So What!!!

It's time for the "So What?" link up and WOW! What a so what freakin' week it has been...

So, so what if...

1. My dog ate 2 plastic lizards, 2 pacifiers, 1 sippy cup, 2 shoes, and a bowl of cat food. Of course, he is innocent and didn't mean to...

1.5 Annnnd.... So what if sometimes he is also as ugly as hell....

2. My daily lunches this week consist of string cheese and iced mochas.

3. Acetone spilled on our brand, spanking new table and ruined it. Hey, we can learn how to stain furniture...

4. I start crying every time I think about Raymo going back to baby school (daycare) in the next couple of weeks.

5. My desk looks like it is in the middle of a tornado.

6. I am wearing a maternity shirt and my child is almost 2? I love it. 

7. I am a Netflixaholic. Every time I finish a series, I just have to start something new. I'm on New Girl right now and I. LOVE. IT.

What are you saying "so what" to?

Grand Prize Blueberry Muffins

Illinois State Fair, Grand Prize Muffins

Total Time: 30 minutes
Prep: 8-10 minutes
Bake: 18-22 minutes

These blueberry muffins are everything that a muffin should be: sweet, light, airy yet filling, and EASY to make! Growing up, my sisters and I were obsessed with entering baked goods (and crafts) into the State Fair. These muffins have always been an important part of my life (ha, true!) and they won several times at the state fair. They are so quick to make and I often throw together a batch at night for breakfast in the morning. (Note: I don't recommend doubling the recipe. For some reason, they don't turn out as well. I just make two batches if I need to!)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. sugar (plus a little bit extra for the top!)
2/3 c. milk
1 egg
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. blueberries

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. I know your supposed to probably combine the dry and wet ingredients separately, but I never have and they have never not turned out awesomely. So, that being said, MINUS the blueberries, throw everything into a mixing bowl and mix well. Fold blueberries into mixture. I like to use cupcake liners in a standard muffin pan but you can also grease a 12 ct muffin pan.

Sprinkle top of each muffin with sugar (approx. 1-2 tsp each)! This is what makes the top so tasty and gives a little, delightful crunch to the muffin. Trust me, they aren't the same with out the sugar top!

Bake 18-20 minutes. The time can depend on the size of your muffins so star at 18 min. and give more time if necessary. They will be a light golden brown when ready!

Follow my blog via Bloglovin, Google Followers, or by email for more of my State Fair-winning recipes!

How to Cut an Avocado

I always struggle with cutting avocados. I had learned to accept that I would lose half of every avocado I tried to slice until I saw this chef at Eatzi's cut one perfectly. He peeled the darn avocado! The avocado god cut about an inch down from the top of one half and then peeled off both sides. It was epic.

It's the simple things in life.

XOXO

Five on Friday!

My favorite five things from the week:

1. The fact that I got to pretend to be a stay at home mom today with my boo baby! Ray had meetings all day and we couldn't get a babysitter so Mommy to the rescue! Thanks boss for letting me have a pajama day with the kiddo...

2. Raymo slept all night three nights in a row! He has been going through this stage of not sleeping through the night so these full nights have been glorious....

3. My cat. Because she has been less obnoxious this week. ;)

4. Fall Out Boy's "Save Rock and Roll" ft. Elton John. It's all high school MK (I'm in the white socks...) meets Lion King.

5. Spending last weekend with two of my besties who were in town! Because hanging with them always includes good food, lots of shopping, and fun bars!

Have an AWESOME Friday! XOXO

How to Center Your Blogger Header

I ran into the problem today of centering the image for my header in Blogger since headers automatically go to the right. It's actually so easy! Here's what you need to do:

1. Click on Template:

2. Click on Customize and that will open your Blogger Template Designer:

3. Click on Advanced and scroll down until you see Add CSS:

4. Click on Add CSS:

5. To center your header using "Instead of Title and Description," copy and paste this code to your CSS:

 #header-inner img {
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
} 

OR

6. To center your header "Behind Title and Description," copy and paste this code to your CSS:

  #header-inner {
margin-left: auto;
margin-right:auto;
}

7.  You will see a preview and if you are happy with it, be sure to hit Apply to Blog!

Pretty easy!! :)

Crock-Pot Chicken Fajitas

Total Time: All day in the slow cooker
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 4ish hours on high, 7ish hours on low

Ingredients: 

4 lbs of chicken breast
2 packages taco seasoning
1 cup of water
1 Red onion
1 Red, yellow, orange, green bell peppers
Tortillas
Shredded Mexican cheese
Tomatoes
Avocado
Salsa
Sour Cream

Directions: 

Place raw chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Sprinkle taco seasoning on top of chicken and then add 1 cup of water. Slice onion and peppers and add to crock-pot.

 Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours. Serve on tortillas with all of your favorite sides!

Families that fajitagether, stay together.

So What! {I'm still a rockstar...}

I'm linking up with So What Wednesdays, because really: 1. So what if my family ate Chipotle three times this past week?! It's nutritious (no antibiotics, right?) and delicious. And makes for one, very happy Raymo.

1.5 Annnnd.... So what if he chewed on the germ-infested Tabasco bottle while I took a selfie...

2. So what if I change my nail color every two days because I am obsessed with not having chipped nails!

3. So what if I'm now a horse using Mane 'n Tail since my hair became super-de-dupertiy short this week!?

4. So what if I watched the whole second season of Revenge in five days? It was great. And educational. 

5. So what if I'm obsessed with Hump Day and camels?

6. So what if I keep committing to blogging and keep failing!? It'll happen. The commitment is starting again TODAY! Five posts by Sunday. There. No going back! ;) See ya'll soon! XOXO

Pizza in a Blanket

 4 Ingredients. 4 Minutes Prep.

Total Time: 14 minutes
Prep: 4 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes

Ingredients: 

Crescent Rolls
Pepperoni

Mozzarella String Cheese

Marinara Sauce

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll the tube of crescent rolls. I put 5-6 pepperonis on each roll in the center so that there would be room to roll. Put half a string cheese on top of the pepperoni. Roll up each crescent roll from width to point. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Dip in marinara.

Happiest Little Boy Ever. 

Mi Arizonian Casa

When we decided to move to Dallas from Phoenix, we had to leave our Arizonian casa! We lived there for only a little over a year, so I definitely can't wait until we own another home so I can actually decorate!

Family Room

Living Room

Kitchen




Raymo's Room 

Coffee Bar

Monkey Bathroom

Spicy and Sweet, Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Ray: "Best chicken of my eating-solids life." (Big Ray, not little Ray!)

 Total Time: 30 minutes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients: 

Chicken Breasts
Bacon
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Garlic powder
Brown Sugar

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, chili powder and garlic powder. I know, I know. Technically, you should measure these ingredients and mix in a bowl and then roll the chicken. But please, ain't nobody got time for that! I just shook some of each of the seasonings onto the chicken breasts, flipped them, and seasoned the other side. I rubbed the seasoning in so that it could really cook into the chicken. I like not measuring seasonings because it allows you to control how you personally want the flavors.

Next, wrap each breast with as much raw bacon as you want. I did 2-3 slices of bacon per chicken boob. Once wrapped, roll in brown sugar. When it bakes, the brown sugar will caramelize and will seal in all of the juicy, spicy goodness that your chicken has to offer your mouth.

I spread a little olive oil on a baking sheet and baked for 20-25 minutes.

Best chicken. Easiest chicken. 

Five on Friday!

My first link-up! Five on Friday. Fantastic.

1. My sweet friend, Ashley. She has been such a supportive friend to me and Ray during the last few hectic months and she is always there for us. I am so thankful for her friendship and love living near her!

2. Avocados. Nuff said.

3. Pretty Little Liars. I know. You can judge me. But I'm telling you, there is nothing better than to kick back with a glass of white zin and my four ladies...

4. These kids. What would a long day at work be without having these two waiting for me at the end?

5. Joe Pool Lake. We had the best time swimming and hanging with friends at the lake in Grand Prairie. It was a wonderful way to kick off a new week (minus the truck not starting when it was time to go, having to get it towed, and then the mechanic bill...)!