“Heart”y Valentine’s Day Breakfast {SUPER EASY}

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If you are like me you probably see a million adorable things on Pinterest for every holiday and have great intentions of doing them all, or at least 500,000 of them.  But then, suddenly, it’s the night before the holiday and you’ve done NONE of them! Life has gotten away from you once again, and you are overwhelmed and unprepared and disappointed you didn’t get to do the million cute things you wanted to for the holiday the next day.

Well, never fear.  Holidays aren’t really about doing a million cute things.  They are about celebrating the good things in your life!  You don’t have to make something extravagant that you saw on Pinterest to let your family know how much you love them.  Simple things can say “I Love You” just as effectively as elaborate ones.

So, here is a very easy and fun Valentine’s breakfast idea for you, just in case on the night of February 13th you realize you didn’t get to put together that extravagant plan you were hoping for.

Throw down a festive table cloth.  If you don’t have one that is ok, too.  Any red, white or pink will bring a festive feel.  Pick up some paper plates and napkins when you are at Wal-Mart or the Dollar store.  This will make it seem like you worked hard on this breakfast.

Here is the most awesome Valentine’s breakfast cereal ever!

Quaker Whole Hearts is essentially heart shaped Cheerios.  It isn’t super sugary so you won’t feel guilty about feeding it to your kids before school. And aren’t those hearts just so dang cute?

Put a little red food coloring in your milk jug and you will have pink milk for your cereal.

Then, since it IS a holiday, pick up some donut holes and print out this free printable to pop on top of the box!

(This printable is FREE!  I ask that you please share it on Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter if you are going to download it. THANK YOU!!  To download, please click HERE)

Slice up some strawberries to go on the cereal and call it good! My kids LOVED this breakfast last year.  We all sat down together and gave each other our Valentine’s.  I made these dry erase frames for my family members, inspired by a printable from Kiki @ Kiki & Company.  If you love them, you can make one yourself or buy them from Kiki.  She is a fabulous graphic designer who sells high quality prints that she makes herself!

And that is how you throw together an easy and fun Valentine’s breakfast that will make your kids feel special and loved.  I hope this is helpful!

What other fast and easy Valentine’s breakfast ideas do you have?

DELICIOUSLY EASY PUMPKIN MUFFINS {Recipe}

The other day after returning home from our 8 day trip back east, I looked at the calendar and realized I was supposed to bring snacks for my son’s preschool class.  That day was a field trip to a pumpkin farm.  The theme for the week was pumpkins, so I decided I could whip together some of those easy pumpkin muffins that just use canned pumpkin and a cake mix.  I’ve made them before and while they aren’t my favorite I figured they were good enough for a preschool class.

Well, I went into my pantry and saw a carrot cake mix and decided that would be a lot yummier.  As I got started mixing the cake mix and pumpkin together, I decided to doctor up the recipe a bit to give it more flavor and make it yummier.

The result was super moist and really delicious pumpkin muffins!  I will definitely be making these again soon so I wanted to share the recipe with you all.  They are so easy and yummy!  Enjoy!

Recipe: Deliciously Easy Pumpkin Muffins

From the Kitchen of: Emily Nelson

Yield: 12 muffins or about 36 mini muffins

Ingredients:

• One carrot cake mix (just the dry ingredients)
• One 15 oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. nutmeg, ¼ tsp. ginger, pinch of cloves)
• 1/3 c. milk
• ½ c. unsweetened applesauce
• ½ c. dried cranberries
• ½ c chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate chips for this recipe)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Mix first five ingredients together with hand mixer. Stir in cranberries or chocolate chips. Bake in greased or lined muffin tins until the tops spring back when gently pressed with finger, about 18 minutes for mini muffins, 23-25 for regular muffins. No need for butter!!

LOVELY LITTLE PRINCESS BABY SHOWER {Party}

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You may have noticed the picture of my sister and her husband on the right side of my blog who are trying to adopt.  Well, in April, a beautiful baby girl miraculously came into their life! We couldn’t be more thrilled to have little Abigail in our family!  As soon as we found out she would be joining our family, I started planning her baby shower!  It was so fun to create this shower with little Abby in mind.  I decided to go with a princess theme and am thrilled with the way the shower turned out.

My sister, Amanda, her beautiful PRINCESS Abigail, and me.

INVITATION:

I created this invitation for the shower.  It is available for sale. Please see my Princess Shower Order Page  for details.

DECORATIONS:

I picked up a couple yards of this pink striped fabric from Home Fabrics for only about $5 a yard! It was the perfect backdrop for the food table. I used some other table cloths we had on hand for the other tables. On the food table a added a contact paper runner in the appropriate green color. I love adding a runner to a food table! You can also use wrapping paper to do this, which of course comes in tons of designs.

I chose light pink, hot pink, yellow, green, and charcoal for the color scheme.  I made cupcake toppers, banners, favor tags, food tags, and a couple signs.  These will all be available for sale as printable files. 

I also made paper chandeliers, which I think really added to the ambience.  I made little crown stickers for the cups, as well as iron-ons for the onesies on one of the banners.

