Finally a taste of pumpkin

I have been waiting patiently to start baking some pumpkin treats until the weather cools down, and well I finally had my first taste of pumpkin! Last weekend the kids and I made the Trader Joe's Pumpkin bread, so easy and so yummy. ( I love that they have their bright yellow Tilly's t-shirts on :) After drooling over so many recipes on Pinterest I came across a recipe for Pumpkin croissants and I finally made them tonight. Let me tell you, it was pure pumpkin heaven and the best part is that I get to enjoy them for breakfast also. So this is my start to pumpkin everything for the next month until I am so over pumpkin and I will move onto peppermint and hot cocoa for Christmas!

Mini Pumpkin Croissants

2 Pillsbury Crescent rolls
1 cup Pumpkin (NOT pie filling)
1/2 block of cream cheese (4 oz)
4 T sugar
1 T pumpkin pie spice

Beat together the pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar and spice until soft and fluffy
Roll out the crescent rolls and cut them into small small triangles
Spread the mixture on the dough - I used a pretty good amount for each one
Roll up the dough into a croissant (yes it will be messy)

In a separate bowl, combine 4 T sugar and 1 T pumpkin pie spice (or as much to your liking)
Once the croissants are rolled up, roll them in the sugar mixture and place on baking sheet
Bake on 375 degrees for 13-16 minutes

Heaven!

Until next time...
{Lynnae}

Tea Party by English Rose Teas

Who doesn't love a tea party?!? I am married to a British man and I have the BEST Mother-in-love who hosts tea parties and she does a fabulous job! Everything is made from scratch (no stuff from the "box" here) and it is so delicious! A few weeks ago she hosted a tea party for all her friends and of course I was invited. It was a perfect day, sitting outside, sipping tea, eating lots of goodies and chatting with the girls. It was a day to be a girly girl and relax and my M-in-Love did a wonderful job! If you would like to throw a tea party you can check out her blog here at English Rose Teas.



Isn't she amazing!!! I can't wait to host my next Tea Party, my girlfriends and I always have a blast!

Until next time...

{Lynnae}

I love Cupcakes

I never turn down a cupcake and even more then eating them I love making them...baking is something I truly enjoy and since pinterest my cupcakes have gotten even more amazing....Feb was a busy month for me I made cute valentines cupcakes, and two really cute and super fun birthday cupcakes....

Happy Valentines Day!!!
My two favorite things red velvet cupcakes and conversation hearts


Happy Birthday Mike

White cupckaes placed carefully into starbucks cup cozy

Add a some white frosting a little green straw

 Finally add some carmel and you have the perfect cupcake for your favorite starbucks drinker!

Happy Birthday Karyn

Chocolate Cupcakes

Oreo Cookies and the most amazing cookie twister!

Orange and Brown Reese's

Tada the most amazing little owl cupcakes!

Perfect for my best friend and leap year baby Karyn!

<3 rosette

Recipes Tried & "To Make"

I have this huge problem, I am SO addicted to Pinterest, not only do I like that I can find every DIY project on just about anything, look at great photography ideas, find decorating tips for every room in the house, find some activities that will entertain my kiddos but I DO love that I can find some great recipes to try. We all get stuck in our own "dinner ruts" of the same meals but I have vowed to myself that I will try to make a new meal, side dish, breakfast or dessert once a week. So I figured I would share them with you and of course some future ones I would like to make as well.

Lemon Garlic Spaghetti (pic and recipe via I Nom Things)

I love this simple pasta dish, I used linguine instead of spaghetti and I added broccoli and next time I will add sun dried tomatoes, so yummy and easy!
 4 oz dry spaghetti
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp pine nuts (** note these are so expensive you can omit, it will still taste just as good)
5-6 basil leaves

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans (pic and recipe via Skinny Taste)

12 oz green beans, trimmed (make sure they are dry)

2 tsp olive oil

kosher salt + fresh cracked pepper to taste

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tbsp shredded Parmesan

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum for easy clean-up.
Lay green beans out on the baking sheet and drizzle oil over them. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss to evenly coat
(My kiddos LOVED the green beans, they asked the next day if I could make them again)

Homemade Baked Taco Shells (via Eating Well)

Yes I know you can easily buy taco shells already made, but they are from a box and I grew up with eating the greasy, fried taco shells. But I am a bit on the healthy side and I don't like frying foods, so I tried this and YES it works! I used my "cooling racks" and placed them in the oven but I made the mistake of putting them only over one bar, so do not do this, lay them over 2 bars or else you will get very tiny taco shells that do not open!

