My Favorite Recipes right now....

SOOOOOOO YUMMY!

All recipes are from allrecipes.com

TEN CLOVE GARLIC MARINADE

(I use this for Tri-tip, but you can substitute any 2-4 lb. cut of meat)

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 yellow onion, minced
10 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, steak sauce, water, salt, pepper, onion, and garlic until thoroughly mixed.
Pierce several holes into meat with a sharp knife, and place in a shallow dish. Stir marinade once more and slowly pour over meat, smothering the top with the garlic and onions.
Cover and refrigerate overnight, or up to 36 hours. Cook as desired.


HONEY ROASTED RED POTATOES

"These slightly sweet potatoes are perfect with most entrees."

INGREDIENTS
1 pound red potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons diced onion
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey (I use more like 3 T of honey...suggested by other reviewers...yummy!)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 pinch salt (I think it needs more than just a pinch, but it's up to you)
1 pinch ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly coat an 11x7 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Place potatoes in a single layer in prepared dish, and top with onion. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and pepper; drizzle over potatoes and onion.
Bake in the preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring halfway through the cooking time.


CARAMEL BROWNIES (thanks Lisa for this one, YUMMY!)

INGREDIENTS
1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels (I use Brach's Milk Maid caramels)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x13 inch baking dish.
Melt caramels and 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk over very low heat, stirring occasionally until smooth.
Combine cake mix, melted butter, the remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk, vanilla and nuts. Mix well and spread 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 minutes.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the partially cooked brownies. Pour the melted caramel mixture over the top and with a teaspoon drop the remaining 1/2 of the batter evenly over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Let brownies cool in pan then cut into bars.

Jack's New Bed

Here is another classic Craigslist find....Jack's new bed. Check it out! Hey, you can't beat $40 for a solid bed like this!!!

Before: (the cardboard was just there to catch the overspray when David was painting it for me.)


After: Isn't it cute?

Celestia is in Pre-K

Celestia started back to school a couple weeks ago. She is now going MWF mornings and is doing well. Notice I don't say she is loving it...every morning before school, she tells me how she doesn't want to go and that she wants to just stay home with me instead. I am not sure why, she is like this because once she is there she has a great time. Her teacher says she does really well, so I don't know. Anyway, just yesterday as I was getting the kids in the bath before we got dressed, Celestia comes in the bathroom and proceeds to tell me how she's not feeling very good and is sick, so she better not go to school!!! She was totally faking it and I just thought it was hilarious that my 4 year old was already trying to play hookie! Too funny.

Check out the difference between how she looked one year ago (first picture) and now (second picture).......

Project: Birthday Banner

Okay, so I have been trying to get this banner made for almost a year now and finally while my mom was here visiting last week we got down to business and each made one. I am so excited about it...isn't it cute? I must say, this is not a cheap and easy project, but if you love to make things, this is just a blast to make!!! I have all the instructions, thanks to my good friend Valeri, so if any of you are feeling crafty, let me know and I can send you the instructions via email.