Allison: Baked Taquitos

Hello, all!  I've been trying to get a post up all week, but it just hasn't happened.  So now I'm squeezing one in Friday night.  This one is kind of a cheater post, but I HAVE to share this recipe.

As I've stated in past posts, I've kind of been the baby shower queen the last few months.  I'm still planning on sharing more details from each of those get togethers, but couldn't wait any longer to pass this beauty along: Baked Chicken Taquitos from the ladies over at Our Best Bites.  I was fortunate enough to attend Time Out For Women this last year, here in Phoenix, and heard Sara and Kate speak.  Not only are they crazy talented in the kitchen, but these ladies are fun-ny!  I know a lot of people have been enjoying their recipes for years, but I'm a little late to the party.

Back to the taquitos...   The third shower I threw was for my friend, Jenn.  After pinning down a theme, I needed to narrow down the food.  I was secretly hoping that Jenn wanted Mexican, as I'd found a few recipes that I was excited about.  When she did indeed mention "Mexican" as an option, I was thrilled!  I had found this recipe for taquitos on Pinterest, linking me to the Our Best Bites' site.  I tested them early, and immediately knew they'd always be on my go-to list.  Here's my favorite part:  they freeze well!!  You can jump on over to their site to get all the details, but I'll list them here also, with a few of my modifications:

Baked Chicken Taquitos

1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese (room temperature is easiest to work with)
1/4 cup green salsa (I used a 4 oz. can of green chiles)
1 T fresh lime juice (mine wasn't fresh...)
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro (I was out of cilantro and green onions one of the times and I made these and they turned out okay.  But of course they give them a little something "extra".)
2 T sliced green onions
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup grated pepper jack cheese (I used whatever was in the fridge, and they were still amazing!)
corn or flour tortillas (I used the small fajita flour tortillas, and it made around 12-15 taquitos)
kosher salt

Here are some quick instructions:

*Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
*I mixed the cream cheese, green chiles, lime juice, and all the spices together, then added the chicken and cheese.
*If you microwave the tortillas for a little bit, they're easier to work with.
*Spread a spoonful of the mixture on the first third of the tortilla, then roll it tightly up, placing the taquito fold down on a plate.

These girls are my heros... I love that they include directions to freeze the taquitos for later use:

*Place rolled taquitos (on a plate or pan) in the freezer until they're firm/frozen, then transfer them to a freezer bag and save until the craving hits, late at night.  :)

When it's time to cook/devour:

*Place taquitos on a tinfoil-covered pan.  Brush with olive oil, or spray lightly with cooking spray.  (I tried both of these methods, and I couldn't tell a difference.)  Sprinkle with kosher salt.
*Baking time with vary, depending if they were fresh or frozen.  I found 12 minutes to be a good jumping off point.  Then I would just check on them until the ends had started to brown.


**I did try these with a beef mixture too.  I mixed a pound of ground beef with taco seasoning then added refried beans, and salsa to the desired consistency.  I LOVE how they turned out, but I think I still prefer the chicken.


I PROMISE that these are amazing!  The crunch is very satisfying,  and the salt adds just a little something extra.  I love that I can bake up a whole batch at once, or grab just a couple for a snack or meal.  For me, a spoonful of sour cream is the perfect way to finish these off.

I know I'll probably always have these in the freezer (I have a batch there now!).  I hope you all get a chance to taste these in the near future!  It's highly probably that various friends reading this post will receive these at some point.  :)  Have a great week!!

Allison

Allison: Father's Day and The Perfect Cookie

Hello, and welcome to my third week of posting IN A ROW!  Okay... I'll stop counting.  Let's just assume that I'm back to posting at least once a week.

This week, I wanted to post early in case anyone is totally stumped on what to gift the important fathers in their lives.  I was pretty stinking proud of myself for coming up with the "Cookie of the Month Club", which I wrote about in last year's Father's Day post.  If you missed it, hop on over there and check it out.  Basically, I made a batch of cookies each month, and mailed my father at least a dozen of said cookies, with a little label attached, and a picture of my adorable little one.  The cookies were "from her", though obviously mom did the work.

