Showcase Your Talent Thursday #9

Welcome to 

Showcase Your Talent Thursday!!

Make sure that you check out the giveaway that I am currently hosting for My Memories Suite Scrapbooking Software.

I hope that everyone is having a great week! Thanks to everyone that linked up last week! I have so much fun looking at and reading all of your posts.  Everyone has such creative ideas!  I can't wait to see what you have to share this week!! I hope that everyone has a great weekend and that they enjoying the beginning of summer.  

The most viewed links: 






Colorful Spiraled Cookies by White Lights on Wednesday.  These cookies look so delicious! I love the spiraled look of the cookies. I also like that you can use any colors to match a theme or event that you are having.




Slow Cooker Taco Meat by Recipes We Love.  This is a great idea. I love that you can cook the meat in the slow cooker so that it is ready to go at dinner time.

Here are some of my favorites from last week:

Mini Pancake Muffins by Diddles & Dumplings.  This is such a great idea! I think this would be great for a brunch.  They look delicious!




Scrabble Fridge Magnets by Pretty Providence.  These were made by taking an old scrabble game and gluing old magnets on the back.  I love this idea and want to make this to put on my fridge.




S'mores Cupcakes by Salt Tree.  These are chocolate cupcakes with a graham cracker crust and a marshmallow top. Yum!!!




Cinnamon Stick Firecrackers by The Checkered Apple.  This is such a creative idea.  She decorates cinnamon sticks like firecrackers and then uses them for Fourth of July decorations.

Thanks for linking up and feel free to grab a button if you were featured.

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Link up as many of your recipes, crafts, tutorials, ideas, projects, or fun posts as you would like to share.

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Link up to your post and not your main blog.

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Weight Watchers Ham and Cheese Frittata

Make sure that you check out the giveaway that I am currently hosting for My Memories Suite Scrapbooking Software.

This Frittata is so delicious.  It has a cheesy crust on the top. The best part is that it is healthy.   It is only 4 Weight Watchers Points for a piece.  We like to make breakfast for dinner a lot and this is one of the usual meals that we make. This is really easy to make and is great and hearty.  This would also be great for brunch or  breakfast.  

Nothing can beat a great and healthy breakfast or breakfast for dinner. 

Weight Watchers Ham and Cheese Frittata

(Recipe adapted from Food.com)

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups potatoes, cut into small cubes (we used pre-diced potatoes)

1 cut no fat diced ham

8 eggs

4 egg whites

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

2.  Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet.  Saute the potatoes and the ham until the potatoes are just tender.

3.  Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg whites, and baking powder until frothy and the baking powder has dissolved.  Gently pour the egg mixture into the skillet, covering the ham and potatoes.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top.

4.  Place the skillet, uncovered, into the oven.  Cook until the egg has set, about 25 minutes.  

*Alyssa*

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My Memories Software Giveaway

I am hosting a giveaway for My Memories Scrapbooking Software.  My Memories is giving away one digital copy of their #1 rated scrapbooking software: My Memories Suite.  

This digital scrapbooking software is so easy to use and allows you to create great keepsakes.  I really like the idea of digital scrapbooking.  It is easier than regular scrapbooking, you don't have to buy all of the paper and other supplies.  The software comes with a lot of different scrapbooking options.  The My Memories website also has a lot of different scrapbooking supplies that you can buy.  You can get extra templates or extra scrapbooking kits. I really like the Puppy Love kit, I plan on using it to scrapbook my son's upcoming Puppy Birthday Party. 

I thought that that the My Memories Suite was really easy to use.  I used the online directions and I thought they gave a good basis of how to use the software.  The software can be used to make scrap book pages, layouts, photo books, cards, videos, calendars, and much more.  They have some great ready to use templates, which you can just stick your pictures on to make some great pages.  I really like the idea of making a photo book of my son's first year, and will use My Memories Suite to do so.   I made this page using a premade template of the day my son was born.

Another thing I wanted to use the scrapbooking software for was to make scrapbook pages for my husband for Father's Day.  Before my son was born, someone gave me the idea of taking a picture of my son and his father every Father's Day and make a scrapbook using those pictures.  I thought that this was a great idea and it was made even more special when my son was born on Father's Day last year.  I made a template that can be used for Father's Day pictures and then a scrapbook page for a Father's Day present.

Another way I decided to use the software for was to make recipe cards. I like the idea of making recipe cards and making my own cookbook. I made a template recipe card and a sample for my Cinnamon French Toast Bake recipe.  

I had so much fun playing around with and using My Memories Suite.  I am so excited to be giving away a copy of the Digital Scrapbooking Program (a $40 value) to one of my lucky readers.  

In addition My Memories is giving my readers a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the My Memories.com store.  

