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4/27/13

Paper Napkin Picnic Wreath


Hola Amigos! What a beautiful day we have today! I was inspired by today's sunshine to make a super easy and quick project Pinterest Inspired. You can find pretty ones like this one here or a bit more elaborate here. I went for the easy one after a trip to the dollar store. My Total investment $5.00. Not bad huh? I had the vine wreath already, so the rest was a piece of cake.

You will need: 1 vine wreath, 1 package of napkins (20 count minimum, I used 1 1/2), decorations optional!
Just spin the center of your napkin and stick it on your wreath, repeat until is all nice and fluffy..I like mine super fluffy,just like me, LOL!!!


Decorate it once it's finished is up to you.I used these!

One thing is as you all know...this is an indoor wreath being paper and all and for only a few bucks it's functional all year long just chance your napkins!

Well this is my quick weekend project...I'll be heading outside to enjoy the sun!
Besitos,
Lizy

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at 31 comments:

4/26/13

Crock Pot Chocolate Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Dried Cherries

Hola Amigos! Happy Friday! Let's finish our work week with something homemade, sweet, a put it together and forget it kind of dish! Who feels like staying in the kitchen for hours when the weekend seems so promising...yes...finally it would be 70F!!! Loving it!

We are making some delicious bread pudding in a crock pot (hence the put it together and forget it!). Here's the recipe:
Chocolate Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Dried Cherries
in a Crock Pot

Spray Cooking Oil ( I used Trader Joe's Coconut Oil)
1 pound (10-11 slices) Cinnamon or Cinnamon Raisin Bread, cubbed
1/2 Cup Dried Cherries, chopped and whole
1/2 Cup semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1 3/4 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/3 cup Unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 TSPS Vanilla extract
4 eggs beaten 
Toasted Almonds for Garnish
Whipped Cream for Garnish
Ice Cream, just because!

Spray the inside of your crock pot with your cooking spray.
Place the bread cubes in the crock pot, topped with the chocolate chips and cherries.
In a separate bowl, mix milk, sugar, cocoa, vanilla and eggs. Pour this over you bread mixture, pushing the bread cubes into the milk until they are all coated.

Cover and cook on slow for 2 hours or until set. 
Serve warm with whipped cream, almonds or Ice Cream!
Listo,

It couldn't  get any simpler than this.The darker areas you see are not burnt spots by any means...they are melted chocolate chips, cocoa and cherries...yumm!

This is a such a traditional dessert but we have given it a whole new flavors with the chocolate and cinnamon bread. I even drizzled a bit extra Chocolate syrup, just bec..well you know, lol

Thank You for visiting the blog today! I hope you get to enjoy this recipe with family and friends this weekend. Remember, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos, 

at 19 comments:

Triple Purple Berry Smoothie

Hola Amigos...Here is the smoothie of the week...straight to the point today, lol...why you say, because I'm excited to share this beautiful, delicious and Purple Drink with you!
This smoothie has an extra step, totally worth it though! Recipe as follows:

Triple Purple Berry Smoothie

1 1/2 Cup Blueberries
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 Cup Blackberries
1 Cup Grape Juice
1 Cup Vanilla Soy Milk (or 2% regular milk)
2 Cups Blueberry Vanilla Greek frozen yogurt ( I tried the new B&J with swirls of graham crackers, yummo!)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the blueberries, sugar and water until it starts to boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer the mix for about 5 minutes until it begins to thicken and the blueberries begin to burst.

Remove from heat and let it cool until is no longer too hot to touch.
In a blender add blackberries, grape juice, soy milk, frozen yogurt and blueberry syrup. Blend until smooth serve and enjoy!


Listo!










      You can have it just as it comes from the blender

Or add a swirls of the blueberry mix,

Enjoy it from a tall glass, or a small, add more blackberries!

Whip Cream and Sugar...

I mean..you can go on forever with this purple nectar!
The extra step gives it a depth in sweet flavors to play with the tad acidic flavor of the blackberries and grape juice!

I hope you enjoy the smoothie of the week. I'm very proud of it's Royal Purpleness! lol
Have a great weekend my friends, and remember everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,
Lizy



at 23 comments:

4/24/13

Spaghetti Tacos

Hola Amigos!...Have you ever wonder how Marge Simpson's Jellybean cookies tastes like? how much does a Brontosaurus Burger from the Flintstones's really weighs? How about Peggy Hill's Frito Pie with Wolf Chili? Last but not least...what's is the secret formula to make a SpongeBob's Krabby Patty (or should I say a Krusty Crab Krabby Patty)? Ok...by now y'all are thinking I totally lost my mind, which is not too far from the truth but in my defense...it has to do with what we are having for dinner tonight...iCarly's Spaghetti Tacos, when you have picky eaters, you have to get creative people!

