Catching up with the Kelnhofers-59

This week on Catching up with the Kelnhofers, I’m sharing some of my favorite pumpkin recipes, exploring more of our new neighborhood and sharing 5 recipes to make this week!

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It’s officially fall! I pulled onto our street and saw the most beautiful tree starting to change colors. I don’t know what it is this year, maybe it’s the fact that I now have 3 kids who are eating solids, or that I’m doing more ‘school’ type activities with Ben, or the weather changing, or the fact that we just moved and I want to ‘nest’ … but I have never been in the kitchen cooking like I have these past few weeks! 

And I’m enjoying it. 

And I have so many amazing recipes coming your way!!

I hope you find some tasty fall recipes to fall in love with (also – if you know me you know I love a good pun) 😉

New on the blog:

• Catching up with the Kelhofers – our weekly update from last week
• No Bake Coconut Date Energy Bites – recipe repost, I make these all the time
• Quinoa and Chicken Bowls Recipe – how I prep once and eat all week
• The most underrated kitchen appliance I own – you have to pop over to this post to check out this appliance that we use everyday
• Love List – having so much fun sharing our list of faves from around the web
• Best Cooking Toys – all of the things my kids are loving, plus a few extras.

Theme of the week:

Pumpkin recipes. I know I have canned pumpkin on my grocery list this time of year!

• The best (copycat) pumpkin loaf – a crowd (and family) favorite for fall.
• 5 ingredient pumpkin chili biscuit bake – a perfect comforting dinner.
• Pumpkin spice latte chocolate chip cookies – a delicious dessert for the season.
• 5 ingredient pumpkin pie – super easy and perfect for Thanksgiving (or any weekend treat!)
• 5 ingredient pumpkin overnight oats – a great fall breakfast treat

5 recipes to make this week:

• Mexican chicken and quinoa bowls – a healthy, protein-filled easy meal
• Garden veggie quiche – a great breakfast to use up any veggies you have in the refrigerator
• Sweet Potato Pancakes – a fall treat for breakfast
• Stovetop mac n cheese – a 5 ingredient meal that the kiddos will love
• Spinach salad and dressing – a salad we make all the time and it’s perfect for lunch

What I’m making:

• We had scrambled eggs and toast for dinner – and then breakfast lol, it’s so easy and good. 
• I made my recipe for Asian ground turkey bowls and quick pickled veggies, made them on Sunday and had it for meals during the week, this is the perfect thing to add to your meal prep rotation!!
• I also made quick pickled eggs…yes, again lol! They’re so good and an easy lunch!

• Made my recipe for no bake coconut date energy bites, but instead of using vanilla extract, I grabbed the almond extract instead, oops…but happy accident because they turned out SO good. They tasted like birthday cake bites. So instead of rolling them in coconut I rolled them in some sesame seeds and sprinkles! Freddie was the biggest fan, he ate 3 in one sitting!!

• For this months’ giveaway I asked what your favorite cookie was and the comments I’ve been getting have been lots of chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. I’ve never had a chocolate chip cookie with walnut. I was telling Nick, and he found a recipe, and we made some together at 9pm. Now that’s love. It was so sweet and such a fun memory. We used this recipe and the cookies were SO good! We made a combo of big and small cookies. 

Reader Comments

Since we’re celebrating all things pumpkin this week, I wanted to share a few of my favorite comments from readers about my pumpkin loaf.

• “OK. So I Totally hate it when someone says “Best Ever” and then… it’s not. But this chick. SHE NAILED IT. I made a triple batch of this stuff today – since I had a 3 cup pumpkin puree bagged in my freezer. And I made three loaves of bread and 9 big muffins. I used Pamela’s All Purpose GF flour – took almost a whole bag of it, and I added white chocolate chips to the last 3 muffins. Everything turned out moist, delicious, perfect. So, this IS the BEST PUMPKIN LOAF EVER. Thanks for sharing it. (LOL – right?)”
• “The best recipe ever!! Comes out perfect!! Tastes amazing.”
• “Made this for my wife the other night. Made a mistake and used *1 can* of Pumpkin Puree instead of 1 Cup.”

Reader Recreations 

This reader recreation of one of my favorite fall dishes!  Loving the way this upside down apple and pear loaf turned out.

Oh and in case you missed it, you can now see all of these great reader re-creations right here.  And if you’re making a SweetPhi recipe, shoot me an email or tag me on social and the picture will be included on the post of the recipe you’re recreating! 

Things I’m Loving

My beautiful office light makes it look like there’s a UFO calling me. But I love it so much. I asked for tips, and someone recommended getting a little selfie light that attaches to your phone or computer. It works SO PERFECTLY. 

If you’re ever doing any zoom calls or anything, I’d highly recommend getting one and then putting it on your computer so that you’re looking into it when you’re talking, it totally helps make you look awesome and negates some weird background lighting. 

Item from Amazon you didn’t know you needed

• THIS BATHROOM ORGANIZER – I cannot even tell you how amazing this little organizer is, it holds so much stuff!

What I’m Reading

• Just got One To Watch I’m invested in this story now lol. At first I was like eh, don’t know if I’m going to like this, and it was a little repetitive with the main characters’ self confidence issues, but now I’m totally on board and want to know what happens!!! Recommend. 

What I’m Watching

• Still have not had time to watch anything – eek! We do play Parks and Rec in the background sometimes. I’m just trying to play some major catch up here. 

Personal Stories

• Ben wanted to show the babies how to stir and wanted them in his stool with him. It got a little crowded and he told me we need to buy a new one for them, lol. 

• If you want to see all the cooking with kids items I use – I put them all in a group in my Amazon store.
• I came across something called the Magic Playbook. It’s a monthly subscription for digital downloads of kids crafts and activities. I joined and we had so much fun making a haunted house and ghost wall activity. With 1 and 3 year olds, they don’t quite follow everything to a t, so we use it for a guide. 

• We are starting to decorate a little bit – starting to slowly unpack some boxes as we have time, and Ben was the best helper!

• Finally got to work in my office instead of our bedroom because I have doors, lol. 

• Got lots of cuddle time…except Freddie doesn’t like to be held, he just likes to run 100mph. 

• We explored the back yard and found an owl.  Ben also showed me how to play “I spy with my little eye.”

• We tried to do coloring with the babies – I think they’re still a little too young, it ended with crayon on the table. 

• Remember that life changing mop I told you about? Ben wanted me to show him how to use it and now looks forward to helping me clean after the babies go to bed! He’s been SO helpful. He calls it the ‘wiggly waggly’ mop and our floors have never looked better. 

Did you Know?

If you’re anything like me and knew you saw a product you liked, but couldn’t remember where, I figured I’d try to help!  I put together a few new categories of lists in my ‘storefront’.

For example, if you remember I mentioned a product in my newsletter, (like a great Amazon product you didn’t know you needed), you can go to my website at any time and click the ‘shop’ button and find the list of what you’re looking for!

Popular this week: 

• Most visited blog post: This recipe for Thai shrimp cakes and cucumber salad shared from my friend’s cookbook!
• Most liked Instagram post: this fun video of a wine night snack
• Most pinned image: an oldie (but goodie!) for my favorite fall recipe.
• Most viewed YouTube video: homemade white peppercorn gravy tops the list this week
• Most purchased item: Baby BOO halloween shirt – perfect for fall!