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How was your Easter? Ours was fabulous. We hung out with some family, ate some delicious food, and pondered on what a beautiful, special day it was. This little beauty was consumed while we hung out.  Not for breakfast though.  Sometimes muffins are so sweet that I think they need to be served for treats so that's what these babies were. Everyone enjoyed them immensely, especially my kiddos.  I think it's because of the raspberry jam. Anytime I pull the raspberry jam out of the freezer they almost go nuts.  I don't know what it is about it but raspberry is their very favorite.  It's the hubs least favorite (he hates the seeds that get stuck in your teeth) so the kids have this jam pretty much to themselves.  And that makes these muffins even easier. It's just raspberry jam swirled on top.  Easy peasy. And absolutely scrumptious (and because cream cheese always makes things taste better). Raspberry Cream Cheese Buns ( click here for printable version ) ...

 Just wanted to throw a little hint out there. You might want to follow me on GFC (google friend connect) because I have a super fun giveaway coming up for getting to 1000 followers.  We are so close and I am getting so excited I can hardly stand it. Anyway...on to Easter.  There is one candy that I L.O.V.E. this time of year.  Nothing truly compares to it.  I totally don't care about any of that other seasonal candy except for those Cadbury Mini Eggs. I buy bags and bags of those beauties because they are so amazing I can hardly stand it. I try to add them to pretty much everything and then find myself eating the rest of the bag.   Seriously! They are so hard to stay out of.  I was contemplating cheesecake the other day (mostly because I need to use up 32 oz of cream cheese that I didn't want to go bad. What? You don't keep that kind of cream cheese around.  Well silly me I buy it from Costco in big cases--told you we sort of like it around here!...

Several weeks ago we had the most beautiful weather.  The sun was shining, the wind wasn't blowing (which says a lot around here), and the temperatures were in the 70s. Everyone at this house was ecstatic. We spent every possible minute outside because it doesn't last for long around here (it lasted 3 days and oh how marvelous they were).  So we decided one night to pack the kids up with some sports equipment and head out to the park with a picnic dinner.  I was in charge of the dinner part so after looking around for a little bit I settled on this bad boy. I wanted to do something different than sandwiches or wraps (the kids get those almost everyday in their lunch bag) but something that was easy to transport.  This was the perfect choice.  We were all in love with it.  The kids even liked the spinach on it. I mean really how can you go wrong with bacon....and chicken....and alfredo sauce....all on homemade french bread.  Mmmm so delicious. Spinach B...

Aren't those pretty little bundles of joy? Now that it's officially spring (yeah!! I can feel it coming) and it's Spring Break in our neck of the woods I thought it was time to break out the citrus. I love lemon but the hubs loves his limes.  And since I had a quart of buttermilk sitting in my fridge this was the perfect idea.  I was going to die the top green so you new it was actually lime instead of lemon but I thought maybe that was a little over the top but I promise I did use limes. We took these bad boys with us to the park one night (in honor of Spring) and they were absolutely delicious.  The children begged for thirds they were that tasty. So here's to Spring and a fun filled week with the children home. Buttermilk Lime Bar ( click here for printable version ) Crust: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold, cut into 8 pieces Filling: 4 large eggs 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup...

Growing up we had carrot cake once a year.   And it was always on my Dad's birthday.  He L.O.V.E.S. carrot cake.  And usually I looked forward to it too. Well as long as my mom didn't put in raisins and walnuts but of course that was my Dads favorite part. This year he had carrot cake once again for his birthday (and so did my carrot cake hating sister--I was so proud of her!) and it reminded me of that wonderful little dessert. But...only the hubs and I like carrot cake so I was on a mission to find something my children would eat and something that didn't require having an entire cake sitting around.  And that's when it hit me.   Cookies. But with carrots. Weird but hey in cake they are awesome. Well I am proud to say these turned out fabulously.  And the best bart, the kids loved them and not one of them said anything about carrots being in there.  It does help that cream cheese is drizzled over the top but hey!  they have come along way. There...

With Easter right around the corner and spring break right before it I thought I should get started on my Easter menu. Do any of you have your menu ready yet? Rolls are a must have at our house on this special day. I have many favorites that I love and have used many times ( Cheesy Garlic Rolls , Fancy Dinner Rolls , Garlic Knots ) but I thought I would try out one that I have been eyeing for awhile and one that I could use many different ways. One I could dress up and make fancy for Easter or one that is awesome for eating straight out of the oven (slathered with of butter of course!) or one to make sandwiches with or one that I could freeze and use for later. This my friends was perfect for everything I tried.  They did awesome in the freezer (which made my day!), were awesome on sandwiches (sharing that recipe next week), and were delicious straight out of the oven.  My tummy is growling just thinking about them. So yummy. French Bread Rolls ( click here for printable versi...

Any people out there that would only eat the top off of the cupcake? Come on.  Admit it. (okay fine! me raising my hand) That's the best part in my opinion. That's where all the frosting is and yet you get a little bit of cake but not too much.  Man I think I'm drooling on my keyboard just thinking about it. When I catch my kids doing it (and so many others) I certainly can't complain.  They are just like me, they know where the good stuff is. IF I have to eat cake I have two favorites.  Yellow cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  So delicious.  These little bites of goodness are even better than a cupcake.  You just get the top part with lots of yummy frosting.  And a few sprinkles.  Cause everything tastes better with sprinkles!! Frosted Chocolate Cupcake Tops ( click here for printable version ) Cupcake tops: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 2...

We are starting to warm up around here so I thought I better share some recipes that need the oven before we move into the the "it's too hot and i'm not turning on the oven" phase at our house. I hope we still have several more months but you never know with this weather!  My kids are playing outside right now and I have the house to myself.  It's just absolutely wonderful. I've shared with you before that the hubs has a couple staple food items in his life.  One of them is cream cheese.   If I add cream cheese to anything he is in complete heaven. So I was intrigued by this idea of using cream cheese as a base for this pizza.   OH.MY.WORD. He was in 7th heaven and had the hardest time not eating the whole batch.  He even loved them so much we made them for his work just a couple days later.  All the layers of cheese are delicious and they can be completely customized to your add taste buds. You can add veggies, ham, pineapple, really whatever you want...

Got any math nerds out there? Tomorrow is Pi day (3.14) and in honor of a fun holiday I made you a tart (which is pretty much the same thing as a pie. Right?) My kid's school does this big celebration in honor of Pi day and I figured I would join in.  They practice memorizing Pi and have a contest to see who can remember the most numbers.  Last year a girl remembered over 200. So crazy! They also get to pie their teachers, which they are also ecstatic about.  Good thing the teachers are such good sports about it. This tart on the other hand I hope no one throws. Except in your mouth of course. This pie is every peanut butter lover's dream.  The filling is so rich and creamy and practically melts in your mouth.  It doesn't help that there is a layer of chocolate on the bottom because we all know that peanut butter is good but with chocolate it's even better! “I’m partying at the Pi Day Pie Party at Crazy for Crust today. Come party with us!” Creamy Peanut Butter...

  Sometimes we are in need of a quick, yummy snack that will actually fills up the kid's tummies. We eat a variety of snacks (everything from granola bars to cookies to pull-aparts to fruit to veggies), but sometimes they need a change. I totally don't blame them.  I hate eating the same thing day in and day out.  I am a variety kind of girl and I think my kids inherited that from me. Plus some days I get so tired of hearing "I'm hungry" over and over again that I have to come up with a protein filled snack that will fill them up for several hours and I can have my peace and quiet. Smoothies are at the top of our list for so many reasons. 1. There are so many ways to make them that we haven't gotten tired of them yet. 2. You can have them for breakfast. 3. You can have them for a snack. 4. You can totally tailor them to certain people's picky needs (not going to mention which child that is of mine!). 5. They are just down right yummy. This is one of our fa...

Coming home from running errands today my 6 year old said to me, "Mom you are so smart! You know the answer to all my questions." Boy that just melted my heart and only did I wish I knew all the answers.  It's pretty easy to guess when the question is "what do you think the color is of the paper is that they sent home today for the pancake breakfast that is the day before St. Patricks Day?" Green and I even got it on the first try.  I know I'm pretty good! Now if he were to ask me "what is your favorite cookie" (and by the way the one that has tempted me the most to eat in the past year)?  I would definitely say this beauty.  Hands down. Nothing is even a close second at this point.  And totally not kidding. Everyone always dies over these sugary, brown, bites of amazingness.  It probably has something to do with the fact that they are filled with browned butter and brown sugar and not much else.  Life can't get much better when your cookies (a...

One of my favorite breakfasts ever is Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal.  I make it all year long much to my children's dismay. But whenever I make it I always have 1/2 a can of pumpkin left over (you know cause I never buy the small can of pumpkin from the store because that would be way too easy).   I'm ashamed to admit but most of the time it goes bad in the fridge.  I completely forget it's there and then before you know it it's growing mold (hopefully that's not too much info there). This time I resolved to not let that baby go bad.  And of course the first I think of to make is a sweet bread.  My kids love it and I couldn't believe I hadn't ever posted a simple pumpkin chocolate chip bread before.  This bad boy was a hit for an after school snack and because it makes two loaves I sent the second with the hubs to work.  The chocolate chips are everyone's favorites but this bread is moist and completely delicious. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread ( click here for pr...