Lemon Blueberry Bundt

I love lemon and blueberries. Put them together and I'm a happy girl. I have a friend who also likes that combination so I decided to try something easy and drop it off. They said it was delicious so I thought I'd share.

What you'll need:

Lemon Cake Mix

Make almost according to directions. I replaced the water with 1 C Milk and 1/4 C Lemon Juice.

Mix in 1 C Blueberries, I used frozen.

Pour into bundt pan and bake until you put a tester (skewer or knife) in and it comes out clean, for me, that was about 35 minutes.

Cool 10 minutes and invert on a plate.

Drizzle

1 C Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 T Lemon Juice
2 t Vanilla
Food coloring if you want

Mix together and drizzle over the top of the cake.

Sleek Hair

My hair used to be stick straight. I paid for many a spiral perm in my day and then I got pregnant. After I had Max I had naturally wavy, sometimes curly hair depending on the product and the humidity level. It was fun for awhile but the thing about having curly hair, you need to wash it every day for it to look decent or at least I do and being a busy Mom, I'm lucky to have time to wash my hair every couple of days, ponytails became my good friend.

I used to be able to use any type of shampoo and conditioner and round brush my hair into a decent looking style but as I'm getting older, my hair is getting more coarse, add the curls and well, I need all the help I can get.

I also must confess, I'm an Aveda snob. My name is Christol and I've been addicted to Aveda since my late teens. Aveda has this great shampoo for hair like mine, Smooth Infusions, LOVE it. But, my budget needed an overhaul and I had to get creative. I saw this on the shelf when I was buying my son's shampoo...
I decided to give Suave "Sleek" Shampoo a try. I have to admit, I get very similar results from this shampoo and conditioner for a very small fraction of the cost. Alanna's daughter started using it and she is just as happy with the results. So give it a try if your hair needs some sleeking:)

Buttercream Frosting

To make butter cream frosting
2 sticks of soft Butter
4-5 C Powdered Sugar
2 t Vanilla
4-7 T Milk

Start out with 2 sticks of butter.  Whip until the butter is CREAMY and light.  About 5 minutes.  Add 4 C powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 T milk. Mix it with your mixer. Keep adding milk by the T until it's the consistency you want.

IF you add too much milk, add more powdered sugar. I've never used a true recipe for frosting, it was an add and adjust philosophy. When it's done, separate into different bowls and add food coloring. If you are using liquid food coloring remember it will thin the frosting a bit.

Cranberry Bliss bars

I had some Craisins I needed to use up and went looking around for a recipe and found this on some copy cat website. They are supposed to be a copycat of Starbucks Cranberry Bliss bars. Since I don't drink coffee and haven't had the opportunity to try their bars, I went in blind.

I should further state that if a recipe has the word "bliss" in the title, it should contain chocolate but that's just me;) The word bliss to me makes for expectations. Expecations that mean I will put it in my mouth and think OMG!! These bars didn't do that but I did like them quite a bit. A woman at work who works part-time at Starbucks said they were very close to the ones they sell. And, it's one of Alanna's new favorites.

They have a dryer, cake like consistency. They have good flavor and I could see how you would like this with a cup of coffee.

What you'll need:

2 sticks of softened Butter
1/3 C Sugar
1 C packed Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
2 t Orange Extract
2 C Flour
1 1/2 t Baking Powder
1 t Ginger
3/4 C Craisins
3/4 C White Chocolate Chips

Beat Butter and sugars with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until it's nice and creamy. Add the Eggs, Flour, Baking Powder, Extract and Ginger and mix until blended. Fold in Craisins and Chips.

Spread into a sprayed 15x10 pan. That's a cookie sheet with an edge in my house.

Bake at 350 for 18-25 minutes. I baked for 20 because the recipe said 20-25 and should have gone 18 minutes. Every oven is different so just check them starting at 18 please:)

Cool and frost.

Frosting:
2 T softened Butter
3 oz Cream Cheese
1 t Orange Extract
3 C Powdered Sugar
2 T Milk

Mix all together with your electric mixer and if it seems to thick, add another tablespoon of milk. You want a firmer frosting but not so thick that you can't spread it.

Now top with:
1/3 C chopped Craisins
Zest from one Orange
1/4 C White Chocolate melted

Sprinkle the craisins and orange zest on top.

