Valentines Part II

Kyle and I decided to cook dinner in for Valentines. The day before we made chocolate covered strawberries and red velvet cake balls. They turned out great. Here is the awesome recipe from Bakerella! http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/

Red Velvet Cake Balls
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

I forgot to take a picture.....go figure.
Mom and I spent the day decorating the dining room and table. It turned out great.....



Dad grilled steaks while mom and I did the twice baked potatoes and green beans wrapped in bacon. Kyle found a recipe for a crab sauce to put on top of the steaks. I don't have the recipe...but it turned out delicious. We had a great Valentines Day! :)

Valentines Day Part I

Mom, Jess, and I made Valentine cards last weekend....Here are a few of my favs:

Sweet Oil Scrub

I love to be pampered....what female doesn't. So mom and I love to do things like paint our nails and try new face creams and all the fun "girly" things. I have always been a sucker for DIY stuff esp ones involving beauty products. Well last night I went hunting for a DIY face scrub. I found this one and mom and I gave each other a facial. It was so fun and really makes your face feel soft. I thought that I would share the recipe.

Sweet Oil Scrub

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar

Instructions:
Mix ingredients in a bowl. Apply to skin in a circular motion for a minute or 2. Rinse with a warm cloth and water. The cleanser will feel greasy but after you rinse and pat dry, skin with be super silky soft! Also great to remove eye makeup!!

This is the website that I got it from....http://hmbeautyrecipes.homestead.com/SKINcleansers.html There are lots more recipes to try! :)

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Servings:6-8

Ingredients:
-1 lb medium shrimp, deveined and tails removed
-1 lb spaghetti noodles (more or less, depending on family size)
-6 -8 garlic cloves, according to personal taste, minced
-1/4 cup butter
-olive oil (3 drizzles)
-fresh ground pepper
-salt
-herbs-I used parsley (according to taste)

Directions:

1. Boil pasta in water till tender, save 1 cup of pasta water for use later. I always put some oil, salt, and fresh herbs in with my pasta when I boil it. Drain and set aside when done.
2. While pasta is boiling, wash shrimp.
3. Melt butter over medium heat. Add shrimp.
4. Let cook till a little pink and starting to curl. Then add garlic.
5. Cook 5-7 min., add oil. Continue to stir till shrimp is pink and curled.
6. Add pasta to skillet. Add seasonings. Add just enough saved pasta water till it is not dry but not swimming in liquid either. Depending on amount of pasta this requires 1/2 the cup or all of it. Start with adding 1/4 of it then work up from there.
7. Keep tossing all ingredients around in skillet till all is incorporated and hot. Enjoy!

I got this Recipe from Food.com. It was light and just what I wanted!

Snow/Ice day foods

i have been cooking/eating all kinds of comfort/cold weather foods the past few weeks. Last week, mom and I made homemade nachos and smores. They were delicious. I love love love making homemade guacamole so I was excited to make it for the nachos. The smores were fun to make over the fire. Oh and I can't forget.....we stayed in our pj's ALL DAY LONG. Hooray! We also made Valentine Day cards! Super excited about how they turned out. Don't worry..I took pics. I will share them next week! :)

This week....I made chicken, broccoli and rice casserole.

Ingredients:
-3 boneless, skinless, chicken breast, cooked and cut up
-2 cups of brown rice, cooked
-3 cups of fresh broccoli, steamed
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
-1 cup colby-jack cheese, shredded
-1 cup of sliced, fresh mushrooms

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients including 3/4 cup shredded cheese.
2. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Top with remaining 1/4 cheese.
4. Bake in oven 350 for 30 minutes of until bubbly.

Makes 6 servings.

It turned out great!

Mom made the Weight Watchers Potato Soup. I'm not a big fan of soup and so I was nervous when mom said she was doing soup.

Potato Soup

Ingredients
-1 package Ora Ida frozen O'brein Potatoes
-3 16 oz Cans of Garlic Seasoned Chicken Broth
-1 package Pioneer Fat Free Country Gravy

Preparation
1. Place entire package of potatoes in saucepan.

2. Add 2 cans of chicken broth and bring to a boil.

3. Mix third can of chicken broth with gravy package and whisk unitil dissolved.

4. Add gravy mixture to potatoes and broth, stirring until blended.

5. Simmer until hot.

6. Serve.

It turned out delicious.

Well...it looks like we will be having another snow/ice day tomorrow. Wonder what I can cook up......

New chapter

I have been awaiting some news for quite some time and I am pleased to announce that I will start Graduate School next quarter! I received my acceptance letter via email (weird I know) yesterday and literally jumped for joy. I have already gone and scheduled my advising time! Cant wait to register and get started! Some of you may ask.....what program will she be doing? I will be getting a masters of arts in counseling. I hope to do both general counseling and school counseling. I want to keep my options WIDE OPEN! I never thought that I could make it in grad school, but if theres a will then theres a way. So Im embarking in a new chapter of my life and I am thrilled! :)

Grilling!

I have a confession.....Im terrified of fire/anything really hot. I love smores.....but I never end up cooking them. I love having a fire in the house, but I wont start the fire. I dont mind putting logs onto it....but Im terrified of the actual fire. So when Kyle says "let have shish kabobs Thursday night"......I was terrified. I have deemed grilling as a man's fun way of cooking. My dad is the griller, yet Im sure that my mom has grilled before. I have NEVER grilled nor really had the desire to....until NOW. I am all about conquering anything in the cooking world. So.....I will conquer this and let you know how it goes! :)