I really enjoyed creating these packages each month.  I don't always get the chance to communicate with my amazing father as much as I'd like, so this was a great excuse to "correspond" with him regularly.  I only missed one month (April, I think), but made up for it with two packages the next month.  From what I can tell, he's really enjoyed having the packages arrive at his office each month (I don't think my brother, who works with him, is complaining either).

Hard to believe, but I just finished my last batch of "Grandpa's Cookies", as my two-year-old calls them.  Just for the record, your little ones will enjoy this gift as much, if not more, than the person receiving it!  Isla was a great sampler for me each month, and never had anything bad to say about my cookies.  :)  This month, I was scouring my Pinterest "cookie" board, and couldn't find one I was really excited about.  There was an intriguing half chocolate cookie, half peanut butter cookie that I was tempted to try, but the refrigeration time didn't correspond with my slim window to get to the post office before nap time.  But while on Sally's blog over at sallysbakingaddiction.com, I came across a recipe she calls "THE Chocolate Chip Cookie".  I've never been a huge fan of Chocolate Chip Cookies (I know... I'm the only one...), but I figured a traditional cookie might be a good ending to a year of cookie recipes.  So, I gave it a try.  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!  For someone that's not a fan of this type of cookie, I admit that this recipe is amazing!  They turned out nice and plump (not flat like most), chewy and moist.  I LOVED her suggestion to add a few chocolate chips to the top of the dough (before baking) to make them more attractive.  I think she and I would be great friends.  :)

I followed her recipe found here to the "T", and found that they turned out just as she pictured.  My only deviation, if you want to call it that, is that I used my cookie scoop.  I LOVE using it for drop cookies, and find that it makes them almost perfectly round with a little less work on my part.  Lazy... don't forget.  :)

Sally described this as her "go to" chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I know it will definitely be added to my favorites.  I hope you all try it out.  I also hope you might consider adding someone special in your life to the "Cookie of the Month" club.  I can't believe it's been a year since my dad's "induction", and definitely plan to send him an occasional package in the future.  He has always been the most supportive and accepting father, always willing to offer inspired advice and to lend an ear to my silly problems.

On top of being lazy, I'm also cheap.  So when I card shop for holidays like Father's Day, I almost can't stomach spending what they charge for cards that seem to be less and less creative each year.  So when I found a similar card on Pinterest, as the one I made below, I knew I had a solution to my card dilemma.  I laughed so hard when I saw this card idea!  It took me about 10 minutes to make my own on my computer, print it off, and put it all together.  I think my dad will get a good laugh, and then have to admit to himself that it's completely true.  :)

Of course I admitted in the card, that my mom had a lot to do with my awesomeness too.  :)

Before I end my post, I have to take a second to give a "shout out" to my second favorite father... my amazing husband, Brent.  The minute he gets home from work each night, my VERY energetic two-year-old instantly wants to play with her daddy, and he always complies... even when his day has already been exhausting.  He's my best friend, and the best daddy I could have possibly imagined for my little girls.  My expectations were pretty high, after having an amazing father, and Brent definitely met that standard.  I love your guts, Brent!

I hope you all have a great week, and look forward to spoiling the men in your life.  Until next week...

Allison

Allison: Cara's Shower and Fruit Salsa

Hello, everyone!  No one have a heart attack... this is my second week in a row posting.  I just finished hosting my third baby shower in two months, and finally have a second to breath and LOTS of material to use for posts.

My church congregation has A LOT of pregnant women right now.  I think I counted 8 babies due to be born between May and July.  Crazy!  A number of these girls were having their second babies, and assumed they wouldn't have showers.  But one of my good friends convinced me to have a shower for my second, though I didn't think it was needed (especially having a second girl).  But it was really fun to celebrate this second little one joining our family, and I was grateful for all the cute little clothes and gifts that would be just hers... not shared by her sister.  Being the middle of five girls, I'm a little sensitive about hand-me-downs.  :)

So it was now my chance to pay it forward, and convince more moms-to-be (for the second time), to celebrate their coming babies.  It took some doing, but I was able to convince three of them to let me throw them showers.  I didn't necessarily set out to throw that many showers, but each of these women deserved this celebration and I wanted to make sure they had it.

