Memorial Day Weekend 2013

I was really lucky to get Memorial Day off of work this year so we decided to head down to the lake to hang out with the family. We headed down Sunday afternoon after church to my Grandmother's BBQ. Now,  this BBQ wasn't just any cookout, this was the first big cookout my grandma has had since my grandfather had gotten sick and passed away. Everyone was there, my mom and siblings, my aunt, uncle, cousins and niece along with my great aunt and uncle, and my mom's best friend's family. Like I said, this party was a huge deal.
Before we headed down to the lake, Bobby's phone died and mine was pretty close so we went and upgraded to the Galaxy S4. The camera on this phone is amazing! Because of this my sister, cousin and niece decided to play with it, this was the result.

Rachel

Rachel and Peyton

My Sister

Why?

This is her pic on my phone when she calls

Cousins, for some reason Amber only poses this way in all her pictures, lol

Rachel making fun of her

Rachel thinks she is a gangsta

Apparently Bobby is scared of her

Later that night/early that morning around 2 am, Bobby held CJ for the first time. CJ is almost 5 weeks old in this picture. Bobby said that he wouldn't hold a baby until they could hold up their head by themselves.

Uncle Bobby

All in all it was a great weekend, Monday we spend the day with Bobby's family and got to see Oblivion for free, which was good because the movie wasn't very good.
I am truly blessed with a great family!

How To Always Have A Clean House...Well, Almost Always

UPDATED 1/21/14 - Due to a new job I have had to change things around for them to work for me again. This is an updated one.

This is what I have come up with to beat my procrastination as a housewife.

So I have gotten so many comments on this about how your wasting water, you should do this instead, etc. This is what works for me and my family.

Laundry: Our family is small, my husband and I both work in a job where we have to wash our work clothes a lot. If I let our laundry pile up and only do it twice a week, I do 3 loads in one day, so it saves me time to do one load a day. I use the same amount of water doing a load everyday to everyday and a half, as I would doing it 2 days a week.

Dusting: Our apartment is small and we don't collect a lot of dust. I dust maybe every two weeks if that. Thursday is my busiest day, so I put the easiest/fastest chore for that day.

Like I said above, I appreciate everyone's comments but this is what works for my family, I know it won't work for everyone. I am sure as we move, and our family grows I will change it to fit our new needs.

Oreo Cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcake:1 box of chocolate cake mix (and the ingredients needed to make the cake)
1 family size box of Oreos

Ingredients for Icing
1/2 of a package of powdered sugar
1/2 tbls of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1/3 cup of shortening

Let’s get to baking:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Place an Oreo at the bottom of each cupcake.

3. crush half of the left over Oreos. (I use a rolling pin and meat tenderizer)

4. Mix the cake batter according to the box instructions; add the crushed Oreos and then separate it into the cupcake tins. Bake for 20 min. 

5. Crush the rest of the Oreos and put them to the side.

6. To mix the icing: beat the vanilla, shortening and butter until creamy. 

7. Slowly add the powdered sugar until whipped.

8. Finally, mix in the crushed Oreos. 

Note: wait until the cupcakes are completely cooled before you ice them. Due to the crushed Oreos I have not been able to use a pastry bag. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

These are my all time favorite cupcakes to make and they are very easy.

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 refrigerated package of 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies (great value brand works great)

Icing Ingredients:

1 package powdered sugar
1 cup of shortening
1 cup of butter, softened (we use country crock, it’s great because it is already softened)
1 tbls vanilla extract
mini chocolate chips (optional)

Note: the icing makes enough for 4 dozen cupcakes, so feel free to half the recipe. It tastes just as great! Any leftovers refrigerate well. 

Let’s Get to Baking!

1. Roll each chocolate chip cookie dough square into a ball and place on a cookie sheet (I always cover mine with wax/parchment paper so there is less clean up).

2. Freeze the cookie dough balls for two hours.

3. Preheat your oven to 350.

4. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box and separate into cupcake liners.

5. Put one cookie dough ball into the center of each cupcake.

6. Bake for 20 minutes.

7. In a clean bowl beat, vanilla, shortening and butter until thick and creamy.

8. Slowly add the powdered sugar until the icing is mixed well. If it is to thick for your liking you can add a couple tsp of milk, but it tends to get to runny for the pastry bags once the milk is added so I never do.

9. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, ice them and if you decided to go with the mini chocolate chips sprinkle a few on each one.

Now, feel free to sit down, stuff your face and get fat, it is so worth it!!!

10 Minute Pork Chops

Pan fried pork chops are one of my favorite dinners to make because it is super easy and takes almost no time.

Ingredients:
Pork chops (I usually buy the 4 pack at Walmart for around $5)
Oil (we use olive because it is healthiest)
Garlic Salt
Pepper

1. Cover the bottom of a skillet with oil and put it on medium-high heat.

2. Season both sides of the pork chop with the garlic salt and pepper.

3. Once the oil has warmed up, fry each side of the pork chip for about five minutes.

4. Put on a paper towel lined plate to drain.

And you’re done! See, super easy! Now, just add sides!

Easy Oven Nachos

Ingredients:
Tortilla Chips
1lb of ground beef
Mixed Cheese
Taco Seasoning
2 Cans Refried Beans
Olives
Jalapenos
Salsa
Guacamole
Sour Cream

Let’s Get Cookin’

1. Brown the ground beef and use taco seasoning as instructed on the package
2. While the meat is cooking warm up the beans and preheat the oven to 350.
3. Spread chips on cookie sheet
4. Spread the beans, followed with the meat
5. Sprinkle cheese over the top along with the olives and jalapenos
6. Put in the oven for about 8 minutes
7. Now top with whatever your heart desires and enjoy!

Mother-In-Law's Meatloaf

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe when my husband and I got married. It is the best I have ever had!

 Ingredients:

2 lbs lean ground beef
3 slices of bread (crumbled)
1 package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tbls worcestershire

Sauce:
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup ketchup

1. Mix the top ingredients together and shape into a loaf in a pan.

2. Mix the sauce ingredients together and pour on top of loaf.

3. Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours.

Easy Crochet Projects

I love to crochet! These are a few of super easy projects and the links to the patterns!

This is the giraffe and blanket I made for our soon to be nephew CJ, whom we hope to meet in the next few days!

  
Link for Giraffe - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gigi-giraf
Link for blanket - http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80851AD.html?noImages=

This is a super easy baby hat that I made for my friends baby Lily.

 
Link - http://thedaintydaisyblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/shell-stitch-beanie.html

This was my first ever crochet project, a scarf for myself.

Link - http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Scarves/Easy-Fashion-Scarf/ml/1

$10, 10 Minute DIY Wedding Gift

I am all for cheap and easy and I’m all about DIY craftiness. I’m going to a wedding shower tomorrow and decided I didn’t want to just get something off the registry and dump it into a pretty bag with tissue paper.

Let’s Get Started

Once I decided what I was going to do for the gift I head out to Walmart. I purchased the oven mitt, ribbon, and then whatever I wanted to go in side of the mitt. In this case, measured cups and spoons, 3 spatulas (I love the small plastic ones), and a spoon.

I then placed them how I wanted them in the mitt and finally added the bow.

How To Throw An Indian-American Bridal Tea Party

I am my cousin’s MOH for her impending nuptials on June 1st!! She is marrying an Indian man so I wanted incorporate the culture she is marrying into in her bridal shower. With my wonderful moms help, we came up with an Indian-American Bridal Tea.

It took so much planning and was so stressful! Mostly because we knew nothing about the Indian culture so we had to do a ton of research. I want to be helpful and share all the information that I found to make your tea a breeze!

This can easily be adapted for just an American Tea if needed.

The Decorations

We held the shower at our my cousin’s church, I also grew up there, so all the ladies wanted to help out. We asked everyone if we could borrow their tea pots and china cups and saucers. On each table we used a tea pot with flowers in them for the center pieces and then mixed the cups up on the tables. It wound up so that each table had one cup of each set. We also had a little write up about Indian Tea. Each setting also had a personalized recipe card I designed so we could start a recipe book for the Bride. It turned out gorgeous!

Table Setting

Center Piece

Table

Center Piece

The Food

We had a mix of Indian and American Tea food. We didn’t make any of the food, we had ladies who wanted to help so we divided it up between them.

