6 on Sunday

It's been a busy week which included the first week of school for the kids, Brent moved his business office to a different location (closer to home!), lots of baking and lots of laundry!

I definitely had some favorites from the week!

1. Butterscotch Maple No Bake Cookies

I made these on Tuesday and we snacked on them all week.

Seriously, Brent and I called these "crack".

Find the EASY recipe here

Make these! Now!

2. First Week of School

Welcome 5th grade and 9th grade.  Intermediate School for one, High School for the other.

This was the first year ever that Ashlan said she didn't need me to walk her to class.  After all, this is 5th grade, people.  Sniff. Sniff.  She walked in on the first day with her sweet friend, Lauren.

Kate and her BFF, Allison, tackled the first day of high school together.  Thankfully, they are in 2 classes together during the day.

We have always lived too close to the school for bus service, or we've gone to a school that didn't offer bus service, so this is Ashlan's first year to have the opportunity to experience the bus to and from school.  Here she is getting off the bus and walking home on the first day of school.

3. New Business Office Location

We moved this week.  

We've been subleasing two different locations for a year now waiting to see where God would lead Brent for his practice location.  The two locations we subleased were great, no doubt.  But they weren't our "own space".  This week we moved into our own space again and it's so exciting!  Not to mention the new location is less than 10 minutes from our home.  Brent's never experienced being so close to his office before.  We have so much to do this coming week with unpacking, hanging paintings, etc….But here's a sneak peak inside.

4. Lavendar Scent Gain

I don't think I have ever bought a scented laundry detergent before.

But I went out on a limb at the store this week and bought this Lavender scent detergent.

People, it smells so nice and fresh!!

I'm loving laundry now!

5. Dolphin Tale

We've had this movie for awhile but we pulled it back out this week and watched it 2-3 times.  Why?

Because it's Ashlan's favorite movie (she wants to be a marine biologist) and the sequel opens in theaters Sept 12th!  If you know Ashlan, this movie is a big deal.  A sequel is like the cherry on top!

6. Date Night - Truluck's

Our week ended with a Date Night at Truluck's.

If you want some awesome seafood (and you love crab), find the closest Truluck's to you (in Dallas - McKinney Ave) and order the Seafood Platter!  

What a great night with my love!

Back to School Treats

Each year on the first day back at school, I stay home and bake a special treat for the girls.  I have done this for so many years that about a week before school starts the girls are already asking "What's the treat going to be this year on the first day of school?"

These "back to school" treats are always school themed.  Whether it's cupcakes, cookies, or a cake, the kids are always excited to walk through the door after school and see what treat awaits them in the kitchen.

Here was my idea for this year.  

And here's my final product!

It's actually made using a brownie.  After baking the brownie mix, I cut to shape into a pencil.

I frosted it to look like a pencil.  Then I taped notebook paper onto a cookie sheet where I wrote 'Back to School'

The girls loved it!!!

6 on Sunday

There was no "6 on Sunday" last week because we were away for the weekend moving Nick to college.  But if I had done a "6 on Sunday" last weekend, my favorite things for that week would have been all about Nick:

1. Final dinner with Nick before moving away

2. Hearing the excitement in Nicks voice when planning what time to pack the truck and head off to college

3. Meeting Nick's roommate who happens to be an awesome, awesome young man!

4. Unpacking Nicks belongings and setting up/decorating his dorm room.

5. Hearing Nick talk about the fraternity rush process and all the fraternities that he likes.

6. Getting a text from Nick, on our drive back home,  that says "Miss you. This place is awesome.  So happy you and Dad encouraged me to come here!"

I love this boy.  So proud of him!

So now we are back on track, and here is this week's "6 on Sunday"

(Actually, I only had 5 favorites from this week)

1. Trader Joes Sea Salt Potato Chips

Both my girls request this bag of these chips when I go to Trader Joe's.

And look what I found this week - they had the snack size bags of them for the girls lunches!

Score!

2. Trader Joe's Key Lime Pie

My sister in law introduced us to this pie from Trader Joes when we were in Florida this summer.

It's one of the best store bought Key Lime pies I've ever tasted.

Both girls requested I buy this pie during my trip to Trader Joe's this week.

We keep this pie in the freezer and do not thaw it before eating.  We seem to like it better that way.

3. Trader Joe's Chicken Tikka Masala

(I feel like this post has suddenly become an advertisement for Trader Joe's)

I love Indian food.  I happened to see this in the frozen section of Trader Joe's and thought I'd try it out for lunch that day.  When I got home I heated it up in the microwave and tried it.  Let's just say I'll be buying more of these.  It tasted just like the Chicken Tikka Masala I order in the local Indian restaurant we go to.  Double thumbs up!

4. Huggable Hangers

I am slowly switching out all of the master closet hangers to these.  Love, love, love them!

You can buy them at Target, but if you are close to The Container Store, they are on sale there until the end of the month, 10 hangers for $6.99 (usually $9.99)

5. Jesus Calling Daily Devotional

 I've been eager to get back to doing a morning daily devotional before I start my day.

I've read multiple wonderful reviews about this devotional, so I ordered it and it came in the mail this week!  Ready to start this tomorrow morning.

Have a great week!

Sno Ball Brownies

SnoBall's used to be one of my favorite snacks growing up.  When my mom stopped to get gas at a gas station, I'd always ask to go inside and see if they had SnoBalls.

I think for the general public, you either like these or you don't.  For example, Brent doesn't care for coconut OR marshmallow, so these aren't his thing.  I did get him to sample a small bite though.

They tasted good back in the day, in the picture below they looked pretty (I love pink), so I grabbed the ingredients and started making them!

(photo courtesy of Pinterest)

Ingredients

• 1 stick salted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup flour
• 3 (1.55 oz) milk chocolate bars, melted in the microwave (I'm not trying to tell you your business, but I used Hershey bars)
• **Do you want me to save you some time?  Skip ALL those above ingredients and do what I did.  Just go buy a box of brownie mix and make it!**
• 7 oz jar marshmallow fluff or creme
• 2/3 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
• 1 drop pink food coloring
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Get $3 Off The Smaller, Smarter Probiotic.

PearlsProbiotics.com

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8 square pan with foil and spray with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk butter and cocoa powder together until cocoa is dissolved and mixture is thick. Stir in sugar until combined. Stir in eggs, mixing until combined. Add vanilla. Add flour, stirring just until no white streaks remain in batter. Fold in melted candy bars.
3. Pour batter in prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with fudgy crumbs, but not raw batter. Let cool slightly, about 20 minutes. 
4. **Or just do what I did and skip instructions 1-3.  Follow the directions on the back of the brownie mix to make brownies in an 8x8  and cake-like consistency**
5. While you wait, combine coconut, cornstarch and pink coloring in a food processor or blender. Pulse several times until coconut is more finely shredded and pink. **I combined these in a bowl using a spoon**
6. Spoon marshmallow creme/fluff over the top of the warm brownies and let it sit for a few minutes -- the warm brownies will soften the marshmallow, making it easier to spread. Spread marshmallow evenly over the brownies, then sprinkle the coconut over the surface, pressing gently with your hands.
7. Refrigerate brownies until cool and firm. Keep uneaten brownies in the refrigerator so the marshmallow does not melt.

I definitely enjoyed these.  They were easy and fun to make.

Ashlan and I are fans because we love coconut.

Brent and Kate are not fans because they dislike coconut.

Oh, and they taste just like that SnoBall I got inside the gas stations growing up!

Project Morgan 2014

We finally got the roof framed, not to mention the flat boards around the exterior of the house.

Basically, huge progress was made this week. Yippee!!!

Here is the front of the house.  Remember, we are on a corner lot and actually face the corner.

There will be a circle drive in front of the house.

To the left of the front door is the dining room with a raised fireplace.

(I love restaurants with fireplaces going while you dine - in the cooler months, of course)

To the right of the front door is the study, with Ashlan's room above.

Looking into the dining room

The upstairs has been done for awhile now BUT there were no stairs for us to get UP there.

Finally, this week, they framed the front stairwell.  The girls could finally get upstairs to see their rooms!

In the initial stages of designing our house on paper earlier this year, we had some horrible weather roll through town.  I remember going back to the architect after that storm and saying, "Add a storm closet….somewhere!"

So guess where we put the storm closet …. ??

It's the downstairs guest bedroom closet.  

It'll still have wallboard up and look like a closet, but between those wallboards is some serious cement blocks.  I feel safe in this house already!

We wanted one bar in our home and we wanted to make that one bar 'grand'.

