Earth Day

Happy Earth Day From Ellie 

A Summery Home Welcome

After Jessica had an Easter door hanging on her door after Easter, we decided that we needed to create something cute and fun for the spring/summer months. We were inspired by a super cute Pinterest post of an adorable wreath. It was colorful and whimsical, which is exactly what we were looking for to add spice to the door!

So we headed to Hancock Fabrics to pick up some summery fabrics, and then we headed to hobby lobby to get the wreaths. We used the green foam wreaths for simplicity. 

The first step to the project is to take the fabric and cut it into 2-inchish strips in width. This was a hard feat for the two of us because neither one of us can cut in a straight or even kind-of straight line. If you struggle with this feat in every day life, that is okay! 

Once all the fabric is cut take the already beautiful green foam wreath, that you just want to hang on the door plain, and tie the strips in any pattern you choose in a double knot. 

***DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED BECAUSE IT TAKES THE WHOLE WREATH BEING COMPLETE FOR IT TO LOOK GOOD***

Once completing the entire ring, you can add a letter in the middle of the wreath with some fishing line, or just tie some fishing line at the top and slap that puppy on the door with a command hook or an over the door hook. 

If you would like to know exactly how we get the "H" in the middle of the wreath, just comment below and we would be more than happy to do that for you! 

Get inspired and do something awesome today!!

Happy Blogging, 

Heather and Jessica (: 

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

• Jumbo pasta shells
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups (475 g) ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup minced fresh chives
• 1 can of Prego Roasted Garlic and Herb sauce 

Another Pinterest inspired adventured led us to a delicious supper that was fast and easy! We began with boiling the shells until they were al dente or a little under cooked. In a separate mixing bowl combine ricotta, parmesan, chives, and egg till smooth and thick. Drain shells of course but be careful, steam burns are real ladies and gents.

Let the shells cool for a minute unless you have what I call "mom hands" and you can handle holding hot objects. Get an oven safe pan and put ¼ of the jar of pasta sauce in the pan. Spread sauce so the bottom is evenly covered.

Fill the individual shells with cheese mix and place in pan. Once all shells are in the pan cover with as much or as little pasta sauce as you wish. Place in oven for fifteen minutes. Remove and top with mozzarella if you would like and place back in the oven for about five minutes or until cheese is bubbly. 

Remove and serve. Pair with Garlic Bread from the grocery bakery because its usually a couple of dollars cheaper and just as good and takes less time to cook.          

*Prego has stepped up their saucy game and their sauce is delicious!     

            

            

                    

Let us know what you think of this recipe. Comment below and tell us how you stuff your shells!!

Happy Blogging,
Heather and Jessica (:

A New Saucy Extravaganza

We wanted to change it up in the kitchen a bit, but we didn't want to get to crazy. I have been looking at the McCormick sauces and after much debate with Heather we decided. We were interested in the fajita sauce in particular, so we decided to try this particular sauce. 

To prepare this meal, we cut chicken into strips and added onions just cut into strips. We browned the meat with a little olive oil so we don't over flavor it. Cook until you see beautiful brown. 

After the meat is just browned add the onions and sauce. We don't have a picture of this step but you get the picture. While we were preparing this meal, we only used one large chicken breast. Not thinking, I dumped most of the package into the skillet. This made the sauce very strong. We suggest using two chicken breastesis (haha) for the whole packet of sauce.

We pared this meal with tortillas to complete the fajitas. We also had chips and queso dip. The meal was a decent meal, but I believe the fajitas would have been better if we seasoned the chicken ourselves. 

Overall, the sauce was good. I would use it again, but it could have been better if I hadn't put to much of the sauce with the chicken. 

Let us know what you think about the sauce if you try it! 

Happy Blogging, 

Heather and Jessica (:

Chocolate Endeavors

Good Evening Bloggers! Or Good Whenever you read this Bloggers!

Alight, I know we post a lot of actual easy supper recipes, but occasionally the sweet tooth gets the best of you. Tonight, while we were cooking supper we were also cooking dessert. 

We called them Messy Cupcakes or Chocolate Mess Cupcakes because we are not pros in icing things. We like to pull out the cupcakes and put the icing right on so it gets all oozy and glazy. If this isn't for you thats fine but in this case, presentation is not everything.

