March Photo A Day - 1/31 - Something that Makes Me Smile

Spending time with my sister, Sheena, and niece, Ella, is one the things that makes me smile the most!  Especially since they live 12 hours away from me and I don't get to spend nearly enough time with them. I am currently visiting my family in Minnesota (thus I am late starting and posting this challenge), and after a long drive here, I was completely exhausted yesterday so Ella and I went back to Sheena's house so I could take a nap.  This is what I woke up to.... isn't she precious?

My sister, who is an amazing cook, asked me what I wanted to eat while I am here, and the first thing out of my mouth was "Shredded Beef Tacos".  She made these for me a few years back, and I couldn't wait for her to cook them for me again!!! My sister has a hugely successful food blog and asked for some help with staging and photographing her amazing creations!  So last night I taught her a few things about her camera and we played around setting up her staging area with various props she has.  So much fun!

Here are a few images that I took with my camera.... The Shredded Beef Tacos were just as amazing as I remembered!!  She also made homemade Spanish Rice!

And we finished off the evening with Mixed Berry Bellini's!! I think we need to make these again tonight!

Raspberry Dessert

My sister, Shantel is here visiting from college for the long weekend and has been craving this Raspberry Dessert. And since I absolutely love raspberry, I was all for making it!!  And because my other sister Sheena has an amazing food (and book) blog, Hot Eats and Cool Reads, I am going to try to blog some yummy recipes a little more!  So here this one goes..... :)



Layer 1 (crust)
-3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
-2/3 cup white sugar
-12 tablespoons butter, melted
Mix together and press 2/3 of the mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Freeze for 10 minutes to set.


Layer 2
-2 pkg cream cheese
-1 cup suger
Mix until smooth and carefully spread over crust


Layer 3
-21 oz can of raspberry pie filling
Spread carefully over layer 2.



Layer 4
2 cups milk
2 small pkg vanilla instant pudding
1 cup Cool Whip
Whip until Smooth.  Spread carefully over layer 3.

Layer 5
Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over the top. Refrigerate until set.  Top with remaining Cool Whip (if desired) and enjoy!



It's a little tough to get out of the pan.... but oh so yummy!!!  And I totally give my sister Sheena tons of credit for food blogging.... this isn't easy!!! Neither is food photography! :)

Weight Watchers Chocolate Muffins!

A girl at my office made these delicious muffins..... and I couldn't believe they were only 2ish WW points! These yummy things only require purchasing two ingredients!! A devil's food cake mix and a 15 ounce can of pumpkin... and getting generic brands, it was under $2! I had an almost empty bag of chocolate chips laying around, so I threw them in too. Add 1/2 cup of water and you are good to go! Bake them on 350 for 35 minutes and they come out perfectly moist!!!