Berk's Girl

Oh baby, baby...

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:13:00 +0000

It's been forever since I posted but I have a good excuse! :) I am having our first baby! I am at 5 1/2 months right now and loving it. However, I've been extremely exhausted, busy with the new school year and getting our house ready. Hence, I haven't had a lot of time to blog.

I figured I'd share a little post about the party we had yesterday. In celebration of our first baby, we had a gender reveal party. We had the doctor put the gender in an envelope and gave it to the baker. After cutting into the cake, we found out we are having a boy and are super excited.

Here are a few snapshots from our fun celebration.

Our invite with matching cake...


It's a boy! Blue Velvet = Deliciousness!

Avocado Egg Rolls with Cilantro Vinaigrette Dipping Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Well, things have been a quite hectic so I haven’t had time to post. My laptop downloaded a nasty virus at the end of last week so luckily, our tech support at school was able to fix it after completely wiping clean my computer. I just got that back late Monday. What a headache! I’ve never had a virus before so let me tell ya, it was fun, having to move 2 years worth of files onto our network and my flash drive. And today and tomorrow, we have our school’s variety show which I am co-producer of so I’ve been running around doing preparations for that. As with any show, we’ve had our fair share of little nuisances but hopefully it will go smoothly today and tomorrow.

Aside from all that, I turned 33 yesterday. In celebration of my birthday, my sweet and wonderful husband had a glass of wine, flowers and dinner waiting for me when I got home from our variety show dress rehearsal. I absolutely love Kona Grill's appetizer of avocado eggrolls so I had asked him if he could duplicate the recipe. He did quite well and they came out delicious. Although they are known as an appetizer, we had them as our dinner and they were quite filling. I couldn't get enough. I even renamed these as Guac-n-Rolls and can't wait to have them again. The only thing he might change next time is to put them in the deep fryer so they maintain more of a rounded shape. These by far, are one of my favorite dishes he has made yet.

Avocado Egg Rolls with Cilantro Vinaigrette Dipping Sauce

*slightly adapted from It’s a Dog’s Life

Cilantro Vinaigrette Dipping Sauce

1 bunch of cilantro

3 teaspoons honey

¾ teaspoon fresh lime juice

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a food processor, place cilantro, honey, lime juice. Pulse until smooth adding olive oil slowly to make a sauce. This is like making a runny pesto. Taste just a little. It should taste like sweet cilantro. You may want to add a little salt or lime juice.

Let this sit while you make the egg rolls so the flavors can blend.

--------------------------------------------

Avocado Filling

4 avocados

½ medium tomato, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ lime, juiced

½ teaspoon salt

8 to 16 egg roll wrappers (we ended up getting 11 eggrolls out of this recipe)

4 tablespoons olive oil or enough to cover the bottom of the pan

Salt to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat.

This is a basic chunky guacamole. Cut all avocados in half and place in bowl. Chop the tomato, green onions and garlic. Toss into bowl with avocados. Put seasonings and lime into bowl. Mash gently with potato masher. You want big chunks so don’t over do it.

Egg roll wrappers can be bought at your local grocery store. We found them in the stir-fry vegetable section of our store. Peel one off.

Place about 2-3 tablespoons of the avocado mixture at one end of the wrapper. Roll once. Fold in the sides.

Continue to roll. When you get to the end wet the wrapper with water. Finish rolling. Keep making egg rolls until you’ve used all the filling. Place them on a damp paper towel covered with a damp paper towel. You don’t want them to dry out.

Place in the preheated skillet. Don't over crowd the pan. Brown egg rolls on each side turning when needed. When brown on each side, place on paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with salt.

Serve with delicious dipping sauce.

Oatmeal Butterscotchies (kinda like Grandma used to make!)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:56:00 +0000

Yesterday was kinda rough. Just over-all stressful. The “higher-up” wanted to test out some new, assessment software in my classroom yesterday and there were a few kinks. I was prepared but “others” were not (even after I tried to make sure they were prepared.) In the end, it just left me really cranky with a bad headache. A headache which turned into nausea so yesterday, instead of going grocery shopping, I came home from work, napped and then ate half of a frozen pizza. It was pretty much a wasted day.

