Domestic Daydreams: July 2009

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Butterfly Cake

I got asked to make a butterfly cake for a little girls 2nd birthday party which I gladly said yes to.

I love any opportunity to make something girly. It's a nice departure from my usual Star Wars, bugs and sports that my boys request.

It took me a couple hours between baking and making homemade tinted buttercream but once I got going it went quick. A star tip is a beautiful thing...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I go to a pretty amazing church here in Cincinnati called Crossroads. Each year my church sends teams to New Orleans in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild the city and love on it's peeps.

I couldn't swing going this year on the trip since I was already spread thin with some other commitments, but I'm holding out hope I can next year.

My neighbor, Bethanne is taking the amazing journey to the Big Easy and I thought with a 17 hour bus trip to endure, she would appreciate some cookie bliss.

I give you the easiest and quite yummy lemon cookie recipe made with a cake mix:

1 box lemon cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter softened

zest of one lemon

Mix lemon cake mix, eggs, butter and lemon zest together. Drop teaspoons of dough on to ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. I also think a cream cheese glaze drizzled over them would be a nice touch too.

Here are mine all boxed up to send off with Bethanne:

Hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Eat Well...Live Long

The Lindsey household is striving to get healthier! My cooking is now very health conscious and we now have a membership to the local Y for frequent calorie burning.

Someone told me to grocery shop only in the outer rim of the store where all the fresh veggies, fruit and meats are. It's a challenge to stay away from pre-packaged items just for the convenience factor but we're doing well avoiding them.

I'm really trying to be creative with meals but that's also challenging when you have limited time to whip something up after work.

I've been doing alot of salads like tuna, egg and chicken with lots of greens to accompany it. Very light, fresh and perfect for summer! Arranging it all on a platter really makes it seem dinner worthy.

A rotisserie chicken makes throwing together the chicken salad a breeze. My chicken salad is full of yummy herbs, nuts and grapes. Here's my recipe:

Yummy Chicken Salad

2 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup of halved grapes (green or red)
1/3 cup of chopped or halved pecans
handful of fresh chopped parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Toss all together and refridgerate. The longer it sits so the flavors meld together, the better it tastes.

Enjoy!