When life gets busy..it's hard to keep up with everything! My husband is a Grad student working on his doctorate in Chiropractic. Every few months he has either boards or finals, so the kids and I pack up and head to Grandma's for a few days. ..but that means life is not the norm..so I lose track of the things I'm trying to keep up with, including my blogging!:) We had fun and are trying to get back into the swing of things, so bare with me!:) Until then, here is a yummy treat to try! mmmm! My MiL made this last week and it was delicious. I made it yesterday for a dinner with friends and we devoured it! Hope you enjoy!
Passion Bars
Ingredients
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. Cut in the butter to form a crumbly mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs, and pat the rest evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter. Spread evenly over the oatmeal layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the peanut butter layer, then crumble the reserved crust over the top.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
Popcorn Indiana.. Dark Fudge Chocolate Chip Kettle Corn, and Drizzled Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn..among others I tried this last week were AMAZING!!! WOW!mmmm..doesn’t begin to describe how good they are! ;) In the chip isle at the grocery store! ..tell me that doesn’t look AMAZING! :P
I was needing some socks for my little girl to go to church. I remember when I was little my sisters and I had some with beads that we thought were so fun to wear, so I made some last night. She loves them!
I made these for a valentines party to be used as a give away for a raffle.
They were a big hit, and it was fun watching people enjoy something I made!
I think I first learned to make candy bouquets when I was a teenager to earn money for girls camp, and have found a few ideas to perfect them since. I know there are a lot of ways to make them, but here is how I do it.
Items Needed:
Skewer Sticks, green Floral Tape, Tissue paper (choice of color), glue gun, mini candy bars, vase/bucket/base (great from dollar store!) to put it all in, green Floral Foam, filler candies if you are using a clear base.
1. Cover each stick with floral tape to look like stems. Glue a piece of candy bar onto the blunt end of each stick. (If the candy has a flap in the back you can open a little- put the glue between the flap and wrap the flap around the stick. It will hold to the stick better.) Make sure to work quickly so you don’t melt the candy bar!
2. Cut tissue paper squares for foliage. Bigger squares = more coverage. It's good to use several squares (3-4) on one stick for extra bush. You can alternate the colors too if you like!
3. Poke a hole with the stick, through the tissue paper layers. Fold the tissue paper up around the stick, just under the candy bar and wrap it with the floral tape. As you wrap the tape around the tissue paper, stretch the tape a little and it will become sticky and hold better. Make as many more flowers as you need to fill the vase.
4. Cut your foam to fit in the bottom of your vase. Put tissue paper or a baggy or something around the foam to disguise it and to keep the foam under control. Once you have put the foam in the vase, you can fill the bowl with filler candy around the foam (m&m’s or skittles are good! something small) or just cover the foam in the tissue paper.
{Another idea for a base - use a bigger block of foam and get full size candy bars to glue around the foam. This makes a great candy base}
5. Stick the candy flowers into the foam! If you want to vary the height of the flowers you can push the stick deeper into the foam or you can cut the sticks to various heights.
6. You can tie some ribbon around the vase to give it a finished look. If you are giving it away, you can wrap it in cellophane and tie a ribbon around it!
I’ve actually never been to Cafe Rio myself, I’ve heard it’s amazing though. A friend gave me this recipe a while back, and mostly I just want to get it online so I can refer to it when I am visiting family and don’t have it with me! :) These burritos are AMAZING, and the sauce is to die for!
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
Ingredients
4 lbs. Butt Pork, (thawed)
4 (8 oz.) cans Tomato Sauce
3 tsp. minced Garlic
3 C. Brown Sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you like it)
4 tsp. Cumin
4 C. Dr. Pepper
3 Tbsp. Molasses
1/2 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
Instructions
1)In a crock pot add everything but the pork. Mix Well. Add pork roast, cook on low for 12 hours. Check every so often to see if tender.
2)When roast is falling apart, take it out and cool, remove fat, shred and return to crock pot. Keep warm until you serve it.
Cafe Rio Lime Rice
Ingredients
4 Tbsp. Bu11tter
2 1/2 C. Rice
4 1/2 C. Chicken Broth
1 1/2 tsp Salt
Juice of 4 small Limes or 4 Tbsp Lime Juice
4 Tbsp chopped Cilantro
1/2 tsp Cumin
Instructions
1)Combine all in a Rice cooker and let cook!
Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Ingredients
1 (16 oz.) jar La Victoria Green Salsa
1 pkg. Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, dry
1/2 C. Sour Cream
1/2 C. Mayonnaise
1 C. Cilantro, chopped
1tsp. minced Garlic
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Lime Juice
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1/2 C. Sugar
Instructions
1)Mix all ingredients together in blender. Blend until smooth, Chill and serve
**When everything is cooked and made and ready to go, just build your burritos like you would any burrito. We usually eat this meal with salad or corn, but it really has everything in it. And the Creamy Cilantro Dressing is good on anything you can think of..eggs for breakfast, nachos, and lots more :) Enjoy!
This was so delicious. I had purchased the wrong kind of sausage links for another dish I made, so I looked up a recipe that called for Sweet Italian Sausage and this is what I found on All Recipes. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I whipped it up and it was SO good!
Ingredients:
1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta (I used penne in mine, anything will work)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Directions:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage and pepper flakes until sausage is evenly brown. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream, and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.
Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley.
I may be a little biased, but my sister, Katee, has so many creative ideas! I love this quilt she came up with for her babies room! She’s due in August! So Much Potential
Last night was our Relief Society Birthday Celebration for Church.
