Meet my mom. Sweet. Selfless. Caring. Wonderful. This woman is super special!

For mom’s day I picked her up and drove out to Somis for some berry picking at the Underwood Family Farms. This is something that I have never done before (and also happens to be on my 101 in 1001 list!) so I was looking forward to it. I was very pleased with the experience and enjoyed the one on one time with my mom. We spent about an hour picking both raspberries and blueberries for our cobbler.

It was a beautiful day in the high 70s and the sun was shining down on these beauties. While I didn’t so much enjoy the bees around the raspberries, it was a little bit of an adventure for my mom and I as we scoured our way through the long lanes of berries. After about 10 minutes I realized the bees were pretty comfortable with people walking around and started picking without hesitation.

When we got home we made a yummy “cobbler” for dessert after our dinner. I decided to keep it simple and do it dump cake style. I have never done this recipe with fresh fruit before but it turned out wonderfully.

Fresh Berry Dump Cake (Cobbler)

• 1 box Yellow Cake Mix of choice
• 2-3 cups of Berries (enough to cover the whole bottom of a 9×13″ pan)
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 2 sticks Butter (cold, sliced)
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar *optional
• Vanilla Ice Cream — Recommended!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray or butter a 9×13″ pan and pour berries (any mixture) over the bottom of the pan until complete covered. Sprinkle the berries and let sit for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the cake mix over the berries and slice your butter into 9 thin slices. Arrange the butter slices to cover the cake mix layer and sprinkle with brown sugar if so desired. Bake in the oven for approximately 50-60 minutes, until the berries are bubbling and the cake mix/brown sugar is golden.

Serve with ice cream and enjoy!

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

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The inspiration for these cupcakes — chocolate dipped strawberries.

Chocolate cake
+
Chocolate Chips
+
Strawberry Meringue Buttercream
=
LOVE

Okay, so yes I used a chocolate cake mix (chocolate fudge to be exact), but again I have to thank my back pain for the lack of “from scratch” recipes lately.  But I couldn’t resist this amazing Strawberry Meringue Buttercream recipe from Ms. Martha Stewart. So glad that I did and I will never go back!

Is it quick & easy? Not so much. You need to have a candy thermometer and patience but can I tell you it is beyond worth it! This fluffy piece of heaven was the perfect topper to this chocolate cupcake! It is light, fluffy and tasted like a real strawberry! Many compliments to this recipe and I will be handwriting this onto a recipe card and permanently adding it to my collection of frosting recipes.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

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I believe that everyone should have a Saturday morning that involves the scene above every once and awhile. You know those mornings you just wake up and you feel like making a real breakfast? This was one of those mornings.

I can not deny that one of my favorite things to do on a Saturday is snuggle up to my warm hubby and chat about the previous week or the upcoming day; this usually ends with me all in love and wanting to do loving things for my man… most likely something yummy!

Yes, this was a Pinterest find and yes, I have been thinking about it from the moment I pinned it! If you go to the original recipe and check out her amazing photos, you really won’t blame me. The only fruit I had on hand was strawberries so I decided to throw some chocolate chips in for variety for fun.

Honey Cloud Pancakes

• 2 large egg and 2 egg white
• 1/2 cup of warmed milk
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 teaspoons of honey
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon of butter
• Soft fruits
• Honey, Maple Syrup, Whipped Cream (for toppings)

1. Heat the oven to 400°F
2. Slice your fruits (Strawberries, peaches, pears, etc)
3. In one bowl whisk egg whites until it is white and peaky (I used our personal blender, it was so fast!)
4. In another bowl, mix the the other two whole eggs with flour, salt, honey, and vanilla and then whisk in the warm milk
5. Heat a 9″ oven proof frying pan over low/medium heat (I used my clad iron skillet)
6. Melt one tablespoon of butter in the hot pan
7. Gently fold the egg white into the batter with a metal spoon
8. Pour the batter in the hot pan and cook for a few minutes until starting to set at the very edge (Approx. 3-4 minutes over medium/low heat)
9. Sprinkle some fruit on top
10. Place the skillet in the hot oven for 12 -14 minutes until puffed up and golden
11. Drizzle with honey, maple syrup and / or whipped cream to serve

TIP: Don’t let your pan get too hot before you add your butter — this is why I say over medium/low heat. My pan got too hot because it was sitting on the flame for too long and the butter burned! I had to take it off, clean and let cool before moving forward with the pancake!

This recipe is going in the recipe box for years to come. It will be much easier the next time around, now that I have figured out my own little tricks (I am new to the clad iron skillet), so I see this being a part of many more Saturday’s to come. Enjoy!

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I have created 2 new boards which are specifically for the purpose of sharing the pins that WE have actually tried out. One board is for recipes and another is for projects. I would like to invite you to these to boards as contributors and hope we can end up with a great collection of tried and true (or terrible) recipes and projects.

The idea is to re-pin any of the pins that you have tried and include a review of sorts or even tips in the comments to help the next person out. I think that this will be especially helpful with recipes. For example:

So who is with me?!

If you are interested either send me a message on Facebook or leave a comment here with your email address so that I can add you as a contributor.

Hope you will join me — there are no expectations or commitments — just re-pin when you feel like sharing! Happy Pinning!

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Who said you can’t dress up cake mix cupcakes??

With my back pain, I am doing less and less from scratch. I ended up buying the German Chocolate  Cake mix, Fudge Frosting and Coconut Pecan Frosting already made. To dress it up, I used the star tip to make a sort of scalloped border around the edge of the cupcake. I then used my Pampered Chef small scoop to scoop in some of the coconut pecan frosting. TIP: I put this frosting in the fridge for about 30 minutes so that it would keep it’s shape, it probably would have worked better if I left it in a little longer.

Aren’t they cute? I just love coming across new ways to do frosting on cupcakes. Here are a couple more ideas that I found via Pinterest recently.

Dollops of frosting on frosting! from Sweet Tooth; Fluffy flower technique from Cupcakes Take the Cake

Heart filled insides from Glorious Treats

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I needed something simple to make for dinner but wanted it to be cute and special… Icouldn’t resist using a heart in our meal! I had a lot of fun putting this together and when it was ready I asked my handsome to grab it out of the oven for me :) He was surprised and basically thought I was a silly girl. Only silly for him!

As for dessert … well, I have been pinning a lot lately and came across donuts made with canned biscuits!! I could not resist. One of our favorite desserts is at BJ’s Brewery and I thought this was a great opportunity to duplicate it. Check this out…

First I put about an inch of vegetable oil in the pan and let it heat up on medium heat for several minutes. While that was heating up, I took out the biscuits and used a coke bottle top to “punch” out the middles. Once I the oil was simmering, I popped in one of the donut holes to see if it was ready. Since the oil was sizzling around the dough, I knew it was ready and gently placed all of the donuts into the skillet.

After about one minute I flipped each of the donuts over to cook for just another minute (until both sides were a light golden color. Then I placed them on a couple of paper towels on a plate to let them cool a bit.

Another thing I did while heating the oil was melt one stick of butter in a bowl and mixed a cup of sugar and 2 tbsp. cinnamon into another bowl — healthy, I know! Once the donuts had cooled enough for me to handle them, I dipped them in the butter and then into the cinnamon sugar! YUM!

I did the donut hole that I had started with first so that I could take a bite before doing the rest of the donuts … really though, can you blame me!? It was crispy and so perfect!

As you can see, these were easy and super delicious! It didn’t hurt that the buttermilk biscuits that I used only cost me 79 cents!!! By the way, we aren’t even done! While I was dipping the donuts, I had my handsome slicing up some fresh strawberries….

We topped our donuts with some vanilla ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream — just like at BJ’s! It was perfect. Obviously you don’t have to do the ice cream or strawberries, they are perfect as a simple donut. Be careful though, these are dangerous to have around and I can’t guarantee that you will share these once you take a bite!

Wanna make it?!

Easy Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

• 1 Can refridgerated biscuits (I used Buttermilk, any except for the flaky type will work fine)
• Vegetable Oil
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Cinnamon
• 1 Stick of Butter, melted

Enjoy!

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I now realize that if you ask myself or my brothers what they want for their birthday it is pretty much always going to involve chocolate and peanut butter! I remember growing up and a large majority of our cakes included this combo… good thing our significant others don’t mind having that combo around because it is here to stay!

I made this cake for my brother’s birthday on Monday. My back has been acting up so I simply used a Chocolate cake mix and made a three layer cake. I broke out the peanut butter and cream cheese to make an amazing frosting which made me think using some chopped up Reeses was not exactly optional — it was the perfect topping to this delicious cake!

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1 1/2 c. Peanut Butter
• 3 c. Powdered Sugar
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract *optional

Cream the Cream Cheese and PB together and add in the the Vanilla. Slowly beat in the Powdered Sugar and voila! Enjoy!

Have I ever mentioned that I love my family. My parent’s are two of the most supportive people that I know — they are always there for me and my brothers and support our decisions and goals in life. My brother Joe is just the most smiley and funny guy around; he will light up a room with that smile. My oldest brother, Tim, truly lives his life for the Lord and is a great example in my life. I just thought you should know that I am blessed (… and I know it :)

This last week we didn’t have the need for much of a dinner plan — we went out with family, the hubs worked late a couple of nights and so the nights in between were kept simple (a.k.a. sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches!). Here is this week’s dinner plan, excited to eat a bit healthier this week and try a couple new recipes! Have a great week!

This week’s Dinner Plan:

• Monday: TJ’s Mexican Chicken with Steamed Veggies and Rice
• Tuesday: Valentine’s Day Dinner :)
• Wednesday: Easy Garlic Chicken with Steamed Veggies and French Bread
• Thursday: Dinner with Community
• Friday: Chicken Quesadillas (using leftover chicken) with Salad and Mango
• Saturday: Date Night
• Sunday: Grilled Fish Tacos with Salad & Mango

Snacks:

• Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies from the other week week (G got sick so he couldn’t have sweets)
• Left over treats from the week
• Fruit!

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Damask Dings 1

Now if you are wanting to try out a new Banana Bread recipe, I have a great option for you! I know that we all have the one recipe that we run to when we want some banana bread , but change is good, right?! This Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread is a fresh new spin on the regular recipe. It is not necessarily a unique recipe but it is absolutely delicious and beyond bread in my opinion. Definitely one to keep on hand. Here’s a quick shot of my finished product for your viewing pleasure.

And if you were wondering if this recipe involves sugar… as you can see below… yes. it. does. ENJOY!

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I have a dear friend who is always uplifting me with joy and encouraging me to live life for the Lord. Needless to say, I am very thankful to have her in my daily life! For Christmas I decided I wanted to make her something special and encouraging. With all of the issues with my back, I had to keep it fairly simple but I love the result!

This 8×8 frame was the perfect base and I pulled out some scraps of paper that have a simple blue and gray scheme. My 2.5″ scalloped heart punch ended up being perfect to fit 4 hearts across and I hopped into Illustrator to print out the Scripture, Psalm 136:26. I chose this verse because I think it is always important to remember God’s love for us and to thank Him always. I feel that my friend is constantly reminding me of these things and therefore I wanted to give that back to her.

Each of the hearts were “popped” up with some foam tape for added dimension and I scattered several cute buttons for the fun of it. It was a fairly easy project and I have a feeling a few more of the special people in my life will be receiving these as gifts throughout the year because the entire thing comes from my heart — always important! {photos taken with my iphone}

I already took the time to sit down to figure out this week’s Dinner Plan — I know that last week I said I may or may not do this every single week but last week it helped greatly! If you haven’t seen the Meal Planner/Shopping List and Pantry Inventory that I created {and are available on my Etsy Shop}, I will have a post up soon with how they work  and how they have helped me! Im excited to see how much time and money I save from using these two tools!

This Week’s Dinner Plan

• Monday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Fresh Fruit & Soup
• Tuesday: Buttermilk Roasted Chicken with Roasted Veggies & Potatoes
• Wednesday: Chicken & Cashew Stir-Fried Salad
• Thursday: Dinner with Community
• Friday: Leftovers
• Saturday: Date Night
• Sunday: Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Snacks:

• Real Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies (Cookie of the Week)
• Healthier Peanut Butter Brownies

Thanks for stopping in! Have a wonderful weekend!

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And my bottom shelf in my pantry… DON’T JUDGE ME! This was a catch-all type of shelf and it did too good of a job living up to that title… This is where I now store my large containers of broth, drink syrups, grains, flours and a couple of other consistently used items.

My latest venture is Dinner Planning! This will be my first week actually laying out a plan for our dinners. I’m thinking that having it all planned out will save us from eating out so often (save money and no more gained weight!) and keep me from having multiple grocery trips per week.

I definitely can’t promise to share my meal plans every week but from time to time I plan to share the recipes and my plan for the week. Keep in mind that there are only two of us in our household, but many of the dishes I make are made to have leftovers so I only have to cook several times a week (genius, right?!).

So here is the first plan of the year (better late than never…)

• Monday: Baked Potatoes with BBQ Chicken and Corn
• Tuesday: Broccoli and White Cheddar Mac n Cheese with Fresh Fruit
• Wednesday: Nacho Ordinary Taco Salad with Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing
• Thursday: Dinner with Community
• Friday: Leftovers
• Saturday: Date Night
• Sunday: Coconut Lime Chicken with Chiles

Snacks:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars (my “cookie” of the week)
• Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Many of the recipes linked above were found on Pinterest, which I am guessing will be my main source. But Google and AllRecipes.com are a huge resource — I tend to search for recipes with the word quick or easy in the title or description, I love to cook but I also enjoy life outside of the kitchen :)

Have a great week everyone!

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