Life as an Aced

For Christmas Eve this year we had Eddie's mom, brothers, and grandparents come over to our house to celebrate. Eddie's family loves their sweets so we started off the night with a few sweet treats and appetizers, followed by a lot of fried food, and finished off with more sweets . . . It isn't the holidays with out a bunch of junk food right? lol   Here is a few recipes from our Very Fried and Sweet Christmas that we would like to share with you   Appetizers : Smoked Salmon Dip and Chocolate Pretzel Bites Main Course : Spicy Chicken Poppers   Smoked Salmon Dip (Ina Garden - Food Network) Ingredients                               8oz Cream Cheese                  1/2 cup Sour Cream                  1 tbs Lemon Juice 1 tbs Dill 4oz Salmon Salt and Pepper Directions 1) Mix Together all ingredients 2) Chill in Fridge until ready to serve **FYI: The more it sits the more "salmony" it gets - for me and Eddie it was too fishy the next d

Our Baked Mac and Cheese has got to be one of the more popular dishes  - not only is it the most requested dish in our household but its also the most viewed here on our blog. For those reasons I wanted to share with you one of our variations that is an awesome way to use up left over ham (especially when your tired of ham sandwiches during the holidays) Ham Mac and Cheese Ingredients: -3 cups of Chopped Ham -1 box of Mac and Cheese -1/3 cup pasta water -splash of milk -12oz Shredded Cheese -Bread Crumbs Directions: 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2) Boil Water and cook Macaroni for 7 minutes 3) While pasta is cooking heat Ham in a frying pan to crisp up the outsides 4) Before draining pasta place 1/3 cup of the pasta water to the side then drain the rest of the water from the Macaroni 5) Place Macaroni back into pot add powdered cheese (found in box), 1/3 cup pasta water, splash of milk and mix 6) Add Ham and a little over half of the cheese and stir until f

The other day we had eddies mom and brother over and he wanted to do something different for dessert. I was watching Food Network earlier in the day (surprise surprise) and on one of the shows they made ice cream sandwiches . . . I had never made my own ice cream sandwiches before soooooo I did :)   Double Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches Ingredients: Betty Crocker Double Chocolate Chuck Cookie Mix 1/2 to 1 cup White Chocolate Chips 1/4 Cup Oil 2 Tbsp. Water 1 Egg Vanilla Ice Peppermint Bark - chopped (optional) Directions: 1) Add White Chocolate Chips to the Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie then make according to package directions 2) While Cookies are cooling take Ice Cream out of freezer to defrost (about 30 minutes) 3) Add one scoop of ice cream to half of the cookies and top with the other half 4) Roll in chopped peppermint bark to cover the ice cream 5) Place in freezer for at least 1 hour to set up NOTE: -You can roll the sandwiches in almost anything or not

Recently I've become obsessed with the trees changing colors ... must be a California thing because we definitely don't see this in the bay

I know its a little late but Happy Turkey Day!! This year for Thanksgiving me and Eddie went to Eddie's moms house and while we didn't make any of the main dishes we did bring along a little something or actually 3 little somethings: Bacon Cranberry Spinach Salad, Thanksgiving Punch, and Pumpkin Bars Bacon Cranberry Spinach Salad Ingredients: 1 bag of spinach 5 slices of pre-cooked bacon - crumbled 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup walnut pieces 1/2 cup feta cheese 1/2 cup croutons  Directions: Place Spinach at bottom of serving bowl and layer additional ingredients on top Thanksgiving Punch Ingredients: 4 Cups Apple Cider 2 Cups Cranberry Juice 1 Cup Dark Rum Directions: Mix Everything together and Serve over Ice Pumpkin Bars Ingredients: 1 Package Betty Crocker Pumpkin Bar Mix 1 Stick of Butter - Melted 1 Egg 1 Container of Cream Cheese Frosting Directions: 1) Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees 2)

Even though it is getting colder here in Utah we have been using our BBQ ALOT!!! On Pinterest I found a recipe for what claims to be The Best Burger Recipe . . . not going to lie it was pretty good :) I did tweak the recipe a bit based on what we had and it is now our new Favorite Burger!! The New "Cheese" Burger     Ingredients -1 lbs ground beef -1/2 cup of shredded cheese -1/4 cup BBQ sauce -Salt -Pepper -Garlic Powder -Bacon (optional)   Directions 1) Mix Together all ingredients 2) Form into Patties 3) Grill on BBQ or Stove until desired done-ness 4) Top with Bacon and any other preferred condiments   NOTES/TIPS -For the meat we used 73/27 . . . normally we use 80/20 or leaner but after reading recipes of different burgers and using the 73/27 the fattiness of the meat helps the burger stick together without any binding ingredients and really makes the burger more juicy -For the cheese we used cheddar but it will work with any kind

WOO HOO!!!   Took 6 months but we have reached over 1,000 Page Views!!!     Most Viewed Post - Baked Mac and Cheese

Everyone that knows me knows that I LOVE free stuff and don't mind doing something small to get it . . . especially when it is something super cool!!! My newest discovery - - Smiley360! According to their website: Smiley360 is a community for vocal consumers who love to share their opinions with friends about the brands they’ve tried. As a member of Smiley, we’ll invite you to special “missions,” where you’ll get the first look into new and exciting products to experience, all for free! All we ask in exchange is you to share your honest feedback. Click Here to Join: http://smiley360.com/949263.cfm

