Digi Day

Being a med student's wife I'm all about FREE. So how about a FREE class from Jessica Sprague? Woot! If you have been at all curious about taking a Photoshop class then here is your chance!

Here is your chance to dip your toes in the world of Photoshop. There are sooooo many wonderful beautiful projects you can create. Not only can you scrap gorgeous digi pages but you can photo edit, make posters, subway art, cards, etc. The possibilities are endless.

 Be careful though, it's addicting! ;)

Register HERE.

Okay, I do have a page for you this week. We have a new designer coming to JS.com. I can't really announce it, it's just not my place, BUT stay tuned because Monday is the big day. Her stuff is fun and gorgeous. *Sigh* I'm such a lucky girl to be on such an awesome creative team!

Stinkin' cute, right? :)

Full Credits Here.

Okay, I'm off to pack some more boxes. We are moving on Monday! Wish me luck! :)



Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a bunch of bananas turning brown on my counter, and I wanted to make something I haven't tried before.  These were just what we needed.  I even got a text this morning saying, "These cookies are awesome!",  from that sweet husband of mine. So they must be pretty darn good.  The kiddos love them too.  Yay!  It made a huge batch, so I put some in the freezer.  We will see if they freeze well.  

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

2 whole very ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add your mashed bananas, egg, and vanilla extract.  Mix well.  In a separate bowl whisk together all your dry ingredients.  Pour dry ingredients into wet mixture slowly and mix until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Scoop out with a cookie dough scoop or whatever you like to use onto your cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.  

ENJOY!

Hope you all have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.  Eat some yummy food and enjoy your time with your families.  *hugs*

Love, Erica

Digi Day

When life gets crazy it's always nice to take a time out and scrap a page or two. It really is therapy for me. It helps me remember what's important in life and I get my thoughts and memories recorded. So with that I wanted to show you two of my recent layouts. There is a lot of beautiful products being released every week at JessicaSprague.com. Unfortunately we are losing a couple of my fave designers. *Sniffles* But on the other hand there are new designers in the works. So exciting! I can't wait to play with their stuff.

With that...

Carina Gardner is releasing a gorgeous digital paper line called Paris & Co. The papers are beautiful. If pink is not your thing then check out the other Here. Full Credits Here.

 I love how this layout turned out. The colors are beautiful and go well with this photo of Abi. Aren't her lips to die for? We sure love this girlie. For the background paper I used a new product by Splendid Fiins. She has a series of these called Knock-Out. They are a misting mask. So fun. I love misting digitally. :) Check them out Here. This one in particular will be available on Monday 5/28. The other papers are by Jenni Bowlin. Full Credits Here.

Love this stuff! :)

It's the last day of school today for my kiddos. Onto Summer!!! Have a happy Thursday!

Menu Monday

We are in survival mode here. My house is a flurry of boxes and mess and there is a baby around here somewhere too. Ugh. Moving has to be my very least favorite thing to do in the world. I don't use the word hate very often but in this case I'll say it...I HATE moving. So when one is in survival mode, one must not be judged by the nutritional value of dinner. It's survival mode people. I'm sure others have lived off worse in survival mode. At least I won't be making my kids eat beetles or chew tree bark. ;)

Monica's Menu
My main goal for my menu the next two weeks is to use up what I have in my pantry and freezer. Here's to a little creativity.

Monday
Chili Mac (I'm thinking hamburger, noodles, frozen corn/peas, mato sauce, seasoning) Mmmm, yummy.

Tuesday
Chocolate Chip Pancakes (Getting rid of flour, chocolate chips, syrup)

Wednesday
Lazy Lasagna

Thursday
Chicken and Stuffing Casserole (frozen chicken, stuffing mix)

Friday
Tuna Noodle Casserole (tuna and egg noodles)

Saturday
Minestroni Macaroni (canned beans and canned tomatoes)

Sunday
Hotdog Roast (cause the kids have been begging)


Erica's Menu
Monica's survival mode menu looks like my every day menu!  Tee hee!

Monday
Simply Done Chicken Legs


Tuesday
Biscuits and Gravy


Wednesday
Bean and Cheese Quesadillas


Thursday
Crock pot Beef Stroganoff


Friday
Ham and Cheese Bagels


Saturday
Grilled Hot Dogs and Chips


Sunday
Tacos!!!

Have a happy Monday!!!!

Reeses Rice Krispie Treats

For.REALDO!  Ahhh!  I can't even begin to tell you how amazing these are.  When I started making them, I told myself, "I will NOT pig out on these!  I will only have a tiny piece just to taste it and give the rest away!"  Well...I unwrapped all the peanut butter cups just fine.  You have to know that Reeses are my weakness!  Srsly!  I got them in the pan just fine.  Then when they were done, I had a teeny TINY square.  Oh heck...it was over.  I had another square a little bigger.  Then another a little bigger...and I think my Justy could see this battle I was having with myself, because she piped up and said, "MOM!  Put them away!  No more!"  Lol!  What a great kid!  I put them in the fridge to get the drizzled top to harden, and thought I'd give the rest to Justy's soccer team.  So I cut them up and wrapped them and sent them on their way.  She came home with 3.  After dinner I could hear screaming coming from the cupboard.  I opened it up and they were staring right at me!  They were yelling, "EAT ME! EAT MY YUMMY GOODNESS!"  Did I have the willpower to just walk away, and not look back?!  Heck no!  I had me another one, and it was A.MA.ZING!!!!  I'm am making Justy take the rest to school with her tomorrow...maybe.  :o)

Teehee!

You really need to make these.  I think I found my new favorite treat.  I'm gonna be making more of these this summer.

Reeses Rice Krispie Treats
6 c. Cocoa Rice Krispie's
16-18 regular sized Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, roughly chopped
5 Tbsp. Butter
3 Tbsp. Karo Syrup
10 oz bag + 2 c. of mini marshmallows
1/3 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

In a big bowl add your cereal and roughly chopped peanut butter cups.  Don't chop them up to fine, or you won't get a big chunk of yummy goodness.

Grease a 9x13 dish.

In a big pan melt your butter.  Then add your karo syrup and marshmallows.  Stir on medium low heat until everything is smooth.  Remove from heat and add your cereal to the pan.  Stir until well combined, but don't over stir, because you don't want to break apart those peanut butter cup pieces.  Press it into your pan with a buttered hand or wax paper.  Let cool.

In a small microwave bowl add your peanut butter and microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir.  If it needs to be a little more runny then microwave for 15 seconds longer.  Pour into a ziploc bag and snip off the end and drizzle your treats.  Do the same with your chocolate chips, microwaving in 30 second increments until good and melty.  Don't over cook it!!  Drizzle.

I put mine in the fridge to get the peanut butter and chocolate hard.  Cut up and enjoy...seriously...ENJOY!

Have a great Thursday!
Love, Erica*

Source-Food Snots

Rainbow Party

My sweet little Maggie turned 6 in April and wanted a Rainbow Party.

Can't believe she is 6! We sure love this sassy loving girlie.

This Spring has been incredibly busy but I was able to throw her a fun Rainbow Party on a budget and with some help of some friends. I'll link up where possible on the ideas. Thank goodness for Pinterest. Years ago I would scour the Internet and books to look for ideas but Pinterest makes it so easy. What a time saver!

First off I was on a strict budget so I wanted easy/cheap decorations but something with a lot of flair. I decided on a balloon banner and I love the way it turned out. It was huge and dramatic and pretty much my only decoration AND it only cost me 5 dollars.

Maggie informed me that there wasn't any pink in a rainbow. Whatever. I found the tutorial at Design Mom. So cute and really adds a punch.

For games I painted a rainbow with a cloud and a pot. (You can see it on the wall on the left in the photo above.) We played pin the coin on the pot. Such a versatile classic game. I had all the materials on hand so it didn't cost anything.

We also played a game of "Shoot the Rainbow". Ha! Sounds silly now, but I really just made it up.

 

I made these homemade marshmallow shooters except we called them cloud shooters and started the game by shooting at the balloon banner. That quickly changed and it ended up being Dad against everyone else. There were marshmallows everywhere! Sooo Fun. :)

For the treat bag I decided to give up the expensive cheapie toys and just go with the treats. Sorry moms. They turned out cute though.

 I just googled a rainbow image then added the wording in Photoshop. Super cute.

I'm in an association for spouse's of the medical students. It's a club of sorts and we do a lot of fun activities as well as community service. One activity we do every year is a service auction. We offer a service (I offered cupcakes, treats, and iron on onesies) and then you get points for having done various things. The points is pretty much your "money". We then have a real life auctioneer come and auction off all the fun things. There were lots of cute crafts, sewn stuff, quilts, treats, free babysitting, etc. Well, I saved up my points to pretty much cater Maggie's birthday party. It turned out perfectly. :) I'm so sly.

This gorgeous cake was done by my friend Stacy Howard. It turned out perfectly and the kids loved it!

Gorgeous!

Yay!

I also won some cake pops and cookie pops also from my friend Bobbi Jo Tucker. They turned out adorable. I was handing out a lot of treats. Thanks ladies. You saved me, really. Honestly I love to bake but it is soooo stressful to plan a party and make a gorgeous cake. I'm tempted to always cater out the cake and treats.

These turned out darling.

You can see my marshmallow shooters in this photo.

After all the kids are gone, cake devoured, marshmallows everywhere, I have a happy 6 year old and very very tired mama. I love doing it. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Love, Monica

Menu Monday

Seriously!  Can someone slow things down a bit!  I can't believe another week is gone!  School is just about over for my Justy!  Summer is almost here!  Crazy!  Have a great week!  Here's our weekly menu!


Erica's Menu


Monday
Breakfast for dinner


Tuesday
Lazy Lasagna


Wednesday
Taco Salads


Thursday
Crock pot Creamy Pork chops


Friday
Grab and Growl night


Saturday
Calzones (I use THIS recipe for the dough and stuff them full of the good stuff!)


Sunday
Roast and Taters










Monica's Menu

Monday
Tofu Stirfry

Tuesday
Taco Salad

Wednesday
Chickpea Stuffed Shells

Thursday
Chile Colorado Burritos

Friday
Homemade Pizza

Saturday
Beef and Broccoli

Sunday
Chicken Parmesan

Have a great week!

Love, Erica and Monica

Digi Day

Unfortunately my creative ventures are the first to be put on the backburner during busy times. We are heading into another busy time for us. The sweet hubsters took his last finals today. He is officially finished with his second year in medical school. I'm so proud of him. He has worked so hard. We are onto another adventure as we pack up our little house and head further East to Michigan.

Anyway, I've been pretty contemplative about life lately. I am so blessed to be where I am today. I've missed my family and "home" so much but I have met lifelong friends on this journey. My Grandma would occasionally tell me when I'd complain about this or that, "Bloom where you are planted". I love that and I hope I've been able to do that here in Missouri. I'm a better person today because of this whole medical school adventure. Sometimes you have to be thrown out of your comfort zone to really really grow.

I saw this on Pinterest and it home. Found Here.

Just a shout out to my K-ville friends. Thank you for helping me bloom. I'm going to miss those I'm leaving something fierce and am so glad a handful are heading to Michigan too. Love you lots. :)

Okay, cheesiness over. Back to the whole put aside creative ventures. I have done a few things that need to be showcased.

This is a template from the Photoshop 2012 series. They are a quick easy way to get some scrapping done and also learn a new technique. Check them out here. You can purchase a subscription and get a new one automatically each week or you can purchase them individually. So fun, so cute. Full Credits here.

I made this card for my Mother and one for my Mother-in-law. Hopefully they don't see this first, Ha ha. I purchased a used Silhouette machine and haven't had much of a chance to play with it. I love how easy it is to cut out and make custom cards. I used a digital paper kit by Carina Gardner. It's called Paris & Co. Provencial Plum Pack. Super pretty. You can find the full credits HERE.

Look how cute these turned out! I love making iron-on Onesies for baby showers. I have such a wonderful supply of super cute digital images. They make super fun, easy gifts. The little Bee and Bird are from the Echo Park Hello Summer Element Pack. Find it Here.

Have an awesome weekend. :)

Love, Monica


 

Chicken Divan

A big hit!  I thought i'd try something new on the family last night, and even invited the Pops over, because it makes a whole lot.  My husband had 3 servings, and my Dad 2!  My kids gobbled it up and even my toddler cleaned up his tray.  Yay!  I love finding easy dinners like this for my family.

Chicken Divan
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. half and half
1/2 cooking sherry or water, (I used water)
2 regular cans cream of chicken soup
1-1 lb package of frozen cut or chopped broccoli-thawed
2 c. cooked rice
2-3 c. cubed cooked chicken
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a small saucepan, melt butter.  Add flour, and stir until blended in.  About 1 minute to make sure the flour taste is cooked out.  Stir in cream and sherry or water.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir 2 more minutes.  Add soup and stir until smooth.  Remove from heat.  (I cooked my chicken while I did this.)

Place broccoli in an ungreased 13x9 baking dish.  Cover with rice and then half the sauce.  Top with chicken.  Stir shredded cheese into remaining sauce, and pour it over the chicken.

Bake it uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.

A. MA. ZING.  :o)  Hope your family enjoys this as much as mine did.  Happy Thursday!

Love, Erica*

Strawberry Fruit Leather

My sweet Mother in Law sent me home with a BUNCH of strawberries!  Tons!  I froze a lot of them, but I wanted to make a few strawberry things with the rest.  My kids eat them like they are going out of style, so I thought I'd make some fruit leather for them.  It was so simple and the end results were pretty great.  If you want it more sweet, then add more honey.  I like mine a little tart, so I didn't add quite as much.

