Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

I am impressed with myself....for the first time since the baby was born, I cooked! Wahoo! And let me tell you, I am happy I did. This was similar to a muffin...but yet different. My family ate the entire thing. It is healthy right? There are blueberries in it! I guess I will do what I can to get my kids to eat their fruits! 

Source: Alexandra Cooks

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft

zest from 1 lemon

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup buttermilk

Cream butter with lemon zest and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, toss blueberries with 1/4 cup flour. Add the rest of the flour, baking powder, salt and buttermilk to the butter mixture. Fold in blueberries. Grease a 9 inch pan and spread batter. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.  

Beignets

Back in 2008 we were able to go to The Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to watch the Utes play Alabama. Brooks' Mom lives about 3 hours away from New Orleans, so we left the boys with her and took our baby with us. We spent the day walking around, and of course eating. We LOVED the beignets. Don't worry that we actually ate them twice in the two days that we were there. New Orleans is one of those places that everyone should visit....especially if you love food. We have been wanting to make these since our visit, and finally got around to it a few months ago. They are a little time consuming, but well worth it! 

Source: Paula Deen

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast 
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 7 cups flour
• 1/4 cup shortening
• Nonstick spray
• Oil for frying
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees.

Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry 5-6 at a time, depending on how large your fryer is, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color. After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels, and then toss them into the bag of powdered sugar. Hold bag closed and shake to coat evenly. Best is served warm. 

Miss Ruby Sue Winner

Thanks everyone for entering this fun giveaway! I wish I could have won as well!
The winner is:

#70 Stephanie

Congrats! Email me at cucinafamiglia@gmail.com by Thursday to claim your prize!

She is Here

Please welcome...

****

Brinleyanne

1/13/12

7 lbs 9 oz

****

and absolutely beautiful!

My dearest friend Julie, did a birth story for us. Check out her work 

at Julieburtonphotography.com She did an amazing job, and it makes me cry 

every time I look at these pictures. Everyone should have this done for 

at least one of their births. 

Kiki's Fashion Winner

Good morning everyone! The winner of the Kiki's Fashion Giveaway is...

#1 Becky

Congrats! Email me at cucinafamiglia@gmail.com by Friday to claim your prize!

Miss Ruby Sue Giveaway

Ok my friends, I have a love affair with fun hair accessories. Especially on kids. I love the look in a photo shoot, wedding, or for every day wear. I am kind of freaking out about the etsy shop, Miss Ruby Sue. Looking at this shop just makes me happy. I love all the bright colors that are used in the accessories.  I know I have a bunch of items added to my basket to purchase! I am just picturing Bella wearing the aqua headband, and the baby in the aqua and off white. Seriously darling. I need to purchase these ASAP.  I need them before the baby comes...which could be any day (please send me baby vibes:)). 

So now for the giveaway....

Win It: One person will win a $50 gift certificate to Miss Ruby Sue

Mandatory:  Head over to Miss Ruby Sue and tell me what your favorite item is!

Extra options:
*Follow "Our Family Treat" on Google Friend (1 entry)
*Like "Our Family Treat" on Facebook (1 entry)

*Like "Miss Ruby Sue" on Facebook (2 entries)

*Add "Miss Ruby Sue" to your Favorites on Etsy (2 entries)

*update your status on Facebook or Twitter telling your friends about our giveaway (2 entries)

*Add our link to your blog roll on your blog (2 entries)
*Blog about this giveaway (3 entries)

Details:
Make sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Open to anyone! Contest ends January 22nd at 11:59 PM and winner will be chosen by Random.org generator. When winner is announced you will have until Thursday to claim your prize, or a new winner will be chosen

Breakfast Ring

I have a thing for breakfast...I love it. But the problem is, is when I actually eat it at breakfast, I feel sick all day. I don't know why. So we eat a lot of "breakfast for dinner" or brunch. That way I can still eat those yummy breakfast foods, but not be sick! 

This recipe is one you can experiment with different meats, cheeses and veggies to make it perfect for your family. 

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz can) refrigerated crescent rolls

6 eggs

1/2 pound breakfast sausage, browned (if you aren't a sausage fan, use ham or bacon)

1 cup cheddar cheese

your choice of veggies: red pepper, onion, mushrooms, green onion, etc

Scramble eggs and brown sausage. Set aside. We used a prepared pizza stone (but feel free to use what you have). Unroll crescent rolls into a wheel pattern on pan. Then add eggs, meat, cheese and veggies around the center of the crescent rolls ring. Then fold the tips of the ring to the center. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. 

Kiki's Fashion Review and Giveaway

Let's start out the New Year with some great giveaways! The next few weeks we will be having an online "Baby Shower" for my sweet baby that is arriving shortly. You all get to reap the benefits! Wahoo! So whether you are pregnant, wanting to be, or know someone who is...these are some great giveaways!

Let me introduce you to Kiki's Fashions. It is an online website with maternity clothes. I swear the past few years fashion has changed so much...and maternity clothes are actually cute!
"Stylish maternity clothes at prices every pregnant mom will love! At Kiki's Fashions, we not only offer expecting mothers cute maternity dresses, trendy maternity skinny jeans, and modern maternity tank tops, we also offer our maternity clothing at prices every pregnant mom can afford. We add to our maternity clearance section weekly, so there are always deep discounts on maternity clothes saavy mothers can discover. And don't forget to check out our pregnancy clothes under $10. Where else can you find this large of a selection on cheap maternity clothes?"

The thing I struggle with about maternity clothes, is because you only wear them for at most 9 months, you don't want to spend a fortune. Kiki's has some really great shirts, dresses, skirts, and pants for under $30.00. So you won't be breaking the bank. The shirt I was sent isn't online any more...but it was the cutest brown 3/4 length shirt...with the cutest neckline. I loved the sides because it expands, so that as my belly has expanded, the shirt didn't shrink in the length. It has worn really well...and washed well. 
Right now Kiki's has some really great discounts going on...so be sure to check out their site. You will be so happy you did! 

Win It: One person will win a $25 gift certificate to Kiki's Fashions

Mandatory:  Go to Kiki's Fashion and tell me what your favorite item is. 

Extra options:
*Follow "Our Family Treat" on Google Friend (1 entry)
*Like "Our Family Treat" on Facebook (1 entry)

*Like "Kiki's Fashions" on Facebook (2 entries)

*update your status on Facebook or Twitter telling your friends about our giveaway (2 entries)

*Add our link to your blog roll on your blog (2 entries)
*Blog about this giveaway (3 entries)

Details:
Make sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Open to anyone! Contest ends January 15th at 11:59 PM and winner will be chosen by Random.org generator. When winner is announced you will have until Thursday to claim your prize, or a new winner will be chosen

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I absolutely LOVE to eat a good salad. It is one of those things I think I could be happy with eating every day. Plus usually you can put everything together ahead of time, so it is a perfect week night meal. 

Ingredients:

1 head Romain lettuce, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped,

1 tomato, chopped

2 cups carrots, diced

4 slices bacon, chopped

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

3 chicken breasts, diced

salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

hot sauce

Blue Cheese Dressing:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 drops of Worcestershire sauce

Make dressing ahead of time so the flavors can marry.
Cook bacon until crispy.
Season chicken with salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika and a little hot sauce. Fry chicken on stove top in a little olive oil.
Prepare ingredients for salad.
When chicken is done, slice and top on salad. Drizzle with dressing and a little more hot sauce. Enjoy!

Drive In Movie Party

I hope you all had a nice Christmas break! We sure did! It was so nice having Brooks home from work (due to his ACL surgery) for almost 3 weeks...plus the kids were home for just over 2. I don't know what I am going to do with myself today in a quiet house! I guess I only have a few short weeks until this baby arrives, so there is plenty to do.
Both of my boys have their birthdays right after Christmas. I don't want them to ever feel like they get left out, so we have let them have a party every year. This year, my oldest wanted a car themed party. I found a fun idea on Pinterest, so I thought I would share.
We purchased some boxes at Walmart for the kids to decorate. We had paint, markers, crayons, paper, paper plates for wheels and the steering wheel, etc for the kids to decorate their cars.

Then we had a concession stand. You can do it easy like we did and let them have whatever treat they want...or you can give the kids each a few tickets to "pay" for their treats.

 Then each kid got nice and cozy in their car and settled in to watch "Cars 2." It was the perfect birthday party. Plus pretty darn simple to!