Sundays

Sundays are a favorite in our house. We usually go to church, go out to breakfast at the Crippled Bear Inn (if you're ever in the Williamsport area...go) But yesterday, Matt had to be at work at 8am, and going to church alone with a 5 month old is nearly impossible. So instead, we hung out at home!

I decided that we should have a feast :) I'll be posting pictures and recipes of everything I made yesterday! We had crab dip, baked beer mac & cheese, bacon wrapped asparagus, and pumpkin pie!

Crab dip in the making!

11 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 bunch green onion, finely chopped

5 TBSP real mayo

2 (6 ounce) cans crab meat, drained and flaked

1/4 tsp garlic powder (more or less depending on your taste)

salt & pepper to taste

1 (1 pound) loaf , crusty Italian bread

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, onion, mayonnaise, crab meat, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Spread mixture into a 1 quart baking dish.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. While the dip is baking, slice the Italian loaf.

Remove baked crab dip from the oven, and stir well. Dip the Italian loaf slices in the dip and enjoy!

This picture was before it went into the oven!

8oz pasta of your choice (I used a whole box of penne)

1C Milk

 1C Beer (I used Yuengling)

2T Butter

2T Flour

1/4t Creole Seasoning (my personal fav)

1/4 Ground Mustard

8 oz Sharp White Cheddar Cheese

8oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Boil pasta to Al Dente, then drain

Melt butter in the same pot you boiled water in and then whisk in flour until golden and bubbly. Then add the milk and beer. Mix until it's thick. then add the cheese by the handfuls (incorporating each handful before adding more) stir. Add pasta water if necessary. Toss in the pasta and either keep it in the pot you cooked it in (if it's oven safe) or transfer it to a greased casserole dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a little bit of cheese and broil until crispy!

(This picture was pre-sauce)

2 lbs fresh asparagus (ends trimmed)

12 slices of bacon

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 stick of butter

1 TBSP soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Divide asparagus spears into 12 bundles (3-4 pieces each). Wrap 1 piece of bacon around each bundle, starting 1/2" from bottom of the tips. Secure the bacon-wrapped asparagus with a toothpick. Arrange bundle in a shallow baking pan.

Combine brown sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; heat mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture over asparagus bundles.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until spears have begun to wilt and bacon looks fully cooked. Enjoy!

The filling kind of poured over the crust :(

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 large eggs

1 15 oz can Libby's 100% pure pumpkin

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

1 9 inch unbaked pie shell

Directions

Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shell

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving. 

I hope you guys enjoy the recipes! Matt will be going to New York for work tomorrow and I'm not excited about it :( It's so quiet without him here! But, as he says "money talks". We're so used to struggling with money and not being comfortable by any means, and now that his paychecks have almost quadrupled, it's safe to say we're finally comfortable. And it feels....good. Knowing that our son can get everything he needs and more, without having to rely on anyone else. It's the greatest gift in the world being able to be a stay at home mom. I love seeing Noah from sun up to sun down every single day. His little smile in the morning melts my heart :)

It's nice to finally be in a routine with him. He wakes up anywhere from 6:45-8, then we play for a little bit. He is not a morning eater at all. So we play with the wipe bag (his favorite), we play with Sophie, who is the cutest and most adorable teether EVER! Then we bounce a bit! Finally, he's ready for a 6-7oz bottle! He's such an awesome eater. Depending on what time we wake up, sometimes he has a morning nap (today is one of those days), then he'll probably nap again around 3ish for a little while. We play some more, eat some more, and he's in bed around 9 usually! 

I'm off to enjoy this great day :) Happy cooking!