Catching up with the Kelnhofers-112

This week on Catching up with the Kelnhofers, we’re diving right into fall with maple recipes, a great Halloween cookie to make with kids and great, hearty meals.

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Have I mentioned how much I love fall!?  Well, besides apple and pumpkin being part of some of my favorite recipes, I love cooking with maple!  Do you use maple as an ingredient much?  Well, below are some recipes for inspiration to get started:

• Maple syrup cake – the best spin on a traditional cake. 
• Homemade iced maple latte – so good it will replace your morning Starbucks run
• Maple mustard mayo – this mayo tastes great on a number of things, but especially on this amazing ham sandwich
• Apple cider donuts with tahini maple glaze – this recipe screams fall and is even a bit healthier than a traditional donut.

Sharing the latest posts up on Sweetphi.com:

• Wisconsin Old Fashioned – a recipe you need to know in order to be a local Wisconsinite
• Meal plan – check out the post to create an easy grocery list
• Glazed pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes – you can make this on the grill or bake it and I include instructions for both
• Frankenstein cookies – a super fun treat for any Halloween activity
• Love List – fun finds from around the web
• Cooking playlists – because cooking and dancing together are fun!

• I’ve forgotten to take pictures of some of the awesome things I’ve been making, thankfully all the recipes are on Sweetphi.com!!

• This sheet pan ground turkey balsamic meatloaves with sweet potato fries and green beans – so easy and delicious, everyone liked something!!
• Instant pot healthy baked potato soup – very comforting as it starts to be more chilly outside, and my kids (well, at least Ben) happen to love soup!
• Lamb meatballs with yogurt sauce are one of my all time favorite recipes – my mother in law shared this recipe with me. These days, I literally form the meatballs and put them in a slow cooker with the diced tomatoes, easy!

We squeeze out every day of grilling season and we’re always making balsamic grilled veggies as a side dish.  Here is what one reader had to say about the recipe:

• “Made this in a large batch by nearly tripling the veggies, but doubling the marinade. Poured the extra marinade over the veggies once they were grilled. This was a huge crowd pleaser, and I was told it will now be requested specifically!”

While the weather is still a tad warm, it’s a perfect time to make this crispy chicken and arugula salad just like this reader did:

• A while back, Bridget (from the SweetPhi team) shared these beauty spatulas.  They save SO MUCH product that often gets thrown out at the bottom and sides of bottles.  So, to save that product, Bridget just bought these little jars and it’s working wonderfully!

• The story in All Adults Here keeps unfolding and it’s so good!!!! The narrator has a really calming voice, and I’m just really enjoying this book. 

“In All Adults Here, Emma Straub’s unique alchemy of wisdom, humor, and insight come together in a deeply satisfying story about adult siblings, aging parents, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls, the lifelong effects of birth order, and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not.”

• One of my favorite authors, Laine Moriarty came out with a new book called Apples Never Fall and I’m the waiting list at the library, cannot wait!

• Children’s books program – As if we needed another reason to LOVE Dolly Parton…did you know she has something called the Imagination Library where she believes every child should have books. So you can check if it’s in your area and sign up, and they send you a book! A blog reader told me about this program, and Ben got a book and was so excited, I’m making a donation to the program because wow, how special.

• LEGOs with dad – big moment, Nick is starting to do BIG lego set builds with Ben. They’re building this set which Nick has been saving up in the basement. Do you think I can talk him into doing more of something like this set, lol. Also, who knew LEGO sets were so expensive? I grew up with 3 sisters and LEGOs just weren’t a thing in our house. But it’s really cute to watch them and Ben is really into it and asks Nick if they can build a little every night!

• Halloween costume. Just got this costume for Frankie, flamingos are her favorite animal, and they’re pink, I just couldn’t resist. I got her this long sleeve tutu dress for underneath. 

• Fall decorations. The kids helped me put up our fall decorations! Now whenever we sit down for dinner they point at the pumpkins and say ‘pumpkin’, it’s very sweet! Ben also uses the skeleton dinosaur decoration as a ‘bad guy’ to play with and pretends he has to stop it from destroying his ‘city’ lol.

• Early morning coffee run. I took a big sip of coffee…with creamer that had gone bad. Ew. So we packed up the kids and went on an early morning coffee run for mom. 

• Twins ready for school. The twins want to bring backpacks to school like their older brother Ben. They also want to clean leaves off the driveway, which is something that will definitely come in handy (Nick has told me he is already having nightmares about the upcoming amount of leaves – we get A LOT!)

Just a reminder, we have an amazing meal plan that we publish weekly, every Saturday.  With each plan, you’ll get 5 days of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and a treat… And, a super easy to create grocery list.

EAT

• It’s German Week at Aldi and they have so many amazing specialty items I grew up with! It’s probably only happening through the weekend, so go go go if you are interested (they also had $0.99 mums!!!!! Mums were $14.99 at the other store!!)

WATCH

• Billions – how did I miss there are new episodes? Love this show.

PURCHASE

• Discovered a new online shop where I love to get decor from called Terrain. I got these antiqued glass pumpkins last year and when I took them out this year was just in awe at how pretty they were. 

• Their wreaths too, wow

Is it starting to feel like Fall where you live?  I always love to hear from you so just leave a comment below and let me know!