sweet {busy} summertime

June 13, 2012 By 4 Comments

Hey y’all! First off, I’m posting over on Dallas Moms Blog today about our swim lessons at Floating Kiwis Swimming School. Go check it out!

We’ve been up to a lot this week! Let’s see…Chloe’s been at Vacation Bible School {yes, she is big enough to go! CRAZY}, Jack’s had swim lessons every day and we’ve all had a lunch date with friends. Then throw in a Dallas Moms Blog meeting to get ready for Mom’s Night Out and a hair cut {and much-needed bang trim} from Marc at Clive & Co. and I’ve got myself a busy week! And it’s only Wednesday! And it’s the summer! Seriously. At least I managed to cook dinner the last two nights, and I stopped during cooking one night to take a picture of these two crazies.

It’s terrible quality, but that’s because they were moving around, screaming and laughing, and having so much fun playing together. This moment made me so happy- they really are becoming each others’ best friend. I went back to cooking and three minutes later one was crying and one was in time out. But it was great while it lasted!

And speaking of cooking, I’ve been thinking about what we should have for dinner on Father’s Day. So far the menu includes Trey’s steak {yum}, roasted asparagus, rolls, and this:

Another PW recipe, of course. I’ll let you know but I’m sure you can predict how much we are going to love it. It has FIVE different kinds of cheese. And that, my friends, is what they call awesomesauce.

Well, I better get this train moving! Plans this morning include VBS, swim, and a Target run. Hooray!

 

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My new favorite dessert.

June 7, 2012 By 9 Comments

Ok,  y’all know by now that I am not a huge fan of sweets. Sure, I love me some milk and cookies or a slice of my mama’s coconut cream pie, but in general, I would take a bowl of Lucky Charms or creamy pasta and a chunk of garlic bread over dessert any day. That is until these Oatmeal Whoopie Pies walked into my life.

Y’all. I could eat these every day. This whole plate, every day. They are so good! I recently took them to a Memorial Day cookout and they were a definite crowd pleaser. I think I even overheard the words “these just changed my life” a few different times!

Pioneer Woman posted this Oatmeal Whoopie Pie recipe a while back and I immediately saved it to try soon. So, a few days after she posted it, I made her version for some friends that had come to visit. The oatmeal cookie recipe she posted is the best I’ve ever had, and my grandmother has an amazing recipe, so that’s saying a lot. They are just perfectly gooey and yummy. On that recipe, there are two different filling options- one option being an icing recipe and the other was just using marshmallow creme. I love me some marshmallow creme, but I decided to do her icing filling the first time, and they were really good. But, her icing recipe wasn’t our favorite. So, I decided to experiment. First I tried the marshmallow cream, and while the kids LOVED it, I still wasn’t convinced. Then I filled them with one of my mom’s icing recipes that I use when I make her “Holy Cow Cake” {which, by the way, needs to be on a post real soon!}, and DING. We have a winner!

Seriously. Make these little cookie sandwiches and take them to your next shin-dig. You’ll be the talk of the party!

First, follow all the directions and ingredients for cookies from The Pioneer Woman’s Oatmeal Whoopie Pies recipe. The only thing I do differently is I use dark brown sugar {she doesn’t specify but I like the color the dark adds to the cookies} and I bake them for 9 minutes.  Let them cool completely, then fill with the following {super easy!} Holy Cow Icing recipe. If you are not going to serve right away, I’d place them on a cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer, then put them on a pretty serving plate just in time for everyone to enjoy.

Holy Cow Icing

  • 16 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 container Cool Whip, thawed
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whip all ingredients on medium-high speed in mixer until fluffy. Store unused portion in airtight container in fridge for up to a week.

P.S. I strongly recommend investing in a cookie scoop if you don’t already have one. It made making these a breeze! I used it to make perfectly even cookies, and then used it to scoop icing on each whoopee pie! Also, parchment paper will be your BFF with this little endeavor. One of the best inventions ever, in my opinion! Enjoy!

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Meeting PW.

April 17, 2012 By 4 Comments

Saturday was a favorite day.

Jenn, Chloe and I arrived at Sam’s Club at 8:15 am to claim our number and spot in line to meet The Pioneer Woman. She was in Dallas on her cookbook tour. I brought Chloe so she could get a number for Krista to save her from having to drive to Dallas twice. Our original plan was going to be to get a number early, then stroll in around 11:30 and wait in line for 30 minutes and be out of there in time to grab a fun lunch. NOT so much.

We get our numbered bracelets early that morning, but then the Sam’s manager tells us that the number doesn’t mean anything and that when we come back, we have to get in line wherever the line is. The bracelet only guaranteed us a spot in line. So, we decide to meet at 11 to stand in line.

