Key Lime Cupcakes

It's been awhile since I blogged a recipe, hasn't it? Well, at the request of a couple blog friends I my new favorite cupcake recipe to share with you! It's a pretty easy one to follow that results in home made tasting cupcakes...there is a secret though...it starts with a box mix. {Gasp!} Crazy, I know!!

Here goes!

Cupcakes:

box lemon cake mix

box (4 serving) of lime Jello

3/4 cup of water

1/2 cup of oil

1/3 cup key lime juice

3 eggs

green food coloring (optional)

Frosting:

package (8oz) cream cheese

1/4 butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

food coloring (optional)

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350*. In a large bowl, beat cupcake ingredients with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes. Divide batter among cupcake liners (or cake pan if you chose that route).
• Bake cupcakes 19 to 24 minutes (I did 20) or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack (or counter if you are me!)
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in vanilla and 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar until mixed; beat on medium speed until fluffy. You could also add any color food coloring if you prefer. Frost and enjoy!

Notes:

• These cupcakes are very moist and delicious!
• In my opinion, the frosting that accompanies these cupcakes was too thin. I added about 1 cup of additional powdered sugar...the frosting is SWEET!
• I did not add coloring to my cake mix, I felt that the lime jello added enough of a lime green color and didn't want to add additional coloring.
• I used low fat cream cheese and butter, next time I will use applesauce in place of oil. Gotta cut calories everywhere possible...
• Since I love fruit and love anything key lime, these were a hit at our house (and Stephen's work!). The recipe has been added to my recipe box and will return summer after summer at our house, I'm sure!

Let me know if you take a stab at these, I would love to hear your stories and opinions.

Enjoy! :)

Randoms-Louie, Cupcakes and Landscaping

I know, I know...I have kind of disappeared from blogging...AGAIN. My excuse is the same as it always is...life just gets really busy sometimes and since blogging isn't my top priority it usually is the first thing to get dropped. It is what it is. BUT, I'm here today! :)

Warning: this post contains a lot of Louie pictures. I can't say I am sorry about this because we just think he is so darn cute and lovable! But if you are tired of seeing our furry child then maybe you should just come back another week! Otherwise, sit back, grab a cup of coffee and stay awhile!

Louie has been so cute and playful this week. Last week we were dealing with a stomach bug that had us up at all hours of the night cleaning our carpets-fun, right? Thankfully he is on meds now and must be feeling better because he has been acting more and more like himself. We are so thankful to see him behaving normal and with his tail wagging. I love it!

Last weekend my mother-in-law, Bev hosted a Mary-Kay party and has asked me to make cupcakes. Of course I said that was no problem! They were moist with lots of pretty pink frosting-perfect for a girlie make-up party! We even had left overs, which I think Stephen ate the last one last night.

Speaking of cupcakes, I am trying to work on photographing my cupcakes with my new Canon Rebel and its been a little difficult. I can't seem to find the right natural light for picture taking...it's either too light or to dark. Any tips/suggestions out there?

This is totally random, but on the way to the above mentioned Mary-Kay party we drove through a little town that I have always admired because of it's mill. Stephen was nice enough to slow down to 10MPH so I could snap a picture. He didn't want to stop on the road, so 10 was the agreed upon mileage, ha! Isn't it quaint and pretty? They do tours on Saturday mornings and I hope to go one day...maybe soon?

Louie has so much fun when we are outside. He runs and plays and just lays around. I think that he really enjoys it. That is until our neighbors dog, Emily comes over (yes, our neighbor has a dog named Emily...yes, its a little awkward)...and when she does come over Louie will hide under a tree or in the bushes. It's quite funny! Well, he got to spend a lot of time outside this weekend while we worked on a big landscaping project...to be revealed later!

One hint about the project: the materials weigh about a ton combined!

Do you love flowers as much as I do? I love how they can brighten a space and make even a ugly house cheerful. I picked up these hanging baskets at Wal-Mart for $3! Talk about being thrilled with that find! We just love how they look hanging on our front lamp post. Spruces it up wouldn't you say?

And lastly, the before shot of our front flower bed. You will have to wait and see the after...because we are still working on it. This project is a multiple day project, ha! I CANNOT wait to have it finished and see how pretty it is!

Have a happy Thursday everyone...I am so happy the week is almost over!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Monday, folks! I always wonder how this day gets here so fast...it just seems like the weekend FLY by every week! Agreed? Anyways, we had a great weekend even though we didn't too much. Sometimes the perfect day is a day spent at home in PJ's watching movies...and that's just what we did on Saturday.

