Nothing But Sweets!

We are a family that loves sweets. 

So, when I found out that our parents were low on sweet treats I knew it was time to bake.

Apparently all the desserts from the last delivery had been consumed so I got the green light to bring a few more. 

Since it is pear season and ours are ripe and ready to use I made a Pear Pie as well as 4 mini pies. 

The single serving size worked great.

Once the pies had cooled I put them in the refrigerator while I finished the rest of the baking and, wouldn’t you know, I forgot to pack them for delivery.

Needless to say, we have a lot of pie to eat. 

Luckily I had also made this classic chocolate cake. YUM! Hopefully this dessert delivery, minus the pie unfortunately, will hold them over. In the meantime, the planning is underway for the next MOH.

Happy Tuesday!

Meals on Heels ~ August delivery

Last weekend we delivered a new batch of homemade meals and sweet treats to the folks and restocked their freezer with a little more

“lovin’ from the oven”.

Dessert First is my motto!  So lets start there….

Our youngest son was home for P&B’s wedding so I had baked some of his favorite sweet treats during the week he was here. The full recipes made too much for the three of us, especially so close to the wedding, so I planned ahead and saved a portion of all the goodies and wrapped them up for our meal delivery. 

Also, some dessert from P&B’s wedding was a must on the delivery list.

Along with the sweet treats we also packed up some banana bread, several types of soup, pasta sauce and a variety of casseroles to choose from. All of which were packaged for two and freezer ready.

And, to top it off, we took them a bouquet of P&B's Wedding Flowers! It turned out to be an extra special delivery this time.

Happy Friday!

Lemons to Lemonade Party

When Life gives you Lemons

you Make Lemonade...

...{cupcakes} !

Our friends had a Lemons to Lemonade party to celebrate the end of their daughters cancer treatment. As difficult as it was they were always intentional in their efforts to remain positive over the past year and were an inspiration to others along their journey. Lemon cupcakes seemed like a festive treat to take to the party with all of their supporters. 

It was a great celebration!

Have a happy & healthy Sunday.

Blessings!

Meals on Heels ~ Lemon Layer Cake & more

A few days after Easter it was our turn to deliver another Bake & Take meal. This time my meal planning started with dessert which is fun. Since we had recently stocked up on lemons for baking this month we had plenty on hand so I decided to use some to make this yummy Lemon Mascarpone Layer Cake as the finale to their meal.  

An eight inch two layer cake seemed about the right size and would leave just enough leftover batter for another small two layer cake for us, which is always a bonus. 

Lemon inside and outside the cakes. It doesn't get better than that. 

Topped off with vanilla frosting. 

I try and bake everything the afternoon of delivery so that it is fresh, hot and ready to eat when we drop it off. Since the cake would need time to cool I mixed that up right after I got the carrots marinating for the carrot salad.

Next were the bread sticks. Once the dough was rising I moved onto the lasagna. 

The two lasagnas were made and ready to bake just about the time the cakes came out of the oven so everything was on schedule. As I usually do, I doubled the meal so our dinner was covered too.

By that time the cake layers were cool enough to start assembling and then I realized I was out of cake boards. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to run out for one so I needed a plan B. Since I was in a pinch I considered using a paper plate and then I had another idea. I asked Mr. Wonderful if he could quickly cut me one from a board in his shop. "Piece of Cake", he said. 

Sure enough, he had a perfect wood scrap and made not only one for this cake but 5 others in varied sizes as well. "Go big or go home" is his motto. After washing and drying the new cake board and covering it with foil I frosted the cake and finished with little time to spare. 

We packed up everything in our cooler on wheels, except for the cake of course, which I carried, and we made our delivery...and on time too.

I love when a plan comes together! 

Happy Saturday!

Meals on Heels ~ Ribs, Baked Beans & more

This Bake & Take meal for four turned into a meal for only one on the day of delivery this week due to some unforeseen circumstances. 

As soon as we received the news we offered to deliver the meal in spite of the change in plans and just reduce the portion size. We got the go ahead and then packed up large single servings of each dish to assure some leftovers for another meal or at least some hardy snacks. 

We had more than enough for two families so there was plenty leftover for our dinner plus some extra which we boxed up for another care package.

Thankfully it all worked out in the end and a smaller version of the meal was delivered after all.

Happy Friday!

