Whew.

Whew. Today has been a whirlwind. A flash of flour. cocoa. sugar. icing. sprinkles.

Today, I baked, iced and decorated about 100 cupcakes. I'm so thankful for the business and being super busy in my baking career that I won't mention being on my poor little feet in my little hard floored kitchen for 8 hours.. I just won't mention it :)

My in-laws also came down this afternoon and thankfully agreed to have KFC for supper since there was no way my kitchen could handle my cooking supper this evening. We had a good visit, and they laughed at the flour on my nose and clothes covered in powdered sugar. I had to bake the whole time they were here, so I tried to chime in from the kitchen and we had a lot of fun watching 'American Pickers' with them on the History channel. One of our favorite shows :)

I baked mostly Valentine's Day themed cupcakes today, but 3 dozen were baby boy shower cupcakes for a friend of a friend. Love getting new calls and finding new business from folks I don't know but know all about my cupcakes :)

Baby Shower Cupcakes-













It must have slipped my mind this morning that I was going to be on my feet all day.. because around 11am, I convinced Tommy that we should walk to the clubhouse and work out.. that was the icing on my cupcake today.. everything I have is already burning, and I'm sure it will be worse by morning! It feels good to get up the heartrate though, and we enjoy working out together and encouraging eachother. He's so wonderful, and I'm not just saying that so he'll read my blog and get me an amazing Valentine's Day gift.. but a girl can hope ;)

Happy Valentine's Day.

Kara

Super Bowl Belly Ache...

Oh dear friends... what a day..
I've been weightwatcher-ing for a few weeks. My head has been in the game, I've been motivated and I've been doing so well... and then.. the superbowl happened..

We met with some family for the game.. I decided I would take healthy food options so I would have choices and would at least eat my own food if there were no other good choices..so, I took a fruit tray, veggie tray (all homemade and home chopped, don't buy premade produce trays.. they're a rip off!) and I made the most delicious weight watcher cupcakes of all time.. recipe below.

and then..

we got there... there were hot wings, bbq baby back ribs, dips of all kinds, chips of all kinds, mini cheesecakes, no bake cookies and much much more..

and

I ate like it was my last supper.. like a little oinker... like a starvin' marvin'... like weight watchers was the farthest thing from my mind...

and now I'm remorseful, and my belly hurts,  knowing that it's all over and I certainly went above and beyond my daily points and flex points.. and I'll start again tomorrow, because that's all you can do when you gain 47 pounds in one night ;)

Here's how I made the weight watcher cupcakes... Keep in mind, I'm a professional cupcake baker, and I do it for a living.. so the recipe may be much to complicated to follow... HA! You know what? I used a box mix.. yes I did.. I used a box mix and I was proud of it.. It's easier to figure the nutrition facts because they are right there on the side.. so I did it! I don't care either.. it was for a family gathering and I used a box for the first time in ages.. who cares! not me.

Duncan Hines- oh wait, a note on this-> just do me a favor and don't ever, EVER buy any cake mix other than Duncan Hines.. they have the best cake mixes on the planet and you won't ever be disappointed by them. amen.

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Kara's Weight Watchers (Points Plus) Chocolate Cupcakes to die for !
Makes 19 cupcakes
ONLY 3 POINTS PLUS EACH!

1 Duncan Hines Devil's food- Chocolate cake mix
2 egg whites- beaten to medium peaks
1- 12oz can of diet soda (diet coke, coke zero, etc.) I used Caffeine Free Diet Coke, because I don't do caffeine unless it's found naturally in a substance (chocolate- and that's it).
1- tub of Cool Whip FREE- make sure and get the free (fat free) kind, it makes for a 0 point icing!! If you get lite or regular, you'll have to reconfigure the points.

Beat the egg whites- to medium peaks. Mix cake mix and soda together until well combined. Fold in the egg whites (stir as little as possible to combine- the egg whites are what make your cake so fluffy!)
VERY IMPORTANT- You must make 19 cupcakes out of this batter. Any more or less will effect the points and you'll be on your own to figure them out.
Bake on 340, for about 14 minutes.



