The Kids Favorite Summer Treat

We've made our fair share of trips to Baskin Robbins, Yogurtland and Jamba Juice this summer. But let's keep it real, I'm not taking the kids out for dessert night after night. The kids love getting ICEEs on Target trips and frozen lemonade when we go to Disneyland.

I was so thrilled when I discovered that they sell ICEE and Minute Maid frozen lemonade cups at the grocery store! What I love even more is that for over a month, Ralphs has sold them for $1/box, which makes each cup just 25¢! That's much better on the wallet and the portion is the perfect size for the kids. (BTW, ICEEs and frozen lemonades are gluten free, but definitely not sugar free!)

What are some of your favorite summer treats?

Posted by Leslie

The Holidays Might Be Over, But the Party Can Continue!

Recently, I've been hearing some interesting ways friends are mixing up the usual dinner party.

A family friend was telling us about a wonderful night she just had when her friend brought over a selection of specialty olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Together they laid out a beautiful spread of bread, cheese, crackers and fruit for dipping. She said it was a refreshing way to enjoy a casual evening. What a perfect idea for when you want to entertain on a lighter scale. I love that you can bring in local vinegars and oils. Be sure to check out your farmers market or the yellow pages for a local store or tasting room.

This past weekend, I missed out on a dinner party that my girlfriend had where she asked everyone to bring a bottle of wine in a paper bag. She wanted an easy way to get the party started and people talking and this did it! These experienced wine connoisseurs had a hard time keeping their opinions quiet for the vote. With an amazing and not so amazing selection of wines from $5-$40 they ended up choosing as a favorite Uncorked by Girard Napa Valley, priced at $5.99.

I even love the idea of combining these two concepts and offering up the food tasting while the guests bring the wine. I think it would make for a fabulous cocktail party!

Here are some tips to help get you started....

Tips on hosting an olive oil tasting party from Pottery Barn
http://www.potterybarn.com/design-studio/articles/how_to_host_an_olive_oil_tasting_by_olive_oil_tasting.html

Blind Wine Tasting Party Score Card Printables
http://thingsfestive.blogspot.com/2012/11/wine-tasting-party-ideas.html

Posted by Liz

Starbucks Savings Alert

STARBUCKS SAVINGS ALERT: You can use the code 472 and get $1 off chocolate drinks. I used it on my non-fat mocha this morning and it worked! The sales girl didn't even know:) I think it works until the 21st.

Posted by Liz

Here Come the Reindeer

Thanks to Pinterest and 365 Days of Baking & More, I have now made one of my new favorite holiday cookies:  Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies!

To my surprise and delight, these cookies were really easy to make.  Granted, I did take out several steps in the process by not making the peanut butter cookie dough from scratch and instead using a Betty Crocker cookie mix.  But the results are still the same.  (Not to mention, I kept my sanity!)

I used chocolate pretzels, milk chocolate morsels, and red M&Ms to adorn these darling reindeer friends. The recipe called for red hots for the nose, but I am not a big fan of cinnamon candy.

Put them on a festive tray and, voila! You are ready to entertain!

Have you already started your holiday baking? What new recipes have you made this year?

Posted by Leslie

20% off at Plum District - Today Only

Want to save an extra 20% off the already amazing deals Plum District is offering?  Today only, use the promo code SPOOKY20 at checkout to receive this additionally amazing discount!

Perhaps it is a great time to take advantage of the holiday meat tasting menu.  With this 20% discount, you will pay just $42.40 (deal valued at $129!).

Happy deal shopping!

Candy Corn Cupcakes

I saw these on Pinterest and just had to try making them...yummy Candy Corn Cupcakes!  These cupcakes are perfect for Halloween or even just Fall entertaining.

I am not a big candy corn flavor fan (but I love the color combo), so I made the cupcakes with white cake mix and gave them the candy corn garnish on top. 

Jack-O-Lantern Brownies

Is it me, or does it seem like there is a resurgence of fun and yummy treats now that Halloween is quickly approaching?

With such wonderful inspiration out there, I decided to try a Halloween spin on brownies.  Jack-O-Lantern Brownies to be exact.

