Busy week with more crafts

So, in this house we just love us some smores. We could eat them always, but they're always such a mess with our lovely bunch. Enter, smores on a stick. The greatest, smartest, and just plain WOW, way to enjoy us some smores. We had so much fun making them and then even MORE fun eating them.All you do is take a marshmallow put a lollipop stick in it and dip it in melted chocolate. Then you just roll it into crushed graham crackers and VOILA... you have a very, easy, clean, tasty smore.
The kids all ready to make them and of course we had to have a pic. They are getting so use to the pic taking that they all said, "wait, we need to get the camera out and take a picture." Aww, gosh, I just love my crazy bunch.

Laney just enjoying hers so much. She is the slow, savor, kinda girl.

These two are the put -the -whole -thing- in -your- mouth, kind of eaters.

And this one hasn't changed since she was a wee lit'l one. She puts it in her mouth, eventhough her mouth is kinda small, and just sits there chewing away with her chipmunk filled cheeks. FYI-when she was a babe she put 3 carrots, a bunch of apple slices and a cracker all in her mouth at once and she looked like a lit'l chipmunk storing food in her cheeks for the winter.

And then we have this little cutie pie. The look says it all. She loves her sweets, and boy, did she ever LOOOOVE this one.

Now these treats are really not messy, but this one seems to always make a mess no matter what. Gotta love the cutie patootie!

My mind slipped this past month and I didn't do any crafts for July. What was I thinkin? Oh, yeah, my dad, Noah, Kaleigh, Bella, and the stress of job huntin. Well, when I finally did think about it I decided to go on a hunt at the dollar store. By the way, I think it is one of my new favorite little finds. Best place to come up with crafts and to think outside of the box. I needed, no wanted, a new 4th of July decoration this year. I wanted it to do double duty though, so here's what I came up with. Some star dishes and bowls. Cute all by themselves, but this is what I came up with...

It's my new table centerpiece and will soon be filled with some candy/treats on each layer. Love it and it only cost me $6. Golly, gee, I just love the dollar store.

Oh for the love of STRAWBERRIES!

Being that it was Bella's actual birthday yesterday, I just HAD to make her a birthday treat. Eventhough I was way behind on packing and the many other items on my list that needed to be done before this afternoon's flight, I decided to make this glorious beast of strawberry heaven. Ain't she a beaut!Bella just loves, loves, loves strawberries! If I would let her, I think she would eat a whole 4 pound container of Costco strawberries, if I would let her. I don't think so. I like to keep the diaper changes to a minumum thank you very much. Anywho, I thought what not better treat than a homemade strawberry pie. It turned out so good that I can give Marie Callendar's Fresh Strawberry pie a run for its money. I like this one way better and our crazy, sweet-loving bunch finished an entire pie. Good thing I made two, the rest of the clan can have some more tonight when Bella and I are in Washington.

Here's what the yumminess looked like all sliced up and undressed in all her glory. YUMMY! Makes me want another piece right now!
And here she is all dressed in her white, creamy goodness. Best pie ever and very easy. I made my own pie crust then baked it. Then I filled it with a ton of fresh, washed, Costco strawberries, and then I made my own glaze. Now, you can buy the glaze at the grocery store, but I personally think it is nasty. So I made my own with jell-o! Super easy...
1 c sugar
1c water
3 T cornstarch
3 T strawberry jell-o(I personally didn't have any so I used raspberry instead, still sooo good)
Bring to a boil in a saucepan and boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Pour over strawberries in the pie crust and let set up for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Eat and Enjoy, we sure did!

Tasty pizza night!

Yummy, pizza night!

This is what I hear from all my kiddos when we decide to do pizza. This time I decided to do a fruit pizza for dessert as well.

Doesn't it just look yummy?

Trust me it is, and it's so easy to make.

It is a sugar cookie base topped with the best fruit dip and then fruit of all kinds. We finished ours off with some chocolate drizzles. Who doesn't like chocolate with their fruit!
Here's how it looks step by step. I made sugar cookie dough(it's the best by far, trust me I've tried at least a dozen recipes and I like this one the best) and flattened it on a pizza pan and baked it at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Then I spread the fruit dip on top once the cookie was cooled.
Then top with any fruit you like. We had pineapple rings, strawberries, and mandarin oranges. Yummy, I just love the combo of all these.
Isn't she just gorgeous. But, she wasn't quite done yet.

