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Halloween was a blast!!!! I love getting dressed up. Before we get to the festivities....let's rewind....

I decided that it would be smart to have a snack before the party began....so light wheat toast with Barney Butter seemed like the right choice.




Once my family arrived we packed up the car and headed the two blocks down to our clubhouse where we got ready for "Trunk or Treat". What is that, you ask? Well, our neighborhood is quite "hill-y" so we all park our cars at our clubhouse and decorate our trunks and the kids trick or treat trunk to trunk. There's a DJ, bouncy slide, buffet, bar, contests and more. It's a blast!!!!

So here's my costume......a flapper!!! That's one of my best friends, Lisa!



And another best friend, Dina!



And another best friend: WINE!!!!! (In a spooky cup!)

I'm not very creative so I didn't put a lot of effort into my trunk's decorations.....

It's hard to see but the pumpkin bread and pumpkin butter are in there as well as my cookie "lollipops", my mother in law's awesome lemon cake and "the bar". I never got to try the pumpkin butter on the bread because everyone ate it so fast!!!! But don't worry....I tried the pumpkin butter on something else this morning (wait and see). :)

Dinner was a BBQ buffet. Here's my first plate.....super YUMMY hot dog (with onions and mustard-my favorite) and cold asian peanut salad. I LOVE hot dogs. I could eat them for breakfast. Seriously....I have before.

Later on I had a half a cheeseburger with mustard, onions, tomato and lettuce. I only had two pieces of candy: two mini Nestle Crunch bars.

We had a great Halloween.....except for the fact that my almost three year old daughter threw up....on my husband. Why? She ate too much candy. I kept warning her to stop.....she'd sneak candy from everywhere and hide and eat it. Then after she threw up, she asked for more candy!!!!!!! And when she woke up....she asked for MORE CANDY. Like a crack addict.

I had too many spooky cups of wine last night so I didn't sleep very well.....this is what happens when you get older. My kids slept in a little (even with the time change) so that helped a little. Of course coffee was on the agenda first thing! I was craving pancakes......but not any pancakes.....PUMPKIN pancakes. I put the pumpkin butter in the pancake batter (tongue twister). Verdict: AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They look burnt but they're not....just darker batter. My husband flips the best pancakes by the way. :) I make the batter...he cooks it.

I spent the rest of the day organizing. I love to clean and organize. It's a sickness. I cleaned out the garage, the pantry and tons of drawers in the kitchen.

Lunch time arrived somewhere during this process. I needed something with carbs. Whole wheat spaghetti with marinara sauce and tons of veggies (zucchini, garlic, onions). It hit the spot!

Later on I had a snack: Trader Joe's pretzel slims and some peanut butter.

Once my cleaning was complete, I poured myself a glorious glass of vino and sat outside with the hubby while the kids rode their bikes. What a gorgeous day it was.....too bad I missed it cleaning all day!

Behold my clean pantry!!!!!!! So proud!!!!

I decided to try a new recipe for dinner: Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes. I doctored the recipe a bit......

Served with egg noodles and peas.....

It was really good....even my VERY picky son liked it. Here's the recipe:

Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

(4 servings)

3 T olive oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (pounded to even thickness)

1 shallot, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

8 oz mushrooms

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Mushroom Soup (I used the 98% fat free one)

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes

1 T red wine vinegar

2 T chopped fresh basil leaves

4 cups hot cooked extra wide egg noodles

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Heat 2 T oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown about 2 minutes per side (chicken will not be all the way cooked through). Remove chicken from skillet.

2. Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms begin to brown. Stir soup, water, tomatoes, vinegar and basil in skillet.

3. Return chicken to skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken and sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with cheese and thinly sliced basil, if desired.

Enjoy!!!