a great summer treat {prego cocktail}...

Summer in Baltimore is thick... hot and super humid. This fun summer drink is very refreshing and doesn't leave me drooling over Rob's nice cold beer! The ingredients are simple. I found mine at Trader Joe's, but I am sure most grocery stores carry them.

 

Since this is a carbonated beverage, you'll want to just mix it up in the glass. I added one part 100% Cherry Juice and 2 parts Sparkling Lemonade to a glass with a few fun ice cubes (frozen with fresh mint and lemon). 

I also added a couple of pitted cherries to some cute straws that I had leftover from a recent birthday party... completely unnecessary for a Wednesday afternoon in the backyard with a 4 year old.

Andrew was excited that I let him try a "fancy drink" but after a few sips he decided that this drink was "more for mommies"... a little tart and super fizzy!

Linkin' Up...

Cookie Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Moving to a new country, without friends or family has been tough. We miss home and the comforts we associate with it. Certain food items are high on that list; our favourite brand of coffee, the local shwarma joint, Shreddies, Kraft peanut butter... I could go on for awhile. However, the pain has been eased by the discovery of some great things we wouldn't be able to indulge in North of the Border, namely Speculoos Cookie Butter from Trader Joe's. This sweet spread is absolutely incredible. We enjoy it on toast, waffles, pretzels, graham crackers, the end of a spoon, pretty much anything! Recently I used it as the base of a basic cream cheese frosting and the results were something to be celebrated!

Cookie Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8oz) package of cream cheese

1/2 cup of Cookie Butter

3 cups of powdered sugar

1 - 2 tbsp of milk

Cream together cream cheese and cookie butter. Slowly add powdered sugar until consistency is smooth. Add milk or additional powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency. 

Here, I have the frosting sandwiched between two Speculoos Cookies, the Trader Joe's product that inspired the spread. It was also pretty delicious on the white cupcakes we had at Henry's First Birthday Party. You can't really go wrong. So, make a double batch and hope for leftovers!

Veggie Cakes for Toddlers

In less than one week Henry will be one! His appetite is growing almost as fast as he is and I am finding it difficult to stay creative with his meals. He absolutely loves to feed himself and has little patience for being spoon fed. I am happy that he is becoming more independent at meal time but am concerned that he isn't getting the nutrients he needs from the foods he is able to handle on his own.

On the search for Toddler Food Ideas, I came across many recipes for pancakes, fritters and even frittata! I muddled around with some ingredients and came up with these Veggie Cakes. They can be made in a large batch and stored in the freezer and are easily modified for the veggies you have on hand.

What you will need:

1 sweet potato

1 small zucchini

1/2 cup chopped spinach

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp pesto

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Veggie Cakes - Shred sweet potato and zucchini and combine with chopped spinach. Remove excess water by wrapping in paper towel. In a separate bowl sift together flour and baking soda. Add flour mixture and eggs to the veggies and stir until combined. 

Scoop out small balls of the batter and place in an oiled non stick pan over medium heat. Brown for 2 minutes on each side and then transfer to a baking sheet. Bake at 350º until veggies are tender. 

 Creamy Pesto Dip - combine pesto, yogurt, sour cream and lemon juice. 

I served the veggie cakes plain for Henry but mixed up an easy Creamy Pesto Dip for Andrew. Henry gobbled them right up, but Andrew wasn't a fan of the texture. Maybe if I had encouraged him to be more adventurous when he was one he wouldn't be so picky now!

What clever ideas do you have for sneaking 

more veggies into your kiddos diet?

Sharing at:
Pure Grace Farms - Foodie Fridays

Cake Batter S'more Cookies

Recently, while cleaning out my pantry, I realized that I had way too many cake mixes. There must have been a sale on at some point, because I had six boxes of various flavours! I have been messing around with cake decorating for a few years now, but there are only so many events that can justify the time (and calories) that go into a full blown fancy cake!

I have seen a number of different recipes that utilize cake batter as the beginning of a great dessert. I made Mini Egg Blondies using cake batter for Easter this year, and they were a major hit. So, I thought I would tweak the basic "Cake Batter Cookie" recipe and come up with something tasty for summer!

This recipe was super easy, it took about five minutes to mix and ten minutes to bake. The results were amazing... chewy, gooey goodness! A fabulous treat for a cookout or camping trip!

Cake Batter S'more Cookies

1 chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup (or less) of oil
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup crumbled (not crushed) graham crackers

Combine cake mix, eggs and oil until somewhat smooth, fold in chocolate chips, marshmallows and graham crackers. Drop by the spoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350ºC for 10 - 12 minutes, cookies will still be quite soft. Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes before removing from the cookie sheet to cool completely on a cooling rack. That's it! So easy!

Vegetarian Curry Soup

My husband and I absolutely love Indian food and this Vegetarian Curry Soup is one of our favourite choices for a vegetarian meal.  The health benefits of living a vegetarian lifestyle are extremely well understood, but I just don't think we would be able to fully commit to the limitations of no meat. However, when we have the opportunity to eat authentic Indian cuisine, I think it could be a possibility! For now, I try to stick to planning at least one vegetarian meal a week.

This Vegetarian Curry Soup is a great Veggie night option. It has a dark rich broth, a full aromatic flavour and is surprisingly filling. I use a pre made curry paste for seasoning, which makes it much less complicated than your standard Indian stew, and the majority of the ingredients can be a combination of whatever you have in the fridge!

Vegetarian Curry Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup of onion, chopped

2 large carrots, diced

1 zucchini, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 can of chick peas

1 can diced tomato (with juices)

2 cups of vegetable broth

1/4 cup sour cream

3 cups of baby spinach

To start, heat a couple of table spoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add onion, garlic, carrot, zucchini and red peppers to the oil and sauté for a few minutes. 

Then, stir in one or two tablespoons of your favourite red curry paste (I usually buy patak's) and sauté for an additional minute or two. Stir in chick peas, tomatoes and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add sour cream and stir until the soup broth thickens slightly. Just before serving add baby spinach so that it wilts, but does not fully cook.  

*Tip* - when I make this soup, I ladle the soup I know we will eat into a 

smaller pot before wilting the spinach. When reheating leftovers 

I add a handful of spinach to the bowl, stir and microwave until hot.

This is one of those recipes that really keeps getting better as it sits in the fridge... so make a big batch and enjoy it all week!

Homemade Granola

Granola really is the perfect snack. I love it with milk, fresh berries and yogurt or even just on it's own. We seem to go through quite a bit in our house, and since it's not too cheap, I thought I'd look up a few recipes and see if I couldn't make some in bulk. I found that most recipes had the same basic ingredients and that they were all super adaptable, making it easy to work with what you have in your pantry. We are big fans of cinnamon and vanilla, so I added added both to the recipe. I also included some pumpkin seeds because I love their texture!

Honey & Almond Granola

7 cups of rolled oats

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

3/4 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup hulled and roasted pumpkin seeds

1 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup canola oil

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 tsp salt

1 T vanilla

Combine oats, coconut, almonds, pumpkin seeds and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir well. Measure the remaining ingredients into a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Slowly pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Spread mixture out over two cookie sheets and bake in a 325 degree oven for twenty minutes. Be sure to stir the mixture once or twice while baking. The granola is done when the oats become a golden brown (they will not necessarily be crunchy until they cool). 

This recipe for homemade granola is fantastic! It is sweet and crunchy and the clusters are just the right size! It is also very economical... by my calculations about 1/3 the price of a store bought box!

Pinterest Power Party!

Hello! This week I am so excited to be a co-host to the fabulous "Pinterest Power Party". Pinterest is the website that undoubtedly peaked my interest in the blogging world, and continues to inspire me to try new projects! If you are stopping by from The Taylor House, Living on Love and Cents, or one of the other co-hosts' sites, I hope you take some time to look around!

I can't wait to see what everyone has to share today!

Welcome Back to our weekly Pinterest Party! Every Thursday we will be hosting a linky party that focuses on YOU, the readers! Do you have an amazing DIY project, a frugal gift idea, or even a delicious recipe that you want to share? Well, we want to see them and share on our Pinterest Board’s too!

How do I participate?

Easy!

First, Be sure you are a Pinterest Follower of the Hosts as well as the co-hosts!

Living On Love and Cents

The Taylor House

Sew Much Crafting

This Week’s Co-Host’s! Be sure to stop by and say hello!

