Lentil Soup

This post is in partnership with Hamilton Beach. Hamilton Beach provided me with a 
sample product. As always, all opinions are my own.

Yes I do realize that it is summer and I'm posting a soup recipe,  but I'm one of those
people that love making and eating soup all year long. I take soup to work for lunch a lot.
It's low in fat, filling and good for you!

Jasmine Rice in a Rice Cooker

Berry Smoothie Bowl & A Giveaway

This post was created in partnership with Hamilton Beach.
As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Weekend mornings are a nice time to change things up from my daily breakfast
routine.  I have more time to relax and think about what I'm really in the mood for.


Last weekend was nice and warm here in Virginia so I thought a smoothie would be nice
and refreshing.
But if I made a smoothie I would miss my morning oats.
Yikes!
Decisions. Decisions.

Hamilton Beach Go Sport Blender

This post was created in partnership with Hamilton Beach. 
As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to ride bikes.
Hilton Head Island has wonderful bike paths and we ride every chance we get.
I love the carefree feeling you get riding a beach cruiser bike - it's so relaxing to me!
We bike to the grocery store, the beach, sight-seeing and sometimes when we
go out to dinner. Biking is such good exercise!

Last year my husband gave me a pretty blue bike for my birthday,
complete with a matching cup holder.
This year I added this cute wicker bike basket.
Now I can ride my bike through the neighborhood in style :)

Make Your Own Waffle Bar

The holidays are coming and that means entertaining family and friends.
I've found that one of the easiest ways to serve breakfast to the masses is to set up
Do-it-Yourself Stations for cereal, yogurt and waffles.  That way everyone can fix
what they like and the work is minimal for the hostess.

A couple of weekends ago I gave it a trial run with a Waffle Bar.
My hubby had an early morning flag football game, so we invited some players over
for breakfast after the game.

My waffle maker of choice is the Hamilton Beach Belgian Waffle Maker.
It is so easy to use and it makes perfect waffles every time!

Let's set up the waffle station.

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas and a Giveaway

Now that the weather is cooler here in Virginia, there's nothing like coming home from
work to the smell of a nice, warm dinner ready and waiting in my Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker.

Like most families, our fall schedules are crazy busy.  My husband and I both work
outside of the home.  He also helps coach football at our local high school, so when
he finally gets home in the evening he's pretty hungry!
My slow cooker is a life saver!

The Hamilton Beach Set & Forget Programmable Slow Cooker has three choices for
easy, automatic cooking, program, probe and manual mode.

Hamilton Beach 6-Speed Stand Mixer and SoftScrape Hand Mixer Giveaway!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

To celebrate the weekend Hamilton Beach and I would like to give their 6-speed Stand Mixer and SoftScrape Hand Mixer to one very lucky person!

Earlier in the week I showed you how much I loved the mixers that they sent to me.
I used the 6-speed Stand Mixer to make my Easy Peasy Coconut Cake.
Now they want to give a set of mixers to one of my sweet readers.
Aren't they nice!

Easy Peasy Coconut Cake

Memorial weekend is almost here.
Time for cookouts, swim parties and picnics!

Easy Peasy Coconut Cake is a perfect dessert for picnics and potlucks because you can
make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.
That way you can spend more time by the pool :)

I made the cake in two 8 x 8 pans instead of a 9 x 13.
One cake for us and one to giveaway :)

I decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to try out the new stand mixer that the
super nice people at Hamilton Beach sent to me.

As I took it out of the box I noticed immediately that was much lighter than the stand mixer I normally use,
but it still had heavy duty mixing action!
The non-stick feet on the bottom of the mixer kept it in place, which I really liked.
The Hamilton Beach stand mixer came with three mixing attachments, the flat beater, dough hook and whisk.
It has 6 speeds and a fold setting for maximum flexibility.
Overall I was very happy with the mixer and it will be great to have another mixer around for large baking
projects like wedding cupcakes!


Hamilton Beach also sent me their Soft Scrape Hand Mixer.
The soft scrape beaters won't scratch bowls or non-stick pans, which is a great feature!
I love the snap on storage case to keep all of the attachments in one place.
No more searching around for that one lost beater :)
Hamilton Beach thinks of everything!

Now back to the cake.
You don't have to toast the coconut topping, but why wouldn't you?!
Toasted coconut is the bomb!
It makes your house smell amazing, so make extra because you will totally
eat it by the spoonful right out of the oven too.
So good!


P.S.  Be sure to stop back by here again soon, because Hamilton Beach and I are going to give you the opportunity to win your own set of fabulous mixers!!
Woo Hoo!
Now go make some cake!

Easy Peasy Coconut Cake

Yellow cake mix, prepared according to box directions
16 oz. container whipped topping
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
15 oz. can cream of coconut (I used Coco Lopez)
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9 x13 inch baking pan (or use two 8 x8 pans like I did).
Prepare cake mix as directed on the package.
While cake is baking, whisk the cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk in a medium bowl.
Remove baked cake from oven and immediately poke holes all over the cake with a fork.
Pour the milk and coconut over the hot cake.
Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack and the refrigerate until cold.
Top with whipped cream and toasted coconut.  Refigerate until ready to serve.

To toast coconut - spread coconut out on a cookie sheet and place it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Stir it often to prevent burning.  Remove from oven when the coconut is light brown.