Pizza RollUps

I wanted pizza.  My kids wanted pizza.  I didn't want to have to pay! So, what's a mama next best option?  Create it! Only I didn't have any pizza dough and surely didn't feel like waiting the hour and a half for my break machine to make the dough for me.  I did, however, have some refrigerated crescents!!  So, that's what I did!!  My kids devoured them.  I had to hide the last 2 so daddy could try it!!!

Apple Cider Pancakes

I saw these on my news feed on Facebook this morning and immediately decided I was making them!!  The original recipe is from Buns In My Oven.  I changed it slightly and just used regular syrup. I also doubled it so I can freeze them for school mornings.  Below is the original measurements.   I may change it even more next time, but for now, I'm happy and full!! :D

Cheesy Egg Biscuit Casserole

The breakfast is so easy, so versatile, and so yummy, I knew I had to blog it!!!  You can change the ingredients up as you please and completely alter the outcome!!    My kids went crazy for it because it reminded them of the egg and cheese sandwiches I make but on a fork.  One child did mention that the eggs were "different"  and I will always agree that baked eggs are very different from scrambled eggs on the stove.  Next time, I will add some green onions and bacon!!!  Or green peppers!!   Or salsa!!!   and the list goes on!!  LoL  Anyway, you get the idea!!

Apple Cider Donut Bites

So, I saw this amazing picture in my Facebook feed from my cousin.  She had made these Baked Apple Cider Doughnut Holes and they looked great!!!  Of course, you know I HAD to ask for the recipe and informed her that if I made it, I was blogging it!  And here we are!!!  Mine look NOTHING like hers,  Especially since its supposed to be baked in a mini muffin pan that my darling husband had given to his cousin in Canada (don't ask how it even got there because that's a whole different story in itself!!) after promising to replace it with a newer and better one.  LOL  That never happened.  So, I made due with what I have!  and I'm HAPPY I did!!!  They are sooo yummy!!  I made them at 8pm last night and by this morning, there are only a few pieces left!!!!  Of course, these have so many variations to them!!  My hubby likes them without the cinnamon sugar coating (*GASP*  the horror!! I know!!  LOL). I like them best with just the tops covered in the coating and my kids, well of course, they like the WHOLE thing covered in coating the best!!  LOL  This recipe has alot of ingredients but is VERY easy to make!!

Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Here is yet another trial run for Thanksgiving!!  My house smelled sooooo good!!!!  I saw these first on Facebook and then did a Google Search for the recipe and found this one HERE.  Its REALLY good!!!  And will DEFINITELY be making these for Thanksgiving.  I LOVE pumpkin!!!!  Can't wait!!!!

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Happy Fall Everyone!!!   What does fall mean?  For me, it means one of my favorite ingredients!!  PUMPKIN!!!!   Can you tell I'm a little excited??  LOL  I also found out that I will be hosting Thanksgiving for my dear friend Jamie (she has guest blogged on here before) and her beautiful family!  Super Excited!!  Maybe we can cook up something amazing to blog about TOGETHER!!  But anyways!  Back to the topic at hand!  I have been on the look out for things I can make for their visit (squeal!!  yes, still super excited!!).  I came across these from Pumpkin Snack Cakes from The Novice Chef.  What's not to love with pumpkin, cake, and only 90 calories a piece????  OH YEAH!!!  They came out amazing (except not quite as pretty as hers since I don't have the special pan to make them individualized) but that's ok, because the taste makes up for everything!!  Here ya go!!!

Almond Meringue Cookies

Hi everyone! Its Melody again from Coffee & Kahlua!
I'm going to share a holiday staple from my house, to yours today.
I've been baking these for a few years now and my family definitely expects these to be around the house come Autumn. They are super easy to make, Delicious, Light & Airy, & you can use so many different flavor combinations, It's great! This recipe usually makes 2 batches depending on size.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 Tsp Almond Emulsion
1 Tsp Cream of Tartar
3/4 cup sugar ( I tend to use less because I like mine less sweet)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 225
Whip egg whites on low until frothy, then add  Cream of Tartar slowly.

Continue to whip on low until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar & Almond emulsion & turn to medium speed & continue to whip until stiff peaks form & will stand up on their own. Spoon mix onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper & bake for 2 - 3 hours. Let cool for 1 hour before eating.

Enjoy these yummy cookies & feel free to share your experience with me on my blog!

