#hiloskyeveryday2014 Week 18

Happy Thursday and First Day of May!!!  Today, the weather actually felt like spring, for which I am truly grateful!

Day 115 - We braved the wind for a morning shopping trip to BJs!  I love the double carts they have so that both girls have a seat! 

Day 116 - We had a fun morning visit with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob!  They got the girls some sweet Easter treats, including Princess Sofia Hats (that they are wearing backwards of course).

Day 117 - a Sunday Ice Cream Treat!  They couldn't even wait for spoons....

Day 118 - This picture captures their true big sister/little sister personalities!  Wherever Lacie goes, Blakely follows! 

Day 119 - Blakely has mastered eating with a fork!  Now we just need to work on using a spoon without getting yogurt everywhere! 

Day 119 - I had to include a second day 119 photo because the Hubby came home from work with FLOWERS!  It wasn't an anniversary or a birthday, it was a very sweet "just because" gesture! 

Day 120 - Stuck inside, rainy day silly face! 

Day 121 - Bubbles are the best!  

Overnight French Toast Casserole

French toast casserole is one of my staples when I host a brunch at my house for Easter or another holiday!  This casserole is so basic, and there are a ton of things you can add to "dress it up."  The best thing about this casserole is that there are only 5 ingredients!!!  Oh and you make it the night before so that in the morning the only thing left to do is pop it in the oven!

Your Shopping List:

• 12 slices of your favorite cinnamon bread (I use Pepperidge Farm)
• 8 eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• extra maple syrup, fruit of choice, any additional toppings you want for serving

Now Let's Make the Overnight French Toast Casserole:

1. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter or cooking spray
2. Cut the cinnamon bread into one inch cubes (I leave the crust on) and layer in bottom of prepared baking dish
   
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the 8 eggs with the milk
4. Whisk in the pure maple syrup and the vanilla extract
5. Pour egg mixture over the top of the bread, cover, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight
6. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 40 minutes until the casserole has puffed up and the center is set

During the last 5-10 minutes of baking, I added sliced bananas and drizzled more of the real maple syrup over the top.  Then, I returned it to the oven and baked until the syrup was warm and the bananas were beginning to turn brown!  You can do this with any fruit that you like! 

Serve with additional syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, extra fruit, etc.

I always serve the french toast casserole along side a savory dish, like my Sausage Egg & Cheese Casserole! 

Chocolate Coconut Neiman Marcus Bars

One of the other desserts I served at Easter Brunch were these amazing Chocolate Coconut Neiman Marcus Bars!  I have blogged about my love of these bars before!  Traditional Neiman Marcus Bars have a yellow cake base with a plain cream cheese topping.  But I like to mix the flavors up by experimenting with different combinations.  And when I was trying to decide what to make for Easter, I knew I wanted coconut!  Then, I decided to use a chocolate base so that would be reminiscent of Coconut Cream Chocolate Easter Eggs...except BETTER! 

Oh and these bars are CAKE MIX RECIPE #35

Your Shopping List:

• 1 box chocolate cake mix 
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 3 eggs, divided 
• 1 8oz block of cream cheese, softened to room temperature 
• 4 cups powdered sugar 
• 1/2 tsp coconut extract 
• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Now Let's Make the Chocolate Coconut Neiman Marcus Bars:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, melted butter, and one beaten egg until a dough forms
3. Press the chocolate dough into the prepared pan and set aside
   
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the softened cream cheese, two remaining eggs, and coconut extract until fully incorporated 
5. Beating on the lowest speed, slowly add the powdered sugar until it is completely mixed with the wet ingredients 
6. Fold in the shredded coconut
7. Pour cream cheese mixture on top on the chocolate dough
   
8. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes until the top has formed a crust, the edges are set and brown - the middle will appear to not be quite set, that's okay!
   
9. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before transferring pan to the fridge to cool and set completely - at least an additional 2 hours (I left it in the fridge overnight and cut the bars in the morning)
10. Cut bars and serve or store in the fridge until you are ready to serve! 

If you are looking for more Neiman Marcus Bar Ideas:

Lemon Neiman Marcus Bars

Red Velvet Neiman Marcus Bars

Butterscotch Neiman Marcus Bars

#hiloskyeveryday2014 Week 17

Happy Thursday!  If you have been following my blog for some time now, you know that means it's time for a new #hiloskyeveryday2014!  It's week 17 and today is day 114!

Day 108 - we finally moved the 58 inch TV from the man cave in the basement (which no longer gets used) to our bedroom!  I may never leave this bed!  Except I have to since I have two little ones to chase after.  We definitely should have put this baby on the wall when we were newlyweds...aka the time of our life when we had all day and night to lay around and watch TV! 

Day 109 - getting ready to go visit some very special cousins...this was the best we got that afternoon! Of course Mirabelle and Lili needed to be posed for the picture too! 

Day 110 - Happy Easter!  Sweet B participating in the Egg Hunt (she slept through last years).  She carried as many eggs as her little arms possibly could! 

Day 111 - This is Lili, Lacie's favorite stuffed animal (or "friend" as Lacie says).   You can tell that she is a very loved doll!  Well at nap time, Lacie had some fun creating a hole and picking the stuffing out of Lili.  Thank goodness Nana was able to fix her! 

Day 112 - Our bedtime routine is probably my most favorite part of the day!  I love snuggling up with my just-bathed, sweet-smelling girls for a good cuddle and story! 

Day 113 - These two crack me up!  All Day Long! 

Day 114 - Little Miss Nature Girl! She could spend all day picking flowers and grass! 

 

Easter Recap

Easter was only two days ago, but Lacie is already busy saying "Easter's All Done" and asking what comes next!!!  It's funny how children measure time based around special family holidays!  We had a great and super simple Easter Brunch at our house!  I was busy running around and cooking, so I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked, which is usually the case.  But I did manage to capture some egg hunt fun and Easter Basket opening!

As I was looking at my pictures from the day, I realized that this is Lacie's third and Blakely's second Easter.  I decided to look back at Easter's past...and I was amazed at how much they have grown in such a short amount of time!

Lacie's first, second, and third Easters!  I can remember her first Easter like it was yesterday! She was only seven months old!  John and I already knew that I was pregnant with sweet Blakely Hope...but nobody else knew that little secret for a few more weeks!  What I remember most about Lacie's second Easter is how much she loved the egg hunt!  That was also true this year! 

Blakely's first and second Easter!  I actually cannot believe how much bigger Blakely is only a year later!  During Blakely's first Easter, she slept through the egg hunt!  Now, she is trying as hard as she can to keep up with her big sister...in every aspect from talking to climbing on the jungle gym at the playground!  On Easter Sunday, Blakely tried to carry as many eggs as her little arms could! 

*The days are long but the years are short*  

I have heard this saying so many times, and you never realize how true it is until you have children! 

And just for fun...our pictures with the Easter Bunny!  Lacie loved the Easter Bunny as a baby!  But she wasn't quite as thrilled the following year.  Where is 2014's bunny picture you might ask....well neither child would go anywhere near him!  I think it's safe to say that we are over the bunny pictures until we are a bit older! 

For Easter brunch I served my Sausage Egg & Cheese Casserole, which is always a hit!  You can find the recipe here! 

I also made these awesome Orange Creamsicle Cookies!

There were a few other treats at Easter Brunch, and those recipes will be posted later this week!

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend!  John was off all last week, so we had 9 beautiful days of family time!  It was just perfect!

For the past three years, I have hosted an Easter brunch for my family and my in-laws!  This year, I made these Orange Creamsicle Cookies, and they were fantastic!  If you like eating traditional Orange Creamsicle IcePops during the warmer months, then these cookies are perfect for you!  And they could not be easier!  In fact, they are CAKE MIX RECIPE #34!!!

Your Shopping List:

• 1 box orangesicle cake mix
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup white chocolate chips 
• additional white chocolate for dipping the cookies 

Now Let's Make the Orange Creamsicle Cookies:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, eggs, and vanilla
3. Slowly add cake mix until a soft dough forms
4. Fold in the cup of white chocolate chips
5. Drop by the rounded tablespoon (I use a cookie scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheets
6. Bake in your preheated oven for 9-11 minutes
7. Cool for 2 minutes on sheets then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely 
8. Once cookies are cool, melt your additional white chocolate (I used 2 cups of white chips - but you could use bars of white chocolate for this part) in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until just melted and smooth
9. Dip half the cookie in the melted white chocolate and place onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper to dry 
10. Repeat with all the remaining cookies 
    
    
    
11. Allow white chocolate to harden before storing 

These cookies are so good for spring, and they are perfect for summer too!  If you don't want to dip them in white chocolate, you could leave them plain and they would still taste delicious!  They would look like this:

And if you wanted to go a little crazy and cover the whole cookie in white chocolate, that would also taste great!  But I liked the look of the half orange and half white cookie best!  

Happy Baking!

#hiloskyeveryday2014 Week 16

Day 101 - perfect picnic weather!  Both of these girls LOVE to eat which is why they could not be bothered to look up and say "cheese."  

Day 102 - Taking time to stop and smell the flowers at Grandmom and Grandpop's house!  

Day 103 - First ice cream outing of the season!  

Day 104 - First beach trip of 2014...a little too windy for these cuties! 

Day 105 - Daddy took the whole week off!!!  Something he hasn't done since I had Blakely!  We have been enjoying a lot of special breakfasts!  Click here to find my Belgian Waffle Recipe!  

Day 106 - who needs a cart when you have sweet little helpers!  In case you didn't already know, the hubby and I like are coffee...like a lot! 

Day 107 - a much needed day date with John!  I was ridiculously excited that I was able to get a pink cake pop at Starbucks...and it even came in a pink bag!