Peep Krispie Treats Recipe!

A mouse got into my peeps!

Actually, my kids decided they didn't like peeps! 

And taking from the persistence of me, they kept trying to eat them again and again...

What kid doesn't like Peeps?!

Especially ones who LOVE marshamallows!

So I decided to try them out for Mere's party to make Rice Krispie Treats with Peeps!

I found this recipe but I didn't have enough PINK Peeps to fulfil the recipe.

So I modified and tried my own method...

I threw 24 peeps (disregarding the ones that were half-eaten!) and a handful of mini marshmallows.

I let everything melt over medium low heat, to create lovely pink mess of marshmallow...

Then I stirred in 4 cups of rice krispies. 

I pressed them into a dish, and they were so pretty and sparkly.

Thank you pink sugar crystals!

And they fit in perfectly with the pink theme of the party!

They were not sweeter than typical Rice Krispie Treats, and were quite yummy.

Read below for the full recipe!

Peeps Krispie Treats

3 TBL butter

24 Peeps (any color, all one color, or a rainbow of colors!)

6 cups of Rice Krispie Cereal

Heat a large pot over medium low.  Add butter and marshmallows and stir until completely melted. 

Marshmallows burn quickly, so please continue to stir! 

When melted, remove from heat and pour in 6 cups of cereal.  Stir until coated with marshmallows. 

Pour into a buttered 9x9 dish.  Wet your hand under cold water and push the treats into the dish.  Let set for a few hours before slicing.

*Tip* If you keep cold water running, you want actually dip your hand under the water and then pull the krispies "stuck" in the pot out without burning yourself.  Wet, pull out, wet again.  Use this same method to push into the dish without getting it stuck to your fingers! 

Enjoy!

Cake Mix Cookie Recipe!

Since we were having an Abby birthday party, I envisioned all the desserts being pink!

We made the perfectly delicious strawberry cookies shown below...

The first time I ever made these was for an Army function.

I needed something to take, and I didn't have a lot of time. 

I did have a chocolate cake mix, oil and eggs. 

I thought why can't I make cookies out of these?

After a search online, which pulled up a sea of recipes, I chose one I most liked.

Straight from Betty Crocker herself, this is what I did...

1 box cake mix any flavor (forgive me for not getting BC, this was onsale for $0.88)

2 large eggs

1/3 cup of oil

(The recipe says vegetable oil, which i never buy because i don't fry things.  The canola oil was substituted and worked wonderfully!)

So easy, that I let my almost 2 year old do all the steps!

Pour your cake mix in the bowl.

Add oil and 2 eggs and mix together until well combined.

I used my electric hand mixer, not the spoon as shown above.

Place teaspoons on a cookie sheet.

In a preheated 350* oven, bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.

And you will end up with this!

They are so moist and full of flavor.

You have to try it!

I LOVE doing this with my kids because there are no dry ingredients to measure. 

Low stress, low mess.

I have written the recipe below!

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box of cake mix, any flavor
2 large eggs
1/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350*
Pour cake mix in a bowl.  Add eggs and oil.  Beat with mixer for 2 minutes or until combined well.
Add teaspoonsof cookies to a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 8 - 10 minutes.

Yields: 48 cookies!

Meredith's Abby Cadabby Party!

My Mere's 2nd Birthday Party was this past Saturday.  We did most of the prep work on Friday.

So after a lot of this... 

We ended up with this!

An Abby Cadabby Party!

The color scheme was purple, pink and baby blue.

(Luckily, my kitchen is already blue and offered an awesome backdrop for everything)

And because I am willing to admit that this photo isn't the best, let's show you the close up!

We baked strawberry cupcakes and red velvet cupcakes - both with strawberry icing....and pink sprinkles.

(of course!) 

48 wonderful cakes of heaven.

I wrapped the center rod of my cupcake holder with lavendar ribbon and tied the end piece in a bow.

The "2" candle I found just happened to be in purple.

I pulled two stems of hydrangea out of a wreath to decorate the table.

The purple "table cloth" is a piece of fabric I purchased years ago to use as a "table cloth" for a baby shower -two yards at $1 a yard!

I picked up the little pink buckets in the dollar section of Tar-jay back in Feburary, which were great for holding silverware, and candy!

I had "fairy wand" pops that I put Abby Cadabby stickers on and placed inside of a mini-bucket.

And do you see those pink krispie treats?  I am going to show you how to make those!

I used Meredith's Easter Basket to hold the treat bags for the kids.

And those yummy looking pink cookies! 

I will show you how to make those too!

The mini pink buckets also held pink and purple M&M's.

Richard says "Did you buy those expensive M&M's just so you could have pink ones?"

No honey, I would never do that! 

I bought a bag of M&M's that support BREAST CANCER AWARENESS!

Along side our Abby plates and napkins, they look so beautiful!

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I also made one, yes just one, tissue paper flower ball. 

I ran out of time people!

We hung it alongside long twists of crepe paper

and a few Abby hanging paper decorations and way too many balloons.

Besides the dessert table, we had a lunch spread which included burgers and hotdogs, pasta salad a la devon, cole slaw, baked beans, fruit and a random mix of chips.

Oh and I cannot forget the PINK PRINCESS PUNCH! 

Recipe will be coming soon! 

My baby girl was surrounded by all of those who love her, was very spoiled, and loved every minute of it!

Happy Birthday Mere!

Party Planning!

My baby girl is turning TWO YEARS OLD next week.

Instead of wondering where the time has gone (and really WHERE has it gone?!), I am staying busy planning her party!

About a month ago, we visited the party store to get a feel for what she would like as her theme. 
She was not impressed with the selection at all.

