Sunday Fun Day ~ A Twilight Collaboration

I can't remember the last time I had so much fun in a creative collaboration. Brandi and I put together a Halloween party every year and it is always a lot of fun, but this year was a little more special because she has started designing party printables for her new business, Tweedle Dee Designs. We did a photo shoot on Sunday that she will be showcasing on her blog soon. I just love the Black, Red, Silver, and White color scheme in her Twilight inspired theme. Part of what made this more fun was because it was a bit more of a challenge to coordinate because everything on the market for Halloween seems to be green, purple, orange and black and Brandi always like to have a bit of a surprise for her readers. She came up with a fabulous interpretation for the printables that will be going up for sale in her etsy shop this week and I am chomping at the bit to see the edited photos on her blog. I did ask if it was okay to share a sneak peek of part of my contribution. I hope you enjoy it. I prepared a combination of "from scratch" and "boxed" recipes for the photo shoot.

Russian Cream

Vampire Fudge w/Walnuts

Brownie Bites

Mini Cherry Cheesecake Bites

Plasma (Jello) Shots

You can tell I took the last two shots because Brandi is a much better photographer :-). And, my one regret, UGH! I made the cheesecake with graham cracker crust instead of Oreo....She told me so! If I were her, I'd either redo them or leave them out of the showcase. They were delicious though! Live and Learn and I can't wait to showcase a wide shot of the dessert and drink tables. Fun, fun, fun.

Small Plates at CPK

I absolutely love that restaurants have finally gotten the message and started offering "Small Plates" of delicious food. California Pizza Kitchen has several delicious additions to their menu and they looked so good that I couldn't choose just one.

CPK ~ Arugula with Asparagus Mini Salad

CPK ~ White Corn Guacamole w/Blue and White Corn Chips

These two plates were absolutely delicious. At first, I thought the guacamole was going to be wayyy too spicy, but I must have taken a bite right out of a jalapeño pepper. The rest of it was fabulous and I definitely recommend both these dishes.

Parti Puppers Love Mini Treats Too!

These two babies came home with us from Temecula Wine Country on May 1st. Determined to ensure their good health we make sure to feed them a good diet. Our good friend Ceyln who raises show Cockers  introduced us to Dick Patten's Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Dog Foods and Treats. They are grain free and free of typical allergens, and they love them. I like to get them the mini bones, because as you know, portion control will help keep them healthy and fit.

Minnie Mouse ~ Our Watchful Princess

Minnie Mouse is our sweet little nine and a half month old chocolate and white parti cocker spaniel. Her mom is a therapy dog for a darling little girl with Down Syndrome who loves all things Disney. When Minnie was born, she had a perfect little Minnie Mouse marking on her hind quarter....so of course, Minnie Mouse was the perfect name for her.

Michael ~ Our Sleepy Little Clown

Michael is our silly cuddle bunny. He's our 10 month old red and white parti spaniel and was an only pup born last Thanksgiving Day. We call him Michael B after Michael Buble, just cause it sounds cute. Sometimes he thinks his name is Michael NO!, cause he is a busy little guy and is often discovered chewing on magazines, furniture, shoes, Minnie's ears, etc. :-)

Natural Balance Mini Sweet Potato and Bison Dog Treats

Don't the tiny bones look pretty in their little Pasha dish from Pottery Barn? Originally it held my business cards but I thought this is a much cuter and more practical use for it.

Two Bite Tuesday ~ A little service please :-)

First Bite ~ Always on the hunt for something fun and different to serve a little something, something in, I found these adorable little servers over at The Kitchen Store at Chandler Fashion Center. Often you'll see a creme brulee served in a larger version of this little dish, but I have a different vision for it.

This little potato is just about an inch and a half long, filled with a dot of creamy butter, a bit of fresh sour cream and topped off with some just snipped chives. Wish I had some caviar cause oh how delish that would be too.

Tiny Baked Potato Appetizer

I'm planning on using them to serve mini-pumpkin bread cubes also. I'll just add a swirl of fresh whipped cream and sprinkle it with some nutmeg and it will make a fabulous little dessert bite, don't you think?

Second Bite ~ I found these gorgeous red votive holders over at Micheal's and couldn't help but think they will be perfect for serving my White Russian Cream this weekend. Just lovely.

