sunday treat: game day dip

usually sunday treat days are set aside for...treats!

and we should indulge occasionally and eat dessert and all that good stuff.

but i do like to eat healthy too

so when i came across this recipe in my bible UsWeekly,

i HAD to share!

this is a perfect snack for the SuperBowl next Sunday and it's not fat-laden with tons of creams

it's basically a guilt-free dip!

let's all try something new this week and amaze our friends, spouses, loved ones, or ourselves 

with a healthy treat!

sorry for bad quality just took a snapshot out of the magazine :)

Roasted Vegetable Dip

from Rachael Ray

1 bulb fennel, cored and chopped

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 small eggplant, peeled and chopped

1 small zucchini, cut into thick half-moons

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

20 basil leaves, chopped

1/4 C flat parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place veggies on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Roast in oven for 35 minutes until browned. Cool and transfer to a food processor with basil and parsley.  Pulse to combine.  Transfer to a bowl, stir and season with s&p to taste.  Serve with favorite veggies or pita bread. Serves 7.

                           

*i think this will be great to have on hand all the time for afternoon snacks, and especially for all you low-carbers out there!*

shake that thang.

on friday night i got to watch Lily and Belle cheer at halftime for the local high school.

they were at a cheer camp all week thanks to their cousin, Bailey who is a cheerleader there. (Piper refused to do the cheer camp or even go to the performance, she didn't want to sit there that long and she hates people watching her-since we have tried this the last 2 years with her and she cries and comes sits with me instead of performing, so this year she opted out. ha)

each night they would come home and show me their new moves and choreography.

they cheered in the stands during the 1st half of the game and had ALOT of fun.

then they performed.

Lily did awesome! She got the choreography down pretty well and she has good rhythm to follow the beat and she's super cheery and animated, totally her kind of thing.

my camera was being lame-o so all the shots came out blurry.

boo.

then it was time for the little ones.

Belle stood there with all the other girls, the music started and so did the dance.

Belle turned around and stood there.

the whole time.

her back to the audience.

i was surprised she didn't flip the bird, cuz that's basically what she was saying to everyone. 

ahahaha!

she's so cute, she got shy suddenly i guess.

it didn't help that the girl behind her was bawling the whole time, but hey she still did the dance even while crying to death. her mother must've threatened her better. ;p

it's always so fun to see your kids in events and situations where you know they are branching out and they're being their own little person.

who cares that i got teary-eyed. my hormones are shot anywho. oh and my stomach muscles, pssh.

but then, lo and behold whilst i was making more snickerdoodle cookies this morning

(eh...we're kind of on a binge right now, oopsie)

she goes and does this...
(turn it up yo)

whatever, i'm enrolling her in the next local dance battle.

perhaps high school basketball games are beneath her. 

fyi.

** UPDATE/CHANGE**

I'm keeping my BLOG!!
Help a Mutha is alive and well.
just not advertised.
i deleted it in a heated rush,
but i will KEEP it.
i just will not be linking it up to this blog or showing new posts.
so if you follow it now,
you'll know i posted a new post!
I can still be me and have fun without compromising people's perceptions.
so, yippee!
so maybe just disregard the below portion. ;p
*****************************************************************************

i took down my style blog.

no more "help a mutha".

since my bloggy world of friends is about 5% of the people I know in reality

my reality isn't understanding why i'm doing a lot of things.

and that's alright.

so, to not make the worlds collide in an unnecessary, misconstrued fashion

i have decided to take down my style blog.

and IF..if i decide to participate in link up parties like "all dressed up" or "what i wore wednesday"

i may create a "just wednesdays" blog just for that.

but i will not be linking it back up to my family blog,   at all.

so i guess you'd have to participate too to find me. hahaha.

anyway, without going into further detail, i just need to keep my silly/bloggy life separate from my reality life, where 95% of the people in it don't understand what the crap I'm doing at age 32, dressing up crazy or staring into the camera weird. 

so of course i'll be here on my WholeFamDamily blog

talkin' it up like normal, don't u worry! ;)

thanks for understanding!