If you have kids, grand kids or just plain grew up watching some shows like the Flintstones and Scooby Doo (btw, what's on those Scooby Snacks?) you are familiar with all the foods I mentioned before. We used to love watching iCarly and the thing we remember the most is the gang having spaghetti tacos for dinner. Mine might not be exactly like Spencer's but, close enough and more appetizing to my family keeping the essence of the original dish! So put on your favorite Orange Nickelodeon apron and let's get to work on this recipe!

Spaghetti Tacos a la iCarly

1 1/2 pound Ground Beef
1 pound box Spaghetti
1 jar of your Favorite Spaghetti Sauce
1 envelope Taco Seasoning
1 can Diced Tomatoes 
1 half Onion Chopped 
1 TBSP oil
Corn Tortillas
1/2 cup your favorite Salsa
Mozzarella Cheese slices
Pepperoni Slices

Cook the pasta to your liking at the same time you are preparing the sauce.
On a skillet on medium heat and the TSBS of oil cook onion until transparent. Add ground beef and brown, add the taco seasoning, can of tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Cook everything for 10-15 minutes until some of the sauce and tomatoes get absorbed by the beef and starts to thicken. Set aside.
Heat oven at 350 degree.
In another skillet and a little bit of butter or oil, warm up as many corn tortillas as you want to make for each person at the dinner table. Once they are warm they become easier to manipulate. Put a teaspoon of salsa on each tortilla, top it of with a slice of mozzarella cheese and finally a slice of pepperoni. Roll and place on a baking cookie sheet and bake on your pre-heated oven  for 4 minutes or till they are crispy.

 If you want you could  drop them on a frying pan until golden.
To serve, mix your already cooked and drained spaghetti with the meat sauce and serve with a mozzarella pepperoni taco. Top the pasta with Shredded Cheddar Cheese or Taco Mix Cheese!

Listo!

This is not as messy as iCarly's but it is equally tasty!



Not only you are getting the "taco" flavor on your meat sauce, but you have a tasty mozzarella pepperoni Taquito to go with it instead of bread!

Cheese Mozzarella Pepperoni Taquitos!, these guys are good all by themselves!

Sometimes we have to think outside the "chihuahua box" and have some fun with your food, a fun "no fuss" family dinner!

Thank You for tuning in today and i hope you give this fun family night dinner a try! The worse thing that can happen is that at the end of the meal you all break out  Random Dancing!

Remember, everything tastes better when you are having fun and a Pinch of Love!


Disclaimer

Besitos,
Lizy


at 7 comments:

4/23/13

Mandarin Orange Tropical Cupcakes

Hola Amigos! Hope you all had a great weekend and got to take advantage of the good weather if you had it in your neck of the woods. I'm thrilled to find that a variety of fruits are on sale at our local supermarkets. Strawberries $1.98 for 2 pounds, blackberries for $.99 a pint, mini mandarin oranges for $1.25 per pound! I'm a happy girl! There is nothing better than fresh fruit and now that I'm finally starting my diet I will have no excuse to get my healthy dose of vitamin C and fiber the healthy way!

Today I'm sharing with you my Mandarin Orange Tropical cupcakes, my little one says they are SpongeBob cupcakes because one of the main ingredients as you will see, they are very tasty, easy to make and fast. Nothing extraordinary just good all fashion cupcakes for busy moms and families on the run!

Mandarin Orange Tropical Cupcakes

1 (18.25 oz) package of Pineapple Upside Down Cake
3 Eggs
1/3 Cup of Oil
1 (11 oz) Can of Mandarin Orange Segments
(save the juice, about 1 Cup)
1/3 Cup of Orange Juice, Mandarin or Pineapple
Make your cake mix according to directions with the addition of the mandarin segments. When it comes to the "Add Water Part" usually the box says 1 1/3 cup, use the juice of the mandarin orange segments (1 cup) and 1/3 of your orange, mandarin or pineapple juice. I had this wonderful Pineapple-Coconut nectar I used! Magic!!!
Fill out about 24 cupcakes and bake for 18-21 minutes until a pick comes out clean.

Frosting
1 (8 oz)  Container frozen Whipped Topping, thawed
1 (20 oz) Can Crushed Pineapple
1 cup of Sweetened Shredded Coconut
1 (3.5 oz) package of Lemon Instant Pudding Mix
In a large bowl, beat together all the ingredients and top your cupcakes.

Listo

You guys know I love chocolate, but this cupcakes are "the bomb"! Very refreshing for Spring and Summer!

A lot of flavor packed in just a tiny bite

These cupcakes will have you singing "Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea...SpongeBob Square Pants" to the top or your lungs....all day long! LOL


I found these tiny mandarin oranges at the store, they are so sweet, and perfect for topping our pretty cupcakes!






Thank you for visiting today friends, hope you like my easy but yummy cupcakes!
Remember everything tastes better with a little imagination and a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,
Lizy

at 24 comments: