Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes (From Scratch!)

I made these this past weekend for my boss' birthday. I typically go right to boxed mixes when making cupcakes - they're easy and I never have to worry about messing them up! I wanted to try a new recipe for cupcakes from scratch, and came across this one on Pinterest. I was nervous because there were 2 ingredients that I had never baked with before - so I was terrified that they wouldn't turn out okay. They ended up tasting delicious and were easy to make! I'll definitely be making these again :)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, you can do 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Add acid to the milk and set aside for 5 minutes before using. I used actual buttermilk.)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
2. Using an electric or stand mixer, add eggs and beat for 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil.
3. Slowly add about half of the flour mixture, continue to mix. Add in half of the butter milk, continue to mix. Add in the remaining flour mix and milk. Beat until well combined.
4. Pour batter into your muffin pans so that they are approximately 2/3 full.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. Cool in pan for 1-2 minutes and then remove to finish cooling on a wire rack.

I topped the cupcakes with cream cheese icing and sprinkles :)

Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

I made these bites for a birthday party and they were a huge hit! :) The cookie dough is safe to eat, and these little bites are delicious! I can't wait to make these again!

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp

- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar

- 2 tablespoons milk

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

- 40-50 pretzels

- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate (to melt)

- 1 teaspoon shortening

Directions:

1. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl (or using a stand mixer), beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and creamy. 

3. Next, add the milk and vanilla extract until combined. 

4. On a low speed, add in the flour and salt. The dough will be thick and crumbly - just keep mixing until it blends together. 

5. Mix in the mini chocolate chips.

6. Roll the dough into balls - approx 2 teaspoons of dough per pretzel sandwich. 

7. Place the dough balls between two pretzels and place on the prepared baking sheet. Freeze for 20 minutes.

8. While the pretzel bites are chilling, melt the chocolate with a little shortening for about one minute in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds. (The shortening is used to thin the chocolate out).

9. Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer, and dip half way into the melted chocolate. 

10. Places the bites back on the baking sheet. Once finished, place the sheet in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. 

Once they've had the chance to chill for about 10 minutes, 

you're ready to pull them out and enjoy! :)

Favorite Baby Items: 3 Months Old

I can't believe that our little man is already 4 months old - time has been flying by and we've been loving every single second of it! :) I've published 4 posts in the past with some of my favorite baby items thus far, and going forward, I'm going to start organizing them by month!

Now that our big boy is 4 months old, I'll share some of the things that we loved this past month, while he was 3 months old, in no particular order:

MatiMati Baby Bandana Drool Bibs - These things are AMAZING! Bennett has been drooling like crazy this past month and these bibs are not only so soft, but so absorbent! (And not to mention, the cutest things ever). We were gifted a few of these for a shower gift, and loved them so much that we bought another pack in other prints! Without a bib, he'd soak through his shirt within a few minutes, so these have definitely been so helpful. They grow with your baby and have snaps in the back for different sizes :)



Sassy Floor Mirror - We received this as a gift and Bennett loves it! He'll use it while he's doing tummy time, but also if we're playing or laying on the floor with toys - he gets the biggest smile on his face when he sees his reflection :)



Carter's Cuddle Plush Blanket Elephant - We too received this cute little snuggy for a shower gift, last year! We have this in gray/teal and Bennett recently starting paying so much attention to it! The elephant's head has a rattle in it, so it makes noise when you shake it. It's so soft that Bennett loves playing with it and putting it close to his face.


Philips Avent Soothie Pacifier - Bennett didn't start using pacifiers until this past month - he was never interested. He hasn't liked any other kind that we've tried (collect as many of those free samples as you can while pregnant, mamas - we had many to try to see what he liked!) but these were the winner! He loves this kind, and we recently introduced him to the WubbaNub since it has the same Soothie attached to it. He LOVES it as well - but sometimes gets so excited about the elephant that's attached, that he yanks it right out of his mouth to look at, pops it back in, and continues the cycle. Haha - its cute to watch, and it makes him so happy!


Honest Company Shampoo & Body Wash - This one isn't necessarily just for him at 3 months, but we use it for every bath (which he's always loved, but is starting to love more and more each month as he's getting more active... now he's full on kicking his feet and splashing in the tub)! :) I get my 2-pack from Costco (they're much cheaper there and are usually always running a coupon, in addition to their lower price!) - Note: Thank you Sharon for turning us on to this product! Not only do all of their products smell great (we use their Lavender Face & Body Lotion as well, which I'm obsessed with) - but it's so soft on his skin. I found that his skin was a little sensitive to the Johnson & Johnson we originally tried, but since we've stuck with this and the Honest Company brand for his lotions and shampoos, all is great! :)

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

Another easy (and delicious) side! :)

This is another 3 ingredient side that you can easily 

whip up to serve with your main dish!

Ingredients:

- Red potatoes

- Olive oil

- Italian seasoning packet

Directions:

- Wash and cut the potatoes into cubes

- Spread the potatoes in a baking dish

- Drizzle in olive oil

- Sprinkle the Italian seasoning packet over your potatoes

- Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes

Enjoy! :)

Favorite Baby Items: Take 4

Another post for my Favorite Baby Items series!
If you missed the previous posts, click below to catch up! :)

Favorite Baby Items: Take 1
Favorite Baby Items: Take 2
Favorite Baby Items: Take 3 (Breastfeeding Edition)

As Bennett starts getting older, I'll start grouping our favorite items by his age - better organized, and more helpful for those mommas-to-be out there! :)

Night Light - We have this awesome night light, which is oddly enough for camping! I bought it off of Amazon, it was on sale while I was looking for a dim light to keep in Bennett's room and I'm so happy that we selected this one. In fact - I purchased a second one to keep at my parent's house for when we travel there and have sleepovers (less things to lug back and forth!) You can control the brightness with easy arrow buttons. I wanted a light that was dim enough to see while changing diapers or feeding him in the middle of the night, while also being not as bright so that it disrupted his sleep. I didn't have to wake him up even more with turning a brighter light on for these things. Also another great thing to mention about this light is that at our house, it's usually on for 10-12 hours each night, and we'll only have to re-charge it every 3 weeks... the battery is amazing! Highly recommended!


Glider - We love our Stork Craft Glider. We purchased ours from Toys R Us when it was on sale, with rewards points. We usually feed Bennett his bed time bottle in the glider, his middle of the night bottle (if he wakes for one), and sometimes his morning bottle. This glider was also amazing while I was pumping. We read books in the glider, and Bennett loves face-timing with our family, so usually we face-time while rocking in the glider - he loves it! It's the perfect size, extremely comfy, and isn't too bulky in the nursery.


Pajamas with Zippers vs. Buttons - Zipper pajamas are amazing, especially when you're changing diapers more frequently. Our little man is a pee machine - he's usually in need of a new diaper every hour. When you're constantly changing diapers, trust me - you'd rather have the zip ones vs. the button ones. Buttons take so much time. We definitely have button pajamas, and extremely cute ones that he does wear constantly - but if it's up to you and you're picking pajamas out, my recommendation is going with the zippers! :)


Britax - We are obsessed with our Britax travel system. As a shower present, we received this system from family members, which included the car seat, a base and the stroller. It was highly recommended by a friend who has the same system. Not only is Britax one of the safest brands for car seats (which, when picking such things for your precious baby, is one of your highest concerns) but the functionality of every piece is so easy to use. We recently received the convertible car seat for Bennett once he outgrows his carrier, and we went with a Britax! This brand tends to be more pricey, but you can't beat the safety and trusted recommendations/positive experiences that come along with it - it is definitely worth it to us!


Avent Natural Bottles - These bottles are amazing! I actually just had another 5 pack delivered to our house. We received the Avent Natural Bottles as samples, along with samples of the Munchkin Latch bottles and Tommee Tippee bottles. We tried all of them when Bennett first arrived and the Avent bottles are by far our favorite. A few reasons - there aren't a ton of pieces (easy washing and assembling!), the bottles are thick and high quality, along with the nipples. When using the Tommee Tippee bottles in the beginning, they worked out well. However - as Bennett has gotten older, is eating much more, and his suction is obviously becoming more stronger - the Avent nipples are the only ones that don't cave in or collapse mid-feeding. When feeding with others, we'd have to pull the bottle from his mouth, let air get back into the bottle so that the nipple would reform, and then pop the bottle back in Bennett's mouth. Also with Tommee Tippee bottles, you have to make sure the vent hole on the top of the nipple is below the baby's nose each feeding, which in the beginning while you have many middle of the night feedings with a starving baby, can be quite frustrating to find in a jam. Avent Natural is definitely the way to go!



OXO Formula Dispenser - This is our favorite formla dispenser. We also have an Avent dispenser that we keep in our diaper bag. The OXO Formula dispenser is much easier to use, because it's more round - it doesn't take you forever to tap the formula out into the bottle, and you're able to shake out every last piece of formula when preparing a bottle. We've found that with the Avent dispenser, you have to shake it around numerous times to clear the formula from each of the sides, and it often left small piles of formula in the side of the little sections.


That's it for this post! Stay tuned for recommended products for our 3 month old... It's hard to believe he'll be 4 months in just a week!

Easy Side Dish: Oven Baked Asparagus

Being the picky eater that I am, I always avoided asparagus when my parents made it. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I finally agreed to trying it (yes... can you believe that I was 26 years old without ever trying asparagus?! Judge away - I totally deserve it!) After I finally tried it - I can't believe that I put it off for so long - it was delicious!

I love simplicity when cooking, and this was the perfect recipe for that (thanks, Mom!)

Ingredients:

- 1 bunch of asparagus

- olive oil

- 3 small garlic cloves/sections

Instructions:

- Line your asparagus in a baking dish

- Drizzle with olive oil

- Use your garlic press to add garlic all over the tops of your asparagus.

- Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees

Enjoy! :)

Crock Pot: Newlywed Beef Tips

We had this crock pot meal today and it was amazing :) 

With just two simple ingredients, it was so easy!

We will definitely be making this again :) 

Ingredients:

- 2 lbs beef tips

- 3 cans of french onion soup

Cook in the crockpot on low for 6-7 hours.

I served mine with steamed broccoli and jasmine rice - delicious! :)