Made By Me, For My Hubby

My husband loves his comic books anything Marvel and DC, full of awesomeness : ) Dont we all. Me and my daughter were having such a fun day we decided to make something for daddy. We had a cominc book preview that we had got at our favorite comic book store Maximum comics, if you live in Las Vegas area check it out, they have great customer service, and the owner J is so nice.
We had a blank piece of wood, Mod Podge, glow in the dark paint and a comic, we went through the comic and found the perfect Hulk picture. I cut it out and got to work.
I stained the piece of wood dark cherry so it looked really nice, I wanted it to look like a cool book only he would have. After satining the wood I let it dry, then added some Mod Podge to it and the picture. I smoothed it out and added more Mod Podge to hold it in place, then when it driend I added some glow in the dark paint to his eyes and on the words HULK. It came out AMAZING totally looked like a book, and even better it glowed.
When he got home we gave him his gift and he was extatic, he had never seen anything like it, he loved it! Especially because Me and our daughter made it for him, he found a special place for it in the house.... I'm so glad we could make his day, I'll b making more to add to his new collection.. Cant wait, I'll keep you all posted on my next projects.

(These would be perfect for any man cave or boys room, easy and inexpensive to make.)

Love Jen
                                                                        
                                                                           Supplies
                                            
                                            Mod  Podge, paint brush, glow in the dark paint

                                                                Blank piece of wood

                                                             Stain color of you choice

                                                               Finished Masterpiece : )

                                                                     Awesomeness!

Fun Taco Night

Tonight was taco Night here at Casa De Wade, I had a serious craving for them. I made my meat, beans, rice and cut up all my veggies in the morning so at dinner all I had to do was heat it up and prepare the veggies on a platter. It took me about 30 minutes to complete tonight's dinner, who wants to spend a fun Friday night making dinner all night. I love to prepare as much as I can in the morning so in the evening all I have to do is warm it up and serve. I hope you enjoy this super easy dinner recipe.. Enjoy!

Love Jen

Recipe
- 1 lb of lean ground beef
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1 tsp, cumin powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 package of taco shells, or you can make your own.

toppings
- Lettuce, shredded
- Salsa, fresh or canned
- Mexican Mix cheese
- Low fat sour cream, I like Daisy

Sides
- Guatemalan rice
- beans

Directions
Heat skillet with olive oil, add ground beef, cumin, paprika, Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper. When the meat starts to brown about 5 minutes, add potatoes. Cook until meat is brown and potatoes are softened, about 15 minutes.

Asian Glazed Chicken

I'd like to share with you Thursday nights dinner recipe, It was so very yummy! I think my husband ate 4 pieces of chicken and 1 cup of rice  : ) I ate two pieces and 1/4 cup of rice, I could have ate more but didn't want to be over full. I had a good time making this meal and it only took me 30 minutes to cook. My husband joined in the fun and made some delicious pink lemonade, which we call Dazzle Berry lemonade (from the kids show Yo Gabba Gabba it makes our daughter enjoy it even more). If you like Asian food try this out you wont be disappointed.. Enjoy!


Love Jen

Lemonade recipe is my husband's secret, only we know it : )

Recipe
- Asian Glazed Chicken
- 8 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp Siracha hot sauce, optional (more or less to taste)
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar 
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp ginger, grated
- 2 tbsp chives or scallions, chopped
- 1 tsp sesame seeds

In a heavy large saucepan ( I use heavy large skillet), brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with a little olive oil .Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 10-12 minutes, until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. Keep an eye on glaze, you don't want it to burn when it starts becoming thick
Transfer chicken to a platter and pour glaze on top. Top with chives and sesame seeds and serve.
Delicious!

Super Quick Dinner

Today was a very busy day, I had planned on making Coconut shrimp with mango dipping sauce. My day flew by and e time I looked at the clock it was to late to make the meal I was dying to eat. I told my husband how about some delicious turkey hot dogs, We very rarely eat hot dogs but it seemed like the fastest thing to make. I got done with dinner in 20 minutes only because I made some amazing cheese potatoes. It was a fun busy day but it was so nice to sit down and have dinner as a family like we always do it my favorite part pf the day : )

Love Jen

                                                         Mommy and Daddy's dinner

                                                             Malia's mini hot dog meal

Recipe
- Turkey hot dogs, any kind you like is good
- Sweet Hawaiian hot dog buns (wow these are amazing)
- 1 large Onion, sliced
- Any topping you would like on top. Me and my husband used BBQ sauce, and our daughter loves     ketchup.

- Cook onions in, 1 tbs of olive oil until soft and brown, add a tsp of sugar and you will have amazing caramelized onions.

Cheese Potato recipe
- 3 Large potatoes, sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp of green onions, sliced
- 1/4 Cup, of any cheese you like
- 4 tbsp of low fat sour cream, I love Daisy
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Put potatoes in a glass microwave bowl and microwave for 20 minutes, or until soft. Take them out add salt and pepper, top with cheese, green onions and sour cream... Easy Peasy : ) Enjoy!

Stickers

Today was a fun day I had with my baby girl. We played, made Macroons, had fun with Cameron, Auntie Kaytlin came over with presents for LiLi. When Daddy comes home it's an exciting time for all of us we are so happy to see him, even our doggie Kiko joins in all the fun. When he walks thru the door he gets bombarded with lots of hugs and kisses. Today was no different other than stickers came in to play. Our daughter loves stickers so much! She has so many different kinds. She chose to attack daddy with stickers and of course he lets her pretend he is a sticker book (what a fun daddy). Here is a pic of how he looked after she was done LoL! Enjoy

Love Jen



Daddy, our daughters sticker book



Cupcake Love

I love this Cupcake it is a rainbow surprise cupcake, it has rainbow colors and the flavor is a surprise until you take that first bite and discover it is a flavor out of this world. Every time a rainbow cupcake is ordered you never know what flavor it will be until you take that first bite. It's something fun we offer at Cake Me, this particular cupcake was an Orange Creamsicle surprise. Vanilla butter cream, center filled with vanilla cream and the cupcake itself was orange. It was very Delicious. All the flavors are off of our menu of course you just wont know which one it is : ) Check me, and my sweets out on Cake Me LV face book page

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.155164334585241.23812.136193089815699&type=3#!/cakemelv

Love Jen

Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken

I love going outside the box to try new recipes, I live for this in my kitchen. I came across a recipe for Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken and said what the heck, I can do this. I meal plan for the week, I get all the groceries I need all at once for a weeks worth of dinners (so much fun not having to run back and forth to the store every day for something). Today was this delicious coconut/citrus recipe. I was excited to make this and master it, YES! Master it on my first try. It involved a spicy pepper but I left that out so my daughter could enjoy it too. It came out Delicious, I recommend it to all who love to try stepping outside of the box and enjoy something new. Enjoy!

Love Jen

   Recipe
- 6 Bone-in chicken legs with thighs attached, Skin removed ( 6 thighs, 6 drum sticks
- 1 lime or 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 4 medium scallions, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/2 - 1 hot scotch bonnet pepper, seeds plus membrane removed, chopped ( I left the pepper out)
- 4 springs fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp coconut oil ( canola oil is good too)
- 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Directions
squeeze lime over chicken and rub well. drain off excess lime juice.

using gloves or spatula combine tomato, onion, scallion, garlic and scotch bonnet pepper, thyme and soy sauce in a large bowl and add to the chicken. Cover and marinate at least an hour.

Heat oil in skillet or large saucepan. Shake off the seasonings as you remove each piece of chicken from the marinade for later.

Lightly brown the chicken on the medium-high heat. When browned on all sides, pour the marinade over the chicken and add the carrots. Stir and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.

Mix cornstarch and coconut milk and add to stew, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and cook an additional 20 minutes, or until tender, add salt to taste. Enjoy

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

I have a great friend Kaytlin who is pregnant and I asked her what are you craving that is sweet, it took her a second and then it hit her, Coconut Macaroons. I was excited to make them for her and her little bundle of joy still in her tummy (not for long) it helps that there also her husbands favorite. I got to work on these Delicious little Puff clouds. I put a twist on mine I dipped them and drizzled them with chocolate, yum! What woman doesn't love chocolate especially the pregnant ones. When I was pregnant I always had a hidden stash of milk Dove chocolates : ) I'll never say where, my little secret. These little puff clouds were full of Awesomeness, I cant wait to make them again.. BTW my husband could not stop eating them and neither could I. I'm actually posting while enjoying these.

Love Jen

Spinach Lasagna Roll Up's

I wanted to share this awesome and easy recipe. Spinach lasagna Roll ups. They are easier to make then they look I promise. My husband, daughter and I enjoyed these so much and so did all our friends and family who got to taste one or two : ). I am looking for new ingredients to make different ones for next time, they are really fun to make and  ingredients you can use are endless.  I use homemade marinara meat sauce but you can use any kind you like, using ready made marinara will save you some time : ) I hope you'll enjoy my recipe and give it a try. Let me know how much you enjoyed it when you make it.

