7 Wonderful Years

On April 22nd (Earth Day) at 4:42pm SEVEN years ago, I gave birth to precious Baby Ashlan. It was love at first sight!

Ashlan, you have grown into a beautiful young girl, full of the most fun loving personality! We thank God for you every single day!

And thank you God, for giving Ashlan to us. The most amazing blessing!

Wrapped Up Soccer Season

Ashlan's soccer team, the Purple Butterflies, ended their season at 7-2. It was a winning season in many ways! Not only did they win the majority of their games, but Ashlan really came out and surprised everyone. This was her first sport to play. We have honestly never considered Ashlan athletic. She doesn't like to sweat, run, or be told what to do. Yet we needed up putting her on an experienced team (all 1st graders) that had been playing together for 4 seasons already. Ashlan was the new girl on the team. But she came right out, played with lots of determination, and did FANTASTIC! She was aggressive with the ball, confident in herself, and had the passion to succeed. She can't wait to play next season!!! And we, her parents, are still shocked that she did as well as she did.......

The team displaying their new trophies!

The Head Coach complimenting Ashlan on a great season!

Ashlan and Daddy

Ashlan and her coach, who was in fact the most awesome coach!


Way to go Ashlan!!! You did wonderful!

My Top 15 Favorite Indulgences

I was thinking that it would be fun to share with you some of the things that I love to eat when I want to indulge a bit.

Some not-so-great for you eats, drinks, junk food, and make-me-feel-better foods.
The stuff that makes me, well, me.
The skeletons in my foodie closet.

Now for my 15 favorite food indulgences

(in no particular order)

1. Cheese Nachos with Jalapeno's on the side - I'm not talking about cheese nachos that I make or any other household makes. I'm talking about concession stand nachos. Whether it's the ballpark, a concert, or the circus..... If there is a concession stand, I will be in line for the cheese nachos, jalapeno's on the side please.

2. Crab Claws with Cocktail Sauce - The only time I get to devour these is when I spot them in a fancy, hotel buffet line. It's usually when we make reservations for Mother's Day, or Easter, at a nice hotel for the holiday brunch. We don't do this every year, by any means. But when we do, I'm usually very eager to go straight to the buffet and get an entire plate of crab claws with a spoonful of cocktail sauce. I will pay $40/person at these buffets just for a plate of crab claws!

3. Rocky Road Ice Cream - For as long as I can remember, Rocky Road has been my ice cream flavor of choice. Probably less than 5 times/year, I will go into an ice cream shop and order this. And I don't stop at one scoop. I order a double scoop of Rocky Road, each time.

4. Fettuccine Alfredo (with chicken) - I never make this, nor do I ever order it when we go out to eat. It has a ton of calories!!! But we cruise a lot on a particular cruise line and one item they serve at every meal is this. We will go on a 12 day cruise, and I will order this dish every night for dinner. That would explain why I gain major weight on cruises!

5. Sweet Iced Tea - I have a hard time drinking unsweetened ice tea. And I will not drink any flavored tea. But a glass of iced tea at home with a pack of Sweet-n-Low, or Sonic/Chic-Fil-A sweet tea are definitely an indulgence for me. Now I am craving a glass!

6. Lobster - Let me clarify some things here. I will never order lobster in a restaurant. Ever. I do not like it. But I WILL order a COLD lobster roll with mayo at the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, Maine. We go there 1-2/year, and that's the first place we stop.

7. Pizza - this is where you may think I'm a bit odd. When I say an indulgence of mine is pizza, I am ONLY referring to Sbarro Pizza in the mall food court! One slice is all it takes (because their slices are large). My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

8. Fun-Yuns (the chips) - I am not really an onion fan, meaning I won't add onion to my Subway sandwich or hamburger. But I love Fun-Yun chips. Love them.

9. Cotton Candy - blue, pink, purple, whatever color - I'll eat it....ALL! Kroger used to have bags of cotton candy for $1 and I would cave. I'd buy a bag and it would be completely finished by the time I got home! I have to be really careful with cotton candy. It's an addiction.

10. Mojito's (alcoholic drink) - If it is warm outside and I'm on a patio somewhere, I will have/order a mojito.

11. Watermelon - it has to be sweet, juicy, and just right. I'll eat it till I get a stomach ache!

12. Circus Peanuts - you either love these or hate these! Most people I know hate them. Not me. And yes, I can eat a whole bag (followed by a terrible stomach ache) Luckily, I only break down and buy a bag about 3times/year.

13. Tortillas and Queso - only from Taco Cabana. This became my late night snack in college during those all-nighters when I was cramming for a test. In Waco, Taco Cabana was open 24 hrs/day, and I was often there at 2am getting 1/2 dozen tortillas and a cup of queso. Once in a blue moon, I will go through the drive thru of Taco Cabana for old times sake and order this. But I'll be honest - this is the ONLY thing I will order at TC. I have tried other items on their menu before and struck out every time.

14. Ceasar Salad - but I'm picky again with this. Not too much dressing and no anchovies! I'll order this as an appetizer at every restaurant, if they offer it!

15. Homemade Banana Pudding - if you make this for me, you will OWN a special place in my heart FOREVER! The only time I have ever been disappointed in this dish is when they serve it at the hospital Brent works at. Their's is mostly whipped cream with a slight banana taste. But homemade Banana Pudding from a friend - SOLD! I'm never disappointed!

So there you have it. My 15 indulgences! My foodie secrets are out of the bag!

Edible Easter Baskets

I found these Edible Easter Basket treats online and knew I wanted to make them.

The recipe needed cupcake mix, white icing, coconut, green food coloring, candies, pipe cleaners, and ribbon. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I didn't waste any time trying to recreate these baskets myself.

I used a box of regular white cake mix. Follow the instructions to make 24 cupcakes.

I already had jelly beans, duck and rabbit shaped sweet-tarts, and some other small candies on hand. You can obviously choose whatever candies you would like to place into your cupcake basket.

Place a handful of coconut into a zip lock bag, along with several drops of green coloring gel. Shake the bag to mix the coconut and gel for your Easter Basket grass.

Kate was more than eager to help me with this fun recipe

Once your cupcakes have cooled, frost around the edges. I took a container of white frosting and scooped it into a zip lock bag. Cut a corner off of the zip lock bag and slowly squeeze the frosting out through that corner. Then place your green coconut grass in the center. Cut one pipe cleaner in half, bend it and stick each end into the cupcake. Place your candies on the grass and tie a small ribbon on the pipe cleaner..

So fun to make and even better to eat!

Rainbow Treats

My neighbor introduced me to making Krispie Treats using Fruity Pebbles! Not only do they make for a colorful treat, but if you prefer Gluten Free foods, Fruity Pebbles are!

You make them the exact same way, just swap the Rice Krispies cereal for Fruity Pebbles!

Definitely a colorful treat!

And of course, I ate a few myself!

Grilled Cheese

Did you know that April is Grilled Cheese month? Well, neither did I. But I just found out and I thought I'd share the excitement with you! I grew up on grilled cheese sandwiches, typically just your buttered bread grilled on the stove with a slap of cheese in the middle. And as I grew older, I eventually added a tomato slice in between the bread as well! It was a simple sandwich and I loved it!

Check out this gallery of recipes for the grilled cheese sandwich! They are much more now than a slap of cheese in between grilled bread!

Fresh from the Garden

We had some friends stop by last night and they brought with them fresh lettuce and green onions from their garden. Now THAT is a treat! I really wish I had my own garden. The only thing edible I've grown before is strawberries (and the bugs devoured them before I did)

Look at this lettuce though! Biggest leaves I've ever seen!

I didn't want to tear up the leaves for a salad, which was actually the first thought that popped into my mind. As I thought about it more, how could I NOT make chicken lettuce wraps! I wouldn't have to tear up the leaves AND the recipe I found called for green onions, too! Double bonus!

CHERRY CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

2 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp minced fresh garlic root

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp teriyaki sauce

1 tbsp honey

12oz dark sweet cherries, pitted and halved

1.5 cups shredded carrots

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1/3 cup toasted and chopped almonds

12 leaves of lettuce

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in lg skillet over med heat. Add ginger and chicken and saute until cooked through. Set aside

2. In a lg bowl, mix the cherries, carrots, green onions, and almonds

I chopped my chicken in very fine pieces (like Pei Wei does!)

3. Mix your chopped ingredients with the chicken

4. In lg bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 tbsp oil, vinegar, teriyaki sauce, and honey until mixed well together.

5. Add to mixture and toss together

6. Spoon the amount of the cherry/chicken mixture you want onto the center of your lettuce leaf.

7. Roll up the leaf around the mixture and serve! Yum!

Thank you Jim and Darlene for the fresh ingredients!!!! What a treat!!

Got a box left?

Remember this post, when I showed you what you could do with that extra box of the Girl Scout Samoa cookies?

Well, do you happen to have an extra box of the Tagalong cookies as well?

If you do have an extra box (which I do because Tagalongs are my husband's favorite, so I always buy more than one box of those) then you should try this recipe!

Tagalong Cupcakes

1 vanilla cake mix (unless you want to channel your inner Martha)
Tagalongs

Preheat oven to 350* Place liners in cupcake pan. Make up the cake mix according to the directions. Put 2 tbsp. of batter in the liner. Set a cookie on top and then finish filling the liner with batter. Fill it at least 3/4 of the way full. Bake 22-24 minutes. Let cool. Frost with Honey Peanut Butter Cream. Add sprinkles and eat!

Honey Peanut Butter Cream
1 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 tbsp. water
2-4 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
4 c. powdered sugar

Cream butter and peanut butter. Add the water, salt, and vanilla and cream again. Slowly add the powdered sugar. After all the sugar is added, beat in another 1-2 tbsp. water. Then beat in the honey until creamy. Go ahead and try a bite...you might never get your cupcakes frosted though...just warning you:-)

Enjoy!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

I came across this recipe online about a week ago.

It definitely lives up to its namesake, Too Much Chocolate Cake

It's super easy to make and the end result is a pure chocolate, moist, yummy cake in your mouth!

Ingredients:

1 (18.25oz) package Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 (5.9oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, veg. oil, beaten eggs and water.

Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased bundt cake pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool cake IN pan for an hour before inverting onto plate

Dust cake with powdered sugar, if desired!

Enjoy!