Thanks so much Andrea for having me! I’m thrilled to be sharing these fun and easy Sports Cupcakes with you and your readers!  Whether you create these fun Sports Cupcakes for a special Birthday, Father’s Day or even your honored athlete, they are always a hit.

I used some basic ingredients to create them, you will need…

• Cupcakes, baked and cooled (learn how I make a cake mix taste like it’s made from scratch)
• Buttercream Frosting
• Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
• Wilton Red Coloring
• Wilton Orange Sugar Sparkles
• Wilton Yellow Sanding Sugar
• M&M’s, brown
• Decorator bag or Ziploc bag
• Wilton Round tips, #1 and #1L

Baseball Cupcake:

Frost cupcake with white Buttercream Frosting. Mix a small amount of red coloring into white frosting. Add to decorator bag and using a round tip, pipe on baseball laces.

Basketball Cupcake:

Frost cupcake with white Buttercream Frosting. Place Orange sugar in a small bowl. Dip the edge of the cupcake in sugar first (easier that way) and then dip the top. Sprinkle on a little extra sugar. Place Chocolate Buttercream in decorator bag, and using a round tip, pipe on Basketball seams.

Football Cupcake:

Frost cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream. Place white Buttercream Frosting in decorator and with a round tip, pipe on Football seams.

To make Chocolate Buttercream, melt 1/8 – 1/4 cups Chocolate Chips (depending on how much frosting you are flavoring) in microwave, stir until completely melted and add to Buttercream Frosting.

Tennis Cupcake:

Frost cupcake with white Buttercream Frosting. Place yellow sugar in small bowl, dip edge of cupcake in sugar, then dip the top. Sprinkle on a little extra sugar. Place white Buttercream Frosting in decorator bag, and using a round tip, pipe on Tennis Ball seams.

Soccer Cupcake:

Frost cupcake with white Buttercream Frosting. Put a brown M&M in middle of cupcake, then add 5 more M&M’s. Place Chocolate Buttercream in decorator bag, and using a round tip, pipe lines connecting M&M’s and ball seams coming away from each M&M.

Do you have a Sports Fan in your house? Share with us over in my Blog Frog Community!

Liz is the Hoosier Momma from Hoosier Homemade. She is a SAHM of 3 teenage boys, that keep her running with their sports and school activities. Most of the time you can find Liz creating her cupcakes for Cupcake Tuesday. But, she also shares her baked goods, Budget Friendly Meals, and decorating tips and tricks, all to help you “Make Your House a Home.” And when she’s not at Hoosier Homemade, you can find her having a party over on her new blog, It’s A Blog Party. Or you can follow along with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Aren’t these just adorable??!! I have become obsessed with Liz’s cupcake creations.  You can’t help but be inspired to bake and create!!

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I will be sharing more of our first “official” week doing more organic/natural foods. It was painless and I’m still alive!! And, a positive note, I actually cooked more last week since I had my plan. I’ll admit I didn’t do all 5 days of meal plans. I’m taking baby steps to get back into the kitchen :)

I’m also going to include the items I need to purchase. I live by the philosophy of living on the stockpile (even if that means cereal for dinner). So, this will give you an idea of what other things we need to purchase to “fill in” for the dinners listed below.

: : Our Menu Plan this Week : :

: : Grilled Chicken Patties, Garlic Oven Fries, Salad
Purchase Items: Red Potatoes

: : Grilled Chicken, Brown Rice, Veggies

: : Tacos
Purchase Items: Tomatoes

: : Waffles (with my organic whole wheat flour), Bacon, Eggs (fresh from the chicken!)

: : Hamburgers, Tomato/Mozzarella Salad

Yes, we had the Tomato/Mozzarella Salad last week and it was SO good! This will be on our menu a lot especially when I get my own tomatoes growing (whenever my DH digs the garden…this week hopefully!!!)!

What’s on your menu this week?

Last week, I posted this on Twitter and Facebook, but thought I should ask for your help here too :)

As summer break comes, I need to have a game plan for quick and easy lunch ideas for the boys. Two of the boys have nut allergies so that eliminates any quick PB sandwiches. Here are a few items I have come up with so far:

• Veggie Tray with Homemade Dip or Hummus
• Cheese, Crackers and Fruit
• Fruit Tray (or Kebobs depending on how fancy schmancy I wanna get)
• Ham and Cheese Rolls or Wraps
• Chicken Salad (minus almonds)

I asked for ideas on Twitter, and got some great suggestions too!

And, my Facebook Fans delivered with some great suggestions as well! You can see those here (there are too many to list).

I happen to know that Erin of $5 Dollar Dinners is working on a new cookbook with lunch ideas. Hurry up and publish it already, girl!! This momma needs some ideas!! :)

What ideas do you have for a quick, easy and nutritious lunch?

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Well, it’s officially starting!  I am expecting my first delivery of organic produce. I got mostly fruit for the boys. Paul is supposed to dig our garden this week (and by writing this, it should mean that it will happen…right babe?? :).

Now, just because we’re doing more natural and organic doesn’t mean everything will be organic so please don’t expect that :)  I am trying to do different things that will work for our family and now organic produce and more scratch cooking with natural ingredients is what it is. The organic meat will be coming later… as soon as I call that farmer!

: : Our Menu Plan this Week : :

: : Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup (organic tomatoes) *Kids’ Pick*

: : Black Bean Burgers (from All You’s Eat Well, Save Big Cookbook) with Tomato/Mozzarella Salad (organic tomatoes)

: : Potato Soup with Bacon

: : Spaghetti with Salad (organic) *Kids’ Pick*

: : Hamburgers (organic), Salad (organic), Oven Baked Fries

What’s on your menu this week?

This week its seems every store (near me) has strawberries on sale. I made a big purchase at Meijer. However, Kroger also has them on sale and I was pleasantly surprised to find my Aldi had them priced at $.99! Aldi also had Pineapple on sale for $.99 too – I got two!

I’m planning on cutting a few containers up for smoothies and flash freezing. I may go purchase more because at $1 a container, you can’t beat the price for fresh produce! I bought ingredients to make Parfaits too. I need a good granola recipe though because I want to try to make my own :) Suggestions there?

Do you have other ideas for my surplus of strawberries?

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I’m trying something different in the new year. I am going to menu plan out the month.  I typically have done weekly menu plans.  Honestly it has been because it’s easier to throw together on Sunday night with what I have in the fridge.

Since I have a massive stockpile and I’m trying to eat out of the pantry/freezer like a few others. I decided to menu plan for the entire month.  I’ll share my method with you in a post soon since this monthly plan was a new experience for me.  Since I plan on using this as my guide all month, I am including the meat next to the recipe so I know what to thaw out.

Main Dishes

1. Slow Cooker Beef Roast (Roast)
2. Chicken Rice Casserole (Chicken)
3. Blackened Chicken Fettucine Alfredo (Chicken)
4. Hot Chicken Salad (Chicken)
5. Chicken Mac & Cheese – from my Once a Month cook last month
6. Ham and Cheese Casserole (Ham)
7. Cabbage Au Gratin Casserole (Smoked Sausage)
8. Breakfast for Dinner: Sausage with Buttermilk Pancakes (Sausage)
9. Bourbon Pork Tenderloin (Pork)
10. Zesty Grilled Pork Chops (Pork Chops)
11. Autumn Sausage Casserole (Smoked Sausage)
12. Red Beans and Rice (Smoked Sausage)
13. Sausage Spinach Soup (Sausage)
14. Mexican Lasagna (Ground Turkey)
15. Breakfast Casserole (Sausage)
16. Tator Tot Casserole (Sausage)
17. Lasagna with Cream Cheese (Hamburger)
18. Homemade Pizza
19. Spaghetti (Sausage)
20. Grilled Chicken

Sides

1. Garlic Oven Fries
2. Boxed Potatoes (we have a lot to use)
3. Pasta Sides
4. Brown Rice – from my Once a Month cook last month
5. Knorr Rice
6. Noodles

What can I say, we have a boring/repeat selection of sides.  The veggies will be whatever is either fresh or frozen (and on sale).  I might make some bread – I might not too :)

I’m also going to try throw in a few sweet things.  The Happy Housewife’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Vanderbilt Wife’s Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.  I’ll probably also throw another batch of Once A Month Mom’s Banana Sour Cream Muffins together too!

If you want to log various recipes you find online, check out the Virtual Recipe Box I created last year. That is a huge part of how I was able to make this monthly plan easier to put together.  I have updated it with some new recipes I have found, along with removing some dead recipe links.

Are you menu planning this week/month too?

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So, last week I did do a few meals on the menu plan. You know, I started the week off bad because I was planning on making chicken the first night and I didn’t thaw it out. And, something about defrosting chicken in the microwave weirds me out. So, we had the good old stand by – cereal.  But, I did do my freezer cooking!  And, we’re eating one this week!

1. Pork Chops (frozen in the marinade – best way to do it), Brown Rice, Mixed Veggies
2. Taco Salad
3. Beef Roast, Noodles (from a bag), Broccoli
4. Macaroni & Chicken Bake *my freezer meal*
5. Grilled Chicken, Veggies, Pasta Side (Knorr – on sale)

So, as I mentioned in my Menu Plan this week, I did a once a month cook.  It happened yesterday.

All of my past freezer cooking has primarily been breakfast items. Simply because that is what I’m comfortable with. But, I did branch out and do a few more things this time.

Crockpot Brown Rice

The first thing I did was start my brown rice. This is the simplest thing to do and I mention it whenever I have a chance to speak about savings and couponing.  It saves time and money since you aren’t purchasing the more expensive Minute Rice varieties.  You just need a 2 bag of grain rice and you:

• Spray the crockpot with cooking spray
• Empty the rice into the crockpot
• Cover the rice with water or chicken stock. Add about another inch of water to ensure it’s really covered
• Add 3 chicken bouillion cubes (if you don’t use chicken stock)
• Add 4 tbsp (or possibly more if you want) of butter – I used an entire stick and it tasted awesome!

Cook on high for about 3-4 hours. You need to watch it near the last hour depending on how fast your crockpot cooks. This turns to mush if you overcook it.