Perfect to serve an elegant white chocolate mousse

Rich colors make me feel so happy! They make me feel like dancing, gonna dance the night away...wait it's only Tuesday. Ciao!

ps. Yeah! I found my camera charger...sorry it didn't come back with any more photographic talent. I'm working on it though.

Unpredictable Mondays ~ And a side of mini meatballs

Are there days in your week that are just unpredictable? For me, they are Mondays, and sometimes I let it drive me crazy. I'm working on it though :-). If you've followed me at In Her Peace on Facebook or on Janet's Journal, you'll read that routine and order are like my life blood. I need them to survive. So when stuff gets unpredictable, I get a little crazy. As a life coach, I have to work through those things that drive me crazy, so I'm doing that. The thing about Mondays is that I never know when hubs is coming home, and I never know if I'll be running late with clients so it's hard to plan dinner. Know what I mean? In attempt to work it out, I thought we might make Monday nights, dinner out nights and I wouldn't worry about it.

However, I found that I have a few requirements surrounding Monday nights. The first is that I don't like going out on Monday nights. I just want to be home, relaxing, with a quiet dinner. Secondly, I want it to be beautiful, like you would get in a high end restaurant. I love beautifully presented food....and it's really not that hard to do. And third, I only want to spend about 20 minutes preparing it. Ree, the ultra amazing Pioneer Woman posted this wow pic and recipe for Mini Meatball Sandwiches that take 16 minutes to prepare. Aren't they just beautiful?

Amazing image courtesy of Pioneer Woman

 I actually used meatballs that I had frozen earlier, and made garlic toasts from baguettes. Rounding off this quick little meal was a fresh green salad and a bottle of Acacia Pinot Noir. I love it when Monday night madness ends up feeling like I'm on vacation without a care in the world. (Wish I could find my camera battery charger :-(

Fruit Filled Love Songs ~ Mini Blueberry Pancake Muffins

Apples, Pumpkins, Strawberries, Bananas, Watermelon, Blueberries...I am a fruit lover. I don't think I've ever met a fruit I didn't absolutely adore. So, when I saw Bakerella's recipe for sweet, precious Mini Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins, I couldn't resist changing it up and replacing the chocolate with blueberries. Not that I'm not absolutely gaga for chocolate, it's just not my thing for breakfast. Thanks for the dose of inspiration! Here's how mine came out. (I'm not quite the photographic artist she is though).

Mini Blueberry Pancake Muffins

They were light and fluffy, but they could have used some more blueberries. Next time I think I might try them with banana bits. They really made a cute breakfast appetizer while I was preparing the rest of the meal.

Perfect little breakfast appetizer

 And oh oh oh I almost forgot. I made them in my new babycakes mini cupcake maker in just 5 minutes. Remember, I found that over at The Daily Grommet. I love it!

Check out my babycakes. Super simple and no mess!

Seriously though, since this little work horse arrived at my front door last week, I've made mini carrot cake cupcakes, mini corn muffins, mini apple muffins and these purty little pancake muffins. Stay tuned for what I have planned for our Halloween treats. {Hint: Love Bites!} Can't wait. Ciao!

Traditions ~ Oak Creek Sedona Apple Harvest

Ahhhh, memories. Isn't this just the sweetest little girl? Brandi's 28 now and I was just going through some old photographs when I came across these adorable shots. They were taken on one our annual trips up to Sedona and Oak Creek during apple season. While it sometimes breaks my heart that she's all grown up now, I love that the memories we created while she was growing up mean so much to her now that she drags her boyfriend, Sean up there every season :-) She may have some pictures over at Tweedle Dee Designs of her trip last weekend.

Brandi taking a break to enjoy the harvest

Hamming it up for the camera :-)

Rick is out at a movie with his son, Chris, so I think that with all this apple inspiration, I'm going to run in the kitchen and whip up some mini apple pies for dinner. May even get ambitious and bake some mini apple muffins for breakfast tomorrow morning. It just feels like that kind of day. Ciao!

ps. Don't forget to hop over to Brandi's blog and enter for a chance to win that adorable Pottery Barn Lunch Kit!

