Thankful Thursday: My beautiful daughter

Since we've been talking all about my daughters birthday party this week, I thought it only appropriate to dedicate my Thankful Thursday to my beautiful daughter Aliyah. She is such a beautiful light in my life and I am continuously thankful to God for blessing me and my family with her. Now that she is getting a bit older, she is repeating everything we say and I am quickly realizing the phrases I say the most. Apparently I say "Let's See Here" all the time, because I am now catching myself saying it when I open up my utensil drawers or opening up a cookbook, cracks me up every time.

Well I wanted to take you through her Pajama Breakfast Birthday party that we had a few weeks ago.

You all saw the Cake In A Jar's that I made in my post on Tuesday. I also served some rice krispie treats in lieu of the breakfast theme.






As our guests arrived they were greeted with a cereal bar and cheery welcome to Aliyah's 2nd Birthday Party. You can see how I made the tissue paper backdrop here




The little container with the take home bags read: "Thank you all so much for celebrating with me the Most Important "Birthday" of the Day"



I was a little bummed that I didn't get a picture of our food table with all the food on it...leave it to the food blogger and cookbook author not to photograph the food.  I did take a photo before hand though, so that counts a little bit.







And of course for drinks we had iced cold OJ and Milk, as well as some homemade chocolate sauce from my parents ice cream parlor for chocolate milk!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

(I also made her pj's, slippers and bow too!)

As part of our Breakfast I served a new recipe of mine which was an Egg Casserole. I made ours vegetarian with only eggs and cheese, but it would also be delicious with ham, bacon or sausage mixed in; or even all three!
(and remember, I failed to photograph the food)

12 Eggs
1/2 lb grated cheese
1 cup milk
4 Tablespoons melted butter

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Additional ingredients
Salt, pepper
Garlic
Seasoning salt

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And then just add what you like:
onions
meat
salsa

I prepared mine the night before, but didn't put it into the casserole dish until that morning. My reason being, because you melt the butter in the dish I didn't want it to get cold again -- I didn't think it would have the same effect as having the melted butter surround the casserole.

Whisk together eggs, along with milk and seasonings. Once whipped, add in cheese and meat. Stire together and store in a container over night, if making ahead of time. If making day of, follow directions below.

In the morning, melt your butter and pour into 9x13 casserole dish. Next pour in egg mixture. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. It will start to puff around the outside and the middle will sink if you check it at about 20 minutes, don't worry the rest will puff up too. After the 40 minutes it should be cooked all the way through.


Enjoy warm!

Woo-Hoo Wednesday: Tissue Paper Backdrop

I had mentioned yesterday that we recently celebrated my daughters 2nd birthday. I was so excited about my backdrop for her cereal breakfast bar I knew I had to share!

Walking around the house, while both kids were sleeping, I was searching for inspirations. Cardstock? No. Paper Plates? Nope. Cardboard boxes....Hmmm, maybe. What's this baby gate doing in my way? Ugh, always in the way. As I move one of the baby gates out of the way in the garage I am struck with an idea! Those little holes in the gate would be perfect to decorate with...yes perfect!





I had so much tissue paper left over from my book release parties and also from wrapping Christmas presents, I knew they would look awesome as a back drop. I cut each sheet in half and began stuffing them in the baby gate. As I finished up the backdrop my brain continued to rack up more and more ideas that I could create using just one baby gate. It is so versatile, picking out colors to match your decor and then adding additional foliage as you go! It worked perfect for my daughters party, and I look forward to using this same concept for future parties too!

Camel Eye

I feel like everyone I've talked to can remember back to a time where their mom or grandma made them the classic Camel Eye!



I just love how a simple recipe can take you back to a memory in an instant. I'm sure you can remember the plate it was served on, the seat where you sat and the smell of the kitchen as breakfast was being served...at least I can.

In my previous post I mentioned using cookie cutters to cut your mozzarella cheese for your caprese salad, well the same goes for making a camel eye. Update this "camel's eye" with a  fa-bu-lous new look, whether star shaped, squared or shaped like a heart your kids or loved ones will enjoy the ever so tasty, classic camel eye.



Recipe on page: 77 of Our First Year: Cost Effective Recipes from the Home of Newlyweds

** Photo compliments of Troeger Photography

How- To Tuesday: Fry Bacon

Today I wanted to take a moment to talk about bacon.....although I do not eat bacon, I use to, and I remember it being so delicious. I'm kind of a freaky vegetarian....because I use to eat meat on a regular basis, I know the tastes and the enjoyment people get out of sinking their teeth into something so salty and tender as a piece of meat. If you know me, you know that I do not eat most meat because of texture issues that I developed about 8 or so years ago....don't ask me why, it's just what happened. hah! So anyways, when I prepare meat for people or create my recipes, I find enjoyment in watching those eating my meal because I know the pleasure one gets out of eating it.

So as I go over how to fry bacon, trust me, I know what its like to start salivating at just the smell of it!



First of all, I would recommend wearing an apron or definitely having a lid for your skillet while frying bacon; it tends to splatter and doesn't necessarily feel so nice on your skin or your favorite shirt!

You are going to want to use a large skillet and to fry 3 to 4 pieces of bacon at a time. If you can only do 1 or 2 at first, that is fine too.



Place the bacon side by side on your un-greased frying pan.

Turn your stove to medium-high heat and listen for your bacon to begin sizzling. You will know the bacon is ready to be flipped when it doesn't stick to the pan. Simply take a pair of tongs and flip each piece of bacon over. This is where the "pops" may happen---in that case, make sure you use the lid to block the splatters or have your cute little apron on already.

The bacon will slowly stop popping when it's pretty much done, but make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't turn too crispy. Once you feel the bacon is fried to your liking, place on a paper towel to drain any excess oil. Let cool and enjoy!

If you are planning a large breakfast for company, you can plan to make the bacon the day before. This frees you from having to clean up any grease splatters or spend extra time on cooking. Store the bacon in your refrigerator overnight in a plastic container. The bacon can be easily reheated in the microwave or oven for when guests arrive.

There are several delicious dishes that you can make with bacon...especially in my cookbook. Check out the Snuggle Pigs or Potato Skins...







Enjoy your BACON!