S'mores Cake in a Mug!!!

So, the summer is coming to an end, huh?  The leaves are starting to change.  The days are getting shorter, the nights longer.  You start to need a jacket in the mornings until it warms up later.  BOO!!!  There are many things we will miss about summer.  but who says you have to give ALL of them up just because the weather is changing yet again?  One of my favorite is S'mores.  I LOVE them!! And Now i can have them ANYTIME I want (although I don't recommend eating this every day!!  or you will need quite a bit of time in the gym!!)  but it's SOOOO yummy!!!  I found this on How Sweet It Is's blog full of yummy things!!!  Here is my version, but feel free to check out her blog for more!!!  This was filling, I couldn't finish it!!!  so i put it in the fridge and at the rest for BREAKFAST!!   lol  Just place back in microwave for about 15-20 seconds and Yum Yum Yum!!!  lol

Homemade Griddle Sandwiches

Have you ever gotten a craving for a fast food but don't want to drive to get it?  or would rather not put in your body whatever crazy stuff they have in them?  I got this craving for those dreaded McDonald's Mcgriddle Egg Sandwiches.  I decided to make them myself.  You could use a prepared mix for the pancakes, or you can use the recipe I've already posted for Pancakes from scratch.   I am not giving measurements as it is to your discretion how much you want to make.  

Mini Chocolate Chip Brownies

Sooo, I know it's been FOREVER since I have posted anything on here, but I haven't forgotten!!! I have been racking my brain on interesting things I can post.  I saw a post a while ago on Facebook of brownies with chocolate chip cookies.  So I decided to try it myself.  Soooo yummy!!  Quite simple and the kids devoured them!!

Crockpot Ball-Tip Roast & A Mishap

Hello Pieces of Joj0 readers! This may amuse some of you (as it did my household last night) so I thought I'd share and give you the recipe as well. 

 There is a place down in the bay area here in California that sells a yummy marinated ball-tip called Kinders. I decided to try and make a recipe as close to theirs as I could. Their recipe is top secret so this wasn't an easy task and I spent a good month or more researching recipes and taste-testing to see if I could recreate it. (I have a pretty decent palate)

 I finally just decided to combine some of the ingredients I knew were in the recipe, with a few that I had guessed myself, along with some of go-to ingredients used in a typical beef rub. Here's where the mishap comes in. 

I have numerous recipes on my laptop and I keep them in a few places. Namely a pfd file where I write them out myself. So I go to the crock-pot and start measuring everything and dumping it in. My husband is kind of a picky eater so I always make a side of whatever sauce, dip, marinade etc for him to taste. So I let him taste this one and he HATED it. He got a very sour disgusted look on his face and I had no idea why and I said "Well its too late now because after I spooned your taste out I put the roast in." I figured he was just being picky and he doesn't like too many spices so that's what I chalked it up to. Well a few hours go by and I go to check the temp on the roast and let me tell you I did NOT like the smell coming from the crock-pot. So I took it out cut a piece off and hoped I wouldn't be disappointed. Let me tell you, It took one taste to realize what my problem was and why my husband didn't like it. It was lemon overkill! The marinade itself was  great flavor but I put in wayyyyy too much lemon,which made me scratch my head as I'm usually very careful about balancing my acids. Yet here I was standing there tasting a very lemony roast. So I walked over to the recipe I wrote out on my pfd file and everything seemed fine, until I realized that I had opened a recipe right next to it that called for 3X the lemon. Yep. I did that. LOL! I turned my laptop around and showed my husband who preceded to laugh his lemon hating butt off. So to counteract the acidity from the lemon I made a gravy to cover it and it actually turned out really good! Hubby was delighted with it and we dined happily. 

The recipe you see below is the right version of  my try at a copycat recipe for kinders ball-tip marinade. Its not as close as I'd like but practice makes progress! If you'd like the gravy recipe make sure you go to my blog HERE and get it after you read this. 

I used a 4 lb roast with this so you may need to adjust ingredients depending on how small or big the roast is you're using. Also, if you like to marinate your meat prior to cooking I would recommend 24 to 48 hours as balltip can be tough in certain areas depending on the cut and quality. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Sesame Oil

2 tsp of parsley 

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp ginger

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3 cloves of garlic

2 tsp coarse black pepper

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup Worcestershire

1/4 cup honey

2 cups Beef Broth

Directions:

Combine all wet ingredients into crock-pot and stir. Take dry ingredients and use processor or blender to mince. (I use this method to not only mince the garlic but to also infuse the flavors of the herbs and spices with the garlic) You can also add a little white wine to the processor just to make sure they marry well. 

