Today is a big milestone for me. It's my 30th birthday. I have left my 20's behind and I'm looking forward to what my 30's will bring.
I had an amazing weekend. Mike pulled off an awesome surprise party for me. I had no clue. I thought we were going out to dinner at a local pizza place called Luigi's with a few of our friends. About an hour before dinner I got text messages from two of my friends canceling because they fell down. The one girls is pregnant and said her o.b. told her to stay off of her feet. The other girl told me she fell and broke her arm. I was so upset that all my friends were abandoning me. Then Mike called the restaurant where we were supposed to be eating and said our reservation got messed up.
I was thinking this was the worst birthday ever but I was trying to stay positive. We were going out with Mike's cousin and his girlfriend and they suggested another local place called The Lockview that is a fun bar with great grilled cheese. At this point I didn't care where we went, I just wanted to eat somewhere.
We show up at the restaurant and Mike bypasses the host and start pulling towards the back of the restaurant. I see this big table of people and spot my sister first. She lives in Virginia so I started putting it together. I was so surprised and little embarrassed that I had no idea. Mike had been planning this party for weeks. All our friends were there and my sister flew in and had to get special permission from her work to take the day off.
I was really touched that Mike did all that work to give me a great birthday. He said there were a couple of times he thought I was going to find out but he kept it secret. We had such a great night with our friends! It really was a great birthday and I have the best husband to do so much for me to make turning 30 so special.
I'm sorry to say I didn't have my camera because I was expecting a quiet night so I don't have any pics.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Easy Lasagna Recipe
Mike made his first ever lasagna for Christmas. It was a veggie lasagna with alfredo sauce and it was delicious. It put him on a lasagna kick so for his mom's birthday he made a meat lasagna to have for lunch with the family. It's an easy dish to whip up and it serves a big group of people. It was a big hit with the family and everyone wanted to know what was in it.
Mike wanted to make an easier lasagna this time so he tried the no boil noodles this time. We just bought the store brand since it was the least expensive. I thought they tasted good but they were softer than a normal noodle that's been boiled. The family all liked it but Mike felt like the boiled noodles tasted better. It did make the lasagna building process much quicker.
Ingredients:
1 box of lasagna noodles- your choice of boil or no boil
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 pound ground beef
1 roll of sausage (like Bob Evans) in your flavor choice- we used the hot kind
1 package frozen spinach
2 jars marinara sauce (you may not use all of it but one jar isn't enough)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning herbs or half oregano and half thyme
If you want to boil the noodles start do this first.
Brown the sausage and ground beef in a skillet and drain excess fat. Heat the frozen spinch per the package directions.
Mix the beef, sausage, ricotta cheese and spinach in a large bowl.
Using a 9 x 13 casserole pan start, spray the pan with cooking spray to prevent the lasagna from sticking. Place a layer of sauce on the bottom then layer the noodles across the width of the pan. We used four noodles. Then layer the ricotta mixture. Repeat with sauce, noodles and ricotta.
The final layer should be noodles and sauce. Sprinkle the dried herbs on top.
Bake in the oven, covered, at 350 for about 45 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly. Add a layer of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes.
Enjoy!
I may be linking up to these parties:
Mike wanted to make an easier lasagna this time so he tried the no boil noodles this time. We just bought the store brand since it was the least expensive. I thought they tasted good but they were softer than a normal noodle that's been boiled. The family all liked it but Mike felt like the boiled noodles tasted better. It did make the lasagna building process much quicker.
Ingredients:
1 box of lasagna noodles- your choice of boil or no boil
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 pound ground beef
1 roll of sausage (like Bob Evans) in your flavor choice- we used the hot kind
1 package frozen spinach
2 jars marinara sauce (you may not use all of it but one jar isn't enough)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning herbs or half oregano and half thyme
If you want to boil the noodles start do this first.
Brown the sausage and ground beef in a skillet and drain excess fat. Heat the frozen spinch per the package directions.
Mix the beef, sausage, ricotta cheese and spinach in a large bowl.
Using a 9 x 13 casserole pan start, spray the pan with cooking spray to prevent the lasagna from sticking. Place a layer of sauce on the bottom then layer the noodles across the width of the pan. We used four noodles. Then layer the ricotta mixture. Repeat with sauce, noodles and ricotta.
