Thursday, May 22, 2014

Throwback Thursday: 2 Little Cowgirls!

Throwback Thursday! 

For your weekly viewing pleasure, I present you with my sister, Catherine, and I
dressed up at Teach-a-Tot's annual rodeo celebration in 1991!

Catherine.

I'm pretty sure that I'm wearing some stylin' overalls. 

Me.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cream Cookies

These cookies are a doozy, just like their name! Chocolate chip cookies + oreo pieces + cream cheese= damn good cookies! And even better- no mixer required! I made these in a large bowl with a fork! Make the dough, chill the dough, cook the dough... ta-da! These turned out awesome! 

Ingredients
1 box vanilla cake mix
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use vanilla paste)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened 
2 cups oreos, chopped (about 20 cookies)
1/2 cup chocolate chips 
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Steps

Pour cake mix in bowl and use a fork to break up large clumps. 



Melt stick of butter in microwave (about 30 seconds) and pour onto cake mix.



Add egg and vanilla. Mix well until you have a thick, moist dough. 




Add cream cheese and mix well. 





Add oreo pieces, chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. [I had mini chocolate chips on hand in the pantry, so that's what I used. I'm all about improvising.] Mix well. The dough will appear very cookies-and-cream-like. 



Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Once you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 



Roll dough into 1" balls. Bake on parchment paper or silicone sheet for 9 minutes. Cookies will appear underdone when you take them out of the oven, but don't overcook them- they will continue to cook and firm up after you remove them from the oven. Dough should make about 36 cookies. 








I found this recipe on Pinterest. 

Wonton Taco Bowls

Leftover ingredients present the perfect opportunity to make another recipe. After making the wonton lasagna bites, I had half of a package of wonton wrappers left, the only question is what recipe was I going to make? I had this recipe on Pinterest and I'd been waiting for a good time to make it. Since the only thing I had planned to do today is craft, cook, and take Tucker to the dog park, hello perfect thing for a late lunch!

Ingredients
24 small wonton wrappers
ground beef
3/4 cup water
taco seasoning packet
diced onion (about 1/2 cup)
shredded cheese (I used cheddar, mixed would also be good)
black beans, drained and rinsed 


Simple instructions

Brown ground beef. Drain.
Add water and seasoning packet and cook until water has evaporated. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease muffin tin. 

Place one wonton wrapper in the bottom of each tin.
Make sure to press down onto bottom and sides. 

Place some shredded cheese in each tin. 

Then distribute half of the ground beef amongst the 12 tins.
Do the same with beans. I don't like a ton of beans, so I just did about one tablespoon in each. 

Repeat ingredients: cheese, wonton wrapper, cheese, ground beef, beans, cheese.
The cheese helps it stick together.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until edges of wontons are brown and crispy.
Let them cool for about 10 minutes before serving. 





Snickerdoodles!

One word: Snickerdoodles! They're sugary, they're cinnamony, and they're delicious- who doesn't like these things!? They are Jacob's favorite cookie, so I've made them a couple of times trying out different recipes. This one is my favorite! I found this recipe on Pinterest and made a few adjustments to it. They're so good! :)

Snickerdoodle Cookies 

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar (plus 1/4 cup for rolling)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use vanilla paste)
2 eggs, room temperature
1-2 tablespoons cinnamon (plus about 1 teaspoon for rolling)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Directions
Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and cream of tartar. Mix until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes).
Add eggs one at a time.
Mix in salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
{Snickerdoodle cookies don't traditionally have cinnamon in the dough, but I'm a huge fan of cinnamon, so I incorporate it in as well as rolling the dough in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. You can alter the amount of cinnamon you add in depending on your preference.} 
Add flour slowly (1/2 cup at a time). Mix until fully combined.
Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes or until dough is firm enough to scoop into dough balls.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Once dough is firm and ready to scoop, form 1 to 1&1/2 inch dough balls.


Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture (about a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar)

 Place dough balls 2 inches apart on parchment paper or silicone sheet (I use a silpat). Press down to slightly flatten top of dough. I sprinkled a little extra cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of mine. :) 

Bake for 9-10 minutes. 


