Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Mini Tex-Mex Chicken and Cheese Pies

Another dinner where I was able to use my muffin pan!
This time I made Mini Tex Mex Chicken and Cheese Pies

If you are looking for an easy, quick mexican themed dinner, here ya go!

Ingredients
  1. 1 (1.3 lb) rotisserie chicken, shredded (skin and bones discarded)
  2. 1 1/2 cups shredded pepperjack cheese
  3. 1 (3 oz) can Old El Paso diced green chiles (optional!)
  4. 1/4 cup peppercorn ranch dressing
  5. 1/4 cup cilantro, plus more for garnish
  6. 1/2 cup Bisquick baking mix
  7. 1/2 cup milk
  8. 2 eggs
  9. 1 cup salsa of your choice
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, cheese, green chiles (if using!), peppercorn ranch and cilantro. Mix together with your hands until well combined.
  3. In another smaller bowl, whisk together the Bisquick, milk and eggs.
  4. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
  5. Pour a Tbsp of the egg mixture into each muffin cup. Then place about 2 Tbsp of the chicken mixture on top of the baking mixture. Then spoon over 1 more Tbsp of the baking mixture on top of the chicken. (Continue for the remaining 11 muffin cups.)
  6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick is clean when inserted.
  7. Serve garnished with more cilantro and your favorite salsa!


  1. My family loved this dinner! They each had 2 mini pies, and I served these alongside chips and salsa and a side of refried beans!  A hit!

Monday, August 19, 2013

#49 Root Beer Float

I brought a 6-pk of root beer back from the lake this weekend that no one drank.
As I was unpacking the cooler and putting the root beer in the fridge, I realized I might be able to find a recipe for this week's bundt cake that would utilize some of it.  I've made a cherry coke bundt in the past, so surely there was a root beer recipe out there for me.

Sure enough, there was.  I googled root beer bundt cake and several options came up.
I narrowed it down by picking the recipe that looked the easiest.
(Because that's how I roll.  The easier, the better)


INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons root beer
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
2.In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, 12 ounces root beer, oil and eggs until smooth. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3.Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Poke holes in the cake with a skewer at 2 inch intervals. Pour Root Beer Glaze evenly over cake.
4.To make the Root Beer Glaze: combine the confectioners sugar and 3 tablespoons of root beer in a small bowl. Beat until smooth.

*This cake was so easy to make.  Probably one of the easiest to date.  The ONLY thing I would change is next time I will cover the cake with more icing.  You can see in the picture that I have it iced well, but it needed MORE!  Just drizzle lots on there....the root beer icing really pops...you can't have too much!*

Seashell Display

Right before we left for our Florida trip, I came across this blog post.
I immediately knew this was a project I wanted to do, too!

So while we were on our trip, I collected seashells from each beach.  That evening, I would wash the seashells I collected and place them in a large ziploc bag labeled with the beach where I collected them.

We visited four different beaches on our trip, so I was excited to make four different display boards.

When we arrived back home,  I went to Hobby Lobby and got all my supplies:

4 unstained wooden boards
wood stain of your choice
sand paper and paintbrush
hot glue gun/sticks
white card stock 
wall hangers for the back


I sanded my boards and then stained them


The girls were eager to help!


With each beach collection of shells, I would lay them out and pick which ones I wanted to display.
Then hot glued them on the board


Don't forget to attach your wall hangers before gluing any shells on!!!


Once I had the shells on the way I wanted them, I printed out the
Beach Name
City, State, Date of Visit to Beach
on sturdy white card stock, cut it to fit, and glued it on the board


They are all now nicely displayed on the wall.



I wish I had seen this idea years and years ago when we first started visiting beaches as a family.
But it's never too late to start, right!
I really enjoyed this project!!!

Friday, August 16, 2013

#48 Honey Bun

#48 - 
ONLY 4 MORE TO COMPLETE THE CHALLENGE

This week's bundt is probably one of my top 3 favorites!
Brent even said "this one IS my favorite!!"



INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream. Stir by hand approximately 50 strokes, or until most large lumps are gone. Pour half of the batter into an ungreased 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter in the cake pan. Spoon the other half of the batter into the cake pan, covering the brown sugar and cinnamon. Twirl the cake with a butter knife or icing knife until it looks like a honey bun (or whatever design you want to make).
3.Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Frost cake while it is still fairly hot. Serve warm.
4.To Make the frosting: In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.

The slight crunch of brown sugar and cinnamon 
in the center of this cake is the BEST part!

Everyone should make this bundt cake!!



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Minion Cupcakes

Most of you, with children, are probably familiar with the movie Despicable Me.
If you've seen Despicable Me, then you are more than familiar with those little yellow minions!


Yep, here is a close up of them....


 If you've been on Pinterest at all, then most likely you have seen the Minion Cupcakes.
I showed the idea to my girls and asked if they were interested in making them.
And of course they were!!



They are so easy to make!


Just grab a box of cake mix and follow the instructions for making cupcakes.
Once your cupcakes are out of the oven and cooled, frost them with whatever frosting/color you want.  I thought blue looked good, plus the minions usually have on blue overalls, so that's what I used.

To make the minion, this is what you will need:

For the body, you will need twinkies or whatever generic brand is out there.

For the minion hair, get a small package of black licorice.  Do not get the string kind.
This kind, as shown in the picture, is tougher and stands straight up on the minion.

Near the sprinkles on the baking aisle, you will find different tubes of icing.
Buy the black decorating icing tube which you will use to hold the eyes on.
(sorry for the blurry image below)




Also, buy the small tube of black writing gel to draw on the minion goggles.


 Several tutorials on Pinterest said they used the candy Smarties as the eyes. 
My store was completely out of Smarties, so I found white salt water taffy.
I just pulled however much taffy I wanted to use and formed into balls for the eyes.