I only needed 4 things:

1. 1 box of brownie mix (Let's keep it real, people. Betty Crocker or Pillsbury can make just as good of a brownie as I could attempt to from scratch. But if you would prefer to make brownies from scratch, more power to you!)
2. 13x9 baking dish/pan
3. Pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter
4. Reese's Mini Pieces baking candies

Double Duty Dinners = Easy, Breezy Weeknight Recipeasies!

Having two toddlers, I'm finding I have less and less time to cook except when they are asleep. I like to spend nap time cleaning up around the house and I'm usually exhausted by they time the go to bed. I always have big hopes for dinner when I make my grocery list and then when it comes time for dinner all my plans go out the window and we eat the same thing.

I decided this week to take a look at double duty dinners.  I searched my Recipes file on Pinterest and found two recipes that called for Balsamic Chicken. I thought we'd start with this recipe from Maggie's Bites for Balsamic Chicken and Asparagus and follow up the next night with Multiply Delicious' Balsamic Chicken, Spinach and Tomato Pasta Salad. After reading that the second recipe used Newman's Own Balsamic as the chicken marinade, I took the shortcut and put 6 skinny chicken breasts in that to marinade instead of making my own. I love that both of these recipes require just a few ingredients that I already have on hand.

We just finished the first meal and I loved it, and so did one of my girls. The other one only likes beans, avocados and strawberries, but that is a whole different post. I love that all the extras from meal 1 can be tossed right into menu 2. I went ahead and made the second meal tonight, while I was making a mess in the kitchen. My husband wasn't a fan of the tangy balsamic dressing on the pasta, but I thought it was a great dish to be served hot or cold. It would make a healthy and filling lunch on the go, too.

Meal 1
Balsamic Chicken and Asparagus

Meal 2

Balsamic Chicken, Spinach and Tomato Pasta Salad

Here are some other double duty recipes for cutting down your weeknight cooking.

I love this Honey Garlic Chipotle Flank Steak recipe from She Knows followed by steak fajitas the next night. I can't wait to try this next week.

The crock-pot BBQ chicken found at Stick a Fork in It could be turned into a variety of 2nd night meal options like salad, quesadillas, wraps, pizza or even calzones. This is sure to be a recipe that my husband will love.

Happy Cooking! I would love to know how other moms manage weeknight meals, so please feel free to share your weeknight cooking tips and recipes!

Posted by Liz

Marvelous Meatloaf

While shopping at Costco on Monday, my son spotted meatloaf and said he wanted to make that for dinner.  After reading the nutritional information and seeing it had 580mg of sodium/serving, I decided we would make our own meatloaf.  My son was excited about that because he loves to cook. 

When I came home, I realized I didn't have a recipe for meatloaf.

Pinterest to the rescue. 

I found this amazing recipe from Sweet Treats and More for turkey meatloaf.

What's so amazing about it?

• It needs only a few ingredients
• It takes a short time to prepare
• It's delicious
• Most importantly, it passes the kids' approval test with flying colors (In fact, my daughter asked for seconds and then wanted it for lunch the next day.)

For full recipe details, check out Sweet Treats and More's recipe for Easy, No-Fail Turkey Meatloaf.

(As Sweet Treats and More points out, the picture does not do the meatloaf justice!)

Image from sweettreatsandmore.com

Save $ on Wine, Beer and Booze

Does your grocery store offer discounts on wine and booze?  Mine does!

Ralphs (part of the Kroger company) offers 30% when you buy 6 bottles of wine or spirits.  Other stores in my area do offer 10%, but 30% is much more of a "me likey!"

And besides, why not stock up on booze!?!?!

Go to Bed Hungry

That's what diet and exercise expert from The Biggest Loser, Bob Harper, says to do in his book 'the skinny rules.'

I saw Harper on The Today Show this morning and heard him share that we shouldn't eat less than 3 hours before going to bed.  He claims that going to bed hungry will actually us get better sleep.  Hmm, interesting.  (That's probably why I am so starving right now at 10pm because I know I really shouldn't eat.  It's like fasting for blood work.  On a typical day I can go until 9am without eating and feel fine.  But on days I have to fast to get blood work done, I feel like I am going to pass out by 8am from low blood sugar,starvation, etc.)

