Brains Anyone?

 My husband had a work Halloween party this week. It was a Chili cook-off and since I don't have any good chili recipes I decided to make these cupcakes. I found these on Pinterest and decided to make them. I decided these turned out pretty good. We did a pink/grayish frosting and looked so much better in person.

I figured this was a good time to post my mother-in-law's frosting recipe. She originally got this recipe from Wilton but I have been unable to find it there. Here it is:

Buttercream Frosting

1 C. Salted Sweet Cream Butter

1 C. Shorting 

6 C. Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 t. Lemon Flavoring

1 1/2 t. Vanilla Flavoring

Mix well and decorate your desired items. 

Note: you can substitute the Lemon flavoring for any other flavor you like (Almond). I would expect other things would work out.

Enjoy this recipe and decorate your cupcakes, cakes, and such!

Mal

Hey Ya'll!

So we have jumped back on the blogging bandwagon. Watch the blog for cute ideas for desserts, food, and more!

Cafe Rio Chicken Salad

Like most born and breed Utahns I love Cafe Rio. Luckily my husband loves it too. We have loved the pork in the past but when pinterest gave me this recipe I thought I would try it out.

CAFE RIO CHICKENfound recipe at: Mandy’s Recipe Box:

2 lbs chicken breasts

1/2 a small bottle of zesty Italian dressing

1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)

1/2 Tbsp. chili powder

1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours. Shred with fork and serve in salads, burritos, tacos…etc. You can also double or triple this to make extras for freezing. Then simply thaw and reheat for a fast and delicious meal.Enjoy

I got the dressing recipe from here

 Cafe Rio Style Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing
(Makes about 2 1/2 cups of dressing, recipe adapted from a recipe for Cafe Rio Dressing, Chicken, and Rice that I got from my brother-in-law Kelly. See after the main recipe for variations I've tried.)

2 cups prepared Ranch Dressing (I usually use a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk mix, but you can make your own Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing or Buttermilk Dressing if you prefer)
1 small bunch cilantro, large stems removed (about 1/2 cup chopped cilantro)
2 large or 4 small tomatillos
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 T fresh lime juice
1 tsp. Green Tabasco sauce or 1 diced jalapeno pepper

This dressing is so close to the recipe for the dressing I have found yet! I guess this will do until Cafe Rio decides to come to Indy...hint hint!

Mallory

Teriyaki Rice Bowls

So I had this addiction while in college. Everyday I would go to the cafeteria and since I was going to school at the local community college they had like 4 places to eat. My absolute favorite was Teriyaki Stix. I loved it! I would get the rice bowl with extra terkiyaki sauce...everyday! If you ever find yourself near a teriyaki stix in Utah I would recommend it. Well since I no longer live in Utah and we are trying to save for a house I have had to get creative. Tonight we tried to make our own teriyaki rice bowls and let me just say they were a success! Here is the recipe:

Teriyaki Sauce: (ok I have to admit this isn't my recipe I found it here). I love Our Best Bites! I got their recipe book last year and I have only made 1 recipe that didn't work out. I am embarrassed to say I tried it 3 times. But this teriyaki sauce is to die for!

1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. cold water
½ c. white sugar
½ c. soy sauce
¼ c. cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. black pepper
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. We’ve talked about ginger before and you can use either ground ginger as directed or about 1 1/4 tsp. of fresh ginger. Believe it or not, in this recipe, I actually prefer ground ginger; it has a slightly different flavor that I think infuses better in the sauce than fresh ginger. That being said, I used fresh here because I had a bunch of minced ginger in my freezer and I didn’t want it to go to waste. And the sauce came out great. So whatever works for you.

 Chicken:
3 Chicken Breasts
Teriyaki Sauce (enough to drizzle over chicken)

Bake 350 for 20-30 minutes or until done

Veggies:
Frozen Stir-Fry Veggies heated

Rice:
I prefer brown but use what your family will eat.

I then layered it brown rice, chicken and veggies.  It was not like what I use to eat in college but seeing as I was yet to be converted to veggies then it was better.

I am loving the possibilities of this recipe. I think it would be totally possible to put it in the crock-pot and it is super easy. I hope you can find an adaptation that works for your family!

Mallory

Fancy Friday: Wavy Hair

I am both blessed and cursed with my hair. Sure, it's thick, it's long, yatta yatta yatta. I hear it often, you're so lucky, I wish I had that....but I don't think most people understand that this type of hair come with a SCROLL of issues.

With the amount of time I have invested in my hair in the last ten years, I could have written a novel to rival the Potter series, sailed around the world mayyyybe four times, and parented and raised the next President of the United States. 

Seriously.

NOTHING is more time consuming. Ask my husband.

For example: When I want to curl my hair, I need an HOUR at least. Comfortably, 90 minutes. None of this, I get up at a normal time and decide, "Oh, I think I'll look cute today." 

No no no nooo...I have to set the alarm and make an extra pot of coffee.

An hour may not seem like much, but try holding your arm at a 90 degree angle above your head for an hour.....you'll get the idea.

So, to combat the time issue (because, let's be honest, my sleep is becoming more important than a pretty do in the morning), I've looked into no heat styling. It's easy, faster (since the styling part take place whilst I'm "zzzzz"-ing), and healthier!

What could be better??

I've tried several styles and waving is definitely a fav of mine.

I used to wave my hair when I was younger. 

We're not talking the sexy beach waves found on every page of the Victoria's Secret bikini catalog....oh no....all of you know what I'm talking about. 

Envision 1999....YOU know what I'm talking about. 

It was either sectioned off pieces that were crimped (yikes), or the bigger waves that were hairsprayed within an inch of their lives. My hair could have got up and walked around by itself.

Ah, high school.

Yay.

Well, although the style may have changed, I still hold a fondness for the wavy look.

What d'ya think?

This will work with long and short, thick or thin hair....however, I will say, if you have shorter hair consider braiding the hair looser....you don't want to look like you had a war with the electrical socket and lost. 

Just sayin'.

You can also change it up with the number of braids you use. However, for my hair I find that two works best.

All you need are:

Two elastics...Woot! Simple!

K, the one skill you need is the know how with a french braid.

Wait! Wait!

For those of you who IMMEDIATELY said, "okay, well I was excited until she brought that up...guess I'll head back to pinterest..." give me a few more minutes.

I PROMISE.

French braiding is NOT. HARD.

It's very similar to curling your own hair, in that, was curling your hair a breeze the first time you attempted it? If you're like me, you ended with more burns on your fingers than curls in your hair.

Like french braiding, it just takes a few times practice. Then you get the feel of it.

AAAAaand, it DOESN'T have to look pretty. Remember? The only one who'll be mocking is your pillow.  If there are lumps, whooo caaaares?



I usually shower at night, so I let my hair air dry until it's just damp, and then french braid it...easy!

Here is a link for some step-by-step instructions on french braiding:

French Braid tutorial

*Hint: for those of you that have bangs, I find that braiding them in is better...this means you have to start the french braid pretty high on your head.*



Go to sleep, and the next morning, spritz your hair with hairspray BEFORE you take the braids out and let it sit for a few. Then, unbraid your hair:

Loosen the waves with your fingers...don't do it too much though, or you'll pull the wave out of your hair a bit.

Once you've got your hair the way you want it, spray with some hairspray, and ta daaaaa!

Baby Girl Hair Do

I don't know about your baby girl but mine's mane is hard to manage. She has these 2 huge calics in the back of her hair that if I don't get them in a pony they stand up all weird. But the hair in the front is so short that I cant just pull it in to piggy tails or it all falls out. So I have learned to be creative with how I do her hair so it acutally looks like I have done it. Here is one of my recent favorites because it works for all of her hair. 

(Note: My daughter doesn't have hair on the sides of her head (thank you Daddy's side of the family) so I just do it on the top. If your baby has more hair on the sides it would work just fine to include that too!)

First I divide the hair into three parts.

I put the front and the back parts in ponytails.

Then I pull those in to a ponytail in the middle like so.

Then make a cute bun from the hair in the middle. (you could really do whatever you want here but I like the bun the best.

This is what its going to look like from above. See how far back the back section goes.

And your done and your child will love you for the cute hair you have done for her...or not so much in my case.

Thanks for Stopping By

Mal

What to Read Wednesday: Matched

I finished the novel Matched by Ally Condie last night...thought I'd write a review in case this book happens to be on anyone's summer reading list. 

Soooooo, perhaps you've heard of a little known story called The Hunger Games. 

Ahem.

Girl lives in totalitarian society.

Girl likes boy from childhood.

Girl is put in situation controlled by society.

Girl hates the totalitarian society.

Girl decides to become a rebel.

Girl meets boy who's allll about being rebellious.

Girl decides she likes him better than first boy.

Together they change the world.

Ahh, Hunger Games in a nutshell. It's become the standard for any dystopian novel out there.

To begin with, I really really wanted to like this book. I loved Hunger Games, and I actually was incredibly fascinated by dystopian society novels long before it became so trendy.

Thank you Suzanne Collins for making these so much more accessible to me.


However... This book? I was kind of disappointed. I won't give away or spoil anything in this review, so please feel free to read this with both eyes open.  And yes, that WAS a Taylor Swift reference.


It begins following the life of Cassia Reyes, a young girl who strives for perfection living in the Society. She's a model citizen who has reached her Matching age. In this society, teens are matched by the governing body to their perfect genetic complement (basically, arranged marriages).

Cassia is Matched and couldn't be happier with her partner. That is, until, she watches the video the Matching department put together for her about her partner.... And someone else's face appears. (whoops)

This begins a chain reaction of events that challenges everything Cassia knows and trusts about the Society....


This is where I'll stop with the story so as to not spoil anything. 

And for those of you who immediately freaked out because I DID give some background, well, that info is on the back of the book. 

Anywho, the book invokes a love triangle (what teen flick doesn't these days? Thank YOU Stephanie Meyer) and a headstrong female lead. While I did like the characters, the Society itself as well as the plot was just too, umm, routine for a dystopian novel.

Nothing really stood out for me.

In addition, I don't know about you, but I could NOT put down Hunger Games. Every chapter had something. Sooo many cliffhangers. Awesome-ness.

Matched dragged. There weren't hardly any climaxes and the ones it had weren't that exciting.


I just realized I'm writing this with a gloomy face and sad eyes. People, THIS is how disappointed I am.


So, that's it. That's where it stands.

Matched is a trilogy and I DO plan on reading the second and third book (I have a thing about that, I'm weird...trust me, Twilight was my Everest).

I'm open to the idea that the story will pick up.

And, I will say, Ally Condie did leave the ending at a "new beginning" or "new phase" in the characters' lives, so you never know. 

This could could blow all other teen flicks out of the water. 

I'll let you know...but until then, what do you think? Any reactions to this book? Am I off my rocker?

Share your thoughts!


Xoxo
Alicia