Freezer Meals for 2

Cooking for just the two of us most often produces leftovers which we like to freeze if the batch is large enough. The frozen meals come in handy on busy nights or times when we just do not feel like cooking. 

It is also a great way to share meals with others which is what we have been doing recently.

It has quickly become a routine. 

So now we divide and freeze quite regularly when we cook. 

It has been working out great. 

More Freezer meals coming soon. 

Happy Saturday!

Once in a Lifetime TWOSDAY!

This week we celebrated the once in a lifetime calendar date 2.22.22 which fell on Tuesday aka: TWOSDAY! Earlier in the month I noticed that particular day was open on the meal train schedule so I signed right up and started planning how to incorporate TWOSDAY into the Bake & Take meal we would deliver. Tacos came to mind first since Taco Tuesday is already a thing and the date we chose was going to land on a Tuesday. It seemed perfect. Then the idea of creating a theme decorated  box to deliver the meal popped in my head. A party in a box sounded like fun so the first thing on the to~do list was creating some DIY graphics for small banners and signs to use to decorate the box.

While the signs and banner were in the works a couple other theme ideas were floating around such as TUTU’S and neck TIES. The list of ideas was long however time narrowed down what could actually be accomplished. First I thought it would be cute to make a shirt using a small paper bag and then put a tie on the shirt.

Templates were needed so to start I made a practice shirt out of a lunch sack. It seemed to work so I moved on and sketched out a few things such as a pocket for the shirt, the taco shell and fillings and the top part of the tutu. Once those were ready I looked for supplies.

There was plenty of pink tulle in my stash to make a little TUTU so that was finished in no time. It fit several bottles and jars but in the end I went with a water bottle.

For the shirt I found a gift bag in my supply that turned out to be the perfect size. I folded the top to make the collar as before and then made a tie using a wider more colorful piece of ribbon this time. Two shirt buttons glued to the collar, a pocket with a tag inside and the cute little shirt was complete.

Now let’s TACO ‘bout the menu.

Of course there were tacos however not quite the traditional style. They were fun Walking Tacos along with a batch of sour cream chicken enchiladas. 

The Walking Tacos came with Frito’s, seasoned taco meat and all the toppings including Mr. Wonderful’s homemade guacamole.

The Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas included Mexican corn and black bean salad, cornbread, of course more homemade guacamole and apple pie bars for dessert. 

This extra special Meal on Heels was a lot of fun to put together and deliver. And, because I had doubled the meal, we had a festive dinner too. 

It was a fun, crafty and yummy way to celebrate this special day with our friends.

Happy Friday!

Not Just Any Tuesday!

Celebrating TWOSDAY today with a special Bake & Take ~ meals on heels. Currently cooking and crafting up a storm so will be back soon to share the fun way we celebrated 2.22.22 with our neighbors. 

Have a fun TWOSDAY!

MEALS on HEELS :: Bake & Take ~ chicken dinner x’s 2

It was our turn again to Bake & Take a meal to our friends. As always, we make double of everything so that when were are finished cooking we have a meal for delivery and one for us. It works out great. Once all the food is ready to go we box it up and take it over however this week  I delivered it myself which the hubs dubbed Meals on Heels. Since they live right next door we just walk it over however this week he happened to have another commitment at delivery time so I was on my own, thus the new name Meals on Heels. 

The hubs had plenty of time before he had to leave to smoke some chickens which is one of our favorite ways to cook them. 

While he was at it he made three so we would have plenty of extra for other meals during the week.

In the meantime, I made a double batch of moms baked beans which are always a winner.

Company potatoes sounded good so a double batch of those were on the menu as well. 

Some warm from the oven homemade rolls were baked just before delivery.

And, little containers of homemade strawberry jam and homemade honey butter were tucked in as well. There is nothing better than either one of those slathered in the middle of one of the warm rolls. YUM.

A colorful marinated Corn Salad rounded out the meal.

It is always hard to decide on what to make for dessert but Poppyseed Layer Cake seemed to stand out. It had been awhile since I had made it and since all the ingredients were on hand it seemed like a good choice. 

It is usually a three layer cake however this time I switched it up and made a two layer cake to give away and single layer cake for us. It worked out perfect. 

There were a lot of delicious dinner leftovers which made the weeks meal planning easy. So, preparing double is actually less work for a lot of gain which is always a good thing! 

Happy Saturday!