We began with Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cupcake mix. Trust me these cupcakes are plenty blessed with delicious. Also, Jessica is picky about her eggs so we used Egg Lands Best.

We combined the mix, eggs, vegetable oil, and water in a bowl and mixed them all up.

Then, we put the batter in the muffin pan. We used a small size because we wanted the Cupcakes to be more bite size. Also we had to to three batches because there was more batter than room in the pan.

     

Because we did multiple batches, we added chocolate chips to a batch just see how they would turn out and trust me they are fantastic. Any chocolate chips will do, we aren't that picky.

They cupcake went in the oven for 8 minutes which was perfect. We tested them with a toothpick to see if they were done.

When they came out, we put them on a plate while they were still hot so the icing would glaze on the cupcakes. Like we said before, we aren't icing pros so they are not pretty but they are delicious.

To close our adventures for the night, we delighted ourselves to the wonders of chocolate... and boy it was worth every calorie.

Happy Blogging Friends!!!
Heather and Jessica (:

And Ellie says hello

Special Days!!!

Hello everyone!!!

We are so glad to be back into the swing of things with life. Sometimes it does get the best of you and your time. That is what happened to us the past two weeks. We are deeply sorry for being MIA for so long. Life has been so boring without Heather around to entertain me.

While I have been sitting bored out of my mind, Heather had some pretty eventful happenings. First, over our spring break she spent her time having surgery on her poor finger. SAD DAY *cue the tears and the whimpers from the audience* Lets just say she enjoyed some wonderful pampering and the oh so delicious "after surgery" ice cream. I mean, lets face it we love food!

So what better to do than to be in the presence of food when we are reunited. I mean it is so important. We decided to spend our precious time together at a local Mexican restaurant called "Pepitos." It is so delicious.


After being reunited, Heather shared her "finger aerobics," as I call them. We conversed over a lovely Mexican supper, and I treated myself to a drink. Now this drink is just a little gift from the Mexican high powers. I tried a mix of a banana margarita and a strawberry margarita. The banana was the best part! If you have never tried one, it is so worth it.

After a wonderful supper, we moseyed on over to TCBY. I had never tried TCBY, like ever. It was good, but when it is self serve it is better. Heather likes her froyo to be 45% froyo and 55% toppings, and self-serve is the only way she can have that ratio!

All in all it was a great afternoon, and we were so excited to be reunited! Great day, great people, great food!!!

Happy Blogging,
Heather and Jessica (:

Peach Geen Tea Lemonade: A Review

Hey Happy Bloggers!

I'm back! A big thanks to Jessica for keeping the blog going in my absence.

Anyways, Have you been to Starbucks lately? I haven't and swung by today on a whim to reward myself for being awesome (everyone should does this once in a while, its good for the soul).

I saw that under their Teavana menu they added a new one. Peach Green Tea Lemonade. I got a tall just to try and lets just say I'm impressed.

I LOVE peach. I can handle green tea. Although I've never been a fan of just lemonade, when they were all mixed together I just had to try.

At first taste you recognize the peach, then boom relaxed notes of green tea and then as it finishes you get a light kiss of lemon from the lemonade. Refreshing and happy (if drinks could have emotions).  It was just what I was looking for.

If you get a chance, swing by and get one of your own. Apologies in advance if you don't like it, but hey every pallet is different.

Have a blessed day and Happy Blogging
Heather (:

The Oh So Famous... Publix Cake

Since the beginning of March, I think, Publix has had a new cake to me as their cake of the month. It is a little pricey at a total $21 after taxes. Sold at $19.99, which they advertise as $5 off of the original price. It is delicious and just amazing. Can you guess what it is yet? If you guessed their Chantilly Cake you are so right.

Now just let your mouth water over that beauty. Oh my goodness it is wonderful! Alright the cake is a basic yellow cake, and as you can see in the picture it is in three layers with fruit between the layers. 

The fruit is just strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in a glaze. The glaze has a tangy flavor. The cake is frosted with a light whipped cream icing that is just good by itself! 

This was a very good decision to try. If you are debating on trying the cake for the first time, it is so worth it! (Disclaimer: Publix did not ask me to review the cake or pay me to review the cake.)

If you do try it, let me know what you think by commenting below!

Happy Blogging,
Jessica (:

Escapades before St. Patties Day!