Nostalgia made me do it! ~ Mini Banana Pudding

Ugh! I can not find the battery charger for my camera :-(.  Remember when we used to use film and AA batteries?

Anyway, I wanted to share a yummy, yummy old-fashioned dessert. It's so cute and I'm going to eat it up before I can get my hands on another battery charger. But, geez, I can't leave you just hanging out there , so here's a pic of a similar one created by the hip hostess. Mine is a little different in that mine is a mini version and I used whipped cream instead of making a meringue.

Image courtesy of Hip Hostess

Oh, you want to know why I decided to make Banana Pudding? Well, I was feeling a little nostalgic today. Mom used to make a layered banana pudding for dessert on rare occasions, and it was one of my favorites. I remember my sister, brother and myself sitting around the table grinning from ear to ear as we enjoyed our creamy delicious treats. Don't you just want to taste it now? What was your favorite dessert growing up?

And on a side note: I wanted to try out my new handy dandy Williams Sonoma Banana Slicer!

Image courtesy of William Sonoma (cause I lost my camera battery charger)

 Works great! A couple of pointers though: Use firm bananas and squeeze hard and fast or you might end up with mashed bananas instead of perfect slices! Hmmmm, I don't know how to say that any better :-/ Ciao!

Join Me for Lunch? ~ Last night's dinner is today's lunch

Sometimes I get so busy working on a project that before I know it, it is afternoon and my tummy is talking to me. Warmed up leftovers are usually the quickest way to get a relatively nutritious mean into myself so that I can get on with my project.

Last night I made pork tenderloin medallions with carmelized onions and garlic. Baby potatoes and broccoli (my fav. veggie) along with a simple tossed green salad. Yum. Dessert was a...well, I don't know what to call it, what do you think; (Raspberry on Clouds, Raspberry Angel)? It is cubed angelfood cake, fresh raspberries, a raspberry syrup, and whipped cream served in a condiment cup :-). Hmmm, I'll have to think about that.

Lunch for one :-) ~Pork Medallions~Teeny Baby Potatoes~Broccoli~Raspberry Something

I'm thinking those baby potatoes would be super cute mini baked potatoes with sour cream and teeny chives. I have also made little caviar appetizers with them. Ohhh the possibilities.

Two Bite Tuesday ~ Mixing it Up and Scooping in Out

I used to have a great set of mixing bowls and I don't know what happened to them. I have a sneaky suspicion that I left them at one of my aunt's homes when we were doing our annual Christmas Tamale Making Festival. (Stay tuned for that one in December) Anyway, I've been without real stainless steel mixing bowls for about a decade now. It hasn't really bothered me since I went through a period of time when I was just too busy to be doing much of anything in the kitchen. (I went back to school, FULL TIME to finally get my Bachelor's degree. ~ ASU! ASU! Go Sun Devils). Anyway, lately I've found myself thinking, "Gee, I need to get some mixing bowls."

Sometimes we have to be careful what we put out there in the Universe, 'cause we're sure to get it, however, in this case, I'm thrilled. My cousin, LeiLani (we grew up together) who just became a Pampered Chef consultant sent me her catalog. Woo Hoo, as I flipped through the pages, there they were. Three gleaming bowls calling out my name; "Janet...Janet."

First Bite - Pampered Chef Stainless Mixing Bowls

I couldn't stop there. In one of our conversations, I was telling LeiLani about my little babycakes mini cupcake maker and how I was making a bit of a mess as I poured the batter into the little cups (BTW, it cleans up like a dream). She said, "Oh, well you've got to have our cupcake scooper. It is the perfect amount for a cupcake."

"But I'm making mini cupcakes." I whined.

"Ah, well then, you need the medium one too." She answered.

So, why stop there, I bought the set of three. One, two and three tablespoons. I think the little tiny one will make adorable teeny tiny ice cream scoops, don't you?

Second Bite - Pampered Chef Stainless Steel Scoops

LeiLani is going to be a very successful Pampered Chef consultant. She's an amazing hostess and I am trying to talk her into creating a blog of her own so she can share all of her incredible ideas. I am so excited to be able to share our love of entertaining and making things beautiful and delicious.

Monday Minis - Pequeño Jalepeño Corn Bread Muffins

Okay, so I couldn't resist trying a little Spanish there. For those of you who know French instead of Spanish, Pequeño means small :-). That's my back to school lesson from the Desert Southwest....and here are my adorable little muffins that I will serve with my favorite Anazasi Bean Soup. Pinto beans were my mom's soup bean of choice when I was growing up, but I discovered these little jewels on our vacation last year in Colorado. They don't take as long to cook and have a slightly sweeter flavor. They are delicious, nutritious, and perfect for a busy Monday.

Pequeño Jalepeño Corn Bread Muffins

Beautiful Anazasi Beans from Colorado

In less that 5 minutes these sweet little morsels were ready to enjoy. I made using my new handy dandy babycakes mini cupcake maker that I found through The Daily Grommet last week. I can smell the beans simmering away in the crock pot. A nice chopped green salad chock full of fresh crunchy vegetables will compliment this super easy meal just perfectly.

Back to School with Bento ~ And our first giveaway

I have a new grand baby arriving any day now so I was inspired to browse through Pottery Barn Kids last week. This adorable little lunch box also caught my eye because I've got Brandi's Tweedle Dee Designs Neapolitan Collection with it's delicious chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry colors on my mind. It was so cute and I thought that Brandi and I could coordinate a cute little giveaway for one of her delightful readers. I ran it by her and she agreed to sponsor it...Thanks sweetie!
 

Pottery Barn for Kids Lunch Bag

Wow! It has been awhile, close to two decades since I had the pleasure of packing a lunch for Brandi to take to school. Creating a fun, interesting and healthy variety of foods was always fun. And I loved hearing about how she enjoyed eating her lunch. Nowadays with all the advertising for quick meals, our children are being programmed into thinking that processed, pre-packaged foods are the fun and healthy choices. Most of us are also over scheduled and don't think we have time to prepare fun and healthy foods. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As I've done my research on healthy food choices for kids, I discovered Bento, the Japanese art of preparing and packaging lunch boxes. Many of you, or perhaps most of you have heard of these precious art, I, however, had not and I am thrilled to see it come to the United States. Of course, while the Japanese use their own choices of foods, Americans can embrace the concept of honoring their children's good health and eating habits and adapt the art to fit their children's own unique tastes. Just look at how beautiful some of these meals are. I am giddy thinking about how much the children enjoy them. I can imagine their little fingers grasping a puppy dog sandwich or a flower carrot.

Photos courtesy of O Bento for Lunch

 
This is my first giveaway, so let me know what you think. I am passionate about family health and I love to do things that support mom's efforts to take care of herself and her family. I hope you enjoy my little blog. It is a work in progress and may go through a few evolutions before the dust finally settles and it feels more cohesive. Please feel free to let me know which posts you enjoy by leaving comments. Your feedback is important to me and I love getting to know new friends. Have a great day!

A Little Something Sweet ~ Mini Strawberry Shortcake

Happy Weekend!

Seriously, when they're this size, don't we just get one for the whole table? :-)

P.F. Changs "The minis"

I don't know about you, but I always start with the lettuce wraps. Then I'm on to the mooshu pork, and finally, I always leave enough room to try a couple of these delightful little desserts. When they're this size, why would you pass it up?

Sweet Inspiration

Inspiration really is all around us, isn't it? Even in what most women consider the mundane task of dusting furniture. This adorable snapshot of Brandi was taken over 24 years ago in our backyard as she hosted a tea party for her stuffed teddy bear. Her Aunt Jan had given her a delightful china tea set and she loved it. I've dusted this antique lawyer's bookcase along with all its treasures every week for the past 10 years, and today, this picture seemed to take me back in time. I remembered the little tea sandwiches Brandi and I used to make together. We used our different shaped cookie cutters and would decide on whether we wanted "sweet or savory" today. That usually meant peanut butter or cream cheese and jelly, or turkey and cheese :-).