The final layer should be noodles and sauce. Sprinkle the dried herbs on top.
Bake in the oven, covered, at 350 for about 45 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly. Add a layer of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes.
Enjoy!
I may be linking up to these parties:
Monday, January 23, 2012
I'm Learning to Knit!
I am really excited about my newest crafty endeavor. My coworker, Barb, who taught me how to crochet is teaching me how to knit. We had two lunch session together last week and I learned the knit stitch. Barb was really excited at how quickly I picked up using two needles. I was surprised at how easy it was. I think having lots of crochet experience helped even though it's a different concept using two needles.
Right now I practicing by making a scarf with huge needles and chunky yarn. I'm actually in love with the yarn, it's called Wool-Ease Thick and Quick. It's a super bulky yarn and it makes really awesome chunky stitches. I think I'm going to stitch it together at the end to make it an infinity scarf. There is a way to crochet in the round with circular needles but that will be a future lesson.
Right now I practicing by making a scarf with huge needles and chunky yarn. I'm actually in love with the yarn, it's called Wool-Ease Thick and Quick. It's a super bulky yarn and it makes really awesome chunky stitches. I think I'm going to stitch it together at the end to make it an infinity scarf. There is a way to crochet in the round with circular needles but that will be a future lesson.
Monday, January 16, 2012
How to make Coconut Almond, Chocolate Mint and Raspberry Red Velvet Cake Balls
Instead of doing Christmas cookies this year, Mike and I decided to make cake balls. I had some at a work Christmas lunch and fell in love. I looked them up online and showed them to Mike and he was easily won over. We had some ideas in our head for the flavors we wanted to make but couldn't find them online so we came up with our own. We decided on three different flavors- coconut almond, chocolate mint and red velvet raspberry.
They were all delicious but the coconut almond was my favorite. We brought some to work and shared them at Christmas and they were a big hit! They were easy to make but it was time consuming, especially since we made three batches. We spread it our over three days. Day 1- we cooked the cakes. Day 2- we mixed in the frosting, rolled the balls and chilled them. Day 3- we dipped the balls in chocolate. It would probably be easier to do it all in one day if there was only one batch but it worked out really well to spread it out.
Here's the basic ingredients to make your own:
For the coconut almond flavor:
white cake mix
frosting (store bought or homemade)
1/2 tsp Coconut extract
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 cup toasted coconut
2 bags white chocolate candy melts
For the chocolate mint flavor:
chocolate cake mix
frosting (store bought or homemade)
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
2 bags chocolate mint candy melts
For the red velvet raspberry flavor:
red velvet cake mix
frosting (store bought or homemade)
1/2 tsp raspberry extract
red sprinkles
You can find the candy melts are your local craft store. I got mine at Joanns. There are tons of different flavors and colors to choose from.
Directions:
Bake the cake according to the directions on the box. Allow the cake to cool completely before continuing.
Once the cake has cooled completely remove it from the pan in pieces and crumble it with your hands.
Make your frosting and add the corresponding extract. Or if you are using store bought, mix the extract in to 2/3 of the frosting. Reserve the rest of the frosting for another use.
Thoroughly mix the frosting into the crumbled cake mix.
Pinch off a small amount of the cake/frosting mix or use a small cookie scoop. (Ours were about the size of a small meatball. I might try them a little smaller next time. It's your preference on how big to make them)
Roll the cake/frosting mix into a ball. Place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. If you want to make cake pops at this point you can insert a lollipop stick. We wanted them to be easier to store so we didn't use one.
After all the mix is rolled place into the fridge to chill for about 3 hours or into the freezer for 15 minutes (don't allow them to freeze)
Melt the candy melts into a deep microwavable bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir really well. Repeat until all the chocolate is melted. Be very careful melting because the chocolate can burn very easily (we learned this the hard way.) It's important to stir really well because it will help to melt the chocolate. If you have a double boiler you can use this as an alternative to the microwave.
Using a spoon drop the cake ball into the chocolate and drizzle chocolate over the top with a spoon. Tap to remove excess chocolate and carefully place on the wax paper covered cookie sheet. This part is really tricky and took a long time to master. If are using a lollipop stick you will hold that to dip in the chocolate.
