Life is Peachy (in the kitchen)

     I follow a fun blog, an oklahoma girl in a colorado world.  The blogger is a sweet girl I went to college with.  She is an excellent cook who posts fun, easy, delish recipes! 

     My hubster didn't feel very good today so I tried her Peach Cake Bars to cheer him up.  GOOD CHOICE!  :)

    This recipe was taken straight from her blog website, I followed the directions exactly.  The end result was warm, rich, cheesecakey-peachy goodness!

Peach Cake Bars
Makes:  12 Large Bars

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c butter-- room temperature
8 oz (1 pkg) of cream cheese-- room temperature
1/3 c. white (granulated) sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large peaches (it said to slice them but I cut mine into 'smaller than bite size' pieces)

Directions:
Oven: 350 degrees
Spray 9x13 pan with nonstick spray.

• Combine:  ONE egg, cake mix, and butter in a bowl with a fork until crumbly.  Save 1 c. for topping; press the remaining dough into bottom of greased cake pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.
• While this is baking, combine the cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and remaining egg with an electric mixer until smooth. 
• When dough has baked for 10 minutes, sprinkle peaches on top of partially baked dough, top with cream cheese mixture, and finally, crumble the remaining 1 c topping on top of everything, baking the whole thing for 30 more minutes.  Try to resist drooling!

This is the finished product!  Ooh la la!

 

Slice it up and enjoy!

 

Happy Friday my Friends!  Tomorrow is OU Football!  Wahoo!

 

Life is Peachy,

Summer

 

PS- To follow my friend's delicious blog, click here.  She is awesome!  :)

Dog Shaming

The dog-shaming website is absolute hystericalness!!! 


Laughing so hard it hurts,
Summer

Spice Girls!

    

     My Grandmother was an ah-mazing cook.  Luckily my father inherited that gene and I was able to latch on to his passion for making food taste great as well!  Spices are essential in making any dish even better!  Penzeys Spices is an amazing website that sells great spices and free recipes on how to best use them!  They have spice combo packs, gift packs, and sell by jars or bags (bulk) for reasonable prices.  I love receiving an order because they always ship their spices in cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and whole nutmeg just to make it 'pretty'.  SOLD.

     Here are my favorite spices:

• Adobo-- I put this on EVERYTHING...it's so versatile and adds just the right amount of perfect to any dish.  The spice is not very strong so you can't really over-use it.  

   Adobo Seasoning :

A traditional and popular Mexican spice mix. Not hot, but spicy and rich in flavor, and salt-free. Rub on chicken, fish and pork...Hand-mixed from: garlic, onion, Tellicherry black pepper, Mexican oregano, cumin and cayenne red pepper.

 

Not sure what has happened to my font at this point...oh well...

• Grill and Broil 4 Jar Gift Pack-- A great variety of spices! We use ours all summer long and during football season when we are charcoaling hamburgers, chicken, or steak. 

• Apple Pie Spice-- This bad boy speaks for himself...mmmm.mmmmm.mmmm!  (Also exceptional addition to apple cider....)

                      Penzey's says it is hand-mixed from: China and Korintjie Cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and cloves.

 

 

You can get online and order a free spice catalogue, which I recommend anyways because they always include awesome cooking tips and delish recipes you can use even if you don't have the spices! 

 

How many times can I say spices?!

Summer



Color Block

 

     I'm not gonna lie, I haven't exactly been the poster chick for style these past two years.  Spandex leggings and forgiving tunic type tops have been my go to for a while now (my poor closet!!).  My project this week is to weed through my closet and donate everything that does not fit or looks ridiculous.  Hopefully I will be able to donate the REST of my hideous attire as soon as Zacharia weight is shed!  (While on vacation in Dallas a few months ago,  I purchased some darling clothes at Banana Republic which I will save because I am super pumped to be able to wear them to work when I go back!)

     So after some web window shopping, I have discovered a few things about this fall:

• Bright colors are IN.
• Geometric shapes-- squares especially! (Which might be questionable on my body shape...ha!)

• Colored jeans-- (maybe I'll find something to accent my...curves?!)
• Layering involves floaty pieces, which I LOVE; I truly despise a bulky outfit that makes me look 10 pounds heavier!

 

 

Date night?

 

 

 

 

Casual Friday?

 

Interesting color...I was steered toward the 'boat neck' neckline.
 

Oh my goodness, so fresh looking! 
 
And lastly, amazing accessories!

 
Wishing I had a ginormous shopping fund,
Summer
 
 
My window shopping took place (and pics) from:
• Gap
• Banana Republic
• Ann Taylor LOFT
• New York and Co.
• Piperlime
   

Muffin Tops...not the blueberry kind...

