If you haven't figured it out yet...I LOVE to eat! This next recipe is a household favorite! I would love to eat Cinnabon's every day but  the budget is not as "in love" with it as I would like! (or is it my waist?!) SO I figured out a way to make them pretty darn close! I love taking bits and pieces of recipes I find and turning them into something better! Plus my oldest is Lactose intolerant (something we found out a little over a year ago) so it's great cause I can make them without frosting so she can partake as well!


STEP 1:
Dump the following ingredients into your bread machine IN ORDER...make a well for your yeast so that it does not touch liquids! Turn your bread machine on dough setting. Set out 1/3 cup, butter for the next step (needs to be softened!)

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees...about 1 min 30 sec in my microwave)
2 eggs, room temp
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

When finished let dough double in size (took about 45 min for mine)

Then turn out onto lightly floured baking mat. Cover with a cloth and let stand 10 min.

While that is "resting" mix together the following:

1 cup Brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon


STEP 2:

Roll your dough out into a rectangle shape then spread with softened butter. Then cover with your sugar mixture and roll up (so its longer not shorter!)

Spray a 9 x13 pan and use thread to cut your rolls out (you are going to slide thread...yes regular! Under the roll to your desired size (I made 8) and close the ends together like you are tying it with a bow (but cutting all the way through) Makes PERFECTLY cut rolls!) lay your rolls into your pan

STEP 3:

Now I covered mine and placed in the fridge over night so I could bake this morning...but no matter if you bake now or tomorrow cover your rolls and let sit in pan 1/2 hour (they rise more!) then pre-heat your oven to 400. Bake 15-20 min or till golden brown!


Now I sell Pampered Chef and have tried using my Rectangular Baker (stoneware) and did not like how they turned out...FYI for the stoneware enthusiasts out there!! They did not cook all the way through!

Frost warm with:

3 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 cup butter softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Mix with beaters and frost!!

Now sit back on the couch in your sweats with a large cup of coffee and indulge in the best homemade cinnamon roll ever!

This morning I was very pleased to see my sweet baby girl slept really well last night and didn't wake up until after 8 a.m. (thank you IB Profin and Vick's Baby rub on feet!). She was in a very pleasant mood and so while I finished getting ready I placed her in the notorious Jumparoo! (below is an old picture!)

Today my sweet bundle of love woke up with her first real cold. She is miserable, which makes me miserable. There is nothing worse than feeling helpless for your children. To top it off today she turned 7 months old...not fair for her! She felt a wee bit better after some meds and these are a few of the only smiles we got today!


My big kids were so incredibly sweet with her and did everything they could to try and make her happy. It is now bath and then pj time and lots of quiet cuddles on the couch....

Here it is! Part 2 of the BBQ chicken recipe! This meal is SO nummy!!

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

1/2 cup diced Red Onion
4 cups baby spinach
salt & pepper
1 cup canned Red kidney beans, drained rinsed and smashed!
3/4 cup corn kernels (I used defrosted frozen!)
1 cup slow cooker BBQ chicken
Tortillas
Cheddar Cheese (us folks here in Oregon are bias and use good ol' Tillamook cheddar!)

Saute onion until tender (5-7 minutes) add spinach and cook, stirring till wilted. Season with salt & pepper. In a bowl mash up the beans add the spinach mixture, corn and chicken. Spread onto half of the tortilla, top with cheese and fold tortilla over. Cook on Medium in skillet. Eat and oh...yeah. The best! I lathered mine with sour cream cause that's just how I roll and so delish!!

OK guys...so this one will be sorta a two parter! One day you make this and I will post the next recipe for the leftovers tomorrow...lemme tell ya you DO NOT wanna miss out on the leftovers from this dish! As my dad would say a Par-tay in my mouth!


This is BBQ chicken sandwiches in the crock pot!!

In your crock (don't forget the bag!! easy cleanup a must in this household!) place 1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken. I use thighs as they are juicier but you can use breasts if that's what you have on hand!

