Connor's Corner

London Olympics 2012. Are you watching?

2012-08-03T13:56:00.003-07:00

Photo courtesy of visiteastlondon.com

The summer Olympics are one of my favorite things to watch. When it's on, my tv channel really doesn't change. My favorite event is gymnastics. I was in gymnastics when I was little, so I have a fondness for the event. That being said, let me say Congrats to Gabby! You are awesome! Good for you! Congrats to the Women's team too! Team Gold..amazing! I just finally watched the opening ceremonies. I know, I am a week late, I swear we have been busy. We actually watch half the events at like 2 in the morning. I thought the ceremony was cool. I really wanted to see it because I had heard that it wasn't that great. After watching it, I agree, it was no Beijing. That being said, it was about their culture and history, not Beijing culture and history, so how can you compare them? I thought that the forging of the rings was neat, and I liked the part with the children, showing their dreams and nightmares. Last but not least, how can you not laugh at Mr. Bean? What did you think about the ceremonies? What is your favorite event?

Also, has everyone seen this yet? I can't get it out of my head! I know that there have been like a million different versions of this, but I thought it was a good one!
Call me Lochte

Emily

Where have I been?!

2012-08-02T22:35:00.003-07:00

Why hello there! Long time, no see, or read, I guess. I know that I have been a complete disappointment to my blog followers! I deserve a serious time out! What have I been doing you ask? Well, let's see. My last blog was probably in January. Since then, we have moved into a new house. I would like to say that this has been the reason that I have flaked out on this site. The real reason, is that I found out I was pregnant with twins the day before we moved. Bam! How about that! I know, I couldn't believe it either! I was supposed to be due in October, but they ended up coming out at 24 weeks. Oh no! Right now they are in the NICU, and will be there, god willing until October. After that we can take them home, and the real fun begins! I can't wait! I promise that I will start blogging again very soon, maybe even this week. You might start to see some mommy type stuff on here, and some kid friendly stuff too. I promise to you though, I will be back with some delish desserts, and other fun stuff! I missed you all!
My boys

Patrick

Brady

See you real soon!
Emily

I need my space!!!

2012-02-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

Okay girls, I'm the first one to admit that I may, or may not, have a lot of "products" in the bathroom. When I say "products," I mean makeup, nail polish, body scrubs, hair stuff, etc. It's an issue and I know it. My name is Emily, and I have a problem. Well, we hit a little snafu when we moved into our new house. You would think that one would gain more space moving from a condo to a house. That is where you are wrong. Yes, we gained more space moving, but in some areas, we lost space. On a side note, moving is the reason I have been m.i.a. as of late. Everything was packed so it is hard to blog on a computer that's in a box. Anyway, moving on. Our new bathroom doesn't have any storage in the shower, it only has a window.

This would be fine if I didn't have my "issue." I stopped by Bed, Bath and Beyond a few days back. I was looking for a shower curtain rod. Funny thing, it's hard to take a shower in a new place with nothing to hang a curtain on. That was our first Doh! moment in the house that night. So, as I was walking around the bath section I saw these little nets that hang on the inside of your curtain. I have seen things like this before but they have always been plastic like, so they don't drain. That screams mildew to me, and in Florida, that is an issue. These ones, however, are all netting, like a laundry bag. Water goes in, water goes out. I like that and the fact that they are white, so those babies are going right in the bleach wash. Double plus. My triple plus...they were 2.99.

I love me a bargain! I picked up two, and saved myself from having to get a tower that will rust in about a month or two. So, if you are cramped in your place, I would give these a try. They have worked out really well for us!

It's Superbowl Time!!!

2012-02-02T20:24:00.000-08:00

I know I am going to get heat from someone about this, but I will be cheering for the Patriots on Sunday. Hey, I'm from there so I have the right! One of my best memories from when I was little was watching the Bears-Patriots Superbowl back in the 80's. I helped my mom make bear shaped cookies and we put jerseys on all of them. That was a tough game for us being that she was born and raised there. I was born there, but raised in Chicago, where we were living. Geez, what a tough position! Who was I supposed to cheer for? I just cheered for both and stuffed my face with cookies! What are every one's plans for the big day? Who will you be cheering for?!

I will never get over you...