• Bacon Cheddar Scones (http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/04/08/bacon-cheddar-scones/)
• Palakayalu – Rice Based Crispy Snack (http://www.sailusfood.com/2006/04/04/palakayalu-rice-based-crispy-savory/) 
  
• Curried Chicken Tea Sandwiches (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/curried-chicken-tea-sandwiches-10000000257513/)
• Dried Tomato-and-Basil Sandwiches (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/dried-tomato-and-basil-sandwiches-10000000520799/)
• Cheese Potato Balls (http://www.flavorsofmumbai.com/cheese-potato-balls/) 
  
• Cucumber Sandwich (http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Savory-Cucumber-Sandwiches )
• Chicken Salad Sandwiches
• Large Veggie Plate
• Large Fruit Plate
• Spiced Iced Tea
• Un-sweet Tea
• Mint Tea Punch (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mint-tea-punch/detail.aspx) double
• Chi (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chai-tea-mix/detail.aspx)
• Green Tea
• Black Tea

This is a ton of food, but we were expecting up to 50 people!

  

The Cake

I wanted to do something different for her cake and found a tutorial for a pull apart cake dress on Pinterest. (http://mrsjsteed.blogspot.com/2012/10/bridal-shower-pull-apart-cupcake-cake.html)

I did add my own flare. For the belt I colored the icing green and piped small dots in three rows.

 

The cake only uses 27 cupcakes so I also made other cupcakes with personalize chocolate M’s for her new last name. All you need for the letter is melted white chocolate (I used vanilla almond bark), food coloring (Wilton is great), wax paper and the letter printed in the size you want.

Melt the chocolate, color it and put it in a piping bag using a very small circular tip (you could use a Ziploc bag with a small hole in a corner). Tape the paper with the letter on it to the table and put the wax paper over it. Trace the letter then move the wax paper and repeat. Let it harden which will take about thirty minutes. Make extra because some will break. The thicker the better. Slowly take them off and top them on the cupcakes.

The Games

I found the games on Pinterest and have included the links. Everyone had 5 minutes to fill out as many answers as possible for each game.

How Sweet It Is - http://loveandweddings.blogspot.com/2012/06/bridal-shower-game-how-sweet-it-is.htmlBridal Shower Word Scramble - http://www.personalizedbrides.com/index.php/content/wedding-freebies

We also did a can of dates. Everyone put date ideas for the couple in an old coffee can that I decorated. This is where i got the idea. http://www.mycreativestirrings.com/2010/05/creative-wedding-gift-idea-can-of-dates.html

We also had a note book passed around for everyone to write a note to the Bride in.

Well that is pretty much it! It was exhausting but it turned out great!

2 Hour Newborn Crochet Hat Pattern

My nephew was born on April 23, 2013. He arrived in the world at 2:57 p.m. I arrived at the hospital at 11:30 a.m. My wonderful sister-in-law had a beautiful baby boy, Carlos Jaxon aka CJ. I made sure to bring something to do to pass the time while we waited for him to arrive. I brought my crochet stuff and decided to make him a hat. Somehow I had brought yarn that matched his going home outfit, so it worked out really well.

This is the pattern I used.

Round 1: With color 1, ch 4, 8 dc in fourth ch from hook (3 skipped chs counts as first dc); join with slip st to first dc: 9 dc
Round 2: Ch 3 (counts as first dc now and for the rest of pattern), dc in same st, 2 dc in next dc and in each dc around; join with slip st to first dc: 18 dc
Round 3: Ch 3, dc in same st and in next dc, *2 dc in next dc, dc in next dc* around; join with slip st to first dc: 27 dc
Round 4: Ch 3, dc in same st and in next 2 dc, *2 dc in next dc, dc in next 2 dc* around; join with slip st to first dc: 36 dc
Round 5: Ch 3, dc in same st and in next 3 dc, *2 dc in next dc, dc in next 3 dc* around; join with slip st to first dc: 45 dc
Round 6 – 9: Ch 3, dc in next dc and in each dc around; join with slip st to first dc; finish off
Round 10: Join color 2 with sc in same st as joining; sc in next dc and in each dc around; join with skip st to first sc
Round 11-12: Ch 1, sc in same st and in each sc around; join with slip st to first sc; finish off
Round 13: With color 1 join with sc in same st as joining; sc in next sc and in sc around; join with slip st to first sc; finish off.

It was a little big, but he will grow into it fast.