Tasty Tuesday....The Best Cream Puffs

Hello Ladies!

Today I am linking up with The Blended Blog for Tasty Tuesday!

This week I am sharing some of our favorite game day foods, and today I am talking about one of our favorite desserts!  Personally, I think dessert is the best part of any meal.  I love being in charge of desserts, and I am always first in line to volunteer to bring a sweet treat!  

Today I am sharing with you guys the BEST cream puff recipe ever!  I have been making this exact recipe for over 15 years now, it's a winner and everyone LOVES it!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter or stick margarine

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

Cream Filling (see below)

Powdered sugar (optional)

Hot fudge Sauce

CREAM FILLING:

1 large box instant vanilla pudding

heavy cream

milk

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat oven to 400.

2.  Heat water and butter to rolling boil in 2 1/2 quart saucepan.  Stir in flour; reduce heat to low.  Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat.

3.  Beat in eggs, all at once, with spoon; continue beating until smooth.  Drop dough by scan 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden.  Cool away from draft, about 30 minutes.  Cut off top third of each puff; pull out any strands of soft dough.

5.  Make your pudding according to directions on box, however cut the milk in half and replace it with the heavy cream

6.  Fill puffs with the Cream filling and replace tops. 

The recipe stops there, however I take some hot fudge sauce and heat it up, then pour it into a ziplock baggie, cut it at the tip, and drizzle some chocolate over the top..SO GOOD!

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve!

These are so delicious.  When I make them, I always double the recipe.

**recipe from Betty Crocker Cookbook

xoxo,

Kimm

Favorite Football Foods...Mac & Cheese

Hello Ladies!

Hope you all had a GREAT weekend and are ready for a GREAT week!

Over here, we are super excited for the Super Bowl this weekend.  We are a HUGE football family, and even though none of our teams are in the big game this year, we are still excited for the big game.  Football season is pretty much my favorite, and I love that it is something we all love watching together as a family.  On Sundays during football season I don't make a real dinner, we usually just kind of snack all day while watching the games, and football food, as we like to call it, is definitely our favorite!  

So with the big game coming up this weekend, I thought each day this week I would share with you some of our favorite things to eat as we watch the games!

Some people love going out to a big super bowl party, or hosting one, but for us, we really like keeping it low key, just staying home watching it with the boys.  A few years back we went to a super bowl party, and though it was fun, it wasn't my cup of tea:). A strong love of football is something I share with my boys, and I just love being home watching it with them. 

I find that for the most part, each year we tend to eat the same things...my kids really look forward to "this meal" and there are certain things they just expect each year on Super Bowl Sunday!

Homemade Mac & Cheese is a staple on the table for Super Bowl Sunday.  I have been making this same recipe since I was 21 years old, and it is hands down my FAVORITE!  I always double the recipe, because my kids love it, and we love having it for leftovers during the week!  

The last time I made this was when Kenny was in town visiting, it's his favorite and he always asks me to make it when he comes to visit...#awesomeexwife :). I totally forgot to take pics, but trust me it is delicious, and not too difficult to make!

MACARONI & CHEESE

INGREDIENTS

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1/4 cup butter or stick margarine

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 cups milk

2 cups shredded start cheddar cheese

Handful of breadcrumbs (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1.  Heat oven to 350.

2.  Cook macaroni as directed on package.

3.  While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.  Stir in milk.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat.  Stir in cheese until melted.

4.  Drain macaroni.  Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce.  Pour into uncreased 2-quart casserole.  Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

(Ligther Macaroni & Cheese: For 10 grams of fat and 375 calories per serving, decrease butter to 2 tablespoons.  Use fat-free (skim) milk and substitute 1 1/2 cups reduced fat Cheddar cheese for the 2 cups regular sharp Cheddar cheese)

Once I pour it into the dish, I always sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the top...that is our favorite part!!

I always double this recipe, so mine does need to cook a bit longer.  I have never tried it with any other type of cheese other than the cheddar, but in my cookbook, it does say it is also great with Vermont white cheddar, or half cheddar and half Monterey Jack.  

And another tip....when the recipe says to stir constantly...do it...I have tried walking away for a minute or not stirring constantly and it either burns or just gets all stuck to the bottom of the saucepan.

Let me know if you guys decide to make this and let me know what you think!  I know we will be enjoy it this Sunday!

*recipe is from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

xoxo,

Kimm

Friday Favorites

Hello Ladies!

I don't know about you guys, but I am glad to see the week over and am ready for the weekend!

Today I am linking up with Andrea , Erika , and Narci and sharing my Friday Favorites.  Be sure to grab the graphic and link up too!

ONE

Last Sunday Mark and I had a day date, and it was the BEST!  Between the holidays, and his crazy work schedule lately, we have hardly hand anytime to spend just the two of us.  We have been so tired at night, so day dates are our new favorite.  We went to one of our favorite restaurants on the beach, watched the dolphins jump, ate the BEST bacon wrapped scallops ever, and I enjoyed a key lime colada that was AMAZING.  However my favorite part was getting to spend some time with my hubby...because he is my FAVORITE!

