Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

 

 

Crust:

1 C flour

1/4 C light brown sugar

1/2 C butter, room temperature

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake Filling:

1/4 C sugar

1 egg

Apples:

2 Granny Smith apples, diced (I used 1 Granny Smith and 1 Pacific Rose) 

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice 

1 T sugar 

Streusel Topping:

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C flour

1/4 C old fashioned oats

1/4 C butter, room temperature

Caramel sauce

 

Preheat oven to 350°

In a 8X8 pan combine crust ingredients, flour, brown sugar and butter. Using a fork combine the ingredients until they make a coarse crumb and press mixture firmly in the bottom of the pan and bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar and egg. Beat until combined and smooth. Set aside.

Dice apples and sprinkle with the 1 T sugar and 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Stir until coated evenly. Set aside.

Make streusel by combining all ingredients, brown sugar, flour, oats and butter and stir with your  fork until evenly mixed. Set aside. I used extra melted butter because it was dry. I also added a dash of cinnamon.

When crust is done baking, spread the cream cheese mixture on top of warm crust, top with diced apples and finally with streusel. But back in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until center is set. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes and then place in refrigerator to chill for approximately 2 hours, or overnight. Cut into squares when ready to serve and drizzle caramel sauce all over the top.

 

Recipe from: The Inspired Dreamer

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

You want something easy and I mean ridiculously easy, this is it. Kenna and I just threw it together, baked it, and ate it. They are affectionately known as Pizza Puffs now.

1 can of biscuits (cut into fourths)
5-6 T olive oil
1 T Italian Seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder (you can do less if you don't like that much garlic)
1 C mozzarella cheese
1/2 C parmesan cheese
Toppings: olives, pepperoni, ham, mushrooms etc.

Preheat oven to 350.
Cut biscuits into fourths.
In a bowl combine everything, tossing it so that the biscuits get covered with everything evenly.
Place in a 9X13 pan and bake for about 18 mins.
Serve with marinara sauce.

Recipe adapted from: Sweet and Simple Living

Red Velvet Oreo Cupcakes

Kenna loves Oreos! So it only makes sense that we made Oreo cupcakes for her birthday. It also only makes sense that they were in penguin cupcake liners since she loves penguins too. So a shout out to an awesome sister and Happy Birthday! I freakin love you!

Cake:
1 box red velvet cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 c sour cream
1/2 c buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Oreos

Frosting:
10 Oreos (just the cookie, scrape off middle)
1/2 c softened butter
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla
4 c powdered sugar
heavy whipping cream
Oreos for decoration

 

Line pans with cupcake liners and put an Oreo in the bottom of each. 

Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, sour cream, buttermilk and vanilla extract until smooth.

Stir in cake mix.  

Scoop batter over each Oreo to fill the liners about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 for 16 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool.

Oreo Frosting: Take your Oreo cookies (just the chocolate pieces and not the filling) and crush in a plastic bag using a rolling pin. If you have a food processor that works the best! Sift your finely crushed Oreos to remove any lumps, because if you use a piping bag any big cookie pieces will clog it. In a stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla extract and a little whipping cream and slowly add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Fold in crushed Oreos. Don't stir too much or the frosting will turn a gross (yet delicious) grey color.

Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra Oreos.

Recipe from: Your Cup of Cake

Musings of: Frozen’s Let It Go & Change

I wrote most of this post over a month ago and then chickened out. I was thinking to myself, I don't think I'm ready for this kind of scrutiny. That may be right, however, I did feel like I had something to say. Also some controversial posts came out, which made me think I didn't want to be a part of that. I realized though that you choose what you want to see and this is what I saw. This is how it made me feel.

By raise of hands, how many of you out there had this song speak to your heart? Almost all of you…I thought so. Why is it that we can relate to a song telling us to Let It Go? What and why are we holding onto that makes us feel like we can’t show our true selves? Especially for women, do we feel like “conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know,” has become an integral part of life? Why is that?

Let’s start with the what that we hold onto. We have this “swirling storm inside” of us. It’s all the things we are responsible for; in addition to, all of our hopes and dreams. The storm that is responsibility: jobs, children, bills, family etc. Included in that storm are our aspirations of all the things we hope for, for ourselves, for our loved ones. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying let go of all your responsibilities. The key here is to let go of the worry, guilt, fear, and stress that make it so that the responsibilities overwhelm the adventure that is life. Do I have the perfect formula? Of course not! Everyone will have something that works for them. For me when the worry wave starts to crash against my shore and I feel like I’m going to drown I have to remember that I love the beach. Haha, no it means I look for my lighthouse. I look for the reason to break through, the light that guides me back to the walk along the sand. It also means I need some distance. Distance from the environment or situation. Sometimes we can get that distance when we blare our music and drive up Big Cottonwood canyon but when we can’t we need to force ourselves to view what’s going on from an objective distance. Getting lost in the moment happens so often that, of course, hindsight is 20/20. Trying to catch some of that hindsight early is the trick.

Change always starts in the same place. It starts with you, whether it's a change for yourself in your life or a change in the world. It always starts with the person you see in the mirror. The mirror is just a reflection of who we see. I believe we choose what we see. Change starts with a conscious effort of thought pattern change. For so long my thoughts were self-defeatist to the extreme. It's what I was taught. I would start trying to change, trying something new and halfway through it, I would end up sitting there lost in my own thought of, you can't you can't you can't, only to realize 20 minutes had gone by and I would have to stand up and just start doing something. It would happen again and again and I just have to keep standing up and continue working towards my goals. Change is constant. It has flow into almost every aspect of your life, so that the repetition sticks.

The why of what we hold onto being because we are constantly putting on a show/mask for others, “don’t let them in, don’t let them see, be the good girl you always have to be.” I feel like the Queen of Isolation, like if anyone were to really know what goes on in my crazy head they would give me that raised eyebrow look and call for a straightjacket, so I stay in my “Kingdom of Isolation.” It boils down to this idea of perfection. This ideal that is stuck in everyone’s mind, the picture that doesn’t exist, if someone were to look close enough there would be a flaw. A flaw, that in my opinion, would make it unique. Elsa's power spirals in frozen fractals, which fractals are uneven and irregular. Every snowflake is unique. Every diamond has a flaw. It's our uniqueness and our differences that make us beautiful, that in itself is perfect. The why for me is because of fear. For me it’s rejection, even as I am writing this I had to stop myself from stopping. The habit kicks in, stay hidden where you can’t get hurt. But does that really mean I’m not hurt? It doesn't. I think that most people need to be accepted somewhere. Even if you can say, I don’t care what people think, there is an innate desire inside most of us to belong somewhere. Everyone needs to feel needed. Here we are wanting to feel like people understand us, like we belong somewhere and yet so afraid to show our true selves. If we don't put ourselves out there, we'll never even have the chance to be accepted.

If you have ever read, “You Are Special” by Max Lucado, you'll know that the important thing is being so confident in yourself that the stickers can't stick. (Read it!) It goes back to what we choose to see in the mirror and having it be the outward reflection that we show people. We will choose to see ourselves as beautiful, confident, talented, intelligent, capable, caring, kind, and inspiring people such that everyone else sees it too.

I believe all of us have it within us to build our own beautiful ice castle, not to hide up on mountain but to share with the world. Letting go of the fear holding us back. For me this post was about letting it go. I am so afraid of putting myself out there when so many of my friends have blogs, talents, careers or families and I feel like I don’t have something unique. I do have talents to offer. I have potential that I don’t want to let go to waste any longer. I am ready to “test my limits and break through.” Corny as it may be that a Disney song really made me take a look, Disney rocks!

Chicken Parmesan

Spicy pasta. Ever since we had some in Edinburgh I have been wanting to duplicate it. We were staying in this hotel on the waterfront and the closest food was a strip mall with a couple restaurants. We ordered some spaghetti and meatballs and it was so different from what we usually had and we loved it. I have been making this chicken parmesan recipe for awhile and I like that it has a little kick to it. This is a really delicious dish that gets gobbled up in thirds and any leftovers get eaten the next day.

Chicken Parmesan:
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup water
1 can (2 cups) low-sodium chicken broth
1 box of pasta (I use shells)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz (about 1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese
1-2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
Fresh parsley or fresh basil

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the diced tomatoes, the water, and the chicken broth, bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer and add the pasta to the pan, stirring to combine. Then cover the pan and continue simmering (you may need to reduce the heat slightly) until the pasta is tender, about 16-18 minutes. Stir the pasta frequently as it cooks.
Preheat the oven to 475 F.
It will be ready when the liquid is gone. Remove the cover and stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the pepper, and the chicken. Put the mixture into a 9X13 pan and sprinkle the top evenly with the mozzarella cheese and some parmesan cheese on top. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and bubbles around the edges. Garnish with the fresh parsley or basil, then serve.

Recipe Adapted from: Tracey's Culinary Adventures

the best part of eating is who you share it with

this is how we always are ;)

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This is one of Aaron's favorites and I knew I had to make it when he told me he forgot his lunch and would be starving when he got home from work. Needless to say he had thirds, which is a big deal because he normally can't finish his firsts.

1 cooked chicken breast
4 C cooked broccoli
1 C cooked rice
Homemade cream of chicken soup (2 servings)
Cheese

I cooked my chicken breast in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes, made up some brown minute rice (enough for 2 people), and boiled the broccoli. I have a big canister full of the dry homemade cream of chicken soup. I made 2 servings of it (2/3 C dry mix and 2 1/2 C water) and cooked it on the stove until thick. I cut up the chicken breast and mixed it in a bowl with the soup. I layered a 8X8 pan with rice, then broccoli, then chicken and soup mixture and then sprinkled it with cheese and baked at 350 for 30 mins.
The key is to not cook it a few extra mins while you get distracted watching Ever After, "Stay aloft madame, there are games afoot."

Lemon raspberry cream cheese cupcakes

These have been my absolute favorite cupcakes to date! They are so fresh and beautiful. The frosting was so divine I was piping it into my mouth! I never eat frosting! I had the most fun making them! Thank you to the Pastry Affair for such a delicious recipe. I love the fresh ingredients that are used and I loved that I had most of the ingredients in my cupboards. I loved that I got to use them for my roomie get together and at a family party the next day.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

¾ cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup butter softened
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Juice from ½ lemon
2/3 cup milk
1 ½ cups fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 and line a cupcake pan with baking cups.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar and lemon zest with your fingers until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes). Add the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Gradually add in the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the milk and lemon juice, stirring until batter is uniform and smooth. Gently stir in the raspberries.
Fill baking cups about with a ¼ C measuring cup and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack, and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese softened
¼ cup butter softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar
Heavy whipping cream

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the salt and vanilla. Add a little bit of heavy whipping cream. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. If frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar until it reaches a spreadable consistency.

Before serving, pipe frosting on top of cooled cupcakes and decorate with a few fresh raspberries. Keep refrigerated to help preserve them. Serve at room temperature.
Recipe from: Pastry Affair

Sparkling Dole Juice Party Punch

I didn't get a picture of it until it was half gone! 

Here is how I made my party punch:

2 liter bottle of Sprite
2 liter bottle of ginger ale
1 bottle Sparkling Cider
1 can frozen Dole juice (I used pineapple orange banana)

Mix it all together and serve. Garnish with sliced oranges.

Recipe adapted from: The Frugal Girls

Chicken Salad

I did not like chicken salad when I was a kid. I always swore that I would serve deli sandwiches instead of chicken salad at parties because I love a good deli sandwich and chicken salad was "delicate" food. However my best friend Kellie Jo made some chicken salad for her daughter Averie's baby blessing and I loved it! I got her recipe and have been making it ever since. My in laws also have a really good recipe and I decided to experiment and combine both of them. It turned out good minus me adding too much sauce, next time we'll go for less. The hardest thing that I have had with starting to food blog is writing down recipes. I am a here's a dash, a sprinkle, a dab, and a dollop kind of person. I think you can do a lot of that with cooking. Baking is different. So on some of my recipes I am guesstimating. I've been trying to measure but sometimes the creative side takes over.

5 thawed chicken breasts
Onera seasoning (found at Harmon's)
1 bunch of green onions
1 yellow onion
Dill
1 can of water chestnuts
2 bunches of celery
Apples
Juice from half a lemon
Miracle Whip and Mayo

Line a baking sheet with tin foil and preheat oven to 300. Rub Onera seasoning onto chicken breasts and cook until done. Let the chicken cool and then you can either shred, cut, or put you chicken in your food processor. Let the chicken chill in the refrigerator. Next take the onion, dill, water chestnuts, and celery and pulse in your food processor until minced. In a bowl combine everything: chicken, lemon juice, and everything you minced. Here is where I went wrong this time. It looked like quite a bit so I started out with 2 cups of each Miracle Whip and Mayo. It could have used a lot less. I would start out with 1 cup of each and go from there. You can serve them on apples like I did or cut up the apples and put them in the chicken salad.

Also great life lesson: all the extra things you can cut off, i.e. bottom of the celery, lemon peels, onion core etc don't throw them all into your garbage disposal or you'll have my problem of turning on the disposal and having food spewing out several feet in the air all over your spotless kitchen and clean dishes right before you're supposed to have company over ;) Which resulted in Kenna try to plunge the sink, which didn't work and finally calling emergency maintenance over and having him pulling out stalks of celery stuck in the pipes.

Roomie Get Together

Many moons ago, I went down to a little town in the middle of nowhere called Ephraim and went to Snow College. It ended up being a great life learning experience. I shared an apartment with 5 other girls. We somehow not only all got along but became fast friends. We took turns cooking for each other on Sundays, we would watch entire seasons of America's Next Top Model on Saturdays, we shared rooms, bathrooms, and boys. We were young and loving life. Now we are all married still living in Utah and each of us are going in different directions, but we still love to catch up and reminisce about the good ole stress-free times.

clear balloons filled with sparkly gold confetti

chicken salad on apples sprinkled with nuts

lemon raspberry cream cheese cupcakes

sparkling dole juice

Tutorial found at: Linen, Lace, and Love

Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buttercream

I kept seeing two toned frosting on cupcakes and wanted to try, and a perfect opportunity presented itself. Melanie's Birthday. So before we left on Saturday, to Idaho, to visit Melanie and her family I ran to get some strawberry extract and whipped these up. We had fun playing games with the kiddos and visiting with Melanie and Kyle. Katelyn and I played endless hours of Clue, and we all played lots of Phase 10, Skip Bo, and Apples to Apples, mixed in with Zelda. It was my kinda weekend! Jessyca was the star of the show. She was the entertainment for every meal with her crinkle nose head shakin, she put on many a dance routines with her stompin dances moves, and her 'muahs' to everyone. She also was showered with love and spoiled by Aaron, with suckers, cream soda, and cuddles.

Cake:
1 box devils food cake mix
4 eggs
1 C melted butter (cooled to room temp)
1 C milk

Mix together and pour 1/4 C mix into lined cupcake tins. Bake for 19 mins at 350.

Frosting:
2 pints marshmallow creme
3 sticks of softened butter
1 tsp strawberry extract
3/4 C powdered sugar

Whip marshmallow creme and add butter 1 stick at a time. Add strawberry extract and mix in powdered sugar.
Adapted from: The Girl Inspired

Crepes

I don't know how it started but when I was a teenager I found a recipe for crepes in an old cookbook. (I must have liked the picture?) Not really knowing anything about them I decided to make them and my family loved them. Still to this day Kenna asks me to make crepes. Now I wish this was that same recipe I found all those years ago but alas it is lost. I decided to experiment and come up with my own recipe and this is what I came up with and they turned out delicious! Now keep in mind I'm no expert on crepes, I just taught myself.

Crepes:

(makes 8 crepes)

1 C flour sifted

1 T sugar

dash of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 T butter melted

¾ C milk

¼ C heavy whipping cream

Heat frying pan to medium heat. Using a 1/3 C measuring cup, scoop up your batter and pour into pan, rolling the batter around the pan. Cook for a minute or two on each side. Now the great part is you can have crepes with whatever you want! Fresh fruit, whipped cream, yogurt, powdered sugar, and even chicken or bacon etc. The sky's the limit! Enjoy!

S'mores Pudding Cookies

Favorite. Cookie. Ever. Yep! In case you didn't know already I LOVE cookies! #cookieholic I love the cookie part of a cookie. Chocolate chips are great too but the deliciousness that is a cookie...mmm...sigh. These have a delicious cookie part that is crisp on the bottom but oh so soft and then you add chocolate and marshmallows and you can't go wrong. I make these way too often. They also freeze really well too. I made two dozen a couple weeks ago and froze the last little bit of dough and these ones I made were just as delicious. So Aaron and I ate one all six cookies while watching Leverage.

INGREDIENTS:

¾ C butter softened
¼ C sugar
¾ C brown sugar
1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding dry
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 sheets graham crackers finely crushed
1 tsp baking soda
2 C flour
1 C milk chocolate chips
½ C mini marshmallows 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cream butter and sugars together. Add in pudding mix and beat until well incorporated. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well blended. In a small bowl, stir graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and flour until evenly mixed. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll your cookies and to prevent the marshmallows from running off the side I stuff some marshmallows in the middle of my cookie and some on the very top. Placing your marshmallows helps so that you get to eat the marshmallow on the cookie instead of having it melted on your pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. You want these cookies to be slightly under-cooked. It helps make them extra soft :)

Recipe from: Chef in Training

Salted Caramel frosted Chocolate Cupcakes

Did you know I use to hate cake? Hated it. Birthdays would come around and I would say, "Cheesecake, brownies anyone?" I did not like cake at all. Well apparently that can change when you make these chocolate cupcakes. They are little bites of Chocolate. Caramel. Heaven. Chocolate and caramel, caramel and chocolate are like best friends! And yes these are from scratch and they are 110% worth all the effort. 

Cupcakes:
½ C unsweetened cocoa (sifted)

1 C hot water

1 C buttermilk

2 C sugar

2 eggs

½ C vegetable oil

1 ½ tsp vanilla 

2 ½ C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ C whipping cream

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

¾ C softened butter

½ tsp sea salt

1 package dream whip (dry)

3 C powdered sugar

½ C Mrs. Richardson's butterscotch caramel sauce 

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES:

Add the sifted cocoa powder to a bowl and pour in the cup of hot water. Whisk until completely dissolved. Next add the buttermilk and sugar to the mixture and whisk until incorporated. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla and mix again.

In a small bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix this into the wet mixture until you no longer see any lumps. Stir in heavy cream until mixed in.

¼ C will fill a cupcake, pour into cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 17 minutes or until done. Let cool and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

FROSTING:

Beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add dry Dream Whip until combined. Next beat in powdered sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Warm caramel slightly in microwave (40 secs) so you're able to pour it, but not be runny and add the caramel. Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed. Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration. If your caramel was too hot when added, it will cause your icing to be runny. If this happens refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. Once cupcakes have cooled, frost onto cupcakes.

Adapted from: Chef in Training

Taco Salad

What does Kenna always want for dinner? Taco Salad. And she can't be wrong, mixing Mexican with healthy right? I love this taco meat recipe! I use this same recipe for my oven tacos. Using homemade taco seasoning and adding all the extras really gives it some umph!

2lbs lean ground beef
1 small onion diced
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced green chilies
Homemade taco seasoning:
1 T Chili Powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper

Brown the hamburger and onion and drain off all the excess grease/water. Add the chilies, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning and mix until incorporated. Make your salad, add taco meat, cheese, dressing (V8 is good), tomatoes, cilantro, olives, lime juice etc.

Adapted from:

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

MMM...I love Olive Garden. You can't resist it, especially their Alfredo sauce. I found this copycat Alfredo recipe on Pinterest. I decided to try it and it did not disappoint! We also found these all natural delicious raviolis to have it with. 

1 stick of butter

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 pint of heavy whipping cream

1 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp cream cheese

dash of salt

dash of pepper

In a saucepan over medium heat melt butter and add garlic. Cook a couple minutes until fragrant. Then add cream cheese and whipping cream, heat only until bubbly and add parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. Serve with these yummy ravilois or any kind of pasta. We also enjoyed salad and garlic bread with ours. 

Adapted from:

Chicken Enchiladas

I always come back to these. I've tried a couple different recipes and this is my favorite so far. It's part family recipe + part my own additions. And who can resist when it's so easy to throw together?

1 chicken breast (bake it, boil it etc)
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 C sour cream
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cumin
Enchilada sauce
cheese
tortillas

Garnishes/Add Ins:
Olives
Green Chilies
Cilantro
Lettuce

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 8X8 or 9X13 pan. Cut/shred up your cooked chicken. In a bowl combine chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, chili powder, cumin, and a handful of cheese. Take a tortilla and put a couple scoops the mixture you just made and roll up the tortilla and place in your greased pan. This is a half recipe and makes about 4 enchiladas. Pour enchilada sauce over the rolled up tortillas, sprinkle some cheese on top and bake for 30 mins. Voila! Delicious and easy!

Nerds Cupcakes

Did you know that nerds make great funfetti cake? Well they do! I mixed up a boxed white cake mix and sprinkled some nerds in and here you've got a fun little cupcake. Aaron is currently sharing these with his favorite supervisor (who gets a shout out because she's awesome!) and co-workers, on his last day on her team. You rock Esme! 

(http://bakeitinacake.com/post/6357985767/hey-nerds-did-you-know-you-can-mix-nerds-candy)

Daisy Wreaths

I know it's a little early for spring wreaths...okay...a lot early. The snowstorm just made me wish it was spring, so I finished my orange daisy and made a teal one for Mckenna to decorate her room with. I'm just really prepared for when spring does come. I got this idea from all those pumpkin wreaths out there, to which I have also made one of those. Anyway with the supplies, it's best when you can get the mesh 50% off at Hobby Lobby. All the other stuff is quite inexpensive.

Supplies:
2 rolls of deco mesh ribbon (your color choice)
1 roll of yellow deco mesh ribbon
1 roll of green deco mesh ribbon (optional)
Pipe cleaners
1 embroidery hoop (your size preference)
1 latch hook canvas (big enough to fit your hoop)
Scissors

You'll start by drawing a circle around your hoop onto the latch hook canvas. Cut out your circle.

Take your pipe cleaners and cut them into fourths (you'll need quite a few). Secure your canvas onto your hoop using pipe cleaners.

Start with the yellow mesh in the middle. Cut about 7 inches (it's not an exact science) and roll up the mesh so it resembles a tube. Also keep in mind the goal is to cut the ribbon not your finger ;) Pinch it in the middle a wrap a pipe cleaner around it. Stick the two ends of the pipe cleaner through two holes and flip over, twist tight and stick the ends back through so the don't stick out the back. Create the center of your flower and then begin filling in the rest. If you want you can make a leaf with green mesh on one of the sides.

Ta Da! You're done! You've got a pretty daisy wreath to hang on your door.

Rolo Cookies

These cookies are obviously delicious and not just because I'm a cookieholic. Put a rolo inside something whether it's a cookie or a cupcake and suddenly it becomes a delicious ooey gooey treat that you can't seem to get enough of! I've made these cookies a couple of times before, each time with great success, but this time I am hoping that they make it to Chicago, IL and my favorite missionary. She inspired me this week to pursue my dream. She told me to create and had me watch a video (http://bcove.me/l2rklxho). So, here I am starting on this scary journey and sharing cookies with the person who keeps me motivated.

1 box of Devil's Food Cake

1/3 C vegetable oil

2 eggs

Rolos

Powdered Sugar

Mix everything together. Wrap dough around a rolo and bake at 350 for 7 mins. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.