Just feeding my family with Love right now...

I realize more people than just my friends read my blog...so I thought I would put out a quick update!!! My cooking days are over for a while...because I am  busy cooking a baby! My water ruptured around 30 weeks, and I am now on bed rest in the hospital until our Little Man is ready to make his appearance!

No worries- the hospital food is actually pretty good :)

I miss cooking and blogging- so I will be back some day soon, but in the mean time, I'm baking a baby and feeding my family a little extra love!!

Easy and Cute- 2 things I love!

Along with the Jessie Cake I made for Robyn's birthday party, I also just HAD to make these adorable cookies!!! I found them on the Disney Family site...and they were quite simple.

Start with store bought sugar cookie dough...you can make your own, but I only wanted a few cookies. The log made 12 cookies.

Bake according to package, allow to cool and then flip them over so the flat side is up. While they cooled, I made Sugar Cookie Icing. I colored it red with gel coloring. I used a ziploc to pipe a border of red around the cookies, allowed that to set and then filled in the centers. This icing is shiny and dry in about 2 hours.

To make the top of the hat, cup the tops off GIANT gumdrops. I found mine at Hy-Vee...they are fruity, not spice drops.

Using more Sugar Cookie icing in White (or leftover butter cream from the cake)...pipe a large dollop in the center of each cookie and press a gum drop into it. Then pipe a line around the outside and little lines through it to make the lacing on the hat.

Allow to dry completely before serving. Mine were a little sloppy, but I think they still turned out pretty cute!

A special cake- for the Cowgirl I love the most!

Our daughter is obsessed with all the Toy Story movies! She sleeps with Woody and Jessie every night. With her 3rd birthday approaching, I started looking for a great cake idea for her Toy Story party. I looked though several blogs and found my inspiration here...

I started by making two 9 inch white cakes and two 6 inch chocolate cakes. I chilled them overnight so they would stay moist and be easier to frost.

I have had enough trouble with cake sticking to the pan, so I am all about parchment! I also put small squares of parchment under the edge of the cake to keep my platter clean while decorating.

I could totally eat it just like this- a butter cream sandwich!

Frost the bottom layer then add the top layer and cover with another layer of frosting.

I then chilled the cake after putting on a crumb coat and applied a second coat of frosting about 1 hour later.

The day before, I whipped up a batch of Marshamallow Fondant and colored half brown and half black. I made long snakes of brown fondant and twisted them into ropes. Then I made bunch of cow spots and applied all over the cake.

I chilled the cake overnight and then pulled it out of the fridge a couple hours before the party and added a few toys to the top to make it official! Pretty easy- and I was very happy with how it turned out! 

Happy 3rd Birthday to my favorite Cowgirl!!

If you love Orange Julius...

Simple and so sweet! I have a large amount of orange juice concentrate in the freezer, so I decided to make my daughter a very special treat!! This is a knock off Orange Julius, easy to make at home and just as sweet! I'm going to miss these :(

This recipe makes 4 Orange Julius drinks... I modified it slightly from all the recipes I saw on-line. I just couldn't make myself use all the sugar they called for!

6 oz Orange Juice Concentrate (I used Minute Maid Calcium Enriched)

1 Cup of Skim Milk

1 tsp Vanilla

About 10 ice cubes...add to desired consistency

1 Cup of Water

1/4 Cup Sugar...I used half white sugar and half powdered

Throw everything into your blender but the ice and puree. Add ice cubes a few at a time until you reach the desired consistency. You can also refrigerate any leftovers and re-process with additional ice the next day. Frothy, light and sweet. An excellent summer treat!

Anyway you cook them...I love Brats! (The sausage, not small children!)

Pregnancy has just killed my cooking lately! I've been in such a food rut...and it's about to get worse. I'm meeting with a nutritionist today to learn about my new diet for Gestational Diabetes. Sorry folks, my blogs about sweets and bread are going to disappear until this baby comes! They will be replaced by whatever new meals I involve in my diet...probably even healthier than what I've been making! Here's my dinner from last week...my last meal on white sub rolls!!

Start by cooking your favorite brats in a large pan. I add the brats, plus about 1/2 TBS of olive oil and about 1 cup of water.

While the brats cook, chop two large green peppers and thinly slice one large onion.

As the brats cook- the water will evaporate and the casings will brown. Flip them at least once in the water and once in the dry pan.

When cooked through- remove from the skillet and allow to rest.

Add peppers and onions to the same pan with about 2 tsp of olive oil. Cook over Medium heat until soft.

After the brats have been sitting for about 10 min- slice into chunks.

Throw them back into the cooked peppers and onions to re-heat.

Load onto a sub roll and top with spicy yellow mustard! A delicious way to enjoy brats when the weather doesn't cooperate for grilling!

A fun way to give Spinach a little love!

I'm on a spinach kick lately...maybe it's being pregnant? Either way, my body is loving all the extra Iron I've been including in my diet. One of my favorite new ways to eat Spinach is on Pizza!!!

I do like to make my own crust...but these are my favorite brand when I need a quick option!

I cover the crust with olive oil, garlic salt and lots of fresh grated Parmesan Cheese.

Chop 4-6 Green Onions (use whites and tops) and throw them in a large skillet.

To the onions, add 3 cups of chopped fresh spinach, a few cloves of grated garlic, a pinch of salt and about 1 TBS of olive oil. Cook until the spinach is all wilted.

I also love tomatoes on my pizza, but sometimes they make it soggy...so I slice my tomatoes and dry them on paper towels for a while before layering onto my crust.

This particular pizza is half spinach/tomato and half tomato/basil. I also love making my spinach pizza with canned artichokes! Just rinse them well, chop and throw into the skillet with the rest of the spinach toppings.

 Top the whole thing with shredded mozzarella cheese and put in a pre-heated oven (follow crust instructions).

This is my spinach/tomato pizza...delicious!

We love any meal with Mexican flavors!

This week, we had another meal inspired by a Managers Special at the store! Bottom Round roast was reduced for quick sale at Sam's Club (still had 5 days until it's "Use By" date). I got a $15 roast for $5! It was nice and lean too...so not much waste :) We weren't hungry for pot roast, so I decided to give it a little Mexican Flare!

This hunk of meat is going to find a home in the crock pot, but first...get a nice sear on all sides! I seasoned with just salt and pepper and seared with a little olive oil.

In the crock pot...I put 5 cloves of garlic, a small  handful of dried red chilies, and 1 tsp of dried Mexican Oregano.

To this, I added the browned roast and 1 can of beef broth. I also added about half a can of water. 

I cooked my roast on high for about 4 hours and then flipped and turned the crock pot to low for another 6 hours. The end result...very tender meat that was falling apart as I removed it!

Shred meat and find lots of fun ways to use it! We had it in tacos the first night with fresh lime and homemade salsa. Also a great filling for burritos, enchiladas or quesadillas!! We got 4 meals out of our roast...pretty good deal :)