Favorite Fall Food: Mashed Butternut Squash and Apples

Today's link up, Autumn on my Mind is about your favorite Fall food.  One of my favorites is called Mashed Butternut Squash and Apples.  Danny and I discovered this recipe when sifting through Weight Watchers recipes last Fall.  Not only is this recipe healthy, but it is delicious and easy to make too!  I usually make it as a side dish and I'm definitely going to make it this year for Thanksgiving!

Mashed Butternut Squash and Apples

Ingredients:

20 oz Squash, winter, butternut, raw, fresh, peeled and cubed
2 medium Apples, fresh, Granny Smith, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup of Apple Cider
1 Tbsp Butter
1 1/2 tsp Thyme, fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper

Instructions:
Put squash, apples, and cider in a shallow microwave-safe baking dish or container.  Sprinkle butter over top.  Cover and microwave until tender, about 10-12 minutes.  Mash until smooth, yet slightly chunky.  Stir in thyme, salt, and pepper.  Yields about 2/3 cups per serving.

Source: Weight Watchers

Happy Thursday! Hope you're having a beautiful Fall day!

Throwback Thursday: Yogi

Today's throwback Thursday post is dedicated to our little pups, Yogi.  As you'll realize from this post, he is not so little anymore.  I'm just glad to be able to see him yesterday when I got home from Florida because I heard rumors that the sweet, innocent little puppy was misbehaving for Danny.  Luckily, Danny decided not to get rid of him, and gave him his 4,356th chance.

To refresh everyone's memory, we first brought Yogi home on April 16th, 2013.  It was one day after "moving" into our new house.  He at least had a crate bed and toys to play with where as we were stuck sleeping on a futon mattress waiting to move in our other important items like a bed, couches, chairs, tables, etc.  6 months later, we have all the furniture now moved in and Yogi has gained about 40 lbs.  Below are some pictures of him through every stage to get an idea of how big our German Shepard Puppy has grown.

 

 

 

Just to show you the progress of Yogi from age 8 weeks to 7 months, here is a side by side comparison of Yogi with Danny.

 

 

We love Yogi and he will always be our little baby.  Hopefully he will still grow and continue to become the gentle giant he tries to be today.

 

#WeddingWednesday: 31 years in the making

This #Wedding Wednesday is especially special. Today marks my parent's 31st wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate the anniversary than to dedicate a #WeddingWednesday post in their honor!

31 years to the day, my parents made it official!

My parents mean so much to me and they could not have provided a better example of unconditional love in a marriage for me and my brother. They made a point to never argue in front of us kids growing up even so much as I just assumed they agreed on everything.  My dad laughed at me one day when I told him that and then he admitted they argued, but just not when we were around.

After all these years and all of the craziness we put them through, their love and support for one another has never failed.  I am so grateful for every opportunity they have given me and every lesson they have taught me.  Danny and I are so blessed for their generosity and loving nature especially during the wedding planning process and everything they did for us on our big day. Being a semi recent college grad (3 years give or take), we didn't have a lot of money to put towards our dream wedding, but from the start, my parents were willing to give us what we wanted. Some engaged couples decide to spend the money for a wedding on a down payment on a house or invest it in their future, but luckily we had our parents to help us.  I think about my wedding day every single day since it happened (200 days ago to be exact!) and think about how amazing everything turned out to be. I am so grateful that my parents were able to help us out with that and give us our dream wedding day.

I dug out some wonderful pictures of my parents on our wedding day to commemorate their special anniversary.  From my mom helping me in my dress, to my dad calming me down before walking down the aisle, these moments are so special to me.


A collection of wedding day photos taken by Little Tree Studios.