2012-01-23T18:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday all! How was the beginning of every one's week? I hope it was great! I really haven't had a lot of time to blog lately because we are moving. Not really moving so much, more like fixing and painting before we move. On a brighter note, I will have a bigger kitchen, so I will have plenty of space to bake! I miss it so much! Anyway, while I have been painting, like anything else I do, I jam out to my Ipod. I am in love with the new song by Gavin Degraw called "Not over you." I was hooked on him as soon as I heard heard the theme song to "One Tree Hill" years ago. He is an amazing piano player. One of my favorite things about him is that if you ever see him perform, he sounds just like he does on the radio. That is a big deal for me. There is nothing worse than hearing a singer live, and thinking, wow, they really fixed their music. Anyway, have a listen and judge for yourself.

Gavin Degraw "Not Over You"
Rock on!

You Make my Heart Beat...Faster

2012-01-20T18:30:00.000-08:00

Does anyone out there have Sirius radio? We have it at work, and it's great...if you don't listen to the same station for 13 hours straight. If you do, you know that it's the same songs over and over and over again. Seriously, over and over. To my delight, they throw in a new one once in awhile and it sucks me back in. This month's surprise hit is from Matt Nathanson. It's called "Faster." I am hooked, and yet slightly depressed because I used all of my ITunes money, so I have not been able to enjoy it out of work. Lame. If you have some money on your ITunes, feel free to download this little ditty!

Matt Nathanson

Faster

Happy listening!

Party like it's 1999

2011-12-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's Eve to all! I hope everyone had a great holiday! I know I did! Does everyone have big plans for New Year's Eve? I'll be working, which totally stinks. I hope you all have better plans than me. To get myself in the holiday mood, I bought some great new products a few weeks back which I love. They'll be sure to liven up your party spirit.
The first one is from Maybelline. It's eyeshadow that's basically filled to the brim with glitter. It's comes with 4 colors; White (clear,) light and dark Pink, and Silver. All of them pack a serious glitter punch to make your eye shadow shine.

This is a totally weird picture but it's the only way I could show you the glitter power. This is the before...

This is after. I love this product. This pic does not do it justice.

I also picked up a body shimmer powder from e.l.f. I love their products because they never "break the bank."

This polish from NYC will perk up any little black dress. It is a pinky red tint with a touch of shimmer. This is a great color for your collection.

Hope everyone has a safe and rockin holiday!

Christmas Tunes

2011-12-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

How was your Thanksgiving? I hope everyone had a good time with family and friends. Did you stuff yourself silly. I know I did. I was a little sad this year because I was unable to make my family Cranberry sauce recipe. Everything is being packed up for the move to the new house. My kitchen is almost empty right now, so I didn't cook a thing. Oh well, there's always next year. Now we are moving on to my hubby's favorite holiday. Christmas! That means Christmas music is here! I'm a sucker for a holiday song. We have Sirius at work, and they switch to the Christmas songs Dec. 1st. I think it annoys most, but I sing along to them all. I really enjoy the classic songs from the past, but I have a lot of fun ones from the present too. Most of my songs get taken off my Ipod until next season, but there is one that I keep and listen to all year with the rest of my downloads. It's called "Wish List" from Neon Trees. It is really upbeat and not to overly "holiday."
Make sure you add this song to your Christmas list for Santa...

Neon Trees "Wish List"
Yea! It's Christmas time!

It's not easy being Green.....or is it?

2011-11-15T22:02:00.000-08:00

Is there anybody out there more excited than me about the new Muppet's movie coming out this week? I've been in love with the Muppet's since I was little. Kermit has always been my favorite. I had a Kermit Big Wheel when I was little, and it was my favorite thing ever.

I had a Muppet poster on my wall, and a Kermit and Fozzie bear stuffed animal. I still make my hubby take pics of me at the ride/show at Disney. Over the past few weeks I have picked up some new Muppet attire and I am really excited. I actually found this shirt at target a few months back. My hubby laughed at me, but I bought it anyway.

Shirt: Target Capri's: Walmart Socks: Target

I found these socks in the $1 bin at Target. I called my sister and begged her to check her Target for some more! Little did I know they were already in the mail for my B-day. I have an awesome sister.

My mom had sent me a box of cool stuff for my b-day also. In the box was this Limited Edition Yahtzee. I desperately want to open it, but I am behaving myself...for now.

I saw this color a few months back at CVS and had to have it. Piggy should rock this color for her man.

