Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I'm so glad the weather is getting warmer and I'm able to make fruity sweets now! I've been on quite a lemon kick here lately,  I've noticed. Plus, the contrast of the sweet and tart is just yummy!

I took a shortcut on this cupcake and used a boxed lemon mix since I had it in my cupboard.

Cupcake-
Follow the directions on the box. I used a mini cupcake pan because I love to bring mini cupcakes to parties. Easy and bite size! Bake at 350 for 11 minutes.

For the Filling-

3-4 cups strawberries (before pureeing, should make about 2 cups after puree)

2 cups white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp honey

Puree the strawberries using a blender or mixer. I used a blender to get them really fine. Pour puree into sauce pan on medium heat. Add vanilla, honey and half of the sugar. Let gently bowl for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, combine pectin (I used Ball brand) and the other half of the sugar. (The package says combine 1 ½ cups sugar with pectin, but I wanted my puree to have sugar to start to thicken).  Add pectin to cooled puree. Let stand or cool in fridge to thicken.

Hollow out a small portion of the center of the cupcake. I used a small piping tip. Using the larger side, gently push and turn into center of cupcake and cake will come out when you pull the piping tip out. Fill with strawberry filling (¼ tsp for minis), and then put the small piece of cupcake back in the hole you made. (The pic is showing them all filled)

Strawberry Buttercream Icing-

3 sticks unsalted sweet butter (at room temp)

3-4 cups powder sugar

¾ cup strawberry puree (I used what was leftover from the filling and it gave the PERFECT strawberry taste!)

In a mixer, blend butter until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add powder sugar. Start with 3 cups and then add more later if needed. Add strawberry puree and blend on medium speed until well combined. I had to add more powder sugar, 4 cups total. Should be pretty thick. Pour into piping bag and pipe using large star tip. (I purchased this at Wal-Mart and it was only $3 for 3 large tips!)

*Optional (I’m all about the garnish, and I’m over the top so I did this…)

Slice a lemon in thinish slices and then quarter. Dredge the slices through Country Time Lemonade dry mix to give a little more sweet tart. Put on top of Iced cupcakes. This gave the sweet strawberry icing some tart. SO good!

You could also just zest a lemon over the top of the cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Heisel Rules! {the Kitchen)

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been on a bacon binge during my pregnancy!! But, before you go judging the name, trust me, these are DELICIOUS!! The bacon adds a little salt, which marries perfectly with the sweet of the chocolate. Plus, the candied bacon is yum just by itself! New guilty pleasure?? J

So, this was a pregger craving that I had, but I’ve never had a great chocolate chip recipe. So, I consulted with my friend, Pinterest, and she gave me just what I was looking for!

Here’s a link to the source: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/02/candied-bacon-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

But I’m also typing it here along with any changes I made.

Ingredients:

For Candied Bacon:

1 pack bacon

½ cup brown sugar

For cookies:

2 cups all purpose flour

½ tsp salt

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

¾ unsalted butter, melt and then let cool for a few minutes (very important)

2 cups choloate chips (I added the whole package)

For Bacon:

Slice bacon in half to make it easier to handle. Line cookie sheet with foil. Assemble bacon in rows. Cover generously with brown sugar. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Flip and sprinkle on remaining brown sugar.  Cook for about 10 more minutes, or until crispy. When finished, lay out on cookie rack til cooled/hardened. Chop into small pieces.

Cookie Dough:

Combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Sift or mix well. Set aside.

In a blender, combine butter and sugars. When smooth and creamy, add vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Add dry ingredients slowly until just combined.  Don’t overmix. Hand mix in the chocolate chips and candied bacon. Let batter rest for 15 minutes. Spoon onto baking sheet, and bake at 325 for 11-14 minutes, or until edges are just getting golden brown. For crunchier cookie, bake for a little longer. Cool on cookie rack. Enoy!

Heisel Rules! {the Kitchen}

Anatomy Scan

We had our anatomy scan on Tuesday so we got see our lil dude again! This time it was up close and personal! During the anatomy scan, the nurse uses ultrasound to look over baby from head to toe to see if she notices any abnormalities. Luckily, she said our lil guy is looking good. Of course, our OB will look over the pictures as well and talk to us at our next appointment. 

During the ultrasound, Henry was a little wiggle worm, but the nurse was able to catch some really sweet moments...

This is Henry opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out! We got to see this in motion, and it was the cutest thing, really! He looked happy! (The neat thing is, this week they start swallowing amniotic fluid so he can now literally taste what I eat!)

This is Henry with his arms and legs up by his head...limber lil squirt! ;) No wonder I've been feeling little taps every now and then!

And one of his sweet face. He's usually too wiggly to get a good profile pic! :)

She also confirmed that Henry is, in fact, a baby boy! :) Not like we doubted! Also, the quad screening came back negative for any risk of genetic, chromosomal, or heart defects. Praise The Lord! :)

That is all, just wanted to give you all a quick update and share the ultrasound pictures of our lil man! Halfway there, but can't wait to meet him already!

