bexcaliber: New Prints

New prints in the shop! 

I am really excited about the Striped Love Print. I have been wanting to mix up the Love Pillow Cover and I thought this was the perfect way.  Available in yellow and blue and emerald and mint.

Red was a color missing from my shop and surprisingly it has been hard to find a red that actually prints out as a vivid cherry red. Well I finally found one and I love it paired with this Monaco Blue. The print is modern and the color scheme is Americana, perfect for summer.

And I have revamped one of my first designs. Its crazy how far I have come in one year. The new Garden Walk Print now features overlapping flowers in lots of different sizes and colors. The print has lots of energy and is on trend with Spring's Must Have Color: Emerald. 

Striped Love Print in Sun & Surf
Striped Love Print in Emerald & Mint
Geo Modern Floral in Americana
Garden Walk in Emerald

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Since we just got back from Spring Break, I didn't have time or energy to do anything for today. Good thing Henry has no idea it is a holiday and probably thought we were crazy to insist on bright green shorts for church and family pictures. We all wore green, that is how into it we got.

Getting back from a trip is a lot of work. Not only is it kind of sad for the fun to be over but many loads of laundry are ahead and an empty fridge. We are recovering and refreshed and I should have pictures up soon.

Looking forward we have potty training and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. Fun, fun, fun.

eaten: Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls

Things have been hectic here lately hence the ZERO blog posts in a week. I am doing fine though and busily prepping new merchandise for the shop, pumping iron and getting ready for Spring Break.

So here is a recipe we tried for Valentine's Day. When I set out on this new recipe a week goal I didn't want to do any desserts as that in no way helps my menu making or our healthiness. But for Valentine's Day, why not indulge in a little (lot of) cinnamon-y goodness?

These were delish. Steve didn't love the frosting because he isn't always a fan of cream cheese but I devoured more than my fair share. Maybe next time I will just glaze instead of frost? And the dough is so easy to put together and the vanilla pudding is a miracle moist-maker.

YUM!
Recipe and picture from Mels Kitchen Cafe.

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Note: to use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, decrease the yeast amount to 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast. Still mix it with the water and sugar but you don’t need to wait for it to proof – just continue with the recipe, adding in the yeast/water mixture where indicated. Also, as with all yeast doughs, I never use the flour amount called for in the recipe as a hard fast rule (unless a weight measure is given and then I pull out my kitchen scale). Because humidity, temperature, altitude and a multitude of other factors can impact how much flour you need in your yeast doughs, I always judge when to quit adding flour by the texture and look and feel of the dough rather than how much flour I’ve added compared to the recipe. This tutorial on yeast may help identify how a perfectly floured dough should be.

Ingredients

Rolls:
• ½ cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 ½ ounce package instant vanilla pudding
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6+ cups flour
Filling:
• 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
Frosting:
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• ½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not overflour the dough! It should be very soft but not sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then roll out on floured board to 34 X 21 inches in size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top. Roll up very tightly. With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with thread or serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise until double again.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden (don’t overbake). Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting (combine butter and cream cheese and mix well, then add vanilla and sugar and mix again, then add milk for desired consistency). Makes about 24 very large rolls.

Notes

Freezable Recipe: After shaping the rolls and placing them on the baking sheet, cover with lightly greased saran wrap and a layer of tin foil. Store in the freezer. The night before you want to serve them take out the rolls and put them in the refrigerator. Let them thaw in the refrigerator. Take them out about 8-9 hours after being in the refrigerator and let them rise until doubled. Bake according to the recipe. (If you have less time, you can take the rolls out of the freezer and let them come to room temperature on the counter – about 4 hours, then let rise until doubled).

Steve rating: 5

Beckie rating: 9

eaten: Veggie Spiral

When I started this resolution to try new recipes each week, I was excited to maybe stumble upon some new side dishes. There is only so much salad a family can eat. So when I saw this veggie spiral on Pinterest I knew it would be a hit.

I have made it twice, the first time without onions because I forgot to buy one and the second time with the onions. This needs the onions. Also the first time the potatoes were a little under cooked and it needed more seasonings so the next time I remedied both of those problems. The hardest part about this simple dish is making sure it gets in the oven early enough.

This is delicious and even better as leftovers the next day. And easily adaptable, just use whatever veggies and seasonings your family loves.

Pictures and recipe courtesy of For The Love of Cooking

Vegetable Tian

• 2 tbsp olive oil (divided)
• 1 large sweet yellow onion cut in half and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 russet potatoes, unpeeled-I used red potatoes
• 1 zucchini
• 1 yellow squash
• 3 large Roma tomatoes
• Sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• Dried thyme, to taste
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 60 seconds. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the greased baking dish.

Slice the potatoes, zucchini, squash and tomatoes in 1/4 inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly into a spiral, making only one layer. Season with sea salt, black pepper and dried thyme, to taste. Drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil over the top.

Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Uncover and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until browned. Enjoy.

Steve rating: 8
Beckie rating: 8

bexcaliber: giveaway

I am hosting a giveaway over at The Funky Monkey this week. Go check it out and enter to win this Black Love Print Pillow Cover.

Happy Anniversary!

Its been SIX years since I married my favorite person in the whole world. I have had the most fun being married to Steve and I still love him as much as I did that day. Thanks for making me a very happy woman.

To celebrate we got our first paid babysitter ever (that wasn't in a swap) and went out for a fun evening. We shared fajitas for two at Agua Linda and then went and saw Warm Bodies. The food was delicious, the movie was entertaining and the company was the best.

Video Viernes: Go Dog Go

Henry continues to love reading. Some evenings we will read together for almost an hour and he will sit, rapt in the stories and pictures. I love that his attention span has increased and I also love that he can really understand what he is being told. When we tell him stories at night before bed, he listens and can follow simple plots and participate along with the characters. He has also started picking up on basic storytelling phrasing and can tell us stories about his favorite characters - mostly a little boy named Henry.

Now he has started reading us books and will look at them intently on his own. Sometimes he will even recite his favorites to us while standing on the ottoman. He faces us like a great orator and projects his tales. We get books on cd from the library and he can follow along with the physical book in the car. The first one we did, Peter Rabbit is his favorite and he will repeat almost word for word the text. "Once upon a time, there were four little rabbits. Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter..."

Here is he reading Go Dog Go. He doesn't quite make it through the whole thing but its a solid effort.