What's in your Cabinets?

I love love love color and of course organization!  I am always curious on what other people's cabinets look like, what color their dishes are, how they organize them, etc.  Here is a peek into my cabinets!

Recipe Book

One of my closest friends, www.chelseamckinleyphotography.com , is moving to North Carolina on Tuesday, and I am so sad.  I will miss her terribly, and I wanted to give her something that she would be able to use all the time and also think of me when she uses it.  I came up with the idea of making a homemade recipe book with my favorite recipes in it for her.  I set out on my mission today to try and figure out the best way to do it.  I ended up purchasing a binder, pretty matching stationery, and plastic document protectors that I can slide the pages in to.  I started putting together a Word Document that would have a 1 recipe on it per page.  I started copy and pasting my recipes that I had written down, and I ended up for 45!!!  I couldn't believe that I had that many stashed in many different places.  After 2 1/2 hours, I finished that part of the project.  I am exhausted, and the printing and placing them in the binder will just have to wait until tomorrow!  I cannot wait to take a picture and show you the final product!  Chief thinks I should make an E-book out of it and try to market and sell it.  Hmmmm......something to think about!

Peach Enchiladas

Thanks to my friend, Shawn, I make this recipe all the time for dessert. It is sooo good and really easy.  It definitely is not low fat or low cal, but it is ok to splurge once in a while.



Ingredients:
2 packages (8-ounce size) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup butter
4 firm ripe peaches, peeled and quartered, or 1 bag of frozen unsweetened peaches, thawed
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 can (12-ounce size) Mountain Dew or Sprite

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt butter and add sugar and cinnamon. Mix together and set aside.

Unroll crescent roll dough and separate on the perforations. Place a peach quarter in each triangle. Roll from large end to small. (If desired, after rolling, encase peach with dough by gently stretching and pinching dough together.)

Place rolled dough in a 12x10x2-inch baking pan. Pour or spoon butter mixture over all. Pour Mountain Dew (or Sprite) on top. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Serve as is or with ice cream. (This recipe can be easily halved.)

Hope you enjoy!

My Dream Home

My dream home is a wide open floor plan,  floor to ceiling windows, the flood of natural light, and a beautifully preserved character of the space where memories are made.  When we lived in Colorado Springs, we lived in an old farm house with a beautiful massive open staircase, fire place in the entry way, bay windows on 1st and 2nd floors with a turret, a walk in pantry, and a church window that the Christmas tree fit perfectly in front of.  It was on an acre of land and a creek that ran through the back of the property.  The house sat about 200 feet off the road, and the driveway wound around trees to get to the house. This house was pretty close to what I want in a dream house.  I found these pictures when surfing the net, and I am in love. It is an old church that has been converted to a house  This is exactly what I want and dream of.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Now that I have the love for cooking, I constantly think about what I want in a kitchen.  I want a HUGE island that stretches all the way across the room, and it opens to the entire family room where all of our friends and family gather when we get together.  I want to be able to lay out Thanksgiving dinner across the entire island and still have room left over.  I recently came across pictures of Ina Garten's kitchen, and I fell in love!  It is everything that I want in a kitchen. Now, just transplant Ina's kitchen it to the church converted to a house kitchen, and it is perfect!  Here is Ina's...

 

  

What does your dream home look like?

Mmmmm, Beer Dip!!

This is by far one of the best dips that I have ever made.  Every time I take it somewhere for a party or make it at home, it is gone!  It's a party in my tummy, so yummy so yummy!  I promise that you will love it!

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup beer

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and dressing mix. Stir in Cheddar cheese, and then beer. The mixture will appear mushy. Cover bowl, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, overnight if possible.  (I throw it all in my food processor, and it is done in 2 minutes!)

Strawberry Cheesecake Pizza

I was looking for a new dessert one night, and I remembered eating something like this when we lived in Old Town Alexandria.  I thought I would improvise, and I came up with this.  It is now a favorite with my family and friends.

Ingredients

•  2 pint strawberries, cleaned and stemmed (about 4 cups)
•   2/3 cup white sugar
•  2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1, 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 can of sweet condensed milk
• 1 pizza crust
• whipped cream for topping

Directions

 

1. Bake pizza crust at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. 
2. Cut about 1/3 of the strawberries in half and set aside. In a saucepan over medium high heat, cook the rest of the strawberries, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Use potato masher and mash up the strawberries.  Fold the 1/3 cup of cut strawberries in to the mashed up cooked strawberries. Store in refrigerator.   
3. In food processor or with your mixer, mix softened cream cheese and 1/2 can of sweet condensed milk until smooth.
4. After pizza crust is cooked, spread cream cheese mixture on to pizza crust evenly. Cook in oven for 5 more minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.
5. After the cream cheese and pizza crust is cooled, spread strawberry topping on to the cream cheese. 
6. Cut it in to squares with your pizza cutter and serve with a spoonful of whipped cream on top.

Yummy Guacamole!!

I have worked at getting my guacamole right because it is a staple in our home. I think I have finally perfected it now, and I wanted to share it with everyone. So, here it is! Let me know what you think!

Ingredients


3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced


Directions

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain a little of the lime juice off after all of the avocados have the reserved lime juice. Using a potato masher, add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Place the seed in the middle of the guacamole to help keep the avocado from turning brown. Serve and enjoy!

Rock Star Princess Party Success!

The Rock Star Princess Party was a complete success!  We had 26 people in our home, and fun was had by all!  I ended up making 6 homemade pizzas, buffalo chicken dip in the crock pot, beer dip, chips and salsa, salad, pink lemonade with strawberries, and top it off with a guitar chocolate cake with a layer of cheesecake on bottom.  I was running around so much that I forgot to get pictures of the table and food, and I barely have a picture of the cake!  The buffalo chicken dip and beer dip is AMAZING and such good party dips!  I thought I would share the recipes.  I will post the pizza recipe at a different time because it deserves a post all on its own!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

INGREDIENTS

• 3 shredded cooked chicken breasts or 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Ranch dressing
• 1 cup buffalo wing pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
• 1 (8 ounce) box chicken-flavored crackers

DIRECTIONS

 Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through or boil chicken. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

 

Beer Dip

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup beer

DIRECTIONS 

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and dressing mix. Stir in Cheddar cheese, and then beer ( I put it all in my food processor.) The mixture will appear mushy. Cover bowl, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, overnight if possible.

Miss Priss was blessed with MANY presents, and she was so excited!  I have no idea what we are going to do with all of the stuff, but I am sure she will make room for it.

 

 

Chicken with its head cut off!

Yep, I feel like I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  My mom used to say that all the time, and now I completely know what she meant by it.  I have so much going on right now, that I am spinning and going in so many different directions!  At this time next week, my surgery will be complete, and I will have my new body.  I am so excited that I can barely contain myself!  I leave on Tuesday evening, so I am down to 5 days before I leave.  We have a big weekend in store for us too.  Miss Priss's birthday party is tomorrow night, and I have been cooking, baking, and cleaning all day today.  So far, I have made buffalo chicken dip, beer dip, baked a guitar shaped chocolate cake, baked a guitar shaped cheesecake, made 3 pizza crusts, pre-baked them for tomorrow, and made Chicken and Dumplings for dinner. Yes, I will be sharing recipes after the party!

My sweet sweet Chief came home early to help me clean house, do laundry, and help with the kids while I tried to organize my suitcase a little bit and pack some more. I don't know what I would do without him!  He is so good to me, keeps me grounded, and is ALWAYS there to help me when I need it.  Just having him at home or around me calms me down and keeps me focused.

Ava had a rough night last night, but a little bit of Tylenol fixed that!  She was in overdrive all day, and so were the dogs.  It rained all morning, and the dogs decided that it would be fun to play out in the rain and dig in the mud.  They completely messed up Chief's beautifully scrubbed deck with millions of little red dog prints all over it.  Hawaii has very red dirt like Oklahoma does, but it seems to show up everywhere!  I ended up leaving them outside all morning and afternoon until Chief came home and gave them baths.

I still have 3 more pizza crusts to make, ice and decorate the cake, decorate the house, make homemade ice cream, wrap Ava's presents, put together the treat bags,  finish picking up and cleaning the house, get me and Ava ready, cut the veggies up for the pizza, cook the sausage for the pizza, and bake 6 pizzas!!!  It just so happens to be our week to bring snacks for Monkey Doodle's soccer game, so I need to get that all prepped as well.  To top it all off, I need to finish packing!  Can you tell I am a little a lot overwhelmed???  I really really could use a pedicure before I go to Mexico as well since I haven't had one done by a professional since December.  I have got to fit in a little time for that this weekend along with doing a little more shopping for my trip.  I need some comfy house shoes for my trip.  Actually, I think I will take my Uggs because they make me feel so good.....

Ok, time to get some rest before the madness starts again!  Please pray that everything goes smoothly tomorrow, and I stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off!  That will just make another mess for me to clean up!

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

The kids woke up this morning wanting blueberry muffins, and my first thought was that I didn't have any mix for them.  Then, it dawned on me why I didn't have a premixed box....I don't cook from a box anymore!  I found this amazing recipe this morning, and it is a keeper!  I thought I would share because it was super easy!  I tripled the recipe, and it made 24 muffins.  The topping really only needs to be doubled, at least for my taste.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

INGREDIENTS

• 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2-1/4 cups white sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups fresh blueberries or 3 cups frozen blueberries (thawed)
  

TOPPING

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a large bowl; add the eggs and  milk to make it 3 cups total.. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. 

Aloha Friday!

I have to say that I am glad today is Aloha Friday! It was just an emotional week for some reason, and I am glad that is almost over.  Chief has the day off tomorrow, I have Yoga in the morning, homemade pizza in the evening, and I think some beach time is also warranted somewhere in there. What a great way to start the weekend!

Have I told everyone how much I love Yoga?  It is such a great way to relieve stress, relax, and get a terrific workout! I have really contemplated on becoming a Yoga Instructor because I love it so much.  After being in banking and management off and on for the last 13 years, I would like to do something different.  Don't get me wrong, I love being at home with my kids.  But, they will both be in school next year, and I would like to have a job that I love, that has some flexibility, and also keep me in shape.

I have also thought about becoming a Professional Planner/Organizer.  A lot of working moms don't have the time to sit down and make a monthly grocery list, monthly meal calendar, print coupons, or even cook healthy, balanced meals. It would have been awesome to have premade homemade meals that were made specific to my family and their tastes, and I didn't have to make them!  I know I would have paid someone to do that for me if I knew it was even an option!  It would have relieved so much stress knowing that I could go home, take a complete meal out of the fridge or freezer, and pop it in the oven with practically no prep work.  Plus, I could plan the meals according to their current diet. (IE: low carb diet, low sodium, more protein etc.)  Both of those 2 job options are portable also, and I could still do them no matter where the Army takes us!  Heck, I could even complete meal calendars and grocery lists virtually!

I am so thankful to have a husband that is supportive no matter what I do.  He is content with me staying at home and being beautiful and happy(words right out of his mouth!)  So, where will my new body and life take me in the future?  I have no idea, but I am going to make sure it will be fun and exciting!

Let's Get Organized!!

Many have asked about my shopping habits, so I thought I would share what I do each month to keep our family organized.  It is much more cost effective to shop this way as well!

1. I take a couple of hours close to the end of the month to make out my meal calendar for the upcoming month. I use a 12 month calendar template I found on Word. I search for new recipes online during the month when I have some extra time and save them for the upcoming month.

2. I make it easy on myself by designating Mondays as a Mexican meal, Tuesdays is a Chicken meal, Wednesday is an Italian meal, Thursday is a beef meal, Friday is homemade pizza or calzone night, Saturday is usually something cooked on the grill, and Sunday is a crockpot meal. if we plan on being out or going out to eat, I will put that on the calendar.

3. If we have enough leftovers on a certain night for a full meal, I freeze it and put it on the menu for next month on one of the designated nights. I make sure I put frozen in parenthesis, so I know it is already prepared.

4. I make my grocery list by using my meal calendar, but I first go through my freezer and take stock of what I have....how much hamburger, chicken, etc.

5. I make my grocery list online at http://www.workingmom.com/grocery_list/ and print the list and my meal calendar to take with me to the store. I make sure I write down exactly how many lbs of hamburger I need, chicken, etc. The more specific you can be on your list, the more money you save because you are not purchasing extra stuff while you are shopping. Don't forget to add your cleaning supplies, snacks, school lunch stuff, etc. Also, put down only the produce you need for the week or even 2 weeks depending on what you will be using because you will just waste money trying to purchase it for the whole month.

6. I then go to www.afullcup.com and look under the coupon tab and print coupons from redplum, smartsource, coupons.com, and cellfire. Since I already have my meals planned, I will know what coupons I need. I also can search for certain coupons under the printable coupon section. I also cut coupons that I think I might need from Sunday paper each week. Don't forget to look for coupons at the store or search their sale ads as well. If you find it cheaper at one store than another, ask to see if they will match the price. If not, it really isn't worth driving to another store due to gas prices and time unless it a difference of appx $3. I use that number as my gage because it is the appx. cost of a gallon of gas.

7. I purchase my produce weekly at the farmer's market or go and pick it each week. I also purchase dairy products bi-monthly to keep those items fresh.

8. Last thing is, purchase in bulk if you can. I am a Costco fanatic, and I cannot do without it. It will definitely save you money in the long run! Most houses in Hawaii are very small and have no storage, but I transfer things in to sealed containers and tubs, and that makes it much easier. Since I bake my own breads and pizza dough, I buy white sugar, all purpose flour, and bread flour in 25 lb bags as well. It is SO MUCH cheaper that way I even use my mail scale that I purchased off of Ebay to weigh out my hamburger that I buy in bulk. I separate it in to 1 lbs bags, so I know exactly how much I am using.

What's for Dinner Mexican Monday!

As some of you know, I LOVE TO COOK! Since becoming a stay at home mom back in January and moving to Hawaii, I have taken up cooking with as many fresh ingredients as I can. I love seeing my family and friends faces when they taste something that they like. So, I will be posting many favorite recipes and new recipes that I have found. So, for Mexican Monday, we are having..... 

Carne Asada

* 3/4 cup orange juice
* 1/2 cup lemon juice
* 1/3 cup lime juice
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon finely chopped canned chipotle pepper
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon paprika
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 tablespoon black pepper
* 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 3 pounds flank steak


1. Combine the orange, lemon, and lime juice in a large glass or ceramic bowl along with the garlic, soy sauce, chipotle pepper, chili power, ground cumin, paprika, dried oregano, black pepper, and cilantro. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until marinade is well combined. Remove one cup of the marinade and place in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for use after the meat is cooked.
2. Place the flank steak between two sheets of heavy plastic (resealable freezer bags work well) on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound the steak with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of 1/4 inch. After pounding, poke steak all over with a fork. Add the meat to the marinade in the large bowl, cover, and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
3. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
4. Remove the steak from the marinade and grill to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Discard used marinade. Remove meat from heat and slice across the grain.
5. Pour the one cup of reserved, unused marinade over the hot meat and serve immediately.

I serve mine with grilled onions and peppers on top, along with refried beans and homemade guacamole.

Homemade Guacamole

INGREDIENTS

* 3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
* 1 lime, juiced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup diced onion
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)


DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.