LIVE on Channel 12 News

Today was our big day on Channel 12 News! My early morning started at 3:15 am as my wonderfully supportive husband joined in getting ready and taking me down to the news station. Such an awesome experience as the news stations was much larger than when I was on Channel 3 and it was really neat to see the news broadcasted along the streets of downtown Phoenix.

If you didn't get a chance to watch me live this morning here is the link! Hoping to get a chance to be added to their "Most Watched" videos list so SHARE SHARE SHARE ;-)


http://www.azcentral.com/video/1530322477001

If you have a facebook or twitter account here are the links to my page - please "like" and "following"
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourfirstyear
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OurFirstYear

And Of Course - Show some Sugar Love to my new writing endeavor SUGAR LOCO
http://www.sugarloco.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SugarLoco
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sugar_Loco

GUESS WHO'S GOING TO BE ON CHANNEL 12?

Guess who's going to be on Channel 12 News featuring Sugar Loco in a LIVE SEGMENT! Me! Me! Me! I'm on such a sugar high right now!

This Monday,  3/26 , at 5:25 A.M.  I will be doing a live cooking segment featuring my cookbook, Our First Year: Cost Effective Recipes from the Home of Newlyweds as well as my newly added opportunity to write for Sugar Loco. Sugar Loco is a website completely dedicated to everything SWEET. We do reviews of local desserts across the country, as well as desserts that you can order online or see in the store.

So far I am LOVING the perks of the job - with being able to travel around AZ, sampling yummy desserts and writing my thoughts for all our viewers to see. Here are the links to my first two spots I hit up during my first week on the job:


Arrowhead Grill:
http://www.sugarloco.com/2012/03/drinks-and-dessert-for-a-girls-night-out/

Chaparral Homemade Ice Cream:
http://www.sugarloco.com/2012/03/dessert-before-dinner-at-chaparral-phoenix/

For everyone who is not in AZ (or frankly are still sleeping at 5:25 am) there will be a link posted on their website with my demo, so I will definitely be sending that out  too.

So what's next? I need YOU!

Hoping you will forward this email on to at least 5 of your friends letting them know about this awesome opportunity. Also I'd LOVE the follow on my Facebook as well as Sugar Loco's facebook. Just click the colored links and it will take your right to our sites.  And finally - when you see my cooking demo online - LEAVE A COMMENT on Channel 12 New's site - THEY WILL LOVE IT!

Thank you all and stay tuned for some delicious sweets.

Oh yes - and how could I forget - I'm doing a live cooking demo too - Can you guess what it is?

Sweeeetttt

So very thankful for such awesome opportunities that God has already planned out for my journey! I am so thrilled to announce that I will be joining the team of Sugar Loco 

 A website dedicated to everything sweet!

 

First off, any company that wants you to join their team of writers by asking you

 "What type of Dessert You'd Be?" - I'm definitely going to be a part of!

What dessert would I be? 

I’d be a slice of warm, freshly baked, red velvet cake drizzled with a homemade cream cheese icing paired with a scoop of my parents homemade sweet cream ice cream, along with, of course, a pipping hot cup of black coffee kissed with milk in my favorite photo mug of the kiddos.

For the rest of my author bio- check it out here

I will be focusing on the hottest Arizona sweets, taste-testing and writing reviews for all to enjoy!

How To Tuesday: Peel a Hard Boiled Egg

Today's post goes out to my amazingly supportive and inspiring brother. Today is his birthday and surprisingly last night he sent me an email and all it consisted of was a link and the words: "I HAVE NO EGGS ... YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS NOW !!"

Obviously intrigued I clicked the link to find this:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-peel-hard-boiled-egg-cool-way-0130102/

Yes - ridiculous right?!

So in the midst of the kids going crazy yesterday, my son teething and me thinking I'd get loads done during "nap time" only to realize the kids had a different plan in store for momma, I didn't get to try this as my brother so eagerly insisted I do.

BUT! - This morning, awe yes, This Morning! I tried the "cool-way" of peeling a hard boiled egg, and IT WORKS! It literally works.

I do have to add my two cents though about the "cool-way"

*Not necessarily sanitary if you are making egg salad sandwiches for guests, seeing as the only way it worked for me was when my lips were actually touching the egg.

*It worked for most of my eggs but not all. When I peeled them on previous occasions the "boring way" I found that the higher quality eggs peeled better than the store brand - so I would assume that if you want to be successful in every "cool way" of peeling you'd better buy the name brand eggs

*In the video he suggests putting salt in the water, which I forgot to do and was still successful - yet not with each one, so maybe if I had followed the directions properly I would have been successful with every egg.

*With the "cool" method shown in the video I DID however have smoothly peeled eggs for each of my eggs, even if they didn't "blow out" perfectly, so in that regards this method is a huge success seeing as how when I peel my store brand eggs I sometimes take a chunk of egg white out.

So here's my conclusion.

If you are a 23 year old bachelor, who is on the run, looking for a technique for shaving about 5 seconds off of the usual time of peeling and egg - THEN THIS METHOD IS FOR YOU!

THE COOL WAY!

Happy Birthday Little Bro!

**If you're looking to hard boil an egg - see my tutorial here

Thankful Thursday: Creative Minds

I am so very thankful for the amount of creative minds that I am continuously crossing paths with through book signings, speaking engagements and online - Pinterest especially. Like many of you, I've been addicted to Pinterest since the moment I got my private invitation to join the "club" of pinners. The amount of creative food bloggers that Pinterest has opened my eyes to is astounding and one of my favorites in particular is: The Baker Chick. I have been following The Baker Chick for quite a while now as I am continuously drooling over her mouth watering photography - oh and the amazing dishes she prepares as well!

One day on Pinterest I came across her Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and my mouth literally dropped. Cinnamon Roll Pancakes? YU-UM.



I was so excited to test out the recipe with my husband and his family and after doing so, we all asked ourselves if we'd ever go back to plain pancakes again? So delicious!



Mine were not ask picturesque as The Baker Chicks but they were absolutely amazing and I will definitely be making them again. Just looking at these pictures is making me salivate and crave them again. Maybe this will be my special treat for my cheat day this week!

Check out her blog and recipe for the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes here. 

*Next time I plan to make homemade pancakes like The Baker Chick, but when I made them the first time I used the pancake recipe on the Bisquick box. (I have a secret addiction to the taste of Bisquick) Also, rather than calling them Cinnamon "Roll" Pancakes I am just in love with the word "swirl" so have called mine Cinnamon Swirled Pancakes! 

ENJOY

Woo-Hoo Wednesday: Zero Calorie Chocolate?

As many of you know I have been on a mission to loose the baby weight and get back in to my just married, looking good jeans and am excited to tell you that I'm on my way. I've lost 18 lbs so far and couldn't be happier, but I have had a few down-falls along the way, with the added stress of uncontrollable events that have occurred recently. Along with the trials of life and well, quite frankly, just being a woman, I struggle with my cravings of - CHOCOLATE. Don't we all?

I'm getting back down to a comfortable spot where I'll be able to start including sweets here and there, (especially with a new exciting opportunity that has just blossomed - more info soon to come) But even as I continue down the path of creating a balanced lifestyle of nutritious and delicious meals I want to keep in mind simple treats that are not only satisfying but friendly to my calorie counts.

Last month I found myself in a real predicament at the grocery store. I was walking down the center of the store, with aisles on either side when I found myself stopped mid step. If I turned right, I would be venturing down the freezer section with cartons of creamy goodness whispering their names of English Toffee Temptation, Sea Salt Caramel Truffle,  & Black Raspberry Chocolate Chunk, all ready to snuggle ever so gingerly in the basket of my cart as I promised myself I'd save it for my once a week cheat day but then to my left was the health food aisle filled with veggie chips, lentil soup and all natural greek yogurt, which all very delicious - I've heard. 

Wanting to stick to my diet and focus on my true goal of weight loss I forced my cart down to the left, where I - no joke -  zeroed in on the slim and slender bottle of water that had the beautiful rich image of a chocolate bar printed ever so nicely on the label. Chocolate Mint Water. ZERO CALORIES. Ingredients: Purified Water, Mint, Chocolate Essence.



ZERO CALORIE CHOCOLATE. No artificial ingredients or promises of flavor. Real Chocolate. Real Mint and Yummy Water.

I am literally in heaven with this flavor by Metromint. (The others not so much). First I started drinking it just from the bottle cold. Then as a late night comfort I heated it in one of my favorite mugs and fell in love even more. But this, this is where I knew we'd be together forever - I started mixing a bit in with my coffee for a 5 calorie delicious Mocha cup of goodness, no added calories from the flavor!

Seriously - WOO-HOO! I'm one happy chocolate loving dieter!


**Disclaimer** - My husband tried this same drink and did not have the same response of love as I did. Apparently when I promised him chocolate water he was expecting Rich, Hot Cocoa, Similar to a Snicker Bar flavored water. Yeah, well, sorry sweetie - it's the hint of chocolate essence. And for goodness sake - a snicker bar flavored water will NEVER be zero calories. Sorry babe. :) 

How To Tuesday: Clean the Inside of Your Microwave

Happy Tuesday Everyone. As you can tell from the lack of How-To Tuesdays, Wahoo Wednesdays & Thankful Thursdays this little lady on the other side of these blogs has been a little disconnected from Honey Crust this past month. It honestly feels like longer, as I have been missing my moments each week with all of you, but here I am and will be having plenty of exciting news coming up. But for the moment, lets focus on our favorite How-To Tuesdays and dive right back in to the spin of things.

My brother has been visiting and helping out with the kids, which I appreciate more than he even knows but the true gem of his stay was when he decided to chime in and help out with my blog for today. Since I've been a bit out of touch with my blogging brain I was feeling a bit stumped with what to share with you all today, until I voiced it out loud -- "Hmm, what should my blog be about today" I mumbled under my breath, with the ultimate intention of having someone in the room acknowledge me. "What's your topic?" my husband asks. So I explain to him that today is a "How-To" for helpful tips in the kitchen. To my utter disbelief, my brother - bachelor pad, living the guys life, brother of mine says, "How about how you clean your microwave with just a bowl of water." 

What?

Just a bowl of water? And how does HE know this? 


Apparently after 6 years of living with my husband, priding myself on little "tricks of the trade" no body informed me of this little, lets just microwave a bowl of water and vwa-la - clean microwave! No. For years I have been using Windex or a scrub brush, dreading the dried splatters of spaghetti sauce and refried beans, scolding myself with remarks of "Why didn't you just wipe this up when it initially happened? Would have come right up THEN!"

So this blog is dedicated to all you out there that don't take that extra second to wipe up your splattered mess, don't have a splatter shield, or who have spent countless (dreaded) afternoons with your head arched inside this little microwave box.




Fill a microwave safe glass bowl or measuring glass with water. Mine was about a cup and a half to two cups. Microwave on high for 4-5 minutes. (if your microwave is a high powered one you may need less time). The water will essentially steam clean the inside of your microwave. Carefully remove glass dish and wipe clean with a cloth or paper towel. And that my friend is how you clean the inside of a microwave - you're welcome :)