Next in a seperate bowl mix together:

3/4 cup bbq sauce, 1/4 cup Italian Dressing, 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar, 1 Tbsp Worcestshire sauce, 2 Tbsp Cornstartch and 2 Tbsp Chicken Broth.




Whisk ingrients together and pour over top of chicken. All of it. Every last drop! Cover and cook on high 6 hours! I served mine up in Pub Rolls (we buy them at Costco and they are delish!). Top with Coleslaw (I cheat - don't tell my dad! I use the bagged kind in the produce section that comes with the dressing!) and eat! Remember SAVE your chicken and sauce for tomorrow's recipe! You will not regret it!

Meanwhile give the baby a slice of watermelon and grab yourself a napkin, as I am warning you now it's lick your fingers good!

I have been hanging onto the plastic pull-tabs from juice and milk jugs for a fun craft! I had seen a long time on a blog how to make play rings out of them (sorry am not positive where!!) I decided since my kids are into "hunting treasure" I would make them up for them!

First you will need:




First you will take a pull-tab and cover it with glue. I used Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue.



Next you will cover with your "bling" and set aside to dry! When you are finished they can go on little fingers like these:



Have a Grrrrrrrr-eat day matey! Yo ho and away I go!

Today is a gorgeous spring day! The girls and I are rockin' the white skirts I am wearing a tank top and they are wearing matching Hello Kitty shirts! Noah is sportin' some shorts and flip flops and its a hip hop happy day for sure! We have big plans of planting outside and some organizing of the garage, but in the meantime I thought I would share my secret Macaroni Salad recipe!


It won't be so secret anymore! It took me a LONG time to master this one so I hope you all like it as much as we do!!



Dressing:

3/4 cup Buttermilk
3/4 cup Mayo (I am a snob and ONLY use Best Foods or for you East Coasters Hellman's!)
1 Tbsp Mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Mix together in medium sized lidded bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook 1 3/4 cup of uncooked macaroni (this makes 3 cups in the end) as it says on the package. While your noodles are cooking, dice up 2 celery sticks and dump into dressing. Dice 1/3 of a cup onion (I usually use yellow as that is what I always have on hand!) and the key ingredient 1/2 cup of bread and butter pickles diced *YUM*!!

Combine all ingredients in your dressing bowl and chill 1hour. Serve and eat to your hearts desire!

I make this recipe and put in small bowls for my husband to take in his lunch or I make it for BBQ's and potlucks! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

This is my sweet Emily Grace as I was cooking my macaroni salad:


and this is the picture she made me (if you couldn't figure it out it is ME wearing my wedding dress!)

I do have to confess...the past week has disappeared a vast blurr. One of my best friends children was admitted to the hospital for surgery (he is recovering well at home now!), my best friend Sarah had a scare with her 5 week old son and had to take him to the hospital as well. My community group leader from church landed in the hospital in Arizona with heart and lung issues.

Then you throw in my ordinary (well MY ordinary!) regular day to day life which consists of dance classes, school, errands, tending to a husband, 3 children, 1 cat, 2 fish and 1 frog. Cleaning the house, baby shower for one of my other best friends (remember there are 5 girls you can read about in my bio!), an anniversary party for the great grandparents, some sort of social life with friends, toss in a few business orders and closing a Pampered Chef Party (did I tell y'all I have been a consultant for 6 years?! lol) this week has vanished. Poof. It's gone!

Today I am excited to say my 3 amazing children let me sleep in until 7:40 a.m. (a very rare treat!). My sweet baby girl let me have a 6 hour stretch and my 2 oldest are somewhat sharing while watching their morning cartoons (bad mom alert..I know! lol!). The sun is shining, the windows will be opened to let in the warm breeze and I will play like you have never played before with my tiny blessings! We will embrace this day and I get to focus on 1 thing...my favorite thing...being their mom.