You can read more about the Relief Society HERE and HERE
We played some Get-to-know-you games and had some yummy cake and ice cream. I forgot to take pictures as the night progressed, but we had a lot of fun! I am on the board of women that put these nights together. My personal contribution for this one was to make the cup cakes, and come up with one of the games, among other small details.
We played 4 Getting-to-Know-You games.
Shmet Shmeeves:
Everyone thinks of two things they absolutely love (opposite of pet peeves!), and shares them with each other!
Two Truths and a Lie:
Everyone writes down two things that are true about themselves, and one thing that is a lie. Go around the table and share with each other. The other people have to guess which are the two truths, and which is the lie.
Truth in a Jar:
Random questions written on individual pieces of paper and put in a jar. Someone pulls out a slip and answers the question on the paper. They have to talk for a minute, so if the question has a short answer or a yes/no, then the other people have to ask open ended questions to get that person to keep talking.
Here are the questions for Truth in a Jar that we used:
*What is your favorite season and why?
*What was your nick name growing up? How did you get it?
*Were you in any groups or clubs growing up like 4-H, girl scouts, etc.?
*What were the hairstyles like when you were young?
*What songs, recording artist and dances were popular when you were in high school? What were your favorites?
*Did you play any sports growing up?
*Did you receive any awards or special recognitions in school?
*What did you and your friends do after school during your junior high and high school years? Did you have a favorite meeting place or hangout?
*Did you have a job in high school? Where did you work? How much did you get paid?
*What did you plan to do after graduation? Did things turn out as you planned? Describe the five years of your life after graduation from high school.
*Are there any talents that have been past down to you by your relatives?
*What is your most memorable vacation from when you were young?
*When and where did you meet your spouse? How old were each of you? What were your impressions of each other? Was it “love at first sight”?
*Where did you go for your honeymoon? How long were you gone? What did you do for your first anniversary? Have you taken a second honeymoon?
*What are some traditions you had in your family growing up? What traditions do you have now?
*How many children do you have? What are their full names? How did you decide their names?
*What were your parent’s jobs while you were growing up? What level of education have you attained, what is your job and your spouse’s job now?
Scavenger Hunt
The last thing we did was a Scavenger Hunt Questionnaire. A list of Getting to know you questions that the ladies had to go around and ask..find out who has done what in their lives. For example, I signed a lot of the questions that said: someone how has been skydiving!
Here are the questions we used for the questionnaire!
Scavenger Hunt Questionnaire
1. Someone that has been to Disney Land.
2. Someone that has been skydiving.
3. Someone that has lived outside of the United States.
4. Someone that was born in Utah.
5. Someone that has attended BYU.
6. Someone that gardens/landscapes.
7. Someone that has been scuba diving.
8. Someone who is a convert.
9. Someone who speaks another language.
10. Someone who has served a mission.
11. Someone with more than 15 grandchildren.
12. Someone who was born and raised in Kansas.
13. Someone who has lived in more than 5 states.
14. Someone who played sports in HS.
15. Someone that was married in the past year.
16. Someone that has been married for 20+ years.
17. Someone with 4+ siblings.
18. Someone that has milked a cow.
19. Someone that has never been fishing.
20. Someone that has never been outside the USA.
21. Someone that has visited Palmyra.
22. Someone that has been to the Grand Canyon.
23. Someone that has been to Alaska.
24. Someone that is in school.
25. Someone that works from home.
We had so much fun that we ran out of time and didn’t even get to play the board games we brought!
Maybe that will give you some ideas for your next big gathering!
I think this short video sums up R.S. well! I am personally so grateful to be apart of this great sisterhood! It truly is a Relief Society.
1. Do you make a budget and keep it, or just fly by the seat of your pants?
Well, we live on student loans, so we have a budget! basically, we pay the bills and have an allowance. Any extra money we personally earn/receive.. me from cutting hair and my husband from working on cars, or whatever else.. is ours as well.
2. Do you do spring cleaning and if so which month?
I haven’t really started yet, but want to. We live in a small town home and don’t have a lot of space and I desperately need to!
3. Are you a yard sale lover and do you have them and go to them?
I stop by occasionally when I’m looking for something specific, or if I drive by and see something that catches my eye. I will totally have yard/garage sales.. when I have one!
4. What do you take when you have a headache?
Usually nothing. My husband is a student of Chiropractic, so when I get a headache, I usually just get a neck adjustment and it takes care of the problem within a half hour. But, if he’s not available and it’s really bad, I might pop some Extra Strength Tylenol.
5. Name 3 things that you feel lucky to have in your life!
Well, I was going to say Husband, Son, Daughter but realized it doesn’t say 3 people, ..but 3 THINGS.. So,
Peanut Butter (LOVE IT!), Computer (…), and washing machine! (don’t want to know what life would be like without it)
This is one of my favorite new crafts.It’s so fun and easy. I got the idea by looking up finger puppets online and then I designed my own. I’ll show the how-to ‘tutorial’ when I make my next puppets. Basically it’s cut felt and hand stitched together.
These are so fun because you can make puppets to fit different stories or or songs or characters. I made a few farm animals to go with the Song “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” I still need to make a few more. I have a dog in progress that’s really cute. I need to make one more monkey and an crocodile for another little song about monkeys swinging in the trees and teasing Mr. Crocodile.
The aliens are super fun and easy because they don’t have to look like anything exactly. If you want one eye, just do one; five arms, okay. My daughter loves them. They are great for keeping her entertained and quiet.