Use the code: STMMMS41976 when you check out to receive this deal! 

Good luck! The winners will be announced a week from today! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Alyssa*

Cinnamon Smores Cookie Cups

I posted this recipe a couple of weeks ago when I swapped blogs with Kim  from Cups by Kim. .  You should check out Kim's blog, she has some great recipes on there! I thought I would re-post the recipe here in case you did not get a chance to see it.  

When I was in the store a couple of weeks ago, I found that they now have flavored marshmallows. I picked up a bag of Cinnamon Bun Marshmallows to use in a recipe. I thought that this was a good opportunity to use the marshmallows

These Cinnamon Smores Cookie Cups are really easy to make and taste really good.  They are just like Smores in cookie form, with the added bonus of cinnamon flavor. In the cookie, there are chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, cinnamon graham crackers, and cinnamon bun marshmallows (You can also substitute regular marshamallows).  You can also added melted chocolate to the top of the cookie cup.  I liked the cookies both with the chocolate and without the chocolate topping.

These cookies are so good and tasty with the added bonus that they are so easy to make.  Now you can have Smores anytime of the year.  I hope that you try these cookies!

Cinnamon Smores Cookie Cups

1 pouch Chocolate Chip Cookie mix
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 egg

1/3 cup cinnamon graham crackers, crushed
1/3 cup cinnamon bun marshmallows, chopped into 4 pieces (can substitute regular marshmallows)

1/4 cup cinnamon chips

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional topping)

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Stir the chocolate chip cookie mix, butter, and egg together in a large bowl until soft dough forms. Then add the crushed graham crackers, cinnamon bun marshmallows, and cinnamon chips and stir to combine.  

3.  Roll the dough into a rounded teaspoonful and place one ball in an ungreased muffin tin pan.  Repeat for the rest of the cookie dough balls.   Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Cool the cookies for 5 minutes.  Then melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 15 second increments until they are melted. Then either leave the cookies plan or drizzle or spoon the melted chocolate on top. 

*Alyssa*

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Grilled S'mores Banana

10 years ago today my husband and I started dating.  We were seniors in high school, at the end of our senior year.  I cannot believe that it has been 10 years.  10 years later we are happily married and have a great family together. It has been a great 10 years and I can't wait to see what the next 10 will bring.  

While that has nothing to do with these delicious bananas, I thought I would share that with you.  I'm excited that we have been together for 10 years.  Brian and I are going on a date tomorrow.  He doesn't know where we are going, but I am going to surprise him with a recreation of our first few dates.  On our second date we went to prom together, I am taking my husband to the restaurant we went to before prom.  Then I am going to take him mini golfing to the place we went on our third date.  On our first date we went to see Spiderman (the first one with Tobey Maguire).  Its going to be so nice out here, so I thought we wouldn't go to the movies, we'll just go see the new Spiderman movie later this summer.

Anyway, onto to the grilled bananas.  I found the idea for these bananas on Pinterest, from the blog Lick My Spoon.  I thought they looked so cute and I had never had grilled bananas before, so I thought I would try them. I tried a variation and made Peanut Butter Smores Grilled Bananas.  These were delicious.  The bananas became really sweet when they were grilled.  This was an easy and sweet treat that is perfect after a grilled summer dinner. 

Grilled Peanut Butter S'mores Banana

Recipe for one banana

Banana

2 tablespoons chocolate chips

2 tablespoons peanut butter chips

2 tablespoons mini marshmallows

1 tablespoon crushed graham crackers

1.  Slit the banana lengthwise.

2.  Stuff the banana with the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.  Then add the marshmallows and then top with the crushed graham crackers. 

3.  Wrap the bananas in tin foil and then place on a grill on medium heat.  Grill for 5-10 minutes or until the toppings are melted and the banana is mushy.  Eat with a spoon.  This would even be good with ice cream. 

*Alyssa*

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Showcase Your Talent Thursday #8

Welcome to 

Showcase Your Talent Thursday!!

I hope that everyone is having a great week! I am so glad that it is a 3 day weekend coming up. We are supposed to have really nice weather for the Memorial Day weekend, so that's great! 


Thanks to everyone that linked up last week! There were so many great ideas posted!  I loved reading all of your posts!  I can't wait to see what you have to share this week!!

The most viewed link: 






Chicken Crunch Wrap by Baking with Blondie.  This is her take on a crunch wrap from Taco Ball. This looks so delicious. There is even tortilla chips inside!

Here are some of my favorites from last week:

Graham Cracker Chocolate Chip Muffins by Michelle's Tasty Creations.  These muffins look amazing! The muffin has graham cracker crumbs and chocolate chips with a topping with graham cracker crumbs, yum!





Beaded Earring Tutorial by A Rosie Sweet Home.  These earrings are so pretty.  There is a great step by step tutorial on how to make these. I will have to make a pair of my own.




Wake Up Call Cupcakes by Sarah's Kitchen.  These cupcakes look so delicious! They are chocolate espresso cupcakes with coffee buttercream icing! The icing looks so good, I could eat it by itself!




Nutter Butter Truffle Brownies by Crazy for Crust.  Yum! All three layers of this look amazing, and together, wow! Brownies with Nutter Butter Truffle on top and then chocolate ganache to top it off.

Thanks for linking up and feel free to grab a button if you were featured.

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Link up as many of your recipes, crafts, tutorials, ideas, projects, or fun posts as you would like to share.

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Link up to your post and not your main blog.

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*Alyssa*

Sticky Chicken Wings

These Sticky Chicken Wings are one of my favorite foods.  My mom has been making these on special occasions ever since I can remember. My brother, sister, and I used to beg my mom to make these when we were kids.  This recipe is a family tradition.  My grandma used to make them and passed the recipe to my mom, and now my mom passed the recipe to me. I hope that someday that I can pass it onto my children, and so on. 

These wings are covered in duck sauce. They have a mix of sweet and savory flavors. They are extremely good. Just make sure that you have a napkin when you eat them because they are messy! I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do!

Sticky Chicken Wings

Large family pack of chicken wing pieces (about 4 pounds)

1 large jar (40 ounces) duck sauce

Splash of orange juice

2 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder.

1.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil and set the oven to broil.  

2.  Add the duck sauce, orange juice, paprika, and garlic powder in a large bowl and mix until combined.  Roll the wings in the mixture until coated.  Place the wings on the baking sheet. 

3.  Broil for 10 minutes then flip the wings and broil for an additional 10 minutes on the other side. Watch to make sure they do not burn. They should be brown and crispy on each side. 

4.  After the chicken is browned, turn the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes or until completely cooked.  

*Alyssa*

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Ranch Turkey Burgers

Summer is coming really soon and when the weather is nice we like to grill.  I do not like red meat so we tried turkey burgers.  I think turkey burgers are really good and now we eat them a lot.  This is our usual recipe for turkey burgers, we add ranch dressing mix, mozzarella cheese, and a whole bunch of other seasonings to flavor the burgers.  

If you have never tried turkey burgers, I hope that you try them. These are really good and a healthier alternative to beef burgers.  These would be even great to make on Memorial Day.  

Ranch Turkey Burgers

2 pounds ground turkey

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce 

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 pinch parsley

1/2 tablespoons of dry ranch dressing mix

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1 eggs worth of egg whites

1.  Mix all ingredients together with the ground turkey in a medium-sized bowl, using your hands.  Form the burgers into 4 equal patties.

2.  Grill for 10 minutes on each side or until done.  When cooked inside remove from the grill.  Serve with cheese on top or your choice of toppings.  

*Alyssa*

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Strawberries and Cream Sugar Cookie Mini Parfaits

 I love individual sized desserts because I can have just one, and not feel  as bad about it, or like with this dessert, I can have more than one if I choose. These Mini Parfaits are so delicious!  They include layers of sugar cookies, strawberries, white chocolate chips, and whipped cream.

This is a great treat for summer and a great way to use any leftover sugar cookies.  I bought sugar cookies to use in making this, but you can make your own or use leftover sugar cookies.  This parfait makes three individual mini servings. They can all be combined if you wish to make one larger parfait.  I hope you enjoy this delicious treat!

Strawberries and Cream Sugar Cookie Mini Parfaits
(makes 3 mini parfaits or one large parfait)

3 Mini parfait glasses
3 sugar cookies, cut into half
5 strawberries
1 teaspoon sugar
6 teaspoons white chocolate chips (2 teaspoons per mini parfait)
Whipped Cream
2 additional strawberries, cut in half (optional garnish)

1.  Break 3 of the sugar cookie halves into pieces and put the pieces into the bottom of the 3 parfait glasses.

2.  Cut the strawberries into quarters and mash with a fork.  Then mix the mashed strawberries with the sugar.  Spoon a little bit of the strawberry mixture over the sugar cookies.

3.  Put 1 teaspoon of white chocolate chips on top of the strawberry layer.

4.  Add  a layer of whipped cream on top of the white chocolate chips.  

5.  Repeat each layer and then top with half of a strawberry.  

*Alyssa*

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Showcase Your Talent Thursday #7

Welcome to 

Showcase Your Talent Thursday!!

I hope that everyone is having a good week and that they had a fantastic Mother's Day! It is so nice out today, it is in the 80's.  I am so glad that summer is coming soon, it is my favorite season.  


