Lots of Big Game Treat Ideas

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.#BigGameTreats #CollectiveBias

Hi everyone! I can’t believe it’s been so many days since I stopped in to say “hello” on here. Last week I worked full time hours at my other job and was busy training someone for the position – and it seemed like I didn't have much time for anything else! I don’t know how you full time workers can find the time to blog full time too!

Luckily for me this week should be a bit more fun. Emma’s birthday is Wednesday and her party is going to be next Sunday at the aquatic center – so I’ll be getting ready for that. I’m just working from home this week as well, so I’ll have more flexibility. 

Last night was the first evening that we all got to stay home and relax in a couple weeks, so we invited some of our friends (who are more like family) over to watch a game/play games and nibble on the mass quantity of goodies I created.  I think it’s great to have spreads for Big Games, but so often it’s geared towards ‘the guys’, so I thought it would be fun to create a dessert table full of treats that everyone – including kids would love. 

Saturday morning I made a big Chocolate Football Pinata cake which was really fun! It was filled with Skittles® for a little surprise. I also tried my hand at Deep Fried SNICKERS® Bars which were a huge hit, and then we all had a little fun together experimenting and making our own Starburst® ice cream.

Chocolate Football Pinata Cake 

2 Packages of your favorite cake mix (I used a baker’s quality mix)

2 containers of your favorite chocolate frosting

Chocolate sprinkles

1 14 oz package of Skittles

White icing for decoration

Coconut (for decoration)

Green food gel

Bake the cakes according to instructions. I poured the batter into three 9 inch cake pans. After the cakes have cooled completely, cut each cake in half. Arrange one cake so it’s slightly off centered, to create more of a football shape. Frost and add second layer on top. Carefully scoop out center of the middle cake layer and replace with Skittles until it’s completely full. Top with last cake layer and trim edges until you have your desired football shape. Cover the entire cake with frosting.

Pat chocolate sprinkles on top of the frosting and then using a pastry bag pipe the football lines on with the white icing.  In a separate bowl, pour desired amount of coconut and green food gel and mix until the coconut is completely covered. Use as a grass decoration around your football cake.

 The Deep Fried SNICKERS Bars were actually easier than I thought –

1 package of 12 SNICKERS fun-sized bars

1 cup of flour

1 cup of milk

2 tsp sugar

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

Oil for deep frying

Candy sticks

Powdered sugar for garnish if desired and/or caramel sauce

Insert candy sticks into the SNICKERS bars and place them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  In the meantime, heat up oil in a deep pan, and mix all of the batter ingredients until there are no lumps.

After thirty minutes, dip each SNICKERS bar into the batter, and fry in oil once the oil reaches 390 degrees. Cook for 1-3 minutes until the outside is golden brown. Transfer the bars to a plate covered with paper towels and then dust with powdered sugar and/or drizzle with caramel.

These are best served hot, but the kids loved them cold too! J

 Lastly, our Starburst ice cream that we created together was such a big hit that we ate it faster than we could make it! It’s got a nice lightly sweet Starburst flavor and is very creamy. Anytime I can incorporate the kids into creating with me I will – it just makes days like this more memorable for them.

Starburst Ice Cream

¼ cup of granulated sugar

1 ¾ cups of milk

½ cup of cream

7 ounces of Starbursts (1/2 a package)

Candy thermometer

Ice cream machine

First, chop Starburst candies into quarters, set aside ¼ of them. Place the rest in a cooking pot and pour in the milk and cream. Heat over medium high until the candy is completely dissolved, stirring continuously.

Remove from heat and set aside until slightly cooled. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until well mixed. Slowly pour the candy mixture in and once it’s all blended place the entire mixture back on medium high heat and stir until the temperature reaches 195 degrees.

Pour mixture into a shallow baking dish and place in the refrigerator until completely cooled.  After it’s cooled pour into ice cream machine for approximately 30 minutes or until the desired consistency is reached.

Make approximately ¼ of a gallon.

 I even made one more treat yesterday, created with Life Savers® gummy candies, but I think I’ll have to wait and share that recipe tomorrow – this post is already much longer than I intended! All of the candy can be found at Walmart in the candy aisle, where there was a big selection for the kids and I to choose from! I decided to decorate the table, using tissue paper to create pom poms , craft paper to make a triangle banner, poster boards for a backdrop, and lots of green because aren't green and brown the un-official colors for a game day?

After the game was over, we played some board games, caught up on what was new in each other’s life’s and just spent a few hours relaxing at the house while the kids all played.

This was a great way to start out our year of celebrations! Have you ever created a Big Game dessert table before? What did you include?

 ~Melissa

25 Excuses to Celebrate This Year

One thing I want to focus on more this year is celebrating – I used to do more of it, just because I could, but the last couple of years I've slowed down on celebrations – even nixing a few that I used to hold annually, partly probably because life seemed to get busier, and partly because our family and friends seemed to spread and go their separate ways. 

This year will be different.

Celebrations don’t always have to be large and grand; sometimes celebrations can be small intimate gatherings with just a couple of friends over or even just an evening with your immediate family.

The point is, we all need things to look forward to – special days and meals that will serve as key memories that you will have to look back on once the year’s over. This year, I challenge you to do some extra celebrating with me! There really should be no excuses needed to have a gathering, but if you need a reason to celebrate, here’s a bunch of ideas – 25 to be exact.

1. Birthdays - the perfect excuse to party!

2. Winter Wonderland - sparkles, cocktails, and a gift exchange.

3. Back to school - this can go two ways, either with an after school party for the kids, or a mimosa brunch for the moms. 

4. Halloween - costume party!

5. Spring 

6. Kentucky Derby dinner - hold a contest for the best hat

7. Valentine’s Day

8. Ground Hogs Day

9. St. Patrick’s Day

10. Memorial Day Weekend (BBQ season!)

11. 4th of July

12. Cinco de Mayo 

13. Fashion show brunch - have your girlfriends model their favorite new outfits

14. Easter brunch - 

15. Summer Solstice Dinner

16. Oktoberfest - beer and brats 

17. Fancy Dinner - because you can!

18. Backyard BBQ - pick colors for a theme.

19. Have a Wine tasting party

20. Murder Mystery Dinner

21. Sports Leagues - after season celebrations, tournament victories - pizza party anyone?

22. Cocktail Happy Hour - make a signature drink and invite friends to sample

23. Dessert Potluck - have everyone bring their best treats 

24. Have a get-away - have some really close family/friends? Pitch in for a house rental and extend the party for the weekend. 

25. Just because! Celebrate life - whether having a dinner party, a fun activity or delicious drinks - have fun!

This Sunday we are starting the beginning of our year of celebrating and the kids are having a couple of friends over and so am I - we're just going to eat a bunch of tasty comfort food and break out the board games and relax together for a couple of hours... you can bet that I'll be sharing more on this topic soon!

~Melissa

Simple Lunch Solutions with Campbell's Slow Kettle Soup

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveLunchIn #CollectiveBias

Hi everyone! The kids headed back to school today after their two week winter break, and I have to say, I was a little sad about returning to the routine of it. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to stay in my pajamas half of the day and not have to worry about walking the girls to school, driving and picking up Noah, and all of that homework.

 Today I’m taking a couple of hours and getting 2015 in order. I have a family binder that I created a couple of years ago that I’m updating (I did a terrible job at this last year) and have tabs for meal planning, budget, home repair, schedules, etc.  I do pretty well at keeping up with this sort of stuff when I actually have it all planned out – like dinners. If I have a tentative schedule for the month, or even the week, it helps keep me from the last minute panic at 4:30 trying to figure out what to feed everyone!

  I have to admit though that cooking lunch for me really isn’t really my thing. When the kids are home lunch is pretty simple, sandwiches, apples, string cheese, crackers – but I can never find the extra motivation to make one for myself, and in the past I’ve gone so far as skipping lunch because I think I’m too busy or something crazy, and I know how crazy it sounds but I’m sure some of you out there know how I feel! Lately though, I’ve been stocking up quick meals that I can eat while catching up on my emails here at home, like a salad and one of Campbell’s Slow Kettle soups. They are delicious and convenient because they can be warmed up either on the stove top or in their own container in a microwave.

