Happy Friday!  We made it one more week without Baby #3 arriving, whooohoooo!!

Saturday is the girls double birthday party. Hoping the rain doesn’t come….rain and an outdoor Sock Hop just don’t mix!  Think good thoughts for me!  Addie had fun practicing her dance moves and trying on her skirt…hoping she’ll still like the skirt on Saturday…

The meal plan and shopping list are up for next week, as a reminder, I post the EXACT menu that our family is eating.  The past few weeks I’ve had a lot of evening events, so the meals have been simplified to have them ready for Dada and the girls.

Next week Dada has a lot of evening events, so the meals have been simplified for me.  Plus, why is it that when our hubby’s aren’t eating with us we seem to be OK with a less “fancy” dinner???  Next week has spaghetti, chicken nuggets, homemade pizza, quesadillas – total kid food that’s EASY for mom.  Hope it’s helpful for you too!

And it seems this “Friday Favorites” post is all about food!

Could it be because I’m about to have a baby and the “get out of jail for free meal card” is about to expire??

You know the time when calories start to count again???

UGH!

Anyway…..

This one I just had to share.  I think its adorable!  A friend and follower emailed me the breakfast she made for her 2 year old, LOVE it!  Isn’t it crazy just the little extra time we can take, that doesn’t cost us a single extra penny and it gives a little magic to our Littles!  Thanks for sharing A.!

The next is the recipe for the pound cake from our Valentine/Chinese New Year/Birthday extravaganza last Sunday that I promised to share.  LOVE this pound cake recipe!  A FABULOUS Jackson, Mississippi friend shared it with me YEARS ago…it is my go to quick cake recipe.  I think it takes me all of 15 minutes to mix all the ingredients and throw it in the oven where it bakes nicely all by itself for an hour and 15 minutes making your house smell sooo good. You can sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream, or sorbet….or vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce….pretty much anything goes.  We served it with fresh fruit, vanilla ice cream and chocolate fondue, YUUUUUUMMMMM!  Thanks S. for sharing this recipe!  Still have it on your original recipe card!

Third is a reminder for the Bandera Clone Cornbread that my FABULOUS Southern friend C. shared with us a few months ago.  I had never made it myself, only happily consumed it when C. brought it over for us.  But last night I was out of my Trader Joe’s cornbread mix, so decided to give it a shot. It MIGHT have taken me 8 minutes to mix it all up.  Popped it in the oven and HELLO HEAVEN!!!  I was out last night, so I whipped up Turkey Chili for the fam and left it in the crock pot to simmer.  The cornbread recipe should have baked for 45 minutes in a 12″ skillet.  I used an 8″ square baking dish which made it a little deeper and thicker.  I needed to bake it an extra 20 minutes.  I checked it at 10 minutes each time and when the top was slightly golden brown and just firm to the touch, I pulled it out to cool.  I made everything at 3:00 yesterday in order to have it ready and waiting, so there was no time crunch having it run a little long.  And the cornbread was WELL WORTH THE WAIT!  Everyone devoured it! Including myself that took a piece for the road as I headed out!  ADD THIS TO YOUR RECIPE BOOKS!

Lastly is a new found favorite that I could have been enjoying for years, except that I would be the size of a house by now.  I love making this super simple Chocolate Fondue recipe. And everyone loves it when I do.  We made it this past Sunday and I put the left over in a tupper ware in the fridge (I never have leftovers, but I had doubled the recipe).  It cooled, but never went solid again.  Instead it became like a homemade Nutella, but with the consistency of peanut butter.  My brain started twirling and I grabbed a graham cracker….OMG, don’t EVEN get me started!  It was like an indoor s’more!  This just unleashed soooo many possibilities!  Honestly, such a yummy snack, and could truly be used to make some pretty EASY and unique desserts.  Who knew chocolate fondue could have TWO LIVES?!?!?

Enjoy your weekend!

Check back on Monday….hoping to post come cute ideas for throwing a Sock Hop!