Foodie Friday: The "Best" Pumpkin Bread

I know, I know ... it's Saturday not Friday. It's been a rough week and I pretty much just wanted to veggg out. I will be better this upcoming week.

I've joined my friend Magan, author of A Touch of Class,  for her first link-up party! I can't wait to learn more recipes.

It's only July and I was craving pumpkin bread like CRAZY the past couple of weeks. My mother-in-law makes the most delicious pumpkin bread during the holidays and looked through my recipe box and decided to make it. It's so simple ...

Ingredients:
1 can of pumpkin
4 eggs
3c. sugar
1c oil (canola ... however, all I had was vegetable and it worked out just fine)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2/3 c. water
3 1/3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda

 Combine all ingredients ... there's no specific order. However, from watching the Food Network channel I've learned you should slowly add the flour and sugar as you put together the mixture.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Enjoy!

I realized I deleted the picture I had taken off my phone so I had to go capture it off of Facebook.

Tip: Dustin and I realized adding Rainbow Chip icing onto the slice we at was delicious. It's the same icing used on confetti cake. Don't forget a tall glass of milk. 

Enjoy!

5 months?!

I'm amazed as to how fast time is FLYING by! I can't believe I'll be 5 months tomorrow ... already! This past Saturday Dustin and I started our registry and we had the best time. I absolutely love strolling down each aisle at Babies R Us. They pretty much have anything and everything you could possibly think of. We were so happy to have Dustin's sister and our niece come with us as well. They were both very helpful. Two hours and 10 pages later we decided to call it quits and go grab some lunch. Besides, I think Dustin had had enough at that point. So, needless to say when I asked if he wanted to go to Pottery Barn Kids next he gave me a look at said, "Oh noooo, one baby store in one day is enough for me" haha! 

I want to thank all my friends and family members that gave me their "must have" suggestions. It was very helpful to us. I love that I actually know what products are when I stroll in there. When I would go in there to shop for friends I was overwhelmed.

Here are some of my favorite products we scanned ...

Bumbo Baby Sitter - Lime Green 

Carter's Giraffe Print Diaper Bag

Combi Adventure Walker

And, our very favorite ... the Jeep Liberty Limited All Terrain 3-Wheel Stroller

I stopped by Babies R Us and scanned a few more items this afternoon. I can't help it. And, I noticed that some folks have already bought some products off our registry!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend and a great Monday.

God Bless! xoxo

Meaty Monday

Hi there!

Mondays are tough and the LAST thing I want to do is cook. The creator of the crock pot is a genius. Having a crock pot is like having a chef. Especially if you remember to use Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. It truly makes clean up a lot easier.  So, this week, I decided to make a Crock pot Roast using my friend Magan's recipe. You can find the full recipe on her blog @--->  A Touch Of Class. 

I marinated the meat Sunday night and had Dustin turn on the crackpot before he left for work today. We had it on low for about 7 hours. It was so juicy, and tender. Very delish and a must try!

Pick your favorite roast meat. I chose a Boneless Chuck. I also raided the refrigerator and added any available veggies.

Add either a name brand or store brand Onion soup mix on top along with a dash of water.

Enjoy!

Drum Roll Please ...

It's A BOY!! We can't wait to welcome Preston Keith in December.

Dustin and I have been keeping the biggest secret since Wednesday. Today, we FINALLY got to reveal the gender of our baby!  We had some of our family over for a Gender Reveal Party. It was so fun. The house was filled with joy and laughter and many rounds of Dance Central on the Kinect. Here are some pictures from today ...

We also had blue balloons

Made by my old co-woker, Brady

It's blue!

Dustin's mom was very happy

My sister had to work today but she was beyond excited when I told her. In fact, she sent me a text and asked me if I was home because she was on her way bearing gifts! Haha 

Sweet Treat Friday: Cuban Sweet Mama

What a week! I am so extremely glad Friday is here.  If only we had to work Saturday-Sunday and have Monday-Friday off. Now, how awesome would that be? Good thing there's dessert therapy.

Dustin and I are headed to a friend's birthday BBQ tonight and I decided I'd bring some "Cuban" Sweet Mama's along. This recipe is originally called "Pound Cake Squares", but, how boring is that?! My mom and I re-named them to their new name. I actually got the recipe from her and she got the recipe from her friend. It's a HIT everywhere I've taken them. I actually made a batch for my co-workers today and they loved them.

So here is how you make a Cuban Sweet Mama ...

Ingredients :

1- Box Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix

4- Eggs

1- stick Real Butter (unsalted & softened)

1- 8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)

1- Box Powdered Sugar

Vanilla or Lemon Extract

Mix & spread the following in a greased 9 X 13 pan: {as pictured above}

-Box of Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix

-2 Eggs

-1 stick real butter (softened)

{The dough will be very stiff}

Next ...

Mix the following together & pour over top of cake: {as shown above}

- 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

-1/2 a box of powdered sugar

-2 Eggs

-Teaspoon of Vanilla or Lemon Extract

Then ...

After pouring mixture, sprinkle with chopped pecans and sprinkle a generous amount of powdered sugar as well. {as shown above}

Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes. It should look gooey in the middle

 {be careful that the edges don't get over cooked}

Finished product

{Sorry this was not posted until Saturday, however, it was a huge success at the BBQ}

God Bless!

17 and counting

Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July! The 3-day weekend was much needed for my husband and I. We spent Sunday and Monday with our good friends and their almost 1-yr-old son. We had such a blast. I'm so thankful this week is a short work week. Just 3 more wake up days until the weekend.

On a different note, I am 17 weeks today! That's just a little over 4 months. I've been feeling very good for the most part. Last week I had a little trouble but everything turned out to be ok. I'm starting to show more and it's so fascinating.  In just a week we will be finding out the gender of the baby. I can't believe that day is almost here!

Most shocking thing today: The verdict of the Casey Anthony Trial. I still can't believe it. As someone mentioned "I think they found the only 12 people that still believe the world is flat!"

God Bless!