 The Campbell’s Slow Kettle Style soups can be found in the soup aisle at Walmart – and there are quite a few varieties to choose from like Braised Beef Stew, Southwest-style Chicken Chili with Beans, Roasted Chicken and Chardonnay Soup (pictured above) and many others! Plus you can find a coupon HERE to save .75 off of your next Slow Kettle Style Soup purchase! 

Hopefully by the end of the day I’ll have the rest of our dinners planned out for January, along with a shopping list – as well as a few other things crossed off of my to-do list….after I finish this tasty lunch!

Ready or not, routine, here we go! 

~Melissa

Family Milestones

I know I've mentioned on here how I really don’t do New Year’s ‘Resolutions’, but there’s definitely been a few things weighing on my mind about changes happening this year.

1. I turn 30 this summer

2. In September all three of my kids will be in school all day.

I keep reflecting back on my 20’s, there were many ups and a few downs, lots of changes and growth, but they've slipped away so fast. I’m not quite ready to say goodbye. I remember in moments of sheer exhaustion from sleepless nights and crying babies how I used to count the years until I turned 30 and would finally be able to have a 7 hour break every day during the school year, and now that it’s drawing near I’m slightly sad. The past twelve years of my life, my entire adult life, I've always had a little one on my hip or at my side, and as tiring as it was, I’m going to miss it.

It seems like every time I log on to my Facebook account so many of my friends are going place to place, running around from activity to obligation, and I realize that that has been me this past year. I know it won’t get any better this year with Noah starting sports in addition to the girls, but I really want to try and focus on one day at a time so I don’t feel overwhelmed – so I can slow down and really enjoy the changes this year, and cherish the next six months while they are still the same. 

 Lately I've felt more content just staying at home with the family, versus the need to go everywhere. There’s a bunch of home projects we are going to work on this year and I’m also making wiser choices on what fuel I’m putting in my body after two months of over indulgence.

This year will have big family milestones, and even though it scares me, I’m going to embrace the change.

~Melissa

*Photo Credits: The Picture People

Feta Bruschetta Salad

Happy New Year! Last night we did end up staying at home, and all three of the kids actually made it to midnight – we played a couple of board games, snacked on lots of treats, watched some Food Network (the kids are addicted to it lately), looked through photos from the year, and then we all cheered in 2015 with champagne and sparkling cider. We lit a couple of sparklers outside and then tucked Emma and Noah into bed. I let Anika stay up for a little while longer (like 2 am!) and we watched the rest of the celebrations and songs on TV. 

 Today we all stayed at home, I took down all of the Christmas decorations, and then this evening we finally all sat down and watched Malificent. 

With the holiday break wrapping up, I can honestly say that I’m not really feeling ready to jump back into the kids’ routines and work. I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this year, and am planning on slowing down a bit, taking one day at a time, and enjoying the moments. I’m working on trying to organize my days a little better, and start eating a little better and exercising again. I did so great until September when school started, and I’ve definitely noticed a difference in my energy levels – so I’m now penciling it in my calendar, not only because I want to start off the year right, but because I’m turning the big 3-0 this summer and want to feel good. 

 Today I’m sharing a salad I made a while back; it’s super simple but really tasty. The great thing about salads is that you really don’t need to measure ingredients, just make it however you like it.

Feta Bruschetta Salad

Romaine lettuce

Feta Cheese

Bruschetta Bread Crumbs

Fresh basil, finely chopped

Crumbled sausage (grilled chicken works great too)

grape or cherry tomatoes

Balsamic vinegar

Italian dressing – or dressing of choice.

I just chopped, diced, and mixed all of the ingredients, then tossed in some balsamic and voila! A simple and tasty salad to eat. 

So tell me, do you make certain resolutions that you write down or share with the world? 

~Melissa