Directions: Working with 6 tortillas at a time, wrap in a barely damp cloth or paper towel and microwave on High until steamed, about 30 seconds. Lay the tortillas on a clean work surface and coat both sides with cooking spray. Then carefully drape each tortilla over two bars of the oven rack. Bake at 375°F until crispy, 7 to 10 minutes. ( I had mine in there for a little longer)

Baked Blueberry Oatmeal from Lottie + Doof

This looks so yummy and is on my "to bake" list! I love the blueberry oat bars from Starbucks, I am hoping it will taste like that....or maybe my sweet friend Vanessa will share her own recipe with us sometime :)

Whole Wheat  Brown Sugar Banana Bread Pancakes from How Sweet It Is

 Seriously these looks DELICIOUS!! Next weekend this will be my Sunday morning breakfast!! I will keep you posted on how yummy it is!

Rice Pudding from How Does She

I LOVE rice pudding, I don't know if it's because it reminds me of  my childhood, but something about it I just love and my sweet little girl shares the same love for it also. But funny I have yet to find a recipe I love or that has turned out good, so I hope this one doesn't disappoint, I mean how can it, it looks SO good!

So there you have it, my list of things I tried and my "to make list".  I will keep you posted on more "yummy" finds! If you have any great recipes you would like to share, we would love to hear them.

Until next time...
Lynnae

Birthday Treat!

My good friend and fellow blog buddy Lynnae just recently had a birthday...and she doesn't like cake so finding a treat to make her is a little tricky. However I found this receipe on pinterest (of course) for sugar cookie truffles....lynnae also doesn't like chocolate chips so sugar cookies were a perfect idea.

16 oz package of sugar cookies
1.5 oz room temp cream cheese
1 cup white chocolate chips
small chunk canning wax
sprinkles for garnish

Bake sugar cookies according to package....baking until crip but not burned.
Cool cookies completely on wire rack
Crumble the cookies into food processor....process until a fine crumble
Add cream cheese and process until mixture begins to hold together
Roll mixture into balls and place on baking sheet place in fridge or freezer for 30 to an hour
Melt canning wax and white chocolate and dip balls...add sprinkes as desired while chocolate is wet

mixture rolled into balls

double boiler for the chocolate

a little gold sparkle sprinkles and tada!

happy birthday blog buddy!!!

<3 Rosette

Sunday Sweet's

This week's treat isn't for hubby.... (sarah if you are reading this blog stop now you don't want to ruin your bday!!) its for my friend Sarah tommorow is her birthday and she loves funfetti cupcakes...and everything country!

fresh out of the oven....yummy...made a few extra for hubby!

Found this idea on pinterest ( of course) add pringles and either gum drops or my favorite dots to the top of frosted cupcakes.....

Tada super cute cowboy hat cupcakes!!!

A cute little sign for the office....and you have a perfect cowgirl birthday!!!

 Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

<3 rosette

Sunday Sweet's

This weeks treat is a christmas time tradition it started when I first met my hubby and his cousin shared the family peanut butter ball receipe. And every year since for the last 5 years we have made peanut butter balls.

Ingredients
24 oz chocolate chips
4 cups peanut butter
2 sticks of butter
2 pounds powdered sugar
1 stick gulf wax



Mix butter powdered sugar and peanut butter in mixer until well blended then roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet refridgerate for an hour

place wax and 24 oz  chocolate chips in a double boiler

Dip rolled balls in chocolate place back on cookie sheet

Refridgerate dipped peanut butter balls and Enjoy!

<3 rosette



Holiday Snacks...

The other night we had a Polar Express night and what better way to watch the movie than with Trader Joe's Cocoa Drizzled Kettle Corn (so delicious!) and Nutella hot cocoa with fresh whipped cream (yes I whipped it up fresh, it tastes SO much better then the canned stuff or even marshmallows!) We are HUGE fans of Nutella around here, my daughter would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we let her. So after seeing all the great recipes on Pinterest that you can do with Nutella I decided to give it a try. I heated up milk in a saucepan, put a scoop of Nutella, whisked until hot and melted and then enjoyed a little piece of heaven in a cup! Seriously I don't think I could ever go back to "regular" hot chocolate, it's that good!!

Until next time...
Lynnae

Sunday Sweet's

This weeks treat comes from my hubby's gradma Pat its a microwave peanut brittle. Every year I would buy my dad a box from sees candy, now I am hoping to learn to make my own in his honor.

Ingredients
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 Cup peanuts
1 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Mix sugar and syrup in micorwave safe dish place in microwave on high 4 minutes
Stir in peanuts micowave 3/5 min until light brown
Add butter and vanilla blending well microwave 1/2 minutes more
Add baking soda and gently stire until foamy

At this point work quickly to get brittle to a lightly greased cookie sheet spreading as best you can it sets up quickly! Allow to cool for an hour break and enjoy!

yummy!

<3 rosette

Sunday Sweet's

This week I found hubby's sweet in the June 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine ( which I totally love)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge....

14 oz can sweetened condensed mil
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
2 pinches of salt
2 cups peanut butter chips

This is a very easy and quick....simply line 8 inch pan with foil...brush with melt butter combine 3/4 cup condensed milk  with the chocolate chips and a pinch of salt in a  saucepan then in a seperate saucepan combine the remaining condensed milk and peanut butter chips with a pinch of salt put both pans over low heat and let cook stirring occasionally until they are both melted and smooth. Then spoon the chocolate and peanut butter into pan cut 8 inch piece of parchment paper with butter and place over fudge and press down lightly to fill in gaps and eliminate air pockets. refridgerate 45 mins.

I think next time I will swirl the chocolate and peanut butter rather then spoon....might more evenly distribute the chocolate and peanut butter...however still was rather tasty..

<3 rosette

Sunday Sweet's

This week's sweet comes from the Food Network...Peanut Butter Cheese Cake Minis..my hubby loves cheesecake and peanut butter...

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham craker crumbs ( i just crushed graham crackers I already had)
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter ( half a stick)
12 bite sized peanut butter cups (I used reese's)

Filling
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (room tempature)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

preheat oven to 350
place cupcake liners in pan

to make crust, in a bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter until crumbs are moist press crust in bottom of each muffin cup. Put 1 peanut butter cup into the center of each crust.

to make filling, beat cream cheese with mixer until fluffy, add sugar, flour, and vanilla best well. add eggs 1 at a time beating well after each. Spoon cream cheese over peanut butter cups.

Bake until just set, about 20 min.




Allow to cool completly before serving

mmmm yummy!

<3 rosette



Birthday Treats...



Oatmeal Pancakes from Biggest Loser Recipes



Strawberry and Blueberry Mini Tarts

Yummy!!!

Happy Birthday my love!

Last weekend was the hubby's birthday and of course I had to make sure he had a wonderful day! We made him a birthday banner which he loved. I made breakfast from a recipe I found on Pinterest of course, Oatmeal Pancakes (they were so delicious and healthy too!) As for dessert he wasn't up for a cake (which I was thrilled about because I personally am NOT a cake lover) so he wanted a fruit tart (which happens to be my personal favorite). Even though my hubby doesn't like making a big deal about birthdays, it was a perfect day for him. If it was up to me I would have thrown him a surprise party, but him and I are very different and so I always make his day special for whatever he wants to do, as it should be!

Oatmeal Pancake Recipe (from Biggest Loser)

Ingredients:

6 egg whites
1 cup rolled oats, dry
1 cup cottage cheese
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. Heat a griddle or large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. For each pancake pour 1/4 cup of batter onto griddle. Flip when they start to bubble. Cook until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batches, spraying the griddle as needed. Makes about 10 pancakes

Number of Servings: 3

Nutritional Info Per Serving:
181 Calories, 2.7g Fat, 10mg Cholesterol, 361mg Sodium, 20g Carbs, 2.8g Fiber

Mini Jam Tarts (Paula Deen recipe)

Filling:

1 (8oz package cream cheese, softened)

1/2 C sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

**Mini Tarts- I bought the pre-made tarts from the store (I know I should have made them, will do next time)

For the filling and topping: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Spread over the crust. Cut the strawberries  and blueberries and arrange on top of filling.

Till next time....

Lynnae