Chinese Food is something that we crave at least once a week. This week we were wanting Teriyaki Chicken and I totally forgot to pick up the Teriyaki Sauce. Thankfully I found this easy recipe on Food.com and thanks to the spice rack we got at the wedding I had all the ingredients on hand!! The original recipe has you cook the sauce on the stove then pour it over cooked chicken - - rather than doing that I used it as a marinade and then cooked the chicken in the sauce Homemade Teriyaki Chicken Ingredients -1/4 cup soy sauce -1 cup water -1/2 teaspoon ground ginger -1/4 teaspoon garlic powder -5 tablespoons packed brown sugar -2 tablespoon honey -2 tablespoons cornstarch -2 Frozen Chicken Breast Directions 1) Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl 2) Place Frozen Chicken Breasts in the Marinade cover with foil and let sit for at least 4 hours 3) Pour Chicken and sauce into a greased baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes

Eddie's request this week for Football Sunday was pizza - I recently purchased a new cast iron skillet and decided to put it to use by making a stuffed pizza . . .However when it came out of the oven it was sooooooo huge we couldn't think to call it anything else but a literal pizza pie Eddie's Pizza Pie Ingredients -Pizza Crust ( Click Here  for my Pizza Crust Recipe) -Tomato Sauce -16oz Mozzarella Cheese -1 Package of Pepperoni -1 1b of Cooked Italian Sausage Directions 1) Pre-Heat Oven to 400 degrees 2) Melt 1/4 stick of butter and brush around a cast iron skillet 3)Roll out 3/4 of the pizza dough so that it is about 2 in larger in diameter than your cast iron skillet 4) Add a layer of sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and sausage 5) Add a second layer of cheese, pepperoni, and sausage 6) Top all the toppings with a second layer of sauce 7) Roll out the remaining dough so that it tops the pizza 8) Roll together both layers of dough to form a crust 9) Cut sl

Here's what we are drinking this week . . . Orange Lynchburg's Ingredients : 1 part Whiskey 1 part Energy Drink 1 part Orange Soda Directions: Fill cup with ice then pour in equal parts of each ingredient

While me and Eddie do do the typical "Wine and Cheese Nights" we do mix it up every once in a while . . . This Time with a Cheese Dip/Spread. Ricotta Garlic Herb Dip/Spread Ingredients -1/2 container Ricotta Cheese -Minced garlic -Italian Seasoning (Fresh or Dried) -Olive Oil -Salt -Pepper Directions 1) Put 1/2 a container of ricotta cheese into a mixing bowl 2) Add the remaining ingredients starting with a small amount and increasing based on your taste 3) Enjoy with Bread, Cracker, Pretzel Thins, etc

I have been known to use nail polish and more things then just my nails and this weekend I did just that!!! Recently Eddie upgraded our phones to Samsung Galaxy S3's. We both got our phones in white and while at first this wasn't a problem lately we haven't really known who's is who's. Neither of us like having cases on our phones so I did the obvious (or obvious to me) I painted my battery plate :) Here is what the phone looked like before: here is what it looks like now:  If you have never painted anything other than your nails with nail polish before give it a try . . . it is one of the simpler paints to work with, everyone has it laying around, and best part is that it comes out shiny and glossy with very little effort.

Hey Ya'll Thirsty Thursday is something that I want to start putting up each week - whether it is alcoholic or just some cool new drink we have found the plan is to get you a new drink each week This week for you we have 2 drinks to start you off DRINK 1 S'more Russian   1 part Three Olives S'mores Vodka 2 parts Milk (we used non-fat)   REVIEW/NOTES: The S'mores Vodka has more of a nutty taste than you would think but is actually really good. If you aren't used to the vodka taste try a more fatty milk (2% or whole) and that should help but definitely a must try if you can find the vodka     DRINK 2 Jillian Micheal's Detox Water   60 oz of water 1 bag of dandelion root tea 1 Tablespoon Cranberry Juice 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice   REVIEW/NOTES: This water is suppose to be used to jump start a diet and help you loose some water weight. After mixing all the ingredients together you drink the whole pitcher throughout the day

Getting free magazine subscriptions is something I do for me and Eddie all the time (Thank You RewardsGold.com) the latest Magazine to come for Eddie was Men's Fitness (September 2012) and inside Eddie found a recipe for an Awesome Looking Bacon Cheeseburger (page 20) that we just had to try Looks Amazing right??? For ours we left out the produce and guac but it however did not look the same (but do magazine recipes ever look the same) and could have used a few improvements - - However the flavor of the meat was amazing so I'm going to give you guys the recipe followed by what we would do different NOTE we didn't use the guacamole in ours or the produce so I left those ingredients off the list - Also I have adjusted the recipe a bit to use 1 pound of meat rather then the 6oz the original recipe called for The Aced's Take on Men's Fitness Bacon Cheese Burger Ingredients -Cooking Spray -Whole Wheat Buns -1 pound ground turkey -2 egg whites -7 tbsp brea

Today I ran across a website called Pinstrosity where the blogger herself along with her readers share things that they have tried on Pinterest that haven't gone quite right - This website has inspired me to share with you my Pinstrosity that happened while trying to make Taco Shells last night Here is the original Pin From eattingwell.com Directions: Ccarefully drape each tortilla over two bars of the oven rack. Bake at 375°F until crispy, 7 to 10 minutes. Here is how mine turned out They don't look bad