O.P.I also came out with a Muppet Collection!
O.P.I. The Muppets

If you're a fan of the music from the show, you should check out The Green Album on ITunes. It features all the old classics but redone with artists of today. I like Paramore's Hayley Williams, so I love her version of "The Rainbow Connection" that she did with Wheezer.
The Rainbow Connection Feat. Hayley Williams and Wheezer

Even the Pistachio commercials have gone Muppet Crazy!
Get Crackin'
Get Crackin (behind the scenes)

Get out there and go see The Muppets!!! Long live Green!!

It's Party Time!

2011-11-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!!!! Hope everyone is having a spooky day!! We have had a busy day getting ready for the party! We made oreo cupcakes for the event. I didn't get a chance to take pics because we were running around all day buying supplies for tonight, and looking at houses. Side note, we think we found one! Yea! I will keep everyone updated on that. Anywho, the party was a blast, and here are some pics of the event! I went as Little Red Riding Hood.
"Mayhem"

My hubby as Marty McFly from Back to the Future.

"Jack Sparrow"

"Robin Hood"

"Swedish Chef"

"Pinocchio and Medusa"

Wool to Stay Warm....

2011-10-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Kids! Is everyone getting ready for Halloween yet? I know I am. In fact, I am heading off to a party tonight. I'll be going as Red Riding Hood, and hubby is Marty McFly. (Pics to follow!) I can't wait. In the meantime, while my goodies are baking in the oven, I thought I should check in with a new outfit. While looking for a puffy vest for Craig's costume,( I was at Old Navy btw,) I came across the sale rack, and these cute little Gray wool shorts caught my eye. They were on sale from $24.00 down to $11.00. I didn't want to pass them up. They are nice enough for casual or evening wear. Take a look. I'm sorry ahead of time for the slanting of the pics. My hubby was in the living room with the best light, and I couldn't find my tripod.

Shirt: Ross Shorts: Old Navy Shoes: Payless Bracelet/Necklace: Payless

Shirt: Ross Shorts: Old Navy Shoes: Payless Necklace: Payless

Shirt and Jacket: Ross Shorts: Old Navy
Boots: DSW Necklace/Bracelet: Payless

Budget for your face!

2011-10-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

If you followed my last post, you know that we are house hunting. That means we are on a budget. No spending money on silly things we don't need. Do we have to cut back on things we already use though? The answer is no. On my recent trip to Target, I stocked up my cart with the usual items to restock the house, and did a quick run down the cleanser aisle. I needed to restock my Biore strips. I know some people don't consider these a "must have" item. I do. I am very strict with my facial regimen, and these are a good thing to use if you use powder on your face everyday. Anyway, I noticed that this time on the box, it had a little box that said Prove It!. What is this? I am a big sucker when it comes to boxes that say free stuff or coupons inside. I get all excited when I get home, and then realize it's a coupon for something I don't use, or for a product that I don't need. This time I was pleasantly surprised. Biore has decided to help me out with my budgeting. They have started a promotion that basically rewards you for using their product, and learning more about skin care and healthy stuff. Here is what the box looks like.

Inside the box was a small piece of paper with a code on it.

It tells you how to sign up for your rewards. Start with going to Facebook, and "Like" their page. Done! It then tells you what you can earn with your points. You get points by signing in consecutive days in a row.

You can also get points by answering trivia questions about the health of you skin, or by doing a challenge of the day. So easy.

Got it right! Whoo hoo!

Your points get you coupons for money off of Biore products. If you get enough, you also earn free products. Go check it out, it is a great deal if you use the products!
Enjoy!

Halloween is coming!!!

2011-10-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

My favorite holiday is Halloween. I love dressing up and decorating the house. I know it's a little bit early for the holiday, but I want you to get the deals before they go away! I'm a little sad because this year we won't be dressing the house up in spooky items. Bummer, I know. We have decided to sell our "starter house" and get a grown up home. This is great news, I know! What's not great, is that we are on a tight budget now, saving every penny for the move. It's fine though, because I can be a little thrifty chick when needed. One of my favorite thrifty places is the dollar section at Target. They have some really cute things! One of the things that I get sucked in to is the dollar socks. These caught my eye as I walked in today, just in time for Halloween!

As I headed back deeper into the store, this little number jumped out at me. I like to dress the dog up. I don't however, buy expensive things to put him in because he just chews them up. This little pj outfit was only 7 bucks!

Here is my little man rocking his new pjs.

He actually was excited when I pulled it back out to take a picture, so I put it back on him!

