A Week Recap: Halloween Week!

I love Halloween and everything about it!  Haunted Houses and scary movies are my favorite! It drives Allen crazy because he can’t stand them.  So this past week consisted of a lot of scary movies, fun fall recipes and cozy outfits.  I’ll share a few of my favorites with everyone.

My friend, Michelle, asked what some of my favorite scary/ horror movies are and this is what I came up with:

Halloween 1 (the first one with Jamie Lee Curtis)

The Ring

The Shining

Amityville Horror (The old one with James Brolin)

The Conjuring

There are so many be this is what I could come up with off the top of my head!

I let the boys watch Ghostbusters for the first time this year and they loved it!  I was definitely one of my favorites growing up.

I carved many pumpkins this week.  I don’t really enjoy this part but I do it for the kids.  It made me really miss my mom because she LOVED doing that kind of thing!  But I sucked it up and did a few.

For breakfast, in celebration of Halloween and Fall I made Pumpkin Pie Smoothies.  The boys loved them and I felt good about getting a vegetable in them before 8 am!

1/2 cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt

1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling!)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 1/2 tbsp honey

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tbsp chia seeds (optional)

crushed ice

ginger snap cookies, crushed (optional)

Put all ingredients (except cookies) in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour in cups or glasses and garnish with crushed ginger snaps! Yum!

I decided to try and make a new soup- Jalapeño Popper Soup.  I saw a few different recipes online but they weren’t exactly what I wanted so I decided to make up my own.

1 tbsp olive oil

2 lb lean ground beef

1 cup yellow onion, diced

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup red pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 jalapeño, diced & seeds removed

2 cans of navy beans, drained

1 can of diced tomatoes, undrained

4 cups of beef broth

2 cups of chicken broth

1 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Shredded Mexican- blend cheese

Cooked Bacon, crumbled

Cook the ground beef in the olive oil over medium heat, crumbled as it cooks.  When no longer pink,  remove ground beef with slotted spoon and set aside.  Add onion, red pepper, corn and garlic and sauté until soft.  Add jalapeño and sauté 2 more minutes.  Add beans, tomatoes, both broths, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.  Bring to a slow boil.  Cut the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.   Remove pot from heat and puree half of the soup with an emersion blender.  Return pot to stove on low- medium heat and add cream cheese to soup.  When cream cheese is melted and combine add cheddar cheese and stir until melted into the soup.  Add the ground beef back into the soup.  At this point taste soup to see if it needs more salt and pepper.  If so, add more- small pinches at a time until it is just how you like it!

Pour soup in individual bowls and garnish with cheese of choice and crumbled bacon.

Allen and I celebrated our 13 year anniversary!  We enjoyed a nice quiet dinner at one of our favorite places, Toscana.  We also went to the launch party of my friend and barre instructor’s new business.  She is now the owner of Paddle to Paradise.  As soon as the weather warms up again, Allen and I are planning doing a sunset paddle board and picnic with Gina.  If you have been curious about paddle boarding and looking for a fun new date night…. check her out!

I ordered this dress by Karina Grimaldi from Piperlime.  It fits great and the marble pattern is super fun! I am definitely going to try more pieces from her.  I wore it with this amazing chunky gold necklace that I found in New York at Zara.

 This tie-dyed Show Me Your Mumu dress is a favorite of mine.  I plan on wearing it with tights or leggings now that the weather has cooled off.

Last weekend we dressed up and went to the annual Children’s Halloween Party at Carmel Country Club.  It’s a yearly tradition for us and the kids love dressing up more than just on Halloween.  They have face-painting, bouncy houses, pumpkin decorating, endless amounts of candy and a delicious buffet of Halloween-themed food.

My fav cape from Zara!

I think I love October so much because I feel like we celebrate all month long!  My birthday was a could weeks ago but we just got around to celebrating with my family.  It’s a yearly tradition that my dad takes us all to Ruth’s Chris steakhouse for our birthdays.  They have amazing dirty martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives.  I crave their chopped salad on a regular basis. Their steaks are delicious and literally melt in your mouth.  It is a family favorite.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!