"They like me. They really like me!!!"

Am I dating myself with the above quote?  Google it, kiddos, if you don't know it already.  
I've been nominated for a Liebster award! Out of all the blogs she must read and follow, My friend Jasmine over at FleurtyandFit nominated my little blog for a Liebster award. And I am SO grateful!!   The Liebster is an award for bloggers, by bloggers.  It's a way to discover new blogs, promote each other, and recognize each other's awesomeness! In Order to accept the award, you must follow a few rules.....  1. you must link back to the person who nominated you  2. you must answer the 10 Liebster questions given to you by the nominator
3. you must pick 10 bloggers to be nominated for the award (with a small following)
4. you must create 10 questions for your nominees
5. you must notify your nominees



My questions from Jasmine: 1.  What was the first blog you ever read? Marksnews.com Mark is one of my oldest, dearest friends, and he posted the most interesting, funny stuff!  I wish he'd blog again.  Plllleeeeeaaasssseeee???   2. What are your top five pins on Pinterest? My Protein balls, my turkey and cheese pinwheels, Franks crockpot chicken,   my stuffed mushrooms, and my garlic and meatball dumplings  3. What is your go to easy recipe for dinner each week? Bacon wrapped chicken bites. Recipe HERE 4. What is your favorite social media site? Facebook, IG, Twitter, others? Facebook and Instagram!  5. Where do you see your blog in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? Oh gosh, that's a tough one.  I'd love to be doing what I'm doing now but with way more followers.  Blogging can be so time consuming, so maybe I could be making more money off of it then, but still doing what I love, cooking, crafting and creating with my kids, and still living a fairly healthy lifestyle and being an inspiration to others.   6. What is your favorite thing to do for fun? Play with my family.  Doesn't matter if we are at a playground, playing a board game, riding bikes, swimming, it's all fun with them.   7. Who is your best friend?  I have two.  Jaime and I have been best friends since we were 10.  She moved away 10 years ago but through years and miles apart, she has been at my side. She is the Godmother to my children and my unbiological sister.  I couldnt ask for a better female bestie.  Billy is stuck with me forever.  He was my ex-Fiance's best friend, and when we broke up, Billy stuck by me.  He can make me laugh like no other and is my kids' Godfather.  Jaime and Billy aren't just best friends, they are family.  And I'm so blessed to have them.   8. How do you promote your blog?  Mostly on Facebook.  An occasional shout out on IG, and numerous Pinterest pins.  And word of mouth has been my best support so far.   9. What is your favorite Disney Movie? The Jungle Book or Toy Story or Bedknobs and Broomsticks and I could pick a dozen more!   10. If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, with unlimited funds--where would you go?  Disney again.  My family had so much fun when we went back in March.  And then maybe Aruba.  And I'd love to take my family to Portugal to see my roots.  
Now I nominate: The ladies over at http://www.capecodmommies.com/mommy-blog.html Jannelle over at Sweet Connolly http://sweetconnollyphotography.com/?page_id=24 katie over at http://sasealiving.blogspot.com/ Ellen at Designing Main Street http://designingmainstreet.com/ Alison over at http://thealisonshow.com/   Miranda at MP Photography http://miranda-mpphotography.blogspot.com/  Cara over at  http://www.marvelouscara.com/ Mark at Marks News http://www.marksnews.com/  The ladies over at http://www.yourfamilynest.com/ NatSpencer over at http://glitterandthegirls.blogspot.com/ Melissa over at https://www.facebook.com/disneybf  Now, my questions for you are: 1.  What was your life goal when you were a kid? 2.  If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be?  3.  What is your favorite book?  4.  If you could eat one thing every day without any negative side effects, what would it be?  5.  Is there anything you feel like you've failed at?  6. What is your dream job?  7. You have a Saturday morning to yourself.  No work, no schedules, no deadlines.  What do you do?  8. Who has been your biggest inspiration?  9. What is the weirdest thing about you, in your opinion?  10.  What do you wish you could do? 
Thank you so much, Jasmine!!!!  