Everyone loves a great deal or the feeling of saving some real bucks. I know I absolutely get to the point of ecstatic when I get a good deal! After moving to a new town, you have to find the good thrift stores and bargain stores. I mean if you want to spend a billion dollar, by all means go for it. I hate spending money, but I do love shopping. I have had to learn to be thrifty very early.

The store I would like to tell you about today is a new store to me, its called "Dirt Cheap."

Let me just tell you how wonder full this place is... I love this place. They have some wonderful products and they can be super cheap. I have been to this store multiple times, but I found some super good deals the day before St. Patrick's Day. It was just fantastic.

Okay these T-shirts are the cutest things ever. The green T-shirt is a quarter sleeve length t-shirt from Talbots. The price marked in the store was $9. When I look at that I am like "Meh." BUT the shirt was 80% off. Now the shirt is a whoppin' $1.80. Even at the thrift store that price is hard to beat! 

The Orange short sleeve striped shirt is a ... The shirt was originally marked for $5. With it being marked 60% off, the total cost is a whoppin' $2.

The last shirt is a three quarter sleeve length t-shirt from Talbots. The price marked in the store was $9. With the 80%
off, the shirt is now a whoppin' $1.80.

Just for these three name brand shirts I only spent t total of $5.60 before tax. But that isn't even the best part!

This shirt is a banana republic. Now I know you are thinking, "how do you find this at the bargain/thrift store?" Well let me tell you it takes time. Although it is so worth it. Alright I found this shirt on the rack with the banana republic tag on the shirt. Dirt cheap marked it at $20. I would have turned this down even if it does cost $50 retail. I just can't bring myself to pay $20 even at a bargain store. The shirt was marked 80% off of the $20 leaving the shirt costing $4. This made me really excited and I had to buy it. 

The last bargain I would like to share with you are my new jeans! These jeans are brand new and were marked $7. These unfortunately were not discounted off the $7, but I couldn't pass these up. They are so soft and they stretch which is fantastic! I love them. 

That is about it. I hope you are inspired to go searching for a great deal! If you know of a super awesome bargain store or a thrift store that you are in love with, please share in the comment section below. I love to find new places! 

Happy Blogging (: 

Jessica (Heather is still MIA unfortunately- makes me sad)

Easy HOMEMADE Biscuits

Alright, I know everyone is already freaking out because of the title, but it really can be done. I promise. Like I said before, I was with my nana and I learned a lot of new super east recipes. These biscuits are called "mayonnaise biscuits." Now don't turn your nose up. They taste amazing.

Ingredients:

1 cup of self rising flour (I prefer unbleached) 

¼ cup milk 

2 "heaping" TBS of mayonnaise (or 1 of mayonnaise and 1 of sour cream) 

Directions: 

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees 

2. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl with a spoon. 

3. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet 

4. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. 

This recipe makes 6 biscuits. Just enough to make for the family one morning. 

Impress your family with these delicious homemade biscuits. I was very impressed with how delicious they were! You can also take this recipe and add some garlic and cheese with some melted butter on top and have homemade "Red Lobster" biscuits! 

Let us know what you think about this recipe. Comment and tell us how you used the recipe! 

Happy Blogging (: 

Jessica (Heather is still away) ;(

Easy Banana Nut Bread

Happy St. Patricks day bloggers!!!

How many people are overwhelmed at the thought of baking a bread? Is it just me? I just feel like it is a super hard task to bake a good banana nut bread, but it can be very easy!
While visiting my nana this weekend, I was taught some super easy recipes. One was her super easy banana nut bread. What is the best thing about it? It is made with a cake mix! (Shhhh.... don't tell anyone)

Ingredients:

 

1 "Dunken Hines" Butter Golden Cake Mix
1 sick of butter (room temperature)
4 eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp of vanilla
½ cup of milk
1 ½ cups of mashed ripened bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
1 cup of chopped pecans (or more)

Glaze:
2 cups of powdered sugar
milk (use enough, small amounts at a time) to make a thin glaze
Food coloring (optional)

***It is very important that all ingredients are at room temperature when baking***

Directions:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together in a stand mixer or a large bowl the first 5 ingredients
           -Be sure not to over mix the batter because tough banana nut bread is not delicious
3. Mash the bandanas
4. Add the bananas and the chopped pecans to the mixture and fold in by hand until they are       distributed
5. Prepare the pan(s) you wish you bake your bread in (You want to butter or spray the pan and then dust all sides with flour or sugar. We used sugar to test it out.)
6. Pour the batter evenly between each pan
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. (Be sure to check your bread with a toothpick in the center before removing from the oven. When you check the bread the toothpick should be inserted in the center of the loaf and should come out CLEAN.)
8. Place the loafs of a wire rack to cool!
9. If you desire to glaze the loafs, you can use the recipe above, then place your desired glaze on top
10. Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!

