Mini Breakfast Bakes

My mom bought me the Pampered Chef brownie pan a few weeks ago and I FINALLY got a chance to use it this weekend.  Along with the pan I got gave me a huge booklet of recipes and I was dying to try the breakfast bake.  

Mariah woke up bright and early this past Saturday morning, so while Mike and Madden slept in we whipped these up!

First I started frying the bacon.

We used turkey bacon to cut down the fat a little bit!

(Still just as good as real bacon, in my opinion!)

I also cut up some green pepper, cut 2 slices of bread into cubes, chopped some green onions and grated the cheddar cheese.

After the bacon was cooked and crumbled, I added all the ingredients in a bowl with eggs and a little bit of milk.

The mixture was then divided into the brownie pan (the large Pampered Chef scoop is the perfect size to fill the wells!) and baked at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

The result was these savory little breakfast bites!  

So good with fresh ingredients.

The perfect Saturday morning meal!

Breakfast Bakes

(derived from The Pampered Chef)

5-6 strips of turkey bacon

5 eggs

3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 slices of bread, cubed

1/3 bell pepper, diced

2 green onions, diced

2 tbsp milk

Cook the bacon as directed on the package and crumble.  

Whisk eggs in bowl and add all ingredients, mixing together.

Divide mixture into wells of brownie pan (or cupcake pan) filling 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 17 to 20 minutes.

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Party for 2 Year Old!

Mariah turned TWO this month.  And of COURSE we had to celebrate in style.

We choose the Very Hungry Caterpillar as the theme for her party!

It was so much fun designing invitations, making decorations and baking up some yummy foods!

Here's a look at some of the highlights from our fun day:

Front of the invitation

Back of the invite

Shutterfly Book we made for all of Mariah's birthday guests to sign!

Note to our baby girl!

Table in the entry way where guests could sign the book and grab a fun caterpillar antennae headband!

Photos of Mariah hung from the light fixture - all pictures of her from 12 months to 24 months!

Caterpillar made of balloons

And another made out of paper lanterns





















Happy Birthday Mariah!  Your are one amazing little girl! :)

One Minute Cupcakes!

So... you know those nights when you just want a little something sweet but you don't want to bake a whole batch of cookies and have them sitting around because you will surely eat every last one in a matter of a couple hours?  Well this is the PERFECT recipe for me you!!


I saw this on a blog i follow regularly and at first I was a little turned off by it.  But tonight it popped into my mind and I thought... what's there to lose?  I might as well TRY it!


And let me tell you... this was a pretty much amazing!


So here's what you do.

1/4 cup of boxed cake mix (any flavor you want!)

1 1/2 TBSP water

Mix together in a coffee cup.

Put in microwave for ONE minute.

And you have a SOFT, WARM, YUMMY cupcake!  Seriously!?!


I didn't even bother putting frosting on them, but you most definitely could!  And how awesome that you can make just one or two and not risk eating a whole half dozen! :)


Note: The blog I linked to calls it a "Two Minute Cupcake" based on the prep time, but since it mixes together SO quickly I consider it a "One Minute Cupcake"! :)

Blue!

My little girl's favorite color is BLUE.

Who would have guessed after all of the pink I forced on her from birth?! :)

The only problem is she wants EVERYTHING in blue.

This includes clothing, food, drinks, toys, etc.

For example, she only wants her dinner on her blue plate.  Well... since we have a rainbow of colors I end up having to wash the blue plate every night.  Same goes with the cups which match the rainbow of plates...

Toothbrush?  Blue.

(Note: She doesn't realize that the blue toothbrush is "grumpy"!)

Potty seat? Blue.

Coat?  Blue.

 (Note: she was pretend-sleeping at breakfast this morning)

Jello? Sprinkles? Markers?

You got it!

Next I will be painting the walls in her room blue (joking... i hope!!!).

Really though, I think its cute that she has her favorite color!  

And we will do our best to accommodate it! :)

Oreo-stuffed Cookie & Brownie Cups

My birthday was yesterday and I am always determined to bring something original and yummy into work for my treat.  I kept seeing variations of the oreo - chocolate chip cookie - brownie recipes circling on Pinterest and I thought it might be fun to make mini versions of these.

Here's what you need:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (I made it from scratch using the recipe on the back of the chocolate chips!)

Brownie Mix (I used the box mix - it worked great!)

Mini Oreos (yes, the whole bag - so no snacking :)

I used a mini muffin pan to make them into bite-sized treats.

Using approximately 1 TBSP of cookie dough, press into bottom of muffin pan.  

Then add one mini oreo on top and cover with 1/2 TBSP of the brownie batter

Bake the mini cups at 350* for 15 minutes and you end up with these awesome treats with an OREO hidden inside!

YUM!!!!!

4 Months Old Already

Yes... it's true... my precious baby boy is already 4 MONTHS OLD.  


That's 1/3 of the way to ONE YEAR!  


I know... I'm probably over reacting about this fact, but really I just can't believe it.


He's getting so big.  

Look at those itty bitty baby legs! 

Now he's smiling all the time, talking, rolling over, and staying entertained by his big sister's crazy antics! :)

Madden is one special little boy who lights up our lives!


Happy 4 month birthday, Mr. Manny!

Easter!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!  We definitely did!

The kids got up bright and early to discover that the Easter bunny had been here!  

It was a mad dash to the Easter baskets, which were overflowing with gifts!

We also did a little Easter egg hunt around our house for Mariah.  She enjoyed finding the eggs, but was more interested at what was IN them.  MANY jelly beans were consumed today!

  

Manny loved his gifts, too!

After we checked out the baskets we were off to Easter Sunday mass.  

Then, to Grandma and Grandpa's for brunch!

Madden & Grandma Margie

Looking handsome in his vest :)

 Mariah got to hunt for MORE Easter eggs at Grandma & Grandpa's!

She even shared her findings with her brother (but no candy for Manny!)

Later in the evening we decided to try out our new double stroller.  We LOVE it so far... and a huge bonus that the Chicco carseat fits snugly in the back!

 We took a walk to Azteca (only about a mile away) and enjoyed dinner there!

Overall it was a lovely Easter!  Kids sure make the holidays fun! :)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I hate buying laundry detergent because:


a) any thing other than Tide doesn’t seem to clean very well 


and 


b) Tide is SUPER expensive 


So when I came across this a while back on Pinterest I was very intrigued by it.   I told my husband that I was interested in this and he immediately stated that it was not a good idea and would never clean as well as the commercial detergents.


I was determined to prove him wrong!


I gathered the different ingredients (most from Target, except I couldn't find the Fels Naptha bars so I got those from Fareway): 

1  - 4 lb 12 oz box Borax
1 - 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 - 55 oz box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap
1 small container of Oxy Clean




The process was suprisingly easy and took maybe 15 minutes total. You start with grating the bars of soap just like cheese (and it even LOOKS like cheese).  This took a little bit of muscle, as soap is a little harder than a block of cheese!

Then, you combine the other powdered ingredients and mix in the grated soap. 

 I used a big wooden spoon to mix it all together. 

The smell is light, but really refreshing!  Now that I've used it for a couple weeks I actually prefer it over the Tide smell. AND it really DOES clean the clothes!  Dare I say it cleans them BETTER?!


Now what does Mike think?  My husband is amazed and wants me to make this stuff forever!

How nice is it to know WHAT you are cleaning your clothes with.  Espcially with kids, I feel SO much better using this stuff over Tide.  This is estimated to last about 9 months (as you use about 1-2 TBSP per load)! And it was only about $20 for the ingredients. 


Have I convinced you yet? TRY IT! You will not be disappointed.  Promise!