June, 2012 | Little Bits of...

Friday Favorites of the Week!

June 29, 2012 By Kelsey 1 Comment

It has been a beautiful week! I wanted to take this time to share some of my favorite things I either ate or purchased this week. On tuesday my mom bought a big box of fresh peaches from Costco. She suggested we (I) make a peach cobbler. For some reason I am always drawn to make crisps out of fruit as opposed to cobbler, so I looked for a good peach crisp. Now if you already haven’t heard of The Pioneer Woman, she is this amazing blogger/ mom/ wife/ entrepreneur/ food network star, that I love! Her recipes are always delicous which is one reason why I never could “adapt” them. They are just too good! I made her Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but in my father’s words “that is the best thing you have ever made.” I get that a lot but the sweetness in the peaches and the creaminess of the sauce with a hint of maple was amazing. Thanks Ree!

On Wednesday, I tried out a food truck called A Bite Truck. It was just a couple blocks away from my office so Lindsey and I went to check it out. It looked relatively unassuming, but the sandwich was AMAZING! I had the Simple Bite: Marinated filet mignon, blue cheese sauce, tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, grilled onions on a French roll. YEAH. I know.

I have never had tastier meat, and the blue cheese sauce was to die for!! Great work Bite Truck!!

Cut to Thursday Night > Old Navy. Not sure if it was the 2 beers that I had before the shopping trip, but I just had to get a new outfit! I had my eyes on a blue and white plaid shirt for awhile, and then saw these boat shoes before I checked out and had to have them. I also got some of their black skinny jeans!

I decided to pair the shirt and shoes with white pants!

Hope you enjoyed this quick look at my week The weekend is here!!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

Cinnamon Rolls – a Short Cut

June 28, 2012 By Kelsey 1 Comment

Short Cuts! Everyone has them and everyone loves them. Joy the Baker and Shutterbean are 2 food bloggers that I adore. You have to check them out! They do a podcast every Wednesday night at Home Fries.com and I listen to it every Thursday. They are hilarious and awesomely entertaining. This week they talked about short cuts! It is quite a coincidence too because just this morning I used one of my newest and favoritest short cuts, cooking things in a waffle iron! I leave for work at around 7:20 on a good day, and my boyfriend was getting off a 24 EMT shift this morning at 7. I wanted to whip up something for him to have for breakfast and had store bought cinnamon rolls in the fridge.

Just pop a cinnamon roll in the waffle iron! I did a few right in the middle and one in a fourth of the pan.

Close it up for abour 90 seconds…

Voila! Warm, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside… delicious! Just top with the icing and you have a quick breakfast! And a happy boyfriend!

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Filed Under: breakfast, Recipes

PB & C Cake

June 27, 2012 By Kelsey Leave a Comment

Ah the beauty of peanut butter and chocolate. I have posted about this duo when I made Peanut Butter Cookie Cups, but I think I have just taken it to a new level. This deadly combo is not one that I jump to immediately, but whenever I have it my heart is happy. That is why I love when I know what foods my friends like so I can make them wonderful treats for their birthdays. This weekend was one of my besties b-days and I knew I had to make her a delicious PB & C combo. And being that it was her birthday, cake was appropriate.

I used my favorite staple Chocolate Cake and Vanilla Buttercream. All I did differently was add a cup of Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chips to the batter, and 1/2 cup of peanut butter to the buttercream. I decided to make 3 layers in 6 inch cake pans to get the tall and skinny look.

And what would a Peanut Butter and Chocolate cake be if you didn’t chop up Reese’s on top?

Needless to say, it was a hit. An easy was to transform a chocolate cake and vanilla buttercream, into a show stopper!

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Filed Under: cakes, Recipes

Balsamic and Gorgonzola Vegetable Casserole

June 26, 2012 By Kelsey Leave a Comment

Tomorrow is our final weigh in! If you are just joining us here at Little Bits of, let me give you the down low. 5 1/2 weeks ago my sister, mom, and boyfriend decided to start a biggest loser competition. We have been weighing in every week and if you did not loose you had to put more money in the jar. I think there is about 400 dollars in the jar right now. I want that money!! But having a boyfriend that is almost a foot taller and 90 pounds heavier, makes it pretty easy for him to shed the pounds!

We are doing it all on percentage of body weight lost, but I have a feeling he is going to take this one. At least I can guilt him into taking me out to dinner with his winnings! Our weigh in’s are usually on Friday mornings but my mom and sis will be out of town so we are doing it Wednesday morning. Mid week is never my best. I usually loose 2 pounds during the week and gain a pound over the weekend, then use the next week to burn another 2. It is all very scientific I am sure, but I have decided that this diet wasn’t meant to shed all of our weight, but jumpstart a healthy lifestyle. It definitely has done that, and I am excited to continue living like this the rest of my life.

Cut to> Vegetables. You gotta eat them, and if you can make them taste good enough to eat as a side instead of a rice or potato dish, then you are winning.

mmmmm bell peppers, zucchini, squash, onions, and garlic. And the secret and amazingly delish ingredient…… Balsamic Glaze!! I got mine at Trader Joes, but I have seen it at Fresh n’ Easy and a few other places. It is basically just a balsamic reduction that you dont have to slave over the stove making. Thank you world!