Shower invite.  I love Power Point (aka Poor Man's Photo Shop)!

Cara was the first to deliver in this next batch of babies.  This was her first girl, and I was so excited that she was willing to let me plan her shower.  (I have to quickly thank Melissa for hosting the shower at her home.  She was so gracious, and let me totally take over her house for a couple of hours.)  I immediately thought of the theme "Sugar and Spice" when Cara said how much she loved everything girly.  I still remember the rhyme I used to read in a book growing up:

Sugar and spice and everything nice
That's what little girls are made of.

The Food:

I need a theme when I plan anything, to help reign in the options.  With the "Sugar and Spice" theme, I decided to plan foods with opposite flavors.  For example:  spice cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes, spicy turkey and sweet ham (for sandwiches), sweet kettle corn and white chocolate peppermint popcorn and spicy salsa and sweet fruit salsa.

I don't know why I had never tried fruit salsa with sugared tortilla chips before!  It was so good and relatively easy.  I used this version on allrecipe.com as a foundation, but ended up tweaking it a little.  Remember how I'm the lazy sister?  Well this is my lazy version.  :)

Ingredients:

Salsa-

3-4 red apples (1 green for color)

pint of strawberries

2-3 kiwis

lemon juice

Chips-

small flour tortillas (fajita size)

melted butter

cinnamon sugar

I followed the allrecipe.com version for the chips, but brushed melted butter on each tortilla with a pastry brush instead of using cooking spray.  I also cut my tortillas into sixths before I coated them with butter.

For the salsa, I only used apples, strawberries and kiwis.  The quantities really depend on how much you want.  I ended up adding more kiwi and a green apple when I thought I was "done" to add a little more color.  I also chopped each fruit into very small pieces to give it even more of a salsa effect.  I then squeezed in a good amount of lemon juice and tossed the salsa until everything was coated.  This kept the apples from browning.  I made the salsa the night before, and it kept well until the morning shower ended.

I think of everything at the shower, the fruit salsa may have been the biggest hit.  The cinnamon-sugar chips complemented the tart salsa perfectly.  Despite the chips coated in butter and sugar, I definitely felt relatively guilt-free since I was consuming fruit at the same time.  :)  I hope you all get a chance to try this treat at some point.  It was fun to make and fun to share.

Cara was spoiled at the shower, and is now enjoying her sweet baby Abigail.  Next week I'll share more of the shower decor.  Until then... have a great week!


Allison

Allison: Second Annual Girls' Weekend

Hello again!  Sara's recent post motivated me to finally post again.  I know how busy Sara is with prepping for a big move, so if she can find time, so can I.  This post will be dedicated to the "Sisters" part of "Five Crafty Sisters".  I promise to address the "Crafty" part next time.  :)

We, the Platt sisters, just had our 2nd annual Girls' Weekend, this last month.  Most of us (all the contributors of this blog) met in Utah and spent 3 days and 2 nights chatting, eating and spending time together.  It was so much fun, and made me even more homesick for family.

This year, our mother was able to join us, and brought our father as a travel buddy.  Our first night all together, we had a family barbecue and enjoyed time visiting with lots of nieces, nephews, in-laws and siblings.

The Girls

Mama Platt, Micky (SIL), Allison, Shauna (& baby), Lisa, Sara

Who's that girl ruining all the photos?!  :)

Sorry, Shaun... I love this picture!  

"Salt and Pepper"

The Boys

Briant (brother), Papa Platt, Dave (BIL), Rich (BIL)

It was fun to see everyone and to be reminded of what an amazingly fun family I have.  It also made me even more excited for our family reunion this Summer!

