Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

This recipe was in the June 2011 edition of The Food Network Magazine. It was a yummy, quick from scratch dessert that my family enjoyed. I used 7 ounce ramekins and found they worked just as well, but took about 5 more minutes to bake.

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Brush four 4-ounce ramekins with butter. Sprinkle brown sugar in the bottom of each and line with sliced pineapple. Whisk 1 egg, 1/4 cup buttermilk, 3 tablespoons melted butter and a dash of vanilla in a bowl, then stir in 1/2 cup flour, 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon baking soda and a pinch of salt. Divide among the ramekins. Bake at 350 degrees F, 20 minutes. Let cool, then unmold and top with confectioners' sugar.

Enjoy!

~BLESSINGS~

Lisa

Wheels n' Wings 2011

On Thursday evening, we went to Wheels N Wings in a nearby town. It's part of the city's Thunder in the Valley Motorcycle Rally. This is not my usual scene, lol, but we had a nice time before the rain drenched us. Above is a photo of the rainbow that appeared after the rain quit.

The Shock-Top Bug...love their Raspberry Wheat Ale and I am not a beer drinker.

Dh and DD checking out a car

One shot of the street lined with motorcycles. It's hard to see how far they go up, but it's at least 3 blocks.

One of ds' s favorite cars


Thanks for stopping by!

~blessings~

Lisa

Movie Day~Cars 2

The family went to see Cars 2 yesterday. We all enjoyed it. I wanted to get a pic of ds with the poster, but he is "too cool" for that. LOL I think the movie is great for kids and has a nice theme of friendship. It's definitely a MATER movie, but who doesn't love MATER?

blessings,

Lisa

Summer Home and Patio

My new cloche...not sure if I love the display or not. I think I need to add some fabric to it...

I just love burning a candle on my kitchen island. It reminds me to say a prayer for my family each time I walk by it. I just changed the berries for summer and added the sticker to the candle jar. A little country for me, but I love it.

The tray is from Thirty-One, the birds from Michael's and the lantern from Lowe's. This is on the porch coffee table.

My display on the porch plant stand. I did have a plant there, but the chipmunks dug in the pot and chewed the stem of it. Darn chipmunks!

Blessings,

Lisa

Bandana Dress Part Two

Here is dress number two. I love this one! I'm very partial to patriotic patterns and colors. I discovered that Miss M has grown quite a bit, so the dress is a bit short. It's more like an oversized top. We paired it with leggings and I think it looks too cute on her!

Miss M in her "dress". I'm going to make another using red bandanas for her to wear to our western themed family reunion in August.

peace,

Lisa

Bandana Dress

I made this dress today for Miss M. I used 2 bandanas from Walmart that were 1.00 each and some ribbon that I had at home from other projects. I think it came out pretty cute! I'm going to do a patriotic one next. I can't believe I actually sewed something! I used this video from You Tube for the directions:

Peace,

Lisa

Closet Before and After

My children are messy. It's tough for me because I'm not. Last week dd and I tackled her closet. Since our chaotic moves last fall, things just never got put into order because life happens. Thank goodness for summer vacation. As you can see in the above photo things were just thrown into her closet....


...and now things are neat and orderly. We labeled clear shoeboxes, using my Dymo Lectratag, with the names of her small toys and sorted them accordingly. I also labeled baskets for books and coloring books. The pink bin holds all the baby dolls and the green bin holds assorted toys. We ended up with two bags to donate to St. Vincent DePaul's Thrift store. I'm so glad that job is done! I hope it stays this way.

Blessings,

Lisa

Father's Day 2011

DH's gifts from the kids waiting to be opened....

The Lemon Meringue Pie I made for DH

My Love

My husband and our precious children

My dad <3

We had a nice family day. We went to mass, then came home to eat our donuts and read the paper. Afterwards, we went to visit our dads. Following the visits I made dh his favorite dinner and then we watched a movie together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, June 20. 2011

Welcome to Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie. This week will be another busy week with projects, hockey, summertime fun and family time. Here's our dinner plan for the week:

Sunday~Father's Day~Chicken in Cream Sauce over Linguine, Salad and Fresh Bread

Monday~BBQ Grilled Chicken, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Green Beans

Tuesday~Grilled Steaks, Twice Baked Potatoes and Salad

Wednesday~Turkey Vegetable Parmesan , Salad and Rolls

Thursday~BBQ Bacon Hot Dogs, Homemade Fries and Baked Beans

Friday~ Pizza Night

Saturday~not sure yet....may be camping!

Peace and Blessings,

Lisa

We took a trip to the local paving stone manufacturer and picked out our stone for the retaining wall and the front sidewalk. Above is the stone we chose for the retaining wall. It will be in by the end of next week.

Above are the pavers we chose for the walkway. I chose the colors to coordinate with the retaining wall. The granite on the left will edge the sidewalk and the blend on the right will be in the center in that same pattern only using the smaller block like the granite colored ones. I am hoping that it all coordinates well with the house.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lisa

The Tooth Fairy Visits Us!

Miss M lost her first tooth on Saturday night at camp. She was so excited! The tooth fairy visited us at home on Sunday night and left Miss M one dollar.

You can barely see it on the bottom.

Blessings,

Lisa

Braised Pork Chops with Peppers and Onions

I made this dish last night for dinner. The pork chops came out moist and tender and even my picky eaters loved them. I love the look of the red and yellow peppers together. I substituted organic chicken broth for the wine called for in the recipe. I served the pork with rice pilaf and steamed green beans.

Braised Pork with Peppers and Onions

Recipe from PorkBeInspired.com

Ingredients:
4 boneless pork loin chops, about 1-inch thick, trimmed
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 small red bell peppers, or yellow bell peppers, quartered and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 small red or yellow onion, quartered and cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry red wine, (for non-alcoholic, substitute chicken or vegetable broth)

Cooking Directions:

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove chops to a plate and set aside.
Add tomato paste to skillet and cook, stirring, for 15 seconds. Add bell peppers and onion to skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.
Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping up and stirring in any browned bits in the skillet. Return chops to skillet, nestling them in the liquid, and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook 4 minutes. Turn chops, cover, and cook until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit, followed by a 3-minute rest time.
Serve pork with pepper and onion mixture spooned on top.

Enjoy!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

Fresh Peach Cake

In case you didn't know, when summer rolls around I am a magazine addict...okay, well I'm a year-round addict, but in the summer it really gets crazy. I bought the Food Network Magazine for the first time ever on Friday, along with 3 other magazines. I sat at camp on Saturday and read it cover to cover. I love food and all things food, and yes, I do read cookbooks like novels, so this magazine was perfect for me! I found several recipes that I'd like to make in the June issue and below is one of them... Fresh Peach Cake. It's so delicious and moist. YUM!!

Fresh Peach Cake

Ingredients
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch-square baking pan.


In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar for 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.


Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan. Top with half of the peaches, then sprinkle with two-thirds of the sugar mixture. Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the remaining peaches on top and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans.

Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, June 13th

Welcome to Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie. It's the first week of summer vacation! I'm so happy to be off for the next few months. Here's the plan for the week:

Sunday~Pizza on the way home from camp

Monday~ Perfect Beef Burgers, Tortellini Antipasto Salad, and Fresh Fruit Salad

Tuesday~Braised Pork Chops with Peppers and Onions, Rice Pilaf and French Style Green Beans

Wednesday~Weeknight Taco Salads

Thursday~Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Paninis and Oven Fries

Friday~Pizza and Wings

Saturday~Dinner out after Jekyll and Hyde at the Benedum

Have a week full of blessings!

Peace,

Lisa

A porch in progress....

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lisa

Dance Recital 2011

Miss M after her performance. This year was her second recital. They danced to "Hey, Mickey" and were dressed as cheerleaders.

This is an action shot from rehearsal....no flash photography allowed.

H and Miss M before the show



Miss M and Daddy

Miss M and Uncle Buddy (my brother)

Miss M and my parents



Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

End of the Year Gift

One of the nurses in my classroom, made me this mug full of lollipop flowers as an end of the year gift. I think it's pretty cute!

Blessings,

Lisa