I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. I wanted to share with your guys some of our top ten moments 2011...
Thanks for stopping by!
Hello All!
via (without the pouring shield)
How was your Christmas?
I hope everyone had a very very Merry Christmas… Guess what? I am a proud owner of a KitchenAid mixer.
via (without the pouring shield)
I am still trying to get the hang of using the mixer. I spent most of Christmas day eating, baking, sewing and spending time with family. I made an upside down pineapple cake and Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars (hubby was in all) to bring to my mother in-laws house. I may make another upside pineapple cake this week (I will keep you guys posted). If anyone has any easy tips and/or tricks for using a KitchenAid mixer I would love for you to share…
How was your Christmas?
Over the weekend while doing a lot of R& R and crafts I decided to go to Pinterest to get some inspiration. Well, to my surprise I saw these adorable little trees...
Prior to looking online, I knew I only wanted to use material we had in our home. I noticed the project required poster board. Of course I had no poster board in our home. I went on to the next best thing. The inner lining of gift wrap, I measured the tree and once cut I applied regular tape to the tree.( Cyndy@thecreativityexchange.com gives a full tutorial) I knew I wanted to try something different and I decided to use leftover ribbon we had in our home instead of fabric...
TA-DA!
(I decided to use one of our crystal candle holders to give it a little extra sparkle.)
Did you complete any projects over the weekend?
Ingredients Recipe via
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Streusel topping, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup caramel topping
Streusel Topping:
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
Yield: approximately 3 cupsDirections
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.
In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping.
If you try this recipe, let me know. Leave a comment, pin it (so you have it saved), and don’t forget to tag a picture use the hashtag >> #simplytasheena on Instagram. I would love to see how it turned out.
Hubby Approved!
Hubby Approved!
Can you believe it? 9 days left until Christmas!
My family and I are super excited about this weekend. Hubby and I may surprise the kiddos with a trip to a light show in our state or we may go ice skating! (I've never been ice skating before). Our weekend will also consist of many crafts for our home and family and friends... I am also happy because 97% of our holiday cards have been mailed....our weekend plans will also include baking homemade cookies , I would love for my tween to teach me how to play one of his games on his Xbox connect. Of course scrabble... Last but defiantly not lease football on Sunday!
Do you have any plans this weekend? Will you be shopping? Are you going to any holiday parties? Creating homemade holiday gifts?
Last Friday I went to the thrift store. Looking for a sewing table, I saw great used items on Ebay. However, I wanted to see if my local thrift store had anything that I had in mind... Well upon my arrival. I noticed that they had some great prices on furniture. I cam across this beauty...
($26.00) Tweens room
I called my hubby to get his opinion on this purchase (I even sent him a picture) He told me to purchase the item and we will pick up the item tomorrow. I asked if I could pay for the item now and come and get it later and based on their policy they are not allowed to hold items. I decided to try and find some means of transportation before the store closes. I asked what time they closed and the gentlemen stated 6:00 pm. Well, its 5:00 pm now. I knew I would not have enough time to pick up the item... Hubby stated that we would go back on Saturday... well Saturday has come and gone and this beauty is probably in someone’s home or still at the store...
Do you have a Thrift store item that you had to leave behind?
A couple of months ago while shopping for fabric for our tween’s room. I came across this fabulous fabric. I knew at the moment that I would probably have to use the fabric for our tween's room seeing how I was unable to locate the fabric intended for the project (No biggie, right :)). My sister was with me at the time and Joann's was having 50% off of home fabrics and additional 20% off of my purchase. YAY!
After we went to Joanns we skipped walked over to Big Lots. I usually do not shop at Big Lots. But I could not resist the huge sign of 30% off the entire store. I picked up several items for our home and came across this beauty.
I went back and forth called and texted hubby to get his stamp of approval. I actually had a couple of different options. However, my sister and hubby liked this one the best. Our bathroom inspiration! At first I did not even realize how nice the fabric would go with this picture. Once I realized it did... I was hoping I had enough fabric left over to make curtains for our bathroom.
After procrastinating for a couple of months, I finally decided to make our curtains. I really had in mind to sew the curtains... with all of the fabric creations with a hot glue gun. I decided to give it a try! I measured the length and width, cut the fabric and ironed down the sides. Once the sides were ironed, I glued them down with a hot glue gun.
TA-DA!
Hubby gave his stamp of approval :)
Do you have a sew project that turned into a no-sew project?
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups long grain rice
3 tbs Sofrito
3 tbs Sofrito
1 pkt Goya Sazon seasoning
1 tsp Goya Adobo seasoning
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
3 Cups of water
1 can pigeon peas (or whatever beans you prefer)
DIRECTIONS:
Combine sofrito, sazon, and adobo in a large saucepan.
Add sauce and water, and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
, add beans, and bring back to a boil.
Add rice, bring to a boil, cover and lower heat.
Cook for an additional 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until rice is tender.
Remove from heat, and allow cooling slightly.
ENJOY!