Strawberry Fruit Leather

3 c. strawberries, with stems cut off

1-2 Tbsp honey

Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Line big cookie sheet with parchment paper.  In your blender add your strawberries and honey and blend, until nice and smooth.  Pour into pan and spread out with the back of your spoon, until nice and even.  Bake for 2-3 hours.  Mine took a little over 3.  It just depends on your oven.  Keep an eye on it.  When it's not sticky to the touch anymore, it is done.  I over did my second batch, but it still softened up, sitting over night.  Let it cool completely before cutting and rolling it up.  Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday!  Hope you are all having a great week!

Love, Erica*

Menu Monday

I feel like the weeks are flying by. Anyone else? I feel like I am shopping and menu planning every other day. Where's that pause button when we need it? :)

Monica's Menu

Monday
French Dips

Tuesday
Pizza Rolls

Wednesday
Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Thursday
Tofu Stir Fry

Friday
Mini Meatloaf

Saturday
Taco Casserole

Sunday
Chicken Rolls





Erica's Menu


Monday
Sweet and Sour Chicken


Tuesday
It's our 8th Anniversary, so we are gonna go out to eat!


Wednesday
Hot Dog Boats, seriously the easiest and one of my kids' favorites.  Slice hot dogs almost completely in half and fry them up a bit.  When they are done spoon in some mashed potatoes and sprinkle tops with cheese and bake until the cheese is good and melty!  Yum!


Thursday
Crockpot Beef Stroganoff


Friday
Tacos


Saturday
Taking the kids to the zoo, so who knows what we'll do for dinner.


Sunday
Coconut Shrimp with Pina Colada Dip-Recipe to come! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Have a great week!

Love, Monica and Erica

Birthday Girl Cupcakes

I was lucky enough to get to make cupcakes for my friends little girl. She turned two and needed some tasty girly cupcakes to celebrate.

I used my favorite One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes recipe, buttercream, and Marshmallow Fondant to make the decorations. If you've never made Marshmallow Fondant, you should give it a try. It really is simple to make, color, and manipulate into what you need. It tastes so much better than store bought fondant. You can use it to cover a whole cake or to shape into decorations. I posted the directions HERE.

Here are the recipes for the Chocolate Cupcakes and Buttercream Frosting. They are tasty. My fave.

Hope you had a wonderful week! Have an awesome weekend. :)

Love, Monica

Erica's Green Smoothie

This has been my go to recipe for smoothies since I started on my weight loss journey.  It helped out a lot when I was craving something creamy and sweet.  When I first started making it, I was adding a packet of Truvia.  Now if I add it, it is WAY too sweet. 

 

Yum!

Erica's Green Smoothie

1 c. Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 container of Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt

1 medium banana

2 Tbsp. Flax Seed

1 serving frozen berries, (I like strawberries or the mixed berries.)  1 serving is about 2/3-1 cup

1 HUGE handful of spinach

If you like it a little thicker add a handful of ice

estimated calories 381

Even my kids love them.  I have to pour them their own cup every time.  Hey...it's pretty much healthy, so I don't mind.  Yay for spinach!!!  Here, McCoy is waiting for me to give him his share.  Stinker.

 My diet so far has been very successful.  I'm down 18 lbs!  I have about 5 more to go to hit my goal.  So excited with the progress I've made.  Sticking to a strict 1200 calorie diet and exercise plan has been hard, but so worth it!!  I do cheat on the weekends, so I can get my junk food fix.  I think it's helped out a lot that way.  I can't cut it out completely.  NO WAY!  Love my sweets!

Happy Wednesday!!

Love, Erica

Mint Brownies

I love mint brownies. I guess I'm just a mint + chocolate fan. I've been meaning to make some mint brownies for a long time and finally had the occasion to do so. These turned out moist and yum and are really quite easy. Brownie anyone? :)

Brownies
1 cup butter

1/2 cup cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Melt butter and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

Mint Frosting
5 Tbsp. butter
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

Soften butter. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

Chocolate Frosting
5 Tbsp. butter
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 cup cocoa powder

I used the same recipe as the mint frosting minus the peppermint extract and food coloring. Of course add the cocoa to make it chocolate. Use the same directions above adding the cocoa with the powdered sugar.

Spread mint frosting over brownies. You can put the pan in the freezer to let the frosting set up or just let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or so. It will crust over a bit. Carefully spread the chocolate frosting on top of the mint. Enjoy!
 
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything