Easy - Patriotic 4th of July Cupcake - How To

These cupcakes are show stopper!

• Make your favorite Yellow/White Box Cake or scratch recipe.
• When the batter is made, divide into equal 3 parts
• Add blue food coloring to one part and red to another, until desired color is reached
  
• Use a spoon to add each color to the cupcake tins one at a time
• Bake according to recipe instructions
• When cool, add icing using a pastry bag with decorative tip
• Don't forget the Sprinkles ;)

YUMMY

~Patricia

The Pioneer Woman creates a Tasty Kitchen

My favorite domestic goddess The Pioneer Woman
has created a recipe sharing/social networking community
called Tasty Kitchen
Stop by, become a member and share your recipes!
You can find me there by doing a member search for
oneboyonegirlboutique

Happy Cooking!
~Patricia

BCheeky Lemonade Recipe

The eBay design group B*Cheeky that I belong to has started a blog.
Each week different members of the group will post.

For my first post I am sharing an
Oh So Tangy and Sweet Recipe for Fresh Lemonade


Sweeten your 4th of July Festivities with a glass ;)
Click on over to the B*Cheeky Blog for the Recipe
~Patricia

St. Patrick's Day ~ Treats

I hadn't planned anything special for St. Patty's Day.
For goodness sake I haven't taken down our Valentine decorations, yet!
Yes, I know I am slacking.
The house should already be dressed up in pastel colors and bunny motifs for Spring and Easter.

We really have had a lot going on... surgeries, illness, upon illness, even a craft fair thrown in for added stress LOL

Feeling guilty about ignoring St Patrick's Day, I put together a couple quick festive treats for the kids last night.

Irish Soda Bread

The recipe is from All Recipes.
Since I didn't have buttermilk I used Martha's method for making your own using
1 1/3 whole milk mixed with 1/3 apple-cider vinegar
This gave me enough to mix in the recipe and some to brush on top of the loaf with melted butter.

Shamrock & Spring Flower Sugar Cookies


Another one from All Recipes (I couldn't live without that site)

~Patricia

Ouick & Easy Meal Planning

School starts next week and soon we will be back to a busy schedule with after school activities.
This week I decided to test out a few recipes that will work during the hectic school year.

First up was Saucy Italian Port Chops from Kraft Foods
I thought this would work for our family of diverse eaters because the non meat eaters could just have the veggies and rice.
The rice and veggies were so tasty in the sauce and the pork chops were juicy.

My only changes to the recipe was to add an extra 1/4 cup of balsamic vinaigrette reduced fat dressing and to kick it up a notch I threw in crushed red pepper flakes and garlic powder.

We also tried Shrimp, Tortellini and Spinach from Kraft Foods
I doubled the recipe so we'd have leftovers.

The shrimp dish was a Hit and liked by all
I even have visual evidence of Mr. Food Amnesia eating it


Next time I'll record him saying he like it, too!

My kids are big fruit and berry eaters and all summer they have been asking for a Blueberry Pie.
Where their obsession with Blueberries has come from I don't know but every time we go to the store they must have them. Could it be because our cat is named Blu, we even have a Webkinz named BluBerry
Blue is also one of Bella's favorite colors!

After seeing the Pioneer Women throw together a seemingly easy Blueberry Pie I thought maybe I could do it too.

Just to get it over with now...I didn't make my own crust.
I have made my own crust before but when trying a new pie I'd prefer to use a crust I Know will turn out right. Otherwise I might never make the pie again simply because the crust wasn't good.

I chose the Forth of July Blueberry Pie recipe from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook
(my signed copy of the book given to me by my big sis Liz ~Thank You Again for waiting in that looong line)

Luckily I just found the recipe on Martha's site so I don't need to type it out.
My only variation was to add a 1/4 cup of sugar to the un-crushed blueberries before mounding them in the pie shell on top of the crushed berry mixture.
I also added sugar to the top pie crust.

Here it is


We were all impressed with my first blueberry pie
I will definitely make it again!

~Patricia

Where's the Beef?

It's a weekly struggle to make food that everyone in my house will eat.

Isabella's current diet consists of Tuna Fish on Ritz Crackers, Hot Dogs, Scrambled Eggs, Toast and Waffles/Pancakes.
The rest of us aren't going to sit down for dinner to eat any of that but at least she is eating something.