Love Jen

                                                             Proof of Delicious-ness

Recipe
- 9 Lasagna noodles, I used the whole box, it depends on the size of your baking dish
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese, optional
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- 32 oz tomato sauce, I used homemade meat marinara sauce. This is optional
- 1 lb Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Combine spinach, ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add some sauce to the bottom of the 9 x 12 baking dish. you can also add tomato sauce in this step if you like.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and spray with cooking spray so they wont stick to paper. lay out the noodles (make sure noodles are dry). Spread Spinach mixture over each piece of pasta until you have the desired amount (do not overfill) roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Poor sauce evenly over the noodles  in the baking dish, use the rest of the mozzarella cheese to top each noodle. Place a piece of foil over baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until cheese melts, and serve.

My Princess

How I LOVE my little Princess! She is such a ray of light and so smart. I love spending time with her and being able to stay home with her every day is such a privilege, thanks to my amazing hard working husband. I own Cake Me LV, I sell cakes, cupcakes and all other kinds of goodies. I love baking and cooking and teaching my daughter at a young age is so important, she gets her play food and play knife sets up her cutting board and gets to chopping. She has her pot and spatula and goes around the house and said I'm Mommy how cute is that. I love my Sweet life ; ) I love my Amazing Little Princess!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Today was a lovely day and I woke up craving Broccoli soup I have an addiction to really good Broccoli soup, I woke up and I told my husband Honey no more deli bought soup I'm totally going to make it. He replied I know it will be delicious just like everything else you make (awe)! He is totally a charmer. After the lovely morning talk with my honey I decided to get to work on making the soup, first things first Do I have all the ingredients? Well What DA-Ya know I did. Woohoo! I got all my ingredients together and went to work. Here is the recipe I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did, it turned out so Amazing there was none left by the end of the day : )

3 table spoons Butter, melted
1 Medium onion, Diced
1/3 Cup, All Purpose flour
4 Cups, half and half
4 cups, chicken stock, I use homemade, but you can use what ever kind you have : )
1 lb fresh Broccoli or frozen
2 cups, shredded carrots
Salt and Pepper to taste
sprinkle of nutmeg, for garnish
1lb of cheddar cheese

Note: If you need to thin the soup out a little just add some milk, a little at a time until it is at the consistency you like it.

saute onion and butter, add flour little by little until it forms a thick consistency. Stir constantly slowly add half and half . Add chicken stock, still whisking.

Simmer 15 minutes

Add broccoli, carrots and onion. Cook over low heat until veggies are tender about 25-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper. The soup should be thick by now.

Carefully transfer soup to a blender and puree. Return soup to pot over low heat (I like to put mine in a crock pot on low setting).  Add cheese, stir until well blended. Add nutmeg right before serving.. It is really yummy with long garlic crackers. Enjoy!

P.s  Delicious looking/tasting wings you see in the pix, I'll post the recipe on another post.

Love Jen

Pumpkin Spice

Goood Morning it is such a lovely day out today : ) I had an order for some Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes that came out amazing, of course we have to taste test all of our treats to make sure they are Amazing... We all know a true Baker/Chef always taste their food before sending it out. Here are a couple pictures I hope you enjoy and get a sweet tooth craving...Love Jen 

I LOVE My Pricess

How I LOVE my little Princess! She is such a ray of light and so smart. I love spending time with her and being able to stay home with her every day is such a privilege, thanks to my amazing hard working husband. I own Cake Me LV I sell cakes, cupcakes and all other kids of goodies. I love baking and cooking and teaching my daughter at a young age is so important, she gets her play food and play knife sets up her cutting board and gets to chopping. She has her pot and spatula and goes around the house and said I'm Mommy how cute is that. I am the luckiest mommy in the Universe to have such an AMAZING little girl, I love  and my Sweet life ; )

Love Jen

Sunday Family Day

I wanted to share some fun pix with you, from our Lovely Family Sunday

Hi, Sunday we spent the day with family. We went to Pure Aloha and had a blast, we ate Hawaiian food, Snow cones and Spam Musibi (yummy). I saw my sister-in-laws, Mother-in-law, nieces and nephew, it was nice to see everybody and hang out together as a family. It was a fun Sunday.

