Cinnilla (Cinnamon Vanilla) Drop Biscuits

This morning I woke up and realized something... I really need to go grocery shopping! We are out of just about every staple breakfast food except for milk and the kids are starving, time to get creative!

"Homemade" Box Mix Cupcakes

My nephew graduated from the 8th grade over the weekend (woo-hoo! Congrats Tyler!) and of course there was a party to celebrate. Along with parties come cakes, or in this case, cupcakes!

Sock Monkey Cake

We were originally going with a completely different theme for C's first birthday. When I was having trouble finding things to match it, I decided I should rethink my options. There were only two weeks until the party when I finally decided on the sock monkey theme. He had received an adorable sock monkey bib for Christmas from my Aunts that he could wear and the colors were pretty easy to match. Now what to do for the cake...

Bunny Butt Cake- Lemon Coconut cake

This year for Easter I was asked to make a cake since some extra family was going to be in town for the weekend. My Mother-in-law suggested a coconut cake and then my Sister-in-law pointed this cake out to me and I thought it was so cute that I just had to try it!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Wow! What a crazy beautiful weekend we just had! The weather has been nothing short of fantastic! In fact, it has been so wonderful that I chose to enjoy the weather instead of keeping up with my blog! (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Easy Irish Soda Bread

One of my favorite holidays, St. Patrick's Day... a time for all things green, Irish dancing, BEER, corned beef and cabbage, and one of my favorites... Irish soda bread!

Pear Tart

I make sure to grab a newspaper every weekend. I should probably just get it delivered to the house... some day. Anyways, with the paper comes Parade magazine. Every week, you can  find a different recipe in the back of the issue. The recipe a few weeks ago was for a pear tart. What do you know? I got a tart pan for Christmas that I've been dying to use! Now if only I had someone to make it for.

Crockpot Parmesan Chicken With Orzo

We have been eating a lot of chicken lately and I THINK I've been doing a pretty good job of mixing up the recipes so it doesn't seem like we are eating the same thing every night. We have eaten it baked, grilled, sliced on sandwiches, shredded on tacos...etc. I found yet another recipe that was unlike anything we had done so far in the last few weeks. Extra bonus- it was a crockpot recipe! (Time saver)

Lucky Charms Treats

 

St. Patrick's Day is this weekend and in order to start the week off right, I decided to make a treat. We had L's friend over today so I picked something easy so the boys could help me. I was thinking rice krispie treats and then it dawned on me that there is a cereal that is perfect for this holiday...LUCKY CHARMS! Instead of rice krispie treats, we made lucky charms treats! :)

Spaghetti Pie

I grew up eating spaghetti. We probably had it for dinner at least two nights a week. It was cheap, easy, and just plain old spaghetti. Fast forward to married life where I'm lucky if I can get my husband to eat a noodle, let alone a bowl of spaghetti with red sauce. Because of this, I've been searching for a recipe that we can all enjoy as a family that is as comforting, easy, and inexpensive as a bowl of spaghetti. I think I've just found it!

Herbed Rotisserie Chicken Salad On Toasted Brioche

We had a rotisserie chicken from Costco for dinner earlier in the week. Best deal around! We always have leftovers when we buy one of those huge, ready to eat rotisserie chickens, so it's a good thing that re-purposing it is a cinch! We decided to go with chicken salad for our second round of juicy bird. I made a homemade loaf of Brioche (Which, by the way, turned out fabulous!) so that we had something to stuff all of that delicious chicken salad between.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

We do a lot of cooking with Mexican inspired flavors. Store bought taco seasonings for us are always hit or miss and for some reason, I can never remember what brand we like! Well, I think I just solved this problem!

Fresh Baked 'Easy' Brioche

There is no doubt that baking is one of my favorite things to do. Ask anyone that knows me and they will tell you about the sweets and treats that come out of my oven. Every once in awhile I like to bake fresh bread as a special treat. I absolutely love fresh baked bread. Nothing compares to the taste and on top of that, it makes your house smell wonderful! 

Minnie Mouse Cake and Cupcakes

When I heard that there was going to be a Minnie Mouse party for my niece's 5th birthday, the gears in my head started turning. I love the challenge of finding great cakes to make and figuring out creative ways to decorate!

Baked Chicken and Savory Herb Waffle Sandwich

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing husband! He is the love of my life and the inspiration for a lot of the food I make. He is the one who got me interested in cooking outside the box and for that I am indebted to him. Love you babe!