Waz on my Dam phone

you can link your phone pics up

to the fine Miss Jessica Lowe, HERE

so Bewtcut and I got ourselves some new phones this weekend.

which means i don't have pics from my old phone from allllllllll last week.

but i do have a few from my new phone

and it has cool features on it.

and it may or may not have taken me some time to figure out how to send them. 

ahem.

she was crying.
so i wanted to take a pic of her crying. cuz i'm a nice mom like that.
but then it flashed,
and we got this result.
i laughed really hard.
and decided to keep the red eyes, so you can now see how truly crazy she be.

paper airplanes are serious bizniss around these parts.

way to look natural, pssh.

remember red-eyed crazy baby?

she like to take rolls of toilet paper

and dissect them

and strew their innards all about the home area.

so i sent her to baby prison.

she tried to bust out.

she tried the ol' "i'll kiss u thru these bars to soften ur heart" trick.

it worked.

not to mention the fact she walks around like Linus from Charlie Brown all day

dragging her blankie/woobie everywhere.

she better stop it.

i may lock her up for good for being too precious.

i had to break my new phone in.

of course, i had to take a self-portrait in the car. duh.

"meemoo"

there once was a little "Bitty" and her "MeeMoo".

she loooooooves this little kitty.

Belle, carries meemoo under her arm, alllllll day.

this stuffed animal is with her everywhere, anywhere.

it has been so well-loved that even washing it doesn't seem to help anymore.

she likes to show meemoo the world.

meemoo was once forgotten at a Carl's Jr in Newport Beach, California.

we had to return and get it.

cuz we had a very distraught Bitty on our hands.

it's hard when you lose your bff.

luckily they found it and not thrown it away...yet (they DID say they were going to throw it away cuz it was very dirty. little did they know it was just "well-loved")

so the other day while i was making dinner i heard Bitty keep saying, "smile meemoo".

i guess she decided meemoo needed a photo shoot.

photos courtesy of Miss Belle

and at nap time or bedtime, you can always find meemoo tucked away.

under a Bitty's cheek.

i luv that she luvs this little kitty.

and i will be so sad when it has been "loved" down to one last thread.

i hope that day is a loooooooong time from now. 

oh, and if you don't hear from me for a while, 

it's cuz i've been sucked under the madness mountain that is my laundry.

stupid laundry.

sunday treat: snickerdoodles

i swear i've done these cookies on my blog before. i swear i have.

but i couldn't find an old post.

and then i couldn't find my recipe anywhere, 

which i got from HERE.

it's my favoritest snickerdoodle recipe. ever.

and i substitute 1/2 the flour for whole wheat flour

and they still turn out soft and scrumptious.

and perfect.

my kids have been begging me to make these lately.

so i'll make them tonight

i just have no pics to show you their true yumminess.

 i've been busy today, so i will just use the pics off of lovely miss Sheena's blog post about this scrumptious recipe.

hopefully she doesn't mind?

so, sorry my crazy, busy weekend, which in reality means, Bewtcut and I got new phones and have been playing and figuring them out and not doing much else. ;D

photo courtesy of: the Little Red House

Snickerdoodles

(from Martha Stewart)

2- 3/4 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C butter

2 eggs

-----------

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Oven to 350*. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Mix butter and 1 1/2 c sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs. Reduce speed to low, gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and sugar. Shape dough int 1 3/4" balls (or smaller if you'd like more). Roll in cinnamon and sugar.  Space 3" apart on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake 12-15 minutes until edges are golden, rotating halfway through.  Cool on wire racks. ENJOY!!

hope you had a GREAT weekend!!

"25" things

I'm going to do the 

"25 things you don't know about ME" post

 since i have all these shiny, new blog followers!

Hi newbies...how YOU doin? ;)

1. My name is Hillary and I am 32 yrs young.

i think yesterday's "cougar" post confused some of you, 

Flo was just a character i made up. HA!

2. I'm a born and raised Cali girl, living in bitter cold Utah.

3. I also come from a family of 4 girls, oh and 1 brother ;)
aaaand, the only BLONDE!

4. We are DONE having children. (i know that was ur next question)

5. My oldest sister Arian, wrote a book for children with parents suffering from PTSD. She wrote it after finding almost nothing to help her children when her ex-husband was diagnosed with PTSD and was deemed 100% disabled after his tour in Kuwait with Army National Guard.

It's excellent for families with children in this situation. You can get it HERE

or there will always be a link in my sidebar.

6. Speaking of military, my husband "Bewtcut" has been in the Air National Guard on full-time orders (which makes us Active Duty Air Force) for 8 years. Because he's in Intel, I try to protect his name, and if i say anymore... I'd have to kill you. ;p

7. My right arm is a prosthetic.

8. I like making stuff up. -see #7-

9. i'm horrible at "follow-thru" or "being consistent", but i am SO trying to better that about myself this year.

10. i love chocolate.

11. when i spray perfume on, i spray it everywhere...and i mean everywhere *wink*

12. i have a hard time leaving the house without my "face" on. (makeup) thanks mom! hehe

13. i placed a baby boy for adoption when i was barely 20yrs old.

you can read my story here.

14. i danced in a professional dance show in spring of 2000, having never done a lick of dance class in my life.

15. i hate being late.

16. i love gossip and fashion magazines. Bewtcut may or may not have said that buying me a subscription to UsWeekly was the best thing he's ever done. ahem.

17. i birthed all my babies au natural. i guess i like pain. *shrug* ;)

18. I've never been out of the United States.

19. i can EAT anyone under the table. for realzzz.

20. when i get super tired i get giggly, but then it turns into sobbing. wtc?

21. i don't take myself seriously, at all. obviously.

22. one of my fantasies is to get my hair and makeup done by a glam squad and walk down the red carpet, and accidentally run into Ryan Reynolds, who may or may not stalk me from there on out.

23. my new favorite thing is Zumba. perhaps cuz i move like a latina in a white girl's body. go figure.

24. laughing is my favorite thing to do.

25. i'm still slightly afraid of getting locked in elevators or public bathrooms.

i have one too many stories in my childhood to back up this fear.

26. i started a new blog, where i am TRYING to find my sense of style again.
you can click on this

27. i like to break the rules. ;p

if you have any questions for me, feel free to ask away!

Waz on my Dam phone

you know what time it is...don't play coy.

ya. you. stop it.

it's Was on My Dam phone! 

Link up to Jessica!!

i know this stud named Oliver.

isn't he dreamy??

i know he looks like mine, but alas, he's my friend Abbey's newest miracle!

1 week old and breakin' hearts already!

quit yer cryin' and LOAD it already!

lazy bum...

 oh hi thrift shop find.

$6.99?

why yes, yes i will...thank you.

chunky bath chunkness...

with a side of chunk.

yes, please.

you wanna see how i put those boots to good use?

check it

HERE

I heart ur face

the ever adorable Ashley over at 

Little Miss Momma

is having a link up party tonight.

take pics of your face.

ok, sorta.

just take pics of yourself, in the bathroom mirror or wherever you can

just have fun!

Link up to this post HERE

sadly, this is something i do too often.

next time i'm making stupid faces.

oh wait.

i already did. *wink*

my Bewtcut calls me "jailbait" in this shirt.

terd. ;D

sunday treat: Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars w/ Streusel Topping

ok. 

if the title didn't make you salivate, i don't know what will.

have i got a sunday treat for YOU!

*note to self* never take pics at night again...

do you like apple pie? check.

do you like cheesecake? check.

do you like streusel topping? check.

do you love caramel sauce? check. check.

Once again, the lovely Mel's Kitchen Cafe has provided a most delicious recipe

that i LOVED!!

you can always click on over to her blog if you'd like to print this recipe out

or you can just copy and paste this one too.

these are beyond. 

i love everything about them.

even the caramel sauce was super easy, i should have it on hand daily. for realz.

the ingredients are simple.

it takes a little time, but it's seriously a cinch to make and has this amazingly glorious fluffy cheescake-y middle along with cinnamon apples and struesel topping with the caramel drizzled over it, 

i mean c'mon. heaven on a plate. 

can u seeeeeee the fluffy, rich cheesecake? the soft cinnamon-y apples? the crunchy, sugar-y topping?? 

maybe you're thinking, geez Hillary, can't you provide us with a healthy dessert?

yes! cut up fruit or berries in a bowl is always delicious and nutritious. 

but all things in moderation, right? 

waz "moderation?" well, we'll save that for another post someday. until then...MAKE THIS!!!!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars w/ Streusel Topping

Base:

2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer:

2 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened

1/2 C sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Apples:

3 Granny smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

1 C firmly packed light brown sugar

1 C all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 C quick cooking oats

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened

1 C caramel sauce (homemade recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350* F

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine "base" ingredients. flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined.  Press evenly into a 9x13in baking pan lined with aluminum foil.  Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

While crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 C sugar until smooth.  Then add eggs, one at a time and then vanilla. Mix well. Pour over warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer.  Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples.  Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set.

Cool the bars to room temperature.  Drizzle with caramel topping. (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one.

