Lordy, lordy, looks who's 4...well, that's it.

Well, the day has come and gone. My smart, beautiful, hilarious little girl turned 4 last week. It was difficult to determine who was more excited about it, her or me. She loves being 4 like all of her friends and learning to ride her big girl bike. I love that with every passing day, she learns more and becomes this fabulously independent lady. She writes all of her letters, is learning to sound out words, and can kick all of our butts at Go Fish. *sigh*

So anyway, I know everyone is wondering what kind of cake she had. Well, for our family birthday party this year, I decided to skip making an actual cake. In previous years, we've always wound up with an abundance of extra cake that none of us want to eat after day two. This year, I tried the newly popular Mason Jar Cupcakes. There are a plethora of tutorials, and in citing just one, I'm doing a disservice to the 20 others that are out there, so I'm not citing anything. It's not plagarism; no one has a copyright over a cupcake recipe.

I went to Publix and got a 12 pack of jars for about $8.

(The lids were drying at the time of the picture. You'll see what I mean in a minute.)

All it took was 1 box of white cake mix, about 2 tbsp of cornstarch, and a box of food coloring.

I mixed the cake mix according to the box instructions, then mixed in the cornstarch to thicken the mixture for layering. You can opt not to do this if you want funky tie-dye looking layers, but my OCD wouldn't allow this.

Separate the mixture into sandwich bags; the number varies based on the number of colors you're using. I used four. Add about 4-5 drops of food coloring into each bag, let out the excess air and seal. Use the countertop to knead, blending the coloring into the mix.

Move the batter away from one corner and cut it to allow for piping. Be aware of your size; a larger cut will cause the batter to pipe out quickly.

Layer each of your colors into your mason jars (note: these do not need to be greased prior to using). The easiest method I found was to use up each color at once, meaning I put blue in all of my jars, then green, then yellow, then red.

Fill a 9x13" pan with about 1/2" of water and place your jars in the pan. Typically you would bake according to the box directions, but because my oven runs so hot and I was paranoid about burning them, I baked mine at 350 for 30 minutes. They came out perfectly moist and fluffy.

For icing, I decided to keep with my sandwich bag theme and fill a bag with icing and pipe it into the cupcakes. Kristen helped put the sprinkles on top. :)

Here's my finished version, complete with the decorated tops I made. You can find my tutorial on that here.

It's March already?!

Not only is it March...it's spring break in our lovely city, which means Ashley doesn't work for the next 10 days! WOOOOOOO!!!

The next four days will be occupied with our annual trip to St. Louis, two of which will be dedicated to driving (just under 11 hours each way...bleah). After that, I have complete freedom to do as I wish during the day. The downside to this is finding things to do. Here are a few things that I've accomplished so far in March:

-Thin Mint Cheesecake. I didn't take a single picture, but the recipe was so simple that you can make your own and don't need a stinkin' picture.

16oz softened cream cheese (I used fat free)
2 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 sleeve Thin Mint cookies (roughly)

Whip the cream cheese with mixer until smooth. Add sugar, egg and vanilla until well blended. Crush about 3/4 of the thin mints and gently fold them into the mix. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust*. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until firm. Chill in fridge for four hours. Top with remaining cookies. Devour.

*I say prepared pie crust because I bought a chocolate pie crust for this cheesecake. I considered doing a homemade crust from the thin mints, but I feared the chocolate covering from the cookies would make it to crumbly to use. An Oreo crust, store bought or hand made, may be a good option too. If anyone tries the Thin Mint crust, let me know how it goes!

-More wall art. I have so much of it now that a big portion of it is sitting against the wall of my spare bedroom while I find a place for it. This one was my version of the tutorial found here, with slightly different colors and smaller circles, because I love the look of the branches with what Kristen calls "baby flowers".



-Loaded baked potato salad. Again, no picture, but oh my god it's amazing.

2.5 lbs red skinned potatoes

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1 package bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup Greek yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until tender but firm. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour. Cube potatoes and combine with yogurt. While potatoes are chilling, you can cook the bacon. I cooked mine on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet at 325 for 25 minutes. The grease drips onto the cookie sheet and makes for perfectly crisp bacon. Add bacon, salt, pepper and cheese. You can top individual servings with onion, or leave it off for your pickier diners. I added it into the mix with the other ingredients, and the onion haters just picked them out without complaint. I served mine with crock pot BBQ chicken and baked beans. Best summer meal ever.

If anyone has ideas for new things I can do with my new found free time, feel free to comment!

Cereal box picture frames!

Last week Kristen and I spent our Thursday girl's night in marble painting. For those who aren't familiar, the term is pretty self-explanatory. You take marbles and drop them in different colors of paint, and place a sheet of paper inside a decently sized box top. I used a printer paper box lid, and recommend taping the back of the paper to the box to prevent it from sliding. Place the marbles in the box lid with a spoon and let your child shift the box to move the marbles across the paper. The result is a beautiful abstract piece any kid will be proud to see in his/her room.

Of course, I couldn't just let this masterpiece be push-pinned up on her wall... :)

As luck would have it, Kristen finished off the last of a box of cereal this morning. Noticing it in the recycle box after work, I realized that it was about the same size as her picture. Then it hit me: picture frame.

Some of you may be fortunate enough to have the bigger sized cereal boxes and don't have the same size issue that I did, but if you don't, you're about to see my efforts.

The box I had was long enough, but about 2 inches short in width. In order to make this work as a frame, I had to cut the box into sections. Luckily, the sides of the box were the perfect length to use as the base and top of the frame. I used the front panel of the box to cut two more sections for the sides of the frame. To keep the pieces together, I wrapped the corners in clear packing tape:

On a side note, I do not recommend this particular cereal. I will try the generic versions of cereals, and many of them are the same in taste and much cheaper, but this one is no substitute for brand name Honey Bunches of Oats.

I considered wrapping the frame in fabric, but I lacked the bright and happy colors that my daughter loves. I pulled out my arsenal of scrapbook paper and had Kristen pick her favorite pattern. For this part, I highly recommend an X-acto knife. I was so caught up in the project that I neglected to get a picture, but the process is fairly simple. Lay the paper over the frame (box pattern side up) and flip them over together. Use the X-acto knife to cut the paper to fit the frame. Use your packing tape to attach the paper to the frame. Place your child's picture on the back of the frame and attach it with (you guessed it) more packing tape. (You can opt for Scotch tape or something less permanent if you want to reuse the frame for their other creations).

And voila! Lovely abstract artwork with a neat personalized frame. This one is hanging above her dresser, which I have a feeling will soon become a miniature art gallery.



Dinner is overrated.

So first, I must share this, because it's lovely:

It is always nice to have your kid want to dress like you.

My rational for this blog title is that due to my love of sleeping in, I often do not pack a lunch before work and almost always forget to make one the night before. Because of this, I usually wind up not eating lunch until roughly 2pm. This effectively kills my dinner appetite until close to bedtime. Today was no exception. I didn't have lunch until almost 3, and with the guy being in night class until 8pm, my motivation to cook a whole dinner was non-existent. I did, however, have the ingredients for one of my favorite things in the world: spinach artichoke dip.

Now, to be fair, my definition of "have the ingredients" means that I have about 3/4 of them, and I plan on winging the rest. I am not a mayo fan and do not intend to start now. Most standard spinach dip recipes call for mayo and sour cream in some amount. I do not buy either, because I use Greek yogurt in everything that calls for sour cream. I guess I could've stopped that sentence short and just said I use Greek yogurt in everything, and it would still be accurate.

Tonight's experiment was to see if Greek yogurt can really change the world as much as I think it can. Here's a breakdown of my ingredients:

8 oz fat free cream cheese

8oz frozen chopped spinach

1 can (8.5 oz) Vigo artichoke hearts, chopped

8 oz Oikos Greek yogurt

Garlic powder

Paprika

Salt and Pepper

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (you can opt for more, but I was trying to be conservative)

I micro'd the cream cheese for about 60 seconds to soften. I put the spinach in a baking dish (still frozen) with the hearts, and mixed in the yogurt, cream cheese and spices.

After topping with the cheese, I threw it in a 350 degree oven to bake for 20 minutes and broiled for 3 minutes ( I meant to only broil for 2...oops)

I don't do pretty; I do pretty tasty. :)

You can opt to top individual servings with diced tomato and onion as I did:

I only had green onion, but I bet red onion would be even better...

I have dipped pretty much everything I can find in this stuff (to include my finger). It's great with tortilla chips, rye chips, pita chips, celery, bell peppers, ANYTHING. If I had the pasta, I absolutely would have breaded and fried some bowtie pasta to eat with this (trust me, best thing I ever learned from working in a restaurant).

Happy snacking!

Quickies!

Before anyone gets too excited, this is a completely craft-related blog. Sorry!

I went with the title because everything I did here took about 10 minutes (mine took longer because I did several).

There's a similar tutorial available here. It's a cute idea for a wedding shower or reception, but the thing that bothered me is that these beautiful displays will not hold up in an average household. Without a lid, any number of things can get into the water and gross up the display (think cat hair, dust, random bacteria that love to grow in water). The other immediate thought was about curious little hands playing in the water or pulling out the flowers. To solve my dilemma, I decided to use one of my favorite things in the world: glass jars. I've already confessed to being a bit of a pack rat and keeping all of my old spaghetti sauce/fruit/pickle jars (because you never know), but for this project I wanted to use actual mason jars. The tutorial said to use distilled water (which I have no idea why, since open air would kill the purity of the water); I used filtered water from my refrigerator door. I traced the interior lids on some scrapbook paper, cut out the circles and glued them to the lids using mod podge on each side of the paper.

Now my entryway finally has a unique splash of color!

While I was making these, my desk was covered in silk flowers and jars; it got really cluttered really fast. I moved the flowers and dropped them in an empty Pringles can (I had another purpose for it, I swear), and realized that they fit absolutely perfectly. I grabbed my favorite sheet of scrapbook paper and wrapped it around the can, gluing it on with mod podge. Took me about two minutes, total. I LOVE IT.

What quickie crafts do you love? Feel free to post in the comments; I love new ideas!

More Wall Art (and other stuff too, I promise!)

My original intention of this blog was to post each time I did a new project. Unfortunately, the projects have sort of taken away from my blog time. Anyway, I'm playing catch up tonight. Sorry!

First things first. Here's this:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a foaming soap dispenser. I made it out of a SALSA JAR! No joke. The soap itself is 1/4 cup of Dawn with 2 cups of water. The top is what actually makes the liquid foam; I just happened to have an empty bottle of Noxzema foaming face wash on hand, and I stole the top. To connect the foaming top to the jar lid, I used a screwdriver and hammer to poke a hole in the middle, and used needle nose pliers to peel the metal back on the inside of the lid. This should be done gingerly, to make sure your hole doesn't become too big for the top. You can use hot glue to keep the top in place if needed. So easy, and fun to make your own soap, because you can add essential oil to make any scent you want!

Next up: Tinted Mason Jars. As you probably guessed, I am not a connoisseur of antique jars, but I am not above saving my old food jars. Any jar can be made chic and gorgeous with this tutorial. I tinted a sauerkraut and a spaghetti sauce jar this week. One is currently holding a love note from the guy and a flower picked by my daughter. The other has not yet been given a purpose, but it looks pretty so I don't care.

Last one: More wall art. The guy and I were browsing some furniture stores, and each one had its own collection of colorful, semi-abstract art. With each piece, I couldn't help but notice how basic they were. I may be the only one who does this, but when I go to Target, I almost always wind up looking at the art. When I do, I undoubtedly say to my poor acomplice "I could so do that". On my last journey, I saw this piece for $20:

I'm not a professional artist by any means, but I am comfortable with paintbrush in hand (especially if no one is watching).

Anyway, I took one of my many painted-over canvases (aka paintings I did or half-did and then painted over in black or white because I didn't like them) and got to work. Because I am not known for my ability to draw straight lines, I used my L square with my brush to get the white square as even as possible. The branches and flowers were freehanded, and I added blue flowers to give it some more pop. The point of this blog is to say that I find it a complete waste of money to buy art that you can easily do yourself. A canvas ranges in price depending on size, but a standard canvas comes in a 3 pack at many stores for under $10. The feeling you get from seeing something beautiful that you made hanging in your house is unmatched.

So, without further ado, here is my version:

six ingredients+no baking=happy ashley

Ok, so I must start this with something that will make everyone go "awww" while trying not to laugh:

That is my child, attempting to cover her look of shame with her pretty blonde hair, which contains a wad of gum that had gotten stuck. She has had gum before, but this time, for some reason, she had difficulty keeping it in her mouth. Luckily, it was easily removed by taking two vegetable oil dabbed cotton balls and rubbing them together on either side of the gum, starting above the wad and working down to the tips of her hair. No hair cut needed, just a quick bath to wash out the oil.

On a related ooey-gooey note, Thursday nights are different in our house now, as Corey is taking a night class and is gone from 5-almost 9pm. While I miss having him and his antics at the dinner table, the opportunity to have girl's night is always appreciated. Tonight's adventure consisted of cheesy chicken and rice casserole (which I will post in a separate blog), Nick Jr., and a shared craving for something sweet. My initial thought was to bake cookies (classic mother/daughter activity), but we had no eggs and only half a stick of butter. This left me with the option of finding something else to do, or taking a 3 year old to Walmart in the rain. Needless to say, my desire to stay dry and cranky child-free won.

I Googled a few recipes for no bake desserts, and the only thing for which I had all of the ingredients were no-bake chocolate peanut butter squares. Due to the limited amount of butter, and in the interest of not making the bars too sweet, I had to cut the recipe down severely. Fortunately for me, the portion that it yielded was perfect for an 8x8 pan.

I started with 1/8 cup of light brown sugar and 1 cup confectioner's sugar, and added 1/4 cup of butter (Kristen was my little helper on this one):

After blending it together slightly, I added just over a cup of creamy peanut butter (I actually like the Walmart version for this recipe because it's not as greasy and is not oversweetened).

I love my standing mixer, because it works while I take pictures of it working.

After the ingredients were blended, I plopped the peanut buttery blob into a very lightly greased 8x8 and had Kristen pat it down (the texture on this is awesome; no sticky fingers, just slightly greasy from handling the blob). 

Now onto melting the chocolate chips. I used Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips because I love the taste. I would like to take this time to say that I am not the proud owner of a double boiler. I've gotten used to melting my chocolate this way over the years, and have no desire to fill up my cabinets with more pots. Anyway, I melted the chips that I had (about half a bag) and spread them over the peanut butter. After washing out my pot, I realized that these sweet treats deserved better than one lousy spread of chocolate. I took a half-bag of Ghiradelli white chocolate chips and melted them down (as best as I could; they do not melt as easily as the milk chocolate).

I then made an attempt at creating a marbled effect on the milk chocolate:

It is not the prettiest thing in the world, but I've learned that the best tasting things sometimes aren't the most aesthetically appealing.

Refrigerate for one hour. I didn't cut them all into squares to prevent the peanut butter from drying out. I instead just cut to serve, plopped on the floor with my offspring, and worked on a Tinkerbell puzzle, for the third time today. :)