Biggest Loser

Biggest Loser is over! I ended up taking 4th all together and lost 19 pounds...but have gained a few back so I've got to stay on top of it! For 4th place, I won $75 so what did I do with the money???

Well....a while back I won some pans from PickyPalate that retailed at $160 but they came with the lids shattered. I took them back to Walmart but instead got a gift card instead...so I combined my winnings (no, I did not go to Walmart...I used the gift card for groceries) plus Justin went all out and surprised me and let me go pick out a new oven and microwave!!! I LOVE them! We have bigger plans for our kitchen, but this is just the beginning. Since then, Justin's painted our fridge black to match all of our appliances. Thanks Love!

Oreo Cupcakes

What you'll need:
1 package oreo cookies
devils food cake mix - made up
whipping cream (not cool whip)
powdered sugar
vanilla extract

First preheat your oven to the cake mix's instructions (probably 350).

Get your oreos ready:
- Cut 12 oreo's in half for garnish
- Twist apart 24 oreos keeping the cream on one of the halves. Put the half with the cream on the bottom of the cupcake liner, cream side up. Set the other halfs aside for crumbling.
- Take all extra oreos and crumble them up fine (I used a food processor) and set aside for frosting/filling.

Mix up your cake mix according to directions on the box. Divide between liners, filling almost to the top of the liner.

Bake according to your cupcake package's directions then let cool completely.

Frosting/filling:
2 1/2 c. whipping cream
8 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. Oreo cookie crumbs

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff. Gently fold in the cookie crumbs. Scoop the mixture into a piping bag (or gallon size ziplock bag), and using a 1M tip (just make sure it has a very large opening or the cookie crumbs will clog it), and inject filling into each cupcake by sticking the tip into the middle of the cupcake and squeezing it a bit. Frost the cupcakes and top with 1/2 of an oreo.

*Wait to frost until an hour or two before serving so the frosting is fresh. The day after her birthday, the frosting seemed drier.

Store all leftovers in the refrigerator. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Cheese Cake Cupcakes

I'm addicted to these now and am craving them...too bad they're all gone now.

What you'll need:
graham cracker crumbs (you can buy them that way or you can crush your own, I crushed my own in a food processor...it took about 1 1/2 packages from the box)
butter
sugar
french vanilla cake mix - made up
cream cheese (2 packages)
unsalted butter
almond extract
powdered sugar
vanilla extract
strawberries for garnish

First line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners and preheat your oven according to your cake mix directions (probably 350).

Graham Cracker Crust:
2 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted

In a small bowl, combine crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Divide between cupcake liners and press. You'll want it to fill about 1/3 of the bottom with the crust after it's pressed.

Mix up your cake mix according to the box's directions. Pour over your graham cracker crust, divided between the cupcake liners. Fill until it's almost to the top of the liner. Then bake according to the cupcake directions on the cake mix box.

Frosting (probably the best part of this recipe!):
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 lb cream cheese at room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Cream the butter and powdered sugar together until smooth. Add extracts and powdered sugar and blend until desired consistency is reached. (Thanks Randee for this frosting recipe!)

Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, top your cupcakes with the frosting and garnish with a strawberry. I watched this video for tips to frost:
How to Frost Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

Mya's Birthday!

Mya turned 3! It was such a perfect and fun day! She was such a happy girl all day long! She loved the attention and it was so great that Justin and I both had work off so we could just play with her all day. If you asked Mya what she wanted for her birthday, she would tell you balloons and cake. Yes, she was more concerned about her party and decorating than presents. It wasn't until a day or two before her birthday that she added presents in there, but was never specific with what kind of presents. So she was a very happy girl that day...she got everything she asked for.

As soon as she woke up, she checked out the balloons, cake and presents. She was so excited. We got her barbies, a barbie car, an outfit, slippers, a couple of games and the Tinkerbell faries. She was happy, but the last two presents she got way excited about. They were the tinkerbell faries and Eugene aka Flynn Rider from Tangled. (She definitely needed a boy to go with all of those girls in the dollhouse.)
This is when she was waiting to go bowling...she decided to play a quick game of hide-and-seek. Justin was in the kitchen and she yelled for him to come find her. Awesome hiding spot!
As soon as we got ready, we went bowling. Mya loves bowling! She even almost beat me...but we won't get into that.
Her dinner choice for the night was La Ferrovia (or La Ferrodia as she says it). She was so excited to have "White Pasta, Carrots, and Lemonade!!!" She hates carrots but she likes theirs and last night she told me I should get the recipe from La Ferrovia so I could make carrots as good as theirs. Funny girl!
After dinner we had her party! Everyone came by for cake/cupcakes and ice cream! She loved having all of her cousins come over and play with her. It seriously was such a perfect birthday for her. Some of the gifts she got from everyone were a raincoat, some Usborne books (which she loves and has us read from them every night), a stuffed pig, littlest pet shop, barbie, art kit, a Cinderella dress up, pillows and a sleeping bag (she likes to watch movies downstairs and lay in her sleeping bag). She was spoiled!