We melted some milk chocolate chips and drizzled it all over. The kids thought this was the best part. Oh man, the best dessert ever!

This is what it looked like sliced. It was enjoyed by everyone.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and extracts and mix. Add flour and baking powder and mix well. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes(if using for cookies)

Fruit Dip

2 6 oz. strawberry yogurt

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup of powdered sugar

1/2 tub of cool whip-8 oz tub

Mix cream cheese and powd. sugar. Mix in yogurt and then fold in cool whip. Chill until ready to spread on pizza, or ready to dip fruit in.




BBQ Chicken Pizza

Yummy and easy. I used rhodes bread dough for the crust and spread it on a pizza pan. Then I spread on our favorite BBQ sauce(Joe Morley's)all over. Then shredded baked chicken and mozzerella cheese. You can put red onion on it too, but most my kids don't like it so I left it off. I baked it at 350 degrees for about 17 minutes. D-E-L-I-S-H!!!

Eat and Enjoy!!

New Recipe-my take on banana foster

Yummy!

Doesn't this look good. I love trifles and so do my kids. I have had a dessert on my mind for awhile-bananas foster. It's super yummy, but I really didn't want to make it in a pan and all so I thought trifle form.

This is banana cake with caramel sauce and banana cream. So, so, so YUMMY!
First you bake a cake and mix ripen bananas into the mix. Yep, I just used an old plain yellow box cake mix. Instead of using the water I substituted lemon juice. It brings the fruit flavor out more. I mixed in 5 banans with the cake mix and then baked it following the cake mix instructions. I then cut it into squares adding half to the bowl for the layer of the trifle.


The first layer of the trifle

Then I poured half the caramel sauce mix over the cake.

Caramel sauce:

1 tub of caramel dip(I used my free Marzetti tub)

Half a can of sweetend cond. milk

2 tsp of vanilla

1 tsp of almond extract

Boil in a saucepan for about 2 minutes just to warm it all up.

Then comes the creamy, delicious, banana cream filling.

1 small box of instant banana pudding(make it with only half the amount of milk it calls for)

add 8 oz of cool whip to it and fold it in

Voila! Banana cream filling

This is what it looks like after it is put together. I saved some of the caramel sauce to just add a little somethin', somethin' to the top. I then sprinkled the crumbs that were left in the cake pan to also make it look prettier. Ooh baby, this is a yummy, easy, quick dessert that feeds a crazy bunch like mine!

Here's what it looks like inside with all the layers. Oh, man I wish I was skinny so I could just eat this whenever I wanted. My hips sure do not appreciate things like this. Eat and Enjoy!

FHE fun with a refresh lesson/activity!

We finally started our Family Home Evenings up again. It's been a trial for us to keep it going consistently with everyone's schedule, but I'm determined to make it work. This week's theme was Do As I'm Doing. Thanks to my lovely dad for making me a little anal about how stuff is done and cleaned/straightened I decided to refresh my kids in how stuff is suppose to be done. We started with the song "Do As I'm Doing," then Laney opened us up with our prayer-such a cutie that one. We then discussed who we are suppose to follow, i.e. mom, dad, Jesus, teachers, and yes even brothers and sisters-if they are doing what is right. So the activity went like this... we learned again how to vacuum, make a straight bed, and tie our shoes. The kids had to watch how I did it and then repeat it exactly the same way. I even tricked them with some stuff and questioned way things were done. The kids had a blast and then came the TREAT...

Both Alexis and Kaleigh were assigned this one. They made our lovely family SLIME! Yummy,yummy!
Silly girls!

We learned, loved, laughed, and had some good eats! A very good and productive FHE!

SLIME RECIPE

1 small box of pistachio pudding(dry mix only)

1 c of sliced strawberries

1 lrg can of crushed pineapple

8 oz. cool whip

1/3 bag of mini marshmallows

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until everything is well mixed. Chill for at least 30 minutes and ENJOY!

New Treats and Recipes!