TWO

This sweet pup is still our big time favorite!  She is so playful and so much fun, and she is the sweetest to just curl up on the couch with!

THREE

I did a little home office makeover over the holidays, and I LOVE this 3 wick vanilla bean candle I picked up.  I think Bath and Body Works has GREAT candles, and they are usually on sale or they offer a coupon, so they are usually a good deal.  You can check out all their 3 wick candles here. 

FOUR

We were never really happy with our ottoman that we got when we bought our furniture last year, so after looking for what seemed like forever, we finally found a table for our living room that we LOVE!  I had my eye on this table for a while, but was waiting for it to go on sale.  When it did, and they offered free shipping, and I had an additional 15% off I knew it was the time to pull the trigger.  I am so glad I did.  We are LOVING it.  And I love that the top comes off and we are able to store lots of blankets inside!

FIVE

One of my favorite things to do each night is just unwind a bit and take a bath.  I've always loved a good bubble bath, and I just recently tried bath bombs for the first time.  I had ordered some off Amazon, and there just OK, so I decided to try the Lush ones.  I couldn't believe how HUGE they were.  I LOVED them!  I just wish they weren't so crazy expensive.  And I don't have a Lush store local, so I have to order online and their shipping is kind of high.  If you guys have a bath bomb you love that doesn't break the bank I would LOVE for you to share it with me!  

And the winner of the Starbucks gift card is......

GRETCHEN!

Be sure to send me an email to kimmskorner@gmail.com so I can get your info and get your gift card over to you!

Not sure what we have planned for the weekend...the first weekend when no football is on is always a little depressing for me.  Hoping to just be able to spend lots of time with Mark and the kids and just enjoy being together!  We are expecting some cooler temps, so I am pretty darn excited about that.  Hope you all have a great weekend.  See you back here next week.

xoxo,

Kimm

Thursday Thoughts...

Hello Ladies!

YES!

I feel like there is so much going on in the world today and so many people seem to be walking around just plain angry all the time.  So here are some of my thoughts for today....

Back in November I deactivated my Facebook account, we were in the heat of the election, and good Lord people were MAD, and I felt like all I was doing was ready one negative, mean comment after the other.  It was terrible and just depressing.  I love so much that we live in a place where we are all free to have different views and opinions, but I feel like more so than not these days, respect for each other is a thing of the past, and people are just intentionally mean to each other.  

You can turn on the news on any given day, and hear about a shooting, it is to the point, where it doesn't even phase us anymore.  I realize we can't live in bubbles, but 10 years ago I would never think twice about going to a mall, airport, stadium , or whatever...but now I worry, worry if some crazy person is there with a gun.  The amount of innocent lives lost to this sheer insanity scares me.  It also sickens me that there seems to be no value or respect for human life, people just kill others way too easy.  Scary!  As a mom, I worry all the time about my children and their safety.  Especially that my younger kids are hitting the teenage years, and spending more times out with friends, it is frightening.  Living in fear is simply no way to live, so each day I pray that my family will stay safe.

Where I do think we as a society can make some difference is in how we treat one another.  I truly do not understand the sheer amount of "ugly" that is out there.  Certainly it is just easier to scroll on and say nothing, rather than taking the time to just say something mean or hurtful to someone.  I have said this before, but my mother always told me if I didn't have anything nice to say I just needed to keep my mouth shut, I now tell my children the exact same thing.  I am also a big fan of agreeing to disagree.  We are all never going to agree on the same things, we are always going to have a different opinion or point of view than someone else, and that is OK, that is what makes this world so great.  However, as great as that is, I feel as if freedom of speech has turned into just disrespecting whomever we please, and that just sucks.  

Being a parent is HARD, and I think being a parent nowadays is a lot harder then it was for our parents.  As parents, we do the best we can and hope and pray like hell that we have done a somewhat good job, and raise our children to turn into good adults.  I want my children to grow up knowing they should always stand up for what they believe in, to make sure their voice is heard, to be a leader and not a follower, but more importantly, what I stress to them OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, is to always respect others, whether they agree or disagree with you, you respect them and their feelings.  I have learned over the years, that you don't have to like someone to respect them, and I truly believe if we all worked a little harder at being a little kinder and respecting each other this world would just be a better place!!

So those are my thoughts for today!  And if you are looking for an awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe be sure to check out my post from yesterday, and check back tomorrow for my Friday Favorites, and I will announce who gets the $25 Starbucks gift card!

Have a great day!

xoxo,

Kimm

Chocolate Chip Cookies & A Giveaway

Hello Ladies!

Hope you are all having a great week!  I can't believe this month is almost over..time is already flying by in 2017!

#truth

Today I am sharing our FAVORITE chocolate chip cookie recipe with you guys!  Ive gotten lots of questions as to what recipe we use, and how I get my cookies to look so good...so today I am sharing the recipe and how I make them!

So funny and so true!

Believe it or not, I use the recipe that is on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet chip bag....it is THE BEST!  I have tried LOTS of different chocolate chip recipe and this one is still our favorite!  I probably make 2-3 batches a week, and they don't ever last more than a day!  

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 CRISCO baking stick, butter flavored

 (the recipe calls for 1 cup butter, but I never ever use butter)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups ( I use the whole bag ...duh) Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet morsels

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 375

2.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

3.  Beat Crisco stick, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy.

4.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5.  Gradually add in flour mixture, until well blended.

6.  Stir in your chips

7.  Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes (I bake mine for 9 minutes 40 seconds, every time, every single batch)

Once I take them out of the oven, I let them cool for one minute on the cookie sheet, then I transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.  

When I bake cookies, I always use two cookie sheets, it seriously makes the process go so much faster to just have a tray ready to go into the oven as soon as you pull a batch out!

And as you can see I don't have any kind of fancy cookie sheet, just inexpensive cookie sheets I picked up at Target.  I have tried using a more expensive cookie sheet, and did not notice any difference, and found that they didn't  hold up any longer than my $6 cookie sheets!  

I think why my cookies always come out looking perfect is because of this cookie scoop , each scoop is always the same size, so they all cook evenly and the same.  I used to just drop them by spoonful onto a cookie sheet, but noticed a HUGE difference once I started using a cookie scoop!  

I swear by that recipe on the back of the bag, the only thing I do different is I use the Crisco baking stick instead of the butter, and I swear it makes all the difference.  

Perfect, delicious cookies EVERY SINGLE TIME!

And because I enjoy nothing more than a warm chocolate chip cookie and a cup of coffee, I am going to give away a $25 Starbucks gift card. 

 Just leave a comment below and check back Friday and I will announce the winner in my Friday Favorites Post!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and let me know if try out this recipe!

xoxo,

Kimm

Friday Favorites

Hello Ladies!  

Today I am linking up with Andrea , Erika and Narci and sharing my Friday Favorites.  Be sure to grab the graphic and link up too!

ONE

My favorite thing to do each day, is sit outside, before everyone is up and the craziness of the day starts, and just enjoy a cup of coffee and the peace and quiet.  Another favorite...this cute coffee mug from the dollar spot at Target!

TWO

Our pups have TONS of energy and spend most of the day running around like maniacs...but our favorite is when they are calm at night and just curled up with us on the couch!  

THREE

I have found meal planning to really be a huge help for me.  No doubt sitting down at the beginning of each week and planning out our meals and making the grocery list has really helped make our weeknights go so much smoother, and we have spent way less on take out and eating out because I have been prepared.  I snagged the cutest meal planner from Amazon and I love it.  I love that I can have all the meals written out for the week and my favorite part is the detachable shopping list!  If meal planning is something you are looking to do, you should definitely check out this super cute little pad!  It is definitely my favorite!

FOUR

I have found the PERFECT legging.  Finding a great pair of leggings has been quite a challenge.  So many of them are basically see through, and I cannot stand that!  I tried the HUE leggings, and though I did like the "weight" of them, I found them to be extremely long for me.  I also tried the Zella Live In Leggings, and just like the HUE, they were too long for my liking.  I am 5'5", so definitely not short.  While I was doing some online holiday shopping, I came across these Zella Midi Leggings , I ordered them and got an email a few hours later they couldn't fulfill my order.  I had been basically checking back daily, and when I saw they were available I ordered them.  They arrived last week, and they are FABULOUS!  I got them in black, and as I am writing this post, they currently aren't available, but this greenish/gray color isn't too bad.  I love them because they hit right above my ankle, which is where I like my leggings to fall.  

FIVE

Olivia's room is getting a little makeover, and seeing her new bunk beds go up was a favorite for us!  

Mark has to work Saturday, and I am planning on spending the day with the kiddos getting their rooms organized.  Sunday we are watching to find out who will go to the Super Bowl!  Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!  See you guys back here next week!

What Are You Reading

Hello Friends!

That is my question for you girls today!  In the beginning of last year I found myself reading a lot of books, and I loved it.  Then life got a little crazy, and I just didn't make the time for reading a priority.  I love sitting in a quiet room, or on the couch for a bit in the afternoon while my kids are in school and sit down with a good book. 

I just received these two books over the weekend and I am excited to start reading this week!  

I have gone back and forth between getting a Kindle..do you guys have one?  Thoughts??  I am pretty old school, and really like having the book in my hand, but on the other hand, I only have so much room to store books, and buying new books regularly can also get pretty pricey.  I know I should probably utilize the library, but if I am being honest I suck at the library.  I am that person who just cannot seem to return the books on time...I know pathetic!

So, I would love for you guys to let me know what you are reading, and what are some "must reads"!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Be sure to check back tomorrow.  Have a great day.

xoxo,

Kimm