Happily Ever Mock

Life is short, Eat cookies for breakfast!

And that is what I am currently guilty of! Cookie and a cup of coffee!  
Whenever Fall rolls around I am so ready to fill my house with the sweet and spicy scents of cinnamon, pumpkin and brown sugar! That is why I always turn to these two recipes the first time the Texas weather dips under 80 degrees for a high! Yes folks…that’s Fall for us! 
So this weekend was the perfect opportunity to pull out my cookbook and make my 2 favorite Fall cookie recipes and I thought I would share them with you! ENJOY!


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies


Ingredients:  
1 cup pumpkin
1 beaten egg 1 tsp milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar 1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups flour 1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda


Directions:


Combine Pumpkin, egg, oil and sugar into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer and mix well.  
Gradually add flour stirring constantly. Add baking powder, salt and cinnamon and mix well.
Add baking soda and milk while stirring. Last add vanilla and chocolate chips. Mix again until chocolate chips are evenly spaced.  
Drop onto a greased cookie sheet with an ice cream scoop.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. I usually do 12 because I like mine very soft! 
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And now for the Oatmeal Raisin! Mmmm! I just love gooey warm oatmeal raisin cookies!


Ingredients 
1 cup of butter
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups of flour
1 1/4 cups of quick cooking oats
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups raisins


Directions
1. Cream butter with sugars
2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well
3. Add butter, flour, eggs, oats, salt and baking soda and mix again.
4.Stir in raisins until evenly spaced.
5. Drop onto greased cookie sheet with tablespoon 
6. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min
7.  Lick the bowl while you are waiting and brew a cup of coffee or tea
8. INDULGE! 


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We made these Sunday morning! Hallie and I listened to Halloween music and she happily squealed in her rock and play while I did all the work!



Hope everyone enjoys these recipes as much as me! 
<3 Kelly


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It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween! Soup recipe!


It’s beginning to Look a lot like Halloween at our house! Which means soon I get to introduce Hallie to one of my favorite traditions! It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown will be hitting our TV screen very soon! Yay!

Yesterday the weather was nice and cool, so I took the opportunity to decorate for Halloween and not seem like a crazy person…okay, maybe I’m still crazy, but who cares! I LOVE this time of year! Hallie happily played on her activity mat, while Momma decorated our mantle and put our homemade wreath on the door! 












She is really doing great lifting her head! This is one proud Momma, let me tell you!










 Our Pretty wreath which is now being displayed on our front door so that everyone who comes over can see how crazy FESTIVE I am! 







Here are the pictures of our pretty mantle…notice the cute picture of my husband dressed as Dracula as a kid! Can’t wait to get Hallie’s first Halloween picture up here! Eeek! She’s going to look cute you guys! Can’t wait to share the costume I have in store for this little pumpkin….no she’s not going to be a pumpkin, but see what I did there?! 

After all the decorating fun I made a delicious pot of Black Eyed Pea soup! I got this recipe from my Auntie Janie.  I remember long Sunday afternoons studying when I lived with her, she would make big pots of this stuff and bring it to me while I was studying! She was sweet enough to let me share it with you guys, so here you go:

 
Auntie Janie’s Black Eyed Pea Soup

Ingredients: 
  • 1 Medium Yellow Onion Chopped
  • 4-5 Slices of Bacon (I use Turkey Bacon because I don’t eat pork)
  • 2 Cartons of Beef Broth (Again I am lame and use chicken broth) 
  • 4 cans of seasoned Black Eyed Peas
  • 2 Garlic Cloves minced
  • 1 can of Rotel tomatoes (I like the HOT one!)
  • 1 can of green chilis
  • I can of diced tomatoes 
  • Chili powder, Salt and Pepper to taste (I also add a touch of Cayenne because I like it super spicy! 

Directions: 

  1. In a large soup pot saute onions, bacon and garlic in a touch of olive oil until onions appear see-through
  2. Add the broth, Black eyed peas, both cans of tomatoes and green chilis
  3. Add seasoning to taste and bring to a boil
  4. Let simmer and serve over rice with cheddar cheese or with corn bread!

