Happy Memorial Day!

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Hello Everyone! I hope you are all doing well this Memorial Day! I want to take a moment to thank all those who are reading this who serve, who have served and those whose family members have served our country and risked your lives everyday so that we can have freedom. There will never be enough words but thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 

Today, I collaborated on a recipe with my sisters, they are the wonderful writers at, runningaroundwithlindsey.xyz and simplysydneerose.com. The recipe is for M&M Cookie Bars and Oh My Goodness! They are delicious!!

Ingredients:

-2 Sticks of Butter, room temperature

– 1 Cup Sugar

– 1 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed

– 3 Large Eggs

– 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

– 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

– 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

– 3/4 teaspoon Salt

1 1/2 Cups Red, White and Blue M&M’s, Plus more for topping

– 1 Cup of Mini Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.

2. Line 9×13 baking dish with foil, leave some overhang to make removal easier.

3. Spray foil generously with nonstick cooking spray.

4. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat.

5. Gradually add in flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

6. Add M&M’s and mini chocolate chips. Save some of both for topping of cookies.

7. Put cookie dough in prepared pan and press in additional M&M’s and mini chocolate chips into top of the cookie dough.

8. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.

9. Let cool completely and cut.

Enjoy!

Disneyland Day!

Hello!

Happy Monday! I know, there’s nothing happy about a Monday, however, I’m off work today and I’m one day closer to my quick California trip, so I’m happy. You might be questioning the title of today’s post, it is not technically Disneyland day, I’m not at Disneyland, although I do wish I was…..everyday. Today is actually National Make Up Your Own Holiday Day! I love all things Disney, I’ve yet to travel to Disney World but I know one I get there I’ll love it too.  So with that being said, the holiday I’m creating is Disneyland Day! There is a Disney day that happens in January, but that is EVERYTHING Disney. My holiday is all about DisneyLAND. Along with celebrating this with a much needed Disney trip this weekend, I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite pictures that I’ve taken around Disneyland. I don’t mind if you use the pictures, just please give credit where credit is due. If you have pictures you would like to share, please do!

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Happy Disneyland Day!

Waffles Are Always A Good Idea…

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful and relaxing weekend so far! Today, if you didn’t know, is National Waffle Day and I whole heartedly support this holiday. During the week, breakfast is usually a quick bowl of cereal with a cup of coffee. On the weekend, everyone is off work and no pressing homework that needs to be done, so we take it easy. That starts with making a delicious breakfast. The usual go-to’s are pancakes, waffles, french toast or hash brown and eggs. Today, we’re having waffles and below you will find the recipe I’ll be using, in case you feel like celebrating waffles. If you do decide to join the waffle party, share with me your favorite toppings! If social media is more your thing, share with me on my Instagram @mightrunforcupcakes. Happy eating!

• 2 Eggs, Seperated
• 2 Cups, Buttermillk
• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 Cup Margarine or Butter, Melted

Heat waffle iron. Place egg yolks in large bowl; whites in small bowl. To yolks add buttermilk; beat well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; beat until smooth. Stir in melted margarine. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; fold into batter. Bake in hot waffle iron until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Something For The Humans and Something For The Dogs

Hello!

Today, is a great day, would you like to know why? There are two National Holiday’s to celebrate! Now, to be fair, there are usually multiple holidays that occur on the same day but they just don’t really lend themselves to be celebrated in the way I share on here, if that makes any sense.

Anyways, the holiday’s we are celebrating today are National Cherry Pie Day, which I will be sharing a recipe for very shortly, and National Love Your Pet Day, which I will be sharing a safe food list for dogs, in case you wish to share some of your treats with your best friend.

There’s not much info to share about Cherry Pie Day, so we’ll just celebrate by having pie, which can you ever go wrong with pie?

As far as National Love Your Pet Day goes, just love your pet perhaps a little bit more than the everyday love. Maybe a few extra treats, more cuddles, maybe another walk or a longer walk. This is for every pet, dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, fish, snake, lizards, soft, scaley, furry, imaginary, rock. Anything and everything pet wise should be celebrated! A helpful suggestion, if you have a dog that loves whipped cream, go through any Starbucks drive thru and ask for a Puppa-Cino, basically a tiny cup filled with whipped cream. Our black lab, Calypso, LOVES going for a ride to Starbucks. While she’s out for a ride, our sensitive tummy, Indiana, get’s two little ones at home since she can’t handle riding in the car. Or if your four-legged best friend can’t handle the dairy, make them some delicious all natural dog treats, or buy them from my mother and I’s dog biscuit barkery (www.waggingtailsbarkery.com) .

