Halloween is just TWO WEEKS AWAY!! Are you ready? Thankfully I only have a few last-minute tweaks to make to the big kids’ Knight Costume, and Little Miss’s Elsa dress is store-bought (much to my chagrin).
Trick or treating door to door isn’t really popular in our area, but a lot of churches and civic groups host carnivals or events either on Halloween or on the weekends leading up to it, so there is no shortage of fun for the kids. If you are in San Diego County, here are just a few fun events that we’ve enjoyed in the past:
Don’t Forget HalGLOween at the San Diego Zoo! And most YMCA locations host a Halloween event that has a small fee, but has lots of fun games, crafts, and candy.
And if you are looking for tons of fun, don’t forget that Brick or Treat is still going on at Legoland California, tickets are on sale here.
Talk Back: If you know of a free, fun Halloween or harvest event for kids in San Diego County, please leave a comment.
I’m stoked! Brick or Treat is back at Legoland! This will be our 3rd year going, and the kids can’t wait!
Join Legoland California every Saturday night (Sept. 28, Oct. 5, 12, 19, and 26) at 5 p.m. The family theme Park transforms into the ultimate family Halloween party with tasty goodies, monster jams and spooktacular entertainment! With treat stations located throughout the Park and inside SEA LIFE® Aquarium, there is sure to be something to satisfy every sweet tooth. Along with tons of candy, guests can collect specialty items such as LEGO® Commemorative brick, LEGO® Life Magazine and healthy treat options!
The popular Brick-or-Treat festivities are back with a new out of this world Pop Badge Challenge! Families can collect an exclusive Brick-or-Treat pop badge by snapping a selfie with an intergalactic dancer at Club Astro Bash! After dancing their way at Planet Boogie, they can collect one pop badge per weekend, with an exclusive, new Pop Badge design offered each Brick-or-Treat Party Night!
The ultimate family Halloween party is filled with frighteningly- fun entertainment as the Boo Crew returns with a new creepy crawly stilt walker, The Spider Queen! Guests can get in the Halloween spirit by jumping in and boogieing down at the seasons most frighteningly-fun dance parties which includes Midnight Monster Jam where guests help the Monster Crew bring their spooky fun character concert to life! Wacky Professor Frankenbrick returns to Brick-or-Treat with one goal: to be the best mad scientist in the world! Kids can partake in the interactive Frankenbrick’s Lab show by using their imagination to bring his LEGO® Monsters to life. Kids can celebrate the season by singing along and moving their feet to the beat with The Witchettes in the Courtyard Theatre or by joining in the interactive play, Mail Order Monsters. Guests also have a chance to win some scream worthy prizes by showing off their coolest costumes in the Brick-Or-Treat Costume Contest presented by Disguise Costumes! With three categories: Group, Heroes & Villains and LEGO Themed, as well as a Costume Parade for all kids to join in, there is a chance for everyone to strut their stuff during the Halloween celebration!
Brick-or-Treat Party Nights is a special event and admission can be purchased for as low as $64 if purchased online in advance. Special event ticket holders can enjoy costume contests, decorations, character meet and greets, trick-or-treating, live music and tons of frightfully festive entertainment. Guests can follow the fun by using #BRICKORTREAT2019 on social media.
We’re going on October 5th, make sure to keep your eyes peeled on our Instagram Feed for photos of all of the cool treats, spooky costumes, and of course, Granny’s Apple Fries!
Now through tomorrow score a $25 restaurant.com for just $2.00 when you use coupon code TWO at Checkout. Not familiar with how restaurant.com works? Check out my post here.
*Terms: The majority of Restaurant.com-Specific Certificates are available for the advertised price. In some instances, prices may be higher. Restaurant.com Cards are separately priced. Limit of one (1) certificate per visit to a restaurant. Minimum spend requirements and other restrictions on the Restaurant-specific certificates vary and are subject to change. This promotion does not apply to previously placed orders, and cannot be combined with other promotions or offers, and does not apply to Restaurant.com Card purchases. Purchase or redemption of this offer requires that you agree to all the terms and conditions found at www.restaurant.com. Registration, including valid email address, is required for purchase. When redeeming a Restaurant.com Card, these savings cannot be applied. Offer valid from Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 1:00AM PST thru Wednesday, September 11, 2019 at 11:59PM PST.
Did you know that September is Hunger Action Month?
Recently I wrote about Porchlight Community Services. This month, they are offering a $5.00 discount on their weekly food share when you mention that you saw this article on my website!
