It's been awhile

Yes, it's been awhile. I've had pneumonia and just haven't felt good! I hope to get back to my creative projects and cooking!! I've started scrapbooking again. It's not as fun as it has been in the past, but I really do want to keep up with it. I love having the books for the years to come.

Pinata Progress

We're making progress on the pinata for Evan's party!! And if I do say so myself, it's turning out SO cute! Brett and I paper mached the little guy today and then it dried so fast, we started with the tissue paper fringe work. Here is the progress thus far!

Wondering if this blog is turning into a food blog?

Ya, well it just might. We'll see. :) Although I am working on some letters right now to go on my mantle for Valentine's Day! Will post when done.

Tonight's dinner, The Pioneer Woman's pork chops! They were tasty! I also made some garlic rosemary mashed potatoes and some steamed zucchini and carrots, lightly salted. My crew gobbled it all up! Here was the deliciousness:

Rainy Days bring on the baking!

In Southern California we really don't get much rain, but when we do, we take advantage of it! There's nothing better than baking on a rainy day! I'd just as soon leave the oven on all today as it heats my house nicely! Another favorite of mine on a rainy day is LAUNDRY! Yes believe it or not, I love doing laundry when it's cold and raining outside. But back to the baking, because that's what I did today.

I've been pouring over recipes in the last couple of weeks. I really have no idea why, but I think because I have been forced to cook all of our meals in an effort to save money by not eating out, I have enjoyed cooking! I typically like it, but I think now I LOVE it! And out of everything, I love to bake. I've come to the conclusion, even though you would never know it by the size of my waistline, that I really do love the process of baking, even more than the results, or the EATING part of the process. I think I just like a good challenge! The sense of accomplishment and pride in creating something for my family and friends to enjoy is so exciting to me!

So today I made snickerdoodles. I haven't made snickerdoodles but once or twice in my adult life. And almost seems like they are a forgotten cookie in the world of sweet goodness. Most people seem to whip up chocolate chip cookies or dare I say roll out those sugar cookies and decorate with sprinkles and frosting. But what about the bazillion other cookies? Mmm...snickerdoodles. I do remember making snickerdoodles with my Grandma Ann. I think there was never a cookie (or sweet) that she didn't like. And the ingredients to a snickerdoodle, you most always have on hand, which is another reason I like them! Easy go to cookie and the payoff is great! My husband, who could pass up a butter cookie any day, even grabbed a hot cookie off the cookie sheet just a few minutes ago! I was quite delighted!! And when asked if they were good, he mumbled, "mmm...ya." That makes for one happy wife here. So thus ends my story of the snickerdoodle, all that buttery goodness, chewy center and crispy outside with that crackling cinnamon sugar. YUM!

So who wants the recipe??

Funny Green Salad

This is a family favorite, but I'm not sure why we call it Funny Green Salad!? Mom, do you know? I think because it's one of those salads where you hear people say, "Ooh, what is in this? This is good!" And the answer is a lot of yummy things!! I'm making this salad for MOMS Together on Thursday. I'm hoping the ladies enjoy it!! Add this recipe to your repertoire and it's sure to not disappoint!

Funny Green Salad

2 heads of curly green lettuce
2 medium apples, cubed
1 medium pear, cubed
4 oz. shredded swiss cheese
bag of craisins or dried cranberries
can of cashews

Dressing

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup cider vinegar
4 T. lemon juice
4 T. chopped onion, finely
1 tsp. salt

Blend everything and slowly
add 1 1/3 cup oil
2 - 3 tsp. poppy seed
blend and chill

Cut recipe in 1/2 for less people

RECIPES...want some?

Since we made the decision to not eat out but once a month now (can you even imagine?), I've been cooking A LOT. And I am starting to enjoy it. I figured I should post some of my most favorite recipes here and ones that I "create." So this one was pretty good. Give it a try! Easy weeknight supper with a lowfat version as well. For amounts, just use what you need for the crowd you are serving. The recipe below made 4 quesadillas which I quartered, so that was quite a bit.

Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients & Directions:
Cooked chicken- about 1.5 cups
Ranch seasoning packet- 1/2 the packet
Cumin- 1 tsp
Salsa- 1/4 cup
*Heat 1 T of vegetable oil in skillet. Add chicken, ranch seasoning and cumin. Stir together and heat through. Add salsa and turn heat to low. Simmer.