Empty dry ingredient mix into crock-pot and stir well. Add roast to crock-pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 

The finished product with veggies and my homemade gravy

Chocolate Banana Ice Cream!!

This was a HUGE HUGE hit with my kids and my friends kids when they were here for a visit!!  Much healthier than regular ice cream!!!  Its also incredibly versatile and can be used with other flavors.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches

With tons of chocolate cream left over from the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups, I needed something to use up the leftover cream and had a small amount of cookie dough left so I decided to make tiny sandwiches.  Its pretty simple!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

I know I haven't been around much lately.  I have been uber busy planning yet another Houseparty!!  This one was Nerf Super Soakers & Cheetos!! Anyways, it was fun, and thankfully over so now I can post some of the yummy things I made!!! This one, I found on Pillsbury.com.  They are REALLY yummy and very versatile!!  And they were a HUGE hit!!!  Gone!!!  I only got one!!  LoL

Savory Seasoned Pork Chops On A Bed Of Rice

My hubby is an AMAZING cook.  Sometimes, I think he's in the wrong profession.  He is the one who taught me a lot of what I now know, or I'd still be living on pasta and the occasional bland egg.  Everything he cooks, never has a recipe.  He doesn't DO recipes.  However, I've taken a bunch of pics and hopefully you will get the gist of what he made tonight!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole Carb Free

Hey Everyone!! My friend Jamie has done it AGAIN!!!  Here is another AMAZING recipe!!!  Here she is!!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole Carb Free

Braided Spaghetti & Meatball Stuffed Bread

When you love carbs as much as I do, having the spaghetti IN the bread, just makes it 10x better!!  Amazing!!!  I saw a picture of it somewhere, can't remember if it was Facebook or Pinterest.  Either way, there were no instructions, so this is how I did it!  My extremely hard to please hubby, took this out of the oven and threatened to eat it all before I got home!!!    It was extremely tasty and quite versatile to fit your own tastes and preferences.

75 Likes Giveaway!!!!

Hey everyone!!!!  I was finally able to set up my Giveaway for 75 Likes on the Facebook page!!!!  Way to go!!!!  For this giveaway, I'm giving two very different lip products!!  both homemade by me!!!  The first is Peppermint Hot Cocoa Lip Balm.  It contains Beeswax, Shea butter, Coconut Oil, Peppermint Extract, Cocoa Powder, and Vitamin E.  The second one, is called Honey Punch Lip Gloss.  It contains Petroleum Jelly, Organic Honey, and Fruit Punch Crystals.


This Giveaway will go until May 31st at 10am est.  At which point a winner will be generated and notified.  You have 36 hours to respond or then another winner will be picked.  Good Luck Everyone!!!

Entry-Form

Savory Saturdays With Melody - Banana Foster

I am going to be starting a new segment here on the blog. We are calling it Savory Saturdays with Melody! ! You can find her over at Coffee & Kahlua. She makes some awesome recipes that I cant wait for her to share with you all. Here is her first. Its called Banana Foster. Something I had NEVER heard of until Melody sent it!!! Here she is!!!  

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The final picture here is the banana foster over lemon custard ice cream (taste approved by Harmony & Matt lol).

Zucchini Sticks

Zucchini sticks!  Yum!!  Takes me back to when I was a kid and we used to go to the beach and for dinner out to a restaurant with these as appetizers!!!  If I ever get the courage to bake them and see how they do, I'll come back and update this post!!!  For now, they are fried.   Here goes!!

Teacher Supply Cake

My oldest is in year round school (munchkin will be joining him in July).  Because he was tracked out last week, it is teacher appreciation week this week.  Today was supply day.  So, I scoured Pinterest and the net looking for ideas.  Saw some pics of supply cakes and decided to give it a whirl.  Quite easy tho frustrating all at once at some points.)  I went to the dollar store and bought my supplies: Crayons, markers, dry erase markers, highlighters, erasers, tissue paper, double-sided tape, and containers (3 different sizes).  I used the tape to help hold the items in place while I attached the ribbons I already had here at home.  Then I stacked them and made a bunch of Tissue Paper Flowers to decorate and hide any problem areas.  It was a hit!!!  Soo glad!!!  Will definitely be doing this again!!!