Brandi hosting a tea party for Mr. Bear

 

Not much has changed in two decades and little girls still love tea parties. I just came across this adorable little birthday tea party that Marsha DeConstanzo hosted for her little girl Frannie, back in March. As sweet as it is, I'm sure it was featured all over the web, but I couldn't help but post it again. Brandi and I used to make these sweet little sandwiches all the time. You don't have to wait for a party to make them cause they are the perfect after school snack when the kiddies come home famished after a long day. I love the marbled rye, sweet raisin bread and flower cutouts. Nostalgically sweet, yes?

 Image courtesy of Cute Stuff Inside

Is it any wonder she'd be designing tutus and beautiful printables for little girls parties?

Smoothie Sailing

Maintaining good health in our busy lives can sometimes be quite challenging, and we've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gets your metabolism going, and for adults and children alike, it helps our brains function as a more optimum level throughout the day. I'm always looking for ways to build those all important self-care activities into my daily routine and what better place to start that at the beginning of the day with breakfast.

At the beginning of the summer I made a list of 20 things I'd like to accomplish during the course of our triple digit weather. Learning to make really good tasting protein smoothies was one of my goals. For some reason, I was under the impression that there was some health and wellness guru secret to make delicious smoothies. I also thought that it looked like a long, complicated and messy process. I couldn't have been more wrong. It takes me about 5 minutes to make them each morning for Rick and I and we love them. The only hard and fast rule I have to making my smoothies is that I add protein powder, flax meal and a banana to them every day. Because Rick doesn't like spinach, I only add that to the mixed berry or cherry smoothies, cause you can't tell it's in there "Shhh."

Peach~Banana~Citrus Smoothie

 Triple Berry Banana Blast

Cherry~Banana~Vanilla

I use a super simple and flexible recipe for my smoothies. 

I just put a quartered banana in the blender,

Add 3 scoops of protein powder

2 tablespoons of flax meal. 

1 cup of frozen fruit, 

Splash of a favorite juice to desired consistency.

Sometimes a tablespoon of orange juice concentrate or a shot of Monavie and blend till smooth. I sometimes add some cold filtered water to get it to the consistency we like...and ou la...so so good smoothies.This recipe makes about two glasses and provides more than half of your fruit servings for the day. It also provides about 15 percent of your daily protein, all of your omega 3 requirements, and a good amount of other vital nutrients. 


Making smoothies in the morning is such an easy and delicious way to begin my day off knowing I've got a really good nutritional start. The kids will love them too!

Two Bite Tuesday - Mini Fun Finds

First Bite - I am a huge believer in having the right tools for the job and when I came across this little duo New at William Sonoma, I knew I wanted it in my kitchen. For perfectly sliced strawberries every time almost effortlessly. Just drop your juicy little (or big) strawberry in, squeeze the handle, and ou la, you have uniformly slices to garnish your latest decadent dessert. Or you can throw them in the bottom of a beautiful glass of strawberry lemonade. Yum! That's what I did!

William Sonoma Strawberry Sliceter and Huller

Second Bite - Just so you don't think I'm all about the kitchen, I found a little bling this morning while I was out at the mall. I just love it when I find a little something fun and different to wear to dress up my jeans a bit so I was thrilled when I spotted this lovely little leather bronze buckle bracelet at J. Crew. It's got just enough shimmer for me. It comes in black and silver too! Sweet isn't it?

J. Crew Bronze Buckle Bracelet

Hope you enjoy my little fun finds this week. At $22.00, they make the perfect little stocking stuffers and it sure isn't too early to get started :-) Ciao!

Happy Labor Day!

Quick Labor Day Flan

Sometimes the best made plans just don't pan out and you have to make the best of it. Sometimes that best comes to find you and this is what happened for us this Labor Day. I had planned on having the kids, mom and dad, and my brother over for a Labor Day Barbecue, (see Friday's inspiration) and for some reason or another, everyone made other plans and Rick and I found ourselves unexpectedly free. About 10am, my mom calls and asks if we'd like to come over for homemade enchiladas? Uh no? But, of course, who would be crazy enough to turn down my mom's enchiladas, heck, my mom's anything? I asked her what I could bring, and of course, she said, "Just yourselves and your appetites."

Not one to arrive for dinner empty handed, I scoured the cabinets for ingredients, and found that I had one lone box of Royal Flan. Well, mom makes just about everything from scratch, so I was a little reluctant to show up with box made flan, so I looked at the box and saw that you could make it richer by reducing the milk and adding a couple of eggs...and ou la, it worked, rich, yummy flan.