I just love a nice pot of soup on a cool crisp evening and will be sharing many more of my favorite soup recipes!! 


Today comes the baking! Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal raisin cookies are on the horizon!!! Mmm! My house is about to smell delicious!! 
Stay tuned for those recipes and have a FANTASTIC Sunday!!!

Entertaining Sadie

This past week Cleo (my almost 10 year old) has been at sleep away camp.  That left just Sadie (my energetic 6 year old) and I to make our own fun! I have to say at times it can be tricky to keep this little 6 year old entertained, but this week, we did some pretty fun things! 


Monday- We spent the day at the pool


Tuesday- We took her new library card to the library and picked out some books, and she signed up for the Summer reading program! This little thing cracks me up! She is always so determined! The program requires that you read 15 books by August 4th and this week Sadie has read 7! 


Wednesday- Sadie got to meet baby Luke! Then she helped me make more of my homemade pasta! Yum!




































































































Thursday- Sadie invited a friend over and we made homemade pizza and homemade kool-aid dough! It was so much fun! 




























Everyone needs to try this out!


Recipe:

What you need:
1 1/4 Cups Flour
1/4 Cup Salt
1 Kool-Aid packet…any color
1 Tablespoon Cream of Tartar
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 Tablespoon canola oil
Wax paper
Helping hands















Making the playdough:
Mix Flour, salt, Kool-Aid and cream of tartar. Add boiling water and oil. Mix with spoon until cool. Then mix with hands to form ball. Add flour if still sticky.
Play on wax paper.


Enjoy! 





































Cleo comes home today and I am so anxious to hear about her week away!

Bacon Cupcakes…yep its a thing

For the cake: 
3/4 Cup Softened Butter
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
4 Egg Whites
2 1/4 Cups Flour
2 ts baking powder
1 ts Vanilla
1/2 ts Salt
3/4 Cup Milk
1 TBS Cinnamon



Cream Butter and Sugar together. Beat in egg whites and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture and stir in milk gradually.
Bake 16-18 minutes at 375. Cool before adding frosting  










Frosting:
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 ts vanilla
1 package of bacon 
1 Cup maple syrup


In a Med. bowl cream together cream cheese and butter. Mix in vanilla and add sugar gradually.  Store in fridge.  Fry bacon until crispy.  Before removing from skillet pour a line of maple syrup down each strip of bacon. Once cool, crumble bacon over iced cupcakes and drizzle with leftover syrup. Enjoy! 

Spaghetti Night!

Wednesday night was spaghetti night at our house! And not just regular spaghetti night….HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI NIGHT! If you have never had hand made pasta, you should march yourself over to your nearest Williams Sonoma and get a pasta machine ASAP! 
We were fortunate enough to get one for our wedding and this was the first night to put it to use! It was SO much fun and ridiculously delicious! Seriously! 
We had to take our rings off for this messy task!
     
We started out by making a fresh Marinara Sauce with some fresh ingredients:
   

 Tomato Squashing….really fun!

 YUMMY!!!!!

Then we started on the dough…

First We hand rolled it out! 

 
Then we fed the dough through the first part of the machine that flattens it out as thin as you want.  

Next we fed the flattened piece through the pasta cutter, and ended up with a ton of spaghetti strings! 

Before it was cooked

 During

 
After! I told you…a ton!

I grated some fresh Parmesan! 

 Put a salad together!

Poured some wine 
 And we sat down to the most delicious meal I have ever had! It was so good! I can’t wait to do it again!

Summer has officially begun!

Summer has officially begun! So to catch you up on what has been happening lately…

My cousin Hannah and my Uncle Steve have moved back to the big D! 

We celebrated with a pool party the weekend before school ended for the kiddos:
 Fishy Matty
  Stella chilling in the pool…actually that was the most I could convince her to get in!


 Katie, Me and Amanda 
 
Me and Hannah!


For the pool party, Matthew and I made S’mores Krispy Treats…


Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients: 
4 Tbsp butter
1 bag mini marshmallows 
1 tsp vanilla
1 box of golden grahams 
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips


Step 1: Melt Butter in microwave: 
Step 2: Mix in Marshmallows and melt in microwave 

Step 3: Stir in Vanilla

Step 4:Add and Stir in Chocolate Chips

Step 5: Slowly pour in golden grahams and stir

 


Step 6: Spread into pan (May add extra chips on top and gently press into pan,
 refrigerate for 10 minutes

Step 7: Cut into squares and enjoy!


