How? What?? Unbelievable.

What was she thinking? How unprofessional and crude? I mean way to turn from most popula House wife to loser House wife with one lift! Terrible! AND a side boob shot. I bet the countess has something to say about this.

Lemon and Lime Weddings

I just LOVE yellow and green together.  A while ago a saw a lemon and lime themed wedding on the knot. I thought it was so cute. These are some photos of other weddings that are lemon and lime themed that I've seen.

http://allbowerpower.blogspot.com/2009/05/lemon-lime-wedding.html

Oh and the last photo is the guest gift - a bird shaped juicer! 

In Kentucky...

My cousin Joe graduates from High School today! And since he was so kind when I graduated and sat through the whoooole ceremony, I figure I could do the same for him! Dad and I are flying out early this am to make the ceremony at 4 today! Should be fun! He's going to American University (making note to visit DC come Fall) and we're all so excited for him! 

To teach pre k or not to teach pre k, that is the question

While babysitting over the past couple of weeks I got to talk to moms about how much they pay for their children to attend Pre K.  They said $175 a week which calculates out to $5.50/hr. per teacher - hours are approx. 9-1 pm. 

"WHAT?!?!?" 

Oh no no no I thought to myself. So with that said, I am thinking about doing K-6 now because with the public school system I can get paid what I want to get paid. I know I will still be certified to teach Kinergarten but what if the school I want to teach at is only hiring 1st grade teachers?  i'd be stuck.  I know I need to look into this further because I am certain that all pre K pay is not the same, but still, WHOA! C'mon now! 

Jon and Kate plus 8 minus 1

I am so sad about Jon and Kate. I just think the media can make you so self conscious and crazy that you forget the real meaning of things.  I liked Kate at first, I admired her for being so organized and taking on so many children.  She is definitely a type A, always right, personality. While Jon is laid back and just does what he is told- sometimes. haha. We all know when he doesn't do what he is told! So being a fan of the show it was really sad to watch this week's episode. I felt bad for the kids beause they knew daddy wasn't living at home anymore. And how hard does Jon really have it because he said himself, he quit his job two years ago to stay at home with the kids while Kate promoted her book. I think he is lazy and not a go getter. I think a girl paid attention to him and he fell for it. Kate is not forgiving so I think the big D is on the way and she even said so on the show. The magazines are calling her a Monster but I think the root of the problem is- Pay attention to your husband!!! She wouldn't even cry on camera because she didn't want to ruin her makeup. Self conscious? She's been warped. Another blogger describes Kate by her 'hair personality' .I thought that was so right on. Apparently people call her stylist all the time to ask for her cut (what are they thinking and who ARE these people??) Like my friend Lauren said last night, Kate's hair is a reversed mullet! I like to call it the bird. Cause you don't know whats on top, looks like a nest. Regardless, heinous beyond believe. I hope things work out for them but there definitely needs some intervention and I think that Kate needs a big smack across the face. She is the blame. 

ps. did you know their new house (paid for by tlc of course) cost 1.2 mil?? 

pps. did you know that kate has disowned her girlfriends because tlc wanted to pay them a salary too? she said no. kate rules all. (not known fact, just gossip with the girls BUT still, if true - aweful!) 

Kitchen updates

I got another Mixer for a steal! Friends sold it to us, used, for 50 bucks! So that's been a help in the kitchen. But it also took up more space. SO Dave being the organizer he is, went to Lowe's (4 times) in search of some help. He came back with this great wrack (kinda looks like a professional kitchen now huh?) that really works well. The boxes below the mixers hold the FMC cupcake boxes and spacers. As Martha would say, this is a 'GOOD THING'. Hehe. 

My sweet boyfriend!

I lost my voice this past week because all the business cause up with me and I caught a cold! Ew yuk! So My sweet boyfriend brought me flowers yesterday from my favorite flower spot, Trader Joe's! AND after I got off work, we went to Rooster's and used a Christmas gift card to buy dinner. I'd never been to Rooster's before but it is owned by Nobles and is more casual dining with tapas on their menu. I love tapas because they are a light meal and don't leave you feeling too full. I would recommend the scallops and their caesar salad. 

Happy Memorial Day!

We are in the mountains, where are you?? :) 

GMR cupcakes

So my old gig asked me to make cupcakes for the races in May. I think they turned out pretty cute but how can you not be a fan of chocolate and pastel colors? We decided to go with this and top it with one edible silver ball because GMR's logo is yellow and gray. We thought this would incorporate the logo look the best. I mean, who wants to eat gray icing? hahaha. Or even worse, gray cake?? ewww. Would you believe that these silver balls cost $11 bucks a jar? Unreal! Anyways, I do not do custom orders but since my old job was so good to me, I made an acception. 

Cupcake batter

Cupcake Tips: 

If your cupcake batter is runny - pour into cupcake liners using a pitcher or measuring cup with spout. Fill liner 3/4 of the way full for best results

If your batter is thick, use a large freezer bag to fill your liners. Cut one corner of bag and pipe into liners. Its mess free and only takes one big squirt. Fill these 1/2 full as this batter tends to fluff up alot.

Hit cupcake pan on counter before placing in over so that you don't get any air pockets in the cupcakes.

Looks good, tastes good!

Now HERE is a sign of a delicious dinner. IT LOOKS GOOD IN PICTURES!!!! This was a hit! It's Chicken Enchiladas from my Best of Cooking Light cookbook. Merris and Todd came over for dinner on Sunday. I made this dish on Saturday. Nuked it in the microwave and it was ready to serve! Dave and I love this sour cream (can you tell?) from La Paz and it's got jalepenos, cilantro and lime in it so I mixed sour cream with chopped cilantro, juice of one lime, 1/8 tsp of salt, and it makes a great sauce. It didn't need jalepenos because they are already in the dish itself so it's got some kick to it as is! 

Here is the recipe.  The corn tortillas i got were small so I got abut 12 out of the recipe and it feeds 6.

Enchiladas de Pollo

Ingredients

• FILLING:
• 3  cups  water
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 8  black peppercorns
• 1  onion, quartered
• 1  bay leaf
• 1  pound  skinless chicken breast halves (great because you have homemade chicken broth left over and totally low maintenance) 
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided (I used the pack of cheese that combines monteray jack and cheddar, the 2c bag is fine and you don't use nearly as much as it calls for)
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2  cup  chopped onion
• 
  SAUCE:
• 2/3  cup  2% reduced-fat milk (i used skim)
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4  cup  egg substitute
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1  (11-ounce) can tomatillos, drained
• 1  (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained (i bought the can of enchiladas sauce from the store because it combines the chilis and the tomatillos. i used a 16oz. can)
• 
  REMAINING INGREDIENTS:
• 8  (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 2/3  cup  fat-free sour cream

Preparation

To prepare filling, place first 6 ingredients in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes. Remove chicken from cooking liquid; cool. Remove chicken from bones; shred with 2 forks. Discard bones. Reserve broth for another use.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine chicken, 1/2 cup each Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses, and 1/2 cup onion in a bowl; set aside.

To prepare sauce, place milk and next 5 ingredients (milk through chiles) in a food processor; process until smooth.

To prepare tortillas, fill a medium skillet with 1 inch of water; bring to a simmer. Dip 1 tortilla in water using tongs. Spoon 1/2 cup filling in center of tortilla; roll tightly, and place in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas and filling.

Pour sauce over enchiladas. Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with 1/4 cup each Monterey Jack and cheddar. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheeses melt. Top with sour cream.

Calories:

502 (30% from fat)

Fat:

16.6g

AMERICAN IDOL

Ya'll! If you didn't see Idol tonight, you have GOTTA watch it on the internet immediately! I've been SO into it this season BUT even if you aren't into Idol, never seen it, what not, you'd still LOVE the season finale! It was like watching the MTV music awards! So many big names! 

Fergie, Queen Latifa, Jason Mraz, Lionel Richie, Cindy Lauper, Rod Stewart, KISS, Santana, Black eyed peas with will.i.am... omg. 

And the list goes on and on! It was great because Idol had the losers on and they'd sing a song and then the artist just magically appeared! Like I was telling Dave's mom last night, the losers can atleast say "i might have lost but I got to sing with (insert big name artist here)!". Amazing. It was such a great show. They also had some fun bringing in the terrible singers from the Idol try outs to give them awards. The bikini girl even made an appearance, in a bikini, with new assets - lol. It was great. You just have to watch. Um oh yea, and Steve Martin with a banjo? 

SO here is a sign of a bad recipe. Sounds good but looks aweful! It was supposed to be a wonderful cajun casserole according The Cooking Club Cookbook. Tastes okay but a little too spicey. Lesson learned!

Update!

WOW so I got into UNCC's grad school and will be taking classes for about year to become a Preschool/Kindergarten teacher! And I have been working NON-stop. I babysit for two different families. One family has 4 kids under the age of 6, the youngest is 1! So that's always interesting and then my cupcake business has BLOWN up like no other!  Between this week and last, I've had 8 cupcake orders! So that is keeping me busy at night. And then I am working at Ann Taylor and Poppy's at Birkdale part time as well. Fshew. Needless to say, I am going to be ready for a vacation come St. John in June!! :)

THIS is priceless

Lasagna, always a winner.