Well, after FOUR hours of standing, three bathroom breaks, lots of girl talk, running into a friend, Jenn hearing from husband that they have a hot water heater leak, me coaching T over the phone on how to get the curlers out of Chloe’s hair for her dance pictures, sore feet, oh and three pretzels, two diet cokes and a coke {which ended up being our “fun” lunch}, here we are.

This was our proud moment with PW. We were all nervous {ha!} and therefore acted like complete thirteen year olds meeting Justin Bieber. I told the guy taking pictures with my camera to just hold down the button so we could get a few shots {I had it set on multiple exposures}. Well, after smiling for what seems like forever, we realize he isn’t letting up at all and he has already taken like 200 pictures. This is my “you are so dumb, why would you continue to hold it down forever” look.

I’m so confused as to why he’s still holding down the button. Then there’s Jenn still keeping the perfect smile and then Krista’s body. Thank you for cutting off my friend’s head. For real?

Here I’m telling him that I meant that he should hold it down for a few seconds, not the ENTIRE time we’re talking to her.

Good thing K leaned down because this is my favorite picture.

We all got to laughing so hard; it was such a fun moment!

Here she’s thinking, “Next in line, please!”

I couldn’t leave until I asked her about her Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork. Do her kids really eat it with a whole can of chipotle peppers?? There is absolutely no way, right? Because 1/4 can is about all T and I can take, and we like spicy! She says the key to getting it less spicy for the kids is to drain it really well before serving it to them. She also said that every can of chipolte peppers is different in heat. Who knew?

All in all, it was worth the four-hour wait. She was definitely the same as she seems on her blog and cooking show. What a fun day!

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A few bullets for you on this lovely Thursday morning…

January 19, 2012 By 4 Comments
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  • While taking the picture above I was laughing harder than I have in a long time. It is definitely one of those “you had to be there” stories but I felt it needed documentation on the blog anyway. I had just walked in from my weekly Sunday Sonic Happy Hour run and we were opening our straws. Trey had his straw in his mouth and was pulling the paper off. I had my straw in my mouth and blew the paper from my straw {like a 5 year old would do!} at him, and it went straight into his mouth. We laughed so hard- it was an amazing feat for him to have caught my paper in his mouth while his straw was in there too! See, you had to be there, but for us, this was a defining moment in our marriage.
  • I posted about the lingering affects {acne, hormonal craziness, etc,} on the Dallas Moms Blog yesterday. Also, Jenn is going to be a new contributor at DMB! Yay for me and my BF “working” together again! But this time we get paid nothing, which is only slightly less {seriously} than our first job together at Region 10, where we met back in 2003!
  • We have begun our planning for our 10 year anniversary trip. We had debated going to Europe, but we have changed our destination. We wanted to do London and Paris, but the Olympics start ON our anniversary so London was out. We debated for a while just going to Paris, but then our beach buddies asked us to go to Destin again… and we decided two vacations are better than one! So, we are doing our second annual Destin trip in May and then T and I will be celebrating 10 years in my favorite city- New York. I’ve been with my sister twice, and then we went back in 2003 to visit our good friends that lived there, and I still absolutely cannot wait to go again! Now we are having fun deciding on shows and restaurants. Any suggestions?
  • I traded in my iPhone 4 at Target for a 4S for only 19.99 plus tax. Did you know they do that?? I was eligible for an upgrade, so with my 4 being in great condition, it was almost an even trade! Hello, Siri. You were totally worth the last of my January fun money. Can you believe it is the 19th and I had some left?? I am honestly shocked that I hadn’t spent it all, since it’s usually gone by, oh, about the 2nd of the month!
  • Trey and I were just talking about how we finally feel “at home” in North Dallas. Even though we only moved 20 miles away from our old house, it definitely took some adjusting. We’ve been here almost 2 years and the Lord has blessed us with a church home {and a community group there}, my BSF Bible study, our boot camp/gym family, an amazing Mother’s Day Out program at a nearby church, and so much more. Thank you Lord for the blessing of community in our “new” city!
  • One of my New Year’s resolutions is to keep my closet clean. I am a huge pile person- piles of clothes adorn my closet and always have. But, today is the 19th day I’ve had a clean {and pile free} closet. YAY!
  • I’ve got another Dr. Pepper pulled pork in the crock pot right now. Have you made it yet? Please say yes. Our BF’s are coming over for our weekly dinner swap. I am loving that I only have to cook every other Thursday!

That’s it for now, peeps. Happy Thursday to you!

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