Peach Cream Pie

So I can't really remember what the name of this pie is but I think that is a good description. :)  One of my roommates in college made this pie for us when we had a dinner and I think I invited over a boy I liked...well needless to stay he didn't stick around long but this pie recipe did!  I love it!

1 can peach pie filling
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cold, mashable butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
8 oz soft, room temp. cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. cool whip

Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Stir in cool whip.  Put in fridge and let firm.  Mash flour and butter together.  Mix in pecans.  Press into pie pan, it will be a thin layer.  Bake @ 350 for 25 minutes.  Let cool completely, add cream cheese mixture then peach topping.

Apple Farmer Annie

These recipes came from a cute book we got from the library and I wanted to save them for future reference!

Apple Muffins
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 egg
1 c. milk
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
1 1/2 cups. peeled, chopped apples

Topping: 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon

Cream together sugar and butter.  Add egg and beat well.  Stir in milk.  In another bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, and spices.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture and blend until just moistened. (batter will be lumpy).  Add apples to batter and blend carefully.  Fill well greased muffin tin.  Sprinkle with topping.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Makes 1 dozen.

Applesauce Cake
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. each nutmeg and allspice (optional)
1 c. applesauce
2/3 c. raisins....maybe apple chunks? (I hate raisins!)

Cream together butter and sugar in large bowl.  Add eggs and beat well.  In separate bowl sift flour, soda, salt and spices.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with applesauce, beating after each addition and bledning well.  Stir in raisins.  Pour batter in 9 inch greased tube pan (bundt?) 375 for 45 minutes or until browned (toothpick comes out clean).  Cool then spread with frosting.

Butter Frosting
2 TBLS softened butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3. TBLS milk

Photo 101

This month I have been taking Photo 101 from Nicoles Classes...I have wanted to take this class for a few years and finally had a camera to use and money saved up for this class!

I have loved it and loved learning things about how to take better pictures!  Like the above is one of my favorite pictures I've taken the whole class.  In the bottom picture the camera chose the white balance, and the other I changed the white balance to warm up the picture.  Isn't it awesome how many things there are to learn about how to make a beautiful image?  I love it!
Nicoles Classes doesn't just teach photography, they also have classes on floral arranging (on my list for sure!), how to use photoshop, illustrator, and design.  Go check them out!

10 Seconds of Volume

I am a BzzAgent and periodically I get to review new products and give my opinion about them!  I was pretty excited when I got to try göt2b POWDER’ful Volumizing styling powder.  My hair is always so flat and I am always looking for ways to add volume to it! 
I had never used a powder anything for my hair, so it was a little weird at first.  You can shake it directly onto the roots of your hair, or shake it in your hand first.  Then rub your hands together--the powder disappears but you can feel it on your hands and then you apply it in your hair.  I tried it both ways, I preferred using it in my hands instead of just shaking powder in my hair.

 Here is what it looks like in the package.

I really wanted to love this product, however, I was pretty disappointed in this product for a few different reasons. 

1. it smells awful, enough that I felt like I wanted to put in more product just to get my hair to smell good!  I really like my hair to smell nice.

2. It made my head itchy and left weird residue that was hard to get out with one washing.

3. worst of all, in my opinion...it didn't even work for me!  The little catch phrase for this product is "10 seconds 2 volume!"  But for me, it was more like "10 seconds of volume."  I felt like any volume I had in my hair was just from using my fingers to tease the product into my hair and that it really didn't do anything.  Not long afterward my hair would be lying flat and un-volumized (I don't think that's even a word!) just as it was before putting any product in. 

I had been excited to post before and after photos of my hair using this, but it doesn't even deserve that. So it comes in this really small bottle, and maybe if you just needed a quick little hair pick me up during the day it is easy to slip into your purse or whatever, give a quick little shake and run those fingers through your hair...or you just use your fingers and probably be just as good.  Maybe my hair is too long and fine?  I think maybe someone with maybe a different type of hair or a different haircut from what I have, it might work wonders!  But for me, I will not unfortunately not be purchasing this product! 

Sensitive Skin

Because I am a BzzAgent, I got to try out a couple of new products from Burt Bees!
The first product was the Sensitive Skin Cleanser.
The first thing I noticed about this cleanser is that it did not feel like a cleanser at all--there is no soap in it and it doesn't bubble up like you expect a cleanser to do. It felt like I was rubbing a cream on my face, which wasn't bad. It was just different. I kind of liked it! I even have a friend who is allergic to sodium laurel sulfate, which is what causes the bubbles in a lot of cleansing products, so it would be a great product for her!
I loved knowing that what I was putting on my face was natural and there were no chemicals or anything in the product.
The one thing I didn't like about this product was that it didn't do a great job of removing my eye makeup. I would have to use it multiple times or else just use a different cleanser when I had heavier eye make up on.

The next product I got to try was the Daily Moisturizing Cream.

I loved this product! It was so light and I couldn't even feel it on my skin.
The one thing I would have liked to see different, which might not work because it is for sensitive skin, was a sunblock added. My skin is very sensitive to the sun and I burn easily and so I would have liked a 15 spf added into the moisturizer. I understand though that for some people that might cause more problems for their skin because of it being so sensitive and it's probably not all natural ingredients like they have in their skin. So I guess I would have to use a different product for my little bit of sunscreen! Maybe they could offer one that contains that in it though? Just a thought.

Jewls

I love earrings. I own four pairs of earrings from Made By Jewls. I would love to own more if I won this giveaway!

Bananagrams

When my husband and I were first married we would play scrabble all the time and we would do a 1000 piece puzzle during the summertime. Doing little things like this was fun! Now we have two little kiddos who are not old enough yet to do things like this with us, and who would probably sabotage our game/puzzle if we tried to do it on our own.
Since we had our first kiddo I have wanted to try and continue our weekly dates but it has gotten a lot harder as time has gone on.



These things being said, I just found out about this game Bananagrams. It's like scrabble but looks much simpler! Our almost three year old could probably "help" us spell letters if we wanted to play as a family until he is old enough to play on his own. How simple would it be to take camping or to the park for a fun family outing! No board, no mess. Just throw the banana pouch in the picnic basket and go!

Also I think it would be more likely we could use it as a stay at home date night activity after our kiddos are in bed and it wouldn't take forever like Scrabble or a puzzle does but we'd still be doing something fun together. I would love to try this game!

Dreamlights

today we made a little "tent" to play in. As you can see, it was pretty small, so the we made a bigger one. This led to some inspiration for our next fun activity when my husband leaves for work training again. 4-6 times a year he has to leave for work training...we always try to do fun things when he is gone...and I think building a fort or an indoor tent is in order.
This picture would be so much more fun with one of these Dreamlights in it!




I would love to try one out! I've never seen real fireflies, this would be so fun! How fun for a romantic rendezvous outside or for hosting a party in the backyard.
With two little boys, I'm sure they would love playing with these!
Here's hoping we get to try them out soon...

Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender

Oh how I would love one of these!

Recently I have been really trying to be more frugal when it comes to food--which includes making our own bread, making our own tortillas, and using powdered milk in place of fresh milk.

This would be aMAZing for mixing powdered milk! Not only that--did you know you can make your own sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk? This would be awesome in mixing those up.

Cooking would be so quick and much more enjoyable with one of these in so many ways!

I have a three month old. Can I just say baby food in a couple months?? So wonderful!

I've really been wanting to start making our own breakfast instead of just eating cold cereal all the time. How much more likely would it be for me to make pancakes, smoothies, etc with one of these?
Plus the fact that it is dishwasher safe! A-MAZ-ing.
This would help my stay at home mommy days easier and better! It would make my quest for frugality better! It would make my aspiring culinary goals possible!
I need one.
Please?

Bodun Glasses

These glasses would be a great addition to my new home. New house = housewarming gifts to myself, right?

Also, I've been wanting to start dating my husband again...two kids does not equal time for the two of us. Maybe these gorgeous glasses would lead to some date night inspiration!