First let me start with these:

(I couldn't decide which photo I preferred...the lighting is so different in both!)

The above cupcakes were made for a co-worker's birthday last week. I have been deemed the cupcake lady at work...which I am totally okay with. It does challenge me to create more creative cupcakes though since I end up making cupcakes for about 15 people's birthday and I don't want them to all be the same. I digress. Karen had told me that her favorite color was green, and I had some of these great frogs so I took it and ran with it. They were a hit and the birthday girl loved them!

Also, these cupcakes had a surprise inside. The surprise went over VERY well. I know for a face that one person ate 4 cupcakes! 4!! :) Apparently Oreos make everyone happy!

Changing gears here...last week was rough. I hadn't been feeling great and I was SO tired. Let's not even talk about work. Stressful? Oh yes! But you know what? God is so good! Last Wednesday when I was having a pretty horrible day, I came home to some unexpected fun mail from my friend Brooke. She had sent me the sweetest note and the cutest salt and pepper shaker for my collection:

Isn't she the best?! It brought a smile to my face and made my horrible day not so bad!

Okay, now onto this weekend! Remember I mentioned not doing anything on Saturday? Well, that's what we did. We spent Saturday at home cleaning the house and watching movies. It was so nice! I think Louie really liked it too-he got lots of cuddle time!

Sunday was kind of a busy day for us. We had to teach Sunday school at our church and then leave right after to make it to Stephen's parents church for a special board meeting. Stephen is still a member of that church because we have not officially joined the church we go to, so he needed to bet here for an important vote. Afterwards we got lunch at The Siding with Stephen's Mom & Dad. It was a little cold outside, but at least it was sunny! Lunch was yummy and filling!

After lunch we had plans to get ice cream...and boy did we. Stephen got the death by chocolate milk shake and I got this massive strawberry shortcake sundae:

I told you it was massive!! While eating our ice cream we headed to 7 Pillars; the place of our engagement.

The water was really, really low. I'm actually not sure if I have ever seen it that low. I could walk out almost to the middle of the river and still be standing on stones. It was pretty neat to be able to look up and down the river....I liked it!

Me standing in the middle of the river and freezing, it was windy and colllld:

After that adventure we headed home for some R&R time. We watched the end of Star Wars Episode 6 and The Proposal. I can now say that I have seen all the Star Wars movies, and on a more shocking note; that I actually enjoyed them! Haha, who am I?!?

And that wraps up our weekend!

How was yours?

Friday Photo Dump!

Happy Friday, y'all! I am SO glad it is finally Friday, although I could use a couple more week days this week to get some things done. Maybe it's only me, but I feel like the week before a vacation is so stressful and tiring. There just is so much to do-at home and work. It's exhausting! Whew!

We had more and more flowers come up this week and I am loving it! Our flower bed doesn't even look like these picture portray it anymore, and these were only taken on Wednesday!

Louie is also loving the nice weather! I got some super cute action shots of him this week:

"Mom, I really don't want to smile. I just want to relax!"

"Oh okay, fine. I'll give you one smile but that's it!"

"I told you only one!"

I love when he looks at me with eyes that seem to say "get that camera out of my face woman!" :) And that happens a lot you guys because as many pictures of him that I post on the blog...I take that many more too! But really, how flippin' sweet is his smiling picture? I told him to smile and it tickled me so because it actually looked like he did!

Can I just brag on my husband for a minute? He has been incredible, especially this week with all the things we need to get done before vacation. On top of that, I have not been feeling too great and he totally stepped up and took care of things I normally do-like cooking. Thank you for everything you do for our little family and for taking care of me! I love you! :)

Louie sure does make himself comfy all the time. He seems to never have a problem doing that! It's so cute when he stretches out on the couch-I love it! We let him on the furniture because he is such a good pup AND he doesn't shed so that's a plus. When he gets too relaxed he drools though, so sometimes we wake him up and move him, ha!

Not only was this week busy with work and home, prepping for vacation but I also had a cupcake order to process for a co-worker. Mel was so sweet and asked me to make some cupcakes for her granddaughters birthday this weekend. Her party doesn't have a theme I was told, so I just went for super girlie and fun cupcakes. The birthday girl is turning 2 and wants everything to be pink...I think these cupcakes fit the bill:

Mel loved them when I delivered them to work first thing this morning. I hope her granddaughter loves them too! I think I have a couple more cupcake orders coming in for the next few weeks too...what a fun way to earn some extra mulah!

Email me at ylimedonaldson@gmail.com for my pricing sheet if you are in the need for some cute cupcakes!

And lastly, one of my favorite daffodil pictures. Flowers are just beautiful...Spring is the best! :)

This will be my last post for a week or so, we are headed to Florida at 3am tomorrow morning. I am really looking forward to spending time with family, Mickey Mouse and a much needed work/blogging break. Pray for safe travels and no seizures for Louie please.

Weekend Wrap-Up & Hadley's Birthday!

Happy Monday, folks! I am here with lots and I really do mean LOTS of pictures! Consider yourself warned! :) Not only do I have pictures from this weekend, but I also have a few from last weekend since I did not post last week. So, let's get started!

Last weekend (March 3rd) we did some shopping in Fort Wayne and ran some errands too. My favorite purchase was the hat I am wearing in the below picture. I just love winter hats, love them! This one was SO cheap at American Eagle, too. How could I pass it up?

It is starting to feel a little like Spring in Indiana and I don't think anyone is complaining about it. We have a great 10 day forecast right now, with some days this week reaching into the 70s. Hallelujah! Granted, we have had a pretty mild winter anyways. If you look at our flower beds that much is evident. In the past 2 weeks or so our plants have shot up and even budded. If you look closely you can see the green stalks of our tulips and daffodils. I am so excited for them to bloom...I only hope it isn't while we are in Florida next week!

Last Thursday was a fun mail day at our house! Not only did the antique map we ordered arrive, but also our new Canon Rebel camera. Oh, let me tell you...we LOVE it. Of course I still love my point and shoot Canon too! I may or may not have subjected Louie to endless photo shoots while learning the features of the new camera. I also may or may not have spend evenings last week photographing anything and everything in our house! :) See below:

The above 3 pictures were before his grooming appointment last week.

This may be my favorite Louie picture. I love how he is looking right at the camera and his eyes are such a pretty brown.

The above 3 pictures are after his grooming appointment. Doesn't he look handsome and ready for a trip to Florida?

Sleeping puppy, does it get any cuter? Well, maybe a sleeping baby...but still this is pretty cute!

This weekend we had flowers bloom in our yard! We saw the buds on these last week but we were not sure what flowers or plant they were (we didn't plant them, they were there before). In conversations last week we discovered that they are Crocus' and that they bloom early in the late Winter/early Spring. Totally okay in my book. Thanks for adding some bright color to our otherwise dreary landscaping Crocus'!

This Saturday we stayed home most of the day and it was so nice to get caught up on some things around the house! I will say that we had a productive day! We baked the cupcakes for Hadley's party, vacuumed and steamed the floors in the house, did several loads of laundry, cleaned out the inside of the car and spent some time outside in the sunshine. Louie especially loved being outside!

He helped us get the car ready for the trip to Florida and almost jumped in himself. I'd say that's a pretty good sign he is ready!

Sunday we went to church as usual but volunteered in the nursery instead of sitting in service. It's always fun to spend an hour or two playing with the little kids! The weather was nice on Sunday...in fact, we didn't even wear jackets to church! After church it was time to decorate the cupcakes for Hadley's birthday. Last year's cake was flowers and ladybugs, but this year was themed to her favorite movie-Despicable Me. Seriously, every time she comes to our house she wants to watch this movie. Once, we watched it twice in one day. Minion cupcakes were the obvious and easy choice for her cake this year!

I loved how the Minions turned out and I think Hadley did too!

At her birthday we all had a great time. Melissa had made lasagna for dinner and it was delicious. Not much is better than homemade lasagna y'all! After eating dinner it was time for Hadley to open presents and she was ready! She got the cutest outfits and a great bike helmet, too. The rest of the evening was spent playing with her new toys, eating cupcakes & blueberry cheesecake and the girls having a modeling show/fashion shoot in the living room. The pictures are hilarious and most of them speak for themselves!

Pretty funny pictures, right? We just love these girls!

Well, that just about wraps-up our weekend, minus a few details and basketball games. We hope that you all had a great weekend too and are enjoying the nice weather in your area. 

 This week will be a busy one for us since we are leaving for Florida dark and early on Saturday morning...please pray that we have safe travels and not set backs with Louie. I'm getting excited and anxious to get on the road already...and it's only Monday!