Arise & Shine Freezer Meal: Paleo - Gluten Free Bacon Egg Cups

If you are one to browse through pinterest, you may have seen some of these egg cup recipes already. Since our family has been whipping up quite a few quick grabbing, easy gobbling on the run, recipes I thought I would try coming up with my own version.

I sprayed my muffin trays with olive oil, wrapped the perimeter of each cup with bacon strips, trimmed to fit around without overlapping. Then in a large mixing bowl I added the eggs {about one per egg cup}, green onion, spinach, browned ground sausage {yes, more meat because my Man is a MEAT-EATER} chopped red bell pepper, and I tossed in some grated parmesan (for paleo omit the cheese). Seasoned with Himalayan Pink Salt, because I love the color and pepper. 

This was so simple - I filled the cups 2/3 of the way. Baked at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes I think. Just enough for them to not jiggle. Then I simply bagged them up into freezer bags. My hubby and kiddos grab them and toss them in the micro (yeah, we still use it sparingly) for a little over a minute and voila.... breakfast is served. 

These are SO YUMMY!

-Simply Sublime

Delicious Cinna-YUM Cinnamon Roll Recipe

These cinnamon rolls by The Pioneer Woman are the bomb! So many recipes take hours and hours to prepare. These you can get into the oven in a little over an hour. They combine the regular l-o-n-g method with the quick time method adding baking soda and baking powder for a quicker rise time.

After they bake there is a DELICIOUS glaze infused with maple and coffee to top the rolls with. I get over-sweeted , so I used about half of the glaze suggested in the recipe. The photo below is from the Pioneer Woman's site - as you can see her frosting is MUCH thicker.

and here is the link to The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Roll Recipe along with photos and instructions. She does such a fabulous job blogging her food shares! I recommend that you spend hours and hours perusing her blog. She is amazing.

-Simply Sublime

Let them EAT Cake: Best Ever Birthday Cake Recipe's & Easy DIY Decorating

When in doubt...ADD RIBBON!

recipe found at add a pinch and listed below

This was so EASY-PEASY...and I think it turned out super-duper cute. 

To be quite honest this happened by total accident. I was frosting the cake and thought it needed a little extra something. Oh yes indeed,  I do have all of the proper wilton cake decorating tubes, tips and ingredients to whip up something beautiful but... to be quite frank... I didn't want to put in the effort. Yeah, Mom of the year award here. But let me explain why before you go judging my lack of love effort here. I had been cooking up my daughter's favorite Italian Feast of bread sticks from scratch, Steak Gorgonzola and a Chicken Fettucine...ALL.DAY.LONG! This cake decorating was the final step, whew. 

So, as I was looking at this flatly frosted creation I decided to pull out that "easy" gun frosting shooter thingy (cake decorator) that can be used for making all food dishes pretty... a'hem. Yeah, right, maybe deviled eggs once a year on Easter.

My frosting was a bit soft but I was in a slam-jam hurry so, I slopped it into the tube and started shooting my cake around the rim with little star point slabby dots,  rather unsuccessfully. UGH! Okay...when in doubt ADD MORE! Lets run a little around the base of the cake. Eh...not much better. Somehow these little additions to the cake were actually drawing the eye to the imperfections and making it look even sadder. Atleast to me anyway. AND, I wanted a HAPPY cake. Yes, I said it ... a HAPPY CAKE! 

Then as if hit in the head by the most brilliant brainstorm ever I remembered the adorable bright hot pink polka dot ribbon in the the wrap drawer. Ahhh...... lovely, just lovely. That paired with the adorable long sparkler candles we picked up and the cake was complete. Pretty cute, huh?

Now for this little beauty - Toasted Coconut Layer Cake with Coconut Butter Cream

Recipe at Food Network & Listed below

This Coconut Layer Cake photo and recipe has been waiting to blog about since July but just after I made it we were off to Africa. So, it has sat waiting oh-so-patiently for it's BIG reveal. 

This is one of my favorite Chef's {Bobby Flay's}recipes from a show called Throwdown. You can't really see my layers in the photo...but they are there. I should have turned my sliced cake layer over so it would show up better when cut. Lesson learned.

Some cakes just don't need much decorating, and this is one of those. The toasted coconut on it makes it simply divine...like eye candy at it's best. I guess for those unfortunate souls who don't like coconut it may lack some luster but we LOVE us some coconut in this fam!

The recipe on this one is a bit more involved with many more steps than the chocolate cake - but it required less decorating. Can I say I could have dove in the bowl and ate each of the layers before they were even assembled? Yes, it is all THAT GOOD! 

There is something so rewarding about whipping out a homemade Birthday Cake! I can't remember the last time we purchased a birthday cake - because my kids are always excited to dig into the home made YUM-FEST created for their special day. It really doesn't take a lot - but think about what it adds to your home. Your kiddos SEE you creating something to celebrate them, they also SMELL the deliciousness wafting throughout the rooms of your home in the process, and finally they get to TASTE the yumminess of what you made on their behalf. Can you picture it - it is like a Hallmark Greeting Card or Norman Rockwell scene right? Okay, okay - well, life isn't about perfection - it is about the enjoying the process. 