And Away We Go {Follow On Pinterest}

Blog: And Away We Go

Welcome to the Mouse House {Follow On Pinterest}

Blog: Welcome To The Mouse House

Daily Dose of Del Signore {Follow On Pinterest}

Blog: Daily Dose of Del Signore

Let’s Party!!

Help us spread the word and share the Party button above on your blogs too!

Then link up your favorite projects below, also, pin the two before yours! Or, keep going and Pin as many as you would like!

But, wait! There’s More!

Be sure to stop back every Thursday to see the featured Pin’s from the week prior! We will be sharing the top five most viewed projects from the week prior!

If you were featured be sure to grab a badge and wear it proudly on your blog!

<a <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">href</span>="http://<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">livingonloveandcents</span>.com/category/<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">pinterest</span>"/ target="_blank"><<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">img</span> <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">src</span>="http://<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">livingonloveandcents</span>.com/?attachment_id=13201" /></a><text></text>

Would you like to co-host with us? We have openings in some of our upcoming parties for people who would like to join us! Just send an email to cmaetaylor@yahoo.com to find out which dates are available!

Are you ready to party and get your Pin on?

Here are the features from last week!

1. 30 Minute Easter Skirt from Welcome To The Mouse House.

2.  A Touch Of Spring from Alderberry Hill.

3.  Photographing Your Kids from Rags to Stitches.

4.  Infinity Towel from Justina Who.

5. Banana’s For Chocolate from Type A Baker.

6.  Garlic Noodles from Learning The Ropes One Recipe at a Time.

7.  Chicken Fajitas from Pint Sized Treasures.

8.  Mini Sloppy Joe Biscuit from Crafty Mix Adventures.

Monte Cristo Rollups...

As a kid, I always enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen. One day, I thought for sure I had come up with the next big thing... it was a grilled cheese dipped in egg! I excitedly described my invention to my mom, who had to break the news to me that my creation was already quite famously known as a Monte Cristo. So not only did someone beat me to the chase, but they added ham to make it even better:(

I thought of this story awhile back when I came across a recipe for french toast rollups. I tweaked the recipe to try this new idea with the old classic! Here's how it went...

I trimmed the crusts off of sliced bread and cut some cheddar cheese into long, skinny pieces. Next, I whisked eggs (1 egg for every 3 rollups) and milk together and set everything out for quick assembly. 

I rolled each piece of bread flat, with a rolling pin (wine bottle works well too!), placed the cheese and ham at one end, rolled the little package up and dipped it in the egg mixture. I then placed the rollup, seam side down, in a hot skillet with a tablespoon of melted butter. The bread browned quickly, so I gave each roll a turn every thirty seconds or so. Once they were crispy and golden brown all around, I removed them from the skillet and breakfast was served!

They were very tasty, and super easy for my little guy to handle (not as messy as a sandwich)!

...and just because we are a family of peanut butter addicts, we gave this a try! I sprinkled the outside with sugar and we dipped them in syrup!! Gotta love Breakfast Dessert!!

Easter Wrap Up...

What an exciting Easter weekend! My parents joined us, in London, on Friday and we had a great time playing with the boys and visiting. The weather was finally a little warmer and it was great to get outside! We tried some new recipes, cooked up some old favourites and had a wonderful Easter meal on Saturday night. Rob's mom joined us for the feast and Andrew and Henry were happy to have all of their grandparents together! Rob was stuck at the hospital on Easter Sunday, so the boys and I joined our "second family", my best friend Sara, her husband Andrew "aka "Beezer", and baby Jake, for a second Easter dinner.

Here are a few shots of some treats we enjoyed!

We all indulge our sweet tooth over Easter, but no chocolate was as sweet as the safe arrival of Ayla Reese! My great friend Shannon and her husband Jeremy proudly announced the birth of their baby girl Monday morning and I was so happy to get to meet her that afternoon. She is just precious!!

This Easter proved to be quite productive for "...And Away We Go!!", there is nothing like a holiday or celebration to get the blog world humming and my creativity flowing! Here are the projects I shared, I hope they gave you some inspiration too!

Thumb Print Easter Eggs

Easter Garland

Bunny Taggie

Mini Egg Blondies

DIY Easter Baskets