So in other news….

My beautiful baby sister graduated!!! So proud!


So this week begins my Fun summer with my little girlies! I will have to keep everyone posted on all of the neat things we have planned! I also have some yummy recipes I am making this week…some of which include a pretty amazing ingredient…


ONIONS! From OUR backyard! Christopher began gardening in March, and these are the first veggies ready for use! They smell delicious and I am sooo excited to cook with them!!


Stay tuned!
Mrs. Mock 

Busy Bees

We have been busy bees this weekend!


Friday: We went to Twisted Root to Celebrate our 6 month Anniversary (1 week early! We are busy next weekend!) We were Fez and we got a free milkshake which just so happened to be my favorite kind (Cookie dough and brownie!) Yum!




























Saturday: I started off my day celebrating with Christopher’s cousin Jennifer at another baby shower! Then I high tailed it to meet Christopher so that we could go to Brad and Melissa’s engagement party.  After all the parties I had to go to work for the rest of the evening.


Sunday: Today we got up early and went to Mass. After Mass, we went to a reunion for the marriage preparation that Christopher and I had to complete before our wedding. 
              TANGENT: So I was super nervous about the 6 week marriage preparation we had to go through before the wedding, seriously I was super dreading it!!! Much to my surprise however, I honestly believe that it was the best thing Christopher and I have done as a couple! Not only did it get us to think of any and every scenario we might face in our marriage from finances to kids to healthy arguments to putting each other first, but we also got to get to know Mike and Judy, the BEST sponsor couple I could have ever imagined! They are fabulous!!!! To anyone getting married, I HIGHLY recommend finding something similar to what Christopher and I went through in preparing for our marriage!
ANYWAY…So we got to see Mike and Judy again, along with meeting other young married couples at our Church! We had a really wonderful time! 
After Church, we went to visit my Nana, she hasn’t been doing that well, and I am so glad we went to see her, even though it was tough seeing her that way…
This afternoon, Christopher’s Dad came over and helped him put in our new tank less water heater! HELLO LONG HOT SHOWERS!!!! 🙂 
While they worked, I cooked, and Oh Em Gee! Everyone needs to try this recipe! It was delicious!! We definitely enjoyed this one!!!! 


Chicken Rollatini (A fun spin on Chicken Parmesan!)


Ingredients: 

  • 4 Chicken breasts washed and cut in 1/2 down the seam to form 8 cutlets 
  • 3/4 a cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
  • 1/2 a cup of Parmesan Cheese Divided into fourths
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 blocks of frozen spinach (20 oz total) defrosted and drained (Get all the water out!)
  • 6 tbsp part skim ricotta cheese
  • 6 oz part skim mozzarella 
  • Olive oil non-stick spray
  • 1 cup your favorite marinara sauce
  • salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease a casserole dish 

After cutting the chicken breasts in half, pat dry and season with salt, pepper and garlic

In one bowl, Mix bread crumbs and 1/4 of the Parmesan 

In another crack the eggs

In a last bowl, combine the spinach (completely drained), the remaining Parmesan, the Ricotta cheese and 2 oz mozzarella.  






















Next, scoop a generous helping of spinach mixture into each piece of chicken and roll it over.  

Then dip the breast into the egg and roll in bread crumbs.  Place into casserole dish and repeat with each breast.  Cook for 25 minutes.































Last, smother with marinara sauce and top with remaining mozzarella cheese and place back in the oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted and it looks all amazing like this:












































Hope you enjoy!!!
Have a wonderful week! 
Mrs. Mock 

News, Recipe and Summer Planning

I would first like to start off this post by congratulating my Best Friend Sarah! She just got engaged!!! Congrats girl! 


 










Her beautiful ring!




















It has been a busy week or two! I have been working a ton and getting ready for finals week! (next week!)
Only 3 finals between me and summer vacay!!! (THEN 1 More Semester until GRADUATION!! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves!)


Speaking of Summer! I have been working on a list of Fun things to do with my girls! Here’s what I’ve got so far!



































































Mom’s and Nanny’s please let me know if you have any other fun ideas we should try!!!!
I will have to update everyone on our final list and keep blogging throughout the Summer as we complete our list!


So on that note I leave you with my favorite recipe of the week:


Spaghetti Squash Casserole and Lemon Parmesan Brussel Sprouts:


For the Casserole:


  • About 3 cups cooked spaghetti squash (1 medium one)
  • 2 large garden tomatoes sliced
  • Kosher Salt
  • Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dried Basil, Dried Parsley for sprinkling
  • 5oz of fancy shredded Mexican cheese blend (separated)
  • Fresh Basil for Garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 11 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Spread about 1 cup of spaghetti squash on the bottom.

Top with a layer of sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with kosher salt and spices.

Top with 1.5 oz of cheese.
Add another layer of squash, then tomatoes, spices and cheese. Top with a final layer of squash.
Top with the last 2 oz of cheese and sprinkle with the spices one last time.
Bake for 30 Minutes! 





We loved it!!!!




For the Brussels:
Ingredients

1 pound fresh brussels sprouts, cut in half


1 generous tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing pan

2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
sea salt and fresh black pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a medium sized baking sheet lightly with oil.
Add the brussels sprouts to a large mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl whisk together the oil, mustard, lemon zest and juice and 1 tablespoon of the parmesan. Pour over brussels sprouts and toss well.
Spread out on baking sheet so they aren’t crowded and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.
Bake 20-30 minutes until golden brown and tender. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon of Parmesan over top before serving.





Yummy!!!





<3 Mrs Mock

Keeping Warm

On this ridiculously cold night in Dallas Tx, I refused to turn on our heater just to turn it off again in the morning.  (Tonight was a chilly 42 degrees!…Yes…in April!) So instead I  stopped and got a log for our fireplace on my way home from work then started a pot of chicken and dumplings!

This recipe definitely warmed us up! Here is the delicious recipe:

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 small yellow onion, minced
  • 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
  • 2 carrots, diced medium
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
  • 5 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups of chicken, cubed
Favorite poultry seasoning ( I used one with a bit of a spicy kick!)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for topping
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan, coat bottom with olive oil.  Rub chicken with poultry seasoning and Cook chicken until done over medium heat.  Melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high. Add onion, celery, and carrots and cook until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Make dumplings: Whisk together 1 cup flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in milk. (Add extra flour if too wet) Roll dough into small balls (About the size of a nickle) and drop into soup. Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 12 minutes. Serve topped with additional chopped parsley.

    Enjoy! We really loved this yummy recipe on such an unusually cool night! Not that we were complaining! It gave us a chance to curl up and enjoy a movie! 
    XOXO
    Mrs.Mock

Mmm Mmm Good!

So…I have been trying to be a modern version of June Cleaver.
   >I Cook
   >I Clean
   > I do Laundry
   >I even perfected my own homemade BBQ sauce for my Texan husband!!!



But I also subscribe to the thought that when people come over, I must have some homemade snacks to serve them! 


So, Christopher’s buddy Brad came over with his fiancee Melissa last night to play games and hang out, and I had 3 hours to clean and throw together some snacks for us!
Pinterest to the rescue!!!


I Found a recipe for this oreo dip, and OH MY GOD…it was to die for!!!


  http://pinterest.com/pin/82964818107500096/

I also attempted a cajun “fried” pickle recipe that I also found on Pinterest. (Not as good)

Then I made my famous spinach artichoke dip and meatballs! 

We had a nice little spread! 

Brad and Melissa just got this cute new puppy named Tank, and they brought him over to play!!! We also played the Logo game that my mother in law gave us for Christmas and it was really fun!

 Tank!

 Sleepy Boy

 Melissa and her new baby! (He was hiding from Stella)
 Here they are meeting.

We had such a good time with them, and are looking forward to seeing them again real soon! 

 Here is Stella after they left still hoarding her toys! Uh-oh…worried what she will do when we add a baby to the mix!!
                                                              -Mrs. Mock