That is my husband's fave! 
• Hopefully you didn't miss Alicia's most recent post of Belgium Liege Waffles. 

     If you get the chance to sit down and have breakfast with your family a few times this month, I hope our Breakfast Category will give you some fun ideas.  I forgot to mention Root Beer Pancakes! That one is fun and easy!  I have a lot of memories centered around breakfast with my family.  I think it is a shame that in this fast paced world, hardly anyone sits around the table and eats breakfast together anymore.  Most school children are eating at school instead of at home with their families.  I am not sure that those are "Better Breakfasts."  I think that what truly makes a better breakfast is the time around the table with family, eating something delicious yet still healthy, spending time connecting as the day begins and sending our children out for the day with an encouraging, loving word.  I know that it is hard with jobs and busy lives, but maybe even just on a Saturday morning we can keep this tradition alive! 

Here is how I like to cook breakfast! 

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Living in the desert is particularly depressing when September rolls around and the highs are still hitting 110. In other parts of the world temperatures are cooling, leaves are changing colors, and people are pulling out scarves and long sleeved shirts to wear to keep them warm.

At this time of year, I envy those people. That is when I need pumpkin things the most. As you may recall, we now have a several years supply of canned pumpkin. I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. Well, since we also have a little one running around (okay crawling around for now, but it won't be long until those little feet are running) and I buy bananas much more frequently now.

However, I personally have never been a huge banana eater. I usually forget I have them until they are perfect for banana bread. So, since our little BP is the main banana eater in the house, we still end up with plenty of banana bread ready bananas.

Well, presto, my pumpkin needs combined with our leftover banana to make this tasty, moist, pumpkin banana bread!

As you well know, pumpkin bread is amazing on it's own, as is banana bread. However, with the pumpkin and banana bread powers combined, this pumpkin banana bread is unstoppable! You will be too, when it comes to eating it!

As I devoured my loaf I pretended it was 65 degrees outside instead of 105. It was a great escape from reality.

I better go make more because the high tomorow is supposed to be 107.

​Happy baking!

Here are some of my favorite items to use while making this recipe!

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Alicia back again with another international recipe. This month we're making food from Belgium. And today I'm sharing with you how to make the most tasty waffles. Liège waffles are yeast waffles from Belgium that have sugar pearls in them that melt when you cook them. This makes the waffles have delicious pockets of sweetness in them. You don't need syrup with these. And they're good plain too. But I made some whipped cream to eat with them. They're also good with fruit like strawberries or blueberries.

The problem is that sugar pearls are hard to come by in the states. But I think I came up with a good solution. I decided to take sugar cubes and break them up. Not into dust, but into chunks. If the sugar is too small it will just incorporate into the dough. But the chunks won't, and will leave little pockets of caramelized sugar. It's the most delicious waffle ever.

Another issue is I didn't have ground almonds as some recipes I saw called for. I substituted with ground flax. But I'm sure you can use either one or leave it out completely.

These aren't waffles you can just whip up last minute, you have to let the dough rise 3 times. But you can freeze the dough and pull them out later to make. These are special occasion waffles for sure. But well worth the work!

Liège Waffles

I used just my regular Cuisinart waffle maker, not a specific Belgium Waffle maker. I like it because it has temperature controls. That's important in this recipe because you don't want to burn the sugar. Heat the iron all the way up. Put the dough in. And then turn the temperature down to low. The waffles come out perfect! I'll link to my same model below. Growing up my mom had a stovetop waffle maker which was fun and made delicious waffles which I will also link to below.

​You've got to make these! You won't regret it. Let us know if you do in the comments and what you think!