Today was a bit better. No headache but I had the shakes. Starbucks messed up my coffee and it was too late to turn back when I noticed it. Needless to say, since I take my thyroid meds in the morning, I already was full of energy and the coffee they gave me, must have contained 50 cups of sugar. Not sure why I still drank it but I did and I felt like bouncing off the walls of my classroom all day.

Things are a little stressful around school as well. Next week is our school variety show and I (along with 2 other co-workers) are the producers. So of course, we’ve been running around making sure everything is ready. We’re doing a circus theme and the show is called Big Top Talents. The décor is coming out pretty cute and the acts are pretty amazing. Our kids work really hard and I’m hoping everything runs smoothly. Here is a sample of the clipart we’re using for our large decorations. Aren’t they cute? We enlarged them with an overhead project and our students are coloring them in bright and bold oil pastels. I can't wait to display them around our auditorium.

With that being said, when I came home tonight, I needed sugar. Well, something sweet to eat. I checked my pantry and had butterscotch chips and oatmeal. So why not make Oatmeal Butterscotchies?!?! This is one of my husband’s favorite cookies. Before I started making these, he told me about his grandmother’s butterscotch oatmeal cookies and how delicious they were. I had no way of getting her recipe and probably wouldn’t have been able to make it just like her. Grandmas have their own way of making things taste extra delicious and I knew I wouldn’t be able to compete. However, after playing around with a few recipes, I found one of my own. They were a hit and my husband gobbles them up whenever I make them. It’s a great cookie if you’re looking for something without chocolate. I personally could eat chocolate every single minute of every single day and never get sick of it. However, my husband is a little pickier and prefers flavors of butterscotch, white chocolate or caramel flavored baked goods. I’ll take it all though! ;)

Oatmeal Butterscotchies

(kinda like Grandma used to make!)

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl beat the butter, white sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.
Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats and the butterscotch chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I prefer to line them with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown.

Pawsome Pretzels

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:44:00 +0000

I probably have over 2,000 cookie cutters. You think with all those, I’d be some fabulous cookie decorator, right? I wish. Honestly though, cookie decorating intimidates me. And what usually happens is that I get so frustrated from messing up so many times that I eat the cookies. Yet, I still try and try again. I’m getting there slowly (very slowly) with a lot of practice of making my cookies look somewhat appealing.

However, whenever I get the itch to bake something cute but I don’t want to ~~eat~~ inhale every cookie, I turn to dog treats. Although I could eat the dog treats because they are made with human friendly ingredients, they do not tempt me as much as sugar cookies do.

With that being said, I picked up this cute, little Linzer pretzel cookie cutter from Sur La Table. I never had used this type of cutter before so the first one, I broke. The second one, I forgot to dry it after washing and it rusted. However, the third one I bought and works like a charm.

I decided to use this cutter with the dog treats and I must say, they came out fairly cute. I used the recipe from my Shake your Shamrock dog cookies. From time to time, I’ll vary it up and instead of banana, I’ll use pumpkin instead. It’s an easy recipe and great for cookie cutting. The first time I made them, I melted carob and yogurt chips and drizzled them over the pretzels. I sometimes mix a little peanut butter with the yogurt chips or the carob as well for extra flavor. The second time I made them, I made them for 4^th of July to give to some of our doggy friends and used Wilton’s blue and red vanilla coating chips. All of these ingredients are dog friendly but do not overdo it. You do not want to put your pup in a sugar coma. I usually just drizzle a few of them and leave the rest plain.

These last about 2 weeks. I either store them in a zip loc container or a zip loc bag to maintain freshness. Now I did just get a food dehydrator so I’m excited to try that. I’ve heard I can get a shelf life of 3-6 months or longer by dehydrating the treats so we’ll see in the future how that works out.

Hope your pup enjoys them as much as my dog does!