Ohhhhh fuuuuuudgggggge

As you know, I'm always on the lookout for new ways to make recipes a little, or a lot, healthier.  I have a wicked sweet tooth and love my chocolate.  A friend posted a recipe very similar to this and it looked so yummy.  I'm always trying to make sweet recipes with a healthy kick.  Sometimes these recipes work, sometimes they don't.  Fortunately, this one totally works.  Its a "healthy" candy.  Definitely NOT healthy, by any means, but it has fiber, high protein, and probably lower sugar and fat than most fudge and candy out there.  And it is delicious.  REALLY delicious.  Here we go.

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter (I used 1/2 cup Jif, 1/2 cup Nuts 'n More high protein no sugar Toffee flavored peanut butter)
2/3 cup honey (Mine is local!)
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 cups of oats, not instant
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (I used the same amount in crushed up dark Hershey's chocolate because that is what I had on hand)
3/4 cup of any other toppings that you choose.  I picked peanuts.  You could use almonds, dried cranberries, coconut, sunflower seeds, etc)

Directions:

Melt together the peanut butter, coconut oil and honey in a saucepan over medium heat.  Remove from heat when fully melted together and add the oats, chocolate chips and toppings.  Stir until combined and the chocolate chips are fully melted.  Spread into a 9x13 pan.  Refrigerate until hardened, about an hour.  Store in the refrigerator.

Our Gabba party

My little one turned 2!  I can't believe it.  Time flies so fast, and it seems it goes even faster with each child.  The past two years have been so extremely busy but so outrageously fun.  My little one is a bundle of energy.  She is a little wild woman.  She is petite in stature but her personality is HUGE!  She can certainly run the house and boss the big kids around.  She is my little dynamo, a tiny terror, and my sweet baby girl, all in one.  And can we talk about her hair?  I mean come on, how awesome is this?!?!

Her favorite things these days are Frozen, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Yo Gabba Gabba.  Since my older daughter also had a Gabba party when she turned 2, we decided to go with the same theme.  The planning began and soon I hit a brick wall when it came to decorations and party supplies.  Even though you can order the Gabba party stuff online, the local stores all had their Gabba Gabba items discontinued a while back.  So pickings were slim. Of course I took this as a challenge and was able to improvise a lot.  And we had a blast at the party!

I was able to find a lot of Yo Gabba Gabba wall decorations,

some napkins and the candles but I ended up making a lot of the table decorations.  Buckets to hold the snacks,

The yellow bucket said "Plex mix" on it, with a homemade Chex mix that had all of my daughter's favorite snacks inside, the green one said "Brobee Booty" with Pirate Booty, and the red said "Muno's Munchies" and had blue corn chips from Food Should Taste Good.  The pink bucket didn't say anything, it just had Foofa's signature flower, and it held Food Should Taste Good's yellow corn tortilla chips.  

 the 2 table centerpiece which I made here

and the juice containers were turned into Gabba characters easily.

 I had homemade Foofa flowers, too.  

The cake was made by my wonderful friend who owns Cape Cakes by Kristen.  Check her out here.  She makes all sorts of cakes, cupcakes, cocktail cupcake shots and she can ship her cake pops across the country.  I highly recommend her!  

The top layer was all strawberry and the bottom was chocolate, as requested by my little one, with an oreo buttercream filling. 

And that dress my daughter was wearing?  It was a sheet from my older daughter's Yo Gabba Gabba toddler bed.   We had it made by my good friend Candice, who also made my daughters' Christening gown out of my wedding dress.  We are VERY lucky to have such talented friends.  

And for your viewing pleasure, Im adding a couple of my favorite pictures.  Last year, as we were wrapping up my daughter's 1st birthday celebration, we captured this on camera. 

One of my closest friends, Mark,  fell in love with the picture, had it blown up to poster size, and shipped it out to us.  We have had it hanging up over my daughter's crib ever since.  The night of her birthday, we decided to pull the picture down and try to get her to make the same face.  This was the best shot we got, and it's a doozy! 

I crack up everytime I see it.  Although she isnt making the same face, her hands are almost in the exact same positions, and that was something we didn't even try to get her to do.  We laugh all the time over this picture and can't wait to try to re-create it again next year!  

Disney's pineapple Dole Whip recipe

One of my top priorities when I was in Disney was to get a Dole Whip.  I had heard so much about them and was told it was a not to miss treat while I was there.  So one night in Magic Kingdom, my family made the trek across the park to get me one.  I ended up ordering the vanilla pineapple.  The rest of my family all ordered different ones, and then we all indulged.  If you've had a Dole Whip, then you know how amazing they are.  Even though the signs say it is dairy free, it is creamy, fruity, so yummy.  It is a tropical treat.  If you've never had a Dole Whip, then you are missing out.  But you also came to the right place.  Disney has shared their Dole Whip recipe with me, and now I'm going to share it with you all. 

What is a Dole Whip?  It is a  frozen pineapple or orange treat.  Almost a sorbet, but soft serve.  You can get either flavor, mix the two together, or you can mix either one with vanilla for an ice cream like treat.  Official Dole Whips are sold in the Magic Kingdom, at Aloha Isle, and at the Polynesian resort (in a self serve Dole Whip machine!) but other parks have knock offs.  We did also indulge in a knock off Dole Whip made with coconut rum while in Epcot.  It was almost as good as the one in Magic Kingdom, but a bit too strong for me since I don't drink.  It was yummy, though. 

If you don't remember, a while back Disney sent me a suitcase full of goodies, including tee shirts, Craisins, measuring cups, bingo cards and recipes.  One of those recipes was for the famous pineapple Dole Whip.  So thank you, Disney, for sharing.  My family has been having a blast making our own Dole Whips at home.  Last week we rented "Saving Mr Banks" from Redbox and we made our own homemade Dole Whips to go along with our Disney movie night.  For what it's worth, "Saving Mr Banks" is a terrific movie.  I definitely recommend it.  So if you're looking for a fun Disney family night, grab "Saving Mr Banks" or another Disney favorite, and make a Dole Whip.  Your family will thank you. 

Ingredients:

4 cups frozen pineapple
1/2 cup milk ( i used coconut milk)
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice

 

 I tossed everything in my Ninja blender (but you could probably use a YoNana machine, or another type blender) and whipped it all together until fully blended. I then put it in a storage bag, froze it for an hour, and then divided it into 5 cups for my family of 5 and ate it all up. 

 

My family loved them and this is a treat that we will definitely be making over and over again. 

Bacon chocolate chip cookies

Last week we were told Cape Cod was going to be on a blizzard watch for the middle of this week.  Then last weekend, the weathermen started saying we would be slammed with another 12-18 inches during this blizzard.  The beginning of this week the numbers started dwindling but we were still due to get between 8-10 inches by mid week.  And yes, starting early Wednesday morning, the snow had started.  By the time my family was awake on Wednesday, we had about 6 inches of snow and the wind was whipping.  The snow continued into the afternoon.  Of course school was cancelled, my husband's restaurant was closed and so the whole family was together for the whole day, which doesn't happen often. 

Our day started with watching Frozen and then we planned our afternoon.  A big family dinner and a special dessert were on our "to-do" list.  We planned on mayo chicken (coat the boneless skinless chicken breasts in mayo, dip them in spices and bread crumbs and bake.  Its the moistest chicken you'll ever try!) and scalloped potatoes, butternut squash, peas and corn.  For dessert the kids wanted chocolate chip cookies.  So I decided that as soon as the babe went down for nap, the big kids could bake with me.  But as lunch time came around, I got an idea.  What if we put bacon in the cookies?  My family loves bacon.  And I love a good sweet and salty snack.  So I asked the kids and they thought that putting bacon into the cookies was the best idea ever!!  As soon as lunch was over, I put my tiniest monkey down and the big kids and I got to work. 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 8 pieces of bacon, cooked (Preheat oven to 400* Put bacon on a foil lined baking sheet.    Bake for 10 min or until its brown and crispy. Let it cool and chop it into small pieces)
• 1 cup chocolate chips

 

Instructions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
2. Melt the butter.
3. Mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated white sugar using a stand or a hand-held mixer.
4. Add in the egg and egg yolk and mix thoroughly.
5. Add in the vanilla extract and salt.
6. Slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, and cornstarch.
7. Fold in the cooked bacon and chocolate chips.
8. Spoon the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.

 

This recipe made 32 cookies.  Of course it would have made a few more if I didn't sample the dough (a big no-no!) before hand.  Both the dough and the cookies were delicious.  The cookies were a hit with the whole family!

 

Bacon chocolate chip cookies, a glass of milk, and a game of HedBandz with the family was the best way to end a snow day. 

 

Samoa 7 layer cake recipe

I made this the other night while having a craving and half way through, I realized I didn't have a crucial ingredient so what did I do?  I improvised as well as I could. And it turned out even better than I imagined.  I had made the whole cake and toppings were on the cake when I asked my husband for the can of sweetened condensed milk.  He handed me a can of unsweetened coconut milk.  When I searched for the condensed milk, I realized we were out. I loved my results after I improvised.

Ingredients: 

Chocolate cake box mix 

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil 

1/2-1 cup of the following: chocolate chips, shredded coconut, caramel pieces.  I chopped werthers baking caramels in tiny pieces and used that. 

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 tbsp powered sugar

2 tbsp of Girl Scout Samoa coffee creamer or coconut coffee creamer. 

(Or you can substitute the last 3 ingredients for 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk) 

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Mix the cake mix with the two eggs and the oil.  Stir until it is blended completely.  Then put the cake batter in a foil lined, sprayed 8x8 or 9x13 pan.  Bake for 10 minutes. 

Pull the pan out of the oven and put half of the chocolate chips, caramel pieces and coconut on top of the cake.  

Whisk the creamer, the coconut milk and the sugar togetherness thoroughly (or gently shake the can of condensed milk really well) and drizzle all over the cake and toppings.  Now add the rest of the toppings and bake for another 20-25 minutes until the center of the cake is completely cooked and the caramel and chocolate are glossy and bubbly. 

You can serve this warm, with vanilla ice cream, or by itself.  Either way, it's delicious and tastes a lot like a Samoa cookie! 

The hunt for Elsa

My daughter saw the Disney movie Frozen months ago.  She instantly fell in love with the story and the characters.  (I haven't seen it yet.  I will finally be able to watch it tonight, we had a friend buy us the BluRay this morning and drop it off to me.) Our home has been filled with pretend play of Anna and Elsa, and the music from Frozen ever since my little saw the movie.  At this point, all five of us know the songs and you will randomly hear us belting out "Let it Goooooooooo" or "Love is an open door, door, door, love is an open Dooooooooor!". 

So as we planned our trip to Disney, I told the big kids to make 3 lists.  1.  Things they wanted to see 2. Things they wanted to do and 3. Things they wanted to buy.   My son's list was full in each category.  But my 6 year old daughters lists were almost empty.  The three things she wanted on her trip were 1.  To see Anna and Elsa in person 2. To go to the Bibbidi Bobbidy Boutique and 3. To get the Elsa dress.  So I started preparing early.  I found out where Anna and Elsa were going to be while we were in Florida.  (Norway in Epcot.  They are tucked away in a little gift shop, and the line to meet them is usually about 3-5 hours long.) In December I booked an appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidy Boutique in Downtown Disney for one of our days there.  (FYI, this one is busy, but not nearly as busy as the Magic Kingdom boutique.  Everytime we got close to that one, there were crowds of people around us and we could barely move.  The Downtown Disney boutique was more open and airy and you could easily move around. And yes, we definitely needed to book the appointment 3 months in advance.  Those appointments book up fast!) And I figured I could buy the dress at most of the gift shops around the park.  I mean, they all sell Disney stuff, and I was assuming most of them carried Disney Princess dress up clothes.  So they had to carry the Elsa dress. Right??  Right????  RIGHT??????  Hmmpppfff. 

So off to Disney we went, with lists in hand.  We visited the very first gift shop we saw with Princess dresses and I asked the woman where the Elsa dresses were.  She sort of giggled and replied "Oh honey, those are sold out park wide.  But I can sprinkle some pixie dust in your hair!"  So with a flick of her wand, my 6 year old and I were covered in glitter and headed out to find another shop that sold the dress.  I mean, seriously, it couldn't really be sold out park wide.  Right??  Right????  RIGHT????  Well.........  Maybe so.  Every dress shop I visited for the next two days had no Elsa dresses and almost no Frozen stuff.  Occasionally we'd find the castle playset, or a book, or Anna's sled toy.  But no dresses at all, Anna's or Elsa's!  But we hadn't hit the boutique yet and we knew that they had a plethora of princess dresses there. 

So the day of our appointment arrives.  We head on down super early to the Downtown Disney area.  We take some pictures in front of the characters and in the little water area there, and then head straight to the World of Disney store where the Boutique is.  We head in, see the Frozen area, with books and toys and tee shirts and sweatshirts and, and, AND................




No Elsa dresses. 



WHAT???? 


But they did have the beautiful green Coronation dress that Anna wears in the movie.  And then the women at the boutique and the dress shop did tell me AGAIN that the whole park is sold out of Elsa's dress.  So my daughter, with her sweet little face and her big brown eyes, looks up at me and says "Mommy, even though I reeeeeeeeally wanted the Elsa dress, I'd be completely happy with Anna's dress." 

Now let me tell you that this child, from birth, has been nothing but an angel.  She was the easiest baby, she was the nicest toddler, and she is the sweetest kid.  She has literally only thrown a temper tantrum ONCE in her 6 years.  (and that was when she was 1 1/2.) She listens and follows EVERY rule there is.  And she is kind to everyone.  Seriously.  (I wish I could tell you that I am exaggerating about this, but honestly, this child is an ANGEL.)

So I bought her the Anna dress.  And she looks beautiful in it.  And her boutique appointment was everything she dreamed of and everything she wanted and she left there smiling and thanking us over and over and over again. 

 

But I still wanted to get her that Elsa dress.  I was determined to find it.  I looked all over the parks for it, asked sales people in shops, stalked Norway in Epcot for it. (Btw, we DID see Anna and Elsa!)

 

 

But there were seriously no Elsa dresses to be found.  I even checked the Disney store online daily with no luck.  Now 2 weeks later I am STILL on the hunt!  This morning I got a call from a friend, letting me know that the dress was on the Disney website.  So I immediately logged on, clicked on my daughter's size and added it to my cart. 

 

"This item cannot be purchased at this time."

 

So I clicked on a size bigger. "This item cannot be purchased at this time."  Okay, the size smaller....."This item cannot be purchased at this time."   Okay, well, maybe I can try for my younger daughter.  "This item cannot be purchased at this time." 

 

REALLY????  Sold out in every size.  size 2/3, 4, 5/6, 7/8 and 10 all sold out.   I was so bummed.  So I am still on the hunt and frustrated.  I completely know how my Mom felt in the early 80's when all I wanted was a Cabbage Patch kid doll.  I know that eventually I will find the dress, Im just hoping it will be an easy find and that I don't get trampled when I find it!  (I'm only partially kidding....does anyone remember when Moms were getting trampled and getting broken legs while trying to buy Cabbage Patch kids?!?!) I've checked other sites.  One generous seller on Amazon was offering the dress at the low, low price of $608.  That is so very kind of him.  (Insert eye roll here.  I hope that you can sense my sarcasm in that previous sentence.) 

 

My daughter has hopes that we will find this dress before Halloween so she can be Elsa.  And I am determined to somehow find that darn dress!!!  It will be mine.  Oh yes, it will be mine!!!  Umm, I mean, my daughter's.