Birthday Cake

My son asked for a Star Wars cake, and this is what I ended up doing.  He was so excited.

Candy Cane Cookies

These are so much fun and didn't last long at my house.  Its really simple to do first make a batch of your favorite sugar cookie recipe I used this one here.  

When you get to the step where you put the dough in the fridge and chill it divide the dough in half.  I colored one of the batches red (I used gel food coloring).

I used a loaf pan and lined the pan with saran wrap.  Then broke off a chunk of dough flattened it then squished/flattened it against the side of the pan.  Then continued alternating colors until I was out of dough.

 I would pull up the saran wrap and use that to help flatten the dough and squish it together.  When I was done with that I chilled it in the fridge for the time the recipe called for.

 When the dough was ready I cut off a slice of the dough block and then cut out my candy cane.

 There was room in the leftovers of the slice to make candy sticks as well.

 Bake as directed.

Mini Chocolate Creme Pies

This was so easy and yet so much fun.  My husband and I were grocery shopping and found a 6pack of mini graham cracker crusts we immediately thought these would be fun as chocolate creme pies.  We made the filling by the directions on the chocolate pudding box, then added cool whip topping and mini chocolate chips for fun.  The kids thought these were so cool!!  They are the perfect size for you to just pull one out of the fridge and enjoy by yourself.  

Monkey cake

Earlier this month my little guy turned two.  We call him a little monkey so I made him a monkey cake.  I used a round cake pan, and a small mini cheesecake pan to bake the cake in.  Then I cut the small circle in half and used that as the ears.

Pocahontas cake

It was my daughter's birthday last month and she wanted a Pocahontas cake.  So I found a picture online and used it as a guide to create this.

Mini Taco Salad Bowls

I started making a different meal and it kind of morphed into this. 

  I used mini spring form pans to make tortillas into a bowl shape.  I then put them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 8minutes until golden brown.

 

While the tortillas were in the oven I browned, drained and taco seasoned a pound of ground beef.

 

 

In a large mixing bowl I combined 2 heads of chopped romaine lettuce, one can of black beans rinsed and drain, one chopped tomato and 1/2 cup of corn.

 

Then I put everything together in the tortilla bowl and added shredded cheese.  My husband loved it.

Homemade Fruit Snacks

So I have been seeing this all over pinterest for homemade fruit snacks.  I found that it looked really easy so I tried it, the recipe is here.  My kids, and husband loved them.  I thought that they were good but tasted like really stiff jello jigglers.

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

For Christmas my parents gave us an ice cream maker.  It has been used a lot lately and we are having way too much fun with it.  This is our latest creation with it.  My husband loves cookies and cream ice cream so we had to make some.

We found a recipe and then made some changes to it and love it.  Here is our take on the recipe:

Print Here

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

2 cups half-n-half
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar, divided
3 tsp vanilla extract
5 egg yolks
10-15 crushed cookies depending on how much you want


In a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat, whisk together the half-n-half, milk, half of the sugar.  Bring the mixture just to a boil.

While the cream mixture is heating, combine the yolks and remaining sugar in a medium bowl.  Beat until mixture is pale and thick.

Once the cream mixture comes to a slight boil, whisk 1/2 of the hot mixture into the yolk/sugar mixture.  Then return the combined mixture to the saucepan.  Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture constantly over low heat until it thickens slighty and coats the back of the spoon.  This mixture must NOT boil or the yolks will overcook-the process should only take a few minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight.  Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker according to its directions.  When the ice cream is almost done add the crushed cookies to mix it into the ice cream.  When done transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. 

Butterfinger Cookies

Happy 4th of July!!!  I hope that everyone has a great day celebrating with family.  I just had to share these really quickly.


I found these on Pinterest.  The recipe can be found here.  These are some of my new favorite cookies!!!

Lemon Blueberry Bread

I found this recipe for lemon bread and decided to stir in some blueberries, since I'm trying to empty my freezer out since we are moving in a couple of weeks.  It was so yummy!!!

Birthday Cake: Baseball and Bat

These are the cakes that I made for my son's birthday party.  The bat was his smash cake and everyone else enjoyed the ball.  I covered them with fondant just like I have done previously here and here and here.

Homemade Brown Sugar

We ran out of brown sugar this weekend and we didn't want to run to the store.  So I looked up if we could make it ourselves it was incredibly easy and it tasted much better then the store bought.

It's a cup of sugar to a tablespoon of molasses.

Stir until it is mixed completely.  You might get a little nervous that it isn't working part way through but it is just keep stirring.

There you have yummy brown sugar!!