     Call me anxious but I am ready to have my body back!  Two babies, two years of being pregnant, too much weight gain!  As you already know I am much more conscious about what I am eating and writing it down, but I am so self conscious to be in public right now with a 'post baby belly'.  Lucky me, I discovered something MARVELOUS while on a mini shopping excursion with little man today:

     I had always been curious about the "BeBand" that you can wear throughout your pregnancy (and after)... but I want tummy control not pants control.  Ha ha ha... but seriously...

     The Trendy Top was $7 cheaper than the BeBand at Target and you get two- a black and a white band.  They can also be used as cami tops!  *The BeBand package sells you one for $16.99.*  The TrendyTop is made mostly of cotton so even with 'layers' under your clothes you will be able to stay cool and breathe!  (BeBand is made of spandex and nylon= sweat city!)

     As soon as I came home I tried on of the Trendy Top bands and I fell in love!  You can't see a single line from my pants, and it held in my tummy perfectly!  It's not too tight and it doesn't roll up or down when I sit or crawl around with Rylie!  The best part: my hubster came in when I was cooking lunch and commented on how much my body had bounced back from pregnancy.  I didn't have the heart to tell him I was wearing a band!  (But KUDOS to him for noticing!!!!)  LOVE HIM.

     Pricing:

• Amazon unfortunately failed me this time!  They want $19.99 for the pack I bought at Target for $10.99!
• Walmart is about 10 cents cheaper...
• I weirdly could NOT find it on Target's website but I bought mine from a Target store?! (I should tell you I found it on a random aisle, where they have their "Seen on TV" products, sort of by decor/home goods/kitchen stuff...NOT in the clothing area!
• The Trendy Top website has a special right now with assorted colors!

     We are relaxing and enjoying quiet family time today...Chaos will commence tomorrow, hubby goes back to work, I will be left to battle the day with two children under the age of one...  man oh man...  Too bad I don't drink coffee....

Happy Banding!
Summer
PS- Couldn't leave ya'll without an updated family pic!

 

Oh Baby!

     We are officially a family of four!  I went in for my routine check up this past Monday and when my doctor checked to see how dilated I was, he accidentally broke my water!  14 hours later, our precious son arrived.  Needless to say, both of my labors were very different from each other!

     I am proud of myself-- my first meal at the hospital was full of whatever I wanted (I hadn't eaten in TWO and a HALF DAYS!)  but after that I tried very hard to balance out everything I ate.  No soda, and I upped my dairy/calcium intake.

     It's been almost four days and I'm still going strong!  I am writing everything down that I eat and really trying to be health conscious since I am nursing!  I just pray I can keep it up.  My amazing hubby has been quite the Dad, running around and helping me and our littles adjust to our new life...he goes back to work tomorrow, however.  Oh goody....

Zacharia Andrew Bass

August 21, 2012

7 lbs, 15 oz.

Shattered Mirror

     Last night I watched..no I attempted to watch Mirror Mirror with Julia Roberts and Lily Collins (Phil Collins' daughter).  I have heard such rave reviews about it and enjoyed watching all the exposure Julia Roberts gave it on talk shows.  Sadly, I was quite disappointed.  The special effects were super cool and the 7 dwarfs were amusing.  The story line was majorly lacking in a decent plot (it took quite a while to 'get to the point') and I was totally bored by that point.  Sad face.

     "Like most of Tarsem Singh's films, Mirror Mirror is undeniably beautiful -- but its treatment of the age-old Snow White fable lacks enough depth or originality to set it apart from the countless other adaptations of the tale." -Rotten Tomatoes

     How did it end?  I couldn't tell ya, I turned it off after Snow White eluded the Queen over something that had to do with her wedding?  Blah whatever...

     On a happy side note, I finally was able to finish Twilight's Breaking Dawn I and it. was. mind. blowing.  Can't wait for the finale in November!! 

     Hope ya'll had a fun day on Sunday.  We enjoyed the awesome weather and took Bee to her cousin's birthday (they are only a month apart!) at Braden Park and then she 'swam' at home.  Ah it's good to be a kiddo. 

xoxo

Summer

Beautilicious Birchbox!

     I found out about Birchbox thru a blogger/teacher, Eberhart's Explorers(GREAT classroom ideas, btw).  It is a website company that delivers a monthly package straight to your door full of cosmetic goodies!!  The best part is the price!  $10!  I buy some makeup at Sephora or Ulta and the quality you expect is definitely there from Birchbox.

