Team T's Newest Edition is a...

BOY!

This shows the you-know-what, but I can't really see it.

The ultrasound tech promised me it was there!A little shocked yesterday when we found out because we totally thought it was a girl for the past 3 months. But we're so happy to have a perfect little boy coming in August!

I'm a little MIA this week because I'm sick with a cold and we all know how fun that can be while pregnant with morning sickness. Hopefully back soon with a new project to share!

Heavenly Whoopie Pies

I recently had my first whoopie pie at Corner Bakery when I was having a bad day and needed a little something to cheer me up. Hubby and I both took a bite and were suddenly in heaven! I thought it would be fun to surprise him with some one day...Ohhhh, they're good!

Ingredients:

• 1 package devil's food cake mix

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter

• 3 tablespoons milk

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar

Still with me?

Mouth watering yet?

Here's how you make them.

Prepare devil's food mix as shown on package except use only 3/4 cup water.

Using a spoon, pour batter on a greased cookie sheet in 2-3 inch circles. I found that using a coffee scoop worked perfectly for that size.

Bake as directed on box or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a cookie.

*Be sure to let these cookies cool completely. I suggest at least a few hours.

To make the peanut butter filling, put peanut butter and butter in a bowl and combine with a mixer.

Gradually mix in sugar and milk and continue to mix.

Beat with mixer for at least 3 minutes until frosting is thick and fluffy.

Once cakes are cool, spoon peanut butter filling onto each and top with another cake to form a sandwich.

And grab a glass of milk...you're gonna need it!

Felt Flower Spring Wreath

After the popularity of the felt heart wreath for Valentine's Day, I wanted to do a new version for spring. It was pretty easy to do and doesn't require much thinking, so it's a fun craft to do while you watch tv!

Supplies:
• foam wreath
• small pieces of felt for flowers
• approx. 1/3 yd. felt to wrap the wreath
• dressmaker pins (standard pins are too long and will go through to the other side)
• Elmer's or Tacky glue
• ribbon for hanging

I started out by cutting strips of felt to wrap around the wreath. My strips were about 1" wide, but I didn't measure each one. I just tried to make them all the same and it worked great. The more strips you have, the more gluing you have to do, so I would suggest using long pieces of felt to make these.
Using glue, I started wrapping felt around the wreath and overlapping each piece a little.
Keep going...
I tried to keep all the ends of the strips on one side of the wreath so they would be hidden.
Here's the finished wreath
For the flowers, I used a mug to trace circles onto the felt.
Each of my flowers is made of 3 circles and I used 4 different colors.
To make each flower, I folded the circle in half.
And then in half again
I used a pin to attached them to the wreath.
I just attached and moved them around until I was happy with how they looked.
The pins can be hidden if you arrange them correctly
To hang the wreath, I added a ribbon on the back and pinned it in place.
Here's my finished wreath! Happy Spring!

Tasty Chopped Salad

I'm obsessed with salads. I don't think I ever thought I would say that, but pregnancy is making me wild for them. I don't think any salad can compare to the Wildfire chopped salad and Portillo's chopped salad, but I can't buy one every day, right?

It's definitely the dressing that makes the salad so good. But why don't salads taste as good when you make them at home? We tried to make our own chopped salad and I have to say that this one was pretty good!

Adapted from Frugal Homemaking

Ingredients:

Salad:

• romaine lettuce

• 3-4 chicken breasts, grilled and cut into small pieces

• 1 cup corn

• 1 green onion, chopped

• 1 tomato, chopped

• bleu cheese crumbles

• tortilla strips (see recipe below)

Dressing:

• 1/4 bottle French dressing

• 1 packet Zesty Italian seasoning made by Good Seasoning

• 1/8 cup sugar

• 1 t oregano

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Tortilla strips:

• flour tortillas

• olive oil

• salt

Cut tortillas into small strips. Brush lightly with oil and salt. Grill in a pan or bake in the oven until crispy.

To create the chopped salad look, we use a chopper to cut the lettuce.

Mix all the salad ingredients together.

Pour dressing over vegetables and mix well.

Top with bleu cheese crumbles and tortilla strips.

Delicious Turkey Patty Melts

Hubby created this dinner for us recently and I wanted to share it with you because it was so good. I've never had a patty melt before because I don't eat red meat, so this is our turkey version.

Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:
• 8 slices of bread
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 slices mozzarella cheese

In a small pan, heat vegetable oil and pour in onions. When onions start to soften, add brown sugar and grill for 5 more minutes.

Roll ground turkey into 4 patties. In a large pan, melt 1 T butter and then add turkey patties. Grill patties until meat is fully cooked.

Once patties are cooked, move them to a plate and heat 1 T in pan. Lightly toast slices of bread until golden brown and then flip to other side.

When bread is toasted, create a sandwich with turkey patty, grilled onions and a slice of cheese.

Messy, but very good! Enjoy!

Family Room Window Transformation

I don't think I ever shared this makeover, so I wanted to post some pictures. This was our scary family room when we moved in last year. Yes, the carpet was new, but the rest of the room was still stuck in the 70's!

As the first task when we moved in, we pulled down the nasty paneling and trim around the windows. I'm so proud of my hubby for spending many of his days off of work building beautiful trim around the windows to dress them up.


And here they are!






They took some getting used to, but we love them now. It's so fun to sit on the couch and look out the window at all the hard work we put into making these windows beautiful!

Sweet Lemon Blueberry Coconut Bread

I've was really into cooking with lemons and coconut, so recipes with these ingredients caught my eye. I took a few different recipes I've seen and combined them together to make this yummy bread.

I also just wanted to apologize that I've been a little MIA lately. I'm about 16 weeks and still pretty sick, tired, and suffering from migraines every day. I'm having a hard time getting through the work day. Looking at the computer screen often makes me dizzy so I haven't been spending as much free time on here. On the days I'm feeling better, I always try to get back to blogging. Today is a miracle and I have some energy, so I'm back!

And back to the yummy bread...

Ingredients:
• 2.5 cups flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups shredded coconut
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 1 T lemon zest
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 c applesauce
• 3/4 c fresh blueberries

Getting hungry? Keep scrolling down for directions : )

1. Heat over to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and coconut.

3. In a small bowl, mix lemon juice, lemon zest, milk, eggs and vanilla.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well.

5. Carefully add applesauce and blueberries and stir until smooth.

6. Pour mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 70 minutes or until the center is cooked. Let cool, slice, and enjoy!

DIY Throw Pillow to Chair Cushion

Some of you asked about the pillow cushion on the chair makeover I did recently. I wanted to share how I made it.



I bought this really cute & fun bedding for the craft room to use on our two guest beds. I also bought some different throw pillows since they were such a good price. I didn't end up liking how the twin bed looked with so many pillows so I had a couple extras. It took a little trial & error, but I was able to take apart the throw pillow and resize it to fit my chair. Here's how you can resize a large throw pillow to create a pillow cushion...


The throw pillow was larger than the chair, so I had to use a seam ripper to carefully take the pillow apart.


I took out some of the stuffing to make the pillow flatter and easier to sit on.


Then I resized the pillow to the size of the chair, pinned the sides of the cushion, and hand-sewed it closed.


I pinned the trim around the edge that I took off earlier.


To make the chair ties, I cut 4 strips of fabric.


To create each strip, I folded each edge towards the middle, pinned, and ironed the creases. Then I folded again and pressed to hide the unfinished edges.


A simple straight stitch closed the folds and finished the ends. Then I attached the ties to the pillow trim and hand-sewed everything closed.


For the cushion buttons, I bought a button cover kit and followed the package directions.


I marked the center of the pillow on both the top and the bottom and sewed them on.




Here are the finished ties on the chair.


I was so scared to do this project without any idea what I was doing, but I'm so happy with how it came out!