The prices are very reasonable:
Seniors / Individual- $15
Family (Small)- $25
Family (6+)-$35
On average, you will go home with over $100 worth of food each week. And if you have food allergies or a special diet, just let them know and they will be happy to accommodate you as best they can!
In case you were curious, here is a sneak peek of just a few of the types of items they frequently have:
Cow’s milk, non-dairy milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, lunch meats, juice, lemonade- WOW! And that is just a small sample, there are fruits, veggies, frozen food, shelf-stable/pantry items, baked goods… You Name It!
About 40% of the food in the US is wasted– That is from the fields to your fridge. Pretty sad, right? 40% seems like a lot, and it is- if you break that down, on average, the typical American family throws away over 25 lbs of food per family member each year! Throwing food away is throwing money away.
Here are some simple, frugal recipes that can help you curb the food waste in your home.
To curtail my family’s food waste, I cook mostly from scratch. When it looks like fruit or veggies are about to go bad, I turn them into something. Recently, I made spicy Pomodoro sauce when the tomatoes at my parents’ house were starting to look squiffy (we were house-sitting for them).
Mom had left 6 tomatoes in the fruit basket and they were starting to get soft. I took them home and pulled the tomatoes and half of a sweet onion I had put in the freezer just a few days ago. The sauce was easy to make!
Spicy Pomodoro Sauce
Makes about 4 cups of sauce
11 fresh, whole ripe tomatoes (they can be frozen)
1/2 chopped large sweet onion (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon butter (or olive oil if you are vegan)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1T. Basil (dried)
1 T. Oregano (dried)
1/4 Teaspoon (a pinch) of crushed red pepper flakes.
Saute onions in butter until clear, about 10-15 minutes.
Add garlic and cook on low, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
Add whole tomatoes (it’s ok if they are frozen), cover pot and simmer on medium for about 30 minutes, until the tomatoes start to fall apart. Stir every 10 minutes or so.
Add herbs.
Simmer for 1-2 more hours. Sauce will be chunky. Break up tomatoes as much as you’d like with a potato masher or a stick blender. Add Red pepper flakes about 30 minutes prior to serving.
Serve sauce on pasta of your choice or on a bed of lightly sauteed spinach. If you don’t like your sauce spicy, omit the red pepper flakes.
Another recent “from scratch” dish I made was strawberry syrup. We’ve been getting a lot of strawberries lately, but last week, we didn’t get around to eating them all before they became a little squishy.
I hulled and chopped them up and tossed them into the freezer, in a bag with other chopped up hulled strawberries that were dead ripe. The bag was getting full, so Saturday evening, I decided to make strawberry syrup for our Sunday morning pancakes.
I used my mom’s recipe for homemade pectin free jam and just didn’t cook it as long. You can substitute in any other fruit you prefer, except pineapple, kiwi, mangoes, bananas, or coconut (those fruits lack natural pectin and the mixture won’t thicken). This is best with berries.
Strawberry pancake syrup
Makes about 2 cups
3 cups chopped ripe fruit (can be frozen)
1 1/2 cups of white sugar (do not use Splenda or honey)
1/4 cup of water
Add all of the ingredients together in a pot, cook on medium, and stir every 5-10 minutes to keep the sugar from burning.
Once it has boiled and the fruit has thawed (if working with frozen fruit), mash up the fruit with a potato masher.
Turn the heat to low and simmer gently for about 30 minutes, or until the mixture looks glassy.
Remove from heat, pour into a container with a lid. Once cooled, you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
The mixture will be slightly chunky, and not as firm as jam, but a little more substantial than pancake syrup. This is also good on ice cream or pour a few tablespoons into plain Greek yogurt.
There are a lot of great dishes you can make from scratch anytime- you don’t need to wait for the veggies or fruit to start to turn!
We make applesauce from scratch at least 3 times a month.
Applesauce in the Crockpot
It’s Simple! Peel and chop apples (whatever quantity and variety you have on hand), toss them into the crockpot with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water and let it cook for 4-6 hours. Hot applesauce is the BEST!
I’d love to hear about how your family combats food waste. If you are looking for additional ideas, check out my post about food waste in 30 minutes here.
For those of you who have read my blog for a while, you know that food insecurity is a cause near and dear to my heart.
In San Diego County, one in seven families experience food insecurity. Food insecurity means you’re not sure where your next healthy, nutritious meal is coming from. It means you probably don’t have extra cans in your cupboard, or that you need to be more than just a little creative when it comes to cooking that a few days before payday.
Food insecurity is an issue that I feel very strongly about. No one should be hungry, and no one should have to eat mass-produced, poorly made, food devoid of nutritional just to fill their belly. Quality, nutritious food should be available to anyone and everyone at an affordable price.
That is one reason I am so excited to share with you today about an awesome organization in Linda Vista called Porchlight Community Services.
Porchlight Community Services is different from a lot of other food organizations in that they are a food rescue organization. They work with produce distributors, grocery stores, and bakery to rescue food that is otherwise destined for the dumpster.
Next time you’re at the grocery store take a look at all the fruit, all the produce, all the baked goods. The likelihood of all of those items will sell before their pull date is slim.
So when items are pulled off the shelf prior to their expiration date, they are frequently thrown in the trash. That trash heads to the landfill. Grocery store, bakeries, food distributors do not compost their unwanted food. Food rescue agencies like Porchlight Community Services pick up the food (that is still good, by the way, pull dates are usually arbitrary, and only affect the appearance of the food, not it’s quality or viability). They then take the food back to their offices where it is gone over to make sure that it is still quality, and edible. And it is been distributed to families who support Porchlight Community Servicesmission.
Produce that can not be distributed (it’s leftover at the end of the event), is often donated to neighbors with animals, or local animal organizations. Once again, eliminating food waste and helping others,
Porchlight Community Services is not your average food bank or pull date co-op. There is no minimum or maximum amount of money your family needs to make to participate. Some people who shop at Porchlight do so because they believe in the mission of keeping food out of landfills (like my family- it hurts my heart to see perfectly good food go to waste). Some people go to Porchlight Community Services because they are in need of wholesome nutritious groceries that fit a specialized diet (like Gluten-free or Dairy-free) but can’t afford to shell out money every week or two for the costly groceries at a mainstream grocery store. Some people are in a tight spot and need to stretch what little money they have until payday.
An example of past food items available
Distributions are usually held weekly. You can find out about upcoming events here on their website, or follow them on Facebook.
All funds that are raised go towards paying rent and utilities- to keep the Mission of feeding others going.
If you are interested in helping Porchlight Community Services, they are always looking for volunteers to help unload food as it comes in on distribution days, organize and stock shelves, refrigerators, and freezers.
They also need help volunteering with event prep- setting up tables and bins.
This might be a good opportunity for girl scout troops or other civic organizations! Contact Porchlight Community Serviceshere to find out about more volunteer opportunities.
Most communities in the US and Canada hold this event. It started in 1984 as a way to increase community awareness about police, safety, and anti-crime programs in communities.
Some communities use this night as a chance to have a festival, carnival, cook-out, or block party.
My local community is having one! Santee and Lakeside are co-hosting an event at Santee Trolley square. If you are looking for your local National Night Out event, check the National Night Out website here.
I’ll be taking the kids- They love events like this. Our local first responders have their vehicles open and the kids can explore the fire trucks, ambulances, and police vehicles. The last event we went to like this, The Big Kid got to check out the SWAT Vehicle and try on SWAT gear. I find that this kind of accessibility is great for little kids like Bitty, so she isn’t scared to approach a first responder if she is in need. It’s very useful for the Big Kid because some kids with ASD take things they are told literally. He would refuse to talk to a stranger if he needed help or was in danger because it’s drilled into kids heads at a young age. Meeting first responders and receiving reinforcement that they are NOT strangers, they are HELPERS gives him the reinsurance he needs that it’s ok to seek help in an emergency, especially if I am not around, or if I am the one who needs help.
Halloween is just TWO WEEKS AWAY!! Are you ready? Thankfully I only have a few last-minute tweaks to make to the big kids’ Knight Costume, and Little Miss’s Elsa dress is store-bought (much to my chagrin).
Don’t Forget HalGLOween at the San Diego Zoo! And most YMCA locations host a Halloween event that has a small fee, but has lots of fun games, crafts, and candy.
Now through tomorrow score a $25 
Another recent “from scratch” dish I made was strawberry syrup. We’ve been getting a lot of strawberries lately, but last week, we didn’t get around to eating them all before they became a little squishy.
For those of you who have read my blog for a while, you know that food insecurity is a cause near and dear to my heart.
Tomorrow, the first Tuesday in August is 
Hewes Family Fun 