To make your minion:
*Lay the twinkie down flat to make your little minion
*Cut off the bottom of the twinkle so you have a flat end to stand up on the cupcake
*Grab whatever you are using to make the eye, and put a generous glob of your black decorating icing on the back.  
*Push the eye down firmly on the twinkie so you can see the black icing around the edges of the eye.  *Do the same with the second eye.
*Then use your black writing gel to draw the lines down the side of the twinkie to look like google straps.
*Then draw on your mouth with the gel as well.
*Using scissors, cut your black licorice into little hairs.
I cut one side at an angle so it would have a sharp edge to stick into the twinkie.
*Wait for the icing/gel to set before standing up your minion and placing him on top of the cupcake 
(if you complete your minion and stand him up on the cupcake immediately without letting the frosting/gel set for 15-20min, the eyes will start to slip down with the frosting.
You may even want to stick them in the fridge for 3-5 min to help the icing set before standing them up.



And of course, we were actually watching Despicable Me while we were making our minions!


 These little yellow guys were so fun to make!
Hope you enjoy making them as much as we did!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Airboat Through the Everglades

One of the items on my Bucket List is to Airboat through the Everglades.
So you can imagine how excited I was when we got to Florida and I was told just how close by the airboat tours were!!!!

Just a short hour drive from where we were staying in Naples to Wooten's Airboat Tours.
We saw several airboat tour places on our drive to Wooten's, but our family told us Wooten's was the best because they had an animal sanctuary on the property with gators of all sizes, crocs, tigers, etc.  A good mix of animals.  The highlight of Wooten's Animal Sanctuary was that you were allowed to hand hold gators!  Holding a gator definitely wasn't something on my bucket list, but what an exciting ending to the airboat tour!


Already spotting gators in the waters before embarking on the airboat


Ready to go, headsets and all!


We were sitting right in front of the fan on the airboat.  
These headphones were a necessity! 


We reached some very high speeds as we explored the Everglades!
We didn't always stay on the obvious water paths..
We often went at high speeds straight through the grassy and high brush areas...  So exciting!
(notice the lady holding onto her hat - yep, with those speeds you're gonna lose your hat)


It was like a roller coaster ride for the kids.  During the high speed times, their hands were up in the air enjoying the thrill!  At one point, we even did a full 360 degree turn!


After the airboat tour (which we happened to spot several gators on), we toured the animal sanctuary.
Gators of ALL sizes were plentiful, among other animals.
I was not so eager to hold a gator on my own and I was completely surprised that my girls jumped right at the chance - especially Ashlan.  This girl has never been a risk taker.  In fact, I was worried she wouldn't board the airboat due to the high speeds.  Imagine how surprised I was when she walked up and grabbed the gator out of the workers hands!


It really didn't seem to bother Kate much either!


Then they pulled the larger gator out.  Brent and Ashlan jumped at the chance to hold it!


What a wonderful, memorable day at Wooten's! 
Bucket List Item - CHECKED!

We ended the evening at the beach 
and God showed off with another one of His amazing sunsets!


Thank you Naples Morgans for a day we will never forget!

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Waffle Monte Cristo Sandwich

One of my favorite sandwiches is a Monte Cristo.  
How can you beat a sandwich topped with powdered sugar and dipped in strawberry jam!

I was excited when I came across this easy recipe for the sandwich.
But it had a twist....
It used waffles!

So pull out your panini maker (or skillet if you prefer) and make this!
I gave it two thumbs up!


Shopping List
2 frozen waffles (keep them frozen if you're using a panini press)
Good quality ham (I used Boar's Head)
Good quality Swiss cheese (I used Boar's Head)
A sprinkle of powdered sugar
Strawberry Jam and/or Syrup for dipping

Preheat your panini press or large skillet.

Using the frozen waffles as your sandwich bread, build your sandwich with ham and Swiss.  Place your sandwich under your hot panini press on in your hot skillet (if using your skillet, you will need to first microwave your waffles and then press down on the sandwich with a spatula like you are making a grilled cheese and flip it once you think it's browned on one side...about 4 minutes per side).

After you remove your sandwich, sprinkle it with a little powdered sugar and serve with a side of jam or syrup.

recipe courtesy of mixandmatchmama

Friday, August 9, 2013

Clam Pass and Dolphin Spotting

We started off Day 2 of our trip with some room service.  
This was a very special treat for the girls, because it's something we rarely do.
Room service is always so expensive!!!!

They opted to enjoy their breakfast on the balcony overlooking the city.


Then we were ready to hit the beach!
As you can see, we were presented with another beautiful day!


I spent most of my time sitting in the sand...


and shopping for shells... 


Just a small shell creation by yours truly...


The beach where we relaxed is named Clam Pass.  
Such a beautiful, long beach with an inlet that acted as a lazy river.



Later that evening, we headed to the Naples Pier to see if we could spot some dolphins.
Luckily, the dolphins were there and Ashlan was in heaven! 


Unfortunately, I was never able to capture a picture of the dolphins..
..and mainly because I was just as much in heaven as Ashlan was.
I didn't want to watch the dolphins through my camera.  I wanted to enjoy them with my naked eye.


We watched the dolphins for quite awhile along the pier


Soon after, it was time to watch the beautiful sunset.
There is nothing like a sunset over the ocean!




We were blessed to get a beautiful sunset each night of the trip!


At the end of the evening, we topped off the day with some frozen treats.
What a great day!


Another special surprise from the Naples Morgans..
As we were about to head back to our hotel for the night, 
they gifted us with a basket full of "treats from Florida"
From chocolate gators, to flower toe rings, to coconut almonds, to seashell information, etc...
What a treat!!!!


Next post: Checking Off a Bucket List Item!