Mozzarella Sticks, Chicken Wings, and Pretzel Bites...slathered in Ranch!

We busted out the deep fryer and had an appetizer for dinner kind of night : ) Pintrest inspired of course!

My biggest recommendation is to read the direction all the way through before you start...we'll get to that...

All the ingredients out and ready to make some magic!

Mozzarella Sticks

Panko Bread Crumbs, Corn Starch, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, Fresh Parsley 

in the food processor for a quick spin,

Mozzarella sticks cut down to bite size : ) Flour, egg wash, and our breading mix!

Start on one end and work your way to the other, cover, dip, cover (repeat for double breaded!)

Into the fryer! (This is where I missed a step...after breading put them in the freezer for about an hour...this way your cheese won't disappear from your mozz sticks!)

I told him they were hot, I had just taken them out of the fryer...but no he doesn't listen : )

Then we started on making our own CHICKEN WINGS!!!

First we used the same process we did for the mozzarella sticks : ) Flour, egg wash, bread crumb mixture : )

All covered up! We bought just drumsticks : ) no wings!  

No sauce, just the same breading we used on the Mozzarella Sticks! Yummy!

The rest we just covered in flour, fryed, then covered in wing sauce!

 Then I got crazy and after I sauced them I covered them with Blue Cheese Crumbles 

and fryed them again : ) SO YUMMY!!!

So I have a secret that I will share...okay if you know me it's not a secret, but I LOVE RANCH!

But I'm picky about my ranch and I really wish that I could buy it by the gallon from a restaurant cause I really am not a fan of Hidden Valley or anything else I have found in the grocery store...

I have found a recipe that I think I will stick with!

I took this RANCH DRESSING recipe and added half of a ranch dressing packet...I was so happy with it!!

The only thing I wish I did was puree my parsley and chives...

I don't have the skills to finely chop my herbs yet...I say yet, cause I'm working on it

PRETZELS

Just going to give a shout out to my Kitchenaid...I love this kitchen tool!

That little ball of dough rose over the top of the bowl within an hour!

Trying to do it right...rolling out my dough!

Rob challenged me to "throw" a real pretzel...I showed him : ) 

This is where I'm not sure about the process...drop the pretzel dough into a pot of boiling water with 3/4C of baking soda in it...then we layed them out on a cookie sheet, basted them with melted butter and a sprinkle of salt! 

Baked for about 15 minutes and Viola! Pretzel bites : ) They were good, but not exactly what I was looking for so I will try a different recipe next time..

Hope you're hungry!

Mal, Rob and Kyecen

FIRST CAMPING TRIP OF THE SEASON!!!

We made our first camping trip of the season!!!

We took our friends Joe and Becca with us and their little puppy : )

We also found a new spot, it was a little farther than we usually go because we decided to go on a weekend...but it was a little more open with a lot less people than our regular spot!

This is our new spot!

 Camp is all set and now it's time to relax!

Even the puppy is going to relax...this is his favorite way to lay...

In the water!!!

Beautiful sunset over the lake

Joe and Becca, our new camping buddies!

Sitting by the campfire after burgers and smores! 

Having a blast!

Our little water bug and the puppy passed out all snuggled together on the ride home!

-Happy Campers!

Rob, Mal, Kyecen, Joe, Becca and Apollo

Pintrest Tuesdays 5.15.12 Cake Pops, Strawberries, and Chicken Enchiladas!

Pintrest Tuesday!!!

Today was a busy one! We made a lot of goodies tonight : )

Dylan even joined in! He found cake pops on pintrest...yes he looks at pintrest too...

So we started with Funfetti Cake pops! Dylan made them with just a little bit of my help : )

Teaching Dylan how to "bake"...gather your ingredients first and preheat the oven, then mix and bake!

After your cake is cool, crumble it up and mix with frosting! Then make into little balls and put in the freezer

After about an hour in the freezer, put a lollipop stick in and dip into melted chocoalte coating!

Cover the whole thing!

And don't forget to add some sprinkles before it hardens...

and enjoy!!!

Then I made Chicken Enchiladas from scratch!!!

I boiled three chicken breasts with Cayanne Pepper, Cumin, Garlic Salt, Paprika, and Onion in the water. Then in a bowl I mixed the same spices and three blocks of cream cheese together. After the chicken was done I shredded it in the food proccessor, and mixed it with the cream cheese.  Then I put a big spoonful in a flour/corn tortilla and add shredded cheese and green chilies, roll up and lay them in the pan side by side. Then I covered them in red enchilada sauce and more cheese! Bake for 30 minutes! Yum Yum!!!

One pan of Corn Tortillas and one of Flour Tortillas

One of each!

Then I finished up the night with

Cheesecake filled Chocolate dipped Strawberries!

I kind of cheated on this one...I used No-Bake Jello Cheesecake,

but they were DELICIOUS as Kyecen says : )

Cut off the stems and hollowed out the strawberries, then dipped them in white chocolate,

After I filled them with Cheesecake I dipped it in Grahm Crackers!

YUMMY!

Pin it!

Mal, Rob, Kyecen, Dylan, Joe, and Becca!

Las Vegas! April 1, 2012

VEGAS BABY!!!!

We'll preface this trip with a little story for those of you that don't know... I have never been to Vegas (while old enough to participate in any activities) and I have never been to a concert...I'm lame I know...

Road Trip!

I think the best way to start any vacation!

Day 1

Our first night in Vegas we had tickets to see Ron White...Awesome show! He is hilarious!

But we got started on the road late and we literally showed up 30 minutes before we had to pick up our tickets from the box office and an hour before the show...we didn't make it to our hotel and changed in the parking lot!

WORTH IT!

Day 2

We had finally got checked into our hotel...the Excalibur...I would only reccomend if you don't have high standards and will not be spending any time in your room...very cheap, but you get what you pay for.

CONCERT TIME

Zac Brown hosted the ACM Fan Jam at Mandalay Bay!

It was aired with the ACM Awards being recorded in the MGM

See everyone down on the floor by the stage?! Thats where we were, about 10 people from the stage! and we only got closer as the night went on!

They televised the whole ACM's into the concert...and they televised the concert into the ACM's...

We also had a DJ that played during commercial breaks....

and they even had awards given on our side!

After the awards show Zac Brown came out and announced that they were going to do a full set!

By then we were about 3 people from stage! So cool!

They also announced that this concert was being videotaped for GAC and would be a TV special...

They had cameras all over in the crowd...we need to get our hands on it and see if we made it on there!

What a GREAT night! We had a blast, great music, and made some great concert buddies!

Rob keeps telling me that no concert will ever be able to top this one...

he's probably right, but a girl can dream can't she?!!

DAY 3

We just walked around the strip and wandered in and out of different hotels....we got a late start after our late night and 7+ straight hours on our feet from the night before..

But after a good long nap we got all spiffied up and went out on the town!

and we danced the night away!

DAY 4

Time to go home : (

We did ride the roller coaster at New York New York before we left though!

and finally did a little bit of gambling...

We did get sidetracked on the way home and went to the Hoover Damn and walked around!

What a beautiful view! Don't worry Rob and Lynne I didn't hang over the edge too far ; )

It took everything Kyecen had to stay awake long enough for us to get home and to get his present for being good for Grandma while we were gone...we didn't even make it out of the neighborhood before he was asleep!

We can't wait to go again! Maybe with some more people next time!!

Mal, Rob, and a sugared up Kyecen!