Successful Experiments!

I love to cook and bake, so I am always looking for new recipes to try out. Some of these experiments have turned out to be good and some not so good. Peanut Butter Carmel Brownies and Mexicali Burgers were successes!

I was watching the Bobby Flay on Throwdown. I don't normally watch the show, but it was brownies...who can resist brownies. After seeing it, I knew I needed to try the brownies!

Ella captured some pictures of me while I was baking. I love my Great Grandmother's apron. Kevin was testing the peanut butter Carmel to make sure it was ok...ROTTEN he said. I don't think we should share!


Dinner is always hard. We get tired of eating the same stuff, so I am always looking for new ways to cook the basics (chicken, pork chops, and ground turkey). I have to admit that ground turkey is the hardest for me to figure out. I remembered that the Biggest Loser is always talking about the Jenni-O site and the recipes that are there and that is where I found the burger recipe!

This recipe called for crushed Doritos....Ella loved taking the rolling pin and mashing them up for me. I love this recipe....5 ingredients!



After making my shopping list, it was off to the store to get all the necessary ingredients! Let the experimenting begin.

Here are the links for the recipes.

Peanut Butter Carmel Brownies

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/peanut-butter-caramel-swirled-brownies-recipe/index.html

Mexicali Burgers

http://www.jennieo.com/recipes/recipe_detail.aspx?Id=1261

Uncle Kenny's Jello

A few weeks ago we were at Amy and Nate's for dinner and they made the BEST jello dessert! I got the recipe and all of the ingredients and was going to make it for at home. Well....I for some reason could not follow the recipe and messed it up. I added to much water so it was jello, but not fizzy like it was suppose to be because of the soda. I was pretty sure I messed it up, but stuck it in the fridge in the garage to let it set up and see what would happen. I sort of forgot about it...I knew it was there but was afraid I messed it up. Fast forward a day...I asked Ella to get the potatoes out of the fridge. When she can back she was messing with her fingers. I just knew she had stuck her fingers in the jello. I went out to put the potatoes back and this is what I found. Got to love having a 7 year old.

Summer Craft Projects continue....

So, I have a 7 year old who thinks she has to be entertained every waking moment of summer break. I have been planning little projects for us to do each day. We are having a blast making different projects. Today's project...Tissue Art! A little watery glue and lots of tissue paper makes for a master piece!

As I sit here typing I can hear Ella babbling to herself while she colors for our next project. Next, we are off on our bikes to the store to pick up cake mixes. Then to the beach for some swimming this afternoon.

Arts and Craft Project #1

SOOOOO it is summer and I need to find plenty of ways to entertain Ella for the next 7 or so weeks. I searched through all of my craft books and found this one.





I did not have to worry about supplies...we are surrounded by rocks here and we have plenty of paint and brushes. Turned out to be a good little project that lasted about an hour! Wonder what we should do tomorrow????

Westminster Butterfly Pavallion

We took Ella to the Butterfly Pavilion when we were in Denver this past weekend. The pavilion a 7000 square foot green house filled with a variety of different plants and 1200 butterflies. There are probably 50-60 different types of butterflies flitting around. Ella had a blast running around and taking pictures of the flowers, animals, and of course all the butterflies. I probably should not have worn a red hat. The butterflies were attracted to it, and if I stood still long enough one would land on me. Which totally freaked me out. One landed on Kevin's finger...he of course was okay with this. Ella was bummed that one did not land on her. She was determined to get one...she finally did. We spent almost 2 hours walking around, it was a great adventure for a Saturday afternoon. Check out out video!

Westminster Butterfly Pavilion

What to do?????

We had 5 OVER RIPE bananas...banana bread would be the norm, but it seems like I have baking a lot of that lately. So I searched on the Internet and found a banana roll (pumpkin roll or in my family a pumpkin burrito). Ok, I will head to the store and get some cream cheese. The recipe looks easy, and I know it will be yummy. Seriously, anything covered with cream cheese frosting is going to be good. I tell Kevin and he says, "I liked the muffins you made last time." Really...it was just banana bread that I made in a muffin tin. SOOOOOOO guess what I made.

3 dozen banana muffins. Since we will be going to Denver in 3 days, I will have to put them into Ziploc bags and stick them in the freezer.

Yes, Amy...you can send Nate over to steal some while we are gone.

Maybe next time I will make the banana roll cake smothered in cream cheese frosting.

Chef Ella

On Saturday morning, Ella told me she wanted to make dinner. Okay! She looked through some cookbooks and made her menu: blueberry muffins for an appetizer, ravioli for dinner, and a smoothie for dessert. It took a lot for me not to "help"!

Ella started baking right after we got home from lunch. She pulled everything out to make her blueberry muffins in her easy bake oven. She read the directions and set herself up at the kitchen table and got to work.

It was like she had ants in her pants waiting for daddy to get home so she could start making dinner. This is the first time she has boiled water and had to put the ingredients in all by herself. Normally she tells me it is too hot, but not today.

Ta Da! Dinner is served!

Ella's 2nd favorite thing to eat!

Smoothie time! Yes, I let her use a sharp knife. She only tried to cut her finger off once. I think my sharp intake of breath freaked her and Kevin out more than anything!

Dessert is ready...."Mom, I think this tastes as good as Keva Juice!" I wonder what will be on the menu for next week?

34 things

I saw this on another blog and thought it was a great idea. I have actually had this done since my girls' scrapbook weekend, but life has been CHAOTIC!!! This is a list of the 34 things I hope to accomplish in the next year.

1. Make a souffle 2. Eat lobster in San Fransisco 3. Zip line in Hawaii 4. Go Salsa dancing 5. See Toby Keith 6. Canoe the gorge 7. Run the entire Turkey Trot 8. Make tamales 9. Take Ella to her 1st hockey game 10. Go to a Jazz festival/concert 11. Plant a tomato plant 12. Make jam 13. Go to the mission in Tucson 14. Knit a scarf 15. Crochet Ella blanket 16. Power Teaching 17. Have a pillow fight 18. Pay it forward in a fast food line 19. Wax museum in Las Vegas 20. $10,000 in savings 21. Hike Sara's Crack to the water 22. Eat sushi 23. Finish 320 layouts 24. New family picture 25. Do 3 pull-ups 26. Finish cross stitching the Christmas stockings. 27. Finish putting up the baseboards 28. Hang the travel pictures in the bathroom 29. Update blog weekly 30. Finish P90x and repeat 31. Date night once a month 32. New counter tops 33. Hike the Grand Canyon 34. Update birthday calendar

Fingers crossed I will get this done!

Playing Instead of Working!

Monday was a perfect day to be outside and enjoying the wonderful weather here in Lake Havasu. Check out the view in our self portrait. We were amazed at how many boats were out on a Monday, when it isn't even summer yet. I guess we were not the only people not at work.

I love being able to sit outside and soak up the sun while eating yummy food! The Sandbar Grill is a great place with an awesome view of the lake and the food is fattening and good! Jalapenos and Pepper Jack on a juicy burger...perfect beach food!

The sign might have said DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS....but we did not listen (or read). This little guy had a broken beak, so he really NEEDED our help! I have never had a roadrunner get this close before. I was scared he might get my toes.

Can't wait for the next sunny Monday!