This week on Catching up with the Kelnhofers, I’m sharing a salad that is perfect for your Thanksgiving menu, family photo bloopers and a little Thanksgiving tea party.
We had some fall photos taken.
Frankie was/is teething and shy and did not want to be put down.
Freddie just wanted to run free.
Ben couldn’t even be bribed. We tried. We tried to lure him with a sit and spin.*
Lol, so here are some funny outtakes.
- Don’t the kids look great?
- WHAT is Ben doing to Nick? Swear he’s never done this before…the twins look rightfully ashamed.
- The kids faces are great, especially Bens
- Every time I pick up Frankie for a picture, she picks her nose lol
- We tried!
For 2020 I’d say they’re great. Lol
*Ben kind of cooperated, so we gave him the toy. He sat and spun spun spun….any guesses what happened? If you guessed he stood up and threw up all over the floor on his way to the bathroom, you’d be correct.
New on the blog:
It’s fall and the recipes are delish and before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here, so stay tuned for some great turkey day content this week and more to come!
- Catching up with the Kelnhofers – our family update from last week
- Thanksgiving salad recipe – I’ve already eaten this for lunch this week and will probably keep eating it weekly until Thanksgiving and beyond. So good!
- Love List – a roundup of a few of the best things around the web this past week.
- Thanksgiving side dishes roundup – get inspired by some delicious Thanksgiving side dish ideas!
- Pumpkin butter pumpkin loaf – I re-vamped this post just in time to enjoy more pumpkin flavors.
- Pumpkin spice latte chocolate chip cookies – this post has been updated for you to enjoy!
Theme of the week:
Who doesn’t love potatoes!? I could go on and on with delicious potato recipes, but these are just a few of my favorites:
- Grilled sweet potatoes – one of my very favorite things that we made all summer long and will continue to eat until we shut the grill down for the season
- Slow cooker potatoes – an easy way to make a tasty side dish
- Baked chicken, potatoes, carrots and herbs – one of my favorite, easy dinner meals
- 5 ingredient slow cooker cheesy potatoes – we always have this around the holidays or any chilly day – set and forget!
- Power greens and potato breakfast casserole – a healthier way to enjoy potatoes
- Roasted squash and sweet potatoes – loving this recipe for a Thanksgiving side dish
5 recipes to make this week:
- The Best Eggless Waffles – if you’ve been around SweetPhi for awhile, you know we eat these weekly at our house
- Avocado Toast Recipe with Chickpeas – a fun twist on a traditional avocado toast
- 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and Quinoa – a super easy weeknight dinner (that is packed with protein)
- Crispy Chicken and Arugula Salad – a favorite of my readers, this recipe is a great lunch option
- Easy Chili Con Carne – made in an Instant Pot or Crockpot – chili in a crock pot, sounds like a perfect fall dish to me!
What I’m making:
- I’ve been making the Thanksgiving salad for lunches – I also topped it with leftover grilled sweet potatoes – awesome vegetarian lunch idea btw!
- Made Instant Pot chili con carne (no bean chili)
- Nick surprised me and made a recipe from my 5-Ingredient cookbook (ramen with a soft boiled eggs)
- Also made a version of my vegetarian freezer burritos with a few leftover sweet potatoes.
Sweet potato black bean burritos recipe:
- ~1/2-3/4 cup leftover sweet potatoes
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 2 eggs, scrambled
- ¼ cup salsa
- ½ cup shredded cheddar (I just used a little pepperjack)
- A few dashes of Everything but the Elote seasoning blend (which is salt/chile pepper, chipotle and cumin)
- Wrap in tortillas (I had smaller ones) and wrap in plastic wrap freeze.
Reader Comments
Celebrating potatoes with this sweet reader comment on my recipe for 5 ingredient slow cooker cheesy potatoes:
- “I used fresh potatoes and ended up cooking them for 4 hrs & 15 mins (lost track of time) and they turned out great. No issues. Great recipe! I added some bacon bits to my serving….Yum!”
Reader Recreations
I love when people get creative with my recipes! This reader shared her version of my fresh apple cake with browned butter frosting. She made it into a bundt cake – yum!
Things I’m Loving
- I always love reading trend reports, so I especially loved the Top 10 food trends for 2021 from Whole Foods
Item from Amazon you didn’t know you needed
- Pastry roller – ok, I use this roller for everything needing to be rolled out; I don’t ever use a rolling pin anymore. With all the cookie baking coming up, I cannot recommend this enough
What I’m Reading
- Currently reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. It’s not a happy uplifting book but it’s a very good story, now I want to know what happens.
- Also finished Coincidence of Coconut Cake-such a cute story, and it was set in Milwaukee which was fun. It’s a slightly older publication (2015) but so so good, definitely worth the read. I also made her grandmother’s version of coconut cake she shares at the back and modified it based on what I had on hand which was such a fun cooking experience.
What I’m Watching
- Back to having no time for TV or movies, especially with these teething babies – oy!
Personal Stories
- Not a planned craft, but I got out some big pipe cleaners, and the kids started making crowns!
- Nick got a small rake for Ben. He loved it and even took it on our walk and wanted to rake other peoples’ leaves, lol. Frankie and Freddie also wanted to play with it so now we have to buy two more. No one wanted the small push broom, so Nick ended up using it, lol.
- I had a ‘thanksgiving tea party’ with the kids where we just made pretend plates full of things I had cut out, it was so much fun!
- Cannot believe how fast the kids are growing up!!!
- Happy fall picture from Nick and I.
Did you Know?
A few weeks back, I shared an exciting addition to the SweetPhi.com page, but it has gotten even better! The Reader Recreations section on our website is one of my favorite pages to look at, so I’ve made it easiest to find!
Just hover over ‘recipes’ and select reader recreations. Click and it will take you right to the page where you can see all of the amazing things SweetPhi readers are making. And if you’re making any SweetPhi recipes, don’t forget to tag me on social media, DM me or shoot me an email with what you’ve made!
Popular this week:
- Most visited blog post: These delicious sprinkle cookie bars made with Greek yogurt!
- Most liked Instagram post: Freddie handing me leaves
- Most pinned image: this weather is keeping chili top of mind – how to make a chili bar is a top pin this week
- Most viewed YouTube video: my recipe for spinach salad & dressing that I make on repeat
- Most purchased item: This sweater I bought for Nick and mentioned to a few friends who also bought it for their husbands!
I’d love to know from you – what are you doing for Thanksgiving this year? Small? Normal? I have a lot of fun content planned so I’d just love to know. Leave a comment below!
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