Thanks to everyone that linked up last week! I really appreciate everyone that comes by and links up.  I love looking at all the projects that you share.  You are all so creative!  I can't wait to see what you have to share this week!!

The most viewed link: 

Baked Cinnamon Bun Donuts with Vanilla Glaze by Sally's Baking Addiction.  These donuts look amazing, as does the vanilla glaze.  This would be good for breakfast or dessert!




Here are some of my favorites from last week:






Peanut Butter Sheet Cake by Everday Insanity.  This cake looks very great, especially the frosting! Yum, I really want a piece now!




Awesome Artichoke Crab Dip by Lil' Cup of Jo.  This dip would be great for an appetizer at a party.  I like the fact that you can make as much or little as you like.




Salted Pecan Bark by MJ's Kitchen.  What a great treat!  I love that this is so easy to make.  The only problem is that I don't think I would be able to stop eating it.




Chevron Wall Art by Silver Boxes.  I really like the Chevron design and I have been seeing it everywhere. I especially like this wall art as it is a great decoration and easy to make.




White Chocolate Oreo Brownie Parfait by BruCrew Life.  These parfaits look absolutely delicious! I am sure that they taste just as amazing.

Thanks for linking up and feel free to grab a button if you were featured.

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Link up as many of your recipes, crafts, tutorials, ideas, projects, or fun posts as you would like to share.

Please do not link up any etsy shops, giveaways, or advertisements.

Link up to your post and not your main blog.

Make sure to visit some of the other links and most of all HAVE FUN!!!

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Grilled Asparagus

Asparagus is one of our favorite vegetables to have with dinner. We like to make it a lot when we have pork.  We usually steam the asparagus, but one of my husband's co-workers told us that it was good grilled.  I don't know if I was the only one in the dark about this, but I never knew that asparagus could be grilled.  

This is a great grilling recipe for summer.  This recipe is so easy and makes a healthy and tasty side dish.  I really like the grilled asparagus, it had so much flavor and a great texture.  This is a great side dish that we will definitely be making again.  

Grilled Asparagus

(Recipe from Food.com)

1 lb. asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 pinches of salt
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional topping)

1.  To break the end off the asparagus, break it gently in half until it snaps.  Place the asparagus on a plate and drizzle with the olive oil.  Sprinkle with the salt and then mix the asparagus with your hands to coat with the olive oil and salt.

2.  Place the asparagus horizontally on a grill on medium heat. Occasionally roll the spears with a spatula so they rotate and cook on each side.

3.  The asparagus will be begin to brown in spots, but should not blacken or char.  The asparagus is done when they are slightly wilted.

4.  Remove from the grill.  If desired, sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.

*Alyssa*

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Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Truffles

Happy Mother's Day!!! 

I hope that all the mothers had a great day today.  I spent the day with my husband and my son and we had a great relaxing day.  

These Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Truffles are fantastic! They were so good and they tasted just like cookie dough covered in chocolate. Plus, they had the added bonus of chocolate chips and peanut butter cups.  These were great little desserts and were so delicious.  

I wasn't sure how these would turn out, but I think they were one of my favorite desserts that I have ever made.  That's saying a lot, since I love desserts! I was planning on sending these with my husband to work, but ended up keeping them all for myself, except for the few that my husband talked me into sharing with him.

These truffles are so easy to make and taste amazing.  These are one sweet treat that you are not going to want to share!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Truffles

1 package (13.3 ounces) Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, finely crushed

8 ounces cream cheese

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1/4 cup peanut butter chips, melted

1.  Mix the cream cheese and finely crushed cookies until well blended (To crush the cookies, I put them in a Ziploc bag and hit them with a rolling pin).  

2.  Shape into balls and then freeze for 10 minutes.  

3.  Then dip the cookie dough balls into the melted chocolate and then place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  (I melted the chips by microwaving for 45 seconds, stirring, then microwaving for 10-15 second intervals until completely melted).  Then drizzle the melted peanut butter chips on top of the truffles. 

4.  Freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for one hour or until firm. 

Tips for melting the chocolate:

*  I read in a blog, I cannot remember which one, that the chocolate would melt easier if you add a drop of vegetable oil to the chocolate before microwaving.  This seems to make it easier to melt and a smoother consistency.

*  Once you microwave the chocolate, make sure that you stir it to see if all the chips will melt.  I realized that if you do not stir to see if it is completely melted, you may microwave the chocolate for too long and it will be hard to work with.  

*  To dip the truffles I use either a fork or a skewer. Then I roll the truffle around in the chocolate.  Once I take the fork or skewer out of the truffle, I cover the holes up with chocolate.  

*Alyssa*

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