grandmas funeral

mural

Me & Scott

Me & Jeff

Me & Mikie Fitzpatrick

All of the guys

homemade chicken noodle soup

I picked up this chicken noodle soup kit from Central Market for $5.99. And since I am sick today, I thought it would be perfect to make. It comes with everything you need except the chicken....which I left out since I don't really like the actual chicken in chicken noodle soup.
First you put the oil in and let it heat up. Then you add the veggies, carrots, celery and onions. You also throw in some thyme and bay leaf.

You saute it on Med-High for about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent.

Then you add 1 quart chicken broth and simmer with the lid on for about 10 minutes until the veggies are tender.

Once the veggies are ready you are supposed to add some chicken and cook a bit longer to cook the chicken....but I skipped that part and added the noodle and fresh herbs.

Then it's ready to go. Doesn't that look awesome?!

It tasted pretty good too!

New egg molds!

I got our new egg molds right after we moved but I haven't had the chance to use them yet.

This is Emma's lunch. She got sushi sandwiches (most people call them faux sushi, but Emma calls them sushi sandwiches), 1/2 a hard boiled egg, flower shaped cucumbers with ranch, mandarin oranges and apples.
Here are all of my new molds. A car, bunny, bear and fish. There are more molds out there and I will eventually collect them all.

Dr. Suess breakfast at IHOP

I almost forgot to blog about this! We celebrated Easter on Saturday (due to hubby having to work on Sunday), so we decided to take the kid's to IHOP for their Dr. Suess breakfasts and then to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who (fantastic movie).

Here are the Who-Cakes. Short cake pancakes in all sizes with boysenberrry and blueberry glaze on top with rainbow choclate chips and a pink lollipop. Both my son and oldest daughter loved them. Really really sweet though.
Here is what my son ordered. It's the green eggs and ham with a side of Who-Cakes. The "green" eggs were actually eggs with creamed spinach. I ordered the same thing and although the taste was different, I still liked them overall. But I wouldn't order them that way again.
And we can't forget the Beezelnut Splash! Basically it's Sprite with Jello cubes in it. None of my 3 kids liked it. I don't drink soda so I can't tell you what it tastes like but my hubby said that it definitely didn't taste like Sprite.

Overall it was a fun visit and I would recommend trying it. Especially if it's right before you see the movie. On a side note: hubby was terribly embarressed that I purposely took my camera with me so I could take pictures of the food. I suggested he get used to it. lol

You can also visit IHOP's website and print out some activity sheets. I did this after we saw the movie and my son really liked them. Dr. Suess Activity Sheets

Easter Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I made these for dessert for Easter. Now the carrot cake is just a mix from a box (I was short on time). But the frosting is homemade cream cheese frosting and it was fantastic!

My SIL declined a cupcake when I offered her one. She told me that she didn't care much for carrot cake. I told her that she had to try it because it just might change her mind. It sure did! lol But it wasn't so much the cupcake as it was the frosting. Next time I want a lime cupcake with the frosting so it will taste like lime cheesecake....mmmmm

Here is the recipe:

Cream Cheese Frosting
12 ounces or 1-1/2 packages of Philly cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
4-5 cups sifted powdered sugar

1. Bring butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours.
2. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment.
3. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
4. Add 4 cups of the powdered sugar and beat until combined.
5. Add more sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like


I got the recipe from my cupcake hero, Cupcake Bakeshop

*NEW* Hello Kitty bento

I found this Hello Kitty box on ebay and I had to get it for Emma. It is so darn cute!!!! My mom thought that I paid too much for it but I don't...not at all. $7.50 for the box and $7.50 for shipping. That isn't too much.

It is the same size as the Cinnamoroll (thank you Shannon for telling me who that was) box is the same size...made by the same company actually. My sis in law was surprised at how small the boxes actually are. It looks like a lot of food in pictures but it's not. For those of you who aren't familiar with the sizes of the particular boxes I use, just look at the food in them. Look at the grapes or strawberries....that should give a good size comparison. And if I outstretch my hand, the box is smaller than that (although I do have really large hands for a girl..almost as big as my hubby's)....anyway, I just thought I would share.

My camera batteries are dying and part of my charger came up missing in the move, so I'm not sure when I can post more pics....soon though, I can't live without my camera for long...it's like oxygen, or crack, whichever one you choose...lol

bento over the weekend

Okay, my sis in law came to visit us in our new house this weekend. My oldest daughter wanted a bento and since my SIL had never seen one in person, I made one for her too. lol She's 21.
This one is Emma's. She had ranch, carrots, strawberries, sushi sandwich and cheese heart. (It's in her new Hello Kitty bento box...I will blog that in a minute)!
This was for my SIL Nicole. Strawberries, heart sandwiches, small salad, one (yes, one) carrot and ranch. She told me that I had put a lot of strawberries in it. I laughed and told her there were actually only 4 strawberries in hers, I just cut them up small.

Feb 22 dinner for Emma

My friend Ashley helped me put together this one. She cooked the chicken and veggies and I arranged it all. This is my favorite one so far because of how colorful it is. But she didn't eat the nectarines.

Strawberries, nectarine cut up, flower and heart shaped rice (with my new rice mold), cooked chicken in between the rice, edamame, broccoli, carrot balls and soy sauce in the little Hello Kitty container