Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

I wanted to share with y’all this morning the oh so yummy supper I made last night.

The cool weather has set in, and I was ready for some yummy comfort food.

Now, it is a well known fact that my daddy makes the absolute best ribs in this entire world. Well, maybe not everyone knows that, just everyone in our family.

Anyway, his are the best…like fall off the bone good. But you see, in order for him to get his ribs this good, it takes him all day {or almost} of babysitting the grill, the temperature, and all that goes with it.

I don’t have time for that and frankly don’t even want to mess with “his” ribs. I say all of this to say, last night I made up my own ribs…busy mama style.

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

1 slab baby back ribs

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup flour

1 cup BBQ sauce

1/4 cup honey

1 Tbsp. mustard

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. minced garlic

Spray your crock pot with Pam.

Cut your slab of ribs in half and lay them in your crock pot.

Chop your onion and place on top of ribs.

In a bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients.

And pour on top of the ribs.

Put the lid on and cook on low for 8 hours.

So, these might not be my daddy’s ribs, but I’m telling you they are fall off the bone good!

Need a good side dish for these yummy ribs…try these:

Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I have to tell you, I l.o.v.e. sweet potatoes. They are one of my favorite fall foods.

But…

my husband doesn’t like them,so I don’t get them very often. {Bless his heart, he doesn’t know what he’s missing.

Last night things changed around these parts. I made sweet potatoes that my husband actually liked, and said they were good. Yay me!

So, if you’re looking for something savory and a little sweet, you have to try these:

Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes

2 lbs. Sweet Potatoes

3 Tbsp. Butter

2-3 oz. 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese {do this to taste}

salt/pepper

Rosemary

Thyme

Parmesan Cheese

Peel your sweet potatoes and chop. Place them in a pot and cover with water.

Boil potatoes until tender and drain.

Mash with a potato masher.

Mix in butter and cream cheese until melted.

Add a pinch or two of rosemary and thyme. I did not measure this…just let my taste buds figure out the right amount. But, I did 2 pinches of both.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Add about 1Tbsp. or so of parmesan cheese…again to taste.

I’m telling you…these are off the chain! You have to try them.

Candy Pumpkin Bracelets

Hey y’all! Happy Friday.

So, are you looking for something to do with the upcoming rainy weekend; something fun, crafty, and maybe even a little yummy? Or are you having a little party for Halloween for a sweet girl in your life? This is the best little thing to make Halloween a little extra sweet. It’s pretty quick and very easy, and if you have little helpers, that always makes it more fun.

Candy Pumpkin Bracelets

I got the idea from another blogger, Simply Kierste, and just loved the idea. I thought I’d share it with you. {SOURCE}

Here’s what you need:

A bag of candy corn pumpkins

dental floss

a fairly good-size needle with a large opening

ribbon

First, take the dental floss and measure how long you want the bracelet. I used my daughter’s wrist since I was making them for her and a couple of her friends.

When you get how long you want it, double it over. I found that having a single layer was too thin and broke easily.

Thread your floss through the needle, and tie it off at the end {the end pieces will make a knot} – you know threading a needle like you’re getting ready to sew on a button.

Place the needle at the bottom of the pumpkin and carefully push it through. This is a “mama” task….don’t want to poke those cute little helper’s fingers.

When you thread the pumpkins you want to take it slow and be careful. Pieces will come off, but that’s ok.

Thread along and leave a little space between each piece.

I used 9 pumpkins total for the bracelets.

When you come to the end, measure again to make sure you have enough room for the bracelet to slip on and off.

Now, keep in mind that it’s dental floss so it’s not very “givey”. Be careful putting it on and off.

Cut your ribbon to the size that you want. I used 9 pieces of ribbon per bracelet.

All you have to do is tie the ribbon in a knot between each pumpkin. This is a good time to have your little helper help.

And that’s it…a Candy Pumpkin Bracelet

The girls will love them…and I’m sure the boys would too {maybe without the girly ribbon though}.

But I will tell you, they won’t last long.

Thanks, Kierste for the great idea!

Happy Friday!

S~

Mummy Juice boxes

Halloween is but a mere week away, and this starts the rush of parties and trunk or treats.

Looking for a cute, fun touch for that next Halloween party or trunk or treat?

How about making mummy juice boxes?

They are so super cute and easy to make…and the best part, they’re inexpensive.

I got the idea last year from a fellow blogger. {SOURCE}

I thought it was such a great idea and made them this week.

All you need are juice boxes {the box kind not the pouch}, googly eyes, glue, and white duct tape.

First, carefully take the straws off the backs of the boxes. Keep them handy because you will reattach later.

Take pieces of duct tape, and tear them in half length wise.

