14 months

Baby isn't such a baby anymore. He walks, heck, he runs now, has for the last 4 months. Has 12 teeth, "talks" all the time, and is just plain getting too big too fast. It's sad. Being the last baby means I'll never see these moments again. It's a bittersweet ending to my child baring years. Soon all the kids will be out of the house and have their own kids. I wish I could slow time, stop it a few days, keep my kids as kids for a little longer, but I know I can't. Boo!

Pineapple upside down slight revamp

Again with food? yes!!! I freakin love food. There's seriously a constant war going on inside of me that says "Don't eat that!!" and "DUUUUUDE! eat it already!!". It sucks. Really. But I'm getting better...I PROMISE!

So yea, food war, I've been wanting a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for-like-ever. I don't know why, I've never even had one, never even thought it sounded good until recently. I mean I love pineapple, love maraschino cherries, and LOOOOOOVE cake so I guess it was bound to happen. So I searched the beloved Pinterest site for something interesting, then realized I was on the wrong computer and didn't want to switch in order to print it and I get tired of looking at the tiny print on my phone. Instead I got out the good ole "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook. Love that thing. One day I'll make everything in that book, I swear. Of course I changed some thing in it. Because I wanted to, and when I want to do something I'm just gonna do it.

I'm going to try to just remember this recipe because I don't want to get my cookbook out and I can't find it on their website the way I made it.

First take 2 tbsp of butter and melt it in a round cake pan. I actually stuck my pan on the burner and melted it. Then stir in 1/3 cup brown sugar. Lay pineapple down and stick your cherries in the middle. set aside...

I got lazy and didn't measure the butter, make sure you do it or you have soup :)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together 1 1/3 cup flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 2tsp baking powder, 1 egg, 1/2 cup milk(this is a change from the recipe), 1tbsp pineapple juice(my addition), 1/2 tsp almond flavoring(my addition), 1/4 cup butter softened. I was able to just whisk this together. I didn't feel like getting the KitchenAid out for this (I have NOOO counter space).
Spoon batter over the pineapples so that your mixture doesn't disrupt the lay out. Cook for 30-35 minutes. I only went 30 and probably should've gone longer but all ovens are different.

Look at the Golden Brown color!!

This is why I say only use 2 tbsp, made the batter run under the pineapples. Still good though  :)

Run a knife along the edges when done and let cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes. Put a plate on top of the pan and flip over. Serve warm.

Seriously amazing stuff. I don't know why it took almost 28 years for me to eat this stuff!!

Sale this evening

Short post!
I've been bored a lot lately so I've got tons of ready to ship items up on my Facebook store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Navillus-Creations/197185450359131. At the same time I'm considering posting my hat patterns. A lot of ideas I get from seeing other peoples work, I buy a lot of patterns simply to figure out how to make ears, it's kind of ridiculous lol. But hopefully this will bring in a little extra income and give me something else to do besides non stop crocheting :)

Amazing French Toast Bake

Once again, I don't really measure anything, I just eyeball a lot of things sooo I'll try to give an accurate measurement for all this goodness.

First you need a 9x13" cake pan and then you need to butter that baby up, loads of butter. I thought I had enough and my sides still stuck to the pan, so if you think it's enough, add more.

Now take 4 whole pieces and two 1/2 pieces and line the bottom of your pan, pour egg and milk mixture over the top so your bread is soaked (I don't like mine soggy so they weren't completely submerged in in). Add another layer over the top to cover up any gaps, and pour remaining egg mixture on top. Let the bread absorb for about 5 minutes and spread butter spread on top of it. Bake for 45 minutes at 375. YUMMY!

Egg mixture:
5-6 large eggs
1cup milk
cinnamon to taste (or really any yummy spices)
1/2 tsp almond flavoring
whisk together ingredients

Butter spread:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 corn syrup
throw in some other yummy spices or nuts if you like
mix with a spatula

*note, too much butter will just melt into the top layer and will make it soggy in the middle while your edges are nice an crispy


We had sausage patties on the side and poured syrup on top but it was almost too sweet for me once I added syrup, if you cut it right it'd make for some great dipping sticks for kids.

Blueberry butteryness(it's a word)

Yesterday I made what was pinned as a blueberry breakfast cake on Pinterest and I had to change a little bit but omg it was delicious. It turned out to be like a blueberry muffin, an oh my god why didn't anyone tell me such deliciousness existed, blueberry muffin. And to top it off I didn't need to put butter on it since I greased my pan with butter anyhow, first ingredient is butter, and buttermilk is involved.(so maybe not über healthy but who cares at this point)

But here it is, I'll come back in a bit to post the original bloggers link so she gets credit for this delectable bit of yumminess.

Another Pinterest inspiration

I made this for our family get together this weekend. It was funny though because I knew people wouldn't get it but would like it if they tried. So my husband who saw me make this puts it on the kid's plates thinking its a fruit salad for some reason and the kids aren't eating it because it's like the worse fruit salad in the world lol. I of course gave them crackers and they ate as the dip it's supposed to be after that everyone else did too.

Whatcha need:

8 oz cream cheese

16oz sour cream

package of bacon pieces

5-6 pickle spears

and half a package of Ranch

MIX IT UP!

and that's it. Pretty simple, and now I have half this bowl left to eat...Next time I'll label it "It won't bite you, grab some chips or crackers and enjoy" so that people will eat it while they're eating their meal not just snack on it while everyone's cleaning up.

Pork Chops anyone?

We usually don't eat pork chops because my husband doesn't understand that pork comes from the same place ham does and he loves ham but thinks pork is gross (he's a genius I tell ya). Anyhow, I like pork chops, I grew up eating fried porkchops, potatoes, green beans, all that good stuff so I bought some. Unfortunately we don't have a grill, well we do we just can't use it in our apartment (lame!), so I had to cook them on the stove, which turned out pretty amazing thanks to my cast iron skillet that I begged for a few birthday's ok (The only thing I ever ask for is kitchen stuff). They were delicious!!! Of course everything I make is!

Pan seared deliciousness

Here's what you need for the marinade:

1tbsp Balsamic vinegar

2tbsp soy sauce

1 garlic clove

1tbsp red pepper flakes

mix up and pour into a zip lock baggie with your pork chops, then add about 1-2 cups water (enough to cover the pork chops) and let sit in the fridge for half the day (longer for more flavor of course).

Then take your lovely well marinated pork chops and stick them in your skillet. Let them sear for awhile on both sides. I like to have a nice crispy skin on mine so I added some olive oil to the pan (should oil anyways so the pork doesn't stick).

See the crispy-ness? yummmm

Anywho, we had ours with herb and butter rice and left over green bean casserole from Easter dinner so this was not only an easy meal but a super cheap one at that, like an $8 meal for my family of 6!!