The Liebster Award

What is the Liebster Award?

 Thank You Coffee & Kahlua

This award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers. Thank you 

Coffee & Kahlua

I have 33 followers so this award is much appreciated! 

Gourmet herb stuffed slow cooked roast and veggies

Have you ever made something SOO delish that it was gone before you could remember to get the final picture of it??  That is what happened to my amazing friend Jamie with her family!  Today I'm featuring Jamie as my guest blogger!  I have tasted some of Jamie's creations.  AMAZING!!!  Is all I can really say!  Here she is with her Gourmet herb stuffed slow cooked roast and veg (220 cal WLS serving).

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Tissue Paper Flowers

I made these last night for the first time for munchkin's preschool teacher's birthday!  was looking for something to give her with his cute little birthday card he made for her.  I have to say, I'm quite impressed with these!!!  Very pretty and super easy!!!

Apple Puppets For Letter A Craft

This one was a HUGE hit!!  So huge, I forgot to take pics during the process and only remembers the after shot (while they were drying so the kids HAD to leave them alone!!  LOL)  It is also pretty quick.

Letter A Craft For Preschoolers

During my much too brief stint of helping a friend in her in home day care, We introduced the letter A.

The first craft we did was the longest.  I decided to do this with such pretty colors since it is also spring.  Now, I cut my Letter A out, but I think it is easier for the children if you just leave it on the paper.  I also pre-cut all the tissue paper and twisted them so all the children had to do was glue it on the letter.

Tasty Baked Meatballs

I found these meatballs a couple of years ago after finding out the box I used by McCormick was no longer being carried.  I LOVE the taste of these little meatballs!!  They can be used plain as an appetizer for a party, or in your favorite tomato sauce for an amazing Italian dinner!

Blooming Pizza Bread

One of the things I Love to eat is bread.  One of my downsides.  lol  Especially when it comes to recipes like this one!! I found this over at The Girl Who Ate Everything's blog.  Although my pictures aren't nearly as pretty as hers, I LOVE the taste!!!  So did my kids and hubby!!!  I also made it for the recent Hotwheels Spinshotz House Party where I did half pepperoni, half Italian Cheeses.  The possibilities are ENDLESS with this bread!!!

Updates and Spinshotz Party!!

Hi everyone!!!!  I'm sorry I haven't been posting on here the last 2 weeks.  Its been a bit crazy. We are all still trying to adjust.  I started a new job last week working with a very dear friend of mine in her in home daycare and I've pretty much thrown myself into it entirely!  She worries I will burn myself out, BUT, this is something I LOVE to do.  If I can help just ONE child, I'm happy!  Anyways, for now, it's 3 days a week.  I"m hoping for more soon because I'm already attached to each child there.

Something else I would like to update on, I must sincerely apologize to the winner of my giveaway as i have still not made it to post office.  Gretchen, I will get that out as soon as possible.

Also, I am looking into updating the blog look!!  I've become bored with it's current design and would like to change it up a bit.  We shall see what i can come up with!

And, lastly, I'd like to mention about our Hotwheels Spinshotz House Party last week.  I was given the opportunity by houseparty.com to host a party featuring the new hotwheels spinshotz.  I think all the kids had a GREAT time!!  Here's a few pictures!!!

Here is what I received from them for free.

Chocolate Cake for ONE!!

OMG!!  I had been craving chocolate cake for weeks!  Took a look over at ChocolatecoveredKatie.com to see what I could do.  Boy was I NOT disappointed!!!  I found this one minute chocolate cake while I was there.  I had all the ingredients, so why not??  YUM YUM YUM!!!  It was DELISH!!!

Baked Mac & Cheese Balls

Hmmm...Yummmm....oh sorry, still enjoying how YUMMY these were!!!  and to think its so much better for you than what most people do with FRYING them.  Now, I did borrow the breading ingredients and technique from Skinnytaste.com's Baked Mozzarella Sticks which I have already made HERE.  I'm SO glad I did!!  You can really use ANY macaroni and cheese Recipe you want but since I had some Mom's Sneaky Mac & Cheese left over, I decided to use that.

Brownie Batter Pancakes

Hi Everyone!  First, a HUGE Shout out to all my newest fans and followers!!! I'm SOOO thrilled!!  You have no idea how excited I am for all of this!!!  If you haven't already, don't forget to sign up for the 50 Facebook Fans Giveaway!!!  Now, on to the next order of business!!  A dear friend of mine brought skinnytaste.com to my attention and of course, one of the very first thing is see when I go on there are these brownie batter pancakes!  "picture me wiping drool off my chin*!!  Yes, that was me!  So i decided to give it a go!!!  Mine have warm peanut butter drizzled over them!!!  My boys DEVOURED the entire plate!!!  and still wanted more! I'd say it's a winner!! and what's more, ITS HEALTHY!!!  TRIPLE score in my book!!!

Here they are!!!

50 Facebook Fans Giveaway!!!

I am SOOOO  happy to announce that The Facebook Page reached 50 likes!  Now we can do a GIVEAWAY!!!  Here is the Prize!!!!

Homemade Brown Sugar and Vanilla Body Scrub

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The delicious smelling sugar scrub contains brown sugar, granualted sugar, sunflower oil, vanilla extract, and vitamin E oil.   I LOVE this scrub!  Use it all over, or only on your knees, elbows, heels, anyplace that is rough!  When i use it all over, I find that i don't have to use lotion after my shower, because my skin is already super smooth and moisturized!  Not to mention is smells DELICIOUS!!!  So, SIGN UP!!  and Don't forget to continue to share the facebook page!  Next Facebook giveaway is for 75 likes!!!

Mom's Sneaky Mac & Cheese

Do you have picky kids?  If not, maybe you are one of the LUCKY ones!!!  But even if you ARE lucky, who doesn't need more veggies in their diet???  And having it completely undetected in this popular comfort food?  that's just a TRIPLE plus!!  The whole process of sneaking veggies and fruits into food isn't a "new" thing for me.  About 2 years ago, I discovered The Sneaky Chef.  I still use some of her purees in our foods now.  One of them being the "orange puree".  BUT, I didn't have any made today.  What I DID have, was some stage 1 baby food my daughter hasn't really touched since she only wants OUR food now.  LIGHT BULB!!!!  I used Carrots and Squash!!  can you see it?  NOPE, can you taste it?  Even BIGGER NOPE!!!   LoL  My Kids inhaled this in a matter of minutes!  Thank goodness the recipe left me with a TON of left overs!!  Which I'll be using for another recipe i have in mind as well!!  So stay tuned for that!!  But first, here is Mom's Sneaky Mac & Cheese!!!

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

YUMMM!! Is your mouth watering already?  It should be!!!!  I have a feeling you will be seeing many more posts from me that come from Skinnytaste.com.  This woman is BRILLIANT and the food is AMAZING!!!   I found these mozzarella sticks on her site.  and fell in love.  Seriously!   Baked instead of fried? I was skeptical, but WOW...my kids and hubby inhaled them!!! and wanted more, but I hadn't thought to make a second batch!!  LOL  Now, I know for next time!!!

♥ Happy Valentine's Day!!! ♥

I hope all my readers are having an amazing Valentines day!!!  You certainly all deserve it!!  I know i have been lacking again in the blog department.  Its just been super busy in the home life!! So busy I haven't really had much time to make anything "blog worthy".  Well, i can't really say that, because there is something I will be writing about soon.  But for now, i wanted to show my Valentine's Breakfast.  Granted it came in a box so not much creativity there, i still had to shape these hearts and man, was that a challenge..  But my kids were impressed so that is ALL that matters to me!!  So here you go, Pink Chocolate Chip heart-shaped Pancakes!!

Chocolate Bread Rolls!!!

Hey Everyone!!!  I have to say that this is probably one of my favorite creations at this point!  Sooo Yumm!!!  It is my favorite bread machine dinner rolls, with chocolate in the middle!!  My boys are going INSANE!!

Borax Crystals

Hey Everyone!!  I know I've been rather MIA lately. And for that, I'm SOO sorry.  Things have been crazy busy and are finally starting to dwindle down.  If there is such a thing as that with 3 little ones.  Anyways, I wanted to share with you all one of my Christmas projects this year.  A few people got them from us as gifts. Munchkin's preschool teacher liked it so much, that I will be going into the class in a couple of weeks to help them make some!  These wonderful things I speak of are Borax Crystal Ornaments.  Here is one that I did that was displayed on my friend's Christmas Tree!!  The picture here shows it unfinished as I attached so white ribbon to it with the hot glue gun.  So, lets get started!!