Minnie Mouse Birthday Cake

My little girl turned 2 this year and we celebrated the day with a Minnie Mouse birthday party! We had a Minnie Mouse birthday party last year for my other daughter and you can check out my decorations here. The one thing I added this year was a Minnie Mouse cake. If you know me you know I struggle with cakes...I can  barely frost a cupcake. This year for the girls birthdays I did both cakes and I'm super proud of myself! This Minnie Mouse cake was super easy! Make a round cake, use cupcakes for the ears and the easiest part was the frosting in a can (like the kind of can you get whipped cream in) Cover the top and sides and add a tulle bow and your done! Super cute and super easy!

 

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

Found this recipe while browsing pinterest the other day. I had all the ingredients so I gave it a try...HUGE success! It's so yummy and will definitely be a common meal around our house! Plus it's a crock pot meal and super easy! The original recipe calls for lime juice...I had lemon so I used that and it was fabulous!

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas 
1 onion, sliced
3 sweet peppers, sliced
1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs
½ cup chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cumin
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons of lime or lemon juice
Tortillas
Fajita fixings

Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot. Lay chicken on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over top. Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder. Pour the lime/lemon juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Shred meat when done and serve on tortillas with your choice of fixings.

You can find the original recipe post with step by step pictures here.

So yummy! Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

My husband is a huge chili fan and he now says this is his favorite! It's also a hit with our girls and it's super easy so it doesn't get any better than that!

Here's what you need:
3 cans great northern beans rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken - I usually put in 2-3 chicken breasts and shred them before you serve.
1 15 oz jar alfredo sauce
1 can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 cup sour cream
1 small sweet yellow pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbsp ground cumin.

I can't do hot stuff...like my mouth burns for hours, I turn bright red and sweat bullets for an hour after, but if you want it hot (and when I say hot I mean hot for me and mild for you) add 2 cans green chilies

Put it all in the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Easy right? Enjoy!

Show & Share {15} and my NOT so traditional pumpkin pie

I hope you all are having a fabulous week so far and are getting as excited as I am about Thanksgiving! Spending time with family and a fabulous meal and my favorite pumpkin pie! I'm not a pie person. I can't do soft warm fruit...the texture of it just doesn't sit right with me. So before we get to the link party I'm going to quickly share my favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

4 oz cream cheese softened
1 Tablespoon milk
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Cup cool whip
1 graham cracker pie crust
2 small packages jello-vanilla instant pudding
1 Cup milk
16 oz pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Mix cream cheese, 1 Tbsp milk and sugar. Mix until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of cool whip. Poor onto crust. Mix 1 cup cold milk, pumpkin, pudding packets and spices. Mix until until completely mixed. Poor on top of the cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

I hope you all have a very happy and safe thanksgiving! I'm very thankful that I have gotten to meet so many inspiring and talented people through blogging. I'm thankful for you that come visit and comment and support me on this journey! Enjoy this weekend with those that matter most and be sure to tell them why you're thankful for them!

Happy Halloween & Dinner In A Pumpkin

Happy Halloween friends!

My little Rapunzel and my busy little bumble bee

What are you doing today? Do you have any Halloween traditions? We started our day with Jack -O-Lantern pancakes with special homemade syrup. Dinner on Halloween is big at our house! Every year since I was little we've had a family favorite recipe: Dinner In A Pumpkin. I'm hear to share it with you!


Dinner In A Pumpkin
Medium pumpkin cleaned out (save those seeds for homemade pumpkin seeds)
1 onion chopped
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 cups of cooked rice
1 pound ground beef
2 Tablespoons oil
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons brown sugar


In skillet saute onions in oil until tender. Add ground beef, cook until done and drain if needed. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Put in pumpkin and place pumpkin top back on. Place pumpkin on a baking sheet or in a baking dish (if its in a baking dish add a little water so the dish won't burn). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does! Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Special Homemade Syrup

You have to try this syrup! It is the BEST ever and you will never use store bought syrup ever again! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! It tastes so good on every
thing! A few of our favorites to go with it is cinnamon french toast and scones. YUMMY and it's so easy! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

1/2 Cup butter
3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Melt butter in pot. Add sugar. Add buttermilk. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Add baking soda.

Cowboy Caviar and Chicken Enchiladas

OK everyone so I am not a cook by any means. You would die if you knew what my husband and I ate when we were first married! Let's just say that frozen fish sticks and tater tots were a common meal. It makes me cringe just thinking about it! Anyways, cooking for me is creating in the kitchen. I started to like cooking and got more into it and brave enough to try it about four years ago. My favorite thing was to watch Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals. It really helped me to see how she did things and I learned what some new things were. I like easy recipes, but I like them fresh and I like to know what's in it. With young and growing kids I also want to make sure that I'm offering the things that are really healthy for them and will teach them good eating habits not only at meal times, but also at snack time. Now I'm not a crazy no sugar fanatic. I like my cookies and chocolate, but I've always been a pretty healthy eater and I know that it's important to put healthy good foods into your body. Here's one of my family's favorite meals. It's super simple and probably everyone already has the recipe, but I'm putting it in here for a reference place for my family if we ever needed it. I hope you enjoy!

Salsa "Cowboy Caviar"
1 can corn drained
1 can black beans drained
1 can black eye peas drained
1 can diced tomatoes drained (I use fresh when I can)
4-6 green onions chopped
1 bunch cilantro chopped
2-3 avocados chopped
1 packaged Italian Dressing mix (follow directions on package, but flip flop oil and vinegar measurements)

Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups cooked chicken shredded (I cook mine in the crockpot all day and it makes it super easy to shred)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup shredded cheese
8 tortillas whole wheat

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Fill tortillas and roll in baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.