Without any further rambling, here’s the Cherry Pie Recipe:

Pie Crust:

• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2/3 Cup Shortening
• 5 to 7 Tablespoons Ice Water

In medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut shortening into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle flour mixture with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, while tossing and mixing lightly with a fork. Add water until dough is just moist enough to form a ball when lightly pressed together. Shape dough into 2 balls. Flatten ball to ½ inch thickness, rounding and smoothing edges. Roll 1 ball lightly on floured surface from center to edge of circle 1 ½ inches larger than inverted 9-inch pie pans. Fold pastry in half; place in pie pan, unfold; fit evenly into pan. Do not stretch. Trim bottom pastry even with pan edge. Roll out remaining pastry; set aside.

Filling:

• 2-(16 oz.) cans pitted Red Tart Cherries, Drained
• 1 ¼ Cups Sugar
• ¼ Cup Flour
• 2 Tbsp Margarine or Butter

Heat oven to 425 Degrees F. In large bowl, combine cherries, sugar and flour; toss lightly to mix. Spoon into pastry lined pan. Dot with margarine. Top with remaining pastry; fold edge of top pastry under bottom pastry. Press together to seal; flute edge. Cut slits in several places in top pastry. Bake at 425 Degrees F. for 35 to 45 Minutes or until juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.

 

Safe Foods For Dogs:

• Lean Meats
• Apples
• Oranges
• Bananas
• Watermelon (No Seeds)
• Carrot Sticks
• Green Beans
• Cucumber
• Zucchini
• Plain Baked Potato
• Cooked White Rice and Pasta
• Cantaloupe
• Honey Dew
• Sunflower Seeds (No salt)
• Peanut Butter
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Huckleberries
• Raspberries
• Cooked Chicken
• Cheese
• Asparagus
• Celery
• Cinnamon
• Coconuts
• Grass
• Chickpeas
• Buckwheat
• Oats
• Pumpkin
• Sweet Potato
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Plain Yogurt
• Coconut Oil
• Sugar Free Yogurt
• Frozen Yogurt
• Peas
• Lettuce
• Kiwi
• Pumpkin Squash
• Ham
• Bacon

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Just Drinking The Coffee, Doing The Things

Hello!

I hope you are all doing well! I’m pretty much convinced that there is no balance, because I have yet to find it. I like the idea of it, I’d like to have it but it either doesn’t exist or I’m not supposed to have it. So I’ve decided to just keep living until I’ve earned it.

A couple of weekends ago I was able to escape the ever changing weather of AZ and the infuriating work environment that has been keeping me down, to California. My family and I went to our happy place, Disneyland and also on a new adventure. My little sister and dad like to look up new places to drive to while out of town, as well as, new restaurants to try. This new adventure was too Manhattan Beach and Malibu. We had been to Manhattan Beach before but not this particular part. While Malibu was completely new.

(Didn’t mean to get a good shot of that families stroller)

We originally planned to just grab a quick breakfast while on the way to Malibu from Anaheim but every place was packed. My little sister looked up places nearby and found the amazingly delicious Ocean View Café of Manhattan Beach. It has amazing views and an amazing breakfast selection. I had the Ocean View Omelet with bacon, cheese and avocado with Mexican style hash browns. I try not to be to adventurous food wise while on vacation but this was so delicious, I’m salivating just thinking about it.

I couldn’t have imagined a better start to the day, beautiful beach, and delicious breakfast with my family by my side.

From there we took the very scenic route to Malibu, it’s as beautiful as the pictures you’ve seen have shown. Not a lot of places to shop, at least in the areas that we were in. We went by the Malibu Pier, where the very aesthetically pleasing Malibu farm is located. We were going to eat lunch there; we decided to go somewhere else. I come from a very long line of picky eaters. We did get ice cream from the café, and that was pretty delicious.

The place we had a late lunch/early dinner before heading home was Paradise Cove Café. We walked along the beautiful beach, took a lot of pictures (some that you can see along this post) and then we had some of the best fish and chips we’ve ever had while we had our toes in the sand.

I highly recommend both the Ocean View Café and Paradise Cove Café. If you have any suggestions for places for me to check out, please comment!

 

 

These thoughts and opinions are my own. I did not receive any prompts or endorsement to write these reviews.

