Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Although it may be apparent by my posting all the sweet treats here on my blog that I have a major sweet tooth, the truth is, I really don't care for sweets.  A chocolate bar once in awhile, yes, but nothing beyond that....no cake, no cookies, no muffins, no cupcake.....

Until now. 

Seriously, this cupcake is outta this world good!!  How can you go wrong with pink lemonade added to your cupcake?!  Then to add the most amazing frosting to it....let's just say I've ate more than 2 and less then 5. 

Try it, I pinky promise you will love it!!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

9 oz. Frozen pink lemonade concentrate

1 box of white cake mix

3 egg whites

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Mix together all the above ingredients.  The batter will be a little lumpy, but don't over mix it and end up with dry cupcakes like I did the first time I made them.

Spray the muffin tin (or wrappers) with nonstick spray and put into the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

When the cupcakes have cooled, make icing and ice the cupcakes!

Lemon Buttercream Icing

3 cups + 3 tbsp confectioners sugar

1 stick (softened) unsalted butter

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp lemon juice

red food coloring

Add ingredients together and mix on low for about 60 seconds with your mixer until fluffy.  I only had neon colors this time around for the food coloring, so 3 drops of the pink neon coloring turned the icing this pretty pink!

-source-

Confections of a Foodie Bride

How to Get.....

...your husband to do anything for you....

They're called

"Mama's Sweet and Saltines"

{recipe from Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood:Stories and Recipes to Share with Family and Friends}

40 saltine crackers

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup light-brown sugar

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  Line a large rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil and saltine crackers.

2.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour over crackers, covering them evenly.  Put cookie sheet into oven and watch closely.  Bake for about 5 minutes, or until just bubbly.

3.  Remove from oven and pour chocolate chips over crackers.  When chips begin to melt, spread them over crackers with a knife.  Transfer pan to freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until completely cold.  The chocolate-covered crackers will form a solid sheet; break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

{Side note about chocolate chips...the first time I made it as directions said to, but I found it was easier to melt the chocolate while the crackers are in the oven, then pour the chocolate over them.  Much much easier this way}

It's Hard....

...to find the time to blog when there are dockside sitting, ice cream eating, basketball playing kind of days.

Menu Monday's

Monday {it is Brandon and Dre's birthday's, so these are their favorite meals}
breakfast-french toast, bacon, fried potatoes, fresh fruit and eggs
lunch-turkey sandwiches, kiwis, string cheese and yogurt
dinner-homemade chicken strips, mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits
dessert-birthday cakes!!!

Tuesday
breakfast-cereal
lunch-grilled cheese and tomato soup
dinner-tacos (ground beef and chicken), with spanish rice and beans

Wednesday
breakfast-oatmeal, fresh fruit and toast
lunch-chicken quesadillas and leftover rice and beans
dinner-roasted veggies with smoked sausage penne

Thursday
breakfast-yogurt, toast and fresh fruit
lunch-sandwiches (turkey, pb&j...whatever they want)...and anything else they want within reason
dinner-leftovers

Friday
breakfast-cereal
lunch-hot dogs, chips and fruit
dinner-chicken burritos with rice and beans (this one was a request of Savannah)

I don't make dessert very often, only on a birthday/special occasion or I want to surprise the kids with something.  Since Dre and Brandon share a birthday (along with Dre's twin, duh) I am going to make a joint cake for Monday, since we are celebrating with a party the following Saturday with another cake for Brandon.   

Our Little Corner of The Mountain

We had our first snow fall since we moved into our new place.  Although it wasn't much, it was enough to have us light the fireplace, make smores in said fireplace,

try to catch snowflakes on your tongue,

to make dirt/snow angels

and to get your first taste of snow.

We love it up here in the mountains....

{at the lake, just minutes from our house}

To Do

While March is finally here and Spring feels so close, we are in the midst of packing our lives up and moving to a mountain community, where there is TONS of snow still.  As a matter of fact, they got a few more inches a few nights ago.  So, while I can't wait to pratice cart wheels in our new yard and trace our shadows with sidewalk chalk, those things will have to wait until April.  Instead, I get to experience so many new things with my kids with all the snow around us, such as..... 
Making snow angles
Have a snowball fight
Go on our first family hike
Use our fireplace to make smores
Build a bird house to hang out on our deck

What is on your to do list for March?

Me

I have greatly neglected this blog since I started it back up, but things are going to change around here from now on.

See, I have a ton of posts already written (or half written), but I never publish them because I am afraid of upsetting any of my friends or family that may be reading.  What was originally started for me to journal my everyday happenings, to talk about my kids and generally say what's on my mind, turned into a "what do I think everyone wants to hear about?"  The truth is, life isn't a bunch of rainbows and unicorns...there are some dark rain clouds and rotten apples thrown in there too. 

So, this is the new me, blog-wise.  No more censoring myself for anybody else.  Because honestly, some days my kids make me wish I was single with no kids living it up my 20's in bars and clubs, making out with random guys and waking up with a gnarly hangover.  I'm not religious, I have very liberal views, I like to cuss, a lot damn it and I love to shop and gossip. 

This is not to say that my life is all gloom and doom, because it's not...my kids are THE most fabulous kids around and I'm going to shout that from the roof tops as often as possible too.  You're just going to get the whole gina from now on, not just the everything is perfect gina.

(Also...I don't always use spell check...just sometimes those extra clicks take too much effort and I don't want to do it)