The rest of the weekend was spent talking some more, eating and eating and eating.  We even got to throw an almost surprise baby shower for Shauna.  She finally figured out something was happening as we tried to shop for baby clothes while she was with us.  We weren't very subtle.  :)

Quality cell phone picture.  Probably should have had her sit
on the opposite side of the table.  Oops!

As we ate some delicious breakfast food, we talked about the future of this blog, and how much we've enjoyed contributing.  As life gets busy, babies are born and technology doesn't always cooperate, we might not be as consistent as we once were, but we're trying.  :)

I LOVED spending time with my sisters and appreciate our individual personalities and points of view. I'm committing now to post more regularly.  We'll see if it happens.  Have a great week!


Allison

Allison: 20,000 Views' Giveaway

                                    

                          **************** GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED ****************

Hello again!  Doesn't that cupcake from Sara's last post look amazing?!  Mmmm... Okay, I'm back.  Our humble little blog has been running now for almost a year.  Crazy!  I have loved posting about my creative ventures, and sharing this space with my sisters.  We just recently passed our 20,000 views' mark (can you believe it?!), and I can't think of a better way to show our appreciation to loyal readers than with a giveaway!

It's already broken 90 degrees here in Arizona, so it got me thinking about my most frequently viewed post: the Car Seat Cooler Tutorial (found here).  Having been viewed over 1800 times, I thought it would be fun to give one away this week.  All you have to do is post the answer to this question below:


*************************************

What is your favorite Summer craft?

*************************************

Post your answer to that question by Friday at midnight, and you'll be entered to win a car seat cooler of your own.  The winner will be announced Saturday morning.

I will hopefully be selling these practical little "coolers" in our Etsy shop soon.  Everyone have a great week, and a HUGE thanks for supporting our little blog!


Allison

Allison: Toddler Muffins

Hi!  My name is Allison... I used to contribute regularly to this blog.  Remember me?  Yep, I'm back.  I have no idea how, but time has just slipped away from me these last few months.  It might have to do with sick babies and just daily life.  But I have some creative opportunities coming up in the near future, and I thought I'd better get back in the habit of blogging.

Anyone out there have really picky eaters in their house?  I knew that my little Isla (2 1/2 years old) was picky, but lately, it's gotten so much worse!  There are days where she'll skip lunch AND dinner.  My skinny little girl seems to be getting even smaller, and it's started to worry me a little.  She's definitely more of a snacker, and I've found myself giving her things I wouldn't normally, just to get her to eat something.

So when I found this recipe here for "Toddler Muffins", I knew I had to give them a try.  Here's the best proof if they were liked or not:

She loved them and ate 3 for breakfast.  The only foods we've been able to get her to eat for breakfast are cinnamon toast (or "sugar toast", as she calls them), and french toast with syrup.  Can you find the theme here??  This girl definitely likes sugar (I have no idea where she gets that from)!

I didn't modify the recipe too much.  I didn't have oat bran in the house, but saw that others had substituted oats or flax seed.  I had ground flax seed in my house (weird, I know), so I used a 1/4 cup and a 1/4 cup of oats.  I'm sure a half cup of oats would work just great too.  For the baby food ingredient, I'm sure any pureed veggie would work.  I had a baby food pouch of pear and butternut squash that I used.  I also only added a 1/4 cup butter instead of 1/2 cup.  That seemed like a lot.  They still turned out super moist and delicious.  I also added raisins.  Because of the bananas, they tasted a lot like banana bread.  Yum!  They yielded 24 mini muffins, with enough left over to make a mini loaf.

Well, I hope this recipe helps some of you with little ones that have a mind of their own when it comes to food.  I'm hoping to make a few more adjustments (maybe wheat flour?), or adding more veggies.  Whatever it takes to get them eating their fruits and veggies, right?  Until next time... have a great week!