Once cooled- pipe (or just use a good ole' butter knife- I mean, we used a box mix so we don't have to be super fancy) about 2 tbsp of cool whip free onto the top of each cupcake.

Keep in the fridge.

Enjoy your cupcakes, only 3 points each!!! hoorray!

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I now must lie on the couch and continue suffering from a massive bellyache.. but it was well deserved.. next time.. I'll leave some food for the others ;)

Groans and Moans.
Kara

I always say I won't do this...

I always say that I'll start blogging more frequently.. that I'll sit down every night and take time to get my thoughts out.. that I'll appreciate looking back on my blogs when I'm older and wiser..

but.

Anyway, since my last post (over one month ago.. sorry!) we've celebrated Christmas and our first wedding anniversary on 1-1-11. Wedding Anniversaries are fun! We got lots of cards and well wishes and enjoyed a relaxing morning followed by shopping and dinner.. nothing too fancy, but just wonderful to have a day to ourselves and to do whatever we wanted with no assigned plans! it was lovely.

Here's what we've learned in one year of marriage. ha!

1. You will disagree. You will argue. and it's okay! I think we were so scared to argue that we actually held things in, in the beginning of our marriage.. what a crock! it's okay to argue, we use our own set guidelines and try to fight fairly and respectfully.. and it's okay that we fight! we know that now.. and we're glad.

2. (Kara only) Not every supper will be a super dooper winner winner chicken dinner type of meal.. it just won't... you will make things that he doesn't like..This was a hard one for me.. I was sure that every supper had to be a huge ordeal with several dishes on the table and if he didn't drool over my wonderful meal that I was less than a good wife! What a ridiculous thought!  I eventually lightened up on myself and it's okay that he doesn't love everything. he'll get over it. or he can make himself a peanut butter sandwich. it's that simple.


3. You're not naked all the time. You're just not. Life goes on. bills come in the mail. grocery shopping must be done. dentist appointments made.  family get togethers attended. taxes filed. life goes on. enough said about this one.


4. Money is hard to share. and you will fight about it. It's hard to share money and it's hard to make joint decisions about purchases, budgets and bills. It's going to be hard. Just have a good chat about how blessed you are compared to so many unfortunate folks in the world. and you'll move on from this too.


I hope this was a good laugh for your marriage veterans and maybe a good piece of advice for anyone getting married in the future. We've learned that love covers a multitude of flaws and a good laugh can fix just about anything.

Love and hugs.

Kara

December? No.. Can't be!!

December has gone by in a flash... we were battling the sniffles for the first half of the month, and Christmas seems to take up the second half of the month... I've had the wrapping paper out for 2 weeks.. and I've been wrapping as I bring home things which has eliminated the need for an all night wrap-a-thon this year :) In fact.. seems like every time I leave the house I come home with a little something for Tommy, just so I have an excuse to wrap! Love, love, love wrapping!

Here's a neat link on how to recycle your wrapping paper scraps.

Recycled wrapping paper bows


Our 1st Anniversary is also upcoming and we're very excited to reflect on the past year. We admit that we thought we knew everything there was to know about eachother and about marriage when we got married.. but, HA. We didn't have a clue.. and we still don't. That's what it's all about.. it's about growing up together and learning as we go. Marriage makes everyday an adventure. I love it. I wouldn't change anything in the last year. Especially my coming home to be a housewife and take care of Tommy, our home and our families. He still says it's the best decision we've ever made, and I take that as job well done :)

I enjoy December, so much hustle and bustle. I enjoy hearing Christmas music in all the stores and everyone seems to have a different attitude around this time of the year. The tree and the decorations in the house could stay up all year if it was up to me. I even enjoy the busy streets and the crowded mall once in a while :)

Merry Christmas to all.

Kara

sneeze. blow. cough. repeat.

The mighty winter cold has blanketed the Watkins' household.. I came down with a sore throat last Monday, followed by all the other beautiful cold symptoms.. and I'm still sniffing and coughing today! 5 days later!!!

Because I'm running no fever, and the symptoms are tolerable with over the counter medications, I haven't been the doc yet.. It has improved.. and this Afrin nose spray stuff has absolutely saved my life! Love it! I can breathe during the night, and I can sleep! So I'm surviving okay.. until Tommy caught it...

Tommy woke up Friday morning with a sore throat, and today, it's in full swing head cold mode.. Since I'm on the back side of my cold (hopefully) I immediately headed to WalMart to gear up for the battle. I purchased good tissues (because I can handle the cheap kind, but I won't make my hubby use them), chicken soup (he prefers Campbells, rather than my homemade.. which is okay.. I guess :)) and most importantly, I bought Lysol wipes. and I've been using them. I started wiping down every remote, every door handle, cabinet handle, fridge handle, everything. I refuse to continue passing this cold around. refuse!

I'll send more updates from the battlefront.

Kara

no more turkey!

Thanksgiving festivities have come to a close at the Watkins' household and I'm absolutely exhausted. In fact, there are still dishes piled up from Friday and they won't be dealt with until tomorrow.. I just couldn't do it today...

In retrospect, the holiday went very well. It began last Friday when mom, mimi and my great aunt came to visit and helped me prepare for hosting my in-laws on Saturday afternoon. We cooked, ate pizza and babysat our best friend's baby Madilyn.. it was a fun night!

Saturday, we got up, straightened up and I cooked for our afternoon meal. We had a great time with my in-laws and great food! We had leftovers until Tuesday, yum! On Wednesday, my sister came over and we cooked for an event she was attending Thursday afternoon, so the kitchen went back into disaster mode. On Thursday, we got up early went to my parent's church and helped cook, box, and serve Thanksgiving meals for the less fortunate in the community. This has become a Thanksgiving tradition for our family and we absolutely love it.

Since that pushes our family meal to Friday after Thanksgiving day, we headed to mom's Thursday evening to help prepare. The boys watched the Bengals lose miserably to the Jets, while Mom and I made several dishes and wrapped some gag gifts for our game of bingo the following night :)

On Friday, we woke up, and I started cooking again, and headed to Shepherdsville in the early afternoon to cook and prepare for the evening meal.

The family meal was a wonderful success! Plenty of food, friends and family to share with. We had a full table, full hearts and full bellies! The bingo game created many laughs and giggles and we're already planning for a rematch next year!

In summary, we are very thankful, very blessed and VERY tired of turkey ;)

Dressin' or Stuffin' ?

With the holiday quickly approaching... the hubby and I got into a debate this evening about dressin' vs. stuffin' the turkey.

I let him know that I was making the dressing for our family dinner this year, and a few moments later he was on the phone with his mom and told her I was making stuffing. These words are one in the same to him, and after he got off the phone, I let him know that I was making dressing.. not stuffing.

This took us into an entire conversation on dressing (not in the bird) vs. stuffing (stuffed into the bird), and I know he hated every moment of the conversation.. he loves food.. but he doesn't care about food history or details.. food good. amen. that's his philosophy :)  However, I went on and proved my point anyway, not that it mattered, but I enjoyed talking about it, and sharing my very limited food knowledge with him... he was probably annoyed, but oh well.. he married me ;) i

Anyway, I realized that most folks do use the words dressing and stuffing as one in the same, and I think that's completely wrong! If I was invited somewhere, and they said they were having stuffing, I wouldn't be able to eat it.. because I know that it touched raw bird before it was all cooked together, and I just can't handle the thought of that... I want to eat dressing on Thanksgiving.. I want it made with good stale bread chunks, fresh veggies and lots of chicken stock... it should never ever touch any raw bird! I'm all about stuffing the bird, onions, carrots, lemons, oranges, fresh herbs and anything else you can think of, but then you eat the cooked bird, use the cooked stock and throw away the stuff that you stuffed in there!!


               So...after that longwinded justification, what will you be having, dressing or stuffing?

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all !

Love.
Kara