Have you ever had a GIANT chocolate Costco muffin? Aren't they just yummy! Well I just love, love, love these muffins, but they are so big and I have a hard time stopping once I've started eating one that I end up eating the whole thing. This is SO not good for me, but I have stumbled onto a way to make my very own Costco chocolate chip muffins, but I make them normal sized. They are SO YUMMY! I won't be buying Costco's muffins anymore, because not only are they better tasting, but they cost way less. And if any of you know me, I'm all about frugal things and finding ways to make, and get things cheaper.Aren't they beautiful? Tasty too! So here's a really great recipe for making these:

devil's food cake mix

small box of chocolate pudding

3/4 c of sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c of water

1/2 c of oil(I used a little less than this though)

3 eggs

2 c. of chocolate chips(semi-sweet works best)

Mix all the ingred. together except choc. chips. Then add chips. I put liners in my muffin pans and filled them about 3/4 of the way. I baked them at 375 degrees for 17-20 minutes and voila!

You have 24 small, but GREAT chocolate muffins! Enjoy!

This is what I made for Sunday night's dessert. Every Sunday we have an extravagant dessert. I made dark chocolate brownies(from a mix-Ghirardeli)with chocolate chips, homemade vanilla ice cream drenched with Old Fashioned Hot Fudge Sauce. YUMMMM! I don't like store bought fudge sauce due to I think it is too heavy so I've monkeyed around with making my own over the years and this recipe is the one I like best. It is very light, but oh so chocolaty!

Oh man! Just look at that chocolaty goodness! Here's my recipe for this yummy goodness:
2 c sugar
4 Tbs. flour
2/3 c of cocoa(I use ghirardelli cocoa and choc mix)
2 c milk
4 Tbs. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Whisk dry ingredients and set aside. Combine milk, butter, and vanilla in a saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Add the dry ingredients and boil until the sauce has thickened and is smooth-about five minutes. Cool down for about five minutes-it will thicken a little more, and ENJOY!

S'mores Anyone?

Don't these just look delish! They are and they didn't last long around my bunch. They are s'mores cookies. They are super easy to make and really do taste like s'mores! All you need to do is take your basic chocolate cookie dough recipe ommitting the chocolate chips. You just add about 2-2 1/2 cups of crushed up graham crackers to the dough. You roll the dough into balls and cook on parchment paper for about 8 minutes on 350 degrees. You then press mini marshmallows and chopped up candy bars( I used symphony milk chocolate bars-2 giant size ones) and place back into oven for another 3-4 minutes. This second part plumps and roasts the marshmallows. So good!

Busy Weekend with project and sick kiddos!

For awhile now I have been wondering what to do with our poor, old and abused table. This was our very first kitchen table that we received as a wedding gift from Eric's folks over 12 years ago. It has been abused by our adorable little rugrats as you can see in the picture. It has old heat stains on it and is a little beat up. It serves as an overflow table when we have parties, but I always cover it up with a table cloth so no one sees the poor, sad condition it is in. Eventually our current bigger table will be placed in our dining room, because we have outgrown it as well. But until money runeth overeth, that will have to wait. So, I wanted to make our old table new again with the littlest amount spent. So begins my new task of figuring out what and how to do this.
Better shot of the table in the light.
I decided to sand it down and paint the table top to give it more life and add some flair to our dining room. The legs are in great condition so I wanted a two tone look to the table.

This is the table after I sanded it down with my new best friend-a sandpaper gripper tool thingy. I sent Eric to Home Depot with a list of my supplies and he got this for me too. Gotta love the hubby for this. Love ya, babe.
P.S. I can't buy stuff at Home Depot because I don't have an account like Eric, so I had to send him.

Here's what it looked like with the black paint after two coats. Next step I added a protective clear coat on top and VOILA...

Beautiful, new piece of furniture for about $30- due to having to buy a couple of new tools to do the project, paint, and varnish.

Of course, it's not completely finished until I add the decor on top. I must say I'm impressed it turned out so well. The kids all love it and poor, sick Logan kept telling me "nice painting, mom" after each coat was done.

It took a little longer than I wanted due to unforseen adventures in taking care of sick kids, but it's done and I love it!

And this is what I came up with to keep myself busy in between drying times of all the coats of paint.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake!

UMM UMM GOOD!

I took my basic recipe for my cheesecake and added a chocolate graham cracker crust and 3 kinds of choclate,yep 3 different kinds of chocolate(white, semi-sweet, and milk chocolate chips). It also has a chocolate cocoa infused sour cream topping. I added some cherry pie filling and double chocolate shavings and VOILA , pure decadent HEAVEN!

Eric and I even think it gives the Cheesecake Factory's Godiva chocolate cheesecake a run for it's money. It also is way cheaper to make an entire one. If you want to know the exact recipe let me know, I promise it won't dissappoint(unless you HATE chocolate, as if)!

Yummy Food!

Homemade Crescent Rolls

My kids are huge bread kids, but rolls and bread are starting to creep up in price, so I've been attempting my own bread making. These are so good and were snarffed up at dinner.

Here's what you need:

2 c warm water 2 T yeast 1/2 c oil 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs 2 tsp. salt 5-6 c flour 1/2 c powdered milk and softened butter.

Mix water and yeast and let sit for 5 min. Add remaining ingred. except softened butter and mix well. Allow to rise 45 min. then punch down and let rise 45 more min. Break into 2 equal parts and roll out into circles. Spread softened butter on them and then with a pizza cutter cut into 8-12 slices. Roll up the triangles and stick the point part on the bottom of the roll. Place on cookie sheet and bake @ 400 degrees for 10-14 minutes. YUMMY!

These are shredded pork soft tacos. The recipe is suppose to be exactly like Cafe Rio's tacos.

Shredded Pork
5 lbs. of boneless spare pork ribs(I didn't have a pork roast)
12 oz can of Dr. Pepper
1/2 c of fresh cilantro cut up
Frank's Red Hot Sauce( I went around the crock pot about 3 times)
1/2 c brown sugar
2 15 oz tomato sauce

Put all in crock pot and cook on high for about 6 hours and then shred! DELICIOUS!

Ranch Cilantro Salsa
This goes with the tacos and is yummy and we even like it with chips too!

1/4 c sour cream
1/4 c mayo
packet of ranch seasoning
1/2 bunch of cilantro-stems and all
salsa verde green salsa (8 oz can)
clove of garlic
hot sauce

Throw it all in blender and blend it up! YUMMY salsa!



Lemon Cream Cheese Filling King Cake!

Mardi Gras anyone? My kids love any holiday they can celebrate and have a party, so I made them a king cake on Fat Tuesday. It was devoured by them all! I got the recipe off of Rhodesbread.com They have a lot of fun recipes I would love to try.

So there you go some fun, and tasty, easy recipes. Try one, try them all. I guarantee you'll enjoy them. Have fun baking, cooking, and throwing small parties for your kidlets. They'll be all grown up too soon and then you'll wish you had them all little again.

Kisses and Hugs!

On the third day of Valentine's I made my true loves...

kisses and hugs cupcakes filled with chocolate raspberry surprise candy meltaways. They were BLISSful!

Here's just a couple of cute little pics of Bella flashing her gorgeous smile at mommy.
This is one of her favorite toys. She plays with it everyday, all day long. The other toy in the picture(the musical stacker) is her other favorite toy. If you just want to quiet her down and keep her busy for awhile you just need to put these two toys in front of her!

Going in for the tasty bite! She's teething on everything she can get her mouth on!

Day 2 for my true loves!

On the 2nd of Valentine's I gave my true loves...

homemade oreo truffles.

Don't these look scrumptious! They are, just let me tell you!

(Jenny, while making these I was thinking of you) Pure oreo cookies mixed with cream cheese and then dipped in chocolate-PURE HEAVEN!

Trying New Things!

So this lovely three day weekend was one filled with trying out new concoctions I've had in my head. I tried making more chinese food and I put a spin on a cake recipe and pie recipe.This is my beef and broccoli and it was scrumptious-dilly-umptious!
Lemon meringue cupcakes. I made cupcakes(lemon and used lemon juice in the batter instead of water)and filled them with lemon filling and then a dollup of meringue. They were a huge hit!
Black Forrest cupcakes! Umm umm GOOD! These are devils food cake with a cream cheese filling layered with cherry pie filling and then topped with whip cream, a cherry, and mini chips. These also were a huge hit!

I just love when ideas in my head actually turn out when I make them. I had a good baking and cooking weekend. I love when I get the time(all thanks to the hubby for keeping an eye on the kidlets)to enjoy one of my passions.