{If you have a little helper, it makes all the more fun.}

Take the pieces and start at the top of the juice box and wrap the top. Be careful to leave the hole open for the straw.

Once the top is covered, wrap 1-2 pieces down and glue on your googly eyes. I used craft glue, but hot glue would work too. When you glue on your eyes, set the box aside and work on another top. I did this to let the glue dry a little so the eyes could set.

Once all the tops are done, start wrapping each box with pieces of tape. You want to lay your tape criss-cross and overlap them so they look like a mummy.

When your wrapping, it’s fun to cover the eyes a bit with the tape to give it the real “mummy” look.

After you’ve wrapped them all, re-attach the straws {in the wrapper} with a dab of hot glue to the backs of the boxes.

They are they cutest things and will definitely be a hit at your next Halloween party!

 

Happy Monday, y’all! Thanks for stopping by.

S~

No-Bake Energy Bites

I have to share this little Pinterest find with you. It’s been my lifesaver.

I’m always looking for a good, healthy snack that will satisfy my hunger but not be slammed pack with calories, much less all those additives out there today.

A few weeks ago, my bff sent me a link to a Pinterest find she found. I was so intrigued…No bake energy bites.

Energy? Yes please! I need that everyday. A little push to get me through my witching hour and hungry hour all at the same time.

One thing that sold me was that they taste a lot like no bake cookies or even better, peanut butter balls. YUM!

But, the best part, they only have 6 ingredients and are SUPER easy to make.

Here you go in case you want to make some for yourself:

1 cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup ground flax seed or wheat germ

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes {optional}

Mix all ingredients together. Let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll into about 1 inch balls. {I used a 1 inch cookie dough scoop}.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

They make about 24 balls.

I put all the ingredients in my “Lose-it” app on my phone and found that 2 balls equals 1 serving. 1 serving is only 170 calories.

Not too bad. And I have to tell you, they really do suppress my appetite {and that can sometimes take a lot } and are packed full of protein.

I’m excited too because there’s also a recipe for pumpkin energy bites. I can’t wait to try those!

You can find the Pumpkin No-bake Energy Bites HERE.

New Beginnings

Hey there friends. I’m so excited to share some news with y’all.

Most of you know this by now, so I’m really sharing it with my non-personal Facebook friends.

Southern Girl with a Northern Boy has joined Facebook!

Super yay!

I’m still learning all the ins and outs of having a page on FB. But, we’ll get there.

So, if you’re on Facebook, please go check out my site. I would love to have you like my page and join in the fun.

And Mama, that means YOU!!! Yep, I’m talking to you. I mean how can a girl get any “likers” if her mama won’t even like her page?

It’s not hard my friends. All you have to do is while your into your Facebook account you can either search for my page or click:

http://www.facebook.com/shana.lentz?ref=profile#!/southerngirlshana

Well, hopefully that’ll take you there.

If not, just search for “A Southern Girl with a Northern Boy & 2 Kids in Tow”.

Once you join my page, you will be able to get all of my blog posts on newsfeed. How fun is that?

I always love hearing from all my fans, so please keep joining in the fun!

Thanks so much.

S~

Decorating for the Holidays

I have to tell you, I’m a sucker for some holiday decorations. I come by it honestly because my mama decorates for every holiday…and I mean decorates. So, like I said, I come by it honestly.

I just love when October comes around. The leaves begin to change and the temperature gets cooler, but I love that my “everyday” decorations can be packed away for a little bit and my pumpkins can make an appearance. I love all the smells of fall and the colors too.

I decorated a couple of weeks ago, but have been making a few more things this year. So, let’s take a look.

I told you the other day that my kids are getting more into Halloween this year, which means I am too.

Dallas and I went out shopping and picked up a few new items and some things to make some crafts. Now, I have to tell you that when I say I’m getting into the “Halloween” spirit, I mean glitter not gore. I am NOT one for scary things. I don’t like chains, ghosts, goblins, or bats.

I like pretty, glittery things.

Like these cute witch’s shoes.

I also love all the free printables that are out there for us to just grab, print, and frame.

Take this Halloween subway art:

I printed it on cardstock, trimmed it a bit, and glued it to a blank canvas I had on hand. Easy peasy!

Want to see another super easy project? You’ll be embarrassed by how easy this is…at least I am a tad bit.

I bought some Halloween scrapbook paper at Wal-Mart for a measly $.97 for the pack. I used a couple of the strips that came with it to make the Halloween book covers.

I had several 8 1/2 x 11 canvases left over from an old project. They’ve been collecting dust, so I figured it was time to put them to use…

So, I picked out 4 pages I liked, wrapped them around the canvases, and used my staple gun to attach them. So easy!!!

It all came together. I’m so pleased with all of the old and new decorations, and now I’m ready for Halloween and Fall.