*Caramel Sauce: 

4 Tbsp butter

1 C firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 C half and half or cream ( I had Vit D milk on hand & it worked wonderfully)

pinch of salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, half and half/cream, and salt in a saucepan over med-low heat.  Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5-7 minutes, until thickened slightly.  Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further.  Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar.  Refrigerate until cold.  If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling onto bars.

seriously.

to.die.for.

ENJOY!

simple saturday

on friday i was allowed a "me" day.

this hasn't really happened since having kids. haha!

my sweetie, Bewtcut, let me have the day to myself.

i went thrift shopping and SCORED some great items which i'll be featuring on 

help a mutha, for sure.

i have forgotten how much i enjoy thrift shopping, my younger sister and I used to do it ALL the time before i got married, and i love finding interesting and great pieces that i instantly think of outfits for.

plus, scoring something for less than $5 is always a good thing.

I was able to visit my bestie Abbey and dreamboat, Oliver.

i got in some good snuggle time, and some great laughter time with the new mommy.

and then i went and got a mani/pedi.

ahhhhhh, relaxation.

they needed to get out a chainsaw to smooth down my callused feet, but it was WELL worth it. ;)

so i came home feeling refueled, reenergized, relaxed, and ...smooth! 

this morning i woke up feeling refreshed, and calm.

i made myself a little sugar scrub ( a little water + a some granulated sugar)

and scrubbed all the impurities away...

my face now feels like a baby's butt, but smells nicer. *wink*

i'm vowing to take better care of myself.

to take small, simple moments in my day and paint my nails, or exfoliate my face, or read a book, or drink some apple cider.

small, simple moments that make HUGE difference in my attitude and day.

now i have to get back to the daily grind of cleaning, folding, washing, feeding, and wiping. 

oh, and baking.

i'm gonna make an INSANE treat today for tomorrow's "sunday treat".

have a wonderful Saturday!

take a moment to make yourself feel good today!!

embrace the camera: jan 13th

i have been sooooooo bad at doing this lately.

today is embrace the camera

here I am with my photographer, Piper.

if you'd like to see the photo session she helped me with

you can go here

it's just a little new blog i have, but seriously, help a girl out. haha

waz on my dam phone: jan 11th

hello Tuesday, nice to see ya!

you should go link up to Jessica today!

and we're off!

i know i posted this already, 

but i still can't believe i have a little boy love in my life right now.

my bestie's son, Oliver.

 she's getting way too big

i may have to sit on her to keep her from growing.

 speaking of growing too fast, 

someone is trying to perfect her "ducky lips" for future self-portraits on her cell phone.

what a tween. or stay-at-home mom. ahem.

 does this scare you?

it should.

the mist of death.

pretty sure there were prehistoric insects ready to traumatize the city, in there.

 future architects?

what was on your phone this week??

winter faves

my newest bloggy friend, Candace, is having a giveaway of adorable items

over on her blog, The Story of Us. all of the items are super sweetness.

but don't let that fool ya, she likes to kick trash whilst playing Words With Friends. meany. ;p

but we need to list our 5 favorite things this winter

so here are my faves!

softlips-vanilla flavor.

it's silky and smells like baking goodies.

and has kept my lips "soft", how appropriate. ;)

I did mention this before, 

but I had never tried it til this holiday season.

Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.

heaven in a cup!

ok, so i admit i was never a cardigan wearer-er.

until this winter season.

i have to say now that my eyes have been opened

it's hard to stop. haha.

i like how i can dress them up or down with my wardrobe

aaaaand they hide muffin top a-ok!

i just found this pic online, all but #7 are from  forever 21, #7 is from Target, i don't have these cardigans, but i do have a new found love of cardigans, fo' sho!

i couldn't find a pic of it online

but seriously, this peacoat from Old Navy is one thing i TOTALLY 

love about winter.

warm, stylish and wonderful.

i'm not sure if they carried it this year, it was from winter '09.

ok so you can't "buy" a fireplace, so to speak, 

BUT

a winter fave of mine is snuggling with my Bewtcut, 

having the fire going, eating treats and giggling at our favorite shows.

double love.

you can enter Candace's giveaway too!

go HERE and tell her what your fave winter items are this year!

sunday treat: best frosted cake ever

doesn't it look dreamy????

it truly is. but i'm not going to tell you how to make the cake. nope.

it's the frosting people, the frooooosting that is the bestest ever.