Sprinkle with coconut, crushed candies or sprinkles depending on the kind you are making. You need to do this rather quickly because the chocolate hardens fast.
Repeat dipping until all the balls are covered in chocolate and let cool.
To store we placed the finished cake balls our in the freezer so they would last longer. When we removed them for the freezer on top of our fridge they did not freeze all the way through. When we had them in our stand alone freezer they did freeze, leading us to believe it is set much colder. I read an online recommendations not to put them in the fridge because the chocolate would weep but I did not try that myself. I think they would also be ok leaving them at room temperature.
Here is the yummy finished product.
There are some great resources on the web to instruct you on making the cake balls. I referred to this website.
I also referred to this book Cake Pops by Bakerrella. I bought it for my friend for Christmas but Mike and I used it as a reference as well. There are great instructions and examples of different ways to decorate you cake balls. This is where I found my frosting recipe.
I may be linking up to these parties:
They were all delicious but the coconut almond was my favorite. We brought some to work and shared them at Christmas and they were a big hit! They were easy to make but it was time consuming, especially since we made three batches. We spread it our over three days. Day 1- we cooked the cakes. Day 2- we mixed in the frosting, rolled the balls and chilled them. Day 3- we dipped the balls in chocolate. It would probably be easier to do it all in one day if there was only one batch but it worked out really well to spread it out.
Here's the basic ingredients to make your own:
For the coconut almond flavor:
white cake mix
frosting (store bought or homemade)
1/2 tsp Coconut extract
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 cup toasted coconut
2 bags white chocolate candy melts
For the chocolate mint flavor:
chocolate cake mix
frosting (store bought or homemade)
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
2 bags chocolate mint candy melts
For the red velvet raspberry flavor:
red velvet cake mix
frosting (store bought or homemade)
1/2 tsp raspberry extract
red sprinkles
You can find the candy melts are your local craft store. I got mine at Joanns. There are tons of different flavors and colors to choose from.
Directions:
Bake the cake according to the directions on the box. Allow the cake to cool completely before continuing.
Once the cake has cooled completely remove it from the pan in pieces and crumble it with your hands.
Make your frosting and add the corresponding extract. Or if you are using store bought, mix the extract in to 2/3 of the frosting. Reserve the rest of the frosting for another use.
Thoroughly mix the frosting into the crumbled cake mix.
Pinch off a small amount of the cake/frosting mix or use a small cookie scoop. (Ours were about the size of a small meatball. I might try them a little smaller next time. It's your preference on how big to make them)
Roll the cake/frosting mix into a ball. Place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. If you want to make cake pops at this point you can insert a lollipop stick. We wanted them to be easier to store so we didn't use one.
After all the mix is rolled place into the fridge to chill for about 3 hours or into the freezer for 15 minutes (don't allow them to freeze)
Melt the candy melts into a deep microwavable bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir really well. Repeat until all the chocolate is melted. Be very careful melting because the chocolate can burn very easily (we learned this the hard way.) It's important to stir really well because it will help to melt the chocolate. If you have a double boiler you can use this as an alternative to the microwave.
Using a spoon drop the cake ball into the chocolate and drizzle chocolate over the top with a spoon. Tap to remove excess chocolate and carefully place on the wax paper covered cookie sheet. This part is really tricky and took a long time to master. If are using a lollipop stick you will hold that to dip in the chocolate.
Sprinkle with coconut, crushed candies or sprinkles depending on the kind you are making. You need to do this rather quickly because the chocolate hardens fast.
Repeat dipping until all the balls are covered in chocolate and let cool.
To store we placed the finished cake balls our in the freezer so they would last longer. When we removed them for the freezer on top of our fridge they did not freeze all the way through. When we had them in our stand alone freezer they did freeze, leading us to believe it is set much colder. I read an online recommendations not to put them in the fridge because the chocolate would weep but I did not try that myself. I think they would also be ok leaving them at room temperature.
Here is the yummy finished product.
Coconut Almond
Chocolate Mint
Raspberry Red Velvet
There are some great resources on the web to instruct you on making the cake balls. I referred to this website.
I also referred to this book Cake Pops by Bakerrella. I bought it for my friend for Christmas but Mike and I used it as a reference as well. There are great instructions and examples of different ways to decorate you cake balls. This is where I found my frosting recipe.
I may be linking up to these parties:
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