Fruit Bouquet For Mother's Day

Make a Fruit Bouquet for MOM, using your crafty side, make butterfly's out of pineapple, hearts out of cantelope, and dip some strawberry's in chocolate..... Put styrofoam in the bottom of a planter then slide the fruit on skewers, and sit back & enjoy the beautiful bouquet..she will love it....

                                                               

Mini Breakfast Quiches Make ahead for Mothers Day

These mini quiches were so easy to make, they were inspired by a Pillsbury canned biscuits recipe I had seen. I knew my week was going to be early & busy so  I thought I would try these, and they turned out yummy and very convenient. I made them the night before and they lasted all week. I froze most of them & each morning I would take a couple to work & pop them in the microwave. They tasted fresh baked & smelt yummy, so I had to bring extra for my friends. Enjoy the recipe below.

I sliced the biscuits down the middle and rolled them out flat, then lined lightly greased cup cake pans with them as above.

I sliced precooked sausage and added to the following sauteed ingredients.

I sauteed chopped onions, garlic & chopped tomato, and fresh basil, then spooned some mix into each biscuit dough.

Then I beat 3 eggs with a little milk & salt & pepper & poured over the mix then baked them in the oven that was previously heated according to the directions on the biscuit can. Mine cooked quickly, approximately 8 minutes. They taste delicious topped with ketchup or Heinz 57 sauce or even jalapeno jelly.        

                                                                                                            - Buff -

Cheese Cake

This Cheese Cake is the kind my Son-in-Law wants hidden at the back of the Fridge. You have to pass a strict worthiness test to be eligible to get a piece of this one...and it is easy (coz that's all I know) and no-bake (even better)....the crust is yummy too..plate licking even..just saying.

Buffs Cheesecake

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese softened

¼ C lemon juice more or less to taste

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 8 oz tub cool whip

                                                                                       1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Graham cracker/ginger snap crust
1 can of cherry pie filling or favorite fruit topping

My crust is made with 1/2 sleeve graham crackers crushed  and equal amount of ginger snap cookies crushed, then pour 1 stick(1/2 C) of melted butter  on top, and mix well. Then press crumbs into the bottom of a 9x13 pan & freeze for 10 minutes while you make the cheesecake.

Soften cream cheese in microwave or room temperature, then add lemon juice & beat till smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat till smooth. Then add cool whip till smooth and pour into crust and chill if you can wait that long. Pour cherry or blueberry or fresh raspberry' s or strawberry's (whatever your favorite may be) on top.
Sets pretty quick.  Tastes great the next day if there's any left by then.

-Buff-

Teacher Gift: Glue Sticks

For Teacher Appreciation week we are doing a little gift each day.  Today we decided to get some glue sticks for Cailyn's teacher.  I saw THIS idea on Pinterest and tweaked it a bit.  Cailyn decided she wanted to make a circular tower to make it look like a giant glue stick.  :)  We gathered 7 glue sticks in a circle and used packing tape to keep them together.  Then repeated with 7 more.  We taped the 2 circles together, added some ribbon and a tag (which you can download HERE).  It was a quick and easy gift and I know they go through a lot of glue in their class so this will be perfect!

Linked to: Craft-O-Maniac, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Keeping It Simple, Becolorful, C.R.A.F.T. 
Sugar & Spice, Fine Craft Guild, Classy Clutter, Michelle Paige,

Do Not Try This At Home!

Really, do not try this conditioner. It is horrible.  I bought this a week ago just to give it a try and I was not impressed at all. The shampoo is fine, but the conditioner is like using watered down Suave brand conditioner. It does not moisturize at all and leaves your hair feeling like you didn't even use conditioner in your hair. I will never buy this again. 

Has anyone else tried this conditioner?

-chelz

Things We Love Thursdays: Water Bottle Sippy Adapters

I think these Green Spout Water Bottle Adapters are one of the best inventions that no one has ever heard of!  It's a little adapter you can add to a regular old water bottle to turn it into a sippy cup. 

We first heard about these right before we went on a family trip to Disney World a few months ago.  We carried around on-the-go packets of Crystal Light, mixed it up it the bottles and the kids would drink all day long!  Perfect for keeping them hydrated.

I use these things ALL. THE. TIME!  They are perfect for trips to the park, car rides, around the house, etc.  They are small enough to stick in my purse just in case we're out and need to grab a drink.  Since they don't allow any air to escape it will sometimes cause the bottle to collapse on itself, but it's easy to just squeeze the tip and let the air back in.

What I Read: April

Without a doubt, The Fault in Our Stars was my favorite book this month!  Other than that, most of my books were just okay.  I'm really in need of a great can't-put-it-down, can't-stop-thinking-about-it-even-when-I'm-not-reading-it kind of book!


The Summoning (Darkest Powers, Book 1) by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had a little bit of a hard time getting into the story and felt like it took a while for it to really get going. I also got annoyed at how long it took Chloe to accept the fact that she sees ghosts. I get that the author was trying to make it seem more realistic, but to me it just seemed to drag on. Other than that I really enjoyed this story. I liked the characters well enough and the ending was such a cliffhanger that I can't wait to find out more!!!!



The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was pure genius. It was heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, witty, smart. For the first half I had a giddy grin plastered to my face, falling in love with Hazel & Augustus and watching their relationship grow. For the second half I bawled my eyes out, sobbing so much at times I couldn't catch my breath. These characters were REAL to me. The situations they were in were REAL. Their every emotion and thought was REAL. I just can't put into words how I felt about this book but I am so glad I read it. It makes me want to be a better person and makes me more grateful for the trials I have in my life, that in comparison, they really aren't so tough after all.



The Awakening (Darkest Powers #2) by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was pretty good. There were some things that got on my nerves a bit, like the constant references to "if this was a movie" and some things were a little .... gross (like bathroom references, throwing up, etc -- too much info for me!). Other than that I still enjoyed the story and couldn't put the book down. I hate that these books end in such huge cliffhangers though! Luckily I had the next one so I could start into it immediately. :)



The Reckoning (Darkest Powers #3) by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was a really good ending to the series. Fast paced and things were resolved without being too "perfect." Overall with this series, I just never really fell in love with any of the characters and was never quite attached. But it was still a quick entertaining read and sometimes that's all you need. :)



Gregor And The Curse Of The Warmbloods (Underland Chronicles, Book 3) by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't like this one quite as much as the other two. It seemed to drag in a few places and I had a hard time picking it up. But all in all, still good. 3.5 stars



Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a very interesting world the author created and I also liked the main characters. There were times that were edge-of-your-seat can't-book-the-book-down, and times that were very slow when i had to keep re-reading the same paragraph over and over. But all in all a good book.  3.5 stars



Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very sad yet beautiful book. It gives me a heavy heart reading books like this and makes me grateful for what I have and the things I don't have to deal with that so many people did.