Allison

Allison: 14 Day of Valentines and Kids' Crafts

Hello!  Remember me?  Yeah... life has been a little crazy, but I thought I'd share a fun activity I've been doing all month.  My husband, Brent, might be the hardest person to shop for... IN THE WORLD.  He might counter saying that I'm the hard one to shop for, but don't listen to him.  So I jumped on Pinterest for help, and came across a fun idea: "The 14 Days of Valentines".  I saw a couple of variations, but the idea was the same: a gift/act/service each day for your significant other.

I won't go into what I did too much, but really enjoyed surprising my husband with goodies in his car on the way to work, or leaving fun notes for him to find on the front door, or on the bathroom mirror.  My sweet husband LOVES sushi, so when I came across the candy sushi idea, I knew it would be perfect.  I found a video tutorial here, and found it to be pretty easy, and kind of fun.  My two-year-old was also a fan!  I surprised him further with some actual sushi for dinner.

My husband thought it was fun, and I got the credit for being creative.  

I tried to coordinate each activity with the day of the week.  For example, Brent has meetings Monday mornings, not always allowing him time for lunch.  So I packed up the girls, and we dropped him lunch at work.  

Saturday morning, we made Brent breakfast.  I saw this idea for pancakes, but had a little trouble with the hearts.  :)  

Here we are at day 12.  I know it's a little early, but we decided to make Brent some Valentines.  I knew that mixing my two-year-old with paint, might be a recipe for disaster... but it turned out okay.  I saw the idea on Pinterest of using empty toilet paper rolls, shaped into hearts.  But I had a hard time getting it to work just right, and decided to use a cookie cutter instead.  It worked great, and Isla enjoyed creating this pretty picture.

Norah's valentine was a little easier, as she just laid there, drinking her bottle while I painted her feet.  :) I like how it turned out.

Doesn't Brent have some cute little Valentines??  Two more days of surprises to go!  What are you doing for your significant other?  Hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!


Allison

Allison: Valentine Wreath Giveaway!!

*****  GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED  *****

Hello!  I know... it's been too long.  But I have a fun way to make it up to you.  How about a give away?  I was looking through my Valentine's board on Pinterest, and found this cute wreath.  I knew I had the supplies to make it, so I attempted one myself.  A few months ago, I found some great 1/2 wreath forms at Target in their dollar section.  They're great, because they lay flat against the door.  I knew I'd have a reason to use them eventually.  It's that very thinking that has my crafting supplies busting out of every storage space of my house.

It took me about 40 minutes to wrap the wreath in yarn (10 minutes here and there), and not much longer to cut out 12 hearts from scrap felt I had from other projects.  I used a cookie cutter as my template and cut the heart out of a cereal box.  (We're real sophisticated around here.)

I used a tiny dab of hot glue to secure each heart in place, until I could wrap them with yarn.  It was such a fast and easy project!  I was going to write up a tutorial, but after I finished, I clicked on the pin that had originally inspired me, and found a great tutorial found here.  Go figure.  :)

So... here's the giveaway questions:

What's your favorite way to spoil your significant other on Valentine's Day?

Or...

What's your favorite way to be spoiled on Valentine's Day?

Leave a comment below, and Monday morning I'll randomly select a reader to win this cute, 9" Valentine's Wreath.  I hope you all have a great weekend!



Allison

Allison: Christmas Card Books

Hello, and Happy New Year! It feels like forever since I've posted and I figured it was time to get back in the routine.

I have many resolutions this year, but one that always seems to make the list is to stay organized. I thrive in an organized environment and usually feel completely lost in mess and disorder. Needless to say that with a two-year-old, I usually find myself in the later situation.

Post-Christmas is usually a time I feel a little stressed as the house is overflowing with new toys and gifts, and a plethora of decorations that need to be stored. I always feel a little sad as the cards and pictures from family and friends get taken down. Last year, I stumbled upon a fun way to keep those special cards organized and cherished for years to come: Christmas Card Books.

I simply organized the cards of each year by size, punched holes, scrapbooked a cover and held them together with rings. To personalize them a little further, I added a significant event or two from the year to the cover. I then store them with my other Christmas decor and now we can see how our friends have grown and changed each year.

