AWESOME Wedding Gift {A Week in the Kitchen}!

Yes, this is an AWESOME wedding gift (if I do say so myself), and no... not just because mom and I thought it up.

So I couldn't go to one of my best high school girlfriend, E, 's bridal shower, but I wanted to send her something that wasn't just a "pick such and such off the registry and send it" sort of thing. THIS is what we came up with; which is PERFECT since I LOVE to cook.

A Week in the Kitchen

with the [your last name]'s

This label look familiar? I edited this one.

Step 1: I went through E's registry and picked out 7 items and then 7 recipes that went with each item! I would have done 2 recipes per item, but... I was a little late in getting started.

Step 2: Make a label for each item printed on cardstock saying something cute like,
Sunday - TONGS - You have to eat wings while watching football. Try out these tongs while cooking 'Pat Neeley's Spicy Peach Hotwings'.

Thursday - MICROPLANE - Thirsty Thursday anyone? You better load up on carbs before going out! This microplane is perfect for lemon zest in  Lemon Chicken & Shrimp

Friday -  DIP SPREADERS - You made it! It's time to party! Be a nice guest and bring over a dip to share. Spicy Beef Dip

Step 3: Punch a hole in cards and tie to kitchen utensil.

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Step 4: Find a super cute recipe card design (thank you Tie that Binds Blog for the printable ** I borrowed design and made my cards in photoshop)

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Step 5: Put together in a pretty basket or something. OR if you are mailing it like I did... wrap them all up in paper and hope it comes out on the other side looking good!

PS - E and fiance LOVED the gift!

Enjoy!

Linking up: Running with Glitter, CRAFT, The Girl Creative, Creating my way to Success, Fingerprints on the Fridge, House of Hepworths, Momnivores Dilema, Somewhat Simple, It's a Keeper, Gluesticks, Crafty Blog Stalker, Young and Crafty, Lolly Jane

UPrinting Winner Announcement!

My UPrinting giveaway for 250 flyers is over and I have the privilege to announce the winner!

Are you ready?

According to Random.org, the winner is

And lucky #7 is

Congrats Brittany! I have sent you an email, you have 24 hours to respond or I will choose another winner!

Thank you everyone who entered!

Trying to find gameday attire!

I always do this to myself.

Hubby and I are heading up to Clemson this coming weekend (wooh oo!) for Clemson's home opener for football (YAY FOOTBALL SEASON!). AND I am just NOW trying to find something cute (and orange) to wear.

I have been "part" of Clemson for oh.. 11 years now, you would think that I have an abundance of Orange and purple Clemson gear. Well that is only partially correct.

Back in college, we didn't necessarily wear the school colors... us sorority girls dressed up in sun dresses when we sat in the fraternity block!

But once college ended, I started dressing more ... comfortable (aka less cute) for the day-long tailgates so I changed over to orange tops and khakis or jean shorts.

BUT THIS YEAR.... I want to wear something cute!
I start trying to come up with ideas  by looking at Target; and I find stuff that will work... ONLY if it weren't an "online only" item. I mean really? Every single orange dress is only online?
I'm loving this one:

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But of course its... online only (actually, I think I may go ahead and get this for future).

So Sunday, I run to Khols (2 girls in tow) and I find the CUTEST burnt orange (ok, different orange but its ok) racer back shirt with brown beads along the collar... BUT it's only in large. Blech.
On to TJ Max; at this point Jillie is asleep and in the Ergo carrier, so no trying clothes on. But I find a orange and white swirl one shoulder dress ruffle and a purple ruffle tank top. I buy these and get a "you got something on your shoulder" from the hubby about the dress, and a "it's not bad" about the purple shirts. Back to square one.

I get home and decide to check out Forever21, which is not my first choice, but what the hey. Oh my lord they have SO many dresses. After some browsing... I think I found one, and I can probably make/find a orange-ish belt.

