Pina Colada Cake

I LOVE the beach!  Anything warm and tropical makes me happy! Including things that remind me of being at the beach...such as coconuts, pineapple, and pina coladas!

My husband is the exact opposite!  He hates the beach, hates pineapple, and really hates coconut!
Usually we argue about who is crazier, but on this cake... I don't argue.  Why?  Because I am happy with not having to share :-)

My cousin introduced me to this cake when I was really little and I haven't had it since!  It has really been weighing on my mind for years, so I decided to recreate it my way....and MMMM!  It was good!

It's full of coconut flavor, pineapple, and cool whip.  If your feeling frisky...you can even add in some coconut rum :-)  I would have totally done that if I didn't have to share with my 1 year old!



Pina Coloada Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix (or your own made from scratch kind)
8 oz cool whip
1 can crushed pineapple
1 bottle cream of coconut
1 bag shredded coconut
coconut rum (optional)

Make yellow cake mix according to box and bake in a 13 x 9 pan.

When it is done, poke holes in cake and pour bottle of cream of coconut on top.  If you are using rum, now would be when you would sprinkle a few tablespoons on top of the cake.

Let the cake cool.  As it cools, the cream of coconut will soak through cake (making it really moist!)

When the cake is cooled spread coconut all over the top.  I only used half a bag but you can use the entire thing if you like.

Next, I spread cool whip on top of the coconut layer.

Evenly distribute the crushed pineapple on top of the cool whip.

Now sit back, eat your cake, and pretend you're in paradise!

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Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup #SundaySupper

Warm.  Flavorful.  Kick of spice.  Comforting.

For those of you that have had Brunswick Stew know exactly what I am talking about!

Brunswick Stew can only be found in my home town (from what I have found anyways) and seems to only be sold from church fundraisers!  Everyone I know stocks their entire deep freezer up with this stuff when it is being sold to hold on to through the rest of the year.

While living in Jacksonville, this is one of the things I missed the most.  I got sick twice while there and craved for this stew so bad!  I couldn't find it anywhere!  So the moment I moved back..low and behold...my grandma had some in her freezer she pulled out for me :)

All better!

For those that know me, unless it is soup from Olive Garden or Brunswick Stew, I am not a soup lover at all!

But....

I found out an easy and fast way to make Brunswick Stew!  Better yet...I found a way to make the "stew" into "soup"!

Woohoo!  No more waiting until December!  Which was fantastic because I got sick this past weekend and needed this!

WIN!

Usually it doesn't have noodles...but I LOVE pasta and want noodles in almost everything I make haha.

  .

Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup

By: Crystal Barrett

Ingredients 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large chopped onion

1 - 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 medium cooked chicken breasts (cut into chunks)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 small bag lima beans

1 can drained corn

1 can green beans (optional)

8 oz. boiled elbow noodles (optional)

1/2 c ketchup

tomato juice

Directions 

Start off by sauteing onion in olive oil in a huge pot over medium high heat until they are translucent.

Add tomatoes, chicken, cayenne pepper, and lima beans.  Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat then reduce to simmer for about 25 minutes.

Add yellow corn, ketchup, and cooked noodles (if desired).  Add tomato juice to desired thickness.

Heat another 5 minutes.

Serve and feel better :)

P.S.  There may be a lot of Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup left..but don't fret!  It is freezable!  Just put them in Glad containers and stick in the freezer.  Pull out on a cold night when you are sick or don't want to cook, stick in the microwave, and voila!

 

The #SundaySupper family will be digging out their stock pots and slow cookers to serve up these amazing soups:

Do The Chicken Dance (chicken {or other poultry} soups)

•  Chicken Tortellini & White Bean Soup at Flour On My Face
• Chicken Gnocchi at Dinners, Dishes and Desserts
• Chicken Cheese Soup by There and Back Again
• Chicken Tortellini Soup by Country Girl In The Village
• Chicken Soup with Leeks, Onions and Fennel by Shockingly Delicious
• Family Style Tablescape featuring Chicken Tortilla Soup by An Appealing Plan
• Yucatan Chicken Lime Soup (Sopa de Lima) by The Weekend Gourmet
• Chicken Meatball, Spinach and Orzo Soup from  Gourmet Drizzles
• Ground Turkey Soup at The Messy Baker
• Cheesy Chipotle Chicken Sausage Chowder by Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• Turkey Meatball Soup by Basic and Delicious
• Chick-Fil-A Chicken Noodle Soup by Family Foodie
• Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup at Cupcakes and Pearls