By the way, I'm very proud of my cupcakes this year and I will post the recipes! The ones were an oreo and the others tasted like cheese cake to me!The next day she said she wanted it to be her birthday again so I explained to her that it won't be for another year. Once we were at my sister's house that day, she said, "Lisa, it's going to be my birthday again next year." She seemed so excited. She doesn't quite get the time frame thing to know about how long a year is...but she's excited! I love you Mya...Happy Birthday!

Tribute to Mya

Holy cow my baby's growing up. Mya Turns 3 on Thursday! I really can't believe it's been 3 years since I became a mom! Mya is seriously such a sweetheart and I'm so glad she's mine! She is constantly saying the funniest things and just makes us laugh all of the time. She is such a good big sister. She is always helping Parker and playing with him. If I'm feeding Parker and need to stop for a minute, she'll jump right in and start to feed him. She's very motherly.

Here are some of her favorites -
Favorite Color: Pink and purple...actually it changes all of the time but this is her current
Favorite Food: White Pasta
Favorite Princesses: Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella
Favorite Movies: Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Tangled, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Favorite Restaurant: La Ferrovia and Wendy's
Favorite Drink: Sonic's Strawberry or Orange Cream Slush
Favorite Things To Do: Puzzles, watch movies, play dough, read books, help with anything we're doing, play with her kitchen or dollhouse
Favorite Dessert: Ice Cream
Favorite Chips: Cheetos
Favorite Snack: Graham Crackers and milk
Favorite Breakfast: Pancakes topped with Syrup and powdered sugar
Favorite Candy Bar: Cookies n' Cream, Whoppers
(I realized that was a lot of food things...even though she's skinny, she loves to eat!)

A little more about Mya:
Mya recognizes most letters in the alphabet. She only gets mixed up on maybe 3 or 4. She knows her whole name and how to spell Mya, knows she lives in Roy, knows Justin works in Ogden, Grandma Wayment lives in Clinton, Grandma Ropelato lives in Hooper, and Ivy lives in Ogden. She loves to sing and dance, play barbies, and help with vinyl at work. She is a Daddy's girl as much as I hate to admit it. She loves her mom, but LOVES when dad is home and gets to play with him. When we go somewhere, we always have to point out Theresa's house and Kathy's house (two people in our ward). She likes to get out of the house. Every morning she asks where we are going that day. She loves to tease! Just this morning she was sitting on my lap and told me, "I'll probably toot on you" and told me over and over again laughing! She loves to tease her uncles. Braxton is one of her favorites and when he asks her who her favorite is, she'll always name a different uncle. I think she's figured out not to give her uncle Kevin a hug or kiss when he asks her because he'll bribe her so she waits it out for the candy. Mya knows she's a princess...last time she went to the doctor's for an ear infection, he told her she had a princess heart beat and to this day she still brings that up. Mya is very shy. She's improving a lot, but she has to warm up first then she's pretty open to being herself. She's improved so much that instead of ignoring people when they ask her a question, she'll now look and me and give me the answer. She has a blanket she takes everywhere and sucks her thumb when she's tired, uncomfortable or sad. This is still a work in progress and will probably take a good convincing to get her to stop, but for now...that's who she is. She's very polite and she is a pleaser. Every night before bed, she goes around the house to clean up any toys she or Parker left out. She really is the best and I love her a ton!!!

Parker's 8 Months

Parker's 8 months! Here's what he's learned this past month:
Crawls up the stairs, now can say mamma, still LOVES food but he's now eating crackers, cereal, baby cheetos and alphabet bites, he has 2 teeth, crawls everywhere! and gets into everything! He is so wiggly and does not hold still. I seriously think he's got to be the cutest baby boy ever (I'm a little biased). He started to sleep through the night agian but that only lasted a week or two. He's so much fun and oh ya, the BIGGEST MOMMA'S BOY!!! He screams when he's playing (what can I say, he's around girls all day and we make girl sounds) and loves eating paper. He weighs 19.5 pounds (which is only 6 pounds lighter than Mya). He's still the smiliest boy and so much fun to have around!