Then he said that we should drink a tall glass of water when we wake up in the morning to get all of our organs and digestion going.  He also said that we should drink a tall glass of water before each meal.  I guess that makes sense because the glass of water will help with digestion and help us feel fuller faster...these are rules on how to be "skinny" right?

One other idea I took away from his segment on The Today Show was the 80/20 rule.  I've seen the 80/20 rules surface in many situations, but this is the first I have heard it used when it comes to eating habits.  This rule basically states that you will eat well 80% of the time, but know that you are going to splurge 20% of the time.  And he encourages people to plan their splurges so they have something to look forward to.  This makes sense to me because I have never seen a person change their diet to a specific plan 100% and not eventually abandon the diet or cheat...hello, do you know anyone who is still on the Atkin's diet?  I don't, but know a lot of people that tried it.

These rules sound simple enough and, most importantly, seem like they would maintain good health.  Sounds good to me!

To see all of what Bob Harper had to say on The Today Show, simply click on the video below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What to Do with Day Old Bread...Make Croutons!

A few weeks ago I was left with un-used baguettes of bread and really had no use for them. But I hated the idea of wasting them and it did cross my mind to dip it in peanut butter and jelly like I did in the good ol' days. But this bread was even starting to get too crisp for PB&J dipping.

So I did what I have always wanted to do...make homemade croutons. It was so easy. I looked up homemade croutons on Pinterest and voila! I found this amazing crouton recipe from a Sweet Chef. I followed the recipe and used seasonings I had in my pantry.

It was easier to find the recipe on Pinterest and make it than it was to write this post - that's how easy it was!

These croutons have been great snacks and were wonderful on salads.  As the Yo Gabba Gabba crew likes to sing, "Try it.  You'll like it!"

Source: asweetpeachef.com via Leslie on Pinterest

French Toast Souffle - Yum Yum!

In case you are looking for a fabulous recipe for a shower, brunch or just an amazing breakfast, I have a recipe I tried this past weekend that you are going to love:

French Toast Souffle!!!

I was hosting a Sip and See baby shower and wanted to have something of a pancake/waffle/french toast likeness, but that didn't need a lot of attention.  A friend (thanks, Erin!) shared a recipe that her friend shared with her.  So I am not claiming any sort of creative rights on this one.  I just want to spread the joy and love of a great recipe!

Here it is:


French Toast Souffle

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup maple syrup
French Rolls - 1 package
11-12 eggs
3 cups half and half
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon

Directions:

• In a bowl, microwave butter, cream cheese and syrup until soft - good for it to be "chunky" (you can use more of this mixture to make it extra "gooey" - about 1-1/2 times the amount
• In a bowl, mix together by hand (whisk) eggs, half and half, and vanilla {I recommend whisking together the eggs then adding the half and half and vanilla}
• Tear bread and put into 9x13 baking dish - roughly 1' tears.  Should use 5 or 6 french rolls
• Pour butter mixture evenly over bread
• Pour egg mixture over bread
• Sprinkle with cinnamon
• REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT covered with foil
• Bake for 1 hour @350 degrees or until center of souffle is raised and firm

Serves 10
Provide syrup for guests to drizzle on souffle and ENJOY!

Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies via The Recipe Girl

 I am grateful to The Busy Budgeting Mama for making me aware of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.  Seriously, doesn't reading the words make your mouth water?!?

I was so thrilled to make them for a party last weekend, and they were a huge hit at the party!  As did the Busy Budgeting Mama, I used a box of brownie mix for the brownie base and then used The Recipe Girl's egg-less cookie dough recipe. 

Click here for the full recipe. 

These treats will be great for any upcoming holiday party.  Serving them in festive cupcake wrappers could do the trick.  I was even thinking of adding some red and green sprinkles.  We will have to see what I attempt next.  Oh, but drizzling the chocolate on top is a must.  The chocolate drizzle not only a decorative touch, but it just tied in all the yummy flavors! 

Be sure to check out all the other amazing recipes that The Recipe Girl has to share. 


Images from RecipeGirl.com

Collegiate Cookie

 

I like to bake.  That's not a secret to most that know me.

But every now and again I like to get creative and festive.  So in honor of a get together we are having to watch the USC v. Oregon football game tomorrow night, I made these cookies. 

I don't have exactly the best penmanship and logo know-how, but I give myself an "A" for effort! 

BTW, these are cookies made from the HWTM Frosted Sugar Cookie recipe!

Rapunzel Princess Birthday Party

Like many little girls, my daughter loves princesses, and especially Rapunzel as of late.  (I am sure the movie Tangled has nothing to do with it! Wink, wink!)

Over the summer, she went to a couple of birthday parties where a princess came to the party to entertain and sing to the girls.  My daughter absolutely loved it.

So, a couple of months ago when I saw a great deal on PlumDistrict.com for a princess tea party, I immediately gobbled up the deal.  Creative Arts and Parties for Kids is a Los Angeles and Orange County based party company that offers a wide variety of characters to make your party special.  And what I loved about the Plum District deal was that it included a tea party with the princess of your choice.  It really doesn't get cuter than little girls dressed up as princesses sipping tea (a.k.a. lemonade) and eating tea sandwiches - with Rapunzel, no less!

Up until about a week before the party, I figured I wouldn't decorate much for the party because Rapunzel would be bringing the tea set and the girls would just remain captivated to whatever she did.  But then I saw the cutest and relatively easy to re-create ideas on TinyOranges.com for a Rapunzel party.  So I had to attempt it, right? 

With some purple felt and yellow craft paint from Michaels, the kids, grandma and I got to work on creating the kingdom flags from the movie.  This was actually a fun project that the kids helped create.

While creating a golden sun stencil from the movie required a bit of patience, once the stencil was ready, the painting was really fun, especially for the kids.

Then there was the all-important braid of golden hair.

I used yellow yarn that I also found at Michaels and decided I wanted the braid to be long - 14 feet long to be exact.  Grandma helped me out with putting this one together, too.  She and our staircase baluster kept hold of the yarn while I continued to loop "strands" of hair for the braid.

I will warn you, this braid project did take a little over 2 hours for me.  But I do feel like it was well worth it and such a cute detail for the party.  Not to mention, I loved the idea of re-purposing the braid as a hair bow and clip holder as well as a decoration for my daughter's room.

(Oh, and thank goodness Grandma was in town to help with all these little details!)

Of course, there was my favorite part of the party - the treats!

The dessert menu:

• I found darling princess molds to make chocolate covered pretzel sticks. 
• Chocolate dipped Oreos (with purple chocolate!)
• The best frosted sugar cookies (recipe from HWTM.com)
• Pink cupcakes with purple frosting and purple cupcakes with pink frosting (a request from the birthday girl)

I love me some sweets!

As each girl arrived she was given a sparkly tiara to wear (dollar bin from Target) and directed over to the activity table to color her wanted poster of Flynn Rider.

I figured coloring would be a perfect activity as we waited for all the guests and Rapunzel to arrive.

Once Rapunzel did arrive, she sang with the girls, took pictures with them, played games and them gave them etiquette lessons on having a tea party.  (As much lessons as 3-5 year olds can handle!) 

Then it was on to cupcakes and treats, face-painting, and before we knew it, it was time for Rapunzel to head back to her kingdom and Flynn Rider.  Before she left, Rapunzel even had the girls sign a birthday poster with their hand prints, which was yet another activity for the girls to do while others were getting their faces or hands/arms painted. 

Our Rapunzel from Creative Arts and Parties for kids was great.  The girls were captivated by her, and most important to this mom, they listened to her!  Instead of orchestrating everything for the party during the party, I really got to be an observer, which was sooo nice! 

Luckily, I have a few months until I have to start planning my son's birthday party.  Mad scientist, anyone???

Bad Blender, Bad!

Way back 8 years ago we registered for a blender.  We have used it maybe 8 times in the past 8 years, up until a month ago when I started making shakes for breakfast. 

So, roughly 38 uses, and this is what happens...

(In case you can't tell, the rubber spinning mechanism has been sheered off!)

You've got to be kidding me, Kitchen Aid! 

Needless to say I am going to look for a new blender today.  Any suggestions?  I need to be able to make daily shakes and margaritas every now and then.  That's about it.