Where’s The Beef (Beef Soups)

•  Chili with Black Beans by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Vegetable and Beef Soup by Supper For a Steal
• Swabian Beef Spaetzle +1 Soup (Gaisburger Marsch) at Galactosemia in PDX
• Bacon Cheeseburger Soup by Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Beef Pho Soup by No One Likes Crumbley Cookies
• Frijol con Carne by MarocMama
• Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Soup)  by Neighborfood

Pass The Pork. Please (Pork or Sausage Soups)

•  Healthy Bean and Sausage Soup by Momma’s Meals
• Smoked Sauage and Wild Rice Soup at Mama, Mommy, Mom
• Louisiana Caldo by Catholic Foodie
• Sweet potato and spanish chorizo soup at My Cute Bride
• Soft Tofu Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) by Hip Foodie Mom

Under The Sea (Seafood Soups)

•  Shrimp Miso Noodle Soup at Pescetarian Journal
• Szechuan Fish Soup by The Urban Mrs.
• New England Clam Chowder at Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Hearty Okra Shrimp Gumbo Laced with Coconut Oil by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
• Bacon and Shrimp Bisque at Big Bear’s Wife
• Lobster Bisque for Two by Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Chinese Fish Maw Soup by My Trials in The Kitchen
• Thai Curry Coconut Mussel Soup by Noshing With The Nolands

Eat Your Veggies (Chock Full o’ Vegetables Soups)

•  Not-So-Mini-Strone at The Army Foodie Wife
• French Onion Soup by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Spicy Sweet Potato and Corn Soup at Magnolia Days
• Creamy Cheddar Potato Soup at Daily Dish Recipes
• Rather French Onion Soup by What Smells So Good
• Broccoli Cheddar Soup by Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
• Cream of Ancho Chile Soup from La Cocina de Leslie
• Pasta e Fagoli Soup at Cravings of a Lunatic
• Miso Soup by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Vegetable Consommé with Semolina Dumplings – Grießknödel at Masala Herb
• Vegetable Medley Soup with Broccoli and Leeks at Chattering Kitchen
• Yamato Soup at Cooking Underwriter
• Smoky Kale and Tomato Soup with Garlic Croutons by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Coconut Corn Chowder at Mangoes and Chutney
• Make Your Own (Gluten Free) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup at The Meltaways
• Ital Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup at The Lovely Pantry
• Chunky Vegetable and Barley Soup at Curious Cuisiniere
• Corn Soup with Crispy Tortilla Strips at Ninja Baking
• Jalapeno Beer Cheese Soup by The Hand That Rocks The Ladle
• Wild Mushroom Soup at Food Lust People Love
• Tomato Basil Soup with Cous Cous at Ruffles and Truffles
• Creamy Carrot Soup at Cookistry
• Vermicelli Soup by Damn Delicious
• Country Split Pea Soup with Bacon and Potatoes at girlichef

Some Don’t Like It Hot (Chilled Soups)

•  Chilled Strawberry Soup at Juanita’s Cocina
• Bread and Tomato Soup – Gazpacho Style at Vintage Kitchen Notes

Of course once you have seen all of the recipes for the day, you’ll not want to miss our  #SundaySupper conversation on twitter each Sunday. 

We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. This week we will be sharing out special soup recipes!

Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET and you do not want to miss out on the fun.

Follow the#SundaySupper hash tag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat.

Don’t forget to check out our #SundaySupper Pinterest board for more fabulous recipes and food photos.

Join us Around the Family Table this Sunday at 7pm Eastern Time and share your favorite soup, stew, chowder or bisque recipes with us!

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Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

 Muffins.  They are easy, fast, and incredible on the go!  Even better...my 1 year old loves them!  Especially since they can be made "mini"!  Which I do :)

I started off with a Betty Crocker recipe for banana muffins...but with my own additions and changes, I created my own yummy muffin!  The banana chocolate chip oatmeal muffin!

I made 10 big muffins and filled an entire mini muffin pan with this recipe and I was scared to death they wouldn't last until the morning!

Remember when I was telling you my husband use to hate sweets? Well guess what...he's not a muffin lover either...UNTIL NOW!