Trick or treat, smell my feet!

Give me something good to eat!!!

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

2011-10-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Attention Reese's lovers!!!! You are about to fall in love...with a cupcake. We decided to throw a birthday extravaganza at work a few weeks back. We had a bunch of b-days close to each other so we threw one mini party, instead of multiple. We looked through all the recipes we could find with candy in them, and they all agreed on these ones. They all love Peanut Butter! I am not a die hard fan, but even these won me over.
Lets get started!

Cupcakes
1 (18.25 oz) package devil's food cake
1 (3.4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp instant espresso granules (dissolve it in a 1/2 cup warm water)
30 Reese's mini peanut butter cups, frozen (make sure you freeze for at least three hours,)
Reese's peices if you like them.
cupcake liners

Peanut Butter Butter cream icing
3 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 lbs (that's right) powdered sugar
3-4 tbsp low fat milk
Reese's peanut cup minis

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your cupcake liners in your pan.
In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, or your stand mixer bowl using the paddle attachment, mix together all of your ingredients, except the peanut butter cups for minute or two until well mixed.
Side Note: I didn't use Espresso Beans. I wasn't actually sure who at work did. Instead I used hot chocolate mix. I used the same amount, then microwaved it so it was nice and hot. Make sure it is well mixed if you do this. Then pour it into your batter.

This was before the hot chocolate.

This was after the hot chocolate.

Fill your cupcake batter about 2/3 full.

Get your cups out of the freezer. I left the wrappers on. I didn't want them to freeze together.

Take one cup and push it down about halfway into your filling. Place in the oven for 18-22 minutes. Make sure when you place a toothpick in the middle, that you don't hit the cup.

Place them on a cooling rack when done. Start your frosting at this time.
Take your Peanut Butter and soft butter, and mix them on low to medium speed.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar in small doses. As always, I recommend covering the blender with a towel just in case. Just don't catch the towel in the mixer.

Add your vanilla, and your milk in small doses, while blending on low speed. Add milk until it is the desired thinness. Keep blending for about 5-7 minutes until nice and fluffy. It should look like this when it is done.

I placed mine in a bag, then cut out a small opening in the corner. Easier clean up that way.

Here are the cupcakes fresh out of the oven.

Make sure you fill up the hole with frosting before topping the rest. I found out very quickly that the rest of the frosting sinks, so it messes up your swirl.
Tada!!!

So yummy!

Recipe courtesy of The Little Kitchen
Enjoy!!!

Play it again Sam...

2011-10-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

As all of you know, I'm an Itunes Junky. All things Itunes too, not just music. I love the free tv shows, the movie rentals, and all the apps you can think of. Today, though, is about music. I have a tendency to download songs, and play them over and over again. Here are my repeat offenders for the last week. Check them out.

The first one is Nicki Minaj- Superbass. The video is crazy, like she is, but I love the beats and chorus in this one.
Superbass

The other one is Paramour- All I wanted. I'm a big fan of the series, Spartacus, on the Starz network. The new season is coming up soon. This was the song in the commercial for the network. It's an awesome commercial, and the song is what makes it . Paramour is a great band. If you don't know them, well, I'm sad for you. You should be listening to them.
Paramour

If you don't know the songs check them out, you won't be disappointed!
Rock out and Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Cookie Dough Buttercream Frosting

2011-09-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hi there all my Connor friends! Once again, I have been slacking on my blog. I know I know! I don't know why I do it. It's not that I'm not baking, it's just once I bake, I have no time to sit and type it all out. It's a sad state of affairs. Don't worry though, I'm back, and hopefully I will have a lot to blog about. First let's start with these little bites of heaven. I saw this recipe a few months back on Kevin and Amanda's site. She is... I want to say awesome. Is there a word better than Awesome? Whatever that word is, she is it. I saw these cupcakes awhile back, but was terrified of the ingredients. It's not that there are a lot, it's that, there is a lot of butter. We recently went on a healthy eating kick, and we lost weight. So, if we are going to eat something with a bucket a butter, now was a good time. We deserve it, right?

For the cookie dough:
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
3 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
3 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Let's start!

Cookie Dough Recipe:
Combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Beat in milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth.

Beat in the flour and salt until just combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Your dough should look like this.

Using a 1.5 tbsp scoop, shape the dough into balls or tubes. The directions say to freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet overnight. I didn't have that time, so I froze it for about three hours. They were fine.