Wow! All I can say is wow! Okay. That's not true. I may actually have more words to try and describe the deliciousness that was this sandwich.

Mini Fondant Bows (Minnie Mouse)

My niece is having a Minnie Mouse birthday party this weekend and I offered to make the cake. My sister-in-law decided to do a cake and cupcakes. We came up with a cute way for the kids to decorate their own Minnie Mouse cupcakes.  They will already be frosted and ready to go. The kids will each add the ears (mini Oreos) and a bow.

Simple Crockpot Shredded Fiesta Chicken

Isn't it a great feeling when you know you have just created something wonderful and it only took two ingredients! In my mind, on the first day that I made this, I thought I was totally onto something. I threw 2 ingredients into the crockpot, let them cook all day, and voila! A delicious dinner was served. Little did I know that I, in fact, did not create anything at all. This recipe (if you can even call it that) had been around for who knows how long and all it took was the good ole internet to burst my bubble.

Garlic Spinach Pasta With Baked Chicken Bacon Meatballs

Last night I found myself standing in my kitchen trying to figure out dinner, again. It's a never-ending job, but somebody has to do it! After taking a brief inventory of our food supplies, I knew I wanted to do something with the GIANT bag of spinach that I bought at Costco last weekend. Pasta sounded like a good idea. There was a recipe on the back of the bag for garlic spinach to serve as a side dish. I decided I would make that and mix it in with some pasta and maybe add in a few other ingredients.

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pie Cookies

Who remembers those Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies from their childhood? I remember thinking they were the greatest things ever! Finding a special treat like that in my lunch box was always a nice surprise. (BTW- thanks Mom, for all that you did and all that you still do!) Since I now do a lot of baking I cringe at the thought of the processed, mass produced cookies. But why couldn't I make a homemade version? Turns out I can! And they are delicious.

Healthy Breakfast "Cookies"

 This recipe has been circling like crazy on Pinterest. I figured I should just try them to form my own opinion. They are easy to make and contain things that can be found in an ordinary pantry.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

 

My husband sent me the link to this recipe over a month ago saying that I should try it....on a night when he was going to be eating his favorite frozen pizza. (He's not a fan of cauliflower.) It looked interesting to me, but I kept putting it off and putting it off. One day last week, while cleaning out my e-mail inbox I came across the recipe again and decided I was just going to make it. The next day I went to the store and got a giant head of cauliflower.

Green Monster Smoothie Project

After seeing these green monster smoothies all over the Internet, I decided I would give them a try. They are packed full of all natural ingredients so it can't be that bad, right? The spinach and kale used in these recipes were the two things that made me nervous to try them. Turns out they aren't half bad. Kind of good, actually! Who knew. You really have to find the right flavor/texture combo to suit your tastes. A little trial and error is the easiest way to do that. I told myself I would give these a one week trial period. Here is what I made!

Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

First and foremost, I LOVE my crockpot! Today was the first day in awhile that the weather was beautiful! I'm glad we got out and enjoyed it since tomorrow's high is going to be 25-30 degrees cooler than today's was. I had planned to make a crockpot meal one day this week and I think I picked the perfect day to do it!  We were out until dinner time and it was so nice to walk into the house to the smell of dinner already cooked!

Simple Weeknight Grinders

I'm a stay at home mom and I have been searching for simple weeknight dinner recipes that we can just decide to make at the last minute because frankly, I don't always remember to plan dinner. Hey now, don't judge me. You know you have been there at some point. Whether it be a baby who needs your constant attention, a sick child who needs to be pampered, a toddler who decides to Spackle the entire living room during your 2 minute shower, or the endless amount of laundry and cleaning that goes along with staying at home, there are always those days where you just can't get dinner planned in advance.

Baked Nutmeg Cake Doughnuts With Cinnamon Glaze

On our last trip to visit my parents, my Mom offered to take us to the Wilton store. When we got there, all of the Valentine's day stuff was 50% off!!! To top off the amount of excitement I was already feeling, my Mom also surprised me by saying that she would buy me something! I was ecstatic!! But what would I buy? After being in the store for about an hour and STILL not making up my mind, I turned and BAM!

Pina Colada Cupcakes

On Superbowl Sunday there was a fun party over at my sister-in-law's house. It doubled as a birthday party for my father-in-law and nephew as well. I was making the chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough cake for my nephew and was trying to think of an "adult" dessert that I could serve for my father-in-law. After a few days of brainstorming with my husband, we decided to go with some tropical inspired flavors. I started researching coconut and pineapple cupcakes. I then had a friend of mine request that I make a strawberry daiquiri cupcake. (I will get around to that eventually) This immediately made a light bulb go on in my head and the perfect idea popped out! A pina colada cupcake is just the sweet treat I had been trying to think of. 

Salted Caramel Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

Unfortunately we live far away from a big portion of our family and friends so they miss out on the majority of little goodies that I make year round. (their waistlines are probably happy that we don't live any closer, though!) When we were just back visiting I decided that they needed a treat and this is what I came up with.... salted caramel chocolate chip cookies. I figured it had been done before so I started doing some research. The first recipe that I came across sounded so good that I decided to just make a few changes and go for it!

Brownie Hearts w/ Raspberry Buttercream and Fresh Raspberries

We were up in Chicago visiting last week and to top off the craziness that comes along with staying in a non child-proofed home for that long, we decided to throw a little Valentine's day lunch date. My mom likes planning parties as much as I do and this one was her idea! It was a very small get together (5 people plus my kids) that just kind of came together perfectly by the end of the week.We brainstormed for a few days and came up with a quick and easy menu that had hardly any prep work.

I 'Mustache' You a Question...Will You Be My Valentine?

Happy Valentine's Day!
Sorry this post is a few days late. I didn't want to ruin the surprise for the people who were getting these in the mail. Not only did this idea make for a great Valentine's day card, it gave me a cute photo to put in the heart frame I made last month and also gave the boys hours of play time! L and his buddy had a play date the day I made the mustaches and they played with them for at least an hour. I sent his friend home with one and I hope he is still getting as much play time out of it as L is! The baby was even interested in them and didn't mind when I stuck one on his face.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

We are leaving for Chicago in just a few moments but I knew I HAD to get this recipe posted before we left. This post will be short, but don't let that fool you, I could talk about this cake all day if I had to. That's how good it was!

Roasted Chickpeas (garbonzo beans)

Crispy, crunchy, healthy snack! Now that's what I like to hear!
I came across this recipe for roasted chickpeas and within a few days my mother-in-law offered me a can a chickpeas that she wasn't planning on using. Coincidence? I think not! While reading through the reviews I realized that the flavoring possibilities were basically endless! I decided to stick with the basic recipe for my first attempt. I did, however, take the advice of one reviewer and use a little bit less olive oil to receive the maximum crunch in the final product.

Thai Spicy Peanut Tofu with Rice Noodles

The boys and I are going out of town next week so we have been trying to use up some of the perishable items that we know Steve won't eat while we are gone. This afternoon I realized there was a package of tofu that I bought two weeks ago and forgot about. I have eaten tofu plenty of times in Thai restaurants but I had never tried to cook with it before tonight.

Spinach Bacon Quiche

Tonight we were lucky that a dinner that didn't consist of frozen pizza made it to the table! The boys and I were out running errands all day -play date, doctor, Target, grocery store- and of course forgot to pull some meat out of the freezer before leaving the house this morning. While starring blankly into the refrigerator trying to figure out something to make, the corner of a red box on the lowest shelf caught my eye. It was a pie crust. At that moment I remembered that my wonderful husband had gotten me a quiche pan for Christmas that I hadn't used yet! I immediately thought to myself, "I'm making quiche!"

Whole Wheat Citrus Moon Cookies with Citrus Glaze

Last night we were invited to dinner at my in-laws. (turkey dinner was delicious by the way, thanks Maureen!) I decided the appropriate thing to do would be to bring some sort of dessert or treat. I love baking and this way I get to try new recipes (without having to eat the whole thing) , have something to blog about, and hopefully, eventually find some great "go to" recipes that I know would be a hit at any gathering.

Pistachio Pudding Pop Hearts

I was looking for a simple sweet snack today and just as I was about to give up, thinking we had nothing in the house, I noticed one lonely box of pistachio pudding hiding behind some spices in my baking cabinet! SCORE!
The thing that really made this an awesome find was that it would be ready in mere minutes. I could taste it already...

Play Dough Balloons

Logan loves to touch EVERYTHING! Based on this observation, I decided to start looking for sensory toys or games that I could make at home. I came across these easy to make play dough balloons while doing some Internet scouring over at Pintrest, again! I followed that blog's link to the original creator of these wonderful Wacky Sacks. When I saw how easy they were to make, I decided to give it a shot.

