Top 10 Family-friendly Holiday Movies

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So, technically in our house we celebrate Yule and exchange gifts during the Winter Solstice. However, they don't exactly make a lot of children's holiday movies about Yule. In fact, I don't know of a single one. I did grow up with a bunch of great Holiday movies about family and love that I look forward to sharing with my daughter though. I also decided to share the top 10 movies here.

She's Growing So Fast

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So, I have been kept very busy as of late. Even at this moment, I have my princess sleeping on my chest because she woke up and instantly wanted Mama, only to then fall asleep again. Cora has been growing so fast and reaching so many milestones as well as picking up some new, and even some unpleasant, habits. 

To My First Child

Oh, my perfect child, how I love you

Around your finger is where I am curled

You have completely changed my point of view

From the first day you came into my world

I have been so happy since you got here

When you smile the room lights up so bright

You have to know that I am always near

And that I will forever hold you tight

I loved carrying you for 9 long months

Even with the morning sickness and pain

And sometimes I felt like a complete dunce

But I knew life with you would never be plain

My dear you are so beyond beautiful

Your place in my heart is unmovable

Yummy Sloppy Joes

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I love sloppy joes. Always have since I was a kid. When we had it, which was probably once every few months or so, I was always super excited. Now that I'm an adult and I cook dinner I get to pick what we eat. Now sure, you can go buy some canned sloppy joes sauce if you want, but this is so much better. It tastes so much better. Now we never have to worry about having the cans, especially since the ingredients are stuff we already have at the house. If you've never really paid attention to the flavor profile of sloppy joes I won't be surprised. It's basically sweeter ketchup with some other seasonings added in. It definitely isn't the healthiest of meals, but it's a little healthier since it isn't out of a can, at least the whole sauce isn't.

The recipe is a simple one, and it's easy to take and add what you want. I add green peppers because while I'm not a fan of them, they work well here, and then it has a veggie in it, so you know, health. Of course, if you don't eat meat you could always replace the ground beef with any meat substitute you use. If you do make this at home make sure to share it and tag me!

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Deep Fried Apple Rings

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Apples are a fruit that tends to be in our house, and

we often get multiple bags for free. So I end up with the task of figuring out what to do with them. Well, while I was thinking about what to do with one of our many bags I started pondering over different ways to cook things and I came to an idea; I can deep fry them. The deep fry batter is pretty much a basic batter with some cinnamon and allspice added. The apples' sweetness and the batter complement each other flawlessly, though a topping never hurt. I chose to top mine with powdered sugar but I imagine that chocolate syrup or caramel sauce would go really well with it; I just didn't have either on hand at the time.

Now, for my recipe I used red delicious apples,

because that's what I had on hand, but you could really use any type of apples you want. To remove the core of the apple I used a pumpkin carving tool and just poked it through to cut it out. It took a bit of time, but I didn't think to use my frosting tips until after I was done. If you make these make sure to share it on social media and tag me with what type of apples you used! 

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Pumpkin Seeds 2 Ways

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It will be Samhain the day I publish this post and one of the best ways to celebrate the sabbat is by eating food associated with it. This includes pumpkin seeds. If you carve a pumpkin then you are going to have a lot of pumpkin seeds anyways, so why not make a yummy snack with them? My favorite way to make my pumpkin seed is with cinnamon sugar, though salt and pepper is really good too.

I have to admit that these aren't recipes that I tend to measure, but I kind of have ratios for everything. These both are also household favorites. Once we are done carving we will chill out on the couch and watch some movies while snacking on the seeds. The great thing about pumpkin seeds is that they have such a light flavor that you can flavor them with almost anything! If you make these make sure to share them and tag me!!

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What I Learned While Baking Cheesecake

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This past week happened to hold my birthday and I decided I wanted a cheesecake for my birthday

cake. Not a no-bake cheesecake, but a true New York-style cheesecake. This was also my first attempt. Sadly it didn't work out quite as well as I would have liked, but that means it was a learning experience. As expressed in the extremely underrated Disney movie Meet the Robinsons "From failure, you learn. From success...  Not so much." I also figured that I could share what I learned with you so that maybe you can avoid making the same mistakes. Knowledge is an invaluable tool. Even if you have made multiple cheesecakes, maybe there is something you didn't think of. Also if you have more tips then leave them in the comments below or tweet them at me at @AWitchyMama2020.

My Top 10 Family-Friendly Spooky Movies for Samhain

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If you are anything like me then you probably love to get your family together on the couch, cuddle up, and watch a movie together; and when it's the holidays I tend to put on a seasonal movie. I compiled a list of my top 10 movies to watch during the Samhain season, and I wanted to share them with you. Not all of these movies are directly related to Samhain sure, but they still hold the spirit of creepiness within them. I would also like to add that these aren't really in any particular order, except for the last 3.

My Pumpkin Cake Recipe

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I love anything and everything pumpkin and pumpkin spice (except for pumpkin spice lattes ironically).

I also love to make cakes. So I figured that I should mix the two together and made some pumpkin cake. I took a basic pumpkin bread recipe and tweaked it to make it slightly more like a cake. The recipe can make a two-layer cake that is 9 inches across or a three-layer cake that is 8 inches across. I chose to frost mine with cream cheese frosting, and it was delicious, though I'm sure a buttercream could be just as good. It is a rather dense cake, but I still think it has a nice texture, quite rich. It also has a nice pumpkin flavor, with the spices complementing it well and not overpowering it. I know cakes normally ask for oil, but I just prefer the texture that butter gives cakes over the oily texture. Plus it's a little healthier... I think... probably not.

This recipe is also important to me as it is my first recipe. Obviously, I'm still learning how to best type

them up but I think it came out pretty good. I'm also still learning how to come up with my own recipes, but it is something I have loved to do since I was little. They tended to be hit or miss. One day I'll use recipe cards, but today is not that day. One thing I see a lot in recipes that drive me crazy is when it says it is a 4 step recipe, but each step has like 4 steps in it. I have decided that would not be a thing with my recipes. I will separate each step so that you get a better estimate of how much work a recipe will be. Plus it helps me keep track of what I have and haven't done easier. Another big thing for me is measurements. When I bake I measure every ingredient to make sure that there is no room for error. Any time I have tried to just throw stuff together it ends in sadness.

If you bake this cake share it, along with what frosting you paired with it, and tag me!

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It's October! + Halloween Haul

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October is absolutely my favorite month out of the year. It has so much going for it; up north it is sweater weather (the best weather), it has my birthday in it, and it has my favorite holiday, Samhain (Halloween), the air is crisper, there is pumpkin spice everything, and my house smells like cinnamon. It may be basic, but I don't care. I also get to shop at my favorite seasonal store, Spirit Halloween.

I have loved Samhain since I was a kid. Back then it was a day to get dressed up and run door to door

collecting candy. Now that I'm older I tend to dress up and take any kids in the family out trick or treating. Except for this year. This will be the first year that I have a baby of my own. Sadly with the state of the world at the moment, we won't be going anywhere. My plan instead is to curl up with Cora and Cody and have a movie marathon (check back later this month to see my list of favorite family-friendly Halloween movies) with candy, popcorn, and other sweets. We don't really have costumes but we will be matching, hopefully. If the burn ban is lifted I also plan to have a bonfire to honor those who have passed.

I finally got to go Halloween shopping, which was so much fun. We loaded up into the car and headed

to Spirit Halloween. I wondered around with Cody and Cora and looked at all of the animatronics. I was slightly worried that Cora would be scared, mainly that she would get startled, but neither happened. She just looked up at the giant decorations and laughed her beautiful laugh. I ended up picking up the "Elm Street" sign and the Beetlejuice shot glass as my birthday gifts for myself, especially since I'm turning 21. We then went to Walmart to pick up the rest of our Halloween stuff. I had been planning on getting a Halloween book for Cora so as you can see I grabbed one that looked cute. There are a few things I got that aren't pictured, mainly because I forgot to put them with everything else, which are two bags of spider webbing, a shirt for me, a shirt for Cody, and some leggings. Overall, we had a good time.

This isn't as long of a post as I normally would post, but I have a good excuse. The recipe I want to share is my own and I want those to have their own post, so keep an eye out for that. This includes the cake recipe that I mentioned on my Facebook and Instagram pages, which you should follow.