Melt white chocolate, took 1 minute in my microwave. Take a fork and drizzle over the top.

Cool at least an hour.

Cut into 20 large bars and then cut diagonal so you have 40 triangle bars. Share with your friends.

Beat your butter and sugars together for 3 minutes
This is after you've added all the ingredients and folded in craisins and chips
Spread in sprayed pan
I would have liked to see these a little lighter but wasn't paying attention. 18 minutes would have been the ticket.
See how the frosting is just a little thick
Frost bars
Chop your craisins
Use the small side of the grater
You want to make sure you just get the orange off, don't go deep on the skin.
Sprinkle zest and craisins and drizzle white chocolate
Share with your friends:)

Fudge Frosting

My Mom has been making this frosting forever. I think it's actually on the Cocoa can.

Fudge Frosting
1/2 C Butter
1/3 C Milk
4 T Cocoa
Bring to a boil. Add
2 t Vanilla
3 1/2 C Powdered Sugar

Whisk until smooth. Pour over your favorite brownies or cake.

Mock Chowmein

I'm breaking my rule of 8 hours or more for a crock pot recipe but I have a good reason. My son has confirmation on Wednesdays. We leave and are gone for about an hour and a half. We come home ready for dinner.

I typically make this in the oven but it works great with 2 hours in the crock pot.

What you'll need:

1 lb Hamburger or ground Turkey
1/2 small Onion minced
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup ~ I use 98% fat free
1 can Skim Milk
1 can Water
1/3 C Soy Sauce
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 C Brown Rice

Cook meat with onion and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix soup, milk, water and soy sauce in the crock pot. Throw in the rice, hamburger and celery and stir. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours. OR you can put in 350 oven covered for 1 hour. Top with chow mein noodles.

Lasik

This month is my 2 year anniversary of having Lasik surgery. I was basically blind without my contacts or glasses and had been considering Lasik since it came out years ago. BUT I was a chicken. The thought of surgery on my eyes, eyes I could see out of with contacts or glasses, well it made my stomach hurt to think about it.

What finally pushed me towards Lasik surgery is that I needed new glasses. I've never liked the way I looked in glasses. I knew I would have to pay more money to have the thinnest lenses possible made but they still weren't "thin". So, I made the appointment and found out I was a candidate. I did my research, I asked friends who had it done and almost everyone said the same thing, "Wish I had done it sooner. Best money I've ever spent".

I made the appointment to have it done and tried not to think about it. I had to wear my glasses for a week before the surgery to give my eyes a rest from contacts. I couldn't wear eye make up the day of surgery or for the week following. I needed to be able to sleep for 4 hours after the surgery and someone had to drive me home. I also needed to buy a bunch of eye drops. That was it.

The day of the surgery, I went to work, Kristen picked me up and drove me to the appointment. I was given a Valium and put in a massage chair to watch an after care movie while I waited.

A nurse brought me back to the surgery room and during the surgery there was a few seconds of uncomfortable pressure and a second where everything went black and my heart stopped. I immediately said, "EVERYTHING is black" and was assured that was normal and the light came back before their words finished. That might have been something they should have told me BEFORE it happened;) The entire procedure took about 5 minutes.

I walked out and could read signs that were blocks away!! I haven't been able to do that without glasses since I was in grade school!

I was sent home with some sexy sunglasses and goggles to wear while I slept. Imagine big bug style with a white elastic band that goes around your head and you're getting an idea of what those goggles looked like. I had to wear those goggles for a week while I slept because they didn't want me to accidentally rub my eye or have a pillow edge hit my eye while it healed.

Unfortunately, my dog had a barking fit and I didn't get to "sleep" the entire 4 hours but I kept my eyes closed for 4 because it did sting and lots of moisture was coming out if I tried to open them.

After the 4 hours, I got up, ate dinner and watched a little TV. My right eye felt fine and my left felt like it was tired. Imagine how your contacts feel when you're tired, kind of scratchy and dry. I used eye drops every time I thought about it for well over a month because I thought that would help with the healing.

I drove myself to the check up appointment the next morning and haven't had a problem since. The hardest part was walking through those doors to have the procedure done but I am SO glad that I did it.

Waking up and seeing the clock, not having to worry about getting water in my eyes at the pool, no more fears of losing a contact, the reasons are endless. I ditto what everyone said to me, "I wish I had done it YEARS ago".