Cooking - Dessert: Father's Day Cupcakies! YUMx2!!

Father's Day Cupcakes were a success. I told my niece and nephews I'd make cupcakes for them so they can decorate some for their dad's. Well, it was so much fun! They decorated cupcakes for almost a whole hour!!

Here are some pictures of our productive
Father's Day Morning!!

Undecorated Cupcakes & Decorating Materials:

Close-Up of Decorating Stuffs:

Sprinkles, Chocolate Chips, and White/Milk Chocolate Chips:

My Nephew, Agustin (9) sitting proud with his 1st decorated cupcake!
Yay!

My Nephew, Betito (10), and my Niece, Gaby (15) decorating away!!

My last nephew, Jonathan (5) sitting proud with his over-decorated cupcake! =]


As you can see, Father's Day Cupcakies Day was a Success!!
FYI, if you haven't noticed, I have 3 nephews and 2 nieces (one niece, the 5 month-old
posted on a past post, isn't shown here) and I couldn't be a happier aunt!!


You should try decorating cupcakes with a bunch of kids, it's amazing!! =]
P.S. It's really, Really hot back home which is why 2 of the kids don't have their shirts on, lol.
Sorry if they're inappropriate, hehe.

Cooking - Dessert: Father's Day Funnel Cakes!!! YUM!

For father's day, hubby and I decided to go visit our parents for the weekend so Saturday morning, off we were!
After swimming, playing with the baby, and having a carne asada, something caught my eye. It was a bag of powdered sugar. This may seem weird to you but since I've been baking and cooking so much (the housewife in me, lol), I felt like I just had to make something with it. I asked my dad what he wanted me to make (so long as it included powdered sugar). The first thing he said was "Funnel Cakes!" Funnel cakes....?? I don't even know how to make them or... Funnel cakes? Really?? Well, ok. Dad wanted it so Google and I became acquainted once again.

I found this quick and easy recipe on line and quickly started to work since all of the ingredients are things you'd normally have at home! Let me tell you... they were DELICIOUS!!! =] I was so glad I made them. They were going faster than I could make them so I decided to eat small pieces as I was making some more. Father's Day Funnel Cakes were a success!

Here are a few pictures of my funnel cakes:










Add some strawberry marmalade... Yummy!!

Six Flags ain't got nothin' on me! =]

You should all give them a try!
Not as difficult as you'd think.
Good Luck!

Cooking - Dinner: Beef Enchiladas

I had planned to make Enchiladas for dinner tonight since Monday evening. After checking in the fridge to make sure we had everything I was good to go! I decided I would take pictures of every step so I can teach others how to make Mexican Beef Enchiladas through my blog. Anyway, here are the directions along with pictures for all to follow (p.s. I really like cheese so feel free to omit some where ever you'd like)!! Good Luck and Enjoy!

Ingredients:
-1 lb ground beef
-2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
-16 oz of Salsa
-1 can of enchilada sauce (I prefer "Las Palmas")
-1 Packet of Taco meat seasoning (I use "Taco Bell" brand)
-1/4 cup of water
-8 Corn Tortillas






Directions:
1.) Heat all 8 tortillas and set aside to be used later
2.) Brown mean and drain. Add 1/2 cup of cheese, meat seasoning, water, and 8 oz of salsa to meat and heat until everything is mixed well and cheese is melted

3.) Open enchilada sauce can and pour sauce in a semi-deep plate (you need something wide enough so you can put the tortillas in one at a time but deep enough to hold the sauce)
4.) Put the remaining salsa (and cheese if you'd like) on the bottom of a baking dish to prevent the enchiladas from sticking when baked. (I like to use a squared baking dish and make 2 layers of 4 enchiladas)

5.) Dip a tortilla in the sauce plate, covering the front and back with sauce.
6.) Add some of the meat mixture and, if you'd like, a bit more cheese.
7.) Fold the tortilla over and place in the baking dish, over the salsa, seam side down
8.) Repeat with all 8 tortillas, adding a small layer of cheese between each layer of enchiladas
9.) Place in oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted10.) Add a dab of sour cream and enjoy!

Cooking - Dessert: Cupcakies!! =]

I have been in such a baking mood lately so I decided to make some cupcakes! I realized I didn't have cake mix or anything to bake with so off to Albertson's I went. Well, not only did I buy cake mix but I bought 2 large tubs of white frosting, a package of food coloring, and plenty of decorating sprinkles. After baking them I asked Hubby to help me decorate... We had a blast decorating them! My cousins showed up later that day (before I got to take pictures, which is why I only have 6 in the pictures, lol. They were so delicious (and pretty), I didn't want to eat any of them! I mean, look at this one with a palm tree and a sun... art!! =]

In other news, I wanted to show off my first plant! It's an Orchid I got at a wedding (it was used as a centerpiece, neat right!?). It is so beautiful and it has grown 2 flowers since I got it. One of them is barely blooming, see? It's so pretty isn't it!? I Love it!

Anyway, enough blabbing on for today! I'll post any more baking I do for inspiration. Father's day is right around the corner... Maybe I'll do something like this for dad! Hmm...

Fun: Our Wedding Bio!

As an "LA Knottie" I feel as though I have to make a bio to show everyone my hard work lived out. I finally decided to make my bio (about 6 months after the wedding) but nevertheless, it's done. Click HERE and you will see pictures of the wedding, a reiew of all on our vendors, and neat ideas for someone else's wedding. Later I will post more pictures of the wedding as well as the engagement soot beforehand! Here are a couple of pictures of the engagement shoot, more pictures to come in the near future.

Fun: Isn't it funny...

So Hubby and I have just moved in to out new apartment and it's all that we wanted and so much more! The place is very well kept and the base color scheme is beautiful. After a day of living in this place with bare walls, no dining table, and a bed we decided it was time to make this apartment our home!

As many of you know: Target is an amazing place! You can find just about anything for a reasonable price. So off to Target we went. We spent more money than I thought possible, and mostly on cleaning products!! As we looked at their "furniture" Hubby and I realized we could find better deals elsewhere. Off we were to Burbank just to go to Ikea!! One of my absolute favorite places to go (now that I have been to a couple of them)! Well, we got so carried away... well, I got so carried away that we ended up buying a cart full of things as well as a furniture cart full of things. Now our only problem was fitting everything into my car! Luckily, the 6 is a hatch and everything fit (barely, but hey, who cares. It fit!!) =]

Once we got home, we realized we had to put everything together ourselves, but we had so much fun doing it! After about 2 afternoons working on a dining table, 4 chairs, 2 side tables, a coffee table, a desk, a TV stand, and a 3-drawer cabinet, we can finally look at our apartment as a home! I picked everything just as I wanted it and, I have to say, I did a pretty great job!

Well, I just wanted to point out that I have 2 new favorite things to do: Cook and clean! Believe it or not, I love to clean my place, I think it's because it's MY (well technically 'our' place but who's keeping track?) place and not my parents. Maybe I have this all wrong, but I am glad I love to clean because our home smells good and is appealing to all of the senses! =]

Can't wait for my first visitors! Yay!

P.S. I'm so glad I am the one who watches the bank account and not Hubby! ;)

Work: Life, Health, and Accident Insurance...

This summer I have the pleasure of working for an amazing company, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network: The Beer Group, but there are a few prerequisites before I can work for them. First of all, I have to take a 52-hour course (all the way in Santa Ana, BTW) to learn all about Insurance and California's Department of Insurance Laws and all that good stuff. Then, I had to take (and PASS) the California Licensing exam. It is 150 multiple choice questions regarding 16 chapters of the Insurance book I had to buy for the course. Anyway... to make this otherwise lame boring interesting (to me) I PASSED!! I will be the person to explain the fine print to you! =] I was so sure I wasn't going to pass because I hadn't studied as much as I would normally have but I passed. It was a HUGE mistake to schedule this Licensing exam in the middle of my finals, but eh... I got through it! =] YAY for me!! I am so excited to finally be able to not have to worry about the weekend classes or the exam anymore. Now, I'm off to make some money, or at least I hope to make some money...

That's a different story.