My life is so crazy busy right now!  Those of you out there with three boys during soccer season know exactly what I am talking about!  We have four soccer games a week!  That makes for a lot of muddy laundry, sunscreen, sweat, and gatorade!  I have to say though, I LOVE IT!!!!!  Today my little soccer man scored his first goal in a real game.  He was giving me a thumbs up as he ran down the field after his goal.

So dang cute!  I did experience something new tonight…  after my 4 yr old scored his second goal in his game, he didn’t look over to see if I had seen it.  What!!!!  I was so sad…  Silly of me I know, but I just love when my boys still wave and give me a thumbs up during the game.  Not the second time around though, he just ran on by and high-fived his teammates!  How dare he not want/need his mommy’s praise anymore!  Ha!  It is bad enough that my seven year old has grown out of this, but now my little four year old too!  Doesn’t seem right in my opinion (says the mom who can’t let go!).  Good thing I still have the three year old to blow me kisses from across the playground!

Anyway, I was at my youngest nephew’s birthday party on Saturday and loved their adorable monster cupcakes.  You can get the monster leg cupcake holder at any craft store.  First take a # 12 tip and make a hershey kiss sized glob on the top of the cup cake. Then use your a 133 icing tip to make the “monster fuzz” on the top of the cupcake by stringing the frosting from the bottom of the cupcake to the top of the hershey kiss.  Work your way around the hershey kiss making the frosting evenly distributed around it.  If you use too much on one side you risk a lopsided cupcake that could tip over in the monster shoe base.  She used oreos and licorice to make the face.

 

Today was a very interesting day.  My 3yr old lost his mind and started acting like a maniac after his bath.  He was running around dancing and this singing-yelling thing.  It was crazy, but also hilarious!  I would love to post the video, but considering he was only wearing his undies and a green Luigi hat I wont… hope you can imagine it though!

So he ran around crazy like that for about an hour, then asked for some fruit snacks.  “Sure buddy, but you didn’t eat enough of your dinner yet.  Take another bite for me.”  He takes a bite of ravioli…  makes a disgusting face then pukes all over the floor.  Awesome right.  That is actually what I said, “awesome.”  Boooo!  30 Seconds later, “Mommy, I have fruit snacks now?”

So cool.  Not.  Just another day in my crazy world! Haha.  After this I realized I was supposed to post something… Hmmmmm.  Luckily I cooked these awesome Steak and Cheese Stuffed Peppers last week.  They were a huge hit for all of us here trying to eat less carbs.

Very easy too…  I got the idea from this Peace, Love, and Low Carb blog.

Grab some green peppers, shredded mottz, sliced roast beef, onions, and mushrooms.

Cut your peppers in half and put some shredded cheese in each one.

Slice up your roast beef and saute it with mushrooms and onions.  Sadly, I had to leave the mushrooms out as I didn’t have any at the time.

Fill your peppers as much as possible with your roast beef, onions, and mushroom mixture.

Top it off with more shredded mottz and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until your cheese is melted and bubbly.

I’ve made this several times and every time it’s been a huge it!  Everyone loves it because you can enjoy it after a meal that is filling.

Here is the beauty….

I love trifles and this one has to be at the very top of my list!  Try it before summer is over.  You’ll be amazed!

Here is the simplicity of the trifle:

All you need is:

2  (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1  (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1  cup Cool Whip, thawed
4 tablespoons sugar
1 angel food cake, torn into bite-size pieces
2 quarts fresh strawberries, thinly sliced

Here are some thinly sliced strawberries.

All you do is:

1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until
fluffy; add sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and the almond extract;
set aside.
2. Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture.
3. Gently stir in cake pieces; set aside.
4. Combine strawberries and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
5. Layer in a large glass bowl, starting with 1/4 of the strawberries, then adding 1/3 of the cake mixture.
6. Continue layering; finish with strawberries.
7. Cover with plastic wrap; and chill several hours.

It’s so dang good!

So good!  My five year old nephew said “This is the greatest dessert on earth”.  Also, below is my one year old great nephew enjoying its deliciousness.

Go make it now while the strawberries are still somewhat fresh!  You won’t be disappointed, I promise.

Check out our other trifles:

Banana Pudding Trifle

Red, White and Blueberry Trifle

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle

 

 

So we are in the process of building a home in Palm City (near Jensen Beach) and have been staying with my sister and her family while we wait!  It is always one big party with all these cousins together every day!  They have so much fun together and it is crazy nonstop!  My poor charitable sister!  Ha!

I hope they will remember this time as one of the most fun times they have had in their lives… while I will probably remember them as the time I tired really hard to stay sane. Ha!

Anyway, to help keep the sanity around here we trade off weeks of who has to cook.  The best part is that when it is my turn to cook I don’t have to help clean up! Hehe.  So it is my turn to cook this week and we are all trying to eat relatively healthy (my sister calls it the “don’t-eat-like-an-@$$-whole-diet”). Ha!

I cooked these delicious lettuce wraps, Mexican style!  I probably liked them so much because I LOVE Mexican food… particularly fajitas.  If you dont want to eat the carbs from the tortilla, stick it in a lettuce wrap!  Yum!

The idea was inspired by my love of Chicken Tortilla Soup and Tacos!

Mexican Lettuce Wraps
1 packet of your favorite taco seasoning
6 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies

*** Throw them all together in a crock pot.  My chicken was still frozen when I put them in. Turn it on HI and give it 4 to 6 hours.  Serve in lettuce and sprinkle on some cilantro!  Yum!

Try it with a tortilla, cheese, and sour cream as well!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you like this, you might also like these recipes!

Avocado Hummus!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Every Day Paleo – No Potato Salad

Buffalo Chicken in the Crock Pot

 

 

It only takes a small amount of extra effort to make a cute and visibly delicious dessert!  Today, I made these beauties for husband with the help of my 3 year old.

I don’t think anything drives me more crazy than plain brownies cut and put onto a plate.  Seriously, the five minutes of effort is being shown.    Husband loves brownies and has been asking me for a few days to make some.

I pulled out my cheesecake swirl brownie box and I found the cupcake version recipe on it!  Luckily, I had the two (yes, only TWO) extra ingredients on hand.  Well, I take that back, I had walnuts and the recipe called for almonds, still it was a perfect taste.

Here is what you need:

It’s always nice to have some extra baking essentials on hand.

All you do is make the brownie and cheesecake batter.  Fill each bin 2/3 full of brownie mix and then about 2 teaspoons of cheesecake batter.  Throw some chocolate chips and walnuts on top.  That’s it!  Bake for 26 minutes on 350.  The box said it would make 12, but I only got 9 out of it (I wanted it to overflow the cupcake holder a little).  So delish and so easy!

Maybe the next time you buy brownies, check out the extra fun recipes on the side of the box!  There’s the semi-homemade dessert for ya!

 

Extra yum treats you might like:

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle
Banana Pudding Trifle
The Best PB Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookies’n Cream Cookies

 

Okay, okay.  Let me preface this by saying: I know I say all my recipes are so dang good, but this one.  Oh mannnnn.  I don’t even like olives and I fell in love with them here!  I’m such a soft cheese person.  It was the thing I missed most when I’m pregnant.  I crave bleu and feta cheese all through my pregnancy and I can’t have them!  Seriously, go to the store and buy these ingredients.  You WON’T be disappointed!

A big shout out to my friend Karyn!  We had her and her husband over for dinner one night and she brought this!  Seriously, try it or bring it to someone’s cookout.  It’s SO delicious!

All you need is:

1 1/2 uncooked pasta
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup crumbled feta
Jar of kalamata olives, drained (I also cut them in half)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

All you do is:

Cook orzo al dente and mix everything together!  Wahlaaaaaaa.

So.dang.good.  I know it’s not diet friendly, but who diets when you have people over or when you go to someone else’s house.

 

This recipe is so easy!  It will make you so happy!  It makes me so happy!  While I was out in Utah visiting my BFF she made us the yummiest snack!  It took her all of three minutes to pull it together and it was awesome!

Anyway, if you are in a jam for a quick and yummy snack for the family try this out!  It was awesome and everyone in the family enjoyed it!

Easy Caramel Popcorn

1.  Pop 1 bag of popcorn, then scoop it up by handfuls into a large bowl so that you do not get any unpopped kernels in the bowl.

2.  Put 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of brown sugar in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 2 minutes.  Stop it half way through and and stir.

3.  Put 8 to 10 large marshmallows in the bowl with the butter and sugar and heat for one more minute.

4.  Stir the marshmallows in until completely combined, then poor over the popcorn and mix.

Eat it up and enjoy!  I made this just the other night again on my own and added some m&m’s.  It was yummy that way too!

If you like this you may also like these:

Chewy Chex Mix

Popcorn Cake

Watermelon Rice Crispies

Cookie Cake

Sweet and Salty Popcorn

This is seriously amazing!  I’ve made it several times and it’s always been a hit.

I got the idea because I loved the store bought “fruit dip.”  I knew it would be easy to make, so I tried it!

All you need is:

15 oz. container marshmallow fluff
1 bar cream cheese softened

All you do is: 

Mix them together!

My two closest friends and their husbands came over Saturday night.  My one friend’s husband was seriously obsessed.  I think he told me 10 times how much he liked it.  He even took the cookies from dessert and dipped them in the dip.  Let’s just say there was none left (and that I was a little embarrassed to tell him how easy it was)!

How cute are these!  I know right!  I am on vacation right now visiting a lot of family and got invited to a bbq at my Aunt’s house (well more like I invited myself over, but hey you can do that with family when you are in town).  I wanted to bring something yummy, but simple and found these on www.glourioustreats.com.

My 7yr old watched me make them and kept begging to eat one.  I was mean and told him he had to wait until after dinner.  He ran up to me after he ate all his food and asked me to get him one, but when I went to grab them off the plate they were all gone! Poor kid!!!

Don’t worry, he was plenty happy after he was offered a chocolate dipped ice cream bar instead.

Anyway, these are super fun and cute and really simple to make.

Watermelon Rice Krispie Treats

1 box of Rice Krispies Cereal
6 Tb butter
1 large bag of mini marshmallows
1 bag of mini chocolate chips (she used chocolate covered sunflowers, but I was going for easy)
2 round cake pans

Green Part:

4 Cups rice krispie cereal
4 cups mini marshmellows
3 TB butter
green food coloring

1.  Measure out rice krispies in a large bowl and set aside.
2.  Put butter and marshmallows in a microwavable bowl.
3.  Microwave for 2 minutes or until big and puffy.
4.  Add food coloring and stir.
5.  Quickly poor over rice crispy cereal and mix well.
6.  Put 1/2  in each round cake pan and push around the outer edges.  Make sure to work quickly!

Red Part:

5 Cups rice krispie cereal
5 cups mini marshmellows
3 TB butter
Red food coloring

***Repeat steps above and pour in the center of cake pans and make the center.  Let them cool for a bit, then cut them into triangles like you would cut a pie and and add a few chocolate chips to each piece.

Yummy!  If you have more round cake pans I recommend making extras as they are grabbed up quick!

 

 

Looking for more great bbq sides to bring to your next shin dig?  Check these out:

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle             Fluffy Lion House Rolls
Banana Pudding Trifle                                    The Best PB Chocolate Chip Cookies
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus                       Avocado Hummus
Chicken Salad                                                    Cookies’n Cream Cookies
Avocado and Tomato Salad                           Chocolate Chip Snickers Cookies

 

I know, I know… I’m moving from Paleo to South Beach.  Well, I still am a HUGE fan of Paleo, but I figure why not add some grains every once in a while.  I also did South Beach Diet after I had both my girls and it really helped me lose the weight really fast and I would totally recommend it to anyone!

Oh yeah…. I also made lasagna last night for a friend that just had her baby.  I used regular noodles and regular sauce for her.  Mine still tastes delicious, I just think sometimes people get weirded out by darker noodles.

Here is what you need:

1 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 jars hunts garlic and herb spaghetti sauce (It’s the ONLY one that doesn’t have added sugar), look at pic below

1 3/4 cups (15 oz container) ricotta (MAKE SURE IT IS PARK SKIM)
2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
9 pieces Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Lasagna Noodles (I found mine at Wegmans)

 

All you do is: 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown meat in pan; drain.
Add spaghetti sauce and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir together ricotta cheese, half mozarella, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper.
Pour 1 cup sauce in 9 x 13 baking dish (I feel like I have to add a little more to cover the entire bottom).
Arrange 3 UNCOOKED pasta pieces lengthwise over sauce; cover with one cup of sauce.
Spread one-half cheese filling over sauce.
Repeat layers of lasagna, sauce and cheese filling.
Top with layer of lasagna and remaining sauce; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Cover with foil.
Bake 45 minutes.
Remove foil; bake additional 10 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
Makes 12 servings!

I got this recipe from the back of the ronzoni healthy harvest box.  It’s SUCH a keeper.  I really loved it!