I kept begging him to try one when they were hot and straight out of the oven and he just wouldn't give in.  Finally I begged so much he told me to go get him one off of the stove.  So I did!  I sat quietly, staring, waiting for his first bite and approval....

and he made the "MMMM!" sound! EEEK!  I was so thrilled.  Before I got too excited too soon I asked what he thought.

He asked me to go get him another one!  Then 5 minutes later...2 more!

YAY!  I have not only converted him to cookies, pies, and cupcakes....but now muffins!

My work here is complete :)

Here's the recipe:
2 medium bananas - I like the wait until they have browned a little.  They taste better and are easier to mash.
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 vegetable oil or melted butter
1 egg
2 c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 salt
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 oats

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Grease your muffin cups or pan.

In a large bowl, mash the banana's and mix well with milk.

Beat the milk mixture with the egg, oil, and vanilla with whisk.

Stir in flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder all at once.  Stir just until moistened.

Fold in the oats and chocolate chips.

Divide batter evenly to the muffin cups about 3/4 full.

Top with oats or granulated sugar if you wish.  Adding sugar on top will add extra crisp and sweetness to the muffin when it is done.

Bake in oven for about 20 minutes.  (If you are making mini muffins it will be about 12 - 15 minutes)

When the muffins are done, take them out of the pan and let them cool.

Enjoy :-)

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Fried Potatoes and Onions

"It's a southern meal" my husbands tries to explain.

"We live in the south!" I express, trying to figure out the reasoning behind this madness.

My grandma and her family has raised my dad and I on fried potatoes and onions.  It is one of our favorite's!  In fact, sometimes to bribe us into coming over she always adds on "I'm makin fried tayta's n onions."  and it gets us every time ;)

I make them myself, but they are always best coming straight from her kitchen.  Grandma's always do everything better.

I guess I thought every one knew what they were.  I mean, I was raised on them.  My whole family loved them!  But, I was sadly wrong.

Mentioning them to a few members of my husbands family I realized not everyone knew what they were.

"What are fried potatoes and onions?"

"Are they just potatoes with onions?"

"I have heard of fried potato cakes but what do you do with the onions?"

Oh my!  This is just mind blowing to me! 

So, my grandma made them for us the other day and I had to get in the kitchen and take a few pictures :)  I just can't have this world not trying this amazing southern comfort food!

My pictures aren't very good so please don't judge based on looks! It isn't the prettiest dish, but it is so yummy!

What you will need:
 Olive Oil
About 4 + brown potatoes (depending on how many people and much you will need)
1 Onion (or more if you love onion)


Peel potatoes and cut up. 

Slice onion.

Soak the potatoes in water for a few minutes to clean them off.  Drain.

Cover bottom of skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat until very hot. (Test the oil to see if hot enough by adding a drop of water to skillet.  If the water fizzes immediately, it is ready.)

Add potatoes to skillet.  Top with the onions.

Cover with lid.

Stir every few minutes.

 

 When the potatoes are nice, soft, and almost done turn the burner on high to a broil.  This will brown them and give them crispiness. :)

 

When they are browned enough to your liking..it is time to eat!

Serve with ketchup, salt, pepper, whatever you want to add and enjoy the greasy, unhealthy, delicious goodness :)

It's so worth it!

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Peanut Butter Cups

My husband and I are supposed to be on a diet.  A weight diet AND a money diet!  For Valentines Day though, I figured we could splurge just a little on calories and sugar, and I could save money by making a little treat from things we already had at home. 

Peanut butter cups are SO easy to make and I always have the ingredients! After trying it out this time it made me wonder why we ever buy Reese cups in the first place!  You can even buy Reese peanut butter in the store to make your own cups with...so why not?

I decided to make both white chocolate and chocolate peanut butter cups. For 8 white chocolate peanut butter cups follow the recipe below.  You can always double the recipes, use different kinds of chips, whatever you wish :)

This is how I did it:

mini muffin pan
mini cupcake liners
2 c white chocolate chips (divided)
1 c peanut butter
2 tbsp sugar


I lined my mini muffin pan with my mini cupcake liners. At first I wasn't sure if the paper cups would work...but after the white chocolate dried...they were perfect!

Melt the white chocolate chips according to the package.  Heat until smooth and creamy.

