Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Good Finds: Foods I'm lovin' right now!

Hey again :)

I just went to Walmart at lunch to do some grocery shopping so I thought I'd tell you real quick about some of my favorites finds lately!

I love love love french fries and potato chips... LOVE THEM ! The fattier the better :) But, you know, if you're trying to watch your girlish figure, you can't eat them all the time, so I found these ...


Veggie Stix a little healthier and pretty good

Veggie Straws a really tasty ! I like these A LOT ! They have more flavors I want to try :)
 And it is now HONEYCRISP APPLE SEASON !!! Try them and LOVE THEM ! They are pricey but WELL WORTH IT :)

mMm I love fall !

Crafty Creations - Camping/Woodland Creatures Birthday Cake

Hello :)

Hope y'all are doing well !  Sorry I haven't posted in a while... Here's a little treat for you though! My friend Melissa knew I use to work at a bakery back in high school Blue Moon Bakery, Cary, NC (SOOOO GOOD) and also knew I was pretty crafty and asked me to make a birthday cake for her families camping trip. 

This was made last week kinda in a rush, so I apologized it didn't turn out better :( I was in Dallas 3 out of 5 days and had to work as well so it was a tough timeline, but it turned out well. My apologies for not taking more pictures of the process, as I said before, it was a little tricky trying to get it made in time .



The cake itself was 10" half chocolate cake with chocolate icing and the other half yellow with white buttercream. Basically picture two half cakes smushed together. I was too lazy to make the icing so I bought it from my local piggly wiggly, it tasted pretty good and was OK to work with.


Woodland creatures made out of clay

Cake without the creatures
Melissa and her family had a great time and really enjoyed the cake ! It was fun to do and I really enjoyed making the clay creatures with Melissa :) Thanks for encouraging my creativity, oh FYI - Melissa is an art teacher so it always makes me nervous crafting with her because well, she's a professional :) <3 

Monday, September 19, 2011

Good Finds - Christian Zumba Videos



I don't know really how I ran into this, but I did and I'm lovin it ! Okay okay lemmy start this again... I LOVE ZUMBA ! It's an amazing dance/cardio work out that has helped me enjoy exercise and lose weight.  It brings me back to my days as a cheerleader and learning dance routines, LOVE.  Okay SO I first experienced Zumba at our local Gold's gym from an amazing instructor, Michelle Smith who now has her own studio Z Fitness out west in Arizona.  Disclaimer: When I say Zumba, I mean the eastern NC/New Bern Zumba I have experienced.  All teachers are different and have different styles, that being said, I don't like Beto's original Zumba... I know he really made a name and a trend but his workouts don't work me out and they are too provocative.

These ladies in the youtube videos have christian songs and modified moves that give you a great work out and don't make you look like a hoochie.  Given, our routines now are nice and clean but it's always fun to be challenged and learn new routines. Soooo have fun, watch a few, heck, close your door and dance... I think I may :)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Blog Browsing : Dollar Store Crafts

Good morning !

Hope ya'll are doing well :)  I stumbled upon this interesting blog post this morning from Dollar Store Crafts who was posting about a Martha Stewart find.  Here it is from Real Simple's Website Double Duty Decorating ideas  It's really neat ! You should check it out :)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

From our kitchen to yours : Good eats

Well hey there ! Thanks for stopping by :) Today you're going to see two meals that are favorites at the Barrett household.  My wonderful husband prepares one of them on special mornings (i.e. weekends or days off like this past labor day) Enjoy !

Our lovely grill that I love cooking on :) So we're trying to eat healthier lately like fresh veggies and lean protien.  I always seem to have the perfect ingredients for shish kabobs around the house :) A meal we adore !

We use metal skewers. Use whatever meat, veggies and fruit, yes fruit you have on hand. Spray skewer with non stick spray (and the grill) so food doesn't stick. We used chicken, red and green peppers, vidalia onions, turkey smoked sausage (healthy and yummy), pineapple and brushed it with lemon pepper great value marinade.

Gotta get em nice and brown, the flavors really meld together when they are squished close together and play in the heat :)

Serve with bread or rice pilaf and enjoy !

 Hollywood Sandwiches
Okay, I can't remember if I've told ya'll about this family favorite before or not, so here it is again.  In Charles' hometown there was a little country grill by his high school, they had a big skillet top and made everything from burgers to biscuits.  Many times when we were dating or engaged I spent the weekend with his family and we had a special treat for breakfast, Hollywood Sandwiches (it was called Hollywood Grill, was, b/c someone ran into it and they are not rebuilding, thus, why we had to learn how to perfect it at home).  Oh yes, and Charles is the primary chef for this meal, the man has a touch with eggs :)

Ingredients
basic white sandwich bread
eggs (3 eggs mixed together with a splash of milk, like you're going to scramble them for 2 sandwiches)
Carolina Pride smoked sausage ( yes it must be carolina pride)
American Cheese (one slice per sandwich)
Black Pepper
Wax paper


Cut smoked sausage the size of a piece of bread, cut in 3 and take of casing.  Cook on griddle at 300 until smokey and brown .

Spray a large rectagle on griddle with non stick spray, reduce heat on griddle to 200 and pour on egg/milk mixture in a rectangle this will end up being 2 sandwiches

Use panini press or toaster oven to toast bread

Sprinkle black pepper over almost cooked eggs

Open toasted bread on a piece of wax paper

Add american cheese to egg

Cut egg in half and fold into a square sealing cheese in

Assemble egg/cheese on bread and top with cooked sausage

Wrap sandwich and wax paper and let set (you time to clean up in the kitchen) haha if you really want to get the flavor right... put sandwiches in paper bag and drive 5-8 minutes to make sure you smoosh them down well ( the amount of time it took us to drive back to the house from Hollywood Grill) haha really, you have to let them sit before you dig in !


Dig in ! Oh my goodness what goodness is this !

Clean up is so easy !