Recipe: Pawsome Pretzels: Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Cookies

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1 cups smashed banana
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Mix together the flour, eggs, peanut butter, banana, salt, honey and cinnamon in a bowl. Add water as needed to help make the dough workable and not crumbly, but the dough should be dry and stiff. Roll the dough out onto a flour surface, about 1/2 inch thick. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out cookies.
Bake in preheated oven until hard, about 40 minutes.
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Winner of the $25 Target Giftcard Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:43:00 +0000

Congratulations Anita! You are the winner! I have emailed you so please check your email so I can get your prize out to you!

Thank you again to all who entered and to all of my new followers!

Link Up to Fabulous Food Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:40:00 +0000

Did you make something this week that’s absolutely delicious?

Or did you make or bake something that’s super cute, fun or creative?

Maybe you stumbled across a cool/cute/crazy/unique cooking gadget that everyone should know about?

Do you have a special technique that makes life in the kitchen easier?

If you can answer any of these questions, this hop is for you!

Link up here to the Fabulous Food Friday.

How this blog hop works…

1. All delicious, fun or cute recipes or food related posts welcome. Add the direct link to your recipe or food related post. (please do not link up to giveaways)

2. Visit some of the other wonderful bloggers that have linked up before you.

3. Link back to Fabulous Food Friday by grabbing the button below or on the sidebar to show others you joined the hop. Feel free to put it in a post or anywhere in your blog.

4. I would love it you became a follower through GFC, Facebook or Twitter.

5. Help spread the word by telling others you’ve joined the hop.

<div align="center"><a href="http://berksgirl.blogspot.com" title="Berk's Girl: Sweets, Eats & Life's Treats"><img src="http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee419/berksgirl78/FabulousFoodFridayButtton.jpg" alt="Berk's Girl: Sweets, Eats & Life's Treats" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

This is my first time hosting a blog hop so hopefully, this is successful.

I LOVE learning new things and discovering new recipes so I hope you’ll take the time to share.

Fabulous Flatbread

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:26:00 +0000

I love bread. I love all types of bread. Baguettes, pitas, brioche, biscuits and everything in between-I just can't get enough. However, my newest love is my husband's fabulous flatbread!

Last night, he told me he planned on making dinner for tonight. When he had asked what I want, I replied, "something delicious but healthy." And he did just that. Well, it was kinda healthy but it was so delicious, refreshing and great for a weeknight meal.

Fabulous Flatbread with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Fontina cheese and Basil

Ingredients:

· 1 1/2 cups warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)

· 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

· 4 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil, plus more for bowl

· sun-dried tomatoes

· fresh basil

· 1 pound of fontina cheese, thinly sliced

· 1 tablespoon (or more) of your favorite pesto

Directions:

Mix water and yeast in a large bowl and let stand 5 minutes to proof. Gradually pour in 2 cups of the flour and stir to incorporate. Mix for about 1 minute to form a sponge. Let stand, covered, for at least 1 hour.

Put sponge in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, add the salt and oil, and then add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a dough. Remove from bowl and knead. Place in a clean oiled bowl and let rise, slowly, about 2 1/2 hours. Divide dough into 4 balls, let rise again for 1/2 hour, and then roll out as desired.

Flatten flatbread dough, gently press into a large rectangle or circle, brush liberally with olive oil, and throw on grill (or since it was raining, we used our electric skillet). Grill on both sides until golden brown. Spread 1 side with your favorite pesto. We used sun-dried tomato pesto for this one but I’m sure basil or others would be just as delicious. Layer with fontina cheese, fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes. Place on grill for 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted or place in oven for 4-5 minutes at 250 degrees until cheese is melted.

Variations: There are so many variations for this. You can use infused oils or add herbs to the dough. When we don’t have time to make fresh pesto, in our fridge, we have stocked the sun-dried tomato, a basil pesto and an eggplant-pepper pesto as well. I’m sure they would all taste delicious. Also, although my husband isn’t a fan of goat cheese, I’m excited to try that on this as well next time.

