What I Wore...Easter

I bought my kids some really cute Easter outfits this year...but then I decided to get their pictures taken the day after Easter.  I was afraid that they would ruin their cute Easter clothes, so I didn't have them wear them on Easter LOL.  They looked really cute the day after Easter though :)

Instead, we decided to coordinate in orange.

My dress is a thrift-store re-do that my sister Brooke helped me with.

You can read the tutorial HERE.

Me:

Dress - thrifted

Cardigan - thrifted

Belt - thrifted

Shoes - target

Saxon:

Shirt - Wal-mart

Tie - Tie One On

Pants - H&M

Bridger:

Shirt and Sweater - Kohls

Pants - H&M

The weather is still holding out and we've had a beautiful spring!

It makes me excited for dresses, skirts, sandals, painted toes and bright colors!

What do you look forward to with warm weather?

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

When I was planning Easter dinner, I asked my cousin who was coming over if he had any preferences on what we should have.

His only request:

Costco Buttery Mashed Potatoes.

Not the "just add water" kind.

The real ones, from the deli, with the big chunks of butter on top.

I laughed but agreed.

Why not?  It would be easy.

Well...Costco didn't have them.  It turns out that they only sell them at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

When I make my own mashed potatoes, I can never bring myself to add all of the butter and cream.  I cut corners to keep it as healthy as possible.

But, this Easter, I promised all of the boys that I would make real mashed potatoes.

So I called my Dad to get his recipes, and here it is:

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs. red potatoes

Kosher Salt

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 stick butter

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

Fresh ground pepper

First, wash the potatoes and cut them into chunks.

Then fill a pot with cold water and sprinkle in some Kosher salt.

Bring the potatoes to a boil and then boil until soft (about 25 minutes).

Drain the water and let some of the steam evaporate out so your potatoes aren't soggy.

Then mash them a little.  I put them in the kitchen aid on slow for a minute.

Heat your half and half and butter together on the stove until the butter is melted and mixture starts to boil.

(I cheated here...I used skim milk...I couldn't help it!)

Then, slowly add the cream and butter to the potatoes while mixing.

Next add in your Parmesan cheese and sour cream (shh...I used low-fat).

And last, add salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve them right away since they will still be hot! 

Easter Weekend

Hi Everyone!

I hope you had a fun Easter weekend!

Look at this darling Easter treat that my neighbor brought us:

It's a cinnamon-sugar caramel apple

with a cinnamon-sugar jumbo marshmallow

marshmallow slices with pink sugar for the ears

mini marshmallow for the nose and tail

strawberry marshmallows for the arms

an orange tootsie roll for the carrot

and sliced sour green licorice belts for the green carrot top.

It was so cute that I didn't want to eat it :)

My boys of course wanted to eat it immediately!

They were even bargaining away on the pieces;

"I get the big marshmallow!"

"Fine, but only if I get the arms, nose and tail!"

My compromise was that they had to give me a few minutes to take some pictures before they disassembled it :)

What did you do on Easter?

I spent all day going back on forth about whether or not to take Dalton to the doctor.

He was really congested and had a 103 fever.

But I didn't want to take him and have them send me home and say "its a virus."

Because even if it is a virus, it's gone on for too long.

Poor little guy has been congested and had a fever on and off for 2 weeks.

But what can they do about it?

What if it's an ear infection?

What if it's not and I wasted $100 on "there's nothing you can do for a virus."

What if he's in pain?  I better take him.

What if I'm over-reacting?  I better not take him.

I made an appointment at the after-hours clinic.

Then I cancelled it.

I've taken my kids to the doctor's office a lot and had it turn out to be just a virus.

Once I held out until an upcoming well-baby check, only to find out that Saxon had pneumonia and I should have brought him in the week before. 

Once Bridger's ear drum burst because I didn't get him in soon enough.

I've taken him for a lot of false-alarms that I thought were ear infections though.

I suck.

Crossing my fingers for a better night tonight, and if not, we're definitely going in on Monday!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!!

I hope everyone is having a great day!

My poor baby Dalton is a sick guy today so we're just taking it easy.

But my big boys sure looked cute for church!

How to Boil an Egg

Every year when we dye Easter Eggs, I have to google "how to boil an egg".

I can never remember the perfect way to do it and I usually end up boiling them for too long and then the yolk turns gray.  I'm terrified of not boiling them long enough and having the yolk still runny.

So, if anyone else has the same problem as I do, this is how it's done.

(source)

First, let your eggs sit out for about 20 minutes to let them come to room temperature.

Then, place them in a single layer in a pot of cold water, and put it on the stove.

Keep them over high heat until it reaches a rolling boil.

Then, put the lid on and turn off the heat.

 Next, you just let your eggs rest in the hot water while they cook.

The site recommended 17 minutes for large eggs and 20 for jumbo.

My eggs were large, but I did 20 just to be safe :)

When the time is up, rinse them in cool water to stop the cooking process.

Otherwise they will keep cooking inside the shell.

 

Finally, they are ready to be decorated!

We always buy the cheapest pack of egg dye and it works great!

This is how our eggs looked for the picture.

As soon as I was done, the kids covered them in spiderman stickers!

They look awesome!

Asian Chicken Pasta

Hi Everyone!

Today I'm over at LOVE STITCHED for my contributor post.

Today is: Asian Chicken Pasta.

Go check it out and tell me what you think...

What I Wore...

We have been having AMAZING weather!

It's been beautiful.

I've been leaving the windows open, and going to the park everyday with the kids.

All of the trees in our neighborhood are blossoming already.

It's been so perfect, that it's making me a little suspicious...

I hope it doesn't mean that we will get a cold and rainy summer because we had such an easy winter and early spring.

Well...regardless...we are enjoying all of this beautiful weather as long as it lasts!

My kids are wearing shorts today, and I'm wearing short sleeves:

Did you notice my new sign on the ground?

We just finished it last night and I can't wait to list it in my shop.

It's going to be part of the some new designs that I've been working on.

Have a great day! 

As always...linking up to the Pleated Poppy :)

Easter Carrot Cake Cupcakes

With Easter coming up, I've been dying to make carrot cake.

On Sunday night, I decided to make my favorite carrot cake cupcake recipe.

Easy Easter Carrot Cake

1 box spice cake mix

1 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup finely shredded carrots

Mix together and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter

8 oz. cream cheese

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

This is one of my favorite recipes because it is oh so easy, and I usually have the ingredients on hand.  Also, I LOVE carrot cake, but I don't like raisins, and I don't like nuts in cake, and most carrot cake has both.  Instead I used the crushed pineapple with doesn't change the texture, but adds a juicy-fruity-flavor that I love.  However, if you do love nuts and raisins, go ahead and add them.  You can still use this easy recipe.

Now that I'm thinking of Easter, I realized that I have a lot to do still!

Time to start coming up with Easter ideas!