Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

These whoopee pies, blew my mind...its like a fall festival in your mouth!!

 

I will first, give you the recipe..and then the gluten free adaption...for all my Celiac lifers.

 

3 cups flour, 1T cinnamon, 1t baking soda, 1t baking powder, 1/2t salt, 1t nutmeg, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1c vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1 tea vanilla, 15 ounces pumpkin (I used the pumpkin pie mix...it was FABULOUS

 

FILLING: 1 8z cream cheese, 1 stick butter/margarine, 16 ounces powdered sugar, 1t vanilla, cinnamon to taste

 

 

GLUTEN FREE: I substituted the all purpose baking powder with "Pamelas Pancake and baking mix" and since the gluten free flour does not thicken quite as much as a wheat blend I added an extra 1/2 cup, and did NOT put ANY vegetable oil in.

 

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes, makes about 2 dozen whoopee pies

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

Big Sister kit

I was recently invited to a baby shower for my nephew-to-be, so I instantly began scowering pinterest for the cutest items (I settled on basic NEEDS...clothes, diapers, etc) but I came across a "big sister kit" and of course...my creative juices started flowing!! Most kits included a shirt, and small activities. I settled on a coloring book/twist up crayons, a "New Baby" book (little critter is one of my favorites), and some snacks. Then I started on the custom items. I got a pink shirt and iron on letters from hobby lobby (I do sell the shirts on my page Belly Buttons & Baby Bottoms I got my friend from the Darling Diva "Bow"-tique to make a bow (as "crafty" as I am, I just cant seem to wrangle ribbon into anything that remotely resembles a bow...hers are amazing!!) and then I made her a matching Minnie mouse necklace also sold on my page! Here are all her goodies...

I added some tissue paper to a cute bin (also found at hobby lobby) and put everything inside! I can't wait to give it to her

 

Operation..SHHHH!!

Ok, so my princess is just over a year, the age where she is finding her voice and loves to communicate (she says hi, more, Momma, Dada, and Nay Nay (night night)) however she has no concept of what's socially appropriate...for example, yelling "HI" and waving her hand off to everyone that passes her in the grocery store...go for it. Standing on the pew and yelling hi to the person behind us in church during the sermon....not so much. So, I set out to make her something to keep her busy during those SHHHH moments, you know the ones I mean, where everyone is looking at you, and even your whisper has an echo. Our church does have a nursery, but....she is not so fond of going there and...I just cant seem to bring myself to force it yet. After making this I think its extremely CUTE...but well beyond her years, but I think she will like to at least look at it for now..and if it buys us 10 minutes of quiet, it will be well worth the time and effort.

 

I made her a "quiet book" a book full of fine motor activities made from mostly felt. I plan on making 3 hole punches in them and placing them into a 3 ring binder, this way I can add to the book often because I have SOOO many ideas, plus adding to it will make it new each time she sees it. I cant be certain it will keep HER quiet, but it kept me quiet while I worked on it! Here are the pages I have done so far!

"Ice Cream Shoppe" page, 3 scoops that are removable, and a place to store them!

                                                                             

"Pick the Apples" removable apples to place in a basket...complete with a tire swing!

"Laundry Page" The door opens on the washer, and she can hang the clothes to dry!

And my personal favorite a barn! I love how this one turned out! The animals are finger puppets!

                                                                                                                                  

I plan on adding lots more pages to this as I have time (who am I kidding, I barely have time to go to the bathroom!) I will add when I do!

 

 



First Birthday...DIY version

I figured I would share how my daughters first birthday turned out with you all, because I did post some preparations...but never the final turn-out. Here it is! She had her very own chair (complete with banner, balloons, pin and her bib! This was a simple set-up, but made her area look special.

The cupcake table! I ordered the banner, the cupcake stands were cheapies from Wal-Mart that I decked out with some ribbon!