i found it on a foodie blog i love, if you'd like a printable version i'd suggest going HERE

print it out.

you will want this recipe in your baking arsenal, believe you me!

you can use this frosting for EVERYTHING, cookies, bars, cupcakes, cakes, breakfast. what? you heard me!

i just used a store bought devil's food cake mix

BECAUSE

this frosting is a little more time consuming than throwing powdered sugar and butter together.

it's not HARD, i swear...it's EASY.

just a lot of waiting.

but oh my, is it worth the wait.

seriously. c'mon. *drool*

it's sort of a mix between a buttercream and a whipped frosting. so yummy.

use it this week, for realzzzzzz.

the BEST Frosting

Makes about 4 Cups frosting (plenty for two 9in cake layers)--i had leftover and froze it!

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

1/4 c all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 Cups milk (i had vitamin D whole milk on hand, but the recipe lady used 1% with great results)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

24 Tbsp (3 sticks) butter, cut into 24 pieces and softened at room temperature

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt.  Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth.  Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium saucepan (i didn't do this cuz i didn't have one and it still came out fine) and pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the saucepan.  Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and is thick enough that it starts to become difficult to easily whisk.  This could take anywhere between 5-10min.  It should bubble quite a bit at the end and thicken considerably.

Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cool to room temp.  

Once the frosting is completely cooled to room temp (no hint of warmth), beat the mixture with the vanilla on low speed (stand-mixer works best) until it is well combined, about 30 sec.  Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat the frosting until all the butter has been incorporated fully, about 2 min.  Increase the speed to medium-high and let the mixer work its magic. Beat for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Let the frosting sit at room temp until it is a bit more stiff, about 1 hour.  If you would like to pipe it, chilling it for an hour or so should do the trick. Mix it a little before piping or spreading onto dessert.

*Chocolate Version*: add 1/4 C cocoa powder to the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt mixture in the first step.  Once the frosting has been mixed for 5 minutes and is light and fluffy, mix in 3oz of semi-sweet chocolate that has been melted and completely cooled to room temperature.

i WILL try the chocolate version as well!

but until then...

be good to yourself the whole week, then allow yourself to indulge one day.

like today. ;)

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

oh, and don't forget to check out my new style blog

i need your help! ;)

Abbey-Dabby-Doooo

i have this bestest friend.

she and I go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back.

this was a couple years AFTER we started hanging out.

we have literally been friends for over 20 years, AHHH!!

don't you love her mom's blue piano?

even more, don't you love my socks with birkenstocks and ankle jeans? 

yes, i used to be stick thin, shut yo' mouths. and chokers used to be in, shhhhhh.

and curled bangs are hot.

we're freaks, always have been, always will be.

anywho, i lovest mine friend Abbey, and when she became a cradle robber and married her hubby almost 5 years ago, she tried to start a family.

it didn't quite work out as easily as she thought.  She went through many miscarriages and finally got the miracle opportunity to do IVF through a fund set up in our state for couples struggling with infertility.

what a blessing!!

IVF is not easy, it reeks havoc on your body and hormones, BUT it worked.

Hallelujah, it WORKED!!

She was due Jan 21st, but started contracting all this last weekend. Wednesday night she went in about midnight after contracting all day and she was in LABOR!!

Long story short, it was hard...hard, intense, back labor that she powered through, but alas he couldn't make it through the birth canal, it was too narrow.

So one emergency c-section later, her little boy was here!

Now all of this, in and of itself is a miracle. There's one tiny *sidenote* that I selfishly want to mention.

Ever since Lily was little and I got pregnant for the second time, we wanted a boy. And we were going to name him Oliver. Then every pregnancy after, we wanted a boy, but he never came to our family.

Cue, the best friend with her miracle baby boy, and what does she name him?...Oliver.  So I'd like to thank her for bringing a little Oliver boy into my life too. that's what best friends do. *wink*

I got to visit them in the hospital last night!! Even though she was super exhausted she looked great and she was so sweet in her mommy voice to her lil' man.

Introducing Oliver Mark Morris, 3 weeks early and came in at 8lbs 5oz, 22in LONG!!

isn't he dreamy? he has tons of strawberry blonde hair! he'll match my kids so when i'm out in public and pretend he's mine... it'll work. (disregard this last statement, Abbey ;D)

 maybe  a little "too" excited?? ;p

I couldn't be more proud of Abbey and Mark and I couldn't be more thrilled to be part of this little boy's life.  Love you Abbey & Ollie!!