Swim Party

How amazing are those cups of "dirt" with the flowers? They are really cups of cake, chocolate ice cream, and crushed up Oreos. Bam. They were a perfect treat on a hot day.

And Adrienne and her little buddy? I just straight up passed out from the cuteness.

Thanksgiving

This past Thanksgiving was lovely as ever. We spent it with my dad, in my hometown. Adrienne absolutely loves it there. What kid wouldn't? She can get away with eating ice cream at eleven o'clock at night, popcorn for breakfast, rides four-wheelers and gets to drive combine harvesters, picks fresh pears and pecans 'til the cows come home, gets horse-riding lessons from her cousin, receives whatever toy her little heart desires, and gets all the attention she craves. Phew. Now Mommy, on the other hand, gets to have a spoiled child who won't listen for ish when we get back home. Trying to get her in a routine again? That takes weeks. I mean, who could blame her? I wouldn't want to come home to the real world either.

Here are some snippets of our trip. The photos are mostly of food and my adorable tiny sized human. Natch.

We had a wonderful time visiting with family. I hate living so far away from them. Meh. Adrienne wore a Gap Kids dress and an Old Navy yellow cardigan. Her black glitter shoes are Faded Glory and her black sweater is from The Children's Place. She also wore Old Navy jeans and boots. Her Huffy 12-Inch Girls Disney Princess Bike (Shimmer Pink/Glitter Pink) was a surprise from her Pappy.

Cajun Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

This Halloween was the first one that we've actually carved a pumpkin as a fam. I drew the face on, William did the knife work. We even got Adrienne to stick her pudgy hands in the "punkin patch" to pull out some seeds. She quickly lost interest (natch), and I had to finish her job. 

We did our carving with our friends, and I demanded that we all save our seeds. I've always loved snacking on pumpkin seeds, and now I was finally going to make my own. I stood in the kitchen for at least an hour and a half cleaning the seeds. I made sure to get all the pumpkin pulp out, but found out later that wasn't necessary.  It's okay, though. It was therapeutic cleaning those seeds. Like I was living the farm life and hulling purple hull peas for supper. Okay, not quite. But you get the picture.

The seeds came out super yummy. I got them a little too toasted, but let's be serious now. I'll more than likely eat all of them myself anyways.

Cajun Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

|| ingredients ||

1 cup Pumpkin Seeds (I had four cups so I just quadrupled this recipe)

1 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning

1 teaspoon Rib Rub (optional)

1/4 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

2 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon Dale's 

1 tablespoon melted Butter

- Get as much pumpkin pulp out from the seeds and then rinse well. Put pumpkin seeds in a bowl.

- Combine the Cajun seasoning, rib rub, paprika, and garlic powder in a bowl. Mix together.

- Melt the butter. Add the Worcestershire Sauce and the Dale's into the butter. Stir. Pour over seeds and stir.

- Pour mixed seasonings over seeds. Stir. Pour seeds onto a baking sheet and place in an oven at 300 degrees for about an hour. Turn seeds every ten minutes or so. And make sure to watch them. I toasted mine a little too much...

Check out my newest giveaway going on right now to win a chunky scarf from Head Candy. Go HERE to enter. It ends Monday, October 29, 2012. Good luck!!

And also, Studio 5790 is still offering all Coffee and Cashmere readers a 20% discount off of total orders! Use the code: COFFEEANDCASHMERE12 at checkout. The offer is good until October 31st, 2012, at midnight (central). This offer is good for international orders as well!

If you like my blog, help a homie out and vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking the picture below. Just one click. It will take you to the Top Mommy Blogs website, but you voted for me by just clicking that happy cartoon lady below! YOU CAN VOTE DAILY!! Thank you guys!!

Nature Box Giveaway

A new week and a brand spanking new giveaway. Oh yea, guess what? My baby blog's first birthday is on Friday! Can you believe that? A whole year! Any reason to eat cake and ice cream is fine by me. Let's party all this week month, k? K.

Anygrowingupisforthebirds, an up and coming company called NatureBox wants you readers to get in the know about their healthy snacks. They offer a monthly service that delivers healthier alternatives to most of the junk food sitting in your cabinets. Like those cheesy poofs. Once you become a member of NatureBox, you receive a package of yummy snacks that differ month to month.

And also, for each NatureBox that the company sends out each month, they donate one meal to help feed hungry children in America. How cool is that? Cool as a cucumber, cool.

NatureBox sent us a package of noms to try out. The contents were super tasty. The Pistachio Power Clusters will always have a place in my heart. Err. Tummy. Either/or.

NatureBox is teaming up with Coffee and Cashmere to give my readers a chance to win a box of healthy snacks. Just log into the Rafflecopter below (or make a new Rafflecopter account), and follow the directions for each entry. Please make sure to actually do what's required for each entry. If you just click enter and not do what it's asking, I'll know. If you are unsure how to do one, skip it and contact me. DON'T CHEAT. THIS CONTEST IS ONLY OPEN TO US RESIDENTS. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway ends Monday, October 15th, 2o12. One winner will receive a different NatureBox than the one I reviewed.

A big thanks to NatureBox for creating such an awesome company. Eat healthy, my little readers. That body is the only body you have.

Bacon Cups FTW

Is it already Friday? What the what? Where did this past week go? I don't know either. I'm about to get some shopping done with my tiny partner in crime. I get to go baby browsing for one of my good frand's baby shower on Sunday! Oh. All the itty bitty sized clothing! I love picking out baby gifts. It brings me back to the months before Adrienne was born. Hold on. Let me check my temp...

Okay, I don't have baby fever. No signs of it as of yet. Phew. 

Switching gears to something that I am craving again, bacon cups. These things are pretty much a party in your mouth parts. Straight legit. They're the perfect go to breakfast dish for company. They're easy to whip up, but look like you slaved for a while making these fancy bacon delicacies. Win/win

Bacon and Egg Cups
|| ingredients ||

1 slice of Bread (per muffin cup)
2 slices of Bacon (per muffin cup)
1 Egg (per muffin cup)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a muffin tin.

- Use a biscuit/cookie cutter to cut circles out of each piece of bread. Place bread circles into bottom of each muffin cup. Put those in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. You want the bread to be toasty. Remove from the oven.

- Cook bacon in a skillet until halfway cooked. Place 2 slices of bacon in each cup, as the bacon should be the walls. I, on the other hand, only used one piece of bacon per cup. I was running low on the stuff.

- I scrambled up an egg for each cup, and then poured it over the bread in the cups. You could also just crack the eggs straight into each muffin cup, too.

- Sprinkle tops with cheese, salt, and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the eggs are set. Remove with forks and serve! 

Shout out to the Pampered Chef for always helping me in my kitchen. I used their Muffin Stoneware Pan and their Biscuit Cutters.

I also have a gorgeous necklace up for grabs! Go here to enter for your chance to win some neck candy from Cristal Jewels.

If you like my blog, help a homie out and vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking the picture below. Just one click. It will take you to the Top Mommy Blogs website, but you voted for me by just clicking that happy cartoon lady below! YOU CAN VOTE DAILY!! Thank you guys!!