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Strawberry Breakfast Bread

Last week when I finally got to do some major grocery shopping I hit up Henry’s as usual for all of my produce. They had a great sale on berries, which I took advantage of and stocked up on all the varieties: blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. I honestly don’t know what in carnation I was thinking purchasing four pints of strawberries, I mean on the first day Payton probably polished off a good half pint but really Melissa? They started shriveling so I contemplated what I was going to bake. After searching and searching I landed on strawberry bread and a strawberry ice-box tart. With the 90 degree weather plus a hefty amount of humidity I scratched the tart and only baked the bread. The recipe is great, the baking time took double what it states and after tasting it I think I should have used my blackberries instead. I totally plan on using my blackberries for a take on Starbucks’ Very Berry Coffee Cake which is my fav. I made it last year for my parents and it was delish but I am going to change that recipe up a bit. If you want to give this recipe a whirl here you go…

Strawberry Breakfast Bread

(I found this recipe on The Village Cook and she adapted the recipe from “to die for blueberry muffins from allrecipes.com)

In a bowl, mix:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Now- in a 1 cup measuring cup:

1/3 cup oil

2 tsp vanilla (while the recipe calls for vanilla, almond or lemon would be a great substitute)

1 egg

now add milk to the 1 cup mark.

Mix by hand or with your handy dandy KA mixer.

Add 1/3 c coarsely chopped strawberries, and combine the wet and dry ingredients. (I added roughly 1 cup)

Pour into a prepared loaf pan. (I topped with 6 slices of strawberries)

Bake at 375°F for 17-20 min. (I baked mine for 40 minutes, just make sure the bread isn’t all jiggly in the middle and that it has nicely browned edges)

Once cool, drizzle with 2 tps cream mixed with 1 c powdered sugar.

Optional: any fruit can be used. You can also throw in some nuts

splash time!

This morning my sweet ‘lil sidekick and I headed out pretty early to beat the sun and people, literally. We made plans to meet Tessa and G at the Tierrasanta pool at 10 am to get a nice shady spot. Well, when I pulled up I was the only car and then minutes later Tessa pulled up, jumped out of her car and said let me check the hours. We totally beat the crowds by two hours and the sun my thirty minutes. Luckily, there is a nice park right next to the pool so the girls were able to play in the sand, climb the jungle gym and eat their fair share of grapes, cheese and crackers. By 11:45 we were practically banging on the door for them to let us in. This was the first time I have taken P to any sort of water park, she’s done the pool but that’s always on my terms since I have to hold her, etc. This pool is so perfect for the ‘lil tots because a). it’s gated b). the deepest area is about two feet deep and c). there’s a water slide. I know I will be taking her back several times over the duration of Summer, I just need to remember to check their hours before hopping on the freeway. It was a great morning and now my sleeping beauty if off dreaming of the day she can wear her too cute to handle Ruffle Butt’s bikini. Tell me again why they don’t make matching mommy ones too? ha!

noming on grapes.

the top one is blurry but they’re both looking and smiling saying “cheese”. the bottom one G wasn’t having it but P was again saying one of her fav words these days, “cheese”.

so excited when she first step foot into the water. it’s like one big bath tub, but just more fun and you don’t hear mommy yelling, “stop splashing!” a bazillion times.

ugh. too cute to handle.

T helped her at the top while I tried snapping her coming down. So much fun once the out-of-control tots moved out her way.

coming in for a snack.

Oh! Ruffle Butt’s thank you for having a killer Fourth of July sale. I love these little tooshies!

Taco Pizza

Tonight marks the first meal I have made since being back in our house last Friday. Our kitchen has been scrubbed, boxes have been unpacked and our fridge is fully stocked. It was so exciting planning out my meals for this week and even more so going grocery shopping. I have never really talked about it on here but I am a wannabe extreme couponer in the making. I am no where near the crazy ladies you see on TLC’s hit show but I dream of it! I can totally see my Dad rolling his eyes to the side and telling my Mom, “why can’t you do this?” as I clip coupons and make my plan of attack. A few weeks back while shopping at Target with Mom I got couponing envy of two ladies who had their binders, lists and stacks of coupons as they hit the aisles determined, focused. ahhh! A girl can dream.

