Friday Favorites

Not only do I love this blog, but I love the woman that created it!  She is a very talented cook, and also a great friend of mine.  She just recently started her blog and I'm so happy that she did.  I love reading all her posts.  She is such a talented writer and makes me laugh on about every post.  Go check Kelsey out at A Spice a Day.  You'll be glad you did.  :o)

Here's few of her recipes that i've tried and loved or have on my list to try.

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Sticks
I heart anything asparagus.

Banana Bread
This is my go to recipe for Banana Bread.  It's amazing!!!

Tomato Casserole
An easy recipe, with great flavor.

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken
These look so delicious.  I need to try these soon.

Double Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies
Oh my!!  These look heavenly!

Head on over to meet my good friend, Miss Kelsey.  Tell her we sent you.  :o)

Hope you all had a wonderful week!  Have a fun and safe weekend!! 

Lemon Lime Cake

I love this cake. My sister in law Jamie is the best at making it though. Whenever she makes it it always is so incredibly light and fluffy. Mine was still delish and this is a must have recipe in your spring and summer stash. This cake is great for family get togethers, BBQs, or potlucks. I just love its light fresh taste.

Lemon Lime Cake

1 lemon cake mix

1 (3 oz.) package of lime Jello

1 1/2 cups water

1 (3 oz.) package of vanilla instant pudding

1 c. Milk

1 (8 oz.) container frozen whipped topping

Mix and bake cake according to directions. While cake is baking, dissolve Jello in 1 cup boiling water, then add 1/2 cup cold water. Set aside until cake is done. When cake is done, remove from oven and poke holes in hot cake. Slowly pour Jello over the top of the cake letting the mixture seep into the holes. Refridgerate until cake is cool.

Blend pudding mix with 1 cup of milk until it begins to thicken. Fold in whipped topping and spread on cooled cake. Keep cake refrigerated.

Enjoy!

Source: Jamie Smiley

Have a great Tuesday!! Anyone getting sun? Not us, just rain and clouds. I like rain, but some sun would be nice too. :)

Mango Salsa

I love Easter weekend.  I love when my family that I haven't seen in a while are home.  And I especially LOVE when they whip up something delicious like Mango Salsa to share with everyone.  My cousin, Jen, was in town for the holiday weekend.  I went to pay her a visit and I was so excited when they invited me to stay for dinner.  My family is full of awesome cooks, my Auntie, Uncle and cousins being a few of them. 

I, being the lazy person that I am, didn't whip up anything new to post on the blog.  So, Jen told me I could use this recipe.  I'm so happy she let me.  It's something everyone must try.  And it's so bright and colorful.  Perfect for spring and summer parties.

Mango Salsa
3 ripe mangos, cut up
3 avacados, cut up
juice of one lemon to coat the mango and avacado.
1/2 large white onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
1-2 jalepeno's, chopped (take out the seeds if you don't want it too spicy)
Bunch of cilantro, chopped (I like a lot of this stuff, so do it to your own taste)

Mix everything together and eat with tortilla chips, or top your fish, or chicken with it.  YUM!

Hope you had a great Easter weekend like I did.  Here's to an awesome week and warmer weather!  PLEASE!  :o)

Digi Day

If you didn't get a chance to hop over to JessicaSprague.com and check out Jodie Lee's Designs, I'll give you a sneak peek here. There is a lot of excitement with this new designer. She brings some gorgeous shabby vintage styles and I can't wait to see more. Oh and these four products are on sale through Sunday. Not bad, not bad!

This is her Sweet Heart kit. It has gorgeous papers and beautiful elements.

These photo textures are beautiful. If you want to add some texture and some vintage feel to a photo. These are fun.

This is her Shabby Set.

And these papers you can use as is or you can use them to add textures to papers already in your stash. Again, really fun.

Again, I was hoping to get more done in the scrapbooking arena but you know how it is. Some things just get put on the backburner. Here is my layout for the week. I did use Jodie Lee's paper in this as is but I'm mainly featuring the tag by Elle's Studio. This comes out in the store on Monday. It has beautiful texture and is a great basic tag to have for journaling.

Full Credits Here.

Later! Have a wonderful day!