Take a spoon and drizzle the chocolate into the liners.  Make sure to push the chocolate onto the sides of the cups as well as the bottom.  The chocolate should form a "bowl" in the liners.

Let the chocolate dry and harden.

If you are doing white chocolate peanut butter cups, the white chocolate hardens within a few minutes.  If you are using regular chocolate it takes a while.  You can speed up the process by placing the muffin pan in the refrigerator for a few minutes.  Be careful not to leave them in there too long though because the chocolate will become very very hard.






Mix peanut butter with sugar (optional).  With two baby spoons I filled the chocolate with peanut butter.  Leave rims of chocolate exposed so when you add the other layer of chocolate, it will make a peanut butter cup.

Melt the remaining white chocolate chips and drizzle on top of the peanut butter, covering the whole cup.  You can decorate them now like I did if you would like.



Let harden. 

Eat.

Get a sugar rush! lol

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Chicken and Mushroom Alfredo

Chicken Alfredo is one of my husband's favorite meals!  He orders it almost every time we go out for Italian food. 

I have only made Alfredo for him twice since we have been married.  Both for special occasions. Usually when we decide to eat Italian I make lasagna, stuffed shells, or spaghetti.  

I'm not sure why I haven't made it a lot more.  It is a very easy, fast, and versatile dish.  Which is perfect for me having two fussy babies come dinner time!  I guess it is just one of those dishes you like to keep special.  You know the ones.  You don't want to over do it because then it wouldn't be as special!  Like turkey for Thanksgiving :)

This time I made this dish for Valentines dinner and it was a big hit!  I'm not even that big on Alfredo but this was pretty delicious!

All you need is:

2 chicken breasts
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 c + 1 tbsp butter
3/4 c milk
4 cloves garlic
1 c parmesan cheese (grated)
16 oz fettucini noodles
6 oz sliced fresh mushrooms


- Boil the chicken until done.  Cut into small chunks and set aside.

- Saute the mushrooms in 1 tbsp butter and 2 cloves minced garlic. Set aside.

-  Boil the fettucini

-  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt and stir 1/2 c butter, cream cheese, milk, parmesan cheese and 2 cloves minced garlic until thick and creamy.  Add chicken and mushrooms.

-  Toss the noodles with the sauce, serve, and enjoy :)

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Colorful Felt Headband

Hair bows are my obsession right now!  My husband hates that I am always on the lookout for hair bows and frilly little ribbons...but why else have little girls?  With girls comes the wonderful laces, ribbons, tutu's, and all things glitter!

I usually always put headbands on my girls when we go out in public.  My husband however hates them and before I can get out the door decides to take them off of their heads. GRRRR!  Over the past few months, I have gotten him to loosen up and somewhat be ok with me putting big flowers in their hair!

Buying hair bows are not cheap!  Most all of the ones I want are 3.99 and up.  Some I have found are even close to 10!  I have two girls so I am not spending $20 on 2 hairbows!  I quickly learned that I need to start making my own for all of the hair bows I want to own.

For my daughters first circus, I made her a clown tulle tutu and just had to have a headband that matched!  With the tutu being so bright and colorful the headband had to be bright and colorful as well.

This felt headband I made took all of maybe 10 minutes.  And was super cheap!  The felt was on 25 cents!  The elastic band was $1 and the pom poms I already had for the tutu.

You can make the headband by sewing elastic and then sewing felt over the elastic band, but I cheated this time and bought the already made band part.

All you need is:
elastic felt headband
one sheet felt
1 pom pom
scissors
pen
hot glue gun

Since the tutu I was making was white with bright colored pom pom's, this piece of felt was perfect for a matching headband!

Turn the piece of felt over to the side you do not want shown.  Practice drawing out the shape you want your hair bow to be.  When you have the perfect shape, cut it out.

For mine, I want a flower.  As you can see this flower was not so pretty so I just kept practicing until it looked ok.  I cut three different size flowers out because I wanted my hair bow layered.

I glued my 3 layers on top of each other from biggest to smallest and then added a pom pom in the center.

Then glue the entire shape onto your head band.

TADA!  We have a very cute bow for very cheap!




Use your imagination and go crazy!  Felt is very cheap and you can make all sorts of things!  You can make animal shapes, 3D shapes, anything you wish!

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