Friday's Fave Five #448

Hello and welcome to the first FFF of fall.  So hard to believe another season has come and gone this year.  I don't know why but it seems like this year has flown by and yet in some aspects it seems like it's been barely chugging along.  But no matter which way it feels, it's always a good time to intentionally be grateful for blessings and good things in our lives.  Join us as we share the top 5 of the week.

In no particular order:

Trying new foods.  I love trying new foods as long as it's not too off the wall (she says as she's watching poor Vanessa Hudgens having to eat rattlesnake on the show Running Wild with Bear Grylls).  I love to try new recipes too and the last little while I've found a few that have been delicious and I will make again.

Zucchini Boats were a huge hit with everyone.  I think I sorta mashed a couple of recipes together to make a buffalo chicken zucchini boat and now I can't remember what I did.  But I don't think you can go wrong with these.  You can do chicken, beef, pork or vegetarian with basically unlimited flavor combinations.  It comes together quickly and looks pretty.  If you use yellow and green zucchini it's so colorful.  Just search zucchini boats on pinterest and you are on your way.

Another dish was this Slow Cooker Creamy Southwest Chicken .  This was definitely a keeper.  So delicious.  As usual I tweaked it a touch by using what I had:  ancho chili powder for the chili powder, and 1 tsp. regular paprika and 1 tsp smoked paprika for the 2 tsps of paprika the recipe called for.  Yum.  I served it with rice ( apparently a huge amount of rice according to the picture.  But my husband is a rice fiend and this was his plate of food.  Ha!).  We ate the leftovers a few days later over egg noodles and it was just as delicious if not better having sat marrying all those good flavors.

I also tried a batch of my homemade spaghetti sauce I've been making with that fantastic tomato harvest from this year over spaghetti squash instead of pasta.  Oh my goodness, who knew this would be so good.   Didn't miss the pasta at all!  And I forgot to get a picture of that though.

So thankful for all the delicious food that is so available to us here.


Lovely flowers on my porch.  My son and youngest daughter had bought me the cute little bike flower pot display for Christmas and I just love it.  The flowers have grown and filled in over the summer and it just makes me happy to drive up and see these on my porch.  Hopefully they will last a little longer now that our night's have cool off a lot.

Finale show of America's Got Talent.  My daughter and I have been watching this show together this year and the finale show where the top 10 competed was especially great.  Such great talent they had on the show this year.  It was so hard to guess who would win because they were all so good.  But the blessing was not only such a great finale but watching the season with my girl.

Fall duvets.  The nights have cooled off enough around here that last week I took off all the lighter summer bedding and put on the fall duvet.  It is so much more comfortable than the summer bedding I was quite excited to be able to put it on.

Church small group kickoff.  Wednesday was our church's night to kick off the start of small groups with a fun night where all the small groups attended together.  There was lots of good visiting, good laughs and good snacks.  It was nice to see some new faces and see all the different groups that are running this year.  It's good to be connected to a smaller group where one can feel supported, accountable and loved.

What were your favorite blessings this week?