Look at Sara's adorable family!!  :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to all this new year will bring. Have a great week!


Allison

Allison: White Chocolate and Candy Cane Popcorn

Hello again!  Just dropping in for a quick post.  I just decided to make some goodies on a whim.  Not really a good idea if you're home all day, and trying to lose baby weight.  Hmm...  But I have to share this treat with you!  I made this last year too, and it is so addictive:  White Chocolate and Candy Cane Popcorn.

Here's what you need:

*popcorn
*white chocolate chips
*candy canes

Pretty tricky, huh?  I don't exactly have the amounts, as I kind of eye-balled it.  Remember how I'm always talking about how lazy I am?  Well, I cheated and used microwave popcorn bags, and made the whole process that much easier.  The funny thing, is that both times I've made this, I've only had the single-serving-sized bags of the Orville Redenbacher's Kettle Corn (the low-fat/calorie kind).  It still worked great, and even added a little more flavor.  I think I used three bags (after burning one).

I then used a double broiler to melt about 1/2 a bag of white chocolate chips.  Once that was done, I poured the chocolate over the popcorn in a large bowl and used a rubber spatula to mix it together.

To allow the chocolate to cool, I poured it onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Finally, while the chocolate was still melted, I sprinkled crushed candy canes over the top.  I always have crushed candy canes in my pantry.  Never know when you'll need it!

Lastly, give it away quick, before you end up eating it all yourself.  I think the whole process took maybe 20 minutes (and that was with some snacking).  Enjoy!!



Allison

Allison: Christmas ABC Book

Hello, everyone!  I know we've been a little unreliable lately with posts, but we're figuring it out.  This is our first Christmas with a blog, and the balancing act is a little tricky.

Today, I'm going to share the text from the cute ABC Christmas book that I posted some pictures of last week.  This was such a fun project to put together as it brought back so many fun memories from my childhood.  In case you didn't read my last post, this ABC book was a book that my Grandma Golda put together for each of the families of her children.  The book includes a Christmas card for each letter of the alphabet, with a cute sentence.  I remember sitting for hours and looking through this book.  Sara and I have had ambitions of recreating this book for year.  We've been collecting cards, but this year I decided it was time.  Sara had given me the cards she had collected, so I made her a book first.

It was really easy to put together.  I felt a lot of freedom to make it specific for Sara's family, and didn't worry too much about making it look exactly like my Grandmother's book.  You can find the text here.
I used the font "Harrington".

I found this photo album at Joann's for $12.99.  Of course I used a coupon and it ended up being closer to $7.  I also used my favorite little paper stamp to round the edges of the letters and text (also from Joann's).  As far as the lay out of the book... that's up to you.  Have fun with it!  The book only had 10 pages, front and back, (though inserts were available), so I doubled up on some pages.

I hope you all are wrapping up your Christmas gift shopping/creating (pun intended), and have some time to relax and enjoy the season.  Until next week...


Allison

Allison: Christmas Projects and Ornament Books

Hello again!  I've meant to post various times the last couple of weeks, but it just hasn't happened.  But I have a few posts planned for the next week.

Christmas projects are in full swing here at my house, so I thought I'd share what I've been working on.  Since we've been married, I've wanted to make our own family stockings.  So this year, I finally started!  I've completed Brent's stocking and my stocking so far.  Two more to go!  Here they are:

Brent's stocking (left).  Allison's stocking (right).

Each ended up being such a quick project and so fun to make.  I'm excited to see all 4 hanging above the fireplace.

I've also completed an ABC book that I gifted to my sister, Sara.  We grew up with a similar book from my Grandma Golda, and Sara and I have talked for years about creating some new ones to give to our siblings.  I'm planning a post in the next week or two to share the great text with all of you so that you can make your own.  Start collecting Christmas cards!  Here are a few pages:

I've also been working on our immediate family's presents.  Both my family and Brent's exchange presents with one other sibling's family each Christmas.  I decided to add a little more stress to my life by making them myself.  I've wanted to make some kind of quilted project for my sister-in-law, Tammy (Brent's sister), so I made her and her family a Christmas tree skirt.  It turned out so cute and I hope their family enjoys it.