When they're done, they will be just browned around the edges. They turn out delicious! I love the extra cinnamon baked into the cookies in addition to being rolled in it. My new go-to snickerdoodle recipe!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Sunday was Mother's Day- the day that we honor the women in our lives who have loved us and raised us to become who we are today. On this very special of days, I remember how very lucky I am to have a mom so loving, encouraging, and supportive. She's been there for me though everything. Through the raisin-up-the-nose trip to the hospital, six years of softball practices and games, teenage years with two girls, and proof reading all of my papers for two college degrees- she has always been there for me, and a girl couldn't ask for a better mother. 

Mom & Me. 1989.

She's taught me not to take life to seriously and that it's okay to laugh at yourself.


She taught me to always be myself, even when myself really wants to wear my favorite outfit, which happens to be a cow costume. Even when I want to wear it on the family trip to Sea World. 

Catherine, our dad, and I at Sea World in 1993. This was post-Shamu splash.

I'm thankful to have a mother with a heart for adventure and a love for travel- something that we share. I absolutely loved the trip that the three of us (mom, Catherine, and I) took right before I graduated from undergrad. She encourages me to chase my dreams and not fear the unknown, even when my adventures take me across the world. I look forward to the many adventures still in our future!


Thank you for being a wonderful mother and friend.
I wouldn't be the woman I am today without your love and guidance. 

________________________________________________________________________

Celebrating Mother's Day...

A few months ago, my mother mentioned to me that she liked the burlap wreath that I had made. Ever since, I'd had in the back of my mind that I was going to make her one. Mother's Day provided me the perfect opportunity! With summer coming up, I decorated the wreath with sunflowers. I love how it turned out! It looks super cute hung up in my parent's home! 


On Mother's Day, Catherine, out dad, and I did a potluck style lunch and we got to hear all about the travels of my parents who are tracking the family genealogy. We even managed to get some family photos, which is a rare thing for us to remember! 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!


Our parents are just stinkin' adorable! :) 

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Remember the growth ruler that I made for Nicole's little girl, Allison? Well, Alli's aunt is also one of my best friends, Megan, thought it was pretty cute and decided that she wanted a wall decoration of her own. It's about time that I made her something and what a better time then when she's moving into a new apartment that needs decorating! 


She posted this picture on my Facebook a few weeks ago, making her official crafting request. I was way excited to have something to make for someone. And also excited that I could make something that I didn't have to worry about finding wall space for! Hah!



After making Alli's growth ruler, I knew this would be a fun and easy craft to make. I used the same kind of pine board for this project that I used for Alli's. While the board in the picture is black, Megan wanted me to create a dark navy/very dark teal color to match her living room's accent color. I found the perfect color Behr paint, "Velvet Evening" that is navy blue with just a touch of green to it. I love it and it's going to look really good with the off-white/bone color or the adhesive lettering.

I purchased all of my supplies for the project at Home Depot. The project was pretty cheap and I'm also going to have a large piece of pine board and navy blue paint leftover for future crafts. 

My shopping list consisted of...
pine board, 4 feet long x 11 inches wide [$8.38]
Behr paint sample in "Velvet Evening" [$2.94]
trim painting kit [$1.97]
sand paper block [$3.97]
adhesive lettering [whole roll costs $6.99]


Tools needed... 
Cricut machine. Thankfully, my mother has one and she kindly helps me use it every time... it has way too many buttons for me to get a hang of!

Also, when you buy your wood, ask an employee at Home Depot to cut it for you if you don't have a way to do so at home. I definitely don't have any heavy duty wood cutting tools, so I always ask for help when I buy wood/pegboard. For this project, I asked them to cut a 16" piece. The final piece that I painted was 16"x11". 

Easy steps...


Start by sanding down the edges of the board. There shouldn't be any sharp edges when you're finished. Use your judgement on how much to sand, the more you sand the rounder the edges will be.
After sanding the edges, make sure to thoroughly sand the side of the board that you'll be painting. When you're done it should be really smooth. The smoother your board is, the better it will look after the paint job.

Then, break out your paint and roller brush and paint on two layers. Make sure to allow the board plenty of time to dry completely between each coat. Unless you're painting outside, make sure that you put something beneath the board you're painting- I used a trash bag. 

I love how the color turned out on mine after painting!


Cut out adhesive letters. I did the exact lettering that was on the board that Megan found on Pinterest. I cut out the words "Please excuse the mess....... we live here" (with 7 dots).

My mom always helps with the cutting of the adhesive letters. The Crucit machine has too many buttons and I don't use it often enough to have learned what they all do. You can buy a roll of adhesive vinyl to create stickers at Michaels or Hobby Lobby for about $7. My mom has a bunch of different Cricut cartridges so I had a log of fonts to choose from. I chose a relatively simple font, like the one in the picture. 

(P.S.- My mom is awesome because she took some time out of Mother's Day to help me with my craft. I love that woman!)


First she programs what she wants the Cricut machine to cut, then the machine cuts it all out perfectly. I love how the font we chose turned out on the dark, painted wood. 


These are the final cut out letters. My mom programmed it to cut all of the tall letters first, followed by the shorter letters, like the e's and s's. 


Apply lettering to painted board. Make sure to press them down really well, especially around the edges. If you don't make sure they're stuck down really well they may peel up. 


Ta-da! Finished product ended up looking great! 

I gave it to Megan for her 23rd birthday and now I can't wait to see it hung up in her new apartment!
Happy Birthday, Megan! :) 

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Graduation Past

Throwback Thursday!

In the spirit of graduation season, this week's throwback post is of my first ever graduation- my pre-k graduation!

Check out my sweet black eye! It I remember correctly, I got hit by one of my classmates.


I definitely never looked this adorable again in a graduation robe! 




Monday, May 5, 2014

Wonton Wrapper Lasagna Bites

Who doesn't like tiny versions of regular-sized things? With what seems to be a wont0n wrapper phase, I felt like I had to get in on the fun. I've had this recipe pinned on my "Recipes to Make in 2014" board for a while and I'm glad I'm finally getting around to making them. 

I had most of the ingredients already at the house: ground meat (I used beef instead of turkey), spices, onion, sauce, and garlic. The only thing I really needed to pick up at the store were the cheeses and wonton wrappers. Even though I've bought wonton wrappers before, I can never remember where they are in the store. I ended up aimlessly wandering and finally googled on my phone "Where are wonton wrappers in a grocery store." So, let me help you save yourself some time while shopping- they're in the produce section close to the tofu and over vegetarian/vegan items. There are different sized wrappers: larger ones that you can use to wrap an egg roll or smaller ones that you can use for dumplings. I bought the smaller ones. 



Before the first time I cooked with wonton wrappers, I hadn't ever seen them uncooked. I was kind of surprised as to what they look/felt like uncooked. They're just really thin, very smooth pieces of dough. They almost feel like a thick piece of paper that's very floppy. 



Ingredients
(recipe will make 12 muffin-sized lasagna bites)
12 oz. ground beef
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 jar tomato sauce
3 teaspoons oregano, divided into 2 and 1 teaspoons
1-2 teaspoon(s) minced garlic [I really like garlic!]
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 & 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 & 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella 
24 wonton wrappers



Easy instructions... 

1. In a large saute pan, brown ground beef along with onion, salt, and pepper. Once beef is fully browned, add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds to one minute. 



2. Add tomato sauce and 2 teaspoons oregano. Slowly bring the pan to a gentle boil. Once it begins boiling, bring it to a simmer and allow to cook down for about 10 minutes or until thickened up. Remove from heat and set aside. 


*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

3. In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1 teaspoon oregano, basil and a dash of salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside. 

4. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan. Place one wonton wrapper in the bottom of each tin. Make sure to press to the bottom and sides. This wonton will create the outer shell of the lasagna. 


5. Using just half of the ricotta cheese mixture, divide it evenly amongst the 12 tins. I started by putting a dollop of the ricotta cheese in each tin, making sure that I used about half of the entire amount. Then, I used the back of a spoon to spread it around the bottom of the wonton wrapper. 



6. Repeat step 5 using the meat sauce. 


7. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of shredded mozzarella on top of the meat sauce in each tin. 


8. Place another wonton wrapper in each tin. Gently press them down on top of the cheeses and meat sauce. (I ended up using exactly half of my package of wonton wrappers. I guess that means I need to find another wonton wrapper recipe!)


9. Repeat steps 5, 6, and 7 using the rest of the ricotta mixture, meat sauce, and mozzarella.




10. Bake for 10 minutes. They will be finished when the cheese is all melty and gooey and the edges of the wonton wrapper will be browned.  Let the cups cool before removing them from the muffin tin (about 10-15 minutes). 




They turned out delicious! I'd definitely make these again.
They could be a fun appetizer or pot luck recipe.