Papa's Garden

My Doggy  recently passed away and now I see him in everything, my roses, my trees and everything Beautiful. My husband suggested since you love your garden so much and it reminds you of Papa let me make you a Veggie/Fruit garden, he totally made my day. We went down to home depot and bought the soil, wood, shovel, and all kids of other thinkgs to make this garden happen, he built it in a couple hours. We named it Papa's Garden after out late dog/Best Friend Bigboi.
My husband bought Bigboi/Papa for me 7 years ago when we first met he was the best gift ever, besides our daughter who was born 5 years later: ) He had been with us thru it all our new house, when we had to move out of the house into a new house, our highs and our lows. He was a furry little fella.
I had taken him for his normal bath and when I picked him up I noticed some purple bruises all over his body, so I called the groomer and asked them what had happened and they told me he had already had those spots when he arrived. We did not see them due to all the hair he had. I took him to the vet and they did some blood work and told us he had a really low blood platelet count which meant he was bleeding internally when the platelet's are low its harder for clotting to occur, and that is what caused the purple bruising. They diagnosed him with Thrombocytopenia they could not explain to me how he got it, they said its just something at happens and can take over there body in 3 hours to two days.  When the vet told me he had only 2 days to live we were devastated and so very sad. His blood work came back and his blood count should have been between 150,00-500,00 and he was at 8,000 that is terrible, they sent us home with medicine in hopes it would raise his blood count, but that didn't work. Papa died 4 days later due to so much blood loss. I saw my once happy go lucky doggy dying in front of my eyes, he stopped eating and drinking I had high hopes for him because the day before he stopped eating and drinking he was still jumping around and being the same Ole Bigboi. Then came Tuesday and everything came to a complete stop his gums were white, his ears no longer pink nor was his underbelly, everything that should have been pink was now white due to so much blood loss, he was anemic. We gave him a nice warm bath blow dried his hair and wrapped him up in his favorite Red blanket. We called his favorite people to come and say there good bye's. We cuddled him and loved him all day. When night time came we put his bed and blanket in our big bathtub and laid him there so he could be comfy and warm. Me, our daughter and my husband sang him his favorite Bob Marley song 3 Little Birds and he looked at us as if he was smiling and enjoyed every second of it. Everyone went to bed except me I stayed with him all night reminiscing about how I saw him be born, when we went to pick him up and bring him home, we had bought him this adorable little red hoodie, he was the chubbiest puppy out of all of them and the cutest. I read to him and just talked to him cuddled him and I let him know that I'd be OK if he had to go, (which inside I was not OK) he tried holding on far to long. I tried so hard to keep him here with us I fed and gave him water thru a syringe in hopes I could keep him alive. At 4:20am it came time for my husband to get ready for work, and he found me in the bathroom with no sleep just cuddling my dog he said honey you should get some sleep, but of course I didn't want to leave him because I knew he only had a little time left. My husband told Bigboi I love you buddy see you later and he took off for work... 20 minutes later Bigboi started breathing very Heavily and I thought he was thirsty so I gave him some water, but little did I know he was actually dying. He looked at me with these sad eyes he did not want to go, and I didn't want him to go either, but I knew it was time, I called my Mother-In-Law and I said he's dying can you stay on the phone with me and of course she did... His second to last breath really scarred me I have never seen death before until this day it was the saddest day ever, he took his last breath and his little body went stiff and that was it, his Beautiful Spirit had left his body and he was gone... This is where my eyes get really teary when I talk or write about it. I cried so hard and I was so devastated that we was gone.
I  used to tell my husband all the time he is going to watch us get older and see our daughter off to her 1st day of school He had at least 7 more years left if he had not got this terrible disease. I loved my dog/son very much and anyone who has ever had a loved family member pet pass it really is devastating and it stays with you for a long time. I got him cremated and he is home now, it was hard to pick him up as ashes and not my furry little pal. just having his ashes home gives me a little comfort. I know I will see him again Over The Rainbow Bridge, I LOVE you Bigboi and always will, Love Mommy

Bigboi/Papa our Beloved Dog, R.I.P Nov 1, 2005 - Sept 26, 2012

Papa's Garden in the Making Phase 1, Thank you honey for all your support and hard work. I LOVE You!

New SUV for us, yay!

 Today was a super fun day! We went car shopping and found the SUV we have been looking for, it's a Jeep Commander it's so pretty! Pearl color with 3 row seating, leather seats and a built in t.v for our daughter to enjoy on our long road trips. This is the Perfect SUV for us especially because we are planning on having another baby sometime soon, when the LORD blesses us We hope very soon. It was nice to go out and see our new car with a sold sign on it, it was all ours... Perfect day to buy 10/11/12
: ) we didn't even notice the date until signing pretty cool... I'll post more pix tomorrow, for now, Good Nite..zzzZzZzz

Love Jen