fall comfort food

i love being a wife, a mom.  and i absolutely love staying at home and taking care of my family.  

and i'll admit...it's the hardest job i've ever had.

there are days i get discouraged......

when i'm tired of doing the exact same job every day...and getting the exact same result.
when i'm tired of pretending i'm a princess and my mom just gave me a new puppy...and i have to pretend to be excited about it.  {this is Doh Doh's favorite game du jour}
when i just can't possibly sing Aurora's Once Upon a Dream one more time as i give a "tickle back."
when i'm ready to shower and scrub away the sweat of the day but a freshly scrubbed fella wants to snuggle and talk football moments before he drifts off to sleep.

there are days i wish i knew how the Proverbs 31 woman did it.
and there are days i lose sight of that Proverbs woman...and i listen to the world.

every day i try to be better at my job.
and what i've failed at lately is meal planning.  and trying new foods.
anybody else out there have a carefree summer?!?!?!

but last week that changed.
we tried 3 new recipes.  {thank you, pinterest}
and my crockpot got dusted off, and fall comfort foods took center stage.

the first night i made chicken philly sandwiches.
my house smelled awesome, so I was hoping for a winner.

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the verdict:  my man & Bubba tolerated it...but ate every bite.
a few bites were swallowed with copious amounts of water by Doh Doh.
and Bruiser...well, he'd still be at the dinner table right now if i didn't finally dismiss him so he could go to bed.  {read:  notafan}

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next up:  crockpot mongolian beef.
this is a PF Chang's knock-off...kinda.
it was a hit...kinda.

the verdict:  my man & Bubba loved it.  both declared it a repeat.
Bruiser ate over half of his & said he liked it.  {that's HUGE}
Doh Doh ate it.  just so she could have a post-dinner Butterfinger.

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the last of the week's new recipes:  balsamic chicken

the verdict:  definite repeat.
my man loved it, and he's hard to please with chicken.
Bubba declared it awesome with the first bite.
Bruiser ate it all, no complaints.  {that's HUGE}
Doh Doh ate all of hers.  with a little coaxing.

i served this chicken with fried okra, green beans, tomatoes and cucumbers.  all from my parents' garden.  perhaps the last of the tomatoes for the season...but a super delicious meal.

so now i'm working on new recipes for next week.  any suggestions???
if you need ideas, you can find other recipes i've shared here and here.

by the way, do you enjoy listening to sermons???  if interested in hearing more about the Proverbs 31 woman and "The Blessings of God in a Covenant Family" you can listen to our pastor's sermon here.