Overnight Sticky Buns

Or as my son would call them, "PUMKINS!"  lol...as soon as I pulled them out of the oven he was so excited we were having "pumkins" for breakfast.  I loved that I could throw these together before I went to bed and just put them in the oven in the morning.  And they were delicious.  Gotta love the ooey gooey goodness of this breakfast.  I was mostly excited to change it up a bit and having something other than yogurt and oatmeal in the morning. This was an awesome change.  :o)

Overnight Sticky Buns
18  frozen Rhodes Dinner Rolls
4.5 oz cook and serve vanilla or butterscotch pudding
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. melted butter

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray and throw your frozen rolls in it nice and even.  Sprinkle the tops with pudding mix, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Pour the butter over the top.  Cover with a towel overnight.  When you wake up, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-30 minutes.  Let them sit for 5 minutes then turn them upsdie down on a serving platter.  ENJOY!  :o)

Source-Our Best Bites Cookbook

Granola Bars

For the most part my lil' boy is a pretty healthy eater. Nine times out of ten he'll choose fruit over a sweet or fries. He loves vegetables and I have no problem getting him to eat a healthy snack. One of his favorite quick go-to's are granola bars. I've been wanting to make my own at home and finally got around to it. Tasty? Yes. Cost Efficient? Probably not. Making these or not would really depend on if you would rather save money or know exactly what is going into your kids' bodies. Unfortunately that really is a toss up for many of us.

Anyhoo, these really were quick to throw together and fun for the kids to help too. One bit of advice, keep an eye on your oat/nut mixture while toasting. Mine got a little darker than I would have preferred. Enjoy!

Granola Bars
3/4 cup honey (divided)
2 Tbls. butter
3 cups dry oatmeal
1 1/3 cup slivered almonds (or other nut)
pinch of salt (optional)
1 cup dried fruit (I used raisins, dried apricots, and craisins)
1/3 cup creamy nut butter (I used peanut butter)
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325. In a small saucepan heat 1/4 cup honey and butter over low. Cook, stirring until butter melts.

In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, and pinch of salt. Drizzle honey mixture over oat mixture and stir to combine. Wipe saucepan clean for later use. Spread mixture evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally. About 15 minutes. Let cool completely on sheet. Return to large bowl and add dried fruit. Stir to combine.

Lightly butter an 8 inch square baking dish. In saucepan, combine 1/2 cup honey, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil and sugar dissolves about 10 minutes. Drizzle over oat mixture and stir till combined. Transfer to the baking dish and press firmly with a spatula. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour, then cut into 16 bars or squares. These store up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Source: Emeril :)

In other news...we have a new designer over at JessicaSprague.com. Her name is Jodie Lee formerly Gypsy Chick. She has a vintage old world style that I love. Can't wait to play with her products. Check her out!

Have a Happy Tuesday!!

S'more Stuffed Cookies

These were some big A cookies!  :o)  They are delicious!  I could only eat a half of one, because they are pretty rich.  But if you like rich, then this is your cookie.  It has a whole s'more stuffed inside chocolate chip cookie dough.  When you break it in half it has the BEST good and melty marshmallow.  I love it!!  The taste of the s'more made me even more excited for summer.

S'more Stuffed Cookies
2 sticks of butter, softened

1 c. sugar
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
6 full sheets graham crackers broke into quarters, equalling 24 quarters
3 Hershey Bars, broken into rows of 3 bars
12 large marshmallows cut in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or spray it good with cooking spray. 

Beat butter until creamy, and add sugars.  Beat until light and fluffy.  Then add your flour, salt, and baking soda.  Mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Layer a graham cracker, 3squares of chocolate, 2 halves of marshmallows, and then another graham cracker.  Top the s'more with a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough.  Pick up with dough in the palm of your hand and add another scoop.  Form dough around s'more adding more if you need it.  (These are HUGE cookies, so don't think yours are too big...the most likely aren't.)  It gets kind of messy, but it only makes 12 cookies, so keep going!  :o)  Place on cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until light brown around edges.  Let them cool a few minutes before transfering to a cooling rack.  ENJOY!

Source-Picky Palate

Hope you have a wonderful week!