P.S. Don't forget to enter my $25 Target Giftcard giveaway. It ends 4/23!

Chicken with Broccoli & Garlic Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:53:00 +0000

We're trying to eat healthier at my house and trying really, really, REALLY hard to eat more vegetables. So this was Friday night's dinner! It was quite delicious!

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 pound boneless, chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 tablespoons fresh minced thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups broccoli, florets

1 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided

1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cups cooked white or brown rice

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken on a plate and season with thyme, salt and pepper. Add garlic to skillet and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chicken to skillet and cook until browned on all sides, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes.
Add broccoli to skillet, cover and cook minutes. Add 1 cup of broth, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
In a cup, dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/2 cup of broth; add to skillet. Simmer until mixture thickens, stirring constantly, about 1 minute; serve over rice.

Don't forget, enter my $25 Target Giftcard giveaway.

Get your entries in. It ends 4/23/11.

Beef, Cheese & Parsley Dog Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:40:00 +0000

I'm having a "blah" kind of week/weekend. With my pup being sick, work and this weather, I'm just out of it. I'm behind on blogging and I'm behind on reading all the blogs that I love. Maybe I'll catch up this week. Could you believe, we had snow here in Chicago yesterday? Combined with rain, yesterday made for a gloomy day. Today, I was really hoping to work in the yard on digging up the area for my garden but it was a bit too chilly with the wind. Needless to say, that REALLY bummed me out. With that being said, I don't have too much to say. So I leave you with the recipe below.

Here is a dog treat recipe that my Jameson absolutely loves. And it freshens breath, too! Enjoy!

Beef, Cheese & Parsley Dog Treats

Share on Facebook

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine, and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Grease cookie sheets.
Thoroughly stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, Cheddar cheese, parsley and egg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff dough has formed.
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, mixing in additional flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and place 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool before serving. Store in a loosely covered container.

P.S. Have you entered my $25 Target Giftcard giveaway yet? Get your entries in.

It ends 4/23/11.

Weekend Blog and Twitter Hops

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:15:00 +0000

Link up and discover some really creative and inspiring bloggers!

When life hands you lemons...

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:36:00 +0000

make lemonade and find someone else who life handed vodka to, and have a party!!!!

I certainly need to find that someone! ;)

Just wanted to say hello and to thank all my new followers for following. I have comments that go back to April 8th that I still need to read through and follow back. I'm hoping this weekend I'll get back on track.

It's been a busy few days.We have had some problems with our plumbing, a water line broke in front of our house and we've been busy landscaping our backyard to get it ready for my garden. I was left with a dud of a yard when we moved in that trashed so it's been a challenge to get it semi-decent. We still have a ton of things to dig up and need to regrow the grass but it's getting there.

We had to take Jameson to the emergency vet Monday night around 1:30 a.m. He was vomiting up like crazy and there was blood in it. After blood work and x-rays, there seems to be something in his intestines. We took him back to the vet again yesterday to get some fluids, some injections and another round of meds. Hopefully he can "pass" whatever is in his intestines. If not, he'll be having another surgery. So please keep in your thoughts! I really hope he doesn't need surgery. The poor dog has had 2 surgeries in the last 4 months and I don't want to put him through another. On a positive note, he was able to eat food for the last time last night. It was only a golf ball sized ball of rice but he was able to keep it down and didn't wake us up last night. Hopefully, he'll be even better today. :)

Like I said, I just wanted to check in with a little update and once again, thank you for following my blog. :)

Peanut Butter & Honey Roll-Up Dog Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:42:00 +0000

Jameson is feeling much better from his ACL surgery from a couple weeks ago. He still has a few months of therapy to do but we are seeing a huge improvement. He had his stitches taken out this past Thursday. This time around was so much smoother. During his last ACL surgery, he pulled out the stitches and the poor pup needed staples. He's able to walk on the leg now and he's up to five minute, slower paced walks. He's personality is back and he's livelier than ever. The doctor said he still cannot jump for another month so it's been really hard trying to keep him off the couch because all he wants to do is cuddle.