A friend in my Mom's Club forwarded out this story and I had to share it. Too good not to! I hope y'all have a wonderful day and don't you fret...I WILL be back full force very soon!

"It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one
of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken
to the store. Inside I'm thinking, “Can't you see I'm on the phone?”

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the
floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at
all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands,
nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to
ask, “What time is it?” I'm a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the
Disney Channel?” I'm a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”

Some days I'm a crystal ball; “Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's
for dinner?”

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that
studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the
peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend
from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going
on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at
the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry
for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a
beautifully wrapped package, and said, “I brought you this.” It was a book on
the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me
until I read her inscription: “With admiration for the greatness of what you are
building when no one sees.”

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover
what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern
my work:

1.) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their
names.

2.) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.

3.) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4.) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God
saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral
while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside
of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time
carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever
see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as
if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every
day, even when no one around you does.”

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've
baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice
and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now
what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder.. As one of
the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on
something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far
as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there
are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My Mom gets up at four in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three
hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I'd built a
monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is
anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, “You're gonna love it there!” As
mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it
right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at
what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the
sacrifices of invisible others."

Today is a down pour. I mean wear your rain boots, have your jeans tucked inside the boots and you STILL get your feet soaked kinda day! Here in Oregon we have only had glimpses of what spring is like. For those that have started to plant their gardens they end in a soggy mush...that is why I have procrastinated and am waiting (or is it cause I haven't had time to weed the garden beds?!).



But really, the days that we have had to enjoy the sun I have been taking FULL advantage! I have a friend who is new to the area. Funny story actually of how we met. I was in the hospital having my newest addition Ava Faith! Jess just happened to be one of my nurses! We hit it off and have been friends since! Anyhow, back to my story she hasn't seen a lot in the Portland area and it's wonderful cause I get to take her along and experience those things with her and with my kiddos!

We found out that you can get a Cultural Pass from our local library and were able to get 2 adults and 2 children in FREE to the Japanese Gardens. If you have never been I HIGHLY recommend going! There is beauty and tranquility all around you. If you have small children you must remind them they have to use their "indoor" voices and I would go during the week! The garden's had a scavenger hunt where they each picked out a prize at the end (when you return the pencils of course!) and it made a much for fun experience for all of us! 


The kids had a great time exploring and their most favorite thing to watch was the "deer chaser" which is a rain fountain...thingy! Very hard to explain, but very relaxing to watch!

When we were finished with the gardens we had packed a lunch and decided to eat in the lawn of the Rose Garden's which is just down below the Japanese Gardens. We packed a blanket, sunscreen and a few balls and ventured off!





The kids had a great time, we girls gotta chit chat and watch the cute adorable older couples picnicking with their bottles of wine and old fashioned picnic baskets (I have never yearned for a picnic basket more than that day!) There was no equipment for the kids to play on, just a relaxing enjoyable adventurous lawn! What a perfect afternoon!




What memories did you make today?

This is by far the best chicken marinade I have ever had in my life! Yum-diddly-ump-shes for sure! I have the hardest time as almost everything contains soy and since I am allergic makes it really difficult to find suitable options!! The home style fries have been a hit around here as well and make a great pair with the chicken (and good ol' Bush's Baked Beans...of course! Who has BBQ without them?)

You are going to mix all of the following into a medium sized mixing bowl...make sure your chicken is thawed out (I use boneless/skinless chicken thighs...they stay juicy and hold in the flavor really well!)

5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 *heaping* Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 *heaping* Tbsp Olive Oil

**(when I say heaping I mean while I am dumping the measuring spoon into my bowl I am still pouring!)


Add your chicken and let sit in the fridge for a few hours or if you are like me I forgot to marinade it early so I did mine just before dinner...oops! you can make and let it marinade over night and let really soak in the yumminess! BBQ till fully cooked and serve!

