Coconut Shrimp

If you’re needing a little something Tropical in your life… especially with all of this freezing cold weather… THESE are to DIE FOR!! I made these last night for dinner and we SCARFED them up. They can be a little tedious but well worth all the effort. They tasted better then any coconut shrimp I’ve found at a restaurant.

 

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup  chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups flaked coconut
• 24 shrimp
• 3 cups oil for frying

Directions

1. In medium bowl, combine egg, 1/2 cup flour, beer and baking powder. Place 1/4 cup flour and coconut in two separate bowls.
2. Hold shrimp by tail, and dredge in flour, shaking off excess flour. Dip in egg/beer batter; allow excess to drip off. Roll shrimp in coconut, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a deep-fryer.
3. Fry shrimp in batches: cook, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Using tongs, remove shrimp to paper towels to drain. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

*Originally the recipe called for beer but I changed it chicken broth because we NEVER have beer on hand. Go figure. But I didn’t have either last night. So I used 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup milk to make my batter. They turned out so good!*

* The other thing I added was a little more spice. Cayenne pepper, Garlic Powder and some salt. Make sure you used sweetened coconut flakes so you have the sweetness you’re looking for. Enjoy!!*

*After I dipped the shrimp in the batter and the coconut mixture I put the shrimp in the freezer for 15 minutes.*

Found at www.allrecipes.com

Sugar Coated Pecans

The past couple of years Christian’s mom has given us a big bag of pecans. This year we made a family night of cracking and shelling them. So I had this HUGE bowl of pecans that I wasn’t sure what to do with. I found this recipe and it got 5 stars and over 1,000 reviews. So I knew I couldn’t go wrong. The second thing I did was read all the reviews and see what changes were made. I’ve incorporated those changes into this recipe. I have them baking in my oven as we speak. It just snowed (again!) so it’s a perfect day to stay home and make a special treat.

Recipe Yield 1 pound

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp water 
• 1 pound pecan halves
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

*A couple of other things. I increased the cinnamon just a little bit. And ALSO… I used gallon sized zip lock bags instead of bowls to do the mixing. It made it really fast to coat evenly and clean up was a cinch!*

Found at www.allrecipes.com

~It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year~

We started (and mostly finished) our Christmas decorating yesterday. It was so much fun, the kids had a blast, and it puts me in the best mood. It’s funny how a little thing like decorations can change a person’s mood about their house. And just in time… I was feeling a little bored with how it looked. Here’s how it turned out…

My mom hand made all of our stockings. She is mucho talented.

  

*The Santa was made by my Grandma… the kids love to come downstairs and see this big  jolly guy.*

My DEAR SWEET Grandma sent me 4 houses this year for Christmas. Not only are they gorgeous, but their Thomas Kinkade… who I LOVE. These houses are so intricate and detailed. The kids love them, now if I could get a certain 2 year old to keep his hands off.

 

*They even have little tiny people.*

Can you tell we have little girls in our home that rule our house… and not to mention our tree?!

    

I made this… Do you love it? The website is posted below this post. So go take a peek!

A HUGE THANK YOU to my parents for giving me this mirror. They were going to Craigslist it… but I begged and they caved. Christian hung it up… along with the wreath and our plaque. He had his work cut out for him today. He’s the best!

I LOVE the gold frame for Christmas cause it matches the other gold accents around the house right now. After Christmas?… We’ll see. 
I finally found a place for this bad boy. I feel like LOTS of people have similar things, but I love it and treasure it. I don’t think you can read it in this picture but it says “Families are Forever” under the Simpson name. If you’ve never made one, I highly recommend it. I made mine HERE.

Christmas Crafts

(Quick Shout-Out to my girl Lindsay who I’m “stealing” both of these craft idea’s from. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. )

Here are two fast and easy crafts. My friend Lindsay found this great website where you can make an Ornament Wreath. It only consists of a wire hanger, ~80 ornament balls, and ribbon. I made mine this weekend and it turned our FANTASTIC! It was fast and so fun. My girls had a blast helping me too. Here’s how mine turned out, and here’s where to find it! (Thanks Lindsay for being so crafty!)

Thank you Eddie Ross for being such a creative genius!

The second cute craft I’m also loving! Lindsay (once again) found this little gem. I haven’t personally done this specific craft but I have all the materials rearing to go! 

Here’s Lindsay’s…

Don’t you just LOVE the way the light shines through them? Like little Halo’s. Love it! Beyonce would be proud.

… HERE’S where you can find it.

WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO…

I’ve been a little M.I.A. lately … but for good reason though. I am in charge of a newsletter that our family contributes and then combines together quarterly. This year I’m up to bat as the “editor” (I use that term loosely). During the holiday’s I thought it would be a good idea to put some of our favorite Holiday recipes together into one. So I’ve been busy with that and finally finished the compilation and sent it off to my husband for him to print off for me.

The OTHER thing. The other HUGE thing that I’ve been up to are … well… more hats. I had a crazy idea last Monday that I wanted to make hats for all of my nieces and nephews this Christmas. It’s an inexpensive, yet time consuming idea. It may seem doable to most people. However I have been blessed with 26 nieces and nephews. Which is really fun for out kids to get together and play. It’s like a big party all the time. Not so much fun when you decide to take on a monster project like this. Luckily for me and my obsession I’ve already made 12 hats (minus the flowers which I’ll add later). I just started the boys hats now and are happy how they’re turning out. It’s the colors that I’m worried about. We have half NC State fans in our family. And a few UNC fans. If I make the wrong color hat for the wrong kid… I might have a family feud on my hands.

Here’s how they’ve turned out thus far…

The hats with ribbons can have the ribbon traded out for a flower. It just weaves between X stitches but looks equally as cute with a flower attached. This time around I’m going to put hair clips on the back of the flowers so they can be used as wanted. I think the light pink hats with the chocolate ribbons are my favorites. The yarn is a little daintier but not as easy to work with (in my opinion). The other will be warmer though.

 

My 1 boy hat. It’s obviously NC State colors and was easy to make. It’s been a little harder to gauge the size of the nephews hats. The girls are easier for me to eyeball. Especially since I can try them out on their heads. I’d rather them turn out too big than too small so they can grow into them.

CANDLES

If you’re anything like me you like your house to smell good. Not the Lysol-I’ve-Cleaned-All-Day kind of smell though. I’m talking- YUMMY- walk in and BAM! cinnamon… or BAM! vanilla. I’m also a sucker for Yankee Candles. However, I can walk in and blow $30-$40 just on candles. Ridiculous! Some AWESOME alternatives that I’ve found throughout the years are the Febreze Candles. They don’t have a waxy smell when they burn, and they’re larger then the Glade. The Holiday’s are the perfect time to pick up some of those great housewarming scents too. I have found 3 that are my favorites so far…

Cinnamon Sugar & Home

 

Pumpkin Harvest & Fall

Winter Evening and Warmth *my favorite so far*

I also recently bought an Airwick Candle. I’ve never tried their candles before. All I know is one of the Lavender smells makes me want to throw up… so this is a leap of faith in my opinion. I had a coupon and it was on sale. I’ll let you know how it works out. In case you’re curious it’s called …

CRACKLING FIRE & WARMING SPICE

IT’S A HIT!

I found an UNBELIEVABLY EASY dinner that the whole family loved. My kids like Andy’s Hot Fries. They’re really spicy and they can sit and eat an entire bag from start to finish without a single drink. So I was able to tell them that this dinner tastes like Hot Fries. It worked! Even my 2-year-old loves it and has had more for leftovers. SUCCESS!! (If your kids aren’t big into spicy, I would try this recipe with BBQ sauce instead. But this is excellent for a party for adults too.

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 (17.5 fluid ounce) bottle buffalo wing sauce, divided
• 1 package dry ranch salad dressing mix
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Directions

1. Place the chicken breasts into a slow cooker, and pour in 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 7 hours.
2. Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter, and shred the meat finely with two forks. Pile the meat onto the hoagie rolls, and splash with the remaining buffalo wing sauce to serve.

*We add ranch on top. You can make this more sandwich style by adding cheese, tomato, pickles, or lettuce. Whatever sounds good to you.*