*You are welcome to use my images, just please give credit where credit is due*

National Cuddle Up Day

 

Hello Everyone!

I hope this beautiful Saturday finds you all well. It feels like so long since I have posted and for that all I can say is life is crazy, as you well know, and life during the holiday’s is absolutely hectic. So for the beginning of this post I’m going to do a recap of what’s been going on with me. At the end, I’m going to share a recipe for AMAZING Hot Chocolate. This is in honor of today being National Cuddle Up Day! I don’t know if you’re like me, but I love being cozy, anything with sweatpants, fuzzy jacket/robe, fuzzy socks, cup of amazing hot chocolate and a good book or movie, sign me up, haha!

So where to begin….. The last post that I shared was the Rod Works blog event review(which if you haven’t checked them out, they have really cute holiday decorations) which was in September, so I guess I will go month to month, if that works for you J

October: In October, I got promoted to supervisor at my job, which was pretty cool at the time. Now not so much, haha! My bake shoppe was at the local’s farmer’s market, which we did pretty well. I went to the last concert apart of the country megaticket, which I gifted to my younger sister for her birthday. The last concert was Luke Bryan with Lindsey Ell andBrett Eldredge, which was amazing. If you follow Brett Eldredge on Instagram you would have seen his adorable dog Edgar Boogie, he brought Edgar out on stage with these adorable sound proof headphones! Halloween came and went way to fast in my opinion plus I had to work that day, which is never fun because nothing special happens at work.

November: November felt incredibly busy. It all started with my birthday/superheroes half marathon weekend. Which was not the best experience I’ve ever had. The night before we left, my dad’s father passed away, he was never a grandfather to me but I was very sad for my dad and all of the selfish family member’s only there for what they thought they deserved. It was awful and sadly still going on. I knew that my dad would not be joining on the first or second day but we hoped that he would join us on that Saturday. I had never spent my birthday without my dad, which for 28 years, I know I’m very lucky. It was really sad to be at a place that we all share together without him. I kept talking to him throughout the day, showed him the stuff from the expo in pictures. I spent a lot of money there, but it was special. Later in the day, he called and sang me happy birthday, I cried, like ugly cried, but it was really nice. I got my birthday dinner and cake, which the chocolate cake from plaza inn is so incredibly decadent, it made my teeth hurt, haha! Then it was time to call it a night, to prepare for the 5K the following morning. It went smoothly, finished in a great time, I’m not a runner so I’m happy with what I got. We went into the parks once we were all freshened up, no real soreness, just tired. The following day was the Thor 10K, which I completed again in pretty good time. That was my first time for that distance and I loved it. I even got emotional towards the end. There was a lot of stuff going on during that time, that I was worried I wouldn’t finish it but I did. Then the next day, the superheroes half marathon, was hard to get up for, those 3:30AM wake up calls SUCK! This one started out rocky, I was exhausted, emotionally and physically, I felt really fainty(thanks vasovagal syncope) and on top of all that, mother nature thought it would be a great weekend to rip out all of my insides. Needless to say, I didn’t finish but damn did I try. I felt really disappointed in myself for a few weeks after. When I got medically swept, I was taken on the sad wagon, to the bus with my mom and given my pity medal. I didn’t wear any of my marathon weekend stuff, not even my other medals. After al of that, I really just wanted to go home.

We came home that Monday, celebrated my birthday, with my dad, that Friday. Then that Saturday, the 18^th, my older sister and I went to Las Vegas with our best friends who also happen to be sisters, for a quick overnight trip. We left around 9, got to our hotel around 1, which we stayed at the Bellagio, which was absolutely gorgeus. One bummer though, when we arrived our room wasn’t ready but they were in such a rush to valet our car, we took out all our stuff and were basically standing in the lobby with al of our stuff getting weird looks, apparently we’re the ONLY ones ever to travel with our pillows. Luckily, they were able to hold our stuff, then we went to walk around, get some food and then go back to get ready for dinner and our show. We went to dinner at Margaritaville, as a sort of joint birthday dinner for all 4 of us. We use to have a Margaritaville in Glendale, AZ but they left a few years ago and it was good as we rememebered. Then the show we went to was, Criss Angel:Mindfreak, which was all of ours first magic show. It was……interesting, the illusions were great but their aren’t many words to describe it. The following morning, we had the buffett at our hotel, which was expensive but delicious, big selection and very filling.