With that being said, here's another one of his favorite treats!

Recipe: Peanut Butter and Honey Roll-up Cookies

Filling:

1/4 cup- quick oats

1/4 cup- wheat germ

2 tablespoons- honey

1 tablespoon- natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons- sesame seeds, (optional)

1 egg white (large or extra large)

Filling the Peanut Butter Dog Treat: Use food processor to turn rolled oats into powder. Basically you’re making oat flour for the filling.

Add peanut butter, honey and egg white to the food processor. Blend until thoroughly mixed. Add wheat germ and sesame seeds then pulse a couple of times to mix but keep mostly whole.

Scrape out as much as possible into small bowl and set aside. Don't bother to clean out the food processor, you'll be using most of the same ingredients in the next step anyway.

Dough Ingredients:

1 ½ cup - whole wheat flour

½ cup white flour

½ cup - quick oats

½ cup- unsweetened apple sauce

¼ cup- milk (I use 2%)

¼ cup - natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons- honey

1 egg + 1 yolk (large or extra large)

For the Dough: Combine applesauce, milk, egg yolk, peanut butter, honey, and oats in food processor and pulse a few times.

Ingredients should be well combined, the oats looking about a quarter of their usual size.

Scrape this out into the large bowl then add all purpose and whole wheat flour. Mix thoroughly to form a stiff dough. If dough is too dry to stick together, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time (do not exceed 4 tablespoons) until moist enough to stick. Knead for about 5 minutes then let dough rest for 10 minutes.

To Make the Roll Ups:Roll out dough between two sheets of wax or parchment paper, 1/4" to 1/2" thick, forming a rectangular shape about 8" wide, length will vary depending on thickness. Slightly taper both long ends. Now, get out the filling and evenly coat the whole top of the dough, avoiding the flattened edges.

CAREFULLY roll up the dough tightly enough to trap the filling inside (don't let it squeeze out the ends) starting from one flattened edge to the other. (If the end will not stay put, moisten the tapered edge a bit so it will stick.)

Once rolled up, wrap the wax or parchment paper around the tube then put it in a plastic bag or wrap it with plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer until firm enough to cut easily (usually 2-3 hours).

If your roll is uneven, you can even it out after chilling by rolling it with your hands against a flat surface.

You can also reduce the thickness in the same way, though I'd do this after chilling one hour then return the roll to the freezer. Using a slight sawing motion, cut slices 1/4" to 1/2" thick.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees (325 degrees if using dark cookie sheet), top rack for 30-45 minutes or until tops are slightly golden and bottoms are lightly browned. If you like, turn them for the last 10 minutes baking time so that the filling on the top browns and makes the swirl pattern more obvious. Let them cool and enjoy!

Spotlight Saturday & Weekend Blog Hops

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:26:00 +0000

Hosted by Between the Lines, Survey Junkie and Little Yaya's.

Every week swing by to link up your blog and one you want to spotlight! Did you find a new blog you liked this week? Is there one you visit on a daily basis? Well, simply link up your Spotlighted blog right under yours. We will Spotlight our favorite blogs of the week in spots 4, 5, and 6.

This week is Spotlight any blog you would like!

How it Works

1) Link up your own blog.
2)Link up a blog you want to spotlight for the week.(ex. Spotlight: Roslyn's Closet)
3) Follow your three hosts.

4) Grab their button and post it on your sidebar or in a Spotlight Saturday Post.

5) Follow as many blogs from the list as you like and leave a comment so they know you stopped by.
6) Return the favor by following blogs that followed you.

Also check out:

It's a Social Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Go ahead, you know you want to join! :)

Sweet & Spicy Beef with Noodles (from How Sweet It Is)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:48:00 +0000

Every week, I come across recipes posted by Jessica at How Sweet It Is. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you must definitely check it out. She creates some of the best and the most delicious recipes. Seriously! I've tried them. I always look forward to all her posts and I make sure to stay connected so I have her in my favorites and follow her on Twitter so I don't miss a thing.

