While He Was Napping

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Weekend Wander #109

Welcome to the party!  I hope you’ve had a productive week.  I didn’t get everything done I wanted to… but since when do I ever?  As Scarlett O’Hara once said, “After all, tomorrow is another day…”  What a great movie, a total classic.

Anyway, let’s get to the real reason you’re here… link ’em up!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
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The best jalapeno poppers you’ll ever put in your mouth

Dinner can be so hard sometimes. And my family insists on eating EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. Yours too, huh? It’s like they think they’ll die or something if they don’t eat… oh, wait. What’s a momma to do? Well, some times, I need to liven things up with something I really love so that I’ll be excited when the time comes to make dinner. While these Bacon & Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers are great little appetizers for any party menu… and the leftovers make a great breakfast the next morning… I have been known to make these simply because it’s Tuesday and I want to be excited to make dinner. So, yes, put these on your next party menu and them add them to your meal plan menu too because whatever your celebration may be – Superbowl? Oscars Party?  Valentine’s Dinner? Birthday party? It’s Thursday and the kids are still alive?! – I pinky promise, these will be a hit!

 

BACON & CREAM CHEESE JALAPENO POPPERS

Bacon Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers.jpg

These are absolutely bursting with delicious flavor because, I mean cream cheese and bacon… how could they not be amazing?! If tonight’s dinner plans are really better than cream cheese and bacon, well then, share your recipe! My family eats EVERY. NIGHT. Remember? Help a momma out and give me some new recipe ideas! And make sure you add this to the menu for another night because you won’t regret it and I love to share the good stuff!

The cheese and the bacon fat tame the heat in most of the peppers, leaving just a little bite behind. This is one time when the cheap bacon can actually help you out! The more fat, the more subdued they will be. Want to make sure they are tame enough to enjoy? Be sure to get all the seeds out because that’s where the pepper’s punch is really hidden. These jalapeno poppers definitely still have a kick, but even my kids can handle most of them.

The downside is you can’t really tell the hot ‘n spicy ones from the not-so hot ‘n spicy ones just by looking at them; so, be wary if your heat tolerance is low and have a glass of milk close by. And yes, they are totally worth the Russian Roulette you play every time you reach for another one. Can’t stand the heat and don’t even want to risk it? Try substituting green bell peppers, because these are just too dang amazing to miss out on.

ENLIVEN DINNER WITH BACON AND CREAM CHEESE JALAPENO POPPERS

Print This Recipe
Bacon & Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers

Prep time: 

Cook time: 

Total time: 

Serves: 20 poppers

A little bit of heat and a whole lot of yum! These jalapeno poppers are a fantastic party appetizer. And they are easy enough to make on a Tuesday too, just because you want some.
Ingredients
  • 16 oz package of bacon
  • 10 Jalapeno peppers (you can use any pepper, for more control over the heat factor. My mom likes these with green bell peppers).
  • 16 oz package of cream cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil for easy clean up.
  2. Wash the peppers. Open the bacon and slice it in half. I find kitchen shears seem to be the easiest way to do that. Open the package of cream cheese.
  3. Slice the peppers in half and remove the seeds and membrane. I cut the stems off too, but that's optional. I also wear latex gloves so I don't get jalapeno in my eye later...
  4. Cut the cream cheese into 20 skinny slices.
  5. Lay a slice of cream cheese inside each pepper.
  6. Wrap each pepper and cream cheese slice in a half strip of bacon.
  7. Place the peppers on the baking sheet in a single layer, not touching each other. (Super secret amazing flavor boosting tip: Sprinkle a little brown sugar on the peppers!)
  8. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on size of peppers. When the peppers are an olive green color and the bacon is thoroughly cooked, take the peppers out of the oven.
  9. Let cool approximately 10 minutes. Be careful, the grease from the bacon will be HOT!
  10. Serve and enjoy!
  11. Store the leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge.

 

 

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

 

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DIY Watercolors

This was one of our projects from our Kid’s Science Experiment and Art Project Kit.  Mostly this was more of a “something to do” kind of project.  Watercolors aren’t terribly expensive, but this was a fun project to do with Little Monkey.  While the colors weren’t quite as bright and vibrant as the store-bought paints, it still worked quite well and, when the paint dried, the colors stayed true.

Materials:
– 3 Tbsp baking soda
– 3 Tbsp cornstarch
– 3 Tbsp white vinegar
– 1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup (or simply boil one cup sugar and 1/2 cup water until clear)
– food coloring
– containers to hold your paints

Directions:
Combine 3 tablespoons each of the baking soda, cornstarch and vinegar and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of the corn syrup/sugar substitute. Allow the fizzing to subside and mix completely. Pour the mixture into whatever you’d like to use to hold your paints.  A foam egg carton works really well (cardboard ones work okay, but absorb a lot of the liquid).  Add the food coloring to create your desired palette and leave out to harden for at least three hours. Make sure you add the food coloring relatively quickly; the mixture actually starts to solidify almost right away.

Make your colors A LOT darker than you think you will need.  Our color seemed to rise to the top of the paints and the middles weren’t as dark in color.

I used a long bracelet-style jewelry box and an egg carton for my paints.  I cut the bottoms of the egg carton slots off and then glued them into the jewelry box.  This made a nice container that our paint brush also fit inside nicely.  

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
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52 Reasons Why I Love You

This is, by no means, a new idea… but it does make a great gift for that special someone in your life.  Anniversary coming up? Birthday?  Valentine’s Day is only a month away.  This cheap and easy gift is great because it can be personalized so easily.  All it takes is a bit of time and some effort.  This is my favorite kind of gift to receive… if your recipient has a thing for “useful” gifts, throw in a whisk or something.

52 REASONS WHY I LOVE YOU

Materials:
– One deck of playing cards – You can find a two pack at the Dollar Tree or single packs with the games in the toy section at Wal-Mart, Target, etc
– Scrapbook paper or card stock
– Hole Punch
– String, yarn, or binder rings

Directions:
– There are a couple options for making your set of love notes.  I designed all of mine in Photoshop and then printed them out.  Don’t have access to Photoshop?  That’s okay.  Cut some scrapbook or card stock to fit on the backs of your cards and glue them on.  Use an archival pen and write down each reason.  Embellish each card as much as you want.
– Punch a hole in each card and tie together with the string.  I used Baker’s twine.

This project really is pretty easy…

The hardest part was thinking of 52 different things to write on the cards.  Not because there aren’t 52 different things I love about my hubby, but putting it all into words was harder than I anticipated.  I suggest using specific memories and inside jokes, as well as some of the more generic “I love your smile” reasons.

Another option is to have your kiddos help and make it a 52 Reasons We Love Daddy.  Write down any reasons they give you and then let them decorate each card.  Let them draw some pictures of things that they enjoy doing with dad.  Dad then has the option of carrying one or two cards in his wallet if he wants.

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

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Weekend Wander #108

Welcome to the party! I hope your week has been successful.  We’ve been fighting off this awful sinus infection for what feels like a million years.  I’m so ready for everyone to be healthy again!  In other news, we are loving our new toy rotation system… did you check it out?
Last week’s party was pretty fantastic.  Some of the highlights included:
This neat little clock from Can’t Stop Making Things looks fantastic!
Get some organizing tips at Saving 4 Six.
Love this chain necklace!  Get the details over at Cat on a Limb.

Thanks for linking up and a super special thanks to everyone who visited all the links!  Now, let’s get this party started.  Link ’em up!


This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here:
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