Tortellini with Butternut Squash and mushrooms

A must try for this fall, it's delicious and easyyy!!
My mom and I just used shredded parmesan instead of fontina to save $$ and it was fine! (from real simple mag)

1 small butternut squash (2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and halved if large
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1 pound fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
2 ounces fontina or Gruyère, grated (1/2 cup), plus more for serving
Directions
Heat oven to 450° F. On 2 rimmed baking sheets, toss the squash and mushrooms with the sage, oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once and rotating pans halfway through, until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water; drain the tortellini and return to the pot. Add the vegetables, fontina, ¼ cup of the cooking water, and ½ teaspoon salt and toss gently to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry). Sprinkle with additional fontina.


http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/tortellini-butternut-squash-00100000066437/index.html

Homecoming photos

Here is part two of the photos, thanks Rachel C!
Just love my TU friends - this group below is the troops, which makes the children the trooplets and it is multiplying every year - 1 new baby in 2011 and a new troop husband & baby will be added in 2012! Hooray!!!

Hockey man

Lucy and I went to watch Joe/Daddy play hockey on Thursday morning :)
It was like sitting in a refrigerator, but we had fun and Lucy made it, barely...was feeding her bananas and trying everything to keep her happy in her car seat :)
So fun to watch our favorite guy play with his new stick from my parents for his Christmas present!! Here are some photos:

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Pumpkin or squash soup from Real Simple.
Wow, if you at all enjoy squash or pumpkin soup, you will love this version. I thought it was fantastic. Perfect on this fall afternoon!! :)

1 3-pound sugar pumpkin or 3 pounds kabocha or butternut squash—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces (*I used butternut squash*)
5 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
4 leeks (white and light green parts only), chopped
4 to 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
sour cream, croutons, and paprika (preferably smoked), for serving

Directions
Heat oven to 400° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the pumpkin with 3 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the roasted pumpkin, 4 cups of the broth, and ½ teaspoon salt and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
In a blender, working in batches, puree the soup until smooth, adjusting the consistency with the remaining broth as necessary. (Alternatively, use a handheld immersion blender in the saucepan.) Top the soup with the sour cream and croutons and sprinkle with the paprika, if desired.

5 year Reunion at Taylor

We attended Homecoming at Taylor University last weekend for our FIVE year reunion...wow that went fast!!
Got to see my best friends, their families and got to spend some time with my brother as well, which was so, so fun and special.
Joe, Lucy and I walked around campus together Friday night, then spent the night at the Duncan's place in Fishers and then spent Saturday on campus - 5 year lunch with my friends, then drove around to let Lucy sleep some, met up with my brother and went to a little of the football game and then Ivanhoe's for ice cream :)
Was a beautiful day at Taylor and such a fun time. Have so many great memories there, it was so fun to reminisce with Joe while there and on the drive home. So thankful that I could attend school there and for the change that the Lord did in my heart and Joe's heart during our sophomore year.

Here are some photos of Friday and Saturday!

Lately

Loving the beautiful fall days we have had, but expecting the cool weather to hit soon. Been having some fun "playdates" lately with some friends with little girls and that is so much fun for us both! And been making some baby food for the little one - experimenting with different fruits and veggies and now some meats too! :)

Here are some recent shots of the girlie!

FALL, in love.

This is a post I did for Access, our youth group blog :)

Yes, I love fall.
I love pumpkins, any recipes with pumpkin in them, leaves changing color and falling down, mums of all shades, honeycrisp apples, fires in the fireplace (at my parents...), Bears games, and pumpkin spice lattes from starbucks.

But as things are dying this fall and it slowly turns into winter, I am hoping to be renewed and become more alive in Christ. This is my first Fall as a mother and I am hoping and praying that Fall 2011 would be a season where I experience extreme growth in my life, in my time in the word and prayer and a season where I go hard after Christ and others.

I was recently challenged by a devotion in the book "Trust" by Lydia Brownback (please pick up a copy if you do not own one, you'll be glad you did).
She talks about how we can so often be people pleasers, fearing people and their opinion of us. She writes, "We want to be liked and loved and to gain the approval of those around us...Using others to build ourselves up, to fulfill us, and to meet our needs just won't work. Sooner or later, because people are sinners, they are going to let us down." Lydia goes on to write, "Desiring the love and approval of the significant people in our lives is natural; however, if we feel that we must have that to be happy, then a good desire has become a destructive one. We are attributing to people what rightfully belongs to God." But she calls us not to be discouraged if we see ourselves here and to see this as an opportunity for growth. She ends by saying, "Realizing that you cannot obtain your desires from the people in your life is a catalyst to look elsewhere, to God, where you will find what you've been seeking all along."

So this fall, my goal is to be more bold, not to desire to please people, but instead to FALL in LOVE with Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of my faith. It is such a joy and a blessing to serve Him and I want to LIVE that out everyday!
I hope you will be challenged to do this as well. Happy Fall to you all!




"I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?" Isaiah 51:12-13

Pure. Michigan.

I love Michigan.
And Joe got to fish there for 3 days while I spent time with my parents!
Then Joe and I went up to Gull Lake and stayed at a cabin up there to scope it out for future youth group trips :)
Here are some photos from this trip and from the week before when Lucy and I went to visit my parents for the day.