{week 27}

Happy 4th of July!!!

We eased back into normalcy after being away most of the month with holiday celebrations & enjoyed having Michael home for a day mid-week. Although it's been raining cats & dogs here most of the week, we did get outside for a few minutes of sunshine one morning and got to do sparklers on Thursday evening. The girls & I made a red, white & blue milkshake & a red, white & blue pound cake (strawberries, vanilla ice-cream/yogurt & blueberries). We had a lazy Saturday where Cade, practiced monster kisses with Daddy and Cassidy practiced reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to Michael & Kalea. We ended with week with our first rousing family game of Twister. We're glad so glad to be home!

{strawberry yogurt cake}

I came across this post via Pinterest last weekend after getting home from Elliot's Farm nearby Gran & Poppy's house, where we were spending Easter. 

We saw llamas, peacocks, chickens, roosters, goats & more with Saige & Poppy!

The girls were beyond thrilled when they realized that taste testing was allowed!

After all the hard work, we were rewarded with fresh strawberry ice-cream. De-li-cious!

All said, each girl picked nearly a full bucket & we ended up with close to 8 lbs of strawberries which we split between Gran, Aunt Dawn & us. And, even though we picked at them for the rest of the weekend there were still a lot left today - and they were starting to turn. It was time to make strawberry cake!

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tb. lemon juice, divided
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 8 oz. plain Greek yogurt
• 12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside. Note: Do not leave bowl of flour in front of two year old & turn around. Blowing will be irresistible & the mess will be large.

2.  With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.

3.  Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter. Note: Turn around again & the 2 year old will start taking pictures with your camera!

4.  Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

5.  Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

6.  Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake. Eat!!

 

Printable recipe can be found here!

{cookies with daddy}

We were kind of short on Christmas cookies this year, but we did make a little bit of effort.

We made Mommy's favorite, peanut butter blossoms,

reindeer cookies, courtesy of Pinterest, 

& vanishing oatmeal raisin/chocolate chip cookies.
Which I didn't take a picture of because they disappeared too quickly. And also, I forgot.

What are your favorite, kid friendly Christmas or everyday cookie recipes?

project 365 photo: 09.20.2011 {cake}

I let Cassidy pick out dessert while we were at the grocery store. Of course she chose cupcakes from the bakery that had a foot of bright red dyed icing on top. Too bad I didn't think to set parameters before letting her loose on that decision! But, since those type things are a rare occurrence in our house, we just went with it.

Both girls ate the fastest & least whiny dinner that they've had in the past three months. While we were eating Michael reminded Kalea that her birthday was coming up soon. I asked, "How old will you be, Kalea? How many will you be on your birthday?" She looked over at the counter & said, "Birfday! Cake! I eat!!!" At least she has the important facts down!

After dinner the girls lost their tops (not my first time at this rodeo, thank you very much!) & dug in. We just cracked up with the amount of cake & icing that didn't quite make it inside their mouths....it was on the table, chairs, floor, up their arms, on their hands & somehow some even ended up on the wall! At least we know for sure that they enjoyed it!

project 365 photo: 09.10.2011 {monkey bread}

Ingredients:

2 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick butter (1 cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch tube pan.

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into quarters (use a pizza cutter!) and place biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Shake well.

3. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan. If you are using raisins, place them among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.

5. Bake for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Pull apart and enjoy!

- Posted from my iPhone

project 365 photo: 06.27.2011 {popsicles}

Summer wouldn't be summertime if it weren't for drippy, sticky popsicles! Mmm!

- Posted from my iPhone

project 365 photo: 06.20.2011 {mess}

project 365 photo: 06.11.2011 {out to eat}

project 365 photo: 04.04.2011

You know summer is on the way when strawberry prices start going down & shortcake is on the menu. Cassidy helped me made my favorite, easy Bisquick shortcake recipe the other night. Everyone, especially Kalea, enjoyed the yummy treat with whipped cream for dessert!

Bisquick biscuits:

• 2 1/3 cups Bisquick baking mix
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp sugar

Heat oven to 425°F. Stir baking mix, melted butter, milk, and 3 Tbsp of sugar in a mixing bowl until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls on to a greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 6 biscuits.