Have a great weekend!

Heisel Rules! {the bump}

20 weeks

So, we made it to 20 weeks and bumpin BIG time!! I feel like I say that everytime, but small victories is what I count these days! So, help us celebrate 20 weeks! :)

It's been great knowing that our baby is a Henry! Now, we can say "he" or "Henry" when referring to him, instead of "baby" or "it". It's also helped when making preparations for him. I have been buying him clothes when I find a good deal on them. Unfortunately, the majority of the "good deals" have been on summer stuff, which is not quite when he'll be born. I have to keep reminding myself that we have plenty of time! :) The lil mister already has a fedora for next summer! One of my fave stores for baby boy has been Osh Kosh! His Aunt Shelby got him the caaaautest pair of shortalls for next summer, and now I'm hooked! I thought it would be harder to dress a boy stylish, but so far, so good! I've also been to a few consignment sales, which has been great, I only wish I'd have known the gender then! :)

We got a FREE crib on craigslist. Matt, bless his heart, has probably been driven crazy by me and my craigslist finds. I found this one, though, and it was exactly what I was looking for, and we had to jump on it! Like, he got home from work, and we had to jump in the car to go get it! He was really patient though, and I'm appreciative! All we have to do is paint it the color of my choosing...now, if I could only CHOOSE the color already! ;) (have a mentioned before that I'm terrible at choices?!...SO hard!) We found a great organic, non toxic, non VOC, non everything basically so it'll be safe when he decides that his crib is his chew toy. Look, I'm not fooling anyone here, I know it'll happen! ha!

Tuesday we have the anatomy scan so we can see him up close and personal! We love seeing our little man! It's so cool! Feels like a mystery, and then we see the scan and are reminded, 'HEY! there's a REAL, live human growing in there!' Still can't wrap my brain around the idea that I'm growing a human! Crazy! :)

And here's the REAL deal-

My currents-
Craving? Ice cream craving is back! Who am I kidding? it never left! Peanut butter, 

Showing? Yep. I'm starting to get congratluated now when I'm in public.
Gender? Baby boy Henry :)
Names? Henry Marshall Heisel (HMH)
Have you felt baby move? Yes, he's been moving around a lot! Matt even got to feel him move 2 weeks ago!
Still see your feet? Yep.
Feelings? Feeling better. Still feeling big, but feeling more confident. Carrying this guy really low is causing me some back pain! Not to mention the left hip pain that I have to see a physical therapist for. Still nervous about delivery, but I'll handle those feelings closer to time I suppose. This is what I keep hearing from other random moms who have 'been there, done that'.

Wearing maternity clothes? Yes, almost exclusively. I was fortunate to find soem good sales on maternity clothes, so I'm pretty much set. Although, I can still wear some of my pre-maternity tops and pj's.

I'll leave you with a piece of Matt wisdom- "Hey, Babe, your belly now sticks our further than your butt!" Thanks, babe, for keepin it real!

P.S. Tomorrow will be my first almost official Mother's Day! It counts, right? So, Happy Mother's Day to all you rockin mommas out there! :)

Heisel Rules! {the bump}

It's a....

PONY!!

Nah, just kidding! That would be painful to give birth to! 

We are excited to announce that we are having a baby boy! 

The Dr. confirmed on Monday (at nearly 18 weeks along), and Matt was only 95% sure that there was boy parts present, but the Dr. tried to assure him that there was truly a turtle peaking through the baby's legs. I was sure we were having a baby girl, but truthfully, I was happy with either. There seems to be an abundance of boys on both our sides of the family so I guess it only figured.

Matt seemed to think (prior to knowing the gender) that if it was a boy he'd have most of the responsibility like teaching him to change the oil and be in the garage, and if it's a girl, I'd have the responsibility to teach her how to wear makeup and not get pregnant at 13. Since finding out that baby Heisel is a boy, he has since amended his current statement to be- I'd have the responsibility until he's the age of 6, then Matt takes over! haha silly Matt!

Other than seeing boy parts, we got to see his legs and his eyes (which was kinda creepy), and tiny butt cheeks! He's starting to get some fat on his bones and he was definatiely bigger this time, spanning from my belly button down. Crazy to think I'm growing a human! Still not quite real.

We had talked about baby names a while ago, even before we conceived, so the name was no biggie for us, we already knew what we'd call our baby, boy or girl. So, baby Heisel shall be called...

Henry Marshall Heisel

Matt and I both really liked classic names and this one suited both of our likes! We agreed fairly quickly, and just went with it! We still have a baby girl name on reserve. I'll just safely tuck it away along with the hairbows and ruffled bloomers, until next time. Until then, it's bow ties for us!