What do you guys think? I'm heading to the mall today to see if they have it.
Maybe this one too.... it's a little wild though... and hubby doesn't think it will fit me right... hmmmmm.

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Don't forget to enter my giveaway for UPrinting flyers! Last day to enter is TOMORROW, Tuesday, September 30!

Recipe ::. Florentine Chicken Soup

I got this recipe from my husband's Aunt a short while ago. My in-laws own and operate Assisted Living Facilities and the cook was out sick so hubby's Aunt brought in lunch for the residents; the girls and I happened to be there at the time and OH. MY. GOSH. Charlotte LOVED it! In fact, it's this soup that made her "like soup". I tweaked it a tad from her recipe, so here goes.

Florentine Chicken Soup

Ingredients
1c cooked penne (or other) pasta
2 c cooked chicken; chopped
4c (1/3 of a bag or so) fresh spinach; washed
1 - 7oz can of Roasted Sweet Peppers; drained and sliced
1 fresh rosemary sprig
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t pepper
1 T butter
2c chicken broth
3/4 c jarred Alfredo Sauce (I used Classico)
3 T pesto (I used Classico)
2 T pine nuts; toasted
1 T shredded Parmesan

Directions
Saute chicken, spinach, sweet peppers, rosemary, garlic powder, and pepper in butter until spinach is wilted

Stir in chicken broth, Alfredo sauce, and pesto.

Cook until heated through.

Add pasta.

Sprinkle with pine nuts and shredded Parmesan.

... and that's it!
Enjoy!

Linking up: House of Hepworths, Lolly Jane, Remodelaholic, Ladybird Ln, A Bowl Full of Lemson, Homework, Not Just a Housewife, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Gingersnap Crafts, Sew Much Ado, Dragonfly Designs, Women Who Do it ALl, Handy Man Crafty Woman, Sweetpeas and BB, Someday Crafts, Gluesticks, Somewhat Simple, Momnivores Dilema

Another FUN {GIVEAWAY}

In our house, we are coming upon birthday season. And we all know what that means, PARTY INVITATIONS!

As luck would have it, I have the opportunity to give away 250 party flyers from UPrinting.com to one of my readers; how awesome is that?! These particular party flyers come in thick, 14 pt. glossy card stock, and are perfect for save the dates, party invites (score!!!), announcements, special events... well, actually they are perfect for pretty much anything you can think of!


Party Flyers

UPrinting.com has so many great products at awesome prices that I can't even list them all. Right now, there are at least 5 different products that I could order.
Rolled (and stretched) Canvas - Canvas prints are SUCH the rage right now! You need one for each room of your house.

Flat (and folded) Greeting Cards - Can we say holidays?! Or how about baby thank you notes?

Business Cards - Perfect for your etsy store.

Labels - Birthday party? Labels for homemade gifts?

And lastly... the party flyers of course!!

Party Flyers

---

Now for the giveaway:
1 reader will win
250pcs. Flyers  (Party Flyers / Flyers)
Fine Print:
4.25" x 5.5", 4" x 6"
14pt Cardstock Gloss, Front Only Printing,
nightclub flyer templates and business flyer templates also available for download
3 Business Days Turnaround, *Free Shipping
Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only.

Must complete mandatory entry for other entries to count. Leave a comment for EACH entry you complete.
MANDATORY ENTRY
Follow Moore Babies via google friend connect (up in the top bar or to the right)
OPTIONAL ENTRY
(+1) Like UPrinting.com on facebook
(+1) Follow UPrinting.com on twitter
(+1) Like Moore Babies on facebook
(+1) Follow Moore babies via networked blogs (to the right)

Giveaway ends Tuesday, August 30
(sorry I previously wrote Sept... I was wrong)

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive party flyers for hosting. For more information about flyers, please visit UPrinting.com

School Bag Tags

A few weeks ago my brother sent me a diaper bag to embroider. Now... I am the first to tell you (and everyone) that I am a novice! Well, he sent me a really nice diaper bag that I would have to tear out a seam and embroider between layers.... and to be perfectly honest I was nervous about ruining the bag.