Trenton is a brave eater and always has been but he has what I call "Food Amnesia". He'll eat some thing once and Love it. The next time I make the same thing, before it even passes his lips he declares that he never liked ~What?
I guess it's PB&J for him!

Of course just like any man, Dave eats anything, except for some of the strange concoctions I whip up for myself (well, he thinks they are strange)

The other obstacle in our house is that I don't eat meat. (That would be why Dave thinks some of the things I eat are strange)
Let me clarify that since it can be a touchy subject for some people.
I don't eat red meat, pork, or poultry BUT I do eat fish, eggs & dairy products and we won't get into my secret obsession with Bacon (that should be a 4 letter word!). Bacon is the only meat if it is actually one that I crave and have to force myself to stay away from.
Why I do that, I don't know?
I don't have a grand agenda behind not eating meat, I wish I could say I was that good of a person and it's not for health reasons.
Really, it's just about what I like and what I don't.
Yes I know, Boring

This leads me to a dish I never thought Dave would eat.
Forget about the kids...it was late and the kids had eaten earlier.

Black Bean Burgers!
I found the recipe for ever ago at allrecipes (one of my weekly "go to" sites for meal planning)
I have eaten frozen Black Bean Burgers and at restaurants but never homemade.
Dave has never tried one ever!

While Dave was out mowing the yard I made the burgers.
Very easy and quick to make!
I cooked ours in the oven and when they were done I loaded them up with mayo, homegrown tomatoes and lettuce.

I served the burgers along side leftover Farfalle pasta with Zucchini (a recipe from the Pioneer Women...another stop on the weekly meal planning quest)

When I called Dave in for dinner I told him to be open minded.

He was shocked when he ate it and I was happy to find that he Loved it and even wanted a second!

Since that night we have eaten them 2 more times
What Bliss to make a meal we Both can Eat & Enjoy!

~Patricia

Just the 4 of Us on the 4th

unless you count a lounging cat

and a pup with a bone

The past few years we have spent the 4th on our boat watching the Fireworks over the River.
This summer we have not been on the boat once. We made an oath to Not put the boat in the water until we completed some long over due maintenance. Much to my surprise we are done with the original "To Do List" but of course have added a few extras (New Seats...I will actually have a cushion to sit on!)

Here is a recap of our backyard fun for the 4th

The Plunge

Homemade Ice pops (see below for recipe)

Picnic on the Porch

Is it Dark enough for Fireworks yet?

Ouch, Sparklers Hurt!

Yummy Treats!

Ice Pops
Ingredients: 1 (3oz) Jello mix package; 1 unsweetened Kool-Aid package; 1 cup Sugar; 2 cups Boiling Water; 2 cups cold Water

Dissolve Jello, Kool-Aid and Sugar in Boiling Water.
Stir in Cold Water and Pour into Popsicle Molds or small cups.
Freeze

If using cups like we did, place foil over the cup after you fill it and insert your popsicle stick. This will keep it in place. Otherwise Freeze until almost hard, put the sticks in and continue to Freeze.

Chili-Lime Chicken Kabobs

Marinated Shrimp Kabobs & Scallops
Ingredients: 3 Garlic cloves minced; 1/3 cup Olive Oil; 1/4 cup Tomato Sauce (plain); 2 tbls Red Wine Vinegar; 2 tbls Fresh chopped Basil; 1/2 tsp Salt; 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper; 1-2 pounds of Shrimp, Scallops or Chicken...anything you want, I've used this marinade on everything

Mix all the ingredients in a Bowl or Ziploc Bag. Add the fish or meat and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (the longer the Better)

For Kabobs
preheat grill to medium heat. Prepare the Kabobs. Lightly Oil or Spray the Grill.
Cook Shrimp 2-3 minutes per side or until done.
For Chicken Kabobs cook for 10-15 minutes.

We had small Bay Scallops so I cooked those in a pan, but still very yummy :)

Gotta Love the Pioneer Woman and her Fabulous recommendations for the 4th!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos


And another Favorite the Barefoot Contessa's 4th of July Cake
which came highly recommended from the Pioneer Woman
and I can Not Bake without Step by Step Photo Instructions!
Thank You Pioneer Woman :)


Hope you all had a Happy & Safe 4th!
~Patricia