This chicken is great chopped up and put on salads...I tend to not use dressing when I do it this way.

For the home fries preheat your oven to 525 degrees (yes you read that correct!) you will cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with oil (I use good ol' Pam!). Take about 4 or 5 russet potato's or 7-8 red potato's and wash thoroughly. Cut them in half length wise and then slice into 3 pieces (so each potato you are getting 6 fries) length wise.



Toss into a large bowl. I pour in about 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil and swish it around pretty good. Mince 3-4 cloves of garlic, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp course salt (we use Kosher Sea Salt), and 1/2 tsp of paprika. Toss till coated evenly and spread onto cookie sheet.




As you can see I couldn't even wait to dive into my plate of yummy-ness before I took a picture! Happy BBQ'n! In fact we are off to BBQ with friends now!

OK so I have to admit that I am a total novice pro at sewing! lol! Well....what I really should say is this was my FIRST TIME EVER! A friend of mine said she could show me how to sew a dress for my girls and I had no faith that I would be able to do it! We found a cute dress tutorial here and went to work! I decided since my youngest daughter Ava Faith is a wee bitty of a thing I would start by sewing a dress for her! She is still wearing 3 month sizes! I found cute onesie style tank tops at our local Carter's store and my sweet, kind, very patient friend Elizabeth brought over some fabric she had and I also raided my pile to make the accent pieces.

The 3 month measurements were: 32" x 10" for the main portion of the dress. The belt we did 16" x 1 1/2" and for the bottom portion of the dress we used 16" x 4 1/2"

Here is how mine turned out:



**Please ignore the piles of stuff on the floor behind me! I am preparing a ton of stuff for NW Children's Outreach which is housed in our church and is a FABULOUS organization!!

For our little pre-schoolers teacher appreciation was last week! Since Emily Grace only goes twice a week I did two gifts. The first day I bought bottles of lotion from Bath and body works and placed them in a colored "candy" bag. I put a little bit of shredded paper in the bottom and then made a tag with Em's name on it. I just tied the top of the bag with a pretty satin ribbon.

The other gift I got from the blog Eighteen25 and I thought turned out fantastic! Since Dutch Bros is right around the corner from the school I went with gift cards from them and not my coveted Starbucks!



I used white card stock for the paper in the back and printed the card portion from Costco on 5x7 (card to print) I snagged cozies from the donut shop up the road and it actually didn't take more than 2! (I made 5 of these!) I used staples to attach the cozy (pink of course!) and instead of twine I used pink yarn as that was what I had in my craft stash!!

Thanks a Latte for reading!!

For my son's first birthday I threw a monkey themed party because we used to call him "monkey"!


First off my cheeky little monkey woke up to a ball pit in the middle of the living room floor! Which he thought was the best thing ever!




I made this cute birthday banner by using a friends Cricut machine! I used brown ribbon and binder rings to attach the banner pieces.



For Noah's highchair I made a grass skirt out of raffia from Michael's and used similar monkeys, with Noah's name and little yellow #1's hanging off randomly!



The cake I designed with a local cake designer whom I use for everything! Gus and Ryan are the best and make my vision come to life!




We had a separate birthday cake for our birthday boy to smash into his face! Messy boy!




I found this cute bib at Target (2 years ago now!) Messy monkey!!



The cake table I added photos of Noah that my darling friend Julie of Happenstance Photography took! Here was one of them that I had dreamt about since he was born! Julie NAILED it!!



This photo has been a big hit world wide and has made the cover of a magazine in Missouri, the front page of a newspaper in Europe and even the baby on "make my baby" website! Let me know if you see it somewhere!



Food I went simple with things that Noah loved. Meat, cheese, crackers. Veggie tray. Banana's, grapes and pizza. I found banana carrot juice and had other pitchers of punch.

In the garage I set up a table with crafts for the older kids and each item in the goody bag was monkey themed (or banana).

Cheers to a swingin' good time!