PLUS, they wanted to put their daughters name on the bag for a daycare she was going to; but what are they going to do with a diaper bag with the name Brynnleigh on it when baby #2 comes along... but that's another story.

So I convinced them to let me make some of these tags because they looked like something I could do and I figured I could get everything at Joann or something. Also, I figured that I could embroider her name no them and if it worked out I would have little gifts for EVERYONE! Unfortunately, neither Joann nor Ace Hardware carry them, so I'd have to order them online, which was fine. But, Joann didn't really have any pretty colors of webbing. I was limited to white, black, and beige or something. So I decided to put that project on hold until I can come up with all the supplies that I want...
So in the interim (and since daycare is starting soon), I made my brother and sister-in-law these tags in photoshop and laminated them.

I also found these DIY tag printables at Anders Ruff and printed them out in case they didn't like my tags.

I'm pretty pleased with them.
I'll let you know if I ever get around to those key fob tags!

Linking up:Dragon Fly Designs

{Trial Run} Decorated Sugar Cookies

I have a confession to make... I have NEVER iced sugar cookies; no... not even at Christmas time.
My mom never liked doing it, so we never did it with her. We did make a dozen or so cookies; sugar cookies even, but they are small light and flaky sugar cookies from Grandma; so no decorating.

Ok. that said... I FINALLY DECORATED SUGAR COOKIES!
Jillie's 1st birthday is in just over a month and I was thinking about cookies as the party favors so I figured I needed to practice.

I used the Sugar Cookie recipe from University of Cookie and I thinned the icing using the method described in this video.

I didn't actually roll these out and use cookie cutters (the only cutters I have are packed in my Christmas box.... and are Christmas shapes). What I did was roll a ball of dough (using my large cookie scoop) and flatten it using the bottom of a glass; it worked decently well.

Here is my final product!!! Not too shabby if I say so myself!

I was just playing around with the decorating... I know most of them are kind of.... weird.

Linking up: Sweet Ps and BB, Women Who Do It All, Dragonfly Designs, Crafty Blog Stalker, House of Hepworths, Momnivores-dilemma, Ladybird Ln, Naptime Crafters, Delicate Construction, Just a Girl, Faith Trust Pixie Dust, Making the World Cuter, Keeping it Simple

Featured:

Clever Bachelorette Gift {needed}



Hey everyone! I NEED YOUR HELP!
One of my best high school girlfriends is getting married this year and I unfortunately can not make it up to Jersey for the bachelorette party weekend. I want to send a clever gift; this is where you come in.

Does ANYONE have any awesome, fun, clever, racy, etc bachelorette gift ideas (that they would be willing to share)?!

I have done some research online and a few have stood out to me:

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1. Wine gift basket - give a few bottles of wine and have cute tags on them thay say, "after your first fight as a married couple", "1st anniversary", etc.
This is SUPER cute!! Although difficult to do from afar.... and I think I'm going to do it for the wedding since I'll be up there early enough to get it done.
2. Clone-a-...er.... member - Give this gag gift with a note that says "Since you are now married, you should never be without your husband". Funny :) But I would want it to be returnable so she can maybe get something she WILL use like lotions or oils (.... unless she actually decides to make this... but anyway).

The BEST one BY FAR.... was used at my OTHER best high school girlfriends bachelorette party...

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3. Get a pretty vase, container, etc and buy a dozen underwear, each with a tag on it saying "for your wedding night", (a pair of pink and blue panties) "for when you start trying", ... etc... up until a pair of the largest granny panties you can find with a note saying something like "when your old and gray these will be the only underpants you should be wearing"... or something.

BUT... THIS bachelorette was there.... so I can't use it.

SO.... do any of YOU have any ideas?!?! Please please please!