Ingredients:

1 lasagna tin from grocery store

3 Tb of chopped fresh parsley

1 bottle of Italian seasoning

1 lb extra lean ground beef (if you use the full fat, you need to drain your meat, if you use turkey instead, you need to add 2x seasonings) (also, i like to squish the meat in between my fingers while putting it in because i like it in chunks instead of looking like it came out of the grinder in those squiggly shapes)

1 box of lasagna noodles

2 cans of Hunts 4 cheese tomato sauce (in the pasta sauce isle)

1 16oz. container of Part Skim Ricotta

1 LARGE bag (4 cups worth) of shredded mozzarella cheese

2 large eggs

1 can of Parmesan cheese

1 small white onion

1 clove garlic (optional)

1 tsp olive oil

 OK let's get started

preheat oven to 350

Heat skillet to medium heat, toss in oil and onion, sauté for 3 min, add garlic if you want, sauté 1 min, add meat til browned all the way through

Add 1/2 can of sauce to bottom of the lasagna pan, add more until it is completely covered because this cooks the noodles. Put remaining can and rest of sauce into meat mixture.

whisk eggs together

add ricotta with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese to egg mixture and set aside

Make one layer of noodles across the bottle of the pan, over the sauce you put in. Feel free to snap the noodles in order to fit them in the pan. 

Put meat mixture over noodles until covered especially the edges (but don’t use it ALL because you’ve got more layers ahead!) Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese

Layer down more noodles going the OPPOSITE direction of the last ones. If you went vertically, go horizontally, like you are weaving a basket.

Put cheese mixture over noodles, sprinkle with Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese

REPEAT layers until you can go no further. 

Top lasagna with your remaining mozzarella cheese, sprinkle of parm, and parsley.

Cook for 50 minutes COVERED

Uncover. Cook for 10 minutes. 

 

Enjoy!

Debbie's Zucchini Pie

So I made Debbie's zucchini pie the other night and it was delish! It was the last night of the cleanse so I thought I'd add in a few carbs and some Parmesan, my fav! 

Oh and by the way, I took a test today on Facebook to see what Food Network star I am (this is the channel my TV is stuck on permanently). And guess who I was?! Did you guess yet??? My FAVORITE - Giada from Everyday Italian! I love her. She is simple and healthy - both which I love. 

OK back to Deb's great recipe. Really liked the Bisquick in this one.

3c grated zucchini

1 small onion, chopped

1c Bisquick

4 eggs, whisked

1/2c vegetable oil

1/2c Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp parsley

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp chopped fresh chives

1 refrigerated pie crust

Fit pie crust into deep dish, 9inch pie plate.  Mix all ingredients and pour into pie shell.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top and filling is firm.

I was really happy with the way the pie turned out. It was a little messy to cut and put on plates but tasty regardless and very simple. I served it with a side salad and piece of whole grain bread. I also liked that it cost me a mere $12 to make this dinner which will carry us over 2 more nights! So thats two bucks per meal a night. Rediculous and Fabulous all at the same time! Makes 6 servings.

Taylor Swift, I just lub her.

What a cutie Taylor is! I love her CD, which is in my CD player now actually! I snagged this on Perez's site today and I agree with him, she looks great but I can't believe she's only 18. She looks very mature in these pics and I really want all of these dresses! I'm sure her parents are proud she has clothes on unlike a lot of singers/actresses her age! 

House Hunters/Property Virgins

Dave and I are always watching HGTV and we love House Hunters and Property Virgins. If you havent watched these shows, it's addictive and you should definitely watch them! I love seeing the different cities too. 

Ahhhhh summer. Let the cook outs begin!

I'm really looking forward to summer cook outs and although I dont have a grill of my own I'd still like to have a summer get together. Perhaps the girls and some margaritas and a night instead. If I were going to a cook out I would love to bring my friend Fran's pasta salad, a 7 layer bar, and maybe some other summer recipes I've been waiting to try. OH and I almost forgot Aunt Leslie's blueberry cobbler, so yummy. And easy! Basically I just want to be invited to some BBQ's so that I can try my hand at new recipes :)

So Sweet

Look at Kristin's recap of my OOBER cute Birthday Bash in the Park! Can't recall if I posted the photos on here or not but it was the cutest picnic ever put on by Debbie and my girlfriends from work. They did such a great job surprising me and the set up was fantastic. I think a weekly lunch together is becoming a tradition and if the rain doesnt stop us, we try to make it an outside gathering!

Girls Lunch

My girls came over for lunch yesterday and Kristen (thisridecalledlife.blogspot.com) was in charge of making everything. She brought turkey and bacon wraps that hit the spot along with a cheese dip and strawberries for dessert. Oh and she also brought us back to our childhood by serving us Kool Aid ha!