Thank you for reading!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, 7 Months, and More!

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This month has been quite busy. Fall has finally come and while it is my favorite time of the year it is also an important time for preparation. From preparing for the incoming holidays to preparing for mother nature's worse, there is a lot to do. I have been able to make time to make some oatmeal raisin and some chocolate chip cookies. Plus my little one reached 7 months this month, and there is so much I have learned.

In the past almost 2 years of living where I live I've learned that being stocked on food, water, and wood; is the most important thing. We've lost power and the wood stove is all we had to keep warm. It

does the job sure, but imagine if we weren't prepared. Also when we lose power the water stops running, so bottles water is a good thing to have on hand as well. As for food we just need a lot of dried pasta, beans, and canned veggies. Obviously now I need to have baby food stocked as well. We get meat packs from the butcher and throw those in the freezer and if we lose power for too long we may pack the freezers with snow. Overall, we have pretty much mastered the whole surviving without power thing. We also have been decorating the house, the shelf over the sink is looking the best so far.

With all of the preparation, I didn't have as much of a chance to bake as I would have liked, but I did

[Left] Chocolate Chip [Right] Oatmeal Raisin

get to make a couple different types of cookies. I made oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip. Both came out fantastic. The oatmeal raisin cookies were chewy and delicious. They also didn't last longer than 48 hours. You can find the recipe here. While it doesn't call for it I added some pumpkin spice to them and it was amazing. Be ready for all of the pumpkin next month. I also made some fantastic chocolate chip cookies. They were some simple cookies and they came out really great. It was also nice that they didn't burn, which has been a common problem for me with chocolate chip cookies. Here is the recipe. My fiance really enjoyed them and he is a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur, so do with that information what you will.

A big thing that happened this month was that Cora reached 7 months. It's still insane to me that I'm a parent and I spend every second worrying if I'm making the right choices. My mom told me that a big

part of parenting is worrying and that is how you know you are a good parent. A big thing I was worried about was whether or not Cora was meeting the milestones that I was getting from the doctor's office. I had to take a step back and remind myself, and sometimes you may have to remind yourself, that every child is different. Not every child is going to meet every milestone at exactly the same time. I have seen parents drive themselves crazy because their child wasn't exactly at the point that all of their friends' kids were at that age. It's not worth it. I'm happy that at the moment Cora can hold herself up if you place her in a seated position, but she still struggles with getting there herself. She also has finally figured out how to get cheerios from her tray to her mouth, which is adorable to watch. I can't believe that she is over half a year old. It feels like only yesterday she was a tiny newborn in my arms.

My schedule is about to get very hectic. I'm going to be baking and cooking a lot. As well as shopping. A lot of shopping. I also have a few blog ideas bouncing around my head that I'm trying to figure out the best ways to do them. I hope everyone had a fantastic Mabon. I spent mine decorating for the fall and wishing I had a pumpkin to make pumpkin cookies. That is number one on my shopping list for next month, of course, it's October.

Thank you so much for reading!

Italian Wedding Soup, Apple Turnovers, and More!

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This week I decided to make some Italian wedding soup for the house, as well as Apple Turnovers with a twist.

Soup is easily my favorite type of dish. I suppose it goes hand and hand with my favorite weather being sweater weather. Nothing is better than a warm bowl of soup on a cold day, you can't change my mind.

Sadly the day I made the soup, it was not a cold day, but it tasted really good. Of course, it wasn't my recipe so I had to search for one on Pinterest. Here is where you can find the recipe. It was honestly quite good, but I did make a couple mistakes while making my soup. First, I didn't think to check the recipe and measure the noodles so I just dumped the whole box in. While the soup was good it lost a lot of its brothyness due to the abundance of noodles. The second thing I did was I bought a bag of spinach that was 16 oz when I only needed 8. the size wasn't the problem, it was the fact that I didn't double-check and just dumped it in. So just like with the noodles I had too much spinach. If I could take anything away from my mistakes it would be that I need to slow down and pay attention to measurements a little better. The meatballs were made by hand and were fantastic. I'm not used to making meatballs by myself. It was something that if my mom decided to do by hand she would have me help. I can't wait for Cora to be old enough to help me so she can have those memories too.