Just remember you don't have to be a professional baker or cake decorator to pull this off. Ribbon and fun candles can make all the difference. Some curled chocolate or toasted coconut can add a lil' extra yum factor and eye appeal. Just relax and have fun with it. Your kids will notice your deposit of love in action.

Okay here are the recipes: 

{or you can clink on the links under the photos and print them out}

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. -Eph. 5:2

-Simply Sublime

Visual Photo Candy for your Blog: Free Cool Slideshows

As I have been confined to the house for a few days I wanted to get some of my photos up on the blog for my bloggies to enjoy. I talk alot of Africa, my family, friends, throughout my ramblings so why not add a little photo presentation. Now that google and picasa have teamed up I thought this would be a quick and easy task. Well it was indeed...QUICK, EASY and super-dee-duper UGLY. The photos were teeny , different sizes and I didn't like the format - the photos were scaled by photo image size. It just looked plain weird. 

So I just knew... "some where.... out there" [sung to the famous song] there had to be a dreamy,  fabulous graphic display system  for photos out there. Sure enough I stumbled upon PhotoSnack.com. Instantly I was drawn to their style. One look and you can tell they are a bit edgier than many of their competitors. They have several fun little projects you can create. You can even add some musical accompaniment.  Some projects you need to pay for - Some are FREE -[ they just want to add a lil' advertisement at the end of the show... and who wouldn't want a little credit anyway?]

You can change the size of your slideshow images, originally I went with a medium size but it was WAY too big. I ended up using the smallest size option. (Isn't it great...did I ask that already?) You can pick textures, background colors, different designs, you can add a photo background behind your photos. Isn't it GREAT???  Oh, you are going to LOVE it!

So check out my slideshow I put together and tell me how you like it? (Don't ya' just love it?) and for free!

-Simply Sublime

Nate's Birthday Cake Request: Best Easy Yummy Gooey Chocolate Chunk Bundt Cake Recipe

Today I am sharing with you a simple, easy and yummy cake recipe that ends up tasting super yumm-o-licious. It is a dense, moist, gooey rich chocolate cake that is beautiful as well. This cake was on the requested menu for our son Nate's 9th Birthday Celebration Bash. He thinks this cake is the best cake ever! The BOMB.com. 

Okay - call me a snob-o-chef but typically I really prefer to whip up my kitchen creations from scratch. I love combining a lot of randomness to create something divinely delicious. I mean how many of you just can't wait to get into the kitchen to gulp down a little cocoa powder, or sprinkle a lil' baking soda in your mouth. Gross, right? Yet...Something magical happens when we combine odd tasting  individual ingredients together - they end up creating a symphony for our taste buds to experience. I LOVE this!

Saying this however, every once in awhile our family will stumble into a recipe that asks for an ingredient we wouldn't typically consider. This is one of those recipes. Years ago I got this cookbook from a dear friend that has a recipe in it with a boxed cake mix as the base. It had yummy add-ins - espresso powder, sour cream, pudding.... hmmm....might be worth a try. 

Indeed it was! We have probably made this cake once a year ever since. (Which is saying a lot because we really like trying new things) 

First you will want a fluted pan. Check out this vintage lovely - it is my Mom's. I have even had to tape the box to keep it in one piece. I can't begin to tell you how many sugary sensations we have whipped up with this little treasure. 

Ingredients you will need:

• 1    Box Chocolate Cake Mix
• 4    Eggs
• 1    Cup Sour Cream
• 1    3.9oz Instant Chocolate Pudding
• 1/2 Cup Oil
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/4 Cup Espresso Powder
• 1    box (8 squares) Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate (chopped)
• 2    Tbsp. Powdered Sugar

Make sure you get your chocolate squares chopped up.

My secret ingredient is the BEST coffee in the whole world. We bring this back with us from Tanzania. I grind this up on the finest setting in my burr grinder and use 1/4 Cup to  1/3 Cup in the batter. Just toss the ground beans straight into the mix. (This is my espresso powder) Espresso powder enhances the cocoa flavor without adding much coffee flavor. 

PreHEAT oven to 350°F.

BEAT all ingredients except espresso powder, chopped chocolate and powdered sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Once it is mixed nicely you can add in the espresso powder & chopped chocolate. Hand stir until well mixed.

 POUR batter into 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan sprayed with cooking spray. The batter will need some assistance being spooned out as it is quite thick. 

BAKE   for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 10 min. Loosen cake from side of pan with knife. Invert cake onto wire rack; gently remove pan. Cool cake completely. Transfer to plate just before serving; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar.

Here is Nate's finished Birthday Cake. Can you say YUM! A dense, gooey chocolatey YUM-FEST!!! Let's just say there was only one slice left over. Super easy and super yummy!

-Simbly Sublime