Cheddar Cheese- about 1 cup (or as much as you want! HA!)
8 tortillas
Vegetable oil
*Scoop about a quarter of a cup of cheese onto a tortilla. Then add some of the chicken mixture. Then top with another tortilla. Heat up some vegetable oil in a large skillet. Carefully place your quesadilla in the skillet, heat it up, fry it up, YUM! Then flip, careful not to splatter yourself. Take out and drain on paper towels. Continue process. Cut into quarters. Serve with guacamole and sour cream and more salsa!

ENJOY!!!!

***Lowfat Version: Follow the directions above, but instead of frying in oil, either bake on greased cookie sheet or microwave for a faster version. It's all still yummy!

In Search of the Perfect Cake Recipe

So, yes as many of you know if you've been reading my facebook statuses, that I've been in search of the perfect cake recipe. Well I haven't really found it, but one came close even though it is chocolate and I'm not a fan of the chocolate cake. Yes, I know I am crazy, but I'm much more of a vanilla fan! Anyway, here's the recipe:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/dark-chocolate-cake-recipe

Now, onto the vanilla cake I made. Well I wasn't thrilled with it. It is OK, but I'll have to work extra hard on the frosting for it to be a good cake. LOL! I won't post that recipe, because who would want to try it if I said it's not wonderful. HA!

Ok so this is a lot of ramblings, can you tell I'm being distracted by my 3 year old?

So you'll just have to wait for 2 weeks to see the finished result of the cakes! Yes that's right, I made 48 cupcakes for Evan's 1st birthday party. Stay tuned!

YUM

My sis and I were talking about making some letters for our kitchens. She said she was going to do the word EAT and I thought I should do the word YUM because that's a common phrase we use around here. HA! So I tackled the project today. I wanted to somewhat match my kitchen which is in blues and tans, so this is what I came up with. The letters are 8" high and I found some darn cute embellishments to adhere to them. My plan is to hang them right inside my kitchen and then get a black chalkboard to hang below it where I can write recipes on, meals for the day, and a bible verse or two! And of course I'll be on the hunt for a chalkboard that I can embellish the sides!!

Reminiscing on cake

I'm sitting here thinking how I will tackle Evan's cake as I'm reminiscing about the other 2 cakes I've made recently that I'm happy with the results. I know since there is more pressure on me since this is my baby's cake, hoping it will turn out the way I want it too! I have no back up plan. HA! Here are my 2 creations for my "nephews" Benjamin's 4th bday and Eli's 1st bday. They sure were fun to create!

I can make a pinata, sure I can!

Well of course I couldn't find a single elephant pinata I liked enough online, so my creative brain when into high gear and thought, oh yes, I could make one! LOL! Well I shared my idea with my brilliant husband and he decided he was up for the challenge! So far it's looking great. He's making it out of cardboard reinforcing it with packing tape and perhaps staples, although I think hot glue is a better option. I came home today from a trip to the Dollar Tree and I saw he had put ears on it. They were TOO small! He looked a little more like a puppy dog, so I said we have to put larger ears on the poor thing! The next step after securing the parts to the elephant will be putting tissue paper all over it. I'm excited to tackle this part! This is where the CREATIVITY happens! I bought multi colored tissue paper, so he'll be a blue elephant and then I'll try and make him look dressed up with other colors. We'll see how he turns out and I promise after the party, to post pictures!

Baking Frenzy

This past week I have really been into baking! We're getting ready for Evan's 1st birthday party in a couple of weeks and as usual, I'm going all out! We're having both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and I'll be using a store bought frosting even though the cakes are both from scratch. For the frosting I want to swirl 2 colors and then pipe with a large star tip. I think it will make for a really cool affect! Then I've cut out small Indian elephant clipart and hot glued a tooth pick to each to act as a cupcake pic. Each one is going to have a jewel on it. Should be really cool when I finish! Also can't forget Evan's smash cake. The plan is to cover it with icing and then make an Indian elephant cake topper out of fondant. Soo hoping this turns out cute!! So I'll have a of work ahead of me, the week after next when I frost about 48 cupcakes, make Evan's smash cake and decorate the 58 elephant shaped cookies I made! I wish I could do that now! I'm ready for the challenge!