A New Twist on an Old Favorite

We're back from the beach and had a GREAT time! I'll post pix asap. For some reason I've gone into nesting mode. I'm cookin' up a storm! I came back to discover a massive overgrowth of basil in the garden and had to harvest it asap. So, I have a plethora of pesto in the fridge. The first night I concocted a pasta/chicken/artichoke dish with pesto cream sauce that was super yummy but after that I was stumped. What to do with all this pesto? I decided that since my kids LOVE the crescent roll chicken bundles I would mix that up a bit and come up with a new recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls
1 large (I use the 13 oz. size from Sam's Club) can of chicken
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup pesto (depending on how strong you want the flavor to be)

First, mix the chicken, sour cream and pesto and add salt and pepper to taste:



Next, separate your roll dough into eight squares, mashing the perforated lines together...



Add about a 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture to each square...



Next, fold over the points of the square toward the middle of the chicken mixture to create a pocket...



Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees until browned (about 20 minutes or so)



These were so tasty! I even used the low fat version of the rolls and didn't notice a difference at all. The kids loved them (even though they were green!)

Serves 8.

These also freeze really well...

Super Mario Bros. Success!

After having such success with BabyGirl's birthday at the Y Pool I was luckily able to convince BabyBoy to do something similar for his 7th birthday party. The Y has what they call and "inflatable" party where they set up this huge inflatable obstacle course in the gym, let the kids play for an hour, and then send them up to the party room for food and cake. Easy, right?
BabyBoy being the budding computer genius that he is was determined to find the perfect cake to go with his chosen Mario Bros. theme. So, he googled "super mario bros. cake" and here's what he came up with...

Ummmm. Yeah. Mommy can bake a little but Ace of Cakes I'm not. I had to bring him back to earth just a bit. We did end up with a pretty cool cake, though. I actually ran out of time and the option became I could EITHER bake the cake or ice the cake. Sooooo, I headed off to Ukrop's and purchased the largest sheet cake they had, scraped off the oh, so delicious icing, colored my purchased icing bright blue, and went to town with the pre made fondant I had purchased. Here was the result...

The fondant was actually really easy to work with. I wasn't really doing anything 3D or crazy like that so it went pretty smoothly.

For the favors I found some cute ice cream cups at the dollar store and filled each with crinkly shreds and a gift card for a kids cone at Maggie Moo's.

The invitations were purchased from a seller on Ebay and I have to say I was really pleased...you simply send them the info and they send you a pdf of the invitation that you print out yourself. You can find them here.

I purchased all of the birthday supplies from Celebrate Express. This was the only place I was able to find them. They had really cute blue balloons with white clouds and I added yellow balloons with white stars and solid red balloons. It was definitely a cheap way to add to the theme. Overall...another successful party and very low stress!

Cookie Monsters Take Note!

I've searched high and low and I think I've finally found my favorite online baker! In case you haven't noticed from some of my past posts...I love baking and decorating cookies. I just hate the clean up! I also LOVE to look at photos of other baker's cookies. While perusing the net I stumbled upon Zoe Lukas' Whipped Bakeshop. Her cookie creations are incredible! Check them out...















Kim, these are for your boys!





And did I mention she bakes cakes, too?





Each one better than the next! See more here!

Summer Must Haves

I thought I'd list a few of my must haves for summer. Oprah finally came out with a summer favorites show, so why not? I'm also adding a delicious Margarita Recipe at the end. You will not believe how delicious and light it is! Enjoy!

SKIN SO SOFT Bug Guard Plus IR3535® EXPEDITION™ SPF 30 Aerosol Spray



Who can argue with an all in one spray? I love Skin So Soft. It really is the best bug repellant ever. My Grammy used to sell Avon and I was so embarassed. Ha! If she could see me now...hoarding bug spray.

Coach Sari Sandals in Gold Lamee



I never thought I'd use the words gold and lamee in the same sentence. Maybe gold and LAME, but not lamee. At any rate, these sandals are adorable and I covet them. I just need to figure out how to swing it credit-wise.

Pottery Barn Personalized Beach Towels



For whatever reason, everyone at my pool seems to have the same beach towel. Of course, I have the same one as well. It's great to have them personalized...it helps the kids (and the moms) remember which towel goes home with which kid. Cause ya'll know I am NOT gonna be someone else's laundry bitch.

Anything SCOUT!




I LOVE these bags, totes and boxes. Love them at the beach, in the car, at the pool...you name it, I love them. You can find them on sale here.

This adorable swimsuit from La Blanca



Ya'll know I love me some animal prints. I got the top and paired it with a little brown skirty thingy. I'm sporting a little more junk in the trunk than I'd like so the skirt is a necessary evil for now.

Tennis Racquet Cover from Lilly Pulitzer



LOVING this cover. I'm not totally sure about the white...seems like it would get dirty. Do love the inside print, though.

Cotton Stretch dress from Lilly Pulitzer



Speaking of junk in the trunk...who doesn't love a little cotton knit? This dress is adorable! I feel like you could wear it to the beach during the day and to the club at night for dinner. So comfy!



And now...the moment we've all been waiting for. This is by far THE BEST margarita recipe I've ever tried...

1 bottle Corona Light
1 can Sprite Zero
1 can frozen lemon lime juice mix (the frozen kind that's like orange juice. DON'T get the frozen Margarita mix from Bacardi, just the plain old lemon lime)
8 oz. Cuervo Gold tequila (or tequila of your choice...you can add more or less depending on your taste)

Mix and serve. Delicious!