Ever have one of those days that includes a lot of goodies? And you enjoy each and every one that calls to you? Then go home that night overly full and wake up hankering for a bowl/plate/cup full of health? I just ask out of curiosity. I have absolutely no experience in that scenario. 😉

Yesterday after our donut breakfast, outdoor walk, and Halloween bark production, we had a fall party to attend with a group of friends.

I could not ask for a better group of friends to spend a Saturday afternoon with. Many hours can quickly pass while just hanging out, sharing a meal, and playing with all of our (many) kids. That is exactly what we did yesterday. We started off with lunch.

I had about 2/3 of the hamburger, plus some veggies + spinach dip, and a scoop of Apple Butter Sweet Potatoes (recipe below). I think I would have been happy with just a large plate of those sweet potatoes and the spinach dip! I can’t forget the few pieces of Halloween bark that made it into my mouth as well.

We spent a good chunk of time doing crafts with the little ones. Makenzie created a handprint spider and a field of palm-print pumpkins from finger paints. Then, she decorated some pumpkin shaped sugar cookies with icing.

We finished our time at the party watching some SEC football action before heading out to Babies R Us. We wanted to get an idea of what we will need before he arrives. I don’t think we will need too many things for Braedon. He’ll look cute in Makenzie’s old pink clothes, right? 😉

Based on the title of this post, you can probably figure that we ended the night with more food. We were in the area of an old favorite Chinese food restaurant that we haven’t been to in at least a year. It sounded so good. Sadly, something has changed over the past year and the meal totally let us down.

We shared an order of steamed pot-stickers, which lacked much of the taste and texture they used to hold. We also shared an order of black pepper beef. Disgusting. Normally, the meal contained way more vegetables and the beef was never fried. What came out this time was a mound of fried beef with a few carrots, water chestnuts, and baby corn thrown in. We both had a minimal amount before deciding we could not stomach anymore.

To make up for dinner, we broke out a Groupon for some frozen yogurt. Self-serve frozen yogurt is one of those blog crazes that I totally get. I chose a combo of cheesecake topped with toffee bits and pumpkin topped with graham cracker.

What could be better than yogurt and a wide choice of toppings? Definitely not black pepper beef, that’s for sure. 😉 Now, for that recipe I promised you. Thanks to my friend, Krista, for sharing!

Apple-Buttered Sweet Potatoes

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 medium Granny Smith or other tart cooking apples, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges
• ½ cup dried cherries or dried cranberries (optional)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup apple butter
• 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a 3 ½ or 4-quart slow cooker combine sweet potatoes, apples, and, if desired, cherries/cranberries.  In a medium bowl combine whipping cream, apple butter, and pumpkin pie spice.  Gently stir apple butter mixture into sweet potato mixture to combine. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high heat setting for 3 to 3 ½ hours.

• What would be your dream frozen yogurt creation?
• Do you like arts and crafts? I’m not crafty but I love doing those things with Makenzie

We have yet another fun-filled weekend. I like keeping posts short and sweet, both for your reading pleasure and my writing sanity, so I figure splitting the weekend up would work well. It’s only Saturday afternoon, but we have already lived up the day.

This morning, I slept in until 7:00 and then we stayed in bed together until 8:00. Makenzie snuggled her teddy bear and Peter gave me a back and leg rub to help with the perpetual sciatic pain that plagues me this pregnancy. As you can imagine, it felt GLORIOUS!

We rolled out of bed at 8 to head out for a special breakfast I have been craving. Not a balanced breakfast at all, but one I knew I wanted this fall. A featured fall donut from Dutch Monkey! This local donut shop knows how to make donuts to perfection.

They literally are the only donuts I desire now. They are handmade daily with fresh ingredients. Who cares if that still includes sugar, oil, and butter? Or whatever makes up donuts. It’s been months since I’ve had one of their special creations. It was time. I had one pumpkin donut and shared a mocha iced.

After my donut for breakfast, we headed to a local walking trail for a quick walk. I wanted to go for an hour but that wasn’t possible since we got a later start. Peter was on call for his work this week and of course an emergency would occur right before leaving, which put us an hour behind schedule. A curse plagues him. It never fails that a call will come in just as we’re about to do something special. C’est la vie, right?

We still managed a brief walk of about 2 miles. It still felt good. It still was beautiful.

Before getting on with our day, we had to hit up the store for a few things for the fall party we have today. I had to make something sweet to bring. I’m the designated sweets person, which I love. I made some Halloween bark that I saw on Lee’s blog about a week ago. Super easy and very festive.

I spread candy corn, crumbled Halloween sandwich cookies, and pretzels in a pan, then poured melted chocolate over them (dark + orange dyed white). I let it harden, then broke it into chunks for a little fall treat. Now, time to continue more fall fun! Have a great rest of the day/night. 🙂

• Favorite type of chocolate? Dark!!
• Best part of your Saturday?
• Don’t forget to ASK ME ANYTHING for the Q + A series of November.