She proclaimed with her very awesome vocabulary that she wants an Abby Cadabby birthday.

Abby Cadabby is a character from Sesame Street, who is a fairy (in training)! 

How perfect for my own fairy princess....

(photo from Halloween 2009 @ 19 months old)

Abby themed partyware is NOT available, so we had to order online.

There are a few things I wouldn't have gotten otherwise,

but I couldn't pass up free shipping with a $50 purchase!

Hello, GIANT stuffed Abby!

I have lots of big plans (tutorials!!) in the making

but I will not reveal the details until after the par-tay! 

My Meredith's big Abby throwdown will be occurring this Saturday,

so you don't have to wait tooo much longer!

What about you?  Do you over-plan for parties? 

What is your favorite theme your child has wanted? 

Do tell!

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5 Minutes for Mom is hosting the Ultimate Blog Party 2010!






This is a virtual party celebrating online friendships. I don't know about you, but I consider many of my "blog friends" some of my closest. Here is your chance to meet fabulous bloggers and win amazing prizes!
For all you visiting, let me introduce myself.

I'm Devon. I'm 28 years old, married for 5 3/4 years and have two beautiful children - who are 3 and 2.

I am a southern gal - born and raised in Virginia. I married a man who is not so much a southerner....but luckily he appreciates (and enjoys) my love of tradition and all things southern. (A perfect example would be serving only sweet tea and water in mason jars at our wedding!)

I am also an Army wife.  I really got into blogging during my husband's deployment to Iraq.  My blog became a place to share the good, the bad and the photos during the day.  I now have this blog as a place to showcase all things "Devon".
I stay at home with my babies...who aren't really babies anymore. We find fun in bubbles, ABC's and cuddles.  I have a son (3 years old) and a daughter (almost 2 years old).
I LOVE shopping. I see it as therapy.
I love to craft in my "sparetime" - which has become 10 minute spirts of busyness when I can grab time.

I love making food. I think food is one of the best ways to share your heart with someone.
I hope you stick around so we can get to know each other better!
If you want to play along, go check out the party site at 5 Minutes for Mom. Link up your site on the MckLinky. Create a post about the party!

Now go meet new bloggers!

Picnic Table: The Finished Piece!

I completed this picnic table  from plans  Knock off Wood. 

Since last posting about my project, I used wood filler and filled in all of the screw holes...

After the wood filler dried, I pulled out my super cool sander for the first time.

I have wanted one of these FOR YEARS! 

But it isn't something that I would buy for myself...

But if you send your husband to Lowe's in the wee hours of Black Friday, he will bring you what you want home...

Sanding was super fun. 

I let the kids loose in the backyard and got to work smoothing out everything.

I used KILLZ interior/exterior primer to seal everything and to further cover the screw holes.

I let my babies "help me" prime for as long as I could tolerate...

Richard (happily) helped me paint the picnic table a lovely shade of orange this weekend.

I chose several paint samples and from those Lucas chose Nectarina by Olympic.

We purchased a quart of exterior semi-gloss.  

I am not sure about our facination with the color orange right now, but it is perfect!

We were sooo happy with how the color turned out!

Lucas and Meredith adore the table even more than they did before.

 

What do you think? 

Easter Baskets!

Lucas and Meredith needed an upgrade on their Easter baskets. 

After exploring the basket options in the local stores, and Lucas chose a PINK one, I decided to go a different route. 

I don't mind him having a pink basket, but a few years from now, he may --

and I knew Richard would never go for a pink one.

After looking at the rows of painted baskets, I thought

"Why don't we just paint our own!?"

So I had them each pick a paint color and a basket...

Lucas painted with his favorite color - GREEN

And Meredith chose purple!

The baskets were left to dry...

I didn't think they look awful...they looked like I let my little kids paint them...

Until we arrived at our egg hunt for the weekend!

There we were surrounded by children with their $30 dollar lined and monogrammed PBK baskets...

Luckily, my children didn't notice...

They were too busy collecting eggs to even care....

But mommy and daddy noticed...

After the hunt, I ventured off to look for replacement spray paint in the desired purple and green colors.

And spent the evening putting on multiple coats, in the dark...

looking at the photo now, I notice they may need one more coat... 

I had planned to make liners with scrap fabric, but since my sewing machine hates me right now, that project will have to wait...

Luckily, I finished the baskets in time for the infamous Bunny's arrival.

I hope you have a Happy Easter!

Easy Citrus Fish!

We LOVE eating fish in our home. 

I try to encorporate fish at least once a week....

The health benefits are amazing....necessary vitamins, minerals and of course, those Omega-3's.

Fish prevents heart disease, reducing the risk of  heart attacks and strokes.

Fish lowers blood pressure.

Fish helps reduce depression.

Fish is low in fat.

Fish has strong levels of protein. 

I could go on, but I think you get the picture!  You NEED to eat more FISH!

It is near impossible to find WILD SALMON in the stores around here.

Otherwise, we buy TILAPIA or CATFISH.

I know a lot of people are afraid of cooking fish.  

So I am here to help!   

I have a seasoning called "Grill Creations Citrus Grill" by Durkee.

This stuff is awesome. 

(I have also seen seasoning specifically for "fish" or "salmon" -- I am certain this would be fine too!)

You can put it on fish or chicken. 

Salmon is awesome with it. 

I have even seasoned green beans with it before. 

We had Tilapia this week. 

Want to try it?

First, line your dish with foil. 

This will help your clean-up later!

Take your fish of choice and season on both sides...

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 425*.

The fish will be moist and delicious and golden brown.

Sorry for the awful photo, this is the aftermath of dinner...

I have two more go-to recipes for fish that I LOVE, but this one is by far the simplest one!

I hope you try it!