Food table (Buffalo chicken dip, brown sugar smokies, chips, lemonade) The banner is the one I made, I had great plans for this table...but in a mad rush, just the basics got done, and guess what?? No one cared that I didn't go ALL OUT, they were more interested in the food ;)

Gift table, super simple set-up...the "back drop" is just plastic table clothes and streamers. I did bring her scrapbook. It contains everything from the first pregnancy test to her 11th month (12 month is its OWN book...way to many photos to cram into a scrapbook page or two!

and....her cupcake 'guest book" turned out really cute I think! :)

 

Buffalo chicken stuffed...chicken

Well, I had almost forgotten about my blog, and then it hit me as I was eating dinner tonight, that I started a 30 pins in 30 days adventure and never finished...because life took over and I have been oober busy! Anywho, I believe today would be pin #19 out of 30, I will do 30 pins, possibly in 30 months rather than 30 days based on the current whirlwind my life has been the past few weeks...nothing major, just my princess (better known as princess HURICANE) is now mobile..so I mostly spend my day following her around picking up dumped baskets/bins, and seeing what the newest thing is that she has decided to stick in her mouth. This has become more of a challenge lately because she now has 6 teeth and has learned how to use them just right to get my fingers out of her mouth as quickly as possible in order to continue her chomping on whatever small item she has dug out from the deepest crevice  of the couch. ANYWAY, tonight's dinner was a PIN, and a success so I figured I would hop on here and share while I have a hot second.

Buffalo stuffed chicken (Yeah, it was as good as it sounds!)

*I don't have a photo of it because #1 we were starving and because #2...who takes a pic of there dinner anyway?? (blogging was an after thought. I promise to be more prepared next time)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2c cream cheese
1/2c ranch dressing
3/4c shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)
hot sauce to taste

cut a "pocket" in your chicken breast, stuff with buffalo mixture. Bake at 400 for about 30-40min. YUMMO
 

She's almost ONE?

Good Grief!! I have been so busy (I started baby-sitting a 3 month old) having two little ones is pure, wonderful, chaos! BUT..I am back and here to show some of the things I have been working on! I started this 30 pins in 30 days and I am here to finish..it may not be 30 consecutive days...but I will do 30 pinterest projects!! I have 10 left and I have some ideas that I am excited to share!! So for today, I decided to show off some things I have been working on for my daughters 1st birthday, only 2 months away. I have been having a hard time with this, although I love nothing more than to watch her grow and explore (or destroy rather) the world around her (she has earned the name "Princess Hurricane") I wish that I could slow the process down. I was telling my husband about this and he brought to my attention that in the 10 months of her little life I have probably missed LESS than 24 hours!!  HE'S RIGHT! I have gotten to see everything I possibly could and you know what? I am just going to enjoy the ride! :)

Ok, enough personal things!! Here is her party so far!! The first thing was an idea found on pinterest (I saw the "tree" guest book, like this one)

and decided, Hey!! Her theme is cupcakes, I will have people add a "sprinkle" to her cupcake, I think this will be really cute for her scrapbook, and a great way for her to see all the people that love her! :)

 

The little fold-y card says "Thank-You for coming, please add one sprinkle to Adalyn's cupcake!"Jeremy and I will add ours early so guests understand what they are supposed to do.

I then decided to make her a couple banners, one for around the tray of her high chair, and another to hang somewhere. The first one was a free printable that I added scrapbook paper for a border/backing  and glued it on some ribbon to hang.

The second Banner was a free "frame" I found on a google search, I opened it in paint and printed each letter I needed (time consuming, but FREE) I backed these ones in scrapbook paper as well, punched holes in them and strung them on ribbon!

I also took plastic ware and wrapped it in cupcake theme napkins, secured with scrapbook paper and a smaller version of this frame that says "Adalyn's One" ..Also time consuming. Also FREE!!

 

 

 

 

 

GLUTEN FREE Mozzerella Sticks! Yumm

Gluten Free Mozzerella Sticks, Day #20!
 Day 20, I am 1/3 of the way through! Today I'll share a pinterest recipie I found..I was looking for a batter, but found these and they looked easy enough. I made them with gluten-free products (because there is no such thing as a gluten free mozzerella stick) You can make them with your "regular" products as well and they would be much better for you than the frozen ones you buy.

You will need:
 8 mozzerella (or your favorite cheese) sticks..any brand will do.
 2 eggs
 3/4 cup brad crums
 1tbs ittilian seasoning
 2 tbs parm. cheese

Cut your cheese sticks in half and FREEZE them, solid..this will help you to be able to cook the outside until its crispy, beofore you have a puddle of cheese!

Dip frozen cheese into egg, then into crumb mixture. Bake at 350 until they are crispy (I did mine about 7 min.)