With that being said, a few weeks ago she posted a recipe for Sweet and Spicy Beef with Noodles. Loving all the ingredients in this fabulous recipe, I bookmarked it and made it tonight.

I followed the recipe for the most part but did double the soy sauce and honey. We like a lot of "sauce" in this house. Oh and I couldn't find snap peas at the store so we used pea pods. Just as good! Berk isn't the biggest fan of mushrooms and pea pods (whereas I am) so since he needed a veggie to call his own, I added zucchini. Yum!

I highly recommend checking her out recipe and making it for yourself. Not only was it delicious but it was easy, quick and healthy. Perfect for a weeknight meal.

I'm really looking forward to making this again (and again).

Just wanted to say...

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:14:00 +0000

A sincere thank you to all of you that follow my blog. I logged into today and had over 50 comments. I was shocked! I'm very flattered and it truly means a lot to me. I look forward to reading all your blogs and learning so much from all of you.

Now back to work for me. I'm following all of you back and will be stopping by all your blogs tonight.

Thank you again!

Easy, Peasy Potato Salad (slightly boring but oh-so-delicious!)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:00:00 +0000

The last few days have been extremely busy and exhausting. We started back to school yesterday after enjoying a relaxing Spring Break. Yesterday wiped me out and today, just as well. All I want to do is veg at home and go to bed early. Good news is that there are only 41 days left of school until summer vacation. Hopefully time will fly by. I love my job and love my students but I'm ready for summer. Can you tell I'm getting anxious? I'm worse than the kids.

With that being said, this is not going to be a fairly long post. I'd thought I'd just post an easy, peasy potato salad recipe that I make all the time. Now I warn ya, it's nothing all that elaborate. It has minimal ingredients. I'm not a fan of sweeter potato salads or ones that contain mustard or relish or pickle or red pepper. I'm simple. And the recipe is simple. Most of the time when I make this, I'm making additional salads to go with so anything that saves time works for me. Oh, and love hard-boiled eggs so anything that resembles egg salad is okay in my book. I do get a TON of compliments though on how great it is so I must be doing something right. So here ya go. Take it for what it's worth or don't take it all. I promise, you will not hurt my feelings. ;)

Recipe: Easy, Peasy Potato Salad

*adapted from Hellmann's Original Potato Salad recipe

Ingredients:

2 lbs. potatoes (5 to 6 medium), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise (I use light mayo when I can)
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Cover potatoes with water in 4-quart saucepot; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and cool slightly.
Combine Hellmann's mayonnaise, salt and pepper in large bowl. Add potatoes, celery, onion and eggs and toss gently. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Note: When making it for a bbq, I usually double the recipe.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 03:09:00 +0000

Today is/was finally here: My husband’s 33^rd birthday!

Of course, we used his new smoker to smoke ribs and I made corn bread muffins and potato salad. I’ll post those recipes later. We literally ate the day away.

The highlight of his night though was his birthday treat. Being a simple guy, when I asked him what kind of treat he wanted me to bake for him, he said Snickerdoodle cupcakes. So I baked them…and they came out quite delicious.

I used Bakerella’s recipe for the cupcake and for the frosting, I found a delicious Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting recipe by My Baking Addiction that she originally used with Pumpkin Cupcakes. I must say, this is the best frosting recipe everrrrr! Brian can be picky about frosting and he thought this one was perfect!

Hop on over to Bakerella and MyBaking Addiction in case you’ve never visited those blogs before and explore a little, too. I’m sure you’ll be quite impressed and in awe of such wonderful recipes and cute ideas.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes by Bakerella
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk, room temperature
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line regular and miniature cupcake trays with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium for about 2 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time and mix until combined.
Add vanilla and mix until combined.
Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar in three additions. Alternate with milk in two additions.
Fill baking cups about 3/4 full.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from trays and let cool.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting by My BakingAddiction
Ingredients
2 (8) ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
2 lbs. confectioners’ sugar
1 TBS ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Method
Using a mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese together until well combined. Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar until fully incorporated. Finally mix in vanilla and cinnamon.

Get your Party On with the Ultimate Blog Part 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:19:00 +0000

Do you like to PAR-TAY?

If so, hop on over and join the: ULTIMATE BLOG PARTY at 5 Minutesfor Mom.

I’m very excited to find this wonderful blog. They are hosting this blog party and it is a wonderful meeting spot to meet a ton of creative and inspiring bloggers, just like yourself. I cannot begin to tell you how many different types of bloggers there are on there. I follow some of them already and I can honestly say, I learn something new every day! I’m so excited to start discovering new blogs as well through this party.

Connect up your blog and become part of this wonderful, blogging community.

The party runs from April 1^st until April 8^th so stop on by and link up. Also, don’t forget to enter for all the fabulous prizes that are being given away, too.

If this is your first visit to my blog, welcome! Thank you for stopping by! I’m a new blogger and I blog just about everything in life. There is no specific focus to my blog. I’m a veteran's wife, aunt to some amazing nieces and nephews, animal lover, cupcake and cookie decorator, wannabe chef, baker of gourmet dog and cat treats, crafter, new home owner, desperate to grow my 1st garden and lover of all things cute. Also, I’m an elementary technology teacher for grades 1st through 6^th so from time to time, I do share a ton of useful and educational websites. Oh and I love giveaways-entering and hosting so you’ll find those as well. (I have a Target gift card giveaway going on here.)

I love reading comments so make sure to stop by, say hello and if you have a blog, let me know so I can follow back! I look forward to getting to know everyone!

Weekend Blog Hops

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:08:00 +0000

Click on the buttons below to hop around and follow a bunch of fabulous and talented bloggers!

Well hello there.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:23:00 +0000

I've been MIA the last couple of days...well not missing, I've been on but I haven't had time to follow back all the fabulous bloggers that are following me. Don't you worry though, I will follow back later on tonight or tomorrow.

We have a ton of stuff going on over on this end.

-Yesterday, I met with the oral surgeon and I had scheduled my surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed. (Yikes!)

-The VA is scheduling an MRI on my husband's knees.

-My mother-in-law is moving back into town. She's staying with us until her stuff arrives by moving truck.

-I'm finishing up shopping for Brian's birthday tomorrow and our anniversary on Sunday.

-I've been cooking/baking up delicious recipes and would love to post some of them once I have downloaded the pics. Oh and one recipe was a fail because the meat went bad. Really bad after buying it from the store and was only in the fridge 2 days. Booo!

-We've started therapy with my dog to get his new ACL working again--lots of exercises and mini-walks.

So as you can see, busy busy around here. And to think, my Spring Break is almost over. :(

Well, I gotta run. I have a sausage and cheese strata in the oven that needs to come out shortly.

Enjoy your Friday!

Psssst. Have you entered yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:25:00 +0000

My 1st Giveway: $25 Target Gift Card ends 4/23

Arcademic Skill Builders (fun, educational website for kids)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:06:00 +0000

Arcademic Skill Builders is an exciting website I use with my students when we have down time in the classroom.

Their motto is: Arcade + Academics= Fun Learning! And I'd have to agree that their site does just that.

It's a fun and educational website that the students love to go onto. Students can compete in several games, that are aligned with educational state standards. They can compete with students around the world and practice their skills on several topics such as basic Math facts, geometry, telling time, decimals, fractions, geography, language arts and more.

Definitely check it out and I guarantee your child will be hooked. I must say, I even go on and compete with my students. They love the competition. If you have an extra computer in your house, I'd definitely go on and have a little fun challenging your kiddo.

Follow Me Back Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:49:00 +0000

Click on the button along to follow back a bunch of wonderful blogs.

Wednesday Blog Hops

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Berkery) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:36:00 +0000

Hop around to these fabulous blog hops going on and meet some new, fun and talented bloggers.