Mini Cupcakes- Product review

This year Santa brought Sydney a Bella Cucina Cupcake Maker. 

We made one of the recipes that came with the maker and it was terrible. The outsides were burned and the middle wasn't even cooked at all. We decided to clean it up and try it again another day. I was a little disappointed and thinking "what the heck did I buy?". We pulled it back out the next day and decided to just do a cake mix out of a box and try that. 

I put some red hot candies in the middle of some of them and pushed then into the batter. This turned out really good and gave them good flavor and the candy became chewy. (sorry this is kind of a blurry picture) 

It only took 3-5 min for these to cook and they turned out super light and fluffy! 

We tried this red and white striped frosting and a few of them turned out ok. Sometimes you couldn't really see the white frosting. It was kind of hard to squeeze out and was hard to control where it went on the cupcake. I don't think that I will ever use it again.

We used some Valentine's sprinkles to dip the cupcakes in. Sydney loved doing this. She had a lot of fun coming up with different designs.

 Sydney had a blast doing this and she can't wait to make different flavors. I would definitely recommend buying one of these for the kids or even just for yourself. They make the perfect size cupcakes for any kind of party.  I do recommend sticking with cake mixes and not trying their recipes that they provide.   

Do you have any treat makers that you have? like it? I would love to try some of the other ones in the future.

* We were not compensated for this product review.

-chelz

M&M Cookies

I was in the mood for some cookies the other day and these fit the bill perfectly. Cute and festive, but without a lot of effort.  Recipe adapted from Veggie by Season.

Ingredients:

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. light brown sugar

2 eggs at room temp.

2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 c. flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda
1 c. pink M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down sides.
Add in vanilla, turn mixer on medium, add eggs one at a time.
Add in salt, baking powder and soda.
Slowly add in flour.  Fold in most of the M&M's.
Roll dough into walnut sized balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Using the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass cup, flatten the balls slightly. 




Press extra M&M's into the dough so they are on top and visable.  (This is my kids favorite part!)

Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden and puffy.

*Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Serve with plenty of milk.

My two year old twins could probably live off these!  Every time I turn around they are begging for more. :)

Sunday Best Link Party

Welcome to another addition of Sunday Best.  We love seeing everyone's Sunday outfits and we are getting some great ideas for what to wear.  :)

Here are some of our favorites from last week!

Katie from for Lauren and Lauren

I love the idea of wearing a sweater over a dress! So cute and now I will have to dig around in my sweaters to try this look!

Bethany from The Ivy Twines

I just love this look! I may be developing a thing for Bethany's clothes and her closet may start turning up with some things missing! Follow the link back to her blog to get a closer look at her boots- darling!

Lisa from Organized Chaos

I love a good clean classic look! I love the grey, black, and light pink together! Super cute!



Here's what we wore this week:

 

Tank: Styles For Less

Sweater: Target

Skirt: Papaya

Scarf: Victoria's Secret

Shoes: Discount Shoe Factory

-marie















Dress: Downeast
White shirt: Old Navy
Infinity scarf: Target
Boots: Discount Shoe Factory
Watch: made by me HERE


-chelz

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RULES:

1. Link to a specific, clothing-related post on your blog.

2. Add the g*rated button to your post.

3. Make sure you check out other links to get ideas.  And no one would mind if you left a comment on their blog. :)

4. Follow g*rated.

Chocolate Cake Batter Pancakes

Pancakes


1 c. pancake mix
1 c. chocolate cake mix                                                  We found this recipe from here and decided to
1 c. buttermilk (recipe HERE)                                     make it a little different.
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

* can use milk in place of buttermilk



We decided to try out a few different toppings to which we liked best. We cut up some fresh bananas and put fresh raspberries on top. Then we dusted it with powdered sugar. This was our healthiest option.

We did the same 3 steps from the first one and then added some cream and drizzled chocolate sauce over the top. This was by far my favorite!

We made a frosting glaze from:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
We then sprinkled the top with some Valentine's sprinkles for the kids. They loved the pancakes this way. They were eating them faster than we could make them!

Chocolate pancakes is a fun way to change it up every now and then or for special occasions! We will definitely be making these again in our house!







-chelz & Buff

Linked to: Craft-O-Maniac
The Girl Creative
                                                                                  Cheap Crafty Mama
                                                                                     Michelle paige
                                                                                      An Original Belle
                                                                                      Summit Street Joy

Frugal Friday - Upcycled Bottles

After New Years we had several empty Sparkling Cider bottles. I started to throw them away but thought *maybe* I could turn them into something cute! Valentine's is around the corner and I'm in need of a few more decorations. :)





So first I removed all the labels (Goo Gone & a razor worked perfectly for this) and cleaned them out.














Then, using a technique I found on Pinterest, I used my glue gun to "draw" words on them.  They're not exactly perfect, but it worked.  The glue strings can be cleaned off easily with some Goo Gone dabbed on a paper towel. 





Once the glue was dry I took them outside to paint.  Make sure you do several light coats of spray paint instead of trying to get it completely covered in one coat -- otherwise the paint will start to drip.  (Not that I'd know from personal experience or anything!)  Once the paint was dry I applied a clear coat sealer.  Then I added a bit of twine to the top and they were done!  I love the fun bright colors and am so happy with how they turned out.

*You could also do this with mason jars or any other drink or food jars or bottles you don't want to throw out.*

Linked to:
WhipperBerry

Healthy Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup

This is a healthy low calorie meal that is super easy to make and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. I am always looking for healthy meals that I will actually eat when dieting with out losing good flavor.  It is the only soup that I can get my kids to eat. It only takes 5 min to put it all together!

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans (drained)

1 can corn

1 can rotel diced tomatoes and green chillies

1 can chicken breast (drained)

1/2 package of taco seasoning

add water to make the soup the right consistency

*sometimes i substitute the tomatoes and chillies with a can of italian stewed tomatoes- both work great in this dish

Place all the ingredients in the crockpot and mix.

Cook it on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 5-6 hours.

Serve with cheese, sour cream, and chips. * Leave off the chips for less calories.

Hope you enjoy!

-chelz

Linked to: 

Guest Post!

chelsea here from my creative side
im guest blogging today and im so excited to share this with you guys
my blog is about fashion, style, hair, makeup, diy projects, daily life, and cooking. 
there is a whole lot more but im just giving you the general view
but to the blog---------------------->


so love is everywhere right now 

i cant even go shopping without seeing some promotion of a gift

for valentines day lol

sooo i decided to make a free printable for everyone

sooo here you go and i hope you like

either print it as a picture, poster, or even the front side of a card its

so cute and ill have more before valentines day gets here so keep checking back

and yes i know its small on here but if you click on the picture
or right click and open in a new window itll be larger
just click to copy save and share where ever
just make sure you give me credit :)




~happy blogging
-chelsea
http://arcasia-mycreativeside.blogspot.com/