Pizza Night #12: Spinach, Ricotta, and Mozzarella (Oh My!) Pizza

... and there's some pesto in there too.
Oh. My. Awesome. Pizza! I was looking for a white spinach pizza recipe and wasn't having much luck until I happened upon Selfish Mom 's Spinach Pesto Pizza. I REALLY liked the idea of the pesto and spinach, but I'm not a fan of refrigerated pizza crust OR feta cheese. So I took the spinach, pesto, and tomatoes and then added in some ricotta and mozzarella (and fresh pizza dough). AWESOME!

Spinach, Ricotta, & Mozzarella Pizza
Pizza Dough (I prefer freshly made dough from my grocery store bakery section)
4T pesto (I use Barilla jarred pesto)
8 oz fresh mozzarella
14oz can petit diced tomatoes, drained
8oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
4oz ricotta (I am guesstimating here, I put in a few spoonfuls)
3T butter
~1/2 t garlic salt
~1/2 t cajun
cornmeal

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Combine thawed/drained spinach, pesto, diced tomatoes, & ricotta in a bowl and set aside.
3. Roll out and/or toss pizza dough and place on pan/pizza stone (yes, I still need to buy a pizza stone)  covered with a handful of cornmeal.

4. Melt butter and add garlic salt, cajun seasoning and mix.
5. Brush butter mixture onto pizza dough and bake 6 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and spread spinach mixture onto pizza dough.

7. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella.

8. Bake 15 minutes or so until mozzarella cheese is melted.

Yum yum yum!!!

The ONLY thing that would have made this recipe better was to add some diced up chicken... and some fresh basil leaves on top!

Pizza Night #12 - TOTAL COMPLETE Success!
Movie Night: Rango (not a fan of the movie... kinda a weird, but whatev)
Enjoy!

Linking up: Little Rays of Sunshine, Running with Glitter, Sarahndipities, Delicateconstruction, Making the World Cuter, Tales of a Trophy Wife, Sweet Ps and BB, Women Who Do It ALl, Dragonfly Designs, Crafty Blog Stalker, House of Hepworths, It's A Keeper, Momnivores Dilema, Ladybird Ln, Naptime Crafters, Delicate Construction, Just a Girl, Faith Trust Pixie Dust, Making the World Cuter, Keeping it Simple, Remodelaholic

Luau Party: The Menu

One of the best parts of a good party is the FOOD! And I ALWAYS over do myself... I just can't help it. Here was the menu.

Meats

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Ham and Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Served room temperature with Harry & David's Sweet Pepper Relish, spicy mustard, and honey mustard on Hawaiian rolls or water rolls.
Grape/Chili Meatballs
1 crock pot
2 jars grape jelly
2  jars chili sauce (found in condiment section)
1 bag of meatballs
Combine all and warm in crock pot for a few hours prior to beginning of party.

Killer Appetizers

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Shrimp Cocktail
Spinach Dip in a bread bowl served with bread and crackers
Marinated Cheese (most requested appetizer)

INGREDIENTS
½ cup olive oil
½ cup white wine vinegar
1 (2-ounce) jar diced pimiento, drained
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons minced green onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon dried whole basil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 (8-ounce) 5 ½ x 2 x 1-inch block sharp cheddar cheese, chilled
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, chilled
Fresh parsley sprigs (optional)
Combine first 10 ingredients in a jar; cover tightly, and shake vigorously. Set marinade mixture aside.
Cut block of Cheddar cheese in half lengthwise. Cut crosswise into ¼ -inch-thick slices; set aside. Repeat procedure with cream cheese. Arrange cheese slices alternately in a shallow baking dish, standing slices on edge. Pour marinade over cheese slices. Cover and marinate in refrigerator at least 8 hours.
Transfer cheese slices to a serving platter in the same alternating fashion, reserving marinade. Spoon marinade over cheese slices. Garnish with fresh parsley sprigs, if desired. Serve with assorted crackers. Yield: 16 appetizer servings.

