Visit from the Tooth Fairy...

My daughter, Chloe, is 6 years old, going on 7 in about 3 months. She has been waiting for over the past year for that first tooth to fall out, so that she could place it under her pillow and wake up the next morning to see what the tooth fairy had left for her. In kindergarten, she would come home from school and tell me that another friend lost a tooth and she would continue to ask me why her teeth weren't wiggly. I would always tell her that each person is different and that she has very healthy teeth so they will come out when they are ready. 

Now over a year later, she is a first grader, and throughout this whole school year she continued to ask the same questions, until a few months ago she started to have 2 wiggly teeth. She expected them to come out right away but the months passed and they were still just wiggly. She'd come home from school and bite down hard on apples, trying anything to get it to fall out and I continued to tell her it will come out when it's ready. 

This past week she lost her very first tooth. Which is great for so many reasons. She was thrilled! She called her best friend almost immediately after it happen and had to share the news, even though she would see her later that day, she just couldn't wait to tell the whole world! I was relieved, for one I would now longer have to tell her it will come out when it's ready and I noticed a few weeks ago that there was a new tooth coming through right behind the baby one. 

Chloe, after losing her 1st tooth! 6/7/13

Losing a tooth is exciting for kids, so I wanted to make the Tooth Fairy experience even more exciting for Chloe. She loves reading the Pinkalicious books, and her favorite this past year has been Silverlicious. This story is all about Pinkalicious' experience losing a tooth. I don't think that this is a time for big gifts. If any gift at all I was going to give her a new tooth brush but it all happened so quickly that I just decided on creating a tooth receipt, a note, a tooth chart, and leaving a dollar.

This tooth receipt I created on my computer, I will upload the document if you'd like to download and customize for your own child. 

To create the tiny envelope I took a piece of paper and cut it into a small heart shape. You then fold in both sides, (pictured on the top right) then fold up the bottom (as pictured in the bottom left). And you've got a miniature sized envelope. I used a thin sharpie on the front to write down my daughters name and address. As well as the Toothy Fairies name and address. Because of the book, Silverlicious, I named the Tooth Fairy, Toothetina. My daughter LOVED it!! 

I also included a Tooth Chart that I created, it is a place that allows your child to keep track of when they lose each tooth. 

I love having the chance to make fun memories for my children, and this is definitely one of them...Our next step is to create a Tooth Fairy box, where she will be able to keep all of her notes from the Tooth Fairy. 

Yay!!

YAY!! Viewers are trying out my recipes and that is exactly why I started this blog a few short weeks ago.  I love cooking and I love sharing what I make with others, so that they may enjoy it too! I was pretty excited when I was on Instagram the other day and was tagged in this picture because she tried out my shrimp kabobs and grilled romaine recipe :) 

Thanks so much for sharing with me! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! 

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

About a year ago we got an ice cream maker and started to make our own ice cream. We've tried about a dozen different flavors, always using a vanilla ice cream base. The other day I decided to try something different, something chocolate. Lately, if we go out for ice cream, Liam has been asking for chocolate so I decided to whip up some Chocolate Peanut Butter.

You could use any ice cream maker but the machine we have is the Whynter IC-2L SNO 2-Qt. Ice Cream Maker. It is one of my FAVORITE kitchen appliances! I absolutely love having it, it makes the whole process so easy. There is no mess, no salt, no leaving in the freezer for hours. You mix all the ingredients together, turn the button on, and you have delicious ice cream in under an hour. 

Ingredient wise, there is not much that you need to make this, I usually have all ingredients in house besides the heavy whipping cream. 

To get started, take a small saucepan, add egg, sugar, and 1/2 cup of milk. Whisk on low-med heat, stirring often until well mixed and sugar is dissolved. Take off heat and allow some time to cool. You can transfer to a bowl and place in refrigerator until you have completed with the next step. 

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, in a large bowl, whip together peanut butter and cocoa powder. Add cocoa powder slowly and mix at low speed until all of the cocoa has been added. Using low speed until mixed will prevent a puff of cocoa powder in your face. Next you will add the heavy whipping cream and the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. Add this slowly and mix on low speed to prevent the cream and milk from splashing out. 

You will then add the stove-top mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Be sure to scrap down the sides of the bowl as you are mixing to be sure all ingredients are well blended. 

Next will determine what type of machine you are using. For mine, I then add the ice cream mixture to the 2qt container, place in the ice cream maker, turn on and wait about 45 minutes and then it is ready to eat.

If doing this with another ice cream maker, just follow my directions to make the ice cream batter and then follow the directions for your specific machine. 

Enjoy!! This frozen treat is delicious!!

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

My sister and her boyfriend came to town last weekend. Our first time meeting the boyfriend and we all had a really great time! The kids are still asking when they are coming back :) We started our last day together by planning out what we were going to do. I'm a planner, so even in the morning I'm thinking about dinner LOL. They weren't leaving until later that night so I asked if they were staying for dinner or leaving before hand. Once I told them what was for dinner, Ryan says we are staying LOL but Sam doesn't like spicy food, so she's lucky I love her and I modified her wrap by just making it a Chicken Ranch Wrap.

Start with a large skillet over medium heat, add your cooking oil, once coated with the oil add your chicken. Chicken should be cooked until it is cooked through, no more pink. Drain any remaining oil from the pan. Then add the hot sauce, butter, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Mix well to evenly coat the chicken with the sauce. Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. 

Then remove from heat and set aside while you prep the wraps. I usually heat the wraps for 30 seconds before filling them, this helps when rolling them up. 

