Hello and Happy Weekend! I'm starring out into the fog right now.

Yes, the actual fog. Coastal San Diego has bouts of it and today is a day when the sun hasn't yet made an appearance.

Not sure if you knew this, but several of our adult children live with us. While I know that's not an American tradition, it's becoming one that I love.

I am an especial fan of our home being a place where our kids' friends like to hang out. Last week we hosted a game night.

This morning, one of our sons is hosting a breakfast for his fellow groomsmen in an upcoming wedding. He is an excellent budget shopper and cook. I'm a proud mom.

Breakfast featured...

In addition to breakfast sausage and scrambled eggs, he embellished my Buttered French Toast Casserole recipe. I don't have a picture from this morning, but it looked similar to the original:

Here's what he did, which I think was super creative:

• used Trader Joe's brioche that is supposedly cut into hot dog buns, but not really. I used them here.
• left the brioche "buns" whole and spread marmalade in the center of each.
• added pumpkin pie spice to the custard
• served blueberry sauce on the side (similar to this raspberry sauce, but with blueberries)

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I thought it was a wonderful way to make this dish his own!

NEW on the Blog

Have you checked out the recent posts on Good Cheap Eats?

I had so much fun writing this post! I know that it's hit or miss how much candy to buy for fall parties and trick or treating. And it's not cheap!

The thing is that bagged candy is good for a good long time. I checked my bags and the earliest best-by date was February.

While you might not want to leave them in their snack-size packaging, there are sooooo many yummy things you can make that don't look like Halloween leftovers!

Consider shopping the Halloween clearance next weekend just so you can make these desserts.

Here's --> What to Do with Leftover Halloween Candy

This Week's Ten Top Recipes

Do you use Pinterest? I have come to love it more since I realized it's more of a search engine than a social media sharing site. I looked up what's trending these days among my readers on Pinterest and let that guide our top 10 this week.

Let me know which are your faves by sharing it on instagram or leaving a comment on the post. I love to hear from you!

You'll see the pinterest trend at the start of each line and then my rec for that topic.

10. Butternut squash - Check out the best thing to make with squash and chocolate.

9. Apple - My famous dish that is easy and perfect for potlucks.

8. Beef stew - This is one of my faves. You won't even notice the veggies, I promise.

7. Soup - This simple soup is one of the cheapest you can make that is super filling and delicious.

6. Pumpkin - I am partial to this pumpkin dessert. The testing phase nearly broke me, but I'm so proud of the results.

5. Chili - I remember this being a new and different kind of chili back in the 90s. This classic version of it is the best!

4. Potato soup - This is not the potato soup you expect to see, but trust me it is darn delicious!

3. Thanksgiving - I am partial to making what I can in advance and freezing it for Thanksgiving. There's so much you can make!

2. Fall dinners - Look no further than this list.

ONE. Crockpot recipes - I made this recipe for game night last week and it was a huge hit!

If you find something you love, I'd so appreciate your sharing it on social or forwarding this email to a friend. Thank you!

Get Cooking with DIY Dinners

One of the things I hope you'll enjoy over the next weeks and months is more home cooking. I put together a really cool resource to make it easier for you to cook on a regular basis, desserts included!

DIY Dinners is on sale for the month of October and FREE to members of the Good Cheap Eats Club.

If you already have that habit of cooking at home, I bet it will freshen up your excitement to get in the kitchen. I can't wait to hear what you think!

Money-Saving Tip

I've been doing a fare amount of online ordering lately, from clothes to gifts to flour. Yep, I order my flour online because I get the best price.

I typically use Rakuten to get 3% back on my Vitacost orders and then shop Vitacost sales. You can see that there are different amounts of cash back based on what store you shop.

Currently Rakuten is offering $50 to new members. Make at least $50 in purchases within 90 days and they'll give you $50. It's like shopping for free!

I've been using this cash back site since 2008 or 2009. I've earned over $2000 in cash back rebates in that time!

NEW on Life as Mom

I've been writing at LifeasMom.com for more than 17 years. That's practically ancient in internet years.

Check my newest post: How to Get Ready in 30 Minutes or Less! as well as The Weekly Ramble, a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a Christian wife, mom, and homemaker, updated weekly.

If you'd like to get the Life as Mom newsletter sent each Friday afternoon, just click here.

Okay, I can't wait to hear what you cook up this week or what fall fun you have with the fam. Leave a comment on one of the posts and we'll chat!