This recipe makes enough batter for two standard loafs. We decided to make one standard loaf and use the left over to make 4 mini-loafs. 

While banana nut bread is super delicious, as we all know, but two full loafs is more than enough. We decided to share our small loafs with the local fire department. They always enjoy a nice treat for their hard work! If you do share your bread, be sure to make known that the bread does have nuts! If you don't people might go nuts! Another option is the freeze your left over bread. This is a good option so that you always have some. The best way to keep bread in the freezer is to wrap it with plastic wrap and then with aluminum foil. This will keep up to 3 months in the freezer!

To thaw the bread just take it out, unwrap it, and pop it in the microwave on defrost or in the toaster oven.

I hope you enjoy this super easy recipe! Please comment below and tell us what you think!

Happy Blogging (:
Jessica (Heather is out of town on spring break) ;(

Product review

I don't know about everyone else but cooking rice can be a pain. There is always something going wrong, and don't even get started with sticky rice. How do you even begin? Well, search no more. Someone heard our cries. The product we will be reviewing today you have seen in our recent post "InnovASIAN" supper.

This rice is like a gift from the good Lord above, especially people on the go. This rice stays frozen until you are ready to pop it in the microwave. With the word microwave in the last sentence, I can hear you know "What do you mean rice in the microwave?" Well keep an open mind. This rice is super easy and fool proof to cook. All you do is microwave it. What more can you ask for? The best part of this product is not the ease, although it is a great plus, but it is the taste and the quality of the product! The taste of the product is super fantastic and it is actually a sticky rice. It will also stay, cooked, in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. It is just as good the second day as it is the first day, although it isn't as sticky. 

We did pick this up at the local Win-Dixie. It was $... Worth every penny. Will definitely repurchase this product again. 

Just as a disclaimer, this company has not asked us to review the product or paid us to review the product. We want you to know what you are buying before you buy something that we recommend. We will also start reviewing most of the new products that we try! 

Thank you for eating with us! Let us know what you think of this post and the product! Comment below and tell us how you use the rice or other products you want us to try and review!

Happy Blogging, 

Heather and Jessica 

Wall Hanging Strategies

Alright so a couple of days ago we posted about our new wall hanging creation. If you remember, we were at a loss on how to hang the sucker. Asking around, we got three suggestions.

                      1. Hang it from hooks with fishing line
                      2. Use long nails and rest it on the nails
                      3. Use one hook and use ribbon to tie it up

The committee, Heather and Jessica, decided that the best option for stability was the multiple hooks and fishing line.

At our local Walmart we picked up the fishing line for 1 whole dollar and the hooks. The picture to the right is where we left off from our last post.

 Using a tape measure we measured the approximation of the center of the wall and where the hooks should go. After deciding placement, we used a nail to make a hole because the hooks are screw hooks. This helps the screw hook smoothly go into the wall with less hassle. Then, we measured the approximation for where the fishing line needed to go. When tying the line, we used a "triple loopy loop" if you ask heather. Basically what we did was loop it around your finger and then put the end through the loop. (pull to tighten) We also did this three times for stability. When all the sting was assembled on the wood, we hung the wood from the hooks!

 Unfortunately the ribbon we used for the letters was acting all jankey. If you can tell in the picture above, you can't make out the word "hope." This was very upsetting, but with some hot glue this was all better. We just hot glued two pieces of yarn to the letters (one on each side of the letter). It was actually a very easy fix!

This is our finished product!!! 

It turned out to be so pretty and it is just the right size to add some flare into my oh so bare dining room! I hope you get inspired to create something beautiful! Comment below if you have other suggestions on how to hang things on the wall like this. We would also LOVE to hear about what you are creating! 

Happy Blogging, 

Heather and Jessica (: