Chocolate & Strawberry Brownie Trifle

I had a couple pints of fresh strawberries on hand and wanted to use them in a dessert. I was also craving something chocolatey, so that's how this trifle was born. Very easy, very decadent. Here's how I made it:

Chocolate & Strawberry Brownie Trifle

Ingredients:

-1 box of your favorite brownie mix (prepared as directed)

-1 large box of chocolate pudding mix (5.1 oz)

-1 large box of white chocolate pudding mix (or two small boxes was all I could find)

-regular size container of cool whip, thawed

-about 3 cups of fresh strawberries (or any berry you like)

-milk (about 6-7 cups)

Bake your brownies as directed on the box and let cool. Wash & slice strawberries. In a large bowl, prepare your chocolate pudding mix as directed on the box with the milk. Then in another bowl prepare your white chocolate pudding mix as directed on the box with milk as well. When the brownies have cooled, it's time to layer.

Start by layering half the brownies (cut into small pieces) in the bottom of your bowl. Then top with half the sliced strawberries. Then pour your chocolate pudding over them. Then add the rest of your brownie pieces on top, top with the rest of your strawberries, then the white chocolate pudding, and then finally top with your cool whip! That simple. Keep refrigerated.

Easter weekend

The girls were really into the Easter festivities this year. I cannot tell you how many times we have hunted eggs this past week. 

Here's their Easter baskets..

Miss Isabella with her basket

and Audrey with hers. You can see they LOVE books.

The Easter bunny brought them new night gowns as well.

And Auntie Leigh Ann made Easter cupcakes.

We also had a (okay, many, many) glow-in-the-dark egg hunt. The girls LOVED this. We just filled the eggs with small glow bracelets, hid them around the house and turned the lights off. Made for some great pre-bed time fun :)

And this is totally random, but check out my Iris blooming. I'm so excited!

Here's Miss Belle hunting eggs with Daddy.

Checking out their loot

Picking out a whistle from the Easter bunny lady

Me & my other half ;)

And then Daddy & Bella at Easter service :)

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter!

Happy Easter & a recipe

The girls had their Easter parties today & had so much fun. They both came home with a bag full of eggs (and massive amounts of candy...eek), and some cute little Easter crafts they had made. Bella made "rabbit ears" with her footprints which was soo cute. You know how Moms love handprints and footprints? They never get old! I actually had time to sit down and write a blog because they are hiding eggs for each other as we speak. Yes, you heard me right... THEY ARE ACTUALLY ENTERTAINING THEMSELVES. Hooray for Easter! Maybe we should hunt eggs all year? And here's pics of the baby girls before their big egg hunt today :)

And while we are on the topic of holidays, I just realized I've yet to share their Saint Patrick's Day pics. We've been trying hard this year to celebrate holiday in some little way. Here they are for St. Patrick's Day. Festive, huh? :) 

And since I haven't shared a recipe in a bit (mostly because I haven't been cooking a lot lately), I wanted to share a super delicious one that I have enjoyed recently. Probably the best apple pie I've had!

Skillet Apple Pie

(recipe from Southern Living) 

2 pounds Granny Smith apples

2 pounds Braeburn apples

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter 

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts 

1 egg white 

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Peel apples, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup granulated sugar.

2. Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 piecrust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over piecrust, and top with remaining piecrust. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of piecrust with egg white; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.

3. Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before serving.

Would make a perfect Easter dessert, by the way ;) Have a great weekend everyone!!

Christina's "John Deere" Theme Baby Shower

One of my best friend's, Christina, is expecting a baby boy! And I was so excited about throwing her a baby shower. So I got busy gathering ideas, and enlisted the help of my super creative sis, and I was so thrilled with all we came up with. Christina is a country girl, so we thought it would be cute to do a "John Deere" theme baby shower. And here's the rundown of how this cute baby shower turned out...

The Cupcake Tower

(Let me just say, I was sooo excited about how the wheat on the topper pulled it all together. You know, tractors... crops.. wheat.. what better? Easily excited, I know!)

The Food Spread...

Leigh Ann (my sis), the Mommy to be & her daughter, and Me

Mini Fruit Pizzas! YUM. These were a hit.

(Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe to bake cookies. Ice with Duncan Hines Homestyle Cream Cheese Icing, Top with kiwi, blueberries & strawberries, or whatever fruit you like. Keep chilled until ready to eat.  Easy & yummy.)

Brownie bites

Ham & Cheese Sliders (Thank you Pinterest!)

Donut Hole Tower (thanks Leigh Ann ;)

Just take a styrofoam cone, poke toothpicks halfway in, then place your donut hole on the end of the toothpick. Work your way from the bottom to top!)

1st Diaper Wreath I've made

Shower Punch

(Recipe)

(I could not find my bundt pan for the life of me, so Leigh Ann had the bright idea that we use a cupcake pan to make smaller floating "ice rings". Turned out perfect.)

the "Fingerprint tree" guestbook

I've seen these before and ended up putting one together for Christina. The guests just make a fingerprint "leaf" and then sign their name above. Really cute keepsake.

Some of the gifts

Decorate a Onesie

I have the hardest time coming up with shower games. I mean who hasn't smelled candy in a diaper a million times or tasted baby food blindfolded and what not. (Not that those are bad games... just not what I was looking for.) I thought that instead of doing a bunch of games, it might be easy & fun to make custom onesies for the baby. 

All I did was get a whole bunch of white onesies in different sizes. Then I gathered a bunch of fabric pieces & scraps to use that I thought were cute. I printed out lots of different shapes and stencils and then cut them out for guests to use as templates if they didn't have an idea of their own. (For example, do a google search for "guitar silhouette" and you will usually come up with something you can use for a stencil.) Guests picked their stencil and their fabric, and then we used an iron to bond their piece of fabric to Heat and Bond Ultra iron on adhesive. (I had bought 2 yards.) Then they just traced their stencil and cut it out, and we peeled off the Heat and Bond and then ironed it on the onesie according to directions. (About 8 seconds of pressure to iron it on.) I also had buttons and such that you could sew on for eyes or what not.

The Mommy to Be ironing her onesie

Everyone did really great & we all had a good time creating the onesies. Then we hung them on a clothes line and took pictures of all our designs. Watch out Etsy! jk 

Close-ups!

Was great catching up with all our old friends :)

Opening her "big sister" gifts :)

So sweet!

Can't wait to meet baby!