Birthday Cake for my Girl

It was my daughter's birthday yesterday.  Here is what her cake looked like she loves the movie Tangled.  I'll share later my story of putting it together but she loved it.

Chicken Salad Pitas

With the days starting to feel like summer this has been a new favorite that I have made the last couple of weeks.  Its been nice because I have been making it during my son's afternoon nap and then it can chill in the fridge until dinner time.

I mix together:

1/2 head of chopped lettuce

2 chicken breasts cooked and cubed

1/4c miracle whip (or mayonnaise)

4 slices of bacon chopped

pepper to taste

I then let it get cold in the fridge until dinnertime.  I put the filling in pita's and we enjoy.  This makes enough for 3 whole pitas with a generous amount of filling.

Strawberry Shortcake

So the other day I decided to dress up our strawberry shortcake.  After making whipped cream I cut the angel food cake into small chunks and then proceeded to make layers in our "root beer float" cups.  It was a fun change and made the dessert feel a little more elegant.

Cinnamon Rolls

So I found this recipe  to make Texas Roadhouse rolls.  I tried them out and they were great! It wasn't quite like Texas Roadhouse but they were still delicious.  My husband wanted me to try to make into cinnamon rolls and so I did they are amazing!!!  I followed the recipe the same just when it came to shaping the dough I rolled them into cinnamon rolls. I followed the cooking time as well.

Strawberry Tart

My husband started a tradition a couple of years ago on Valentine's Day he will make me dinner.  This year was no different.  He is a great cook!  I just had to share the dessert with you all!

Strawberry Tart

1/2batch of Sugar cookie dough
1pkg cream cheese softened
1/3c sugar
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1pkg fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4c white chocolate chips
1/4tsp vegetable oil

Cookie dough recipe:
3c flour
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1c butter softened
1 1/2csugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Prepare cookie dough by first combining the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Then in another large bowl beat sugar and butter until fluffy, reduce speed and add eggs and vanilla until blended then add flour mixture until blended.  Divide dough into 4 quarters flatten each into a disk and wrap in plastic then refrigerate a few hours.

When ready to make tart use two of the disks from the fridge.  Preheat oven to 350degrees.  Grease a pizza pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray then press the dough into a circle.  Bake 18-20min until golden.  Cool completely.

While the cookie is cooling beat cream cheese until smooth then add sugar and vanilla.  Beat until fluffy.  Spread over cookie.

Arrange the strawberries on the tart.  Microwave the white chocolate chips and oil in a small bowl until it can be stirred smooth, be sure to use small amounts of time in the microwave.  Then drizzle over berries.  Store the tart in the fridge until its ready to be served.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

So I made these cupcakes the other day and they were gone fast.  For the cupcakes I used a strawberry cake mix but the frosting was a new recipe.  My husband and I fell in love with it.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

2oz unsweetened chocolate...melted and cooled
3 3/4c powder sugar
1/2c butter
3-4T milk
1 tsp milk

Directions

Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate in small amounts of time stirring in between times.  (I did about every 15secs just to be safe)  When melted and smooth allow chocolate to cool.  In a large mixing bowl combine the rest of the ingredients beating for a couple of minutes until it is smooth.  Then add in chocolate until combined well. 

Mint Brownies with a Valentine Twist

I made these delicious mint brownies yesterday using this recipe here from Our Best Bites.  Instead of using green food coloring for the frosting I made the frosting pink for the Valentine season.  My daughter thought it was way cool because they were pink (one of her favorite colors).

Cream Cheese Chicken

This is one of my comfort foods.  We had this often when I was growing up and now when I want something simple and warm to eat this recipe is at the top of my list. Note: The pictures don't show the same amount at the recipe calls for because when I made it this time it was just for me, my husband is on a diet right now as he is training for a half marathon and my daughter doesn't like this.

In your crockpot add a stick of butter, 4-6 chicken breasts (if frozen allow more time) and a ranch dressing seasoning packet.  Cover and turn on high for 4-6 hours.

About a half hour before you want to eat shred your chicken.

Add a package of cream cheese and a family can size of cream of chicken soup.  Cover and allow to soften for a half hour.

 

 

Then stir together when the cream cheese has soften.

Serve over any kind of noodle, usually it is whatever I have on hand and need to use up.  Enjoy

Cream Cheese Chicken

1 stick butter

4-6 chicken breasts

1 Italian/Ranch seasoning packet

1 can family size cream of chicken soup

1 package of cream cheese

Noodles

 

In a crockpot combine butter, chicken, and seasoning packet.  Cover and turn on high.  Cook 4-6 hours until chicken shreds easily.  Then add cream cheese and soup again cover for about 30 minutes.  Stir everything together and serve over noodles.