Heart Frame

I got the brilliant idea to use paint sample cards to do art projects from searching for kids activities on the Internet. I found multiple ideas that I loved, but when Steve came home from the goodwill store with a $2 picture frame that said 'LOVE' in the top corner, I immediately knew what I was doing! With Valentine's day less than a month away, a picture frame covered in hearts seemed like the perfect craft project.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I decided to make this for the first time about 3 years ago. We were living in Chicago on a pretty tight budget and I couldn't get my husband to eat pasta! The only "pasta" he would even think about eating at that point was a package of ramen noodles. To me, someone who had never heard of ramen noodles until I lived on my own for the first time and who ate pasta at least twice a week growing up, this was absurd! I came across this recipe in a cookbook that I randomly picked up at Costco, it's titled Cook Yourself Thin. I guess these woman have a show on Lifetime as well, but I still haven't caught an episode. All I know is that this recipe is what was able to get my husband to start eating pasta! So for that, kudos to the Cook Yourself Thin team! Without further ado, here is the recipe that started it all:

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Steve loves brownies and I was thinking about making some for him this week while he is recovering from his appendectomy. I stumbled across something on the Internet that informed me that today is national peanut butter day. What better way to spruce up a batch of plain, old chocolate brownies then to throw in some peanut butter? So, in honor of national peanut butter day (and a healing husband's love for chocolate/peanut butter things), I give you...

                                                          Peanut Butter Brownie Bites!

Samoas Babies

In honor of girl scout cookies going on sale today, I thought I would try out a recipe that I've been dying to try for some time. They are called Samoas Babies and this super easy recipe comes from, yet again, the Chocolate Covered Katie blog. I think I'm a little obsessed with the healthy twist she puts on desserts!

Egg In a Cup

It's an egg! It's a cup! It's both! It's egg in a cup! Every time I make this for breakfast I automatically start thinking about the episode of Family Guy with ball in a cup: 

"Hey, kids of America, it's hand-painted, wooden Ball in a Cup! Who needs constant electronic video stimulation when there's Ball in a Cup, Mexico's favorite toy for over 340 years! Toss the ball, catch it in the cup, dump it out of the cup, toss it, and catch it in the cup again. The ball is on a string and attached to the cup, so there's no worry if you don't catch the ball in the cup, and clean-up is as easy as catching a ball in a cup! So why spend another day not catching a ball in a cup when you could be catching a ball in a cup?" 

Sara's Mexican Chicken Skillet!

I can cook, but I'm definitely not a chef, nor do I really know how to go about making something if I don't have a recipe to follow. Unless of course it's throwing chicken into the crockpot with a bottle of b-b-q sauce or making a box of macaroni (macky cheese) with some frozen nuggets of some sort for the kids. Now Steve on the other hand, can cook! He can stand in front of the open refrigerator and pantry for a few moments, pick out 5 or 6 random ingredients, and whip up some fancy meal that ALWAYS tastes good! It must be instinct, and I must be lacking some of that.

Tonight however, I am proud of myself! For the first time ever I pulled out some random ingredients and just ran with it. I planned a meal out in my head with what I pulled from the pantry and refrigerator, second guessed myself a few times, swapped a few ingredients, and ultimately made something edible! I'm calling it...

Cookie Dough Dip

Since I first saw this recipe, over a month ago, I have not been able to get it off of my mind. Every time my sweet tooth starts acting up, I think to myself: "Man, I forgot to buy chickpeas again!" I'm sure you are wondering how chickpeas will do anything for my sweet tooth. Well that's where this recipe comes in, Cookie Dough Dip . This is one of the most popular recipes on her entire website, so I figured I better try it first.

Chocolate Banana Frozen Delight

When bananas go brown I throw them in the freezer to save for banana bread. I have been looking for something a little healthier to do with them and I have found it!

If you have a sweet tooth, like me, I would highly recommend giving this a shot. I found this concoction on Pinterest... surprise, surprise. The link that was offered didn't work for me so I'm not sure where this originally came from.  I do however know how insanely simple yet tasty this is.

Biggest Loser Pancakes

First and foremost...Pinterest is addicting!! That being said, I stumbled upon this Biggest Loser pancake recipe during one of my hours of information overload. I was a little nervous to put all of these ingredients into a blender at the same time for fear of what they might come out tasting like. I hate wasting food and 6 egg whites out of my newly bought dozen along with half of the container of cottage cheese AND almost all of what was left of my rolled oats seemed like a lot if this recipe were to fail. But hey, you only live once right? 

Goodbye eggs...

....HELLLLLO Pancakes!!