Ah Ha!

I've got internet! Thanks to Time Warner and their 12 month $10 discount deal - we are in business! Hip hip, Hoory! Now instead of hours at Panera Bread, I am writing you from my comfy sofa. Now I am not dissing on Panera by any means because they really have been good to me and it's a great place to go and get out of the house. However, having this convenience is really grand, I'm not gonna lie! :)

Florentine Frittata

So Dave and I have been doing two different whole body cleanses over the past few weeks and I am just finishing up mine. I can only eat veggies really so I searched the cookbooks and found a great alternative to all the salads I'd been eating. Its from cooking light so it's a healthy one too!

Florentine Frittata

2T   water

1/2t dried basil

1/2t  black pepper

1/4t  salt

1/4t  dried oregano

1 16oz. egg substitute

1 10oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2T  unsalted butter

2c  thinly sliced vadalia onion

2c  frozen hash browns

1 7oz. bottle of roasted red peppers (if you can't find this at the store, which you will not find them at Walmart but perhaps Harris Teeter, you can put them under the broiler in a dish with a 1/2 cup of water in the bottom and cover it for 10-20 min depending on your oven's speed, mines slow! they will soften and they ll be ready wen the peels start coming off)

3/4c  crumbled feta cheese

combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl and set aside

melt butter in a cast iron skillet or a non stick skillet

add onion and saute for 5 min

add hash browns and saute for 9 min, stirring

pour egg mixture in and let it set up or approx 7 min, eggs should become firm and arrange the peppers on the top

preheat broiler

cover pan's handle with aluminum foil

sprinkle dish with feta

broil for 5 min or until cheese has browned slightly

enjoy!

serves 5

7.5 grams of fat

265 calories

great with a sald tossed with balsamic dressing 

Oriental Glazin'

I love Salmon but the more I had it, the more I need to change it up! We have been salad crazy lately and I thought I'd try this glaze I found in real simple magazine. It turned out wonderfully.

• 2 medium pieces of salmon
  


• 1/4 c brown sugar
  


• 2 Tb low sodium soy sauce

Bake salmon on 400 for 10-15 minutes until flakey. Mix sugar and soy. Put glaze on salmon at the 10 minute mark.

I served it over a salad withmixed greens, toasted almond slivers, chinese noodles, toasted seseme seeds, and green peas. I topped it with Trader Joe's Fat Free seseme dressing. We cleaned our plates!

Coach Me!

Gosh oh gosh oh gosh. IF ONLY I could afford a Coach handbag! My friend Sarah sports their bags and sunglasses on a daily basis. I've never really been into them until I saw her recent purchase in a pretty coral pink. The ones above are my favorite colors and I like that one style in particlar. If you've not seen their new arrivals to drool over - go check them out!

Lidibits

Too bad this place is in California.. perhaps they ship? I love their lil two-bite desserts! They'd be great for weddings - gifts for guests - etc. They even have mini lattice pies (see previous wedding and pie conversation 4/21). AND the apple cheesecake lidibits look SO delicious! See Elizabethan Desserts for some sweet incentives!

Spring = Scarves? Really?

Ok so they are really called a "gauze wrap". I am really fond of these as I do love a good pashmina in the winter. And Ann Taylor says you can pair them with a suit! An amazing accessory for the warm months!  

Yummy Cupcakes

I think I am getting "my look". Check out my order from this weekend: carrot cake, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.

Laid off. Fired. Let go. Canned.

On a personal note, yesterday I was laid off my job thanks to the wonderful economic situation we are in.  With that said, I'm not sure how much I will be able to keep up with my blog because one, the girl next door whose internet I stole - moved this weekend, and two, I'm on the job hunt! But I will promise you this, I will try my best! NOW... if you know of anyone needing cupcakes or nannying in Charlotte - holler at this girl! ;)

HGTV GREEN Home 2009

Okay, I'm obsessed. Not saying that I'd like to move to Florida however, I WOULD take this home in a heart beat! It's eco friendly AND I LOVE the decor!!! I'm entering to win this house every day!!

Margarita Cupcakes

My friend Ashley is having us over at her new place, in MY neighborhood, for a fiesta! She's going to do a taco bar and have strawberry margaritas! I'm kind of bummed because Dave and I just started doing the 'Cleanse' - his plan is not eating - my plan is suppliments with eating healthy. SO this kind of limits my 'fun intake' tonight. BUT I had the perfect excuse to make these Margarita Cupcakes for the occassion! Hannah gave me the cupcake wrappers and boxes for my birthday and I've been waiting for a chance to use them (even though my Birthday was a mere 2 weeks ago!).