[Read more...]

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Filed Under: dinner, Recipes

Drunken Gummy Bears

June 25, 2012 By Kelsey 2 Comments

When i’m invited to party, the first thing that pops in my head is what am I going to bring? Alcohol? A treat? Then jello shots pop in my head, but that seems almost to “collegey” now. Then after some brainstorming with my sister, we decided to try out gummy bears soaked in vodka! We came up with this idea late Tuesday night, so I didn’t start the process until Wednesday night and the party was on Saturday. 3 days was just about perfect and these little bears grew and grew as they filled with vodka.

I had this Citron vodka in the freezer and I thought a flavored vodka would be perfect. I just poured about 2 of the 3 pounds of gummy bears into a 13 x 9in pyrex pan and filled the pan with vodka until the bears were covered.

They grew and grew!

They were a bit slimy but went down smooth and sweet! I just threw them in a mason jar and tied a label around with twine. An easy and crowd pleasing treat to bring to any party! Just make sure to keep these away from the kids… they can be deceiving!

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Filed Under: Recipes

Banana Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies

June 22, 2012 By Kelsey 1 Comment

Do you ever find yourself craving something sweet but are A: too lazy too make anything, and/or B: Need to watch your waistline? Well this is just about the story of my life. Now I wouldn’t call myself lazy when it comes to baking, just because I love doing it, but if I could make something delicious in 10 minutes, I’m doing it! That is why Rice Krispie Treats and I are friends. The inspiration for these cookies came from a combination of my love for 90 second cookies which I found on Lauren Conrad’s website, and my love for funfetti cookies. The LC cookies are easy because cooking in a waffle iron speeds up the baking, and the funfetti because there are 3 ingredients! Now only if I could combine the two… oh wait! I did!

4 ingredients, 90 seconds.

I am not going to come out and say this is a SUPER healthy cookie. Cake mix alone is 178 calorie for 1/10 of the box. This makes about 20 cookies, so around 89 calories from that, an egg is about 90 calories so that is 4.5 calories in a cookie. Then you can judge how many chocolate chips you want, but I put in a cup which is 320 calories, which is 16 a cookie. The banana adds about 5 calories to each, so all in all around 115 calories a cookie!

This will be a short blog because all you have to do is mix those ingredients, and scoop into a waffle iron.

Close it up, and about 90 – 100 seconds later….

[Read more...]

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Filed Under: cookies, Recipes

Blazer and a Bun

June 21, 2012 By Kelsey Leave a Comment

I never in a million years thought that my short, {very} thin hair could ever convert into this great of a sock bun, but check it out. . . I was so excited I simply had to share:) I also found this amazing lightweight blazer that’s great for summer and (best of all) cheap!

textured shawl collar jacket {29.80}

For more fashion tips check out Funamentally Wild!

xx, Lindsey

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Filed Under: Fashion, Uncategorized

Orange Creamsicle Cake

June 20, 2012 By Kelsey 2 Comments

Happy First Day of SUMMER!!!!! It is going to be an amazing summer. Full of trying new things. I have been trying to think of a summer bucketlist, but every time I think of something I just do it instead of writing anything down. For awhile now I have wanted to make an ombre cake. I probably couldn’t pull off the hairstyle, so at least if a cake doesn’t look good, I could get rid of the evidence. I saw this cake on pinterest (of course) and thought it would be the perfect way to start the season.

So many warm days ahead… *sigh*….

Back to this cake. Now when I first saw the cake I new it would be pretty but I had no idea it would taste so good. And if you like a moist cake, this one is for you.

[Read more...]

http://littlebitsof.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Orange-Creamsicle-Cake-1024x1024.jpg

Filed Under: cakes, Recipes

Pineapple and Roasted Red Pepper Salsa

June 19, 2012 By Kelsey Leave a Comment

Summer starts tomorrow! The longest day of the year full of sun and happiness. I love summer, and any excuse to celebrate. I think it is important to take time out of our busy lives to rejoice the little things. I feel like my family is constantly celebrating things, whether it is a new job, or just a good day of work, we find a way to tell each other we are proud of one another and cheers a glass of wine. So rest up, because tomorrow is cause for celebration.

More importantly though, it it is cause to make this salsa…

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Filed Under: dinner, Recipes, Uncategorized

MYO: Frittata

June 18, 2012 By Kelsey Leave a Comment

It’s time to get inspired people. I feel as though I am inspired daily, but it takes a lot to go from inspiration to reality. That is one reason I love doing this blog. If I tell you I want to do something, I will probably do it! Remember last week when I said I want to try making etched glass? Well don’t you worry, because I have tried! Twice in fact… but It hasn’t turned out perfectly quite yet. I promise to let you know when it does though. My inspirations this week are an orange creamsicle cake, vegetable tart, cutting my own glass cups, and working out! I can’t deny my love for food, so the treadmill and kettle bell are like the therapy sessions for that love affair. Keeping me all together and sane. Take my cookies from me and I am not a happy camper.

As I said yesterday, many meals were eaten this weekend, including a breakfast fit for my father.