12th Man Rice Krispy Treats

Since we live in Washington this Superbowl is a special one. My oldest son's teacher is a HUGE fan.  She took a picture of her class all dressed up and was on Website of the local News Station. So I wanted to do something fun for her class room, I was going to make this for my youngest son's class too but he was sick so I only had to make enough for one class room. I wanted a deep blue but Micheal's was out so I had to tint a light blue, it made the chocolate a little hard to manage. I found this idea for 12th Man on Party Pincing.

**Updated with better pictures from my 2nd time making them **

What you need:

Candy Melts - Dark Blue

Candy Melts - Green

Candy Melts - White

Vanilla Wafers - I used Minis

Food Writer Black

Rice Krispy Treats

I used the mini wafers since I was going to have to make 60 of these for the two classes and wanted to stretch my rice krispy treats I made. I cut them into rectangles to be the bodies. I melted my Candy Melts and dipped the treats, just about 2/3 of the treat.  I took a food writer and made the face. I melted some white candy melts and made the 12 on the blue and green to be the shirts. I then put a dollop on the un-dipped part of the treat to attach the face.  I found when I did the green I used my fondant spreader knife and they turned out a little cleaner. Lesson learned for next time!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

I have been Featured on Jenny Marie Happy Monday

I was featured this week for my Frozen Nail kit!  This was such an easy project to put together but I thought it was so cute for the theme I was doing.  Thank you to Jenny Marie for the feature!

Have a GREAT Weekend!

Taco Tuesday ... Spicy Beef Taquitos

I thought I'd try out this Taco Tuesday thing for dinner, I usually don't do taco's since they are higher in calories and I'm trying hard to watch those.  I found a yummy recipe on my favorite weight watcher recipe site Emily Bites for Spicy Beef Taquitos.  It was actually pretty darn easy, it was a bit too spicy for me next time I think I'll tweak the recipe and use a regular taco seasoning.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lb 95% lean ground beef
• ½ cup salsa (I used pico de gallo)
• 3 oz 50% reduced fat Pepper Jack cheese, shredded (I used Mexican Blend)
• 16 6” corn tortillas (I used Mission Extra Thin Yellow Corn)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil and then lightly mist it with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Combine the chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper in a dish and stir together to make your own taco seasoning. Set aside.
3. Bring a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the ground beef. Cook while breaking up with a wooden spoon until beef is completely browned and broken into small pieces. Drain any grease from the pan. Add the taco seasoning from step 2 and the salsa and stir together until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add the shredded cheese. Stir to combine.
4. Place about half the tortillas between two paper towels and microwave them for 30-60 seconds until they are warm and pliable. Place a tortilla on a clean, dry work surface and then scoop two rounded tablespoons of beef filling onto the bottom third of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla up from the bottom to surround the filling and once it’s rolled into a tube, place it on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat steps with the remaining ingredients (including microwaving the other half of the tortillas when you get to them). When all the taquitos are rolled and on the baking sheet, mist the tops of the taquitos with cooking spray.
5. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until tortillas start to get golden and crispy.

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PLUS:2 PP per taquito, two taquitos are 5 PP (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER TAQUITO:
98 calories, 9 g carbs, 3 g fat, 9 g protein, 2 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

1st Birthday Cake - M&M Cake

It's been a while since I made a cake for Birthday Dreams (bringing birthday's to homeless kids), they hadn't had a party in my area so I jumped at the chance when I saw one added. The theme was first birthday, so I thought it would be fun to make a cake shaped as a 1 and then I remembered seeing the M&M cakes. I found an idea on how to make the 1 on Monkey Birthday Cakes and for the M&M design I found an idea on One Little Project.

What you Need:

2 square cakes (I used Simple White Cake a doubled recipe)

Buttercream Frosting (I used my Sturdy Buttercream frosting)

M&M's

Knife

Shape your cake into a 1, I played around to make it look just right.  I then frosted the cake in my sturdy buttercream.  

Then make a diagonal row of the M&M's once you have one row keep adding.  Now this is time consuming, but it turned out so cool!  Now I was running low on yellows and had to keep opening bags until I had enough .. lol. Next time if I plan ahead I'll buy the big bag instead of the small bags I was using.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Road Trip Gift Basket

Most of you know I take class at the Y religiously during the week, you would think I would be a stick figure after all these class but that is a story for another day ... lol. One of my favorite instructors is moving, her husband is the military and they have been stationed in another state.  They will driving since they have 3 dogs and a daughter so I wanted to make them a road trip basket. Since they are healthier I tried to do healthy snacks, but hey they are allowed to splurge every once in a while too.

What you Need:

Basket

Crossword Puzzles (for the one not driving)

Pens

Toothbrushes

Tooth Paste

Deodorant

Hand Lotion

Drink

Gum

Snacks

Put it all in the basket and you can put a little note in also.  I was late of course that night so no note from me.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Onto a New Me

As we start the new year and everyone is onto making them-self a better version.  Most of you know I hit the gym a lot I just haven't gotten my groove back with the weight loss. So I'm making it a point to really stick through it. This week and last has been crazy with work.  I made it a point to get myself to the gym 5 days last week.  This week I've made it to the gym 3 days so far and have workout in the AM 3 days also!  Here's to see a difference in my pants .. lol.

Hope you all are on the path that makes you happy.  I'm not going to let the nah sayer in my say that I don't need to go or I'm too tired or over worked. This past two weeks have been a test with the overload at work but I will make it to my work outs!  I may NOT make it to anything else ... ugh working on that. LOL

Here's a KILLER workout I would say I'm loving!

IGNITE by SPRI 900 Calorie Burn