Retraining my girl brain as we speak to get used to the idea of dirt, on everything! 

Let the fun begin!

Heisel Rules! {the bump}

16 weeks

Well, hello, 16 weeks! Although I'm still early-ish, I feel like I've already been pregnant forever, and I still have a long way to go! :) (I swear, in person, this belly I'm toting around looks WAY bigger!)

I feel very fortunate that the past 4 months haven't been terrible. I had no morning sickness, although I kept my face crammed with food as I heard that would be the best way to keep that at bay. Maybe it worked? The only lingering first trimester symptom is fatigue. That is one that is terribly underestimated. Tired.all.the.time. I know, I know; get used to it, having a child will do that to you. Fatigue did not get the memo- 2nd trimester is supposed to be fatigue-free! :)

We had our second ultrasound 2 1/2 weeks ago, we were 13 weeks, 5 days. This was such an amazing experience! When the Dr. first started the ultrasound, the baby was calm and relaxed. After about 5 minutes, the baby started rolling and moving around like crazy! It was so crazy neat to see! I couldn't feel it, but we could sure see it! 

sweet baby hands :)

the brighter white spots are dense bone (skull, legs)

Heart rate 156

I feel like my belly is rapidly growing right now. I've never been one to be super concerned about weight. I could lose weight when I needed and that was encouraging. However, being pregnant is a whole different weight experience in itself. I know it's natural to gain, but I wasn't prepared for how I'd feel about the weight gain. I think it's mainly the hormones that make me feel bigger than I look/actually am. I've sorta come to terms with it for now. Hopefully, I can keep the sad thoughts at bay. Matt is very encouraging though. He tells me, "You're not fat, you're pregnant; it's different." Blunt, but true. He keeps it real. :)

So, if all goes well, we *might* know the gender at our next appt at the end of this month!! We tried to take a peak last time, but the baby was moving so much and the doctor said it was really too close to call. Fingers crossed, this next time we'll know! The suspense is killing us! ;) What do you think it'll be?

My currents-
Craving? ANYTHING bacon! My most recent bacon craze was candied bacon chocolate chip cookies. They were so yum! Recipe to be posted soon; I'll be going back to that one again! Pineapple, lemon, and apples are the healthy aspects of my cravings, along with ice cream. (not so healthy) ;)

Showing? Yep
Gender? Not yet, hopefully next appt.
Names? Yep. We'll announce when we find out the gender! :)
Have you felt baby move? Couple soft movements
Still see your feet? Yep.
Feelings? Feelings very large. :(

Wearing maternity clothes? Some. My trusty jeans still fit, although I have to rig a hair tie to keep them buttoned! A belly band over top is just the key!

Well, that about sums it all up for now! Cast your vote for Baby Heisel's gender and prepare to join us for the BIG reveal in a couple weeks!! We can't wait to find out if the baby is a bow or a beau! ;)

Heisel Rules! {the bump}

12 weeks, and counting

Well, we officially made it to 12 weeks!! Typically people would be making their announcement now, but as I stated in the last post, we were too excited to wait!

As I was taking this picture I was thinking, "Gosh, I feel so much BIGGER than this picture is showing!"

Confession-
I have to say that there was one thing that really surprised me about pregnancy- the bloating!!! Sounds totally insane because, well, I'm pregnant, and aren't pregnant ladies supposed to be get...errr... bigger?! I have had the bloats from week 4. Up til now I'd see prego ladies and think, "You're glowing", and then I look in the mirror and think, "Would you please, for the love of all things good- lasso those girls gone wild down on your chest and do try to suck in that beer-looking gut while you're at it. Can we not button our jeans any longer? gross. ugh." And then I console myself with a pint of lemon ice cream. Mmm..

I feel like this week has been a turning point, though. I look a little more prego and a little less like I just downed a 12 pack. ;) I choose to embrace the gut, though! Or at least I'm trying to. What other choice do I have? :) Only time in my life I don't have to suck it in! haha

We have our checkup in another week, but so far everything seems to be going really well. Not much nausea or sickness, knock on wood. My brain is shrinking though. As i sit here and type, I have to constantly think about how to spell the simplest words...such as tongue. Weird. And frustrating.Ya, I'm such a grammar girl and that's been a challenge. I do hope i get my brains back!


My currents-
Current cravings?- Jimmy Johns BLT, pickles (any kind), ice cream (didn't like it pre prego), apples
Foods to stay away from- Alfredo. The smell is nauseating. (Did I spell that right?)
Showing?- a little. More like a uni-gut
Gender?- not yet, hoping to find out sooooon!!
Names?- yes, to be announced with gender. This was the easiest part for us!
Have you felt the baby move? I think so...
Still see your feet? Yes.
Feelings? Nervous and excited, all at once!

Thanks for keeping up! Stalk us again soon! ;)

Heisel Rules! {the bump}