Of course, the real test of success is if mom decides to keep the left overs or not. When dinner and dessert were over, I heard her calling me from the kitchen, "I washed your flan dishes. (tiny ramekins)" All eight were there, empty and clean. Hum, what happened to the other three? I'm smiling here. She emptied them into one of her dishes and put in the refrigerator for later :-). Success.

Sweet Surprises

Coconut~Lemon~Vanilla Oh My! The Coffee Shop

Early Saturday afternoon Brandi and Sean stopped by to share this sweet surprise with Rick and I. They had been running Tweedle Dee Designs errands throughout the morning and popped into The Coffee Shop in Gilbert and thought they would surprise us. That's my girl and don't they look just so gorgeous. I love how the photo picks up the glitter on the pink cupcake. Oh yes, I almost forgot. They were the most delicious cupcakes. The icing was light and creamy, and not too sweet. And the cake, airy and moist. Love how simply elegant they are too. I'm already thinking about who I can cajole into coffee and cupcakes this week! Any takers? :-)

Healthy Bites ~ Wagons Ho!

Image courtesy of Taste of Home

Okay, so what kid wouldn't delight at eating veggies off of this adorable cart? Taste of Home used celery, carrots, broccoli and purple cauliflower, but you could use any of your favorites. I love the little cucumber wagon wheels they held together with wooden skewers. You could change it up with zucchini too. How cute is that?

Happy Weekend!

I am so excited for this Labor Day Weekend! Between re-building my own business, helping Brandi with Tweedle Dee Designs, raising our two new cocker spaniel puppies, and taking care of some long over due household chores, I am ready for a break! So I just took a few minutes to browse the web and my own photo collection to give me a little inspiration for our Labor Day Menu! Here's what it looks like, and my mouth is already watering!

Labor Day Inspiration Menu

So we're starting out with this lovely Rosie the Riveter poster, cause we all know that women still do the majority of work in the world. (No, I'm not a man basher, just stating facts). We're going to start out with Pulled Pork Sliders. These look delicious topped southern style with coleslaw. Then, Coleslaw, Baked Beans, and Macaroni Salad are going to compliment our entree and we're going to finish it off with some homemade Mini Apple Pie, Mini Fresh Fruit Tarts, and Brandi's Tweedle Dee Designs inspired Mini Cupcakes. Yikes! I forgot the mini veggie cups! Oh well, I'll post the pic next week :-) 

Images Courtesy of
Mini Apple Pies - darlini.blogspot.com
Pulled Pork Sliders - Amybart.wordpress.com
Coleslaw - formerfatguy.com
Macaroni Salad - McCormick.com
Baked Beans - rockymountainlodge.com
Cupcakes - tweedleddesigns.blogspot.com

That's it for now. Have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend!

Spider Eggs!

Image by Janet Ellis

Children are just getting back to school and Labor Day is just around the corner, so it seems a little early to be thinking about Halloween already. However, it appears that designers of all kinds are offering previews of their lines, and grocery and discount stores are stocking their shelves. As I was perusing Face Book this morning, I see that even my daughter, Brandi of Tweedle Dee Designs has given her readers a sneak preview of her upcoming Halloween party printables. She also called me to let me know that she has scheduled a date for her themed photo shoot and wanted to run the menu by me. Of course, that prompted me to pull up pictures of last year's Halloween party, and I found these scary little creatures lurking among them. They're on the menu again, so I thought I'd share them with you.

You might be thinking that there isn't anything skinny about mayonnaise laden deviled eggs, however, our new version will be small eggs (instead of large) and try an olive oil mayo. I'll let you know how it turns out.

OMG ~ Mini Waffles

I took one look at these, and like Pavlov's dogs my mouth began to water. I love waffles but because of the carbs I tend to stay away from them. However, every once in a while you come across something that makes a not so healthy food, a bit more healthy. Casey over at Insatiably Healthy introduced this beautiful and healthy version of the traditional butter, maple syrup and whipped cream laden fat pill. Instead she used Greek yogurt and heated frozen mixed berries. Are you drooling yet?

365 Vanilla Waffles