Recent Happenings

Life has been busy here over at the Moske house. Sally is about to start back to MDO and we are in full force getting ready for all of our fall traveling coming up....Minnesota, the beach and DISNEY!! I am working with some really great Etsy and Facebook shops to share the cutest Disney things and they have so generously given me items to review. We are getting stocked up and ready to go! If you haven't checked out my Disney Blog... here is the link.

Disney Blog

I have been in a mood where I am switching things up in our house. I took everything off the shelf in the living room and redid it.

It was a sad day last week...I sold Sally's bedding and cried like a blubbering baby. I'm ok now...but it was hard to let it go!

MOPS starts back this week and I am so excited!! If you are local and want to join us this year, let me know and I can send you the details. 

We had breakfast for dinner last week and did it up right...mimosas!!

We had some friends over for dinner and I made the Pioneer Woman's Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp. It was soooo yummy. Make sure you have some fresh French bread to sop up all the buttery goodness!

Joe is out of town in training all week. We have kinda been driving each other coo-coo this past week...but I love this boy so much...especially when he leaves us sweet notes.

Happy Halloween & Monster Munch

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

We woke up bright and early and I made Sally a special Halloween lunch...let's hope she eats it :)

I dropped her off at school today and loved seeing all the littles in their costumes and Halloween shirts. I was looking past at Halloween last year...how has she grown so much in just one year?!

The weather here in Memphis is yucky...I'm hoping the rain stops before tonight so we can trick-or-treat. 

Today I want to share with you a super easy recipe for "Monster Munch". Joe doesn't even like popcorn and he can't stop eating this stuff. It's that good!

Here is what you need:

1 cup of dry roasted peanuts

1 cup of Reese's Pieces

1 cup candy corn

2 things of unsalted unbuttered (Natural) popcorn...popped

1 lb. vanilla almond bark

Here's how to make it:

Pop the popcorn and put it in a huge bowl.

Add the candy corn, peanuts and Reese's Pieces. 

Melt the almond bark in the microwave and pour all over the popcorn mix. Stir well and make sure everything is coated with the almond bark. 

Lay on wax paper or parchment paper in a single layer and let dry. Break up into pieces and store in an airtight container.

I packed some up for Sally's teachers and added these free printable tags. 

Make This: Strawberry, Avocado, Pecan Chicken Salad

 Dressing:

-2 tablespoons of white sugar

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-4 teaspoons of honey

-1 tablespoon cider vinegar

-1 teaspoon lemon juice

(I mix it all up in a glass jar.)

Salad:

-2 cups lettuce

-1 avocado peeled and cubed

-10 strawberries, sliced

-1/2 cup chopped pecans

Put it all into a bowl and toss. 

If you want to add the chicken, which I think makes it extra yummy, here is what you need to do. Marinate 4-6 boneless skinless chicken tenders in a mixture of milk and hot sauce...just enough to coat. Heat some vegetable oil on the stove. Mix up the breading. I like to use either flour or Bisquick and add in seasoned salt, lemon pepper, etc. Fry until done on both sides and cooked all the way through. Drain on paper towels and slice up. Put it on top of the salad and drizzle on the dressing. Toss and enjoy!

Copycat Firebirds BLT Salad

For my birthday we went to Firebirds. It's one of my favorite restaurants because they have my favorite salad....the BLT Salad. Its exactly what it sounds like...a taste explosion in your mouth. The concept is pretty simple...lettuce, tomatoes, and bacon with yummy ranch dressing. Sounds simple right? The secret is the ranch dressing. I consider myself a ranch dressing snob. My favorites: J Alexanders, O Charleys, Side Porch Steak House (local) and Firebirds. I also hate mayo and I know most people make ranch dressing with mayo. That's all fine and dandy as long as I cant tell.  When it comes to me making my own, I have to get creative.

