My Top 13 in 2013

So, I know I've been MIA for the last 4 months but I felt like I needed a little 2013 wrap up post. There were so many fun projects posted in 2013 and I've really been missing the blogging world lately. Hopefully 2014 will slow down enough for me to post some more of the fun projects I've been doing around here. Here are the top 13 favorite posts from 2013!

1. Anthropologie Rosette Pillow Knock-Off
This is for sure the favorite post of 2013. Thanks to all of my followers and all of the great blogs that have linked to my tutorial!

 2. Easy Homemade Crescent Rolls

 3. Shark Stuffie {Free Pattern & Tutorial}

 4. Dyed Ruffle Ombre Tablecloth

5. Creme Brulee Recipe

6. Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

7. $5 Dress Up Station

8. Bathroom Makeover

9. Gold Leaf Table 

10. Crockpot Honey Curry Chciken

11. Pesto Ranch Pasta Salad

12. Valentine's Free Printable  

 I saved the two Valentine's posts for the end. I hope these come in handy this year! 2 weeks and counting until Love day!

 13. Valentine's Day Outfits

Easiest Taco Soup Recipe

Hey everyone! Do you want the recipe for the easiest/yummiest dinner ever?? Of course you do ;) Honestly we have this at least once a month because you can throw it in the crockpot in the morning and dinner is done! AND you literally just dump everything in! Couldn’t get any easier…Plus it makes a ton, so it’s great for large groups! When I’m feeding another family, I add a couple more cans of beans instead of having to double it. YUM!
 I'm also going to post this at my best friends blog she started called Basic Bites. It's a blog for a whole bunch of yummy recipes!



-1-2 large cans diced tomatoes
-1 can kidney beans
-1 can black bleans
-1 can zesty chili beans (s&w are the best)
-1 can corn
-1 onion (chopped)
-1 packet ranch dressing mix (I buy the big one at Costco and use about 3 Tbl)
-3 Tbls Taco Seasoning
*Throw it all in the crockpot & cook for 7-8 hours on low.
*Top with cheese, sour cream, & Avocado. Eat with an entire bag of tortilla chips ;)

Pinned! Food. Food. Food.

I have been loving to cook/bake lately which is odd for me. I'm normally the type to opt for pizza in a heartbeat! I guess pinterest is to blame because I keep seeing all these recipes I want to try. Here are some of the ones I've tried and loved!

A friend from high school started the best food blog! She has all the best recipes that look devine. This bread recipe was SO good! I loved it. I love having fresh homemade bread and had gotten used to making it once a week before the baby. I think I'll have to get back into that routine again...

I made this Creamy Bacon Carbonara the other night and it was DElish!

This was last nights dinner and the husband and kids approved. I love finding meatless meals that are actually filling too! (I may or may not be a little weird about cooking meat. Plus it makes the meal SO much faster and easier to cook!)

Last but not least we tried this marinara sauce a couple weeks ago and it was so good! Plus I had a ton leftover to freeze, which makes for some easy dinners this week!

Have you tried any good recipes lately I need to try?? Do you find all of your recipes from Pinterest like I do? ;)

Fresh Salsa Recipe

Cold Salsa in the summer time is probably one of my very favorite snacks. We can go through a batch & a whole bag of chips in one sitting. Don’t judge me.  Pair it with cold fresh fruit and I’m one happy girl. Here is how I make our salsa around here…

Gather all your ingredients:

-3 fresh tomatoes

-1 can of tomatoes

-1 bunch cilantro

-1-2 garlic cloves

-1 jalapeno (seeds removed if you don’t want too spicy)

-1 lime

-Red pepper/green pepper (or red pepper flakes)

-Salt & Pepper

-1/2 onion

Cut up 2 of the tomatoes, your jalapeno, & your pepper and throw it all in the blender/food processor. Add your cilantro,  garlic, can of tomatoes and your salt & pepper to taste. Chop it all up until you get your desired consistancy.

Now we like our a salsa with a little chunk to it so I save one of the tomatoes and chop it up & put it in a big bowl.

Squeeze your lime into the bowl with your tomatoes…

Chop up your onion. My husband’s not a huge fan of onion so I chop ours up real fine.

Dump out the salsa from the blender into your bowl and mix it all up! Now you’re ready to pull out your tortilla chips and dig in! YUM.

If you’re making salsa for a big group try adding another can or two of tomatoes, more cilantro, garlic & maybe another jalapeno. This is a crowd pleaser :)  Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far..

Healthy Muffins

I use the term healthy loosely here. I have no experience in what is healthy and what is not. Especially because I tell myself on a daily basis that Reeses peanut butter cups are healthy because they have peanut butter in them. Which is protein. Am I right?? Bahaha I'm just keeping it real that 9 times out of 10 I will choose something fatty and full of sugar over something healthy. However, I am trying to be better and hoping to give my girls better snack options. So here are some muffins I made that still have sugar and butter in them but also are a little healthier than having oh let's say a cupcake for breakfast like my usual...

I decided to pretend I know how to cook and make up a recipe using random stuff we had and I have to say they turned out pretty good! My girls loved them and so did my husband and I.

Carrot Banana Applesauce Muffins

-A little less than 1/2 cup butter (softened)

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-2 mashed bananas

-1/2 cup grated carrots

-1/2  cup granola

-1/2 cup applesauce

-2 eggs

-1 cup flour

-1 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

-1/2 tsp salt


*Mix all your ingredients in medium bowl and pour batter into greased muffin tin. (I did both mini muffins and regular sized. The mini muffins were a big hit with the toddlers!) Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 min. 

Yummiest Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ever.

My Mom is the best cookie maker ever. I don't know how she does it but they turn out to perfection every time. I've made them with her a million times but every time I attempt them myself they're not quite as good. We've always joked in our family that she keeps a secret ingredient hidden so she will always be the pro. But, I have picked up a couple tricks since watching her. Like, DON'T over mix. I may have the reputation to beat things to death when I cook. I can't help it, I have this weird need to mix and mix and then the texture is never right...So now when making these cookies I mix the dough until it's barely mixed together. Trust me it's the best. I also have to turn my oven down to 325 instead of 350. This could definitely be because my oven is old, and lame, and burns everything. So, I turn the heat down and cook them until they look a little doughy. By the time I get them out and let them sit on the pan a couple minutes, they are cooked just right. Now time for the recipe...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

-3/4 cup white sugar

-3/4 cup brown sugar

-2 eggs

-1 cup butter flavored shortening

*mix then add:

-2 cups flour

-1 tsp baking soda

-1 tsp salt

-add 3/4 cup oats

-1 tsp vanilla

-add 1/2 package chocolate chips at the end (gently mix in)

*cook at 350 deg. (325 in my case) for about10 min. 

Yummiest Banana Cake

I decided to repost this because I've had a lot of people asking me for the recipe. I have to tell you this is the yummiest cake ever. My husband and I can clean out a pan in one sitting. Don't Judge.  Just trust me and make this and you'll never go back to baking banana bread again with those over ripe bananas...

So I've been in a baking mood lately...Yes it's a little crazy with two kids under 2 years old. But, when I get a total of 3 hours of sleep and there's no hope of getting a nap I have to keep myself crazy busy or I remember how exhausted I am...So after failed attempts at homemade bread and cinnamon rolls, I decided to use up my ridiculously ripe bananas and try this banana cake...yummm It's SO good and moist (I can't believe I just used one of my top 3 grossest words...) Here are the recipes and I'm also posting this to Basic Bites

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 2/3 c. sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. soda
• 2/3 c. butter, at room temperature
• 4 mashed bananas, large
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 c. buttermilk or plain yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt because Ialready had some and it turned out fine)
• 2/3 c. chopped nuts (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and soda. Then add: butter, and bananas. Beatthoroughly, then add: eggs, buttermilk, chopped nuts and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Pour into a greased & floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. When cooled, top with Cream Cheese frosting.

"Sprinkles" Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz of cream cheese, very soft
4 oz of butter, very soft
1/8 tsp salt
4 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese and butter with the salt until light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, and the vanilla - beat until smooth and creamy.

Pumpkin Muffins

So I'm sure you've seen this pin floating around Pinterest lately. I decided I had to try them. I made some homemade pumpkin puree last year and figured I'd better use it up before this fall hits and I can make some more to replace it. So, I changed the recipe up just a tiny bit but it was still the easiest recipe I've ever made and was SO delicious. My husband and I may or may not have finished off 10 of them ourselves that first night. Here is the deal on how you can gain a couple pounds in a couple hours....



Homemade Pumpkin Puree
-2 pie pumpkins (I figure I should at least do 2 if I'm going to the trouble to do it, it should last me the rest of the year...)

*Cut your pumpkins in half and place them insides down in a pan. Fill the pan with about an inch of water. Cook at 350 for about 45 min. or until tender. Take your pumpkins out and scoop out all of the seeds. Throw them away or make some salted pumpkins seeds. Scoop your pumpkin out and place in a blender (the pumpkin should be so tender that it's very easy to scoop out). Blend it all up and place in separate bags. I just put it in 3 huge gallon sized bags. Turned out to be the worst idea I ever had. Since it was all thawed I had to use up 5 cups so we also got pumpkin pie this week. So, I suggest freeze in 2 cup increments.


Yummy Pumpkin Muffins
-2 cups pumpkin puree
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp pumpkin pie spices (nutmeg, cloves, etc.)
-1 box of yellow cake
-Chocolate chips (optional) I added this because I don't think pumpkin treats are the same without chocolate in them. My husband hates chocolate and pumpkin so I did half and half and they both turned out delicious!

*Cook as directed on box, sprinkle with some powdered sugar and enjoy :)

Easiest and fastest recipe ever!
PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE! Thanks!!

Pinned. Food Edition.

I have a slight obsession with Pinterest. It's addicting on so many levels... But I decided it almost leaves me struggling to decide on what I need to accomplish. Like my To Do list grows to over 100 in minutes... Yesterday was definitely a Pinterest filled day (in a good way) I got a lot accomplished and also had a couple failed attempts at things. Here are the results:

Yogurt Covered Pretzels


* I was really excited about this recipe because I love yogurt covered pretzels, but alas it was a FAIL. I followed the recipe almost exactly but they did not set up like the picture. So, try at your own risk ;) 

Zupas Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

*My husband and I love a restaurant in Utah called Zupas. They have the yummiest salads, soups and sandwiches YUM This soup recipe for our favorite was a HIT!  We loved it. I added a little more flour because I was nervous it wouldn't thicken and then it was too thick, so stick to the recipe!
 

Paradise Bakery Sugar Cookies

*These cookies didn't taste exactly like Paradise but they were still pretty good. I'm more of a chewy sugar cookie girl but they were fun to make and tasted pretty good! I'd call it a success overall...

*I can't remember where I got this picture? But we decided to try to make Zupas Nuts about Berries salad and it was a pretty close match...We topped romaine and iceberg lettuce with strawberries, blueberries, and candied almonds. The recipe for the dressing is:

1/2 cup of oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper to taste

(a little bit of fresh lemon juice is always refreshing to add as well...)

This is my favorite dressing for salads and is SO yummy paired with berries! 

PS I hit over 100 followers this week! Woohoo! Thanks to everyone who cares to listen to my ramblings :) Look out for a giveaway sometime this week!