Owl Bibs

I've never blogged about my love for owls.  Simply love owls and there's no particular reason, I just think they're so cute. 

My latest owl purchase were these adorable vinyl bibs for Maren, who is not really liking the whole solid food thing. 

It's almost Fall!!!

I'm so excited to get out my fall home decor and start baking with pumpkin.  This is my *favorite* time of the year, no question; the weather, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday, the food.....I could go on and on.  

I found a Paula Deen recipe for a Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle earlier this year and I've been waiting for fall to arrive so I could make it.  Don't worry, a post and pictures will be included here!

The TomKat Studio has a really cute freebie on their blog and I wanted to share it with y'all.  Check it out!!

So, it may be a little premature but HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!!

Stinky Lois

We went to see Lois the corpse flower at the HMNS the day she started blooming. Luckily, we didn't experience any of her stinkiness but it was neat to say we saw her (corpse flowers don't bloom very often so this was a big deal).

S'mores Whoopie Pies

Growing up, I was a girl scout for several years so I KNOW about s'mores and I'm a sucker for them. I've tried a s'mores cupcake recipe and it was so-so. Then I came across this recipe for s'mores whoopie pies and decided to give it a try.

Overall, I give it an A-. The graham cookies to filling ratio is a little off but that can easily be corrected.


Graham Cookie
1 1/2 cup graham flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
4 tbsp vegetable shortening
1 c packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Place rack in the center of the oven and prehead to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat mat.

In a medium bowl, stir together both flours, baking powder, and salt.

Using a mixer, beat butter, shortening, and brown sugar until light and cream, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and buttermilk and beat until combined.

In another bowl, combine milk, baking soda, and vinegar. Add this mixture slowly to the batter along with the flour mixture and beat on low speed until completely combined.

Drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto baking sheet, repeat spacing them at least 2 inches apart.

Bake for about 10 min until the cakes begin to brown.

Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for 3-5 min before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Spread one cookie with marshmallow cream and another cookie with chocolate ganache. Put the cookies together.

Makes about 40 two-inch cakes, about 20 assembled whoopie pies.

Marshmallow Cream
1 1/2 c marshmallow creme
1 1/4 c vegetable shortening
1 c confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitter with the paddle beat together marshmallow fluff and shortening, starting on low and increasing to medium speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy, about 3 min.

Reduce mixer speed to low, add confectioner's sugar and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Increase mixture speed to medium and beat until fluffy.

Chocolate Ganache
1 small bag (12oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Place your chocolate in a large, heat proof bowl.

Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat just until in bubbles.

Pour the heated cream over the chocolate in the bowl and let it sit for about 10 minutes, until the chocolate is melted. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Allow the mixture to rest until firm enough to spread, about 2 hours. Or you can refrigerate it for about 30 min until it is firm enough to spread, shirting every 10 min.

So true....

I saw this sign at Garden Ridge today; I love it!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Jake and I received 3, yes 3 crockpots as wedding gifts. Luckily, I was able to get credit for 2 of them and I kept the 3rd. Fastforward to 6 years later, I finally opened and used the crockpot for the first time! Some girls on my favorite online community had been raving about this recipe so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

The recipe was pretty good and I've made it 3 times so far. Also, I'm hooked on crockpot recipes now; they're SO easy! Why did it take me this long to discover??

Anyways, here's the recipe:

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

1 chicken taco seasoning packet (you can use a reg. taco seasoning packet but the chicken kind is best)

6 FROZEN chicken tenderloins (or 3 frozen breasts)

1 container of fresh pico (or can of Rotel)

1/4 c. Olive Oil

1/4 c. Water

Cover the bottom of the crockpot with the taco seasoning.Lay frozen chicken on top.

Pour Pico/Rotel over chicken.

Pour Oil and Water over everything.

Cook on Low for 4-6 hours. If home, turn meat half way but not necessary.

Shred chicken with a fork and stir into juices.
Let cook/simmer for 30 minutes more (if time is tight, I skip this step)

Serve on tortillas with a shredded Mexican cheese blend, sour cream, guacamole, salsa.....whatever you want!

One tip: the tortillas can make or break this meal. I don't recommend store bought, unless you get the freshly made package from HEB. I usually make a quick trip to Taco Cabana and get 1/2 dozen, because theirs are my favorite.

*putting ingredients in the crockpot

*after shredding the chicken

Hipstamatic

I found this new iPhone app that I love! It makes your pictures look "old-timey". Here's a few examples:

Can Christmas come early this year?

I want this soooooooooooooo bad.....I'm talking really really really bad. But I'm going to have to sell a whole lotta cakes to afford it.

Product Rave - Toddler moms, you'll want to read this!

I went to Babies R Us today to get some stuff for baby #2 and stumbled across this new line of cups. They had a BOGO 50% off sale and I'm always a sucker for a BOGO. Anyways, it's called Tommy Tippee and I bought a set of drinking cups (Maddie) and a set of closer to nature soft shield pacifiers (Maren).

Maddie got home from MDO, saw her cups and got so excited. I'm not sure if she got excited because she thought they were pretty or what, but she has never gotten excited over cups before. We had to open them immediately and let her try them out. SHE LOVES THEM! This is the same girl who hates using big girl cups and would be happily content to use sippy cups for the rest of her life.

So I felt the need to share this info with my fellow toddler mamas. This is the set I bought:

HaHa pic of the day

I saw this picture on the community bullentin board I belong to and thought it was too funny not to share.