Here is what you need to make it:

sour cream

ranch packet

water

green onions

garlic

garlic salt

pepper

parsley

Make the ranch dip by combing the tub of sour cream and ranch packet until mixed well. 

Take out a little and put into a different bowl. Thin just a bit with a few tablespoons of water. Stir to combine. Mince garlic and 1/2 green onion. Add pepper, garlic salt and parsley to taste. Set aside.

Fry a few pieces of bacon. Chop into small pieces.

Chop lettuce into small pieces. Add chopped tomatoes and bacon. 

Pour in dressing....only enough to cost each piece. You don not want this salad to be swimming in dressing! Sit back and enjoy!! Yum!!

Recipes: Blueberry Buckle Muffins

This is my go-to blueberry muffin recipe.

Blueberry Buckle Muffins
Family Fun Magazine

Ingredients:

Batter –

• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 cups blueberries, stemmed and rinsed

Topping-

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin tin with baking cups. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, then the milk and vanilla.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir well, being careful not to overmix. Use a spatula to fold in the berries. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin filling each cup about three quarters full.
3. Make the crumb topping by stirring together the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Divide crumbly goodness over the muffins.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes (or 15 minutes for mini muffins) or until they are lightly brown and a knife inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Cool in tin for 15 to 30 minutes before serving. If you don’t, you risk some of the delicious buckle topping coming off. Then simply pretend it’s breakfast time, despite the hour, and enjoy with juice or coffee.

Sally LOVED them!

Spring Link-Up Party: Best Spring Recipe

I love to cook so I want to share some favorite "spring" type recipes that I have personally made and thought were fantastic!!

Strawberry Avocado Salad 

 Chick-fil-a Lemonade

Pink Lemonade Sparking Fruit Punch

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

Fabulous Fall Blog Challenge- Day #7

Today's topic is "favorite fall recipes". Making chili is a sacred thing for me. I love all the chopping, stirring, and tasting. To me there is nothing better than making chili on a crisp Sunday afternoon. This is my mama's recipe and I have tweaked it a little bit. Mmmmmm!

My Mama's Chili

2-2.5 lbs. of ground chuck

1 c. chopped onions

1/2 c. diced green bell pepper

3-4 cloves garlic (chopped)

3 (14.5 oz.) cans of stewed chopped tomatoes

1 (16 oz.) can light kidney beans

3 cans (small ones ) of tomato sauce

3 cans (small ones) of water

1 can original Rotel

1.5 tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 chili mix packet (I like Chili Man)

1.5 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. dried oregano

*if you like it spicy like me, add a dash of cayenne pepper!

*In a large pot, cook meat, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Drain well.

*Add undrained tomatoes, drained beans, tomato sauce, water, undrained Rotel, chili powder, oregano, cumin, basil, salt, pepper, and chili mix packet.

*Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

*Reduce heat to low. Continue to cook 1-2 hrs. (covered). Cook 4-5 hours and it's even better!

*If it gets too thick, add water.

*Serve with saltines, fritos, cheese and sour cream.

* ENJOY!!!

Salsa Time!!

I found a new salsa recipe that I love. I normally make more chunky salsa, almost pico de gallo, but this one is more like they serve at Mexican restaurants. Please try it and enjoy...OLE!!

1 large can of whole tomatoes, undrained
1 regular-sized can Ro-Tel mild tomatoes with green chilies
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 and a half or 2 chopped jalapenos (I leave seeds and membranes in at least one, depending on how spicy they are)
2 cloves of garlic (3 when I'm feeling extra zingy)
juice of one lime
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
less than 1/4 tsp. cumin (I eyeball it at roughly 3/4 of the 1/4 tsp.)
1.5 cups loosley packed fresh cilantro leaves (this is not optional!)

Pulse in a food processor until it is at the desired consistency. I like mine pretty well-blended with no huge chunks.The first time I made this, I was not initially impressed. Then, 3 or 4 hours later, I pulled it back out and it changed my life. Mix and mingle, baby. It does you a world of good.