Cupcake Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. I was able to make 30 cupcakes out of it, so depending on how much you fill them, you may get more.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar.

Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla.

Using a 3 tbsp scoop, fill the prepared cupcake liners 2/3 full with the cupcake batter.

Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.
Side note: As I was filling my cupcakes, I stopped. "Wait, these dough balls don't have any eggs in them, sweeett!" That's right, eat away. I will also mention that I had 30 cupcakes, and about 50 dough balls. I brought the cupcakes and dough balls to work, no one had a problem eating either of them!

Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. When they come out, they are like cupcakes with cookies baked in. It's a nice little surprise when you bite into it!

Frosting:

Combine the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the salt, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.

Here is your finished cupcake. I didn't have a lot of time to decorate them as pretty as Amanda did, but my co-workers didn't complain. Enjoy them! They are yummy!

Enjoy!
Courtesy of Kevin and Amanda.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

2011-08-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

We decided to go on a diet, well, not so much a diet, but a healthy food kick a few months back. We have been doing very well. On occasion, we may or may not have a bad day. On these "bad days," we may, or may not, bake a bunch of not healthy things. Haha. This weeks bad day item, was Snickerdoodle Muffins. Craig has been on a snickerdoodle kick these last two weeks! He already made two batches of Snickerdoodle cookies last week. So, it's official, we are bad dieters! It's also official that my hubby is addicted to StumbleUpon, and I could not be more proud! Here is the Muffin recipe that he found while stumbling late the other night.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbs. sugar + 1 tsp. cinnamon for topping

We've never made muffins before, so we were surprised at how well these came out. They weren't very hard to make either.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda.

In a mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Then, you can add the eggs.

Add the milk and vanilla and mix until well combined.

We were kind of unsure about this part, because our mixture looked like cottage cheese. It was chunky, and had a lot of liquid in it. Don't worry, it is okay.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, just until moistened. The first batch we made was plain. However, the second batch had Cinnamon and Sugar mixed in with the batter. It gave it a little more kick on the inside.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 of the way full of batter.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. We made it so the top was full.

Almost done...

These are the finished sprinkled muffins before going in the oven.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I ate these for breakfast every day for like a week.

Did mention, I really..really.. like butter....

Courtesy of Eat at Home

Pulled Pork

2011-08-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of my favorite recipes that my hubby makes. This may come as a shocker, but before I had met my hubby, I had never had pulled pork. I didn't eat a lot of anything before him. I was very plain Jane. Same old stuff all the time. Now I'll try a lot, not everything, but a lot. I don't like to blog his recipes because I never really know how much of each ingrediant he uses, which frustrates me as a non cook. I like to know how much of everything that I need, and he can never tell me. He always just says use your judgement, which is slightly annoying. Be prepared, this recipe does take 6 hours to cook, so it's not a Rachel Ray 30 minutes or less. I apologize for that. I also would like to apologize for some of these shots. Did you ever have one of those days where you take a pic, look at it on camera, and then see it blown up and it is blurry. This was one of those days I guess. Anyway, here goes.

Dry Rub:
3 Tbs Paprika
3 Tbs Coarse Salt
1 Tbs Brown Sugar
1 Tbs Garlic Powder
1 Tbs Dry Mustard
Gloves- yes gloves, or something to cover your hands, they will turn red.

Fresh Boneless Pork Butts (Pictured below)
BBQ Sauce (whatever is your favorite) We use Sweet Baby Rays, 2 bottles.

One large pan (or throw away pan) to cook Pork in.
Foil

This is really easy. Take all of your dry rub ingrediants and put them all in a small bowl.

Unwrap pork, and place it in a big bowl. This is where you will pour all of your dry rub.

Mix all of the rub together well.

Pour some of the rub on the Pork. Try to spread it on all over the top.

This is where the gloves come in to play.

If you aren't planning on cooking it that day, you can put it in a bag and keep it in the fridge. If you are cooking it that night, go ahead and put it in the pan.

We use one of these throw away pans with the lids, that way it's easy to store. Use a different one to store it, not the one you cook it in.

Here is the Pork after it has been rubbed.

Cover it with foil, tightly, so that the steam doesn't escape. Cook at 300 degrees, for 6 hours.

This is what it should look like when it comes out. It smells so good!

Next, take the pork out of the pan, and place it on a cutting board. Get rid of the pan with all the juice in it. You are going to take two forks, and literally fork it. Hahaha. Sorry. You might have to scrap off the top layer, beause sometimes it can be fatty. Get rid of all the icky stuff, then pull apart the good stuff. Put all the good stuff and put it into the other conatiner that I mentioned earlier.

We put both bottles of the BBQ sauce in ours. Mix it in small amounts, til it is all covered well.

This is what it should look like when it is done. You can eat it by itself, or in sandwich form, which is what we do.

Tadaaa! All done. I can eat this for days!

Enjoy!
Courtesy of Tyler Florence

Fresh Salsa with a bit of a kick!

2011-08-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

My hubby has been making this salsa for awhile now. I'm not a fan of anything spicy, or with a "little kick" to it, but lately I have been trying to broaden my food horizon. I am trying to be a big girl these days, and not a plain Jane food eater. I decided to give it a try. The verdict is, I love it! Why was I not eating this before?! I don't know, but I am now. It's really easy to make it, and you can tweak the ingredients if you want. Here are the main ones that you will need.

Tomatoes x 5
Red Onion x 1
Red, Green, and Yellow Pepper x 1 each
Jalapeno x 2
Cilantro
Lemon x1
Lime x1
Garlic (chopped)
Orange juice (very small bottle, you only need a splash)
Franks Red Hot sauce (splash)
Distilled Vinegar (Splash)
Oil and Vinegar (splash)
Salt (Sprinkled)
Chips ( whatever brand is your fave!)

Start by washing all of your tomatoes and peppers. I use the Vidalia Chop Wizard, it makes the salsa into those fab little squares.

Cut the top and bottom of the peppers off, and then cut out the insides. This is what they should look like when cleaned out.

Place them in your wizard like so, or chop them in a grinder.

Take your Jalapeno peppers, and clean half of them out. You want a little kick, but not that much.

After you mix all that together, your salsa should look like this.

Next, chop up the onion.

We put the Cilantro in our little processor. That way it was tiny enough to mix in well.

It came out to be this size.

Add your salt next. We just kind of shook it back and forth over the bowl, there wasn't really a measured amount, just use your judgement.

The same goes for the hot sauce. If you like it hot, splash away my friends! Add a scoop full of Garlic to the mix, and squeeze the Lemon and Lime until all the juice is out. Try not to get any of the pulp in it.

All done! We like it with the multi grain Tostitos Scoops. They have a little flavor to them that adds a little more to it. Pictured here is a Tostitos Artisan chips in Fire Roasted Chipotle.

These are for me....

Enjoy!

Oleta River State park

2011-07-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday all! Last week, I had a chance to get out and visit a local start park. We decided to pick up some mountain bikes to go out Geocaching, and then rent some canoes. We headed out to Oleta River State Park . There were a few Geocaches on some islands that were near the park that we wanted to try to find. Here are some pics of our day.
We started out at Blue Moon. We rented two canoes and headed out into the mangroves.

Here are some of the friends that we brought along for the day. They are new to Geocaching, and they were sucked in pretty quickly. It was a beautiful day out!

Here is me at the first island. It took a while to get there with my hubby and his friends steering the canoe. Let's just say we went in a lot of circles at first.

The first cache that we hit was called The Stone Crab. We laughed when we got there because as we unloaded our canoe, we actually found a crab in our boat.

This is the view from the first island. It was so pretty. It took us about 10-15 minutes to get there.

The hubby and I at the first island.

On the second island, we came across this really cool "stick" bug. I've seen these before in pics, but never in real life. They are so cool looking.

This is me on the way back from the second island, heading into a rainstorm.

Here is our rainstorm, not fun, but we still had a great time!

That's me at the end of our paddle. My arms were tired!

Here is Craig getting ready for the biking mission. We went and found like 7 or 8 caches.

I can't remember the last time I was on a a bike. Oh yeah I do. I was ten years ago, when I flipped off a small hill on one. Good times...

Taking a small break and grabbing a drink.

This is one of the small lakes at the park on the trail.

All packed up and ready to go!

Enjoy!

Summer Fruit Cone!

2011-06-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

It is so hot already here in Florida, and it is only June! I am not looking forward to August at all! I would love to sit in, or near the freezer and eat a bucket of ice cream to cool me down. That is not going to happen though, because I am eating healthy right now. Bummer, I know. That is why you haven't been seeing a lot of goodies on here lately. Don't worry, I'm not that strong willed that I can give it up all together. You will see some some, and oh boy, I am excited about them. In the meantime though, I have a healthy fave that is great for summer. This consists of a bunch of fruit/and or berries. You can use whatever ones you want. These are the ones that I use.

Blender
Waffle Cone
Blueberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Kiwi
Grapes
Green or Red Apple
Yogurt (You can use any kind that you want, but I am using the Greek stuff, because it's healthy.)

First things first, you are going to blend up all of your fruit and berries. Easy peasy.

This is your finished blended product. You will have more than you need. I just put it in the fridge for later.

Next, take a scoop of yogurt. I added in a little but more for this pic because I was making two. If you use to much it will be watery. Do a spoonful at a time.

This is what I meant by watery, just add more of your blended mix to it.

Put your berries into a waffle cone and presto! Here is your cool summer treat! It is so good, and it isn't a lot of sugar. If you crave chocolate, you can add a little pinch of cocoa powder to it. It is only 10 calories more!

Enjoy!!!

Basin in a bottle!

2011-06-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Good morning my bloggerific friends. I say that in a chipper tone, hoping that most of you have stuck by me, and have not jumped ship after seeing my lack of posts in the last few weeks. It's been kind of busy around the house. You would think that I would have a ton to blog about then, right? Sadly, I don't, which breaks my blogger heart. Last week I sat down in front of my computer and nothing came out, and I mean nothing. Then I realized, holy moly, I forgot I ordered new stuff from Basin. Eeeekkk! Yes! Now I have something to tell people about besides Geocaching! I love the store Basin, but the closest store one is three hours away. What?! Yeah, three hours. Unacceptable, I know. The last time I went there, I scoped out the entire store and made a mental checklist of what I could order online later throughout the year. (Side note: I'm in a serious relationship with their salt and sugar scrub right now.) One thing I didn't look at while I was there was their shampoo and conditioner. My thought process was, it's a bar of shampoo, how good could it be? I need serious shampoo and condition for this mane, and a bar is not going to cut it. Never gave it a second thought. My hubby, however, did, and bought me a bar for Christmas. Sigh...I love him. I figured I would try it, and see what happens. I opened up my shampoo bar and got to work, expecting a little bubble or two, and thinking that I am going to hate brushing my hair later. Then it happened. Bubble explosion! Could it be I was wrong? Indeed, I was my friend. I will never go back to store shampoo...again! I was addicted to this stuff. My hair felt so clean, like, squeaky clean. I was washing my hair all the time. Over the next month or two my shampoo bar became a shampoo flake. I was starting to panic. I knew I had to order more.I went online and saw that you can order a shampoo barrel. Sweet! I placed my order, and could not wait for it to get here. Later that night I thought to my self, "I can get another week out of this little guy, just in time for my new stuff to get here." Then, along came a loofah with a rough side. I happily jumped in the shower that day for it was hair washing day. I surveyed the area, stopped, and was like, "Ummm, Where is my bar.... where is my bar!?!?!? I picked up "the loofah" (which did not belong to me,) in a frantic fit, and then gasped. There it was, crushed into pieces in the depths of an Axe scrubber. "Nooooooooo!!!!" I still had a week before my new stuff arrived! Panic, shock, and horror set in. I had to buy (head turning to the side with a shamed look) regular shampoo. I'm not going to go into gory details of that weeks sadness. I'm going to focus on the day that the UPS man showed up at my door with my barrel of love.

From left to right
-Good Hair Day Conditioner Bar

Pink Grapefruit scented Conditioner Bar made with nutrients to heal, moisturize, regenerate, and strengthen hair.

-Hair Food

Three conditioners eliminate tangles and static, while increasing volume for shiny soft hair. Great for curly, frizzy, dry or straight hair.

-Pumpkin Conditioner Bar

Gingerbread scented Conditioner Bar made with nutrients to heal, moisturize, regenerate, and strengthen hair.

-Good Hair Day-
Shampoo with a citrus blend shampoo for great hair everyday.

Go check out the store!
Basin

Crazy caches!

2011-05-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have been Geocaching like crazy lately. Crazy. I've also been making my own personal caches too. That is why my blogging has gone under, big time. Hey, what can a girl do? My first love is always baking, but right now it's summer, and I don't want to be cooped in a hot kitchen. I would rather be outside, in the heat, surrounded by forests, spiders, and whatever else is in the hole that I keep sticking my hand into. That being said, we have been finding some really neat caches! Normally they are little containers with logs inside. My fellow cachers, however, have really been using their creative noggins. These are some of the ones that we have come across.
This was a really hard one that my hubby was lucky enough to find. There were a million rocks in this area, and he happened to be standing on the one that the log was in. Unbelievable.

Container with log. That was his find of the day. He had a pretty big head for the rest of the day. I can't blame him.

ABC gum? Ewwwww. Yeah, it's out there folks. It's just waiting to be touched...

I found this little guy under some leaves behind a pole. Knew it was a fake. Don't get me wrong, I rustled a few things around, and blew on it to see if it would move first, hahaha.

What's up doc? A carrot container?

Some of the crew playing on a tree. Didn't find this one, will have to go back later.

One of the great things about Geocaching is what they called CITO. It stands for Cache in, trash out. Not only are you supposed to be checking out nature while you are out there, you are supposed to keep it clean and preserved. This cache was perfect for that. This can was sitting at the bottom of a tree, all smashed up. When we picked it up, we found the cache.

Tricky tricky.

Gather up your friends, get out there, and go caching. We've found so many amazing parks and sights that we have never seen before, and there all in the city that we have lived in for years. Go have some fun!

Steak and Cheese Kong

2011-05-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

Steiner has separation anxiety. It used to be really bad, but with a few tricks and treats, it has become a little less of an issue. If your dog hates going into a crate, this will make it a little better. This is the one and only treat that will get Steiner to go into his crate, and not have an attitude about it. Trust me, I would love to let him roam the house and have his little freedom, but he is very untrustworthy! Here is what you need to make your friend smile!

Steak (Stir fry steak)
Cheese (mix of Monterey Jack and Colby/and or cheddar)
Kongs
Frying pan
Strainer
Cutting Board

First get your steak, and a cutting board.

Cut your steak strips in half. Then, if possible, cut them in half again.

Cut little square pieces from your strips. This step is kind of a pain in the tushy. I give my husband full credit for his patience with this task.

Put all of your little pieces in the pan. You don't need to add any cooking spray. It will be oily and greasy on it's own.

Cook until all of your pieces are cooked all the way through, no pink!

Put all of your pieces in the strainer, and really mix it around.

I take an extra step here. I take 2 paper towels, and place them in the pan. I let it soak up all of the extra grease that's on them, that the strainer didn't get out.

Okay, so at this time, you can put them in a tupperware and store them for when you need them. If you're ready to use them, here is what we do. Take enough steak to fill up about 3/4 of the kong. Sprinkle the meat and a little cheese on a plate. Put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

Make sure the meat isn't hot, because it will stay hot in the kong. It should be a nice room temp. Next, take all of your fixings and shove them in your kong.

Last step, give to your pup, let him eat it up, yum!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Surprise

2011-04-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on the couch today, bored, watching a movie that I've seen 20 times thinking, "I should be blogging." What should I blog about? I had so many ideas but nothing was really standing out. So I went to my cabinet and sighed. Then, there it was, staring at me, yelling, "Pick me! Pick me!" It was bag of Ghirardelli caramel chocolates, and they wanted in. I had just come across an article last week about stuffing things in cupcakes. So I thought, I'm going to stuff these in a cupcake and go from there. I had a box of chocolate cake mix, and a recipe for caramel frosting. This was going to be good, I could feel it. Here is what you need.

For the cupcakes I used;
Ghiradelli caramel squares
Betty Crocker supermoist chocolate mix
veggie oil
eggs
cupcake liners

For the frosting;
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
whisk
sifter

For the cupcakes, follow all the instructions on the back of the box. Easy as that, mix it all in one bowl, then put it in your cupcake liners.

I cut my squares in half.

I placed each half in a cupcake.

They don't half to be perfectly broken since they are going to melt.

Then I pushed each piece down a little into the chocolate mix. You want it right in the middle, not the bottom.

Here are your finished cupcakes.

Now, get all of your ingredients together for your frosting.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar. Bring your mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. You'll want to use your whisk to keep it light.

Boil for one minute until thickened, then remove from the heat, and add your milk. Whisk, then add your vanilla, whisk again.

The recipe calls for 3-4 cups of powdered sugar. I used 3. I will take you through the steps below.

This is what you should have when your done.

Be prepared, this will be your kitchen after mixing the frosting.

Yummy in my tummy!

Enjoy!
Emily