When Life Gives You Limes…

Make yourself a key lime cake!

At our school, we have two “special snack days.” If you’re on a diet, it is in your best interest to avoid this area of the school at all costs on these days. The teachers at our school pull out their best recipes {with probably the most calories} and bring them in for all to enjoy.

One of my favorite {of MANY} is a key lime cake made by one of our 1st grade teachers. On a whim, I decided I wanted to make it this week, and so I asked for the recipe.

Y’all, it was so easy!

Here’s what you need to make the cake…

• 1 box of Lemon Supreme cake mix
• 1 box of lime gelatin
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup of orange juice
• 4 eggs

For the glaze…

• Confectioners sugar
• Lemon flavor
• Milk

The instructions for the cake are as easy as this…

• Mix it all up!
• Follow the baking instructions on the box to find what to set your oven to and for how long to bake it. I made two round layers out of this recipe.
• Once the cake is finished baking, mix up the ingredients for the glaze together. I put each cake layer on a plate to cool. Then, I poured the glaze over the top. Then, I transferred the first layer onto my cake plate for the next step that I added.

I then decided to follow Trisha Yearwood’s recipe and make a cream cheese icing with some lime flavoring to “pretty” it up. Don’t put it on too quick after the glaze is put on! You’ll be fighting a losing battle.

For the icing, which is totally optional, you will need to follow these directions…

• 1 stick of  butter, room temperature
• 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 (1-lb) box confectioners’ sugar
• Lime juice for flavoring

Cream the butter and cream cheese. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until the mixture is smooth and easy to spread. Spread the icing between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake.

If you did it all right, you should be eating one of the most moist cakes you will ever eat! I’ve may or may have not eaten a slice every night. My pants are begging me to stop, but it’s SO GOOD!

The Most Fattening Cookies…..Ever!

I’ve been browsing Pinterest quite often over the past couple of weeks. I must have a record for the most pinned things. It’s ridiculous really. While making my grocery list for the month, I thought I would make a couple of extra things aside from the regular menu list. Yes, I make a menu to figure out what we’re going to eat for the month. No need in wasting money!

Anyhow…my sweet tooth took over, and I was all about some “boyfriend cookies”.

Look delicious enough for you? If you’re on diet or counting calories or whatever, just go ahead and hit the red x at the top of the page. No need to tempt you any further! I’m sure one cookie would count for your entire amount of calories for the day. It’s insanely good!

So, here’s the recipe….

If you try them, let me know how you like them! Beware though because you can’t stop at one.

A 50th Birthday Celebration

Last week was one of the busiest weeks I have had in quite a while, and I was beginning to stress out. Why? My mom was turning 50, and we were having a surprise birthday party on a day after her birthday. Good heavens! I concocted more “fibs” last week than I have in my entire life. First of all, my sister had to make a trip to Pensacola on a day that I wasn’t crazy busy. So, we went to Pensacola and bought all of the food we needed. Thank you, Sam’s Club! We lied about where we were and what we were doing. We even got my poor grandmother involved in taking her out on her birthday because we were all going to go to supper and do something small, so she wouldn’t suspect anything. Then, we found out afterwards from my dad that he already had a decoy birthday supper in place for her. Therefore, we had to come up with another plan to ditch the previous plans my grandmother made.

My poor mama….she probably thought she was the least important person in the world. I didn’t even see her on her birthday. I sent her a gift with my dad who was stowing away her birthday present from him at my house, so she would be getting something at the surprise party. With that said, she didn’t get one darn thing from him that day either. On Friday, I called her and asked her about her birthday. Of course, she bragged on her dear friend who provided the decoy party, so I knew she was totally let down.

The lies continued on Saturday. I had my husband make “fake” phone calls to get them to come to the L House where we were hosting the party. I didn’t even call her for fear of giving the whole thing away. Basically, we all worked together to make this thing happen and really surprise  her! I feel she was almost ready to kill us all….deservingly so.

Once we finally got her there, we couldn’t get her to come inside. She thought she was there with my dad picking up money from Colby while we were at a party. Since she wasn’t invited, she didn’t want to impose. We eventually sent my niece out there to bring her inside. Aly made sure we were aware that she was on her way in!

Pay attention to Aly’s warning! It was hilarious!

Once we finally got her inside, everyone had a wonderful time sharing food and celebrating my mom and their memories of her. I am so blessed to have a mother like her, and I am thankful for all she has done for me. I am glad we were able to do something for her unexpected that she would truly enjoy and see the love around her from others.

Also, I made this really terrific drink for the party that I found the recipe off of {none other} than Pinterest.

The recipe is as follows:

12 oz. of frozen {but thawed} Strawberry Daiquiri Mix

1 liter of strawberry flavored sparkling water

1 pack of Strawberry Kool-Aid Mix

1 two liter 7-up or ginger ale

1 pack of frozen strawberries

Be sure to put all of the liquids in the refrigerator, so they will be cold before you serve. When ready to serve, mix the daiquiri mix and the kool-aid mix together. Make sure it is blended well. Then, slowly add in the sparkling water and ginger ale. You do not want all of the bubbles to be wasted on pouring it in. Poor slowly! Once all is added together, put in the frozen strawberries. They will serve as your ice cubes. You can then garnish drinks with the strawberries. Delish!

Some of you saw my wreath on Instagram, too. I will be doing a how-to post on it coming up.

Thanks to all who came and helped out!

P.S. If you’re looking for a great place in town to host a party, check out the L House! It’s so beautiful that decorations can be kept simple, and it will still look wonderful. You really can’t beat the tables and chairs either!

Tried and True Pinned Recipes

I’ve been mixing things up lately with meals. I was getting tired of cooking and eating the same things over and over. I was stuck in a rut, and I was ready to get out. I turned to Pinterest for some recipes that I thought would be good, and I have to say that I have been impressed with my choices so far. I haven’t taken the time to take any pictures, so I thought I would just share the links with you. These will definitely be regular meals in our house from now on.

{Monterrey Chicken}

With this recipe, I added a lot more cheese than it asked for. I layered it like so:

Chicken, BBQ sauce, cheese, tomatoes, bacon, green onions, cheese

{Lemon Baked Shrimp}

I used tiny shrimp when I made it instead of the larger shrimp. I really liked that the smaller shrimp soaked up the taste, but I’m sure the larger would work fine. It’s all in preference.

Honestly, I couldn’t find a recipe for this. All you do is line your sheet with aluminum foil. Melt a stick a butter in the oven at 350 degrees. Layer the shrimp and slices of lemon on the pan. Then, sprinkle dry zesty Italian seasoning mix over the shrimp. Cook for 15 minutes.

{Crock Pot Pork Chops}

This was so easy! I even had my in-laws over for this meal, and they loved it. The pork chops were unbelievably tender, which was great because I’m the world’s worst at over cooking pork. It was great for a Saturday. I just threw it in the crock pot and walked away. It was the mashed potatoes that took the longest, but that basically cooks itself, too.

Note: I didn’t roast my garlic for the potatoes.

{Shrimp and Grits}

O.M.G. This is one of the best meals that I have cooked…. EVER! It takes a lot of ingredients, but it is perfect for having guests over for dinner. That’s what I’m hoping to do with this meal this month. We have friends that are WAY overdue to coming over and enjoying a meal with us. I promise that this is a meal that you will not regret making.

Instead of using his seasoning mix, I used something that I found at the store. I also used Conecuh sausage instead of what was recommended by him.

{Parmesan Garlic Chicken}

This is an overall simple recipe that doesn’t take a lot of time or ingredients. It’s been approved by the husband.

I hope this gives you some ideas for dinner this week. I know that some of these will be on our plates at one time or the other this month.

Multi-Tasking: Pork Chops and Rice

Am I the only one that loves dinner that cooks itself allowing for more time to get all of the other chores done? I hate having to stand over a stove watching food.When I have to do that, I have to wait to finish all of the other things on the unending to-do list. I like to multi-task at its best.

This recipe is one of my mom’s, and I love it. The husband loves it, too. I’ve finally got it down to an art with the time and temperature for the oven, so I figured I would share it with you.

Ingredients:

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

4 boneless pork chops

1 cup rice

1 can Beef Consomme’

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Season pork chops to taste. Personally, I use Nalty’s Seasoning. Cook pork chops in skillet until cooked thoroughly.

Put rice, onion, and bell pepper into large casserole dish.

This next part can be confusing, so pay close attention. It will involve the Beef Consomme’ and water. On the package of rice, it states how much water to add to the rice. INSTEAD of adding just water, you will make that amount the amount of liquid needed. Therefore, measure the beef consomme’. Then, add the amount of water needed to equal the rest of the amount of liquid needed.

Here’s an example of how it worked out for me:

My rice bag called for 2 cups of water. My beef consomme’ measured out to be 1 cup. Then, I knew to add one cup of water to it as well to make the total of 2 cups.

I hope I just didn’t lose you.

After you’ve added in the liquids to the casserole dish, add in the cooked pork chops. Cover the dish with tin foil. Insert into the oven for 30 minutes.

Around the 30 minute mark, check the dish to make sure that the rice has soaked up the liquids. You don’t want your rice to be undercooked, but you don’t want it to be dry either. It’s a tricky process. For me though, 30 minutes at 400 degrees was perfect.

It’s a pretty quick dinner solution! I hope you all give it a shot and try it! Let me know how you like it!

Simple as Pie

This pie couldn’t be any simpler to make. I have made it numerous times, and it always seems to go over great with those inhaling it. Some slices even disappear and are hid so that others do not eat it all before they get a chance to get a piece. There’s nothing to making it though. If you’re looking for a quick pie to whip up in 15 minutes, back in 15 minutes, and let refrigerate for the rest of the time…..this is the pie you’ve been looking for.

Ingredients:

Graham cracker pie crust

(2) 14 oz. cans of Eagle Brand condensed milk

1 cup key lime or regular lime juice

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 lime

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the condensed milk, eggs, and lime juice together. Whisk until well blended. Add to pie shell and bake for 15 minutes.

After the pie has baked, refrigerate for at least 2 hours. After it is chilled, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix together. Spread the topping on top of the pie. Then, cut the lime into wedges and add to the top.

Note:

I sometimes add a little more powdered sugar to the sour cream. I also do not put nearly all of the topping on the pie. I am not a huge fan of tons of the topping, so I just put enough to give the taste and cover it properly. It’s not “gooped” on.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Check, Check, and Check

Last week {or was it the week before?}, I promised you the fruit recipe that was served at a shower that I recently co-hosted for my dear friend, Erin. I’m doing some cleaning up around the house and am ready to toss this recipe that is scratched on paper. The only way to do that though is to record it permanently on here.

Ingredients:

Fruit:  Strawberries, Blueberries, Grapes {Red and white}, Kiwi, & Peaches

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon corn starch

1/2 cup orange juice

1/3 cup water

1/8 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons flour

Directions:

Cut fruit and set aside.

Mix other ingredients into a saucepan. Heat until thick. Pour over the fruit.

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In other news, I have checked a couple of more things off of the 101 Things to Do in 1,001 Days.

Number 28 on the list was to take the GRE. After doing a little research, I decided that I’d rather take the shorter route, so I opted for the MAT instead. I’m not going to lie. That test was no joke. I just did the best I could and didn’t worry about it after that. From what I’ve understood, they really don’t hold it against you as long as you take your course work seriously and make good grades. Seeing as how I’ve made it through my first semester with a 4.0 with three classes, I don’t think they’re going to kick me out.

Also, I’ve checked off number 54, which was to go to a concert. While I have no pictures to prove it, over the summer a friend and I went to see Sara Evans. Great concert! The girl has quite a voice on her!

Last, today I checked off number 78, which was to send a treat to the fire department. Colby has been gone for well over a week now, but has thankfully returned home. As a welcome back and I’m-so-glad-to-see-you’re-back surprise, I made a key lime pie. Folks, you won’t believe how easy it is to make! I’m hoping it was devoured by the boys tonight, and I sincerely hope that it tasted as good as it usually does. I’ll share the recipe with you later. Maybe it won’t take me until next week to get to it again.

I can’t wait until next weekend. It’s the first shower that I’m hosting on my own at my own house. Plus, it is a three-day weekend. I’m thinking that there’s going to be a lot of fall crafting going on and possibly planting of some new, fresh flowers. I’m in the crafting mood, and I’m simply waiting on pay day to be able to fulfill my need.

I hope you all have a terrific week!

What’s for supper?

One of my favorite meals to cook around my house is bacon wrapped chicken. It’s very simple to make, and it tastes delicious.

I made it last night for supper since I had a bad case of the headache. I do not know why I have these every now and again, but they make my day miserable! That’s not what I’m here to talk about though.

Back to the chicken! Here is what you need:

Chicken breasts  {no set amount, just how many you think you will eat}

Dark brown sugar sprinkled with red pepper on top

{I used light brown sugar ONLY because I didn’t have any dark on hand}

And don’t forget the pack of bacon and toothpicks {which I left out of the picture}

After you have all of your ingredients together, lay everything out like an assembly line…

Chicken….then bacon….then toothpicks….brown sugar mixture….pan

Just a personal preference, but I line my metal pan with aluminum foil. You want to make sure your pan can hold plenty of liquid since the sugar will melt making lots of liquid.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Stick it in your oven for around 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it.

Once you take it out, it will look just like this…

Don’t forget about the contest!

It ends Friday! You must become a follower and comment!

Good luck!

Give It a Go

My mom has cooked this meal for quite some time, and I love it for two reasons:

1. Tastes great!
2. Very easy to make!

I cooked it the other night and somehow had enough sense left in me after a long day at school to pick my camera up and take pictures to share with you.

Before I give you the recipe, I must say that I can’t wait for tomorrow to be over. It’s been a long and trying week. To top everything off, we have parent-teacher conferences tomorrow afternoon.

I’m so thankful that we have Friday off though! That is the silver lining for sure. Friday is full of projects! Painting, painting, and more painting! Hanging blinds! Putting up peg board in the shed for a bit of organization! Oh, how I love organization! It makes my heart sing!

Okay….enough of that!

Here it goes! I hope you all give it a go and try it! You won’t regret it.

Pork Chops and Rice

• 4 boneless pork chops
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 cup of rice
• 1/2 onion
• 1 can beef consomme
• water
• lemon pepper seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Season uncooked pork chops with lemon pepper seasoning {or whatever you prefer}. Add pork chops to a griddle to brown pork chops on both sides until almost cooked through.

While the pork chops are being browned, put the rice in a large casserole dish since I’m all great with measurements and everything. Make sure it evenly spread in the pan.

Once your pork chops are lightly browned on both sides, remove from the griddle and evenly place in dish on top of rice.

Then, chop your onion and bell pepper up.

Add it all to the casserole dish.

Once that is added, look at the bag your rice came in. Look to see how much liquid was required to cook the rice if you were cooking it in a regular pot.

As you can see on my bag, it calls for 2 cups of water. Therefore, I have to make sure I have 2 cups of liquid for this recipe, which will be a mixture of beef consomme and water.

Pour your beef consomme into a 2 cup measuring cup. Then, add water to make up the remaining amount of liquid needed.

Once measured, add this into your casserole dish as well.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Add to the heated oven and cook for 35 to 45ish minutes.

Sidenote: I didn’t leave mine in quite long enough, so my rice wasn’t cooked as well as I would like it to be. The goal is to have the rice cooked but not dry it out. You still want some liquidy-goodness.

If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family has over the years.

Thanks Mom!

Santa Fe Soup

I don’t know where you all are, but where I am {in South Alabama} it has been quite chilly here compared to our usual 60ish degree days in December. Just the other day I was wearing SHORTS in DECEMBER! Alabama weather is nuts!

Since it has been so cold I have turned to the always reliable soup. Santa Fe Soup. Yummy soup. Soup that you feel go all the way down. All the way into your bones. A lovely feeling it is.

You definitely need finish this post, go gather the ingredients, and make this for supper tonight. You will not regret it. Here it goes!

Santa Fe Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground turkey
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 packages ranch dressing mix
• 2 packages taco seasoning mix
• 1 (16 oz) can black beans
• 1 (16 oz) can kidney beans
• 1 (16 oz) can pinto beans
• 1 (16 oz) can rotel tomatoes {undrained}
• 1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes {undrained}
• 2 (16 oz) cans white corn
• 2 cups water

Directions:

1. Cook meat and onion together until meat is browned in skillet.
2. Get a big pot out for the soup and transfer the meat mixture into the pot.
3. Stir ranch and taco mix into meat.
4. Add remaining ingredients.
5. Simmer for 2 hours.

Afterwards, you can garnish the soup with:

• Sour cream
• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• sliced green onions

Serve with tortilla chips.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Happy Tuesday! Just think…only three more days until the weekend! We’ll hold off on the singing until Friday though.

To celebrate Father’s Day, I decided to cook supper for my dad and Colby’s dad. I worked very hard on that meal all afternoon, and I ended up forgetting to take any pictures. I have to say that I’m a little bummed about that.

I picked my menu ahead of time, and this is what it consisted of:

• Italian Salad
• Lemon-Thyme Chicken
• Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
• Potato Salad
• Key Lime Pie

The Bacon Wrapped Asparagus was a hit! I originally got the recipe from the Tasty Kitchen blog, which you can see by clicking on this link. I, however, am going to provide you with my version because I had to tweak it a little bit.

The picture you see above is not my handy-work and those are not my hands. The picture is from the Tasty Kitchen website.

On to the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 bundle of asparagus
• 1 package of bacon

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wrap one slice of bacon around each stalk of asparagus. If you choose, you can also wrap one slice of bacon around two stalks of asparagus. {This is what I preferred to do.}

Put the bacon wrapped asparagus on a cookie sheet making sure to leave a small space between each stalk. Put the cookie sheet in the oven and cook for 20 – 25 minutes. You want the bacon to be browning before you take it out.

Put it on the cutest serving dish you have and watch it be devoured. You will love it!

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This recipe is so simple, and it really is delicious. Give it a try, even if you think you don’t like asparagus. I didn’t think I did either until I gave it a shot {thanks, Abby!}.

Number 93- Check

I’ve officially learned a new recipe, which was the 93rd item on my 101 Things to Do in 1,001 Days!

We’re low on groceries around the house, and I was desperately searching for a recipe that only used ingredients that I had around the kitchen because I DID NOT want to go to the grocery store. Oh how I hate to go buy groceries for just an item or two!

Anyway…I found this recipe at FoodNetwork.Com.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

You may click on the picture above to be taken to the direct link for the recipe for a printable version of it. However, I’m going to share the recipe just like it is on the website.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground chuck
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1 (8 oz.) package sharp Cheddar, grated
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup
1 (3 oz) can French fried onions

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck and the next 8 ingredients, mixing well.
In a small bowl, combine the ketchup and mustard. Stir 1/4 cup ketchup mixture into meat mixture, reserving remaining ketchup mixture.

Press meat mixture into a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan, or shape into a loaf and place on a rack in a broiler pan. Spread remaining ketchup mixture over loaf. Bake 40 minutes. Top with French fried onions; bake another 10 to 15 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink.

My Notes
For the bacon, I cheated a bit and cooked the bacon in the microwave. Then, I chopped it in my mini-food chopper. It’s too hard to do any other way when you’re in a hurry.

For the cheese, I cheated here, too. I didn’t have the exact amount of one kind of cheese, so I mixed two kinds that were just about the same {mild and sharp}. Still tasted good!
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As a matter of fact, I told another teacher about it at school. She made it for her family times three. Even her picky-eater daughter ate it! It’s definitely worth a try.

It’s way better than regular, old meatloaf!

Mexican Casserole

I made this for dinner last night, and it must be one of my very favorite recipes.

Reason #1: It requires very little effort.

Reason #2: It requires very few ingredients.

Reason #3: It meets my  need for mexican food every now and then.

So, without further adue, here's the recipe:

What you need:

You're also going to need:

1 lb. of ground beef

1 package of taco seasoning

2 tablespoons of butter

How to Make It:

First, you need to heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Next, brown your meat in a skillet. Once the meat has cooked through, drain the meat.

Then, follow the directions on the taco seasoning pack.

Your meat should look something like this.

If you're a multi-tasker, you can also start the water for your rice.

For the rice I bought, it requires 3 1/2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of water to come to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil, pour in the rice, stir, and cover. Cook for 20 minutes on medium to low heat.

While the rice and meat is cooking, you can also dice up the cheese into small cubes.

After everything has been prepared, it is time to mix in the remaining ingredients. Pick your favorite casserole dish and combine the meat, rice, cheese cubes, and Rotel tomatoes.

Mix all of the ingredients together until they are evenly dispersed throughout the dish.

Now is time to crush up handfuls of Doritos and spread them evenly over the top of the mixture.

Cover and put in the oven for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!