I do find it really funny that whenever we vacation with our best friends, that when we get home we don’t talk for a few weeks. Like one night we spend in the same room and we need weeks to recover but perhaps that is the secret to such a long friendship (26 years and counting) have a lot of fun, then don’t speak for a few weeks.

Once we returned home it was ready to prepare for my older sister, Lindsey’s, birthday and Thanksgiving, which happened to be on the same day. It was nice, as always, went shopping after dinner. Which I know some people are really against, but it’s something my family and I do together, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

The next day, I had to open the store at 6AM, which totally sucked but then I was off the rest of the weekend.

December: The first weekend of December was spent in Disneyland, celebrating my parent’s 35^th wedding anniversary. Saturday night was the Candlelight Processional, which we had never stopped to watch before and we were curious as to who was the special celebrity guest. We had asked a few castmembers, and they told us it was very hush hush, but the president of Disney had personally asked the person to read the story of the first Christmas. The special guest was………..Christ Hemsworth!!! Thor himself!!!

My little sister, is obsessed with Marvel movies, and once she heard who it was, we had to stay and watch. I’ll share pictures soon!

Once we returned home, my bake shoppe was at the local’s farmers market for the 3 weekends leading up to Christmas, which were awesome! We even debuted a new “Chewy” Gingerbread cookie which is a gingerbread cookie decorated like Chewbacca. They were a huge hit! All of our cookies did incredibly well and I got quite a few orders and some repeat customers, which makes me really happy. Not to get emotional about it but I hope these people know that when they buy my cookies and tell others, they’re really supporting my dream and the career I’m truly passionate about and I can’t express how much that means to me.

Christmas Eve was spent with good people that we don’t see often.

Christmas Day is always a little sad but it was really great.

New Year’s Eve was also spent with good people that we are lucky to see every so often. Went for a boat ride to see the remaining Christmas lights, nice dinner and the toasting of martinelli’s at midnight. Then it was bed time for me, I had to open New Year’s Day, which was a bummer but now it’s in the past.

On Monday, January 8^th, 2018 I’m embarking on a new weightloss journey. I will be following the points plus system from Weight Watcher’s and in the coming weeks, joining a gym and riding my new bike that I got for Christmas and really making a commitment to bettering my life. I cannot be making the same resolution every year and continue not to do anything about it.

I believe that this has now caught us all up and now you can FINALLY get to the thing you truly wanted, the hot cocoa recipe, haha!

 

This recipe I found on Pinterest and it comes from Wickedgoodkitchen.com

• 3 cups Cane granulated sugar, organic pure
• 2 cups Cane light brown sugar, organic pure
• 3 cups Cocoa, fine quality unsweetened
• 1 tbsp Kosher or natural sea salt

Just mix all of these ingredients together, I put them in my Ninja blender to make a really fine powder. It lasts for such a long time, depending on the level of chocolatey goodness you require. With making so much you can extend all of your cozy/cuddly days, does it get much better?

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday, I’m off to the Arizona Coyotes game against the New York Rangers. Go Yotes!

Rod Words AZ

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all doing well! Today, I returned to the local farmer’s market that I was lucky enough to participate in a few years ago, it was so great to be out there again. So a lot of my free time this past week was spent in the kitchen, except for Thursday night. I was very fortunate to take part in a unique blog event taking place at Rod Works located at the shops of Norterra, one of two of the AZ locations. All together they have 9 locations in AZ, Utah, Nevada, California and very soon adding store #10 in Colorado.

When we (we meaning my sister and I, she blogs at www.runningaroundwithlindsey.com) first arrived, we were greeted with so much warmth and kindness that we felt that we were entering someone’s home instead of an amazing shop. I was blown away by how much stuff there was to look at. My family and I are huge Halloween deco fans, so beyond entering we noticed the beautiful Halloween display located in the very front of the store, that any passerby would be drawn to.  This store is like so many but like nothing I have ever been to and I know that sounds confusing but it had so many things. I had such a hard time picking my absolute favorite part and products of the store that I simply can’t. Once I got home I was instantly planning my next visit, and I’m so excited for the Christmas Decorations that will gracing the walls of this homey store very soon!

I also received a pretty sweet swag bag containing, a Shops of Norterra To go hot beverage cup, Some adorable glasses from Amazing Lash Studio, 3 different gift certificates to Norterra Salon and Spa, a coupon to Texas Roadhouse and also a coupon for Charming Charlie’s. As well as, when signing up to participate in this event, my sister and I received a $75 gift card(each) to spend at Rod Works. The prices are so incredibly reasonable, it was unreal. My sister and I easily got nearly a dozen items between the two of us and definitely left wanting more and eager to return. Along with many incredible attributes of this store is they will help you design and decorate any space you need help with! To give you an idea of what sort of store they are, check out their website at, www.rodworks.com

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If you happen to live in the Phoenix/Gilbert area, on September 30, 2017 they are hosting a “Ghouls Night Out” Party. Where they will have prizes, treats and 20% off entire purchase for all of their customers! If you love fun, love, Halloween, cottage chic, kitchen décor and so much more, you will absolutely love this store!

 

Here is a picture of the haul that my sister and I made while shopping and mingling with fellow AZ bloggers.

 

I just want to take a second to thank everyone that put this amazing event together and to the wonderful shop owners, Eileen and Scott Salmon for opening their doors to us bloggers.

While I did receive some pretty great “treats “all of these thoughts and opinions are my own.

Have a great day!!

Happy National Cheese Pizza Day!

Hello Everyone and Happy National Cheese Pizza Day!!

 

I love pizza and I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. Whether it’s delivered, pick-up or homemade, I love it. Today, I thought I would share with you a recipe for homemade pizza. If you don’t want to take the time to make it, I encourage you to order some, what’s the point of a National Holiday if no one celebrates it?

To Start, Thick Crust Pizza Dough:

• 1 ½ Cups to 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Salt
• ½ tsp Sugar
• 1 Pkg. Active Dry Yeast
• ¾ Cup Water
• 1 Tbsp Oil

In large bowl, combine ¾ cup flour, salt, sugar, and yeast; blend well. In small saucepan, heat water and oil until very warm; add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in ½ to ¾ cup flour to form stiff dough.

On floured surface, knead in ¼ to ½ cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 to 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. Set aside.

 

Pizza Sauce:

• ½ Cup Chopped Onion
• 3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Cup Chopped Fresh Tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes
• 8-oz. can (1 Cup) Tomato Sauce
• 6-oz. Can Tomato Paste
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Oregano Leaves
• 2 tsp Basil Leaves
• 1/8 tsp Pepper

In large skillet, sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Pizza Deluxe:

• 1 Recipe Thick Crust Pizza Dough
• ¾ Cup Pizza Sauce
• 3 1/2 oz. Pkg. Sliced Pepperoni
• 5-oz. Jar Sliced Mushrooms, drained (Optional)
• ¼ Cup Chopped Green Pepper
• 6 oz. (1 ½ Cups) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 4 oz. (1 Cup) Shredded Provolone Cheese

Grease 12-inch pizza pan. With greased fingers, press dough into prepared pan, forming ½-inch rim. Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, 15 to 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 Degrees F. Bake crust 8 to 10 minutes or until set and very light golden brown. Spread sauce over partially baked crust. Arrange pepperoni, mushrooms and green pepper over pasta sauce. Combine mozzarella and provolone cheeses; sprinkle over pizza. Bake at 400 Degrees F. for an additional 18 to 25 minutes or until crust is a deep golden brown.

 

Enjoy!!

Hope You Are having A Relaxing Day!

Motivation Monday

Hey Everyone!

I hope this Monday finds you all well and good and hopefully motivated, if not this particular post might help. Today, I’m going to share some motivational quotes that I’ve come across on my never-ending quest to get and stay motivated. If you’re like me, having little motivators around help keep you on track throughout the day. So here we go:

• Make it happen. Shock Everyone.
• Don’t wait until you’ve reached your goal to be proud of yourself, be proud of every step you take toward reaching that goal.
• When you feel like quitting think about why you started.
• Keep your squats low and your standards high.
• Be stronger than your excuses.
• Working on myself, by myself, for myself.
• Don’t stop when it hurts, stop when you’re done.
• Push harder than yesterday if you want a different tomorrow.
• Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.
• “Exercise is a celebration of what your body can do. Not a punishment for what you ate.”- Women’s Health UK
• Let exercise be your stress relief, not food.
• Fall in love with taking care of your body.
• Motivate the mind; the body will follow.
• Be a bad ass with a good ass.
• Push yourself because, no one else is going to do it for you.
• Work out. Eat well. Be patient. Your body will reward you.
• Discipline is doing what you know needs to be done even if you don’t want to do it.
• You are you only limit.
• It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger.
• 70% of people that start a fitness plan, quit. Except you. Not this time.
• You don’t get what you wish for. You get what you work for.

If you have any quotes you would like to share, please do!

Have a great day!