So, what are some of your favorite Halloween or fall decorations?

Thanks for stopping by!

S~

What do you do when the boy asks for cookies?

First, you thaw some dough you have in the freezer.

Then, you catch the boy with sticky fingers or in this case, doughy fingers…

{Do you see ‘em? There’s finger marks all in it…good thing the fingers were clean. Or were they?}

If the finger marks didn’t give him away,

This face sure will…just look at that mouth – inside and out.

Third, after half the dough’s been eaten, roll the rest into balls and add some Halloween sprinkles.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 9 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, and serve warm.

Easy peasy…the boy asks for cookies, he gets cookies.

Halloween Book Covers

Hey y’all! Happy Friday. How in the world is it Friday already? I was just telling a friend that my list of blog entries is so long, but I never seem to have enough hours in the day to get my to-do list done and still have time to post. But, what’s a girl to do, I’m a busy mama with lots on my list.

I’m so excited to share a little something I came up with last weekend. Last Sunday I finally got around to putting out my Halloween/Fall decorations.

I have to say I’m usually more of a “fall” decorations kind of girl with pumpkins and such. However, my kids this year are really getting into the Halloween thing, so I bought a few more Halloween-y decorations.

I was super excited when I found this scrapbook paper set at Wal-Mart for $.97.

Isn’t it just darlin’?

I’ll share with you later what I did with the big paper later, but let’s take a look at the strips of paper, shall we.

I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with them until I looked at my entry hall table.

This is where I started. Do you see the two books on top of the table. Well, as I started taking everything off, I knew I wanted to use the books still, somehow. But, they didn’t work with the Halloween theme. Then it hit me, book cover.

I went old school people…back to the days of brown paper bags made into book covers…although I got a little fancier.

I took the book cover off one of the books and brought out the gobs of burlap I have left over from my front door curtains.

I laid the cover on the burlap and cut two pieces to size.

Then I folded over the top and bottom about 3 inches or so and ironed them down real good. This way I could slip the cover on the book.

And that is just what I did, open the book up and slip the burlap on the top and bottom covers of the book.

They were a little plain and needed a little touch, so I took those strips of Halloween scrapbook paper, and picked out two that I liked.

I wrapped it around the book and with a dab of hot glue, held it into place.

Now it wasn’t long enough to go around the entire back of the book,

but that’s ok, because the back of the book is on the table and no one will ever know. Our secret.

And there you have it simple, and cute, Halloween inspired book covers. Now isn’t that just the simplest form of decoration?

After they were finished, which literally took about 30 minutes, I put my entry table together.

And, we’re starting to get the Halloween/fall feeling around here.

What about you???

Halloween {Boo} Wreath

I figured that since it was October and Halloween was around the corner, I needed to take down my 4th of July wreath and replace it with a new and festive one.

I really like making the ribbon wreaths. I think there’s so much you can do with it.

So, off to Michael’s I went and bought ribbon, a wreath form, and letters for the word “BOO”.

For ribbon I bought plain black and orange with small white polka dots.

I used some floral pins I had on hand from making previous ribbon wreaths. I find that using the pins for this project is much easier than hot glue…seeing that hot glue sometimes tends to melt the styrofoam wreath form.

And, if you place them on the back of the wreath, no one will see where you start and stop.

I alternated between the two colors wrapping them tightly around the form.

The letters were white with glitter already one them…ba-ling!   {even though you can’t tell in the picture.}

I knew they would show up better on the black ribbon and decided I wanted them to be placed vertical so the black ribbon would be on the sides.

But, my wreath still needed a little something. I wasn’t in the mood to make felt flower wreaths, and quite frankly didn’t think they would go very well with this wreath, so that idea was out. Lima bean? Nope, been there..loved it, but they kept melting off my old wreath.

After a few minutes of pondering I decided to make poofs…that’s right, poofs.

I had some left over lining fabric from my burlap curtains and cut 4 strips. They were 23” X 6” {Ok, so that’s really a guess…I measured when I actually did this but it was last week and I can’t remember the exact measurements, but it’s somewhere in the ballpark.}

Here’s a picture of two of the 4 strips cut.

 

After the strips were cut, I sewed a straight stitch down the center of the fabric. I made sure that the stitch was longer, so I set the length on my sewing machine to a 4.

When all 4 had the stitch down the center, I pulled out the bottom stitch on all of them to make a ruffle. I left the edges of the material raw, mainly because I liked the look.

Then, I just bunched them together and hot glued 2 at the top of the “Boo” and two on the bottom right corner.

And there you have it… a Halloween {BOO} Wreath.

Well, Happy Monday. I’ve been a busy bee creating new Halloween decorations for the house. I can’t wait to share with y’all this week.

Do you have any favorite Halloween decorations?