Chop up the lettuce, onion, celery, and carrots, mix together in a small bowl. 

lay your wrap on flat surface, add 1/4 of your vegetable mixture, then 1/4 of your chicken, and then top with blue cheese crumbles. 

To roll, slightly fold in the 2 sides and roll from the bottom to the top. Then cut in half and your ready to enjoy your Buffalo Chicken Wrap. 

I never used to be a fan of spicy food, but now I love it! If you do too, you will love this meal. If your not a fan of spicy food, just take out the hot sauce, cayenne pepper, and blue cheese, and substitute something else. I used ranch dressing for my sisters wrap but you could also use BBQ, Honey Mustard, Teriyaki Sauce, just about anything would work. 

Also if your are not a fan of blue cheese you could leave that out and spread some ranch dressing on your wrap before you fill it up with everything else. 

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Chicken Ranch Wrap 

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Homemade Whipped Cream

You will not believe how easy this is! 

ALL you need: 
Heavy Whipping Cream
Sugar
Vanilla

This is what I use 

To make 4 cups of Whipped Cream: 

One pint (2 cups)  Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Tsp of Vanilla

2-4 Tbsp of granulated sugar (to taste) 

It is important to have a metal bowl and a metal whisk attachment for your stand mixer or hand mixer. 

Place the metal bowl and whisk attachment into the freezer for 30 minutes. 

Remove bowl from freezer, add all ingredients into the bowl and beat until it stiffens up and looks like fluffy whipped cream. 

Use immediately or cover and refrigerate, to store. 

*Tips* 

Add a little sugar at a time and taste it, you may not want it real sweet and for other things you may want it sweeter. 

There are a million ways that you could flavor this. For example if you wanted it to be chocolate whipped cream, add 2-4 Tbsp of cocoa powder. 

If using for a cake and you plan to use a piping bag, place whipped cream in the bag and put in the freezer for a few minutes to allow it to stiffen a little. 

My Vanilla Cake

I have a weakness for cake, of course it has to be good cake, but I also usually prefer vanilla over chocolate. I have a great recipe for both, but today I'm going to share my vanilla cake recipe.

**This recipe can be used for 24 cupcakes, an 8x10 sheet cake, or two 8-9'' round cakes.

First Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your pan.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together milk, buttermilk, and vanilla. Then using my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer (could also use your hand mixer), I whisk the butter and sugar, beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until creamy. On low speed add the eggs, one at a time, and scraping down the sides. Increase the speed to beat until incorporated. 

On Medium-low speed, add dry mixture and wet mixture, alternating until all ingredients are mixed together. 

**The mixture will not look smooth

Then add mixture to your pan and bake on center rack for 30-35 minutes, until your toothpick comes out clean. This cake has a flat top and will not dome, which makes it great for toppings and frosting. 

Allow to completely cool before topping with your favorite frosting.

Keep a look out for my Whipped Cream Frosting Recipe...

*TIPS*

**If you don't have buttermilk, you can use milk and vinegar as a substitute.
Add 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar to a cup, stir to mix and then allow 10 minutes to sit. **Works best with whole milk

Here are just a few time where I have used this recipe. Enjoy! 

flat top so it is easy to frost with my Whipped Cream Frosting and fruit for my patriotic cake.

Liam's 1st Birthday Cake using this recipe. Mixture of Small round cakes and cupcakes. 

Liam's 3rd Birthday cake

Mix of my vanilla cake and chocolate cake recipe

Shrimp Kabobs and Grilled Romaine salad

I love shrimp. I could probably eat shrimp everyday but my kids on the other hand are so picky when it comes to trying seafood. Friday night I had put Shrimp Kabobs and Grilled Romaine salad on our dinner menu. Shrimp is something I am determined for the kids to try, and really who doesn't like to eat off of a stick. You know what, they liked it! Even Chloe, who is the most stubborn about trying things that looks different. She ate the first kabob and then wanted more!
The Grilled Romaine salad was something new for the whole family to try. I've heard of the idea on cooking shows and seen pictures on Pinterest that look amazing, but personally it seemed pretty gross. I was pleasantly surprised and it was really good. We will definitely be making it again. 

Here's how to add this to your list of summer meals. 

In order to make the shrimp kabobs you'll need skewers. There are metal BBQ skewers that I have on my list to order, but for now I just use the wooden ones.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together olive oil, honey, garlic, soy sauce, and lime juice. Then pour over your shrimp and mix well so that it is evenly coated. Cover the bowl and let shrimp marinate in the refrigerator for up to an hour. 

While the shrimp is marinating I cut up fresh pineapple into chunks. You can use canned pineapple but this is just what I prefer. 

After shrimp has marinated take your skewers, shrimp, and pineapple, and begin threading onto the skewers. Alternate the shrimp and pineapple.

You are then ready to grill. Grill on medium heat for about 4 minutes on each side. Shrimp will look opaque when finished and pineapple with begin to brown. Enjoy!!

With the romaine hearts you will first want to clean them and be sure to pull off old leaves and any browning spots. Cut off any brown at the root but be sure to leave the whole root intact so that the romaine heart still stays together. 

In a small bowl, whisk together oil olive, vinegar, and spices. Use a brush to paint the dressing mixture onto the romaine. 

Use high heat on your grill, grill the romaine hearts, turning often, until lightly browned on all sides.

This is a great summer side dish that is quick and easy! Enjoy!

some of our dinner after I pulled it off the grill 

Until next time...