Mother’s Day

As much as I hate winter, and the fact that we had a snow storm on May 2 which means winter lasted 6 months, I am happy to be back home.  I keep realizing things that I have missed and am glad I don’t have to continue to miss.  One of the most important things in life is family and I am so blessed to be able to spend more time with everyone!

Over Mother’s Day weekend, my Grandma came for a visit!  It was so nice to have 3 generations spending time with each other and getting to celebrate the wonderful women that are in my life!

We started Mother’s Day off with church.  My sister and I then went on a run, and we had a great brunch afterwards.  In the afternoon, we headed over to Canvas and Chardonnay.

What is Canvas & Chardonnay, you might ask??  It’s the combination of drinking and painting!    Drinking isn’t mandatory, but you sure can if you want…

I had heard about it on Facebook, and kept thinking it sounded like fun, but a little intimidating since I’m not super artistic.  When I found out my sister had signed us all up, I was pretty excited but a little reserved due to my insecurities.

However, when we got there, the owners really made us all feel super welcome and comfortable.  They were great encouraging us and willing to help out in a non-judgemental way, letting us paint and throw our own personalities into it!  They did step-by-step instructions and made it incredibly easy to follow along.

We had a really great time and can’t wait to do it again!!  If you have something like this in your town or live in Rochester, MN, I definitely recommend it.  It was a wonderful experience and I had a blast!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Well, I turned 29 a few weekends ago…  I don’t know why people worry so much about getting older.  I look at it as an opportunity, it’s another year to work toward an accomplishment or it’s a time to reflect, to look back and know that you achieved something in the last year!  It’s so exciting to see the way your life changes and how you evolve.

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your  years.

Abraham  Lincoln

In the last year, I have (with the help of the hubby by my side):

–moved across the country

–broadened my career working with kids with Autism and loving every minute of it!!!!

–ran 2 15Ks, a 10 miler, 4+ half marathons, and 1 marathon

–went to Disney World, Sea World, Discovery Cove & Universal Studios

–met wonderful people along the way and reconnected with friends back home

I can’t wait to see what next year brings!!

How did I celebrate?

I ran the Get in Gear Half Marathon    Some people say I’m crazy, but I thought it would be nice to accomplish something on my birthday.  I realize I’ve already ran plenty of half marathons, but for some reason running a race on your birthday is somehow different.

What a beautiful day it was too!  There’s nothing like being outside for a run on a gorgeous day   I was blessed to have my husband and mom come see me run, as well as one of Matt’s cousin who met us at the finish line!!!

The day before the race I headed to the Mall of America to get my packet, and to hang out and relax before the race

Before running, fashion stores would always catch my eye… not anymore; I see a running store and make a bee line!!!   Super glad I made that bee line because I found Lululemon!  I didn’t realize what store I was in, until I had purchased my clothes and looked at the receipt.  The store only had the logo over the door and I didn’t have a clue as to where I was.  I had heard of Lululemon before but never thought to shop there.  So glad I found this store, cause I got some super tanks!

This is their Practice Freely Tank, I bought it in green, blue and yellow (in size 4, and seems to be the perfect size for me) :)  They are super comfortable and airy.  I have noticed that the tank part will stretch out a little, however the sports bra part stays nice and snug!

After the race, we headed home and got ready for a friend’s surprise birthday party!!  It was a 1920′s theme, murder mystery party   How exciting??  It was a very fun night, and a great way to celebrate!!

Yet Another Snow Day = Yet Another Bake Day

So we had a snow day in April and another today, it’s May 2nd…  Seriously MN????  I am seriously considering moving back to FL   It’s funny, over the weekend it was 75* and sunny.  Gorgeous weekend, just absolutely beautiful!!!!!!  And now it’s snowing…

I found these memes on Pinterest and thought I’d share:

If we are going to have winter 8 months out of the year, we need to have a sense of humor, right?  :)  I have decided I’m not putting away any of my winter clothes, you don’t know when winter ends or begins; always be prepared

Anyway, since we had the day off from work, I thought I would make something for my co-workers.  I made a status on Facebook stating as much and one of my co-workers commented: Did you know that sometimes we just pretend to close but we all go in? That way we get treats the next day. Clever huh?

I wouldn’t be surprised…  they love free food and goodies and they know I’ll make something if we have a Snow Day

So what did I make, you might ask?

S’more Puppy Chow & Lemon Rice Krispie Bars!!!!!!  Both were absolutely wonderful and delicious!!  I made a few changes and here are my versions:

S’more Puppy Chow

1 box Golden Graham cereal

1 bag mini Marshmallows

1 bag chocolate chips

Powdered Sugar

In large bowl (or 2 medium bowls ; try to use bowls with lids, otherwise use gallon size ziploc bags), combine cereal and marshmallows.  In microwavable bowl, melt chocolate according to package; pour over cereal mixture and coat well.  Sprinkle powdered sugar over top, snap on lid and shake!!!!!!!!!

It’s so good, and super addictive; try not to eat it all!

Lemon Rice Krispie Bars

1 box Rice Krispie cereal

1.5 bags mini marshmallows

4-6 TBSP butter

1 box lemon sandwich cookies, crushed

2 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP lemon zest

Lemon Frosting (optional)

1. In large stove top pan on low heat, melt butter and marshmallows.  Add lemon juice and zest.

2.  Mix in cereal and cookies (I like to mix it while on the stove cause it stays hot and it’s easier to mix).

3. Press mixture into sprayed 9×13″ pan (I always spray my hands so the bars don’t stick to my hands ).  When cooled, spread frosting over top if you want and enjoy!!!

This morning I took Melvin outside… When the snow is much taller than you, it can be rough.  He peed right outside the house and when I tried to take him futher out, he hid under my car

 You know, even though it’s May it’s really pretty out!

Hoppy Easter!!

Hoppy Easter!  (see what I did there?  betcha never heard that one before ).

I decided to try out a few new things for this year’s Easter!  Just to warn you, I tried out a lot of new things, and therefore this post is a little long….

Permanent Marker Eggs!  I saw on pinterest an idea to use permanent markers to decorate eggs.  Duh, why didn’t I think of that sooner.  Not going to lie, I’m not a huge fan of getting dirty and dyeing eggs isn’t always the cleanest… So I opted for the cleaner version

Buffalo Chicken Dip: This is not new to me, however it was new to everyone else at Easter.  It’s so addictive and I love it; it’s probably one of my favorite appetizers/dips! Because of the amount of people at Easter I made 1 1/2 Xs the regular amount… and like majority of my recipes, this can be adjusted per your liking (Buffalo sauce, ranch and cheese amounts can vary).

2- 8oz. pkgs. Low Fat Cream Cheese, softened

1 C. Fat Free Greek Yogurt

**you can replace all the cream cheese for Greek Yogurt, do half and half but there should be 24 oz. of some kind of creamy substance… you choose **

1/2-3/4 C. Buffalo Sauce

1/2-3/4 C. Ranch dressing

2 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

2-4 cans shredded chicken

Mix everything together and either, throw into a crockpot on low for 30-60 minutes or oven at 350* for 30 min (and honestly it tastes good cold as well! ).  Serve with Chips, Celery, Crackers, etc

Carrot Cake Puppy Chow (or muddy buddies for those of you who don’t live in the Midwest… ).  Can you say ADDICTING??????  I’m not a huge Carrot Cake person but this was fantastic!!!!  I found a few different ways of making this on Pinterest and decided to make it my way

1 box Chex Cereal

3/4 bag White chocolate chips

1/2-3/4 C. Carrot Cake mix

Melt chips, pour over cereal, shake in cake mix!  Easy and delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bunny Cookies:

Aren’t those the cutest??? I was so proud of myself for coming up with this!  First I made the ears (because you need to put them on the cookie AS SOON as they come out of the oven, I learned that the hard way, which is why only a few turned out…)

Ears

Marshmallows (cut diagonally)

1/4 C. Sugar + 2 drops Pink food coloring = colored sugar

Place Marshmallow, cut side down, in sugar.

And Voila… Ears!!

Sugar Cookie

3 1/2 C. flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 C.butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350* and prepare a cookie sheet.

2. Cream together, butter and sugar; add egg and vanilla.  Mix in flour and baking powder until combined.  Use a cookie scoop, use about a scoop and a half to form the dough into balls.

3. Place onto cookie sheet and flatten slightly (if they are too thin it’s hard to smoosh the m&m eyes/nose on and the ears).  Bake 8 min. (and no longer, and I mean it… second mistake was cooking them longer cause they seemed too soft, well soft is what you want when smooshing things into cookies ).

4. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven, gently press ears, eyes and nose into cookies.  The marshmallows will melt nicely and adhere to the cookies   Leave on cookie sheet to cool, then gently remove and ENJOY!!!!

Better-than-you-know-what Carrot Cake:  I found a couple of recipes online for this, but after reading the ingredients, I decided I didn’t like them and made up my own…  there might be a pattern with me and recipes

1 box Carrot cake mix

1 can diet Cream Soda (or any diet clear pop)

**you can either make the cake with pop or just make like you normally would with eggs, oil and water**

Sugar Free Caramel Topping

Toffee bits, divided

Sugar Free Orange Marmalade (optional)

Cool Whip Cream Cheese frosting

1. Mix together cake mix and pop and bake according to package. Let cool approximately 5-10 min. (however, if you forget and walk away for a long period of time, have no fear it’s not going to ruin the dessert ).

2. Poke holes in cake, spread orange marmalade over top.  Drizzle caramel topping over top and then sprinkle with toffee bits.  Allow cake to cool completely.

3. Carefully, spread frosting over top (I often put dollops around the cake and then spread together…).  Drizzle with more caramel and sprinkle with remaining toffee bits.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!!!

Another Snow Day = Another Bake Day

I am so over winter!!  I wouldn’t mind winter if it only went from December til February… but in MN it doesn’t.  Winter can be anywhere from October til April (true story, my 21st Birthday, it was sleeting… it’s at the end of April).  I’m not completely against Winter, I just don’t believe in it lasting too long.  And by now it has completely out-stayed its welcome…  It’s the middle of March for goodness sakes!!!!!!!

Anyway, enough negativity…  the day off provided me with time to bake some goodies for my fabulous co-workers!

I decided on:

 Butterfinger Blondies, Chocolate Toffee Blondies & Sugar Cookie Bars

Drooling Yet??!!!!?    And, I made it all in under 2 hours, prep and bake times!

Butterfinger Blondies

2 1/4 C. flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 C. butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

2 1/4 C. light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 bag bite-sized Butterfingers, crushed (I found a resealable bag, but if you can’t find that… use a half bag of fun-sized)

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan.

2.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3.  In a medium bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, combine butter and brown sugar.

4.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth.

5. Stir in flour mixture and crushed butterfingers; spread in prepared pan (I sprayed my hands with Pam to flatten into pan)

7.  Bake 30-35 minutes, or until the bars are a bit firm to the touch. Cool completely before cutting into bars. (I had to bake mine for 35 min., and next time I might even go a little longer).

Chocolate Toffee Blondies

1 2/3 C flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C. butter, softened

1 C. plus 2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3+ C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3+ C. cup toffee bits

**I went ahead and used more of the toffee bits and the chocolate chips, up to you if you would like to stick to the original recipe or add

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a 9×13″ baking dish.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and toffee bits.

4. Press batter into prepared baking dish (once again, I sprayed my hands to press it down).  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

**yeah, I tried a little out of the corner   pretty tasty!!!!

Sugar Cookie Bars

1 C. butter, softened

2 C. sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

5 C. flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 375*; spray a deep cookie sheet (I used a disposable cookie sheet)

2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda. Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined.

4. Press into prepared pan and bake for 10-15 min. or until light-golden and cool completely.  After cooling, spread with frosting and add sprinkles (if you wish)!

Happy Snow Day!!!   Enjoy these fabulous treats!  I have to say that the Sugar Cookie Bars are my favorite, but they are all pretty good!

Freezer Meals for Matt: Meatloaf Cupcakes

Not going to lie, I’m not quite as excited about this one as I was about the others…  Meatloaf isn’t a favorite thing of mine to begin with but thought I should change it up a little for Matt, so here it goes…

The original recipe is from Proud Italian Cook, it was a Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf.  I changed it a little cause of freezing, and individual servings…  plus I didn’t want leftover Tomato Sauce… so it’s the same but different

Meatloaf Cupcakes

1 1/2 lbs. ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey… I used turkey cause it was $2 a lb. cheaper…)

1/2 Tbsp. minced Garlic

1/2 onion, chopped

2 eggs

1/2 C. bread crumbs

8 oz. can Tomato Sauce (this is where you can change things, you can use more for a topping if you choose)

1/2+ C. shredded Parmesan, Asiago cheese blend

1/2 Tbsp. parsley

1/2 Tbsp. Basil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375*, prepare baking dish (cupcake pans, bread pans, 8×8″ baking pan)

2. Mix all ingredients together, spoon into prepared baking dish.  Bake 1 hour, when there are 20 min left spoon tomato sauce over top and sprinkle extra cheese on top (if desired).

I know they don’t look all that appetizing, but they smelled really good!   I promise!

Freezer Meals for Matt: Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake

See I told you I do a lot of chicken recipes!

For this one, imagine Spinach and Artichoke Dip, but with chicken and as a meal   You know that sounds awesome!  I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for quite a while, the spinach has been in the freezer for months…  And I finally decided to make it yesterday!

The original recipe is from Add a Pinch, which also has some great recipes!  Anyway, I kept to the recipe fairly closely, not changing a whole lot.  Here’s my version:

Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed and cooked

1 13+ oz. can Artichoke hearts, drained

10 oz. chopped, frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed

1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 C. Greek Yogurt

1/2 C. shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

1 C. shredded Italian blend cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350*, prepare a 9×13″ baking dish.

2. Mix together all ingredients and pour into prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle with cheese if desired and bake for 25 min.

So easy!  Can’t wait to make this again!  If you don’t like Greek Yogurt or prefer a creamier texture, I would switch it out for cream cheese.

For freezing information, see FAQs page.