It's Christmas Card Time!

I like to get my holiday cards and shopping finished early, so I can focus on our family's annual Christmas party and baking all those yummy holiday cookies!

I always send photo cards and I love to receive them too.  It's fun to see photos of friends with their kids and pets!  Are you thinking about sending holiday cards?

Shutterfly has a fabulous selection!  I love this photo Christmas card with lots of pictures.  If you're like me, I can never decide on which photo to use.  My daughter and I had a great time taking lots of photo's of her on my parents farm last weekend.  I can't wait for Mom and Dad to see them!

 

Looking for Christmas gift ideas?  How about a photo calendar ~ Grandma would love one of those! 

They have so many designs to chose from.

We host a holiday party every December for our friends and family.  I'm thinking about
this party invitation for our party year.  I love the colors and the simplicity of the card.

Visit the Shutterfly website for more holiday cards.  Good luck with all of your holiday planning!

Got to run and bake some cookies :)

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Shutterfly.

Pink Mixer Cupcake Creations

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and you enjoyed your time with family and friends.  We sure did!  The weekend before Thanksgiving I was busy with my largest cupcake order to date ~ 12 dozen ~ woo hoo.  My kitchen was a mess, but I had a great time making them and even better time watching them all disappear at the event.  They were all gone in about 15 minutes :)  Thought I would share some pics of the five different flavors I made.  Hope you all have a great week!

My Pink Mixer really got a work out!

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake

Looking for a light, pumpkin desert for Thanksgiving?  Try Pumpkin Angel Food Cake.

Only 4 ingredients and it tastes delish. 

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake

1 Box Angel Food Cake

3/4 cup pure pumpkin

1 T flour

1 cup cold water

Move oven rack to lowest position; heat oven to 350 degrees.

In an large glass bowl, beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds.

Beat on medium speed 1 minute.  Pour into ungreased 10-inch tube cake pan.

Bake 37 to 47 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cracks are dry.

Let hang upside down for about 1 hour or until cake is completely cool. 

(This is my official angel food cake cooling bottle.  I keep it under my kitchen sink and I have had it for over 20 years ~ seriously!)

Loosen cake from side of pan with knife.

Tranfer to a serving plate and enjoy. 

Linking to:

Made By You Mondays

I heart Naptime
Get Your Craft On

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

I made this last night and loved it!  We eat a lot of chicken in this house, so I am really excited that I found another winner.  Serve it over brown rice or pasta and it is delish!  This is defintely going into my dinner rotation, even the picky cheerleader liked it :) 



Crunchy Honey Chicken

from How Sweet Eats

1 pound thinly sliced, boneless chicken breasts (I used tenders)

2 egg whites

1/3 cup cornstarch or flour for dredging

1 cup broccoli florets

1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced

a handful of sugar snap peas (about 3/4 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced

3 T olive oil

1 T soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare and slice all veggies.  In two separate bowls, add the egg whites (lightly beaten) and the cornstarch or flour.  (The cornstarch will yield a "crispier" chicken).  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add garlic and veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened.  Remove from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper.  Heat the same skillet over medium-high heat and add remaining olive oil.  Dip chicken pieces into egg whites and then lightly dredge in cornstarch.  Add to the skillet and let brown for 2-3 minutes, then flip.  Continue with remaining chicken pieces, and do so in batches if needed.  Once chicken is cooked, add veggies back in the skillet.  Add honey and soy sauce.  Thoroughly mix to combine.  Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce.  Serve with rice.  Enjoy!



Chicken Scampi

Quick and easy dinners make me happy.

Weeknights are crazy with work, cheerleading practice for my high schooler and coaching JV Football for Mr. Pink Mixer. I never know what time they are getting home. I need to make dinners that taste great, but don't take much time to prepare.Who wants to be stuck in the kitchen all night?  Not me.  I'd rather kick back and watch Survivor, Criminal Minds or the Housewives of where ever. 

 This dinner lets me do just that :)

Chicken Scampi

adapted from Prudence Pennywise

1 T olive oil

3 T butter, divided use

1 T minced garlic

1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 of a green and red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced

1/2 lb. chicken tenders, pounded flat

1/2 box of thin spaghetti

1/2 cup chicken broth

freshly grated parmesan cheese

chopped parsley

Heat skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook garlic until fragrant, remove with slotted spoon. Cook onion and bell pepper until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Remove peppers and onions to plate. Add chicken and brown on both sides in one tablespoon of butter. Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Add remaining butter and slowly stir in chicken broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve chicken, peppers and onions over pasta. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and parsley. Serves 3-4.

 

Bikes for Dogs or Cupcakes

I want to be this girl.

This girl with her cool bike, rad boots and obedient dog with a PINK collar!

My dog is a little crazy ~ not sure if he would stay in the carrier. 

Think I would use this cool bike to deliver cupcakes to my neighbors instead :)
Could this awesome Madsen bike be mine???  Or it could be yours. But I hope it's mine.  Sorry.
Click here for all the info.

Fall Favorites

If you know me or have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love, love, love summer.  Cold weather kind of sucks in my opinion.  But, I will have to admit that fall has grown on me a little this season, just a tiny bit.  Here are a few of my favorite things this fall.

Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate ~ so yummy!



I spotted this hay bale while driving down Interstate 81 in VA ~ love it!
Go Hokies!!



This bag makes me happy.



My favorite Pumpkin Bread.  Make some today.  Really.



Pumpkin Smoothie

Recipe from cleaneatingclub

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup vanilla soy milk (I used plain)

1/2 cup crushed ice

1 T honey

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Place all ingredients in a blender or Magic Bullet and blend until smooth.

Serves one.