     "Birchbox is monthly deliveries of deluxe samples from both well known brands and emerging gems. It's the smart way to try and buy new products."  Their goal is to help beauty conscious women and men discover fun products out there that are exceptional grade. When you sign up, you fill out a profile with your skin type, color, eye color, etc. so they can tailor the box to you!  At first I was skeptical-- $10 for a few samples?!  But once I received my first box, I was hooked. 

     Last month's included a beautiful gel stain for lips/cheeks.  I LOVE it!  So I was able to go to Birchbox's website and order the full size product and receive FREE shipping because it was part of the monthly theme.  (I did price the stain at Amazon, Sephora, and Ulta...Amazon was the only place that carried it and it was the same price but I would have had to pay shipping...)  (They also have a points program similar to Sephora and Ulta-- and yes, the measly $10 a month goes towards your points!)

 

Here's August's box: (I just got it yesterday and man-oh-man was I a happy camper!

Can you guess August's Theme? 

Once you open that box, you get down to the goodies:

  

To name a few goodies: 

• beauty tips (the Beauty School pamphlet-- which was surprisingly informative!)
• Juicy Couture perfume
• a new lip gloss
• stretch mark cream (it's like Birchbox knew I was about to have another baby!!)

 Who knew a little box of sunshine could really make a person's week?

     I'll keep the rest a secret, you simply MUST try this company out!  Once you are on their website, you are put on a waiting list for a few days and then they contact you via email to begin your beauty journey! 

Birchbox

Happy Grooming,

Summer

*Several people have asked me about how the pricing goes...there are several options:

• $10/month subscription-- they take out the money and ship your box on the 10th of every month, you can cancel at any time-- no penalties--I chose this option.
• You can also do 3, 6, or 12 month gifts for $30; $60, or $110.  FUN STUFF!
• They have a Birchbox Men, which is the identical concept but $20/month-- dont' ask me why.

Thrifty Thursday!

     Living in Tulsa can subject one to interesting shopping experiences at the grocery store.  We live in Midtown so our grocery stores get a 'varitey' of people...Zach and I decided to go to Warehouse Market even though it has a reputation for being scary and I was hesitant...I learned to not judge a book by its cover...or reputation...

     We were super happy when we got there!  (I would like to point out we went to the Warehouse Market on 31st and Sheridan). 

     It wasn't very busy and the people working there were refreshingly helpful!  We made a deal before we went that we would only buy what was on sale...we spent $65.00-- if we had gone to Walmart we would have spent at least $100!  The produce was fresh and Zach picked out yummy fresh pork chops and ground beef.  Ha, in fact, I think the most expensive thing we bought was Dr. Pepper and Pepsi (3 for $10)...Zach was pumped!

     Needless to say, we will be going back!  Yay Warehouse Market! 

    

Whoa!

So sorry it's been a few days!  This past weekend was full of super intense contractions, baby showers, and family time.  The past few weekdays I haven't felt very good-- Dr. said he would schedule my induction next Monday.  Praise Jesus!!!

Where should I begin with this mega over-due post?

        How 'bout randomness...

1.  My daughter never ceases to amaze me.  She has reached a stage in her (only) 11 months of life where she is much more independent.  Seeing as I am about to have another baby, this is a blessing but it still breaks my heart! 

Miss Independent taking a bottle break...

2.  Not being able to cook up a storm like I normally do is hard!  Luckily, my husband has seen me in the kitchen a few times and has picked up a skill or two.  He cooked a delicious Hamburger Helper (something I NEVER make, but keep on hand for situations like me being on bed rest).  I ate every bite and so did Rylie!  Yay Zach!  :)

Us literally a year ago (9 mos pregnant with Rylie!)

Busting a move at his sister's wedding in Florida.  My life would be so dull without him! :)

3.  School has officially started for my teacher friends at Tulsa Schools....it is bittersweet to be at home during this time, I always loved a fresh start and meeting my new darlings every August.  Thankfully this is my FINAL maternity leave!!  It has been so hard to not plan all of these fun activities I have seen on blogs or Pinterest.  Next year!!

"If You Give a Cat a Cupcake" shaving cream art activity! LOVE!

4.  I have finally organized all my Pinterest Teaching Boards.  I am quite proud of myself-- I have lots of followers on the teaching pins and I hope I have made it more 'user friendly' and organized.

Click here to check me out:  My Pinterest Page

5.  Fall cannot get here soon enough!  I am looking forward to exercising again and it is so much more enjoyable outside!  That and I am needing an excuse to whip up a batch of these bad boys:

  

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing

That's it for now.  I have spent the latter part of my evening collaborating with my principal, maternity sub, and fantastic (really she is AMAZING!) aide on the phone...even I'M sick of hearing my voice! 

I'll try to get back on track with my posts!  I miss writing them!

xoxo

Summer