When the rice is cooled, separate into freezer bags.  When you are ready to cook, just let it thaw and stick it in the microwave with a tbsp of butter (to moisten it) and you’re good to go!  This saves SO much time and quite a bit of money considering a bag of uncooked rice is around $1.50 and we get about 3-4 side dishes with the one bag.

Banana Sour Cream Muffins

I started with the Banana Sour Cream Muffins, but I used pumpkin instead of bananas. They didn’t come out with a strong flavor, but they were good enough for me! I’m hoping T (our oldest) will eat these since he’s been loving pumpkin this season.

Andon was a HUGE help, as you can see :) He really wanted to help so I let him stir the sugar and cinnamon together. Then he ate half of it. He looks disappointed in the picture – he was caught!

Mac & Chicken Bake

Have you ever been to Rock Bottom Brewery? Well, they have the . BEST Macaroni & Chicken Bake. I’m hoping this tastes like it. I did taste a little bit and it was pretty good!  You can find the recipe over at Once A Month Mom.

I altered the recipe a bit before I froze it.  I simply left out the top layer of cheese and breadcrumbs. My freezer bag noted the cooking time and temperature and a reminder to add those two things before baking.

Freezer Onions

I may be the only one who rarely uses onions. I use them so little, in fact, that when I do purchase onions, they go bad. So, I had a bag ready to go bad and I decided I was going to freeze them to use in recipes. I used my new food processor (or new-to-me) that $5 Dinner Mom gave me and I got to pulsing.

Well, I pulsed too much or I chose the wrong setting because I got onion mush! But, it tasted fine since I had to sautee it for the Chicken & Macaroni Bake. So, I salvaged the mush and flash-froze piles of mush.  Once they were frozen, I stuck the little piles in a bag. It will taste the same and I’ll actually have the perfect portion already ready to go!

That might be the most frugal I got all week!

So, that’s all I did! Compared to some of the other ladies cooking today, I am a slacker! But, I did do a few extra things for those days when I’m mentally drained and want to call for Domino’s :)

You can find a list of everyone participating in this monthly cook at Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom! People are linking up recipes, cooking pictures and their end result of a hard day’s work!  It’s fun to get inspired and find new recipes too! This seems to be a reoccurring virtual gathering of cooks.  Definitely join in next time!

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YES, you are in the right place! I know it has been a LONG time since I posted a Menu Plan. Let me just tell you I fell off the wagon. Well, we ate and all but I wasn’t too organized about it. I am getting back into it, and got the kids involved in planning this week’s menu too!

1. Salad Greens with Grilled Chicken
2. Spaghetti, Broccoli, Texas Toast
3. Pork Chops (frozen in the marinade – best way to do it), Brown Rice, Mixed Veggies
4. Taco Salad
5. Sloppy Joe’s, Garlic Onion Fries, Green Beans
6. Homemade Pizza

I am also doing a bulk/freezer/onceamonth cooking day on Tuesday. I am checking out recipes from Once A Month Mom and the gals who are hosting the virtual #OAMC day. Anyone can participate, whether you blog or not!!

As of now, I’m just making the Banana Sour Cream Muffins I’ve made before, but using pumpkin instead of bananas this time.  I’m also going to try to find some decent items to make as dinner items. I have only done breakfast stuff so far.  I always have issues with freezer burn, or maybe it’s just psychological with me. Anyhoo, if you have fave freezer meal ideas, please let me know. I’m going grocery shopping and can pick up necessary ingredients!

This past weekend, I hosted a jewelry party (which I will share more in a bit).  With these little gatherings, I realize my appetizer repertoire is rather slim.  But, several of the recipes I made were a hit, so I decided I would share one:  Party Veggie Pizza.

The thing I like about Veggie Pizza is that it can literally be done with whatever veggies you have on hand.  There are a few staple ingredients and I’m sure if you got really creative you could manage without those as well.  So, here is my version of a delicious Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza

Pillsbury Pizza Dough (or you can make Homemade)
Brick of Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1 Packet Dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
Assortment of Veggies

::  Cook the Pizza Dough. Let it cool completely. You can trim the edges to be a purty if you want :)

::  Mix the Veggie Sauce until creamy: Cream Cheese, Sour Cream and Ranch Dressing.

::  Spread the Veggie Sauce over the cooled Pizza.

::  Sprinkle Veggies on the Pizza.

I was lucky enough to find a bag of Organic sliced Broccoli and Carrots on clearance so I only had to chop the Red Bell Pepper.  I also add just a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top for color. Really, this is an inexpensive dish to prepare, especially if you made it using homemade pizza dough.

I cut our pizza into slices and placed them on a serving platter.  You can leave it on the pizza stone too, of course.  I actually think it’s easier to sprinkle veggies on the pizza after it’s cut though, but I didn’t do that this time.  As you cut the pizza, several veggies got caught in the pizza cutter.  I had quite a few leftover veggies because of that! I ate them though, it was alright :)

I know some people add mayonnaise to their dip, but my taste buds like it without :) So, you can try adding 1/4 cup mayo instead of sour cream if you want.

Do you have a favorite version of a party Veggie Pizza?