I made this cute sign to put on the table by the front door where I placed the favors.

FOOD:

For this shower I thought it would be fun to do a yogurt parfait bar.  It was a big hit.  I had several types of fruit and yogurt, as well as granola, nuts, and coconut to mix in.  We also had jams and lemon curd to flavor the plain yogurt.  It is soooo yummy!  If you haven’t tried Greek yogurt I highly recommend it.  This is a really easy way to throw a party as there is little preparation other than cutting fruit and toasting nuts and coconut, and it looks super cute!

For dessert we had some delicious lemon cupcakes with raspberry frosting, as well as some sugar cookies.  I used a tutorial from Our Best Bites to decorate them.  It was so fun and really not hard at all!  I love how they turned out!We also had little chocolate mousse cups.

 

To drink we had raspberry sherbet punch which is not only delicious, it is the perfect pink color to go with the shower!

It was so fun to get to throw this shower for my sister and her little miracle baby.  I can’t wait to see Abby again in October and kiss those chubby little cheeks!

Check out this blessing gown my AMAZING sister crocheted for Abby!  Jennifer, my sister, doesn’t really even know how to crochet.  She just taught herself so she could make this gown! I wish I had a close up of the details! She has a blog where she posts things she does around the house and let me tell you, she is AMAZING!  Her blog is www.amasterofnone.blogspot.com. Stop by and say hello and make sure to look for the bathroom vanity she MADE BY HAND OUT OF STOCK LUMBER for her boys bathroom!  It is awesome!

TO ORDER ITEMS FROM THIS SHOWER, PLEASE SEE MY

 PRINCESS SHOWER ORDER PAGE

Flickr Tags: baby shower,princess,pink,printables,parfait bar

FRIED EGGS the YUMMY WAY

Well, it seems all I have time for amidst entertaining four kids (my teenager is living with his dad right now) and trying to clean up after the messes they make while they are all home is cooking.  I just can’t seem to get to any crafts.  But, we all have to eat so cooking seems to be happening regularly!

This morning my son asked for fried eggs so I thought I would photograph how I make them.  I know people can be very opinionated about the correct way to cook eggs.  I only like eggs that I cook or my husband cooks for me.  I do not eat eggs at restaurants.  “Why?” you ask.  Because I don’t like slimy eggs!!!

I had to chuckle when I saw a recipe for “Frizzled Eggs” in some magazine awhile back.  They acted like it was some new method of cooking eggs, and yet I have been cooking them this way since childhood!  For those who don’t like eggs, give these a try.  They are seriously so yummy!

STEP 1- Put your stove on HIGH!  That’s right people.  I know chefs say you should cook eggs over a gentle heat.  But doing that gives you slimy super soft eggs.  So crank up the heat girls!

STEP 2- Don’t be afraid of butter.  Butter is your friend.  Butter gives your eggs delicious flavor.  Put a good teaspoon in the pan for two eggs.  Let it got nice and hot and bubbly.

STEP 3- Crack your eggs into the pan.  I like to use this little frying pan for making one or two eggs.  Make sure you use a non-stick pan.  Use the corner of your spatula to break up the thick part of the white around the yolk and spread it out a bit.  The thinner the white is, the better.

STEP 4- Season your eggs with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Lots of pepper cause it is yummy!  AACHOO!

STEP 5- Cook your eggs till the white is no longer clear and you have some nice browning around the edges.

STEP 6- CAREFULLY turn your eggs over using a large spatula.  Cook them on the other side for just 5-10 seconds if you like a soft yolk, or longer if you like your yolk more well done.  See that brown stuff?  It is yummy!  Don’t listen to chefs who say eggs should never have brown on them.  I wholeheartedly disagree!

STEP 7- Remove the eggs from the pan onto a plate.  Serve with toast if desired.

STEP 8- ENJOY!

BLUEBERRY BANANA BREAD with STREUSEL TOPPING {Recipe}

I’ve been seeing all these cute Pie in a Jar and Cupcake in a Jar ideas and thought it would be fun to make one of my favorite recipes in a jar.   My banana bread recipe is to die for.  It is super moist and sweet and really is more like a dense cake than a bread.  It won my husband’s heart when we were dating!  At least he likes to say that to get me to make it.  It is my favorite way to use up the oodles of bananas that go brown before we get around to eating them.

BTW, here is a tip for you.  Putting bananas in the fridge will turn the skins brown, but it will keep the actual banana from ripening as quickly as it does on the counter.

I decided to make banana bread in a jar, and while I as making them I decided to add some fresh blueberries and a streusel topping.  Let me tell you, these are dangerous!  I think I could have eaten half of them or more!

Here they are fresh out of the oven.  Aren’t they adorable?  Mason jars are made to be heated to high temps, so they are perfect for cooking in.  I had to search high and low for these 1 cup wide mouth jars and finally found them at Ace Hardware for $10 for 12 of them.

To package them I used my Silhouette to cut a scalloped circle with black vinyl.  I then wrote the name of them on the label with some chalk.  I have found that black vinyl works well for chalkboard.  If I had a chalk pencil (like you use for sewing) it would have made the writing much easier!

Here is my recipe.  Let me know how you like it!

Recipe: Banana Bread

Yield: 2 Loaves (or 12 8 oz. jars)

Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ c. flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. butter, softened
• 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
• ½ c. white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 c. ripe mashed bananas (about 7-8 medium)
• 2 tsps. pure vanilla extract
• 1 c. chopped walnuts (optional) {I did not use these with the blueberries}
• 1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries {will need to cook longer if using frozen}

Streusel topping:

• 1/2 c. rolled oats (quick or regular)

• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar

• 1/4 c. flour

• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/4 c. cold butter cut into cubes

• 1/2 c. chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions: In a medium bowl combine first three ingredients with a wire whisk. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs and beat for a couple minutes till it looks fluffy. Add bananas and vanilla and mix well. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Add the flour mixture and walnuts, then blend on low until just combined. Don’t over mix. Pour into bread pans or jars sprayed with cooking spray.

Make the streusel topping:  Mix the first 4 ingredients together. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or even your fingers. Add the chopped nuts.

Top the banana bread with a layer of streusel topping.  If making bread in jars, you will have some topping left over.

Bake on center rack of a 325° oven for 60-70 minutes for loaves, or at 325° for 40-50 minutes.  Jars should be placed on a baking sheet to keep them from tipping.  A toothpick inserted in center should come out clean (unless it hits a chunk of banana).  Bread should pull away from sides slightly and it should be a medium golden brown. Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Turn bread pans on their sides to allow them to cool completely.  Leave in jars until completely cooled before securing lids.

The MAN CAKE {Recipe}

Well, its time for me to tell you about the Man Cake I made for Father’s Day breakfast.  I got the idea from a blog called Creative Tryals.  You can see her post about her Man Cake HERE.  I loved the idea and knew this would be something my husband would adore.  So, I made this for him for breakfast.  Here is how it turned out:

It was DELICIOUS and super fun!  Here is how I made it:

I gathered all the ingredients.  I knew there had to be a method to my madness to have it all be done at the right time and warm when we ate it. 

My kids PIGGED OUT on this.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen them eat so much breakfast.  My husband and I also had generous portions and there was still a couple pieces left over.  You could make a smaller one if you had less people.  For this one, I used 8 eggs, 1 pound of bacon, 1 cup cream, 1 pint strawberries, and about 3/4 of that bag of hash browns.  I made a big bowl of pancake batter so I wouldn’t run out in the middle.  There was extra so we made it into more pancakes after breakfast to save for later.  So, here is how I handled it all:

1. Get bacon and hash browns cooking on the stove (I use butter to cook my hash browns).  To cook my bacon to the prefect doneness I cut the whole package in half so the pieces aren’t so long.  Then I put my cast iron skillet over high heat and put all the bacon slices into the pan one by one.  They will be on top of each other but that is ok.  After it gets going I turn it down to medium to medium high and stir it often.  Just before it looks perfectly done, I take it out and let it drain on paper towels.  It seems to cook a bit more once its out of the pan.

2.  While the bacon and hash browns were cooking, I prepared the pancake batter and washed and sliced (large slices, about 3 per strawberry) the strawberries.  I whipped the cream and added some powdered sugar to it to sweeten it.  I had my son scramble the eggs in a bowl.

3.  Once the hash browns and bacon were done I put them in a 275 degree oven to stay warm.  I also placed a cookie tray with a baking cooling rack on it to place the pancakes on as I got them done. (Please ignore my dirty pizza stone).

4.  Then I started on the pancakes.  I used a large skillet.  I sprayed the pan lightly with Pam and poured in some pancake batter, swirling the pan to spread it out to the very edges.  I also preheated a griddle pan on another burner and sprayed it lightly with Pam.  Pancakes should be cooked over a fairly low heat, no higher than medium.  Make sure your pan is preheated before you start though.  Once the pancakes was done on the one side, I flipped it over onto the griddle pan (my husbands idea!).  This worked well and I’m sure better than trying to flip it into the same pan.  Once the pancake was onto the griddle pan I started again with the next pancake in the skillet.  Once a pancake was done I placed it into the oven on my tray to keep it warm.  I made 5 pancakes but only ended up using 4 because I was afraid the whole thing would topple.  I think it worked well with only 4 because it kept the strawberries from getting really hot.

5. Once the last pancake was in the large skillet I used another burner to preheat my egg pan.  Once I got the skillet free and out of the way I moved the egg pan to that burner and started scrambling the eggs.

6.  Once the eggs were done it was time to assemble the cake.  I removed everything from the oven and used a large cake platter for the Man Cake.  I layered a pancake (buttered), hash browns, pancake (buttered), eggs, pancake (buttered), bacon, pancakes (buttered), strawberries, whipped cream, and a couple strawberries on top.

7.  We served the cake at the table, cutting it like a cake and topping each piece with maple syrup.  It was superb!  Here are my boys about to enjoy it!

I’m pretty sure the MAN CAKE will become a Father’s Day tradition.  It really made things special!