Tomato & Mozzarella Skewers drizzled with balsamic dressing
Fruit Salad in homemade fruit bowls (half a pineapple and quarter of a watermelon)
And lastly to munch on...

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Chips & Salsa
Store bought hummus & pita chips
Veggies & Veggie Dip
8 oz sour cream
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 pkg Lays Garden Onion Dip Creations (new!)
Nuts (you can't go wrong with a few containers of mixed nuts, almonds, or cashews)

AND for dessert we had

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Beach themed cupcakes
Chocolate boxed mix, homemade vanilla icing, ground graham crackers for the beach, a mint beach ball, and drink umbrella.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (1st time using this recipe and AWESOME!)

... and a cupcake closeup

Linking up: Little Rays of Sunshine, Running with Glitter, Sarahndipities, Making the World Cuter

Pizza Night #11: Portobello Pizza (Take 2)

For this weeks pizza night we decided to one-up one of our favorite pizzas so far! We tried the Portobello Pizza again with a few minor tweaks.

If you'll remember, we thought that the pizza had a bit too much liquid pooled on top of the pizza which we determined was probably from the mushrooms or the tomatoes. SOOOO this time I cooked the mushrooms a little more to try to get rid of ALL the excess liquid. I also removed the juicy seeds from the tomatoes when I diced them. It seemed to work, but even though there was still some liquid on top the pizza did not get soggy at ALL because...

(tweak #2) ... we took Jessica, from Cajunlicious | All things Cajun,'s pizza dough tip of brushing the dough with an oh-so-yummy butter mixture and baking it for a few minutes before adding the toppings. And let me tell you, the smell wafting about our kitchen as the dough was baking for that few minutes was heavenly.

We used a whole grain dough this time, and to be perfectly honest.... it doesn't hold a candle to the original dough... but it was STILL a great pizza!

And still one of our favorites so far.
Pizza Night #11 - Yummy!
Movie: Harry Potter (yeah, my 2 year old now requests Harry Potter)

The Luau Party: Other Decor

Entryway
... kind of speaks for itself; "C'mon I wanna lei ya!". A basket full of leis, a dollar store pig centerpiece, shells, a few lanterns and then I made a cute sign and put it in a frame.

 Add to it a grass skirt and a dollar store sign and we're in business.

 Welcome to the party!

Bathroom Sign
At any party, of course you want people to know where your bathrooms are, right? We had 2 accessible to party guest one from the inside and one from the backyard, so of course I had to create a pretty sign. I looked up in a few places how to say "bathroom" in Hawaiian. Here, here, and here all said that bathroom was "Lua". So that's what I used.
When one of my girlfriends comes to the party (whose family happens to live in Hawaii), she informed me that she thought it wasn't "Lua", but it was something else, probably "Lumi 'au 'au " (which the 3rd link said was an option). Oh well... I tried! No one else knew, right?

I found the lei border online and... er... tweaked it... then printed it out in word and laminated it.
Voila. Bathroom sign.

Food Marker Tags
I like having tag that tell people what they are munching on at a party so back to the trusty computer I went.
I did a search on word templates for tags and whatnot but didn't find much. I DID find a "Christmas in July" label which is super cute, so I filed that away for later. I also found one food tag, but it wasn't the fold over/tent that I wanted so back to the drawing board.
I ended up opening a return label document with 3 columns. The width of each row was a little to narrow for my taste so I changed each row to about 1.5" and then put my lei border graphic in every other row. Printed out, it looks like the following:

Then I used my paper cutter to separate the rows.

Then I cut them in between each label and folded them to make the tents.

I was going to print what the food was on the label, but since I had friends bringing food I decided to just write it in my hand.

The rest of the decorations
I picked up at the dollar store or at Joanne Fabric when they were having 70% off their summer decor. You can't go wrong with cheap tacky luau decor!

However my FAVORITE part of my decorations was the scene door hanger! I plan to use this every year and put a card with the year on it so we know when it was taken!

Linking up: Handy Man Crafty Woman