Since getting my new-to-me bread pans at a thrift shop I've been dying to make pumpkin bread, so

that's what I did. I made 2 delicious loaves of pumpkin bread. When I came to the decision to make the bread I was unaware that we were out of eggs, but I wasn't going to let something little like a missing ingredient keep me from my pumpkin bread so I pressed on. I searched the internet for egg substitutes, of course I know about the mayo trick but I prefer to use that for savory things, not sweet things. The second thing on the list was applesauce and I thought "why not?" So, I used applesauce instead of eggs and it came out perfect. For anyone wondering, 1/4 cup of applesauce = 1 large egg. Of course, use unsweetened or cut out some of the sugar of whatever you are making or you stand the risk of making whatever it is too sweet. Overall the bread was really good, as pumpkin bread tends to be. Here is the recipe.

To finish off the week I made some apple turnovers, but these weren't any normal apple turnovers.

Instead of using pie crust or puff pastry for the crust, I chose to use canned biscuits. I sadly can't take
the credit for this idea, but for once it didn't come from Pinterest either. The idea came from my Grandmother-in-Law. I was originally just going to make a good old fashioned apple pie, but she mentioned this idea and it sounded good, plus it was easier than making some pie crust from scratch. All I had to do was take each biscuit, roll it out, fill it like I normally would, then bake it in the oven at 350 *F for ~20 minutes. Did they look pretty? Not really. Were they good? Oh yeah. The filling was a simple mixture of granny smith apples, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla. All mixed on the stove on medium-low. 

I think my favorite thing that I made this week was the soup though. It was just so good and I can't wait to make it again in the future. I'm not entirely sure what I'll be cooking or baking next week, but it is sure to at least taste good if it doesn't look pretty. Not everything is about presentation. Especially not food made for your family. Even my ugliest cookies are gone quickly.

Thank you for reading!

Baking Bread, First Teeth, and More!

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You would be amazed by how exciting and busy the life of a Stay-at-Home mom can be. If I'm not picking up toys, I'm sweeping up cheerios, or I'm baking up cookies that will last all of 5 seconds. So, when I say this week has been eventful what I really mean is; I made some bread, Cora now has 2 bottom front teeth and she did some extra funny and cute things.

My bread loaves rising in their pans

I have been baking bread more and more recently. I would much rather have homemade bread over store-bought any day so I was searching for a good recipe. The recipe I tend to use, and the one I will be talking about today, uses quick-rise yeast. I have used another recipe that calls for active dry yeast, but not this time. The bread isn't anything special and although it makes 2 nine-inch loaves, I only have six-inch pans, so I make 3 six-inch loaves instead. I use this bread for everything; sandwiches, toast, toad-in-a-hole, etc. Basically, if you would use sandwich bread I use this bread, and it tastes 10 x better. As I said I was searching for a recipe, so this is not my recipe, but one I found on Pinterest that I really like. I'm a Stay-at-Home mom, of course, Pinterest is my Bible. Here is the recipe. If you have any recipes to share, comment them down below so I can check them out. I'm still using recipes as I master the basics, so the more the merrier.

It's hard to believe that Cora is 6-almost-7 months old. It seems like only yesterday I was bringing this tiny human home that I now was in charge of. I mentioned in my previous post that she had two teeth cut at the bottom and that she had started eating teething wafers as well and she loves them. They have truly helped with bringing her teeth in. Plus they help with hand-eye coordination, she hasn't quite mastered the cheerio though. Her teeth are becoming much more prominent now so you can't miss them. Of course she bites at the worse times. I know she isn't trying to hurt me but OW! Especially on nights that her gums are really bothering her. I can definitely say that I thought she wouldn't start gaining teeth until she was 1 year old, but here we are, 6 months old and 2 teeth. She's also trying to crawl more and more. She just can't quite get her knees up under her body, but she has been doing a lot of tummy time and playing with toys on the floor.