I'm currently working on a gift for the family of my brother, Briant, but I'm not ready for pictures yet.  And of course these cuties have kept me mildly busy.

See why I haven't posted lately?!  But the project I wanted to share this week, are these family ornament books.

Does your family buy special ornaments each year?  Or maybe you have ornaments that have been handed down.  I saw the idea on Pinterest to create a book with pictures of each special ornament and the story behind it.  That way, years from now, the story of each ornament can be passed down.

Making these cute books was super cheap and easy.  I found these little photo books for a dollar at Joanns, allowing me to change out the cover pages.  Then I simply scrapbooked a small page with the title of the book.  Easy!

Next, I took pictures of each special ornament, and through Powerpoint inserted the year and wrote out a simple description of the ornament and its significant.

I also think I might include a "family picture" of Christmas morning each year.  I'm excited for the day that my kids will look through their books each Christmas, as they hang their special ornaments on the tree.

I hope you're all enjoying your Christmas projects, and not stressing out too much.  Don't forget to remember the reason for the season.  Have a great week!


Allison

Allison: Fall & Baking

Hello!  Something amazing has happened this last week: Autumn finally arrived in Arizona!  Well, at least in the mornings.  That chill has hit, and I've had to pull out my flannel pajama pants, and socks.  Of course by about 11 am, it turns warmer, and I regret the socks.  Oh well.  But at least for the mornings, I'm happily chilled and ready for hot chocolate and a warm fire.  What else usually hits me around this time of year?  A desire to bake!  So I scoured my "Cookie" board on Pinterest and besides being embarrassed by how many pins are there, I found my new favorite recipe: 5 ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies.

I found the original recipe here, and had serious doubts about how good they could possibly be.  With the base cookie only consisting of peanut butter, sugar and an egg, it doesn't make sense, but it works and I may never go back to the traditional cookie.

Sort of forgot a before picture, but here's the aftermath.  

To make things even better, the cookies are dipped in melted chocolate, and then in chopped peanuts.  AMAZING!  The cookies literally fall apart in your mouth while the chocolate and crunch of the peanuts just add to the experience.

Here's the basic recipe:

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Chill dough for half an hour.

Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

These cookies are a little brittle, but that gives you a chance to sample your work.  :)

I didn't have baking chocolate, so I melted 1/3 of a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double broiler on the stove (a glass bowl over a bowling pot of water).  I also didn't have plain peanuts, but I had honey-roasted peanuts.  I chopped them up and they worked perfectly.

I hope the rest of you are enjoying the Fall weather and changing leaves.  Have a great week!


Allison

Allison: Fancy Cookies Part 2 & Giveaway!!

                                     ***************GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED******************


Hi again! This morning my friend, Amanda, and I were able to finish our cookies from yesterday. My two-year-old almost thwarted our plan with a runny nose, but we pushed on.  Modern-day pioneers, huh? :)

After outlining and "flooding" the cookies yesterday, the royal frosting had finished drying completely overnight and was ready for a little more detail. If you didn't read Part 1 from yesterday, here's a link. We used the same piping bag of frosting to add the veins on the cookies today. This part went really fast, though maybe I should have slowed down a little.  :)

I thought this was such a fun activity to learn, that it made me a little sad that I hadn't tried it earlier.  One of the many reasons I'm grateful for this blog, is that it forces me to be creative and to try new things.  We've had this blog up for a little over 6 months now, and just reached 15,000 views today!  That definitely deserves a giveaway to show our gratitude to all our friends, and new friends that take the time to see what we're up to.  So here's the question for today's giveaway:

What is something creative that you would love to try/learn, but have been too scared to actually do?

If you answer that question before Monday morning, you could win a mini-starter kit to decorate your own cookies. This kit will include:

Meringue powder (frosting recipe is on Part 1)
Disposable frosting bags
2-Tips
Gel food coloring

Thanks for sharing in this new venture.  And a HUGE "thank you!" to my friend, Amanda, for teaching me.  I can't wait to try decorating cookies again. Now I challenge you all to go out and try something new. Have a great day!


Allison

Allison: Fancy Cookies Part 1

Hello, again! I'm so excited to share what I did this morning. For awhile now, I've wanted to learn how to decorate sugar cookies. I'm not talking pre-made frosting and some sprinkles. Instead I've wanted to learn the fancy decorating with frosting that wouldn't cause all my cookies to stick to each other, and fun details. I've watched multiple tutorials, and pinned too many pins on Pinterest, but have been too scared and lazy to try (that's a bad combo!).

Then this last Christmas, my good friend, Amanda, brought the cutest cookies to our church cookie exchange, and we made plans to make some together. Then we both got pregnant and life got a little crazy. The cookies would have to wait.

Now that we both have newborns, and our two-year-olds are playing better together, we thought we'd give it a try. Amanda originally learned how to decorate the cookies with this tutorial from Annie's Eats, making cookies using this recipe and the frosting with this recipe, also from Annie.  Amanda jokes that she feels like she knows Annie after watching tutorials and followings her tips.  :)

I think the hardest part to this whole process was actually trying it. I was surprised how easy it actually was, and how fast it went, once we got started. Prepping the frosting with food coloring and getting it to the right consistency can take a bit of time, but they turn out so cute, that the time is worth it.

This middle pic is me trying to help still while I was nursing.  :)

Nap time was quickly approaching so we decided to finish the cookies tomorrow morning. Make sure to check out tomorrow's post to see how they turned out.

If you're interested in trying these fun cookies, I strongly recommend getting a group of girlfriends together and giving it a try. I can't wait to see the finished product! Until tomorrow...  Oh!  I also think we have to have a giveaway to celebrate 15,000 views to our blog!  It's going to be a fun one, so make sure to enter tomorrow.  So mysterious, right?  :)

Allison

Allison: Tutu's and Superheros

Hello, again and Happy Halloween! I've been having so much fun preparing my kids' costumes this year. For Isla's first two Halloweens, Old Navy did all the work. But I really wanted to make something special for my girls this year. I grew up with an amazing mother that always made our costumes, and I'd love to carry on that tradition.

My older daughter has been completely obsessed with Tinker Bell for awhile now, so this costume was a given. I'd seen multiple tutu tutorials on Pinterest, and thought I'd give it a try.  I love the tutu that Sara shared on this post.  I followed the tutorial found here and only made a couple of adjustments. I used my ruler and mat to make the cutting of the strips a little easier. Tulle can be hard to work with, but this method made it more manageable.

I also alternated colors to add more dimension. I definitely recommend putting the elastic or ribbon on the back of a chair while you tie the tulle. This was very helpful and made the work go pretty quick.  Just be careful not to stretch the elastic too much, or you'll end up having to cut it down.  Overall, I love how it turned out!

To finish off her costume, I made two small tulle puffs to tie to her shoes, and bought a pair of white wings. The hardest part of the project was finding a green shirt to match. After looking at multiple stores, I decided I'd have to dye a shirt myself. I had never used RIT dye, but figured it wouldn't be too hard to figure out.  Once I discovered this site, it was a piece of cake, and came out the perfect color.

She looks a little dazed, but you get the idea.  :)

For Norah's costume, I kind of cheated.  I saw something about Wonder Woman on Pinterest, and sifted through a bin of baby clothes a friend of mine had given to us.  After finding something that would work, it only took a few sewed lines, and some felt to turn my baby into a superhero.  I am in love with the final result and had a lot of fun putting it together.  She was pretty much a hit at our church Halloween party.  :)

Wonder Norah!

I realize that today is Halloween, and these "ideas" don't really help you now.  But I figured tutu's and costumes are fun to play in all year round.  I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Allison