The bar is in the game room which is basically one big room that includes a guitar room and media area.  Let me tell you, this bar is huge!  Way bigger than we expected or could visualize from the paper plans. You can fit 6-7 barstools around the bar and the window inside the bar works as a serving window out to the back patio.

Brent standing on the back patio at the 'serving window' into the bar.

Here is the rest of the game room.  

The pool table will be in the center of the room.

The step-up is into the guitar room (which will have doors on it)

And next to the guitar room you'll see the media room.

The media room does not have any doors and we planned for it that way.

We found a picture online of a media room as part of a game room and were in love.

We basically used that picture to design this media/entertaining area.

Our Fabulous 4

Head Framer, Foreman, Brent, and our Builder

And just to throw this fact out there - our builder has got to be the most creative man I've ever met!

Shortly after the above picture was taken (of the Fab 4), as Ashlan and I were walking behind them, she stepped right on a nail sticking straight up from a board.  Ugh!

Right through her shoe and into the bottom of her foot.

After a couple minutes of pain and bleeding, we called her pediatrician to see if her Tetanus vaccination was up to date.  He stated she was actually due for her booster in early 2015 so he highly recommended we come right in and get that booster immediately.  Basically, she was running low and to be safe, we would give her that boost now rather than wait until next year.

Bandaid on the nail puncture spot, a tetanus booster shot, 

a Starbucks Frap and the girl was good to go!

Now we just laugh that someone got a nail in their foot before they got a nail in their tire!

Stay tuned for more updates soon.  Meeting with electrician next week.  

Guess I should figure out where fans, chandeliers, spot lights  and electrical outlets need to go!

No-Bake Key Lime Cream Cakes

No-Bake Key Lime Cream Cakes

Make these today!  They are that good!

Kate saw these on Pinterest and wanted to make them.  So glad she did.

This recipe made 12 and they were gone in two days!

(photo courtesy of Pinterest)

Crust

• 3/4 cup(s) graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup(s) (finely chopped) pecans (we omitted these)
• 3 tablespoon(s) (unsalted) butter, melted

Filling

• 8 ounce(s) (reduced-fat) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can(s) (14-oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup(s) (bottled) key lime juice (regular lime juice works if you can't find key lime juice)
• 1 container(s) (8-oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• lime slices and/or lime zest, for garnish, optional

---

Directions

1. Line 12 cupcake cups with foil liners. Stir graham cracker crumbs, pecans and melted butter together in a bowl to combine. Spoon 2 Tbsp. of the mixture into each liner, pressing it down to make the crust.
2. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add the condensed milk and key lime juice, and blend on medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of the whipped topping and blend on low speed for 15 seconds longer.
3. Spoon mixture evenly into liners. Cover pan with plastic and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours. Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving; peel off liners and dollop 1 Tbsp. remaining whipped topping on each cake. Garnish with lime slices, if you like.

A cold, refreshing treat for sure! Double thumbs up!

Shark Week Cupcakes

It's Shark Week, people!

We love Shark Week in this house…well, everyone except for Ashlan.

She can't stand to see the shark attacks on humans.  Seriously, she goes into her room and shuts the door so she can't even HEAR the commentary.  

Anyways, we love Shark Week and we love to bake so what does that mean?

Shark Week Cupcakes!!!!

Here is what the girls and I did.

First of all, we bought a box of white cupcake mix and made 24 cupcakes.

We also bought 2 containers of classic white frosting.

For the Shark Week letter cupcakes, we frosted 9 cupcakes with white frosting.

Then we used red writing gel (found in grocery store) to write letters on regular size vanilla wafer cookies.  *the letters are written on the flat side of the wafer

For the shark fin cupcakes, we mixed blue food coloring in some of the white frosting.

We used the candy AirHeads for the shark fins because it's thick, yet easy to shape.

Use either blue or white AirHeads

*white is best but we couldn't find the white, so we used blue

Using scissors, cut out your fin and shape it like you want.

We used a tube of black frosting (in grocery store) to smear on the fin to give it a rough look.

*you can also skip the candy and make a fin using gray or blue card stock…just glue a toothpick on the back to hold the paper fin upright on the cupcake*

Kate was determined to make a surfboard with a shark bit on it, so she used the orange AirHead candy to cut and shape into a surfboard.  Then she used some red gel to give the effect of blood.

Stick half a toothpick through a Swedish Fish and place in middle of cupcake

 (Fish in bags on the candy aisle of store)

Want to add a lifesaver?

Buy a bag of white mints.

Cut small strips of red fruit roll-ups to make the stripes on the lifesaver.

Again, Kate added some red gel for blood.

And for the quiet beach cupcake...

Top the cupcake with white frosting then dip it in graham cracker crust

And you'll want to add that little cocktail umbrella 

"Mommy, take a picture of me acting like I see a shark coming!!!"

Love having fun in the kitchen with these girls!

6 on Sunday

Favorites from the week!

1. Morgan Von Bismark

This amazing little guy celebrated his 6th birthday!

6 years of unconditional love from this boy….He's a total gem and everybody's best friend.

2. Vitamix

It's been a busy summer, which in turn created bad eating habits.

We are waiting for the cooler weather to kick in so we can get back to running.

But this week we did start to turn around our eating habits by pulling out the Vitamix and preparing green smoothies every morning for breakfast.

Absolutely love the Vitamix!

My smoothie of choice almost always is:

ice, fresh blueberries, a banana, two large handfuls of spinach, and 1/2 cup of almond milk

3. Kitchen Calendar

I turned this picture frame into a calendar for the kitchen about a year ago.

I used to only write down what the dinners for the week would be, but last week I needed the weeks calendar within my sight at all times.  That's how crazy the girls schedules were.  So I turned the dinner calendar into an event calendar for the week, so I would remember where I had to be at what time.

*Oh, and the dog treat jar.  That's a favorite too, although I've had it for about a year now*

4. My girls

These girls impressed me this week.

Kate spent over 40 hours training at volleyball this week so she could try out for the freshmen volleyball team.  Her long hours, hard work, and dedication proved well worth it as she made the team!

Ashlan spent 17 hours training at dance camp this week in preparation for auditioning for her dance studios company (competitive) dance team.  Again, hard work paid off and we have a competitive dancer now!  Two happy girls!

5. Tuscan Style Magazine

We are in the beginning stages of building our home which has a country mediterranean feel and look about it.

This magazine has been so inspiring and helpful in gathering ideas of how to decorate the interior!

I think I've looked though this one magazine about 8 different times this week!

6. Chef in Training

I am in love with this lady's cooking blog.  I check her blog almost daily to see what new things she has posted.  I think I've tried 3-4 recipes off her blog in the past and they've all been a thumbs up.

If you are looking for some new, fun recipes check out her blog!

Chef-in-Training

(I plan to make this recipe of hers very soon)

Cookie Dough Brownies

Cookie Dough + Brownie = Happiness!

(photo courtesy of Pinterest)

Cookie Dough Brownies
Brownie Batter
1 Cup Butter, melted
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
 1/3 Cup Cocoa
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In your mixer add the butter and sugars.  Mix until completely combined.  Add the eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add the dry ingredients and stir until fully incorporated.  Spread the batter in a greased 9x13 inch pan.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.  Cool completely before frosting.  Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Frosting
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 and 1/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
5 Tablespoons Milk
1 Cup Chocolate Chips(mini or regular)

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla and mix well.  Add the flour and salt stir until combined.  Stir in the milk and beat until the frosting is fluffy.  Gently stir in the chocolate chips.  Spread on cooled brownies and frost.  Enjoy!

I was surprised at how minor the sweet taste was in this brownie.  

I thought I'd be overwhelmed with that sweet rich taste, but not at all.

Pleasantly surprised.

(although Ashlan likes sweet, so she didn't care for this brownie too much)

Cucumber Salad

I have two salads in the fridge right now that I've been snacking on:

A Tomato and Mozzarella Salad and this salad,

Cucumber Salad

(photo courtesy of Pinterest)

Ingredients
2 large cucumbers
1/2 onion
2-3 tomatoes

{For the dressing}
3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions
Make the dressing: add all ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Slice the cucumbers and onion. Dice tomatoes, removing excess juice. Place in a bowl.
Add the dressing and toss to coat. Salt/pepper to taste if needed.
Best if refrigerated for at least an hour to let the flavors combine.

Variations: 
Add some honey/agave to the dressing for sweetness. 
Toss in a little minced garlic.
For a punch of spice, add red chili pepper or cayenne.

Enjoy!