As I mentioned above she is feeding herself teething wafers, but she hasn't mastered the cheerio. This is because she hasn't figured out how to pick things up yet with her index finger and thumb yet, which is fine. Everyday she is getting better and better. So to complete the week I put some mashed potatoes on her tray amd let her have at it, curious to see a) how much of it would make it to her mouth and b) what she would do in general. Well, she mainly smashed them with her hands on the tray and crushed handfuls. There was a second where she was trying to eat some, but she gave up and just started dropping it off the edge of her tray. She would also bend down and eat it just face directly to tray, it was hilarious. Overall she made a mess, but had a blast, and isn't that what life is really about?

A day in the life of me can be very messy, but I've never minded messy. I'll be back next week with another update!

Thank you for reading!

Hello World!

Hello world

My name is Zoe, and this is my blog. I've been wanting to run a blog for a while but struggled on what the topic should be. After having my daughter this past February and spending most of my days either taking care of her or cooking/baking something I thought that might be a good source of inspiration. I know there are many other mommy blogs, so I wanted to try to do something different with mine. While I will be talking about the ups and downs of motherhood, I plan to mainly talk about my adventures in learning to cook and bake.

My mom tried to get me in the kitchen when I was a kid, but I wanted to do other things, so I very rarely was. When I got into high school, I started to gain an interest in baking and cooking, this came from my interest in Japanese culture and cuisine. Eventually, that interest weakened, but the interest in cooking didn't. Now I cook and bake when I can, sometimes once a week, sometimes more. I have a

[Clockwise from top-left: devil's food cake w/ coconut pecan icing,
red velvet w/ funfetti icing, B-chocolate cake w/ lemon icing
T- yellow cake w/ chocolate icing, brownie cake w/ buttercream icing]

sweet tooth, so baking is the main thing I try to do. I also tend to make a lot of chocolate chip cookies for my fiancé since they are his favorite. I’ve also been trying to get really good at decorating cakes so that my daughter, and future children, will always have awesome and pretty cakes. As you can see, I have a long way to go. The flavors may seem odd, but these were all made for other people.

When I say I want to show my adventures in learning to cook and bake that includes the fails. If a cake doesn’t come out right or I burn a burger I will still share it. You can only learn from your mistakes. I have already had a cake where the top fell in and I was only able to save it by leveling it, but it was still oily and dense, not that you could tell from the outside. It was also gone pretty fast.

I've also been baking bread recently. I love homemade bread better than any store-bought bread. I have only really made white sandwich bread though. I know sourdough is common, but I really don't like the taste of sourdough. I want to make french bread soon, I just haven't gotten around to it yet, especially since I'm worried about messing it up.

I also cook dinner quite a bit. I have a few housemates, so I don’t always have to cook. Soup is one of my favorite things to cook and eat so I make it a lot. I recently made broccoli cheddar soup, which is a household favorite. I live up in the mountains where it’s really cold during the winter and soup is a great way to keep warm. I’ve made gumbo a few times as well, which is a personal favorite, as well as my fiance's favorite. I made it for him for our 1st anniversary and for his birthday this past August.

As I mentioned I have a daughter as well. I'll call her Cora on here. She's 6 months old and is teething. Her bottom two teeth have actually cut through so teething biscuits have been a godsend, and my

nipples haven't stood a chance. I love being a mom so much but I also know that my time as a parent is just beginning. I grew up with twin brothers who were ten years younger than me so I have some experience with children. I will admit that it is much different when the child is your own though. Everything from how much you love them to how you may discipline them is completely different.

I can't wait to share funny things she does (and one day says) and milestones she hits. She's growing so fast already I feel like in a few days she's gonna be 5 and starting school. Then, next, she'll be going off to college. I hold on to every moment with her that I can.

Some More Interesting Things About Me

• I love Taco Bell
• I have two black cats; Oryx & Thackery Binx
• My birthday is October 17th (Libra FTW)
• My favorite ice cream flavors are cotton candy, bubblegum, and strawberry; in that order
• I love broadway, but sadly was never in theater class or club
• Instead, I was in the ACAC (Anime) club, the Quittich club (fuck JKR though), and the GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) club
• My favorite season is autumn, followed by winter
• Basically, if it's sweater-weather and time for soup/chili, then I love it

I definitely look forward to having this to look back on as I get better at baking and cooking. I hope you will join me on this adventure as well.

Thank you for reading!