Okay, back on track, tonight’s dinner was taco pizza and I have to tell you it did not disappoint. We ate all but one piece, I could’ve scarfed it down but I knew I’d be cursing my own name laying in bed tonight (acid reflux has totally set in due to a growing little nugget). I got the inspiration for this recipe from none other than the good ‘ole Pioneer Woman, I have a total girl crush on her by the way! It is super simple to make, of course I did the mom of a toddler version and used a few pre-made ingredients like the pizza dough, thank you Trader Joe’s! I also used pre-shredded cheese, used flour tortilla strips (thought I grabbed corn tortillas yesterday, but apparently with pregnancy comes illiteracy) added black olives and creamy avocado. To see the recipe click here.

photographing food at night blows. I prefer natural light, oh well, you get the idea.

For way prettier pictures go drool over at PW.

BlogHer here I come!

Breathe. Take. A. Deep. Breath! I finally and I mean finally purchased my BlogHer conference pass. I have wanted to attend BlogHer for a few years now and when I saw that it would be in my backyard I knew I had to take advantage and go. I told hubby about it when I first saw that tickets were on sale months ago but like most things in my life I would forget about it, revisit it, dwell on the fact that my job sucked ass and knew I wouldn’t be able to get two consecutive days off so I blew it off. It wasn’t until two weeks ago when I revisited the website for the umpteenth time that I asked hubby again and he said “of course, why wouldn’t you go?” sigh. I really do have the best hubby ever. I am now obsessing like everyone else that is attending for the first time.

What am I going to wear? I mean I am six months preggo.

What parties, events am I going to attend? Should I register for any of the geek bar sessions?

What if I don’t see the two people I actually know, like know in real life. Will I sit and be awkward or be a social bee. We know I have these two social characteristics.

Are you going? Have you been? If so, please say hi to me…

See ya next week fellow bloggers!

ketchup anyone?!

While ketchup sounds amazing right now on some In & Out fries I think you might enjoy knowing what we’ve been doing so here’s a catch up vs. some ketchup. While P and I stayed at my parents for two weeks we were out and about on some days but mostly we spent our days relaxing in the mountains. I forgot what it was like living “away” from everything and I think I struggled more so. I truly did enjoy being home and I cannot thank my parents enough for taking us in. ha! Despite a little mountain fever we did leave the mountains a few times and headed down below for a trip to Seaworld, the Zoo, and even a few trips further up to Big Bear. My Mom and I spent one Saturday catching up on the Real Housewives of New York, I think we managed to squeeze in all but one episode of the season which was amazing! We started at 1 PM while P was napping and finished right around midnight. Needless to say I had to bribe P with chocolate that day in order for Mommy to have some quality television time. I’m a great mom, huh? We both came down with a cold back-to-back which I knew was coming considering she slept on top of me for two weeks straight. I would try moving her towards the middle of the bed but she would flop right back onto me. Maybe (my) Grandma was sleeping on her side of the bed? I am not sure but I am super thankful those nights are over because waking up every five minutes thinking my Grandma was hovering over me, P laying on me and the doggie snuggled closely to my legs made for some interesting maneuvering to make sure my preggo ass didn’t fall off the bed. Any who, the two weeks sped on by, we are back in our house after a near four months away and attempting to adjust to life in our OWN home. It is totally odd, we still have a long road ahead of us to get it back to where it was but honestly I don’t mind. I think going without all of our things has made both us realize how lucky we are to have one another and everything that has been given to us. Now it’s time to get organized and figure out life before our newest addition arrives. Thank you to everyone who has given us well wishes and thoughts over the past four months! We truly needed the strength and ya know what? We made it, weird, I know!!

watching her cousin, Ethan, fishing for his first time with Papa in Big Bear. The girls had an afternoon out so we drove by where they were fishing to say hi!

A few days later I took P down to Seaworld so we could hopefully see Daddy now that he was home from New Orleans and San Antonio. He and Papa were spending the weekend painting our newly textured walls. We saw him for a whole hour. 🙁 The little boy in blue was a bully, hitting other kids and trying to push them over like a linebacker.

blurry of P, she was super sick, snot running down her face and everything. I purchased her, Rosita, which are the color inspirations for her Sesame Street inspired 2nd Birthday party.

we went and touched the sea stars, which she could not get enough of. She would’ve jumped in if she could have.

and right before we left we stopped by the gate since the Shamu show was minutes away from starting and we saw one killer whale and them Shamu coming over to take some pictures. It was perfect!!

time on Grandma and Papa’s deck. Checking out what Delilah was barking at.

zoo time with cousins and Grandma.

her new fav thing is elephants.

the day we got home we put a bag of toys down and she took out her “Tails” book from the zoo and spent some time just chillin’ out in her room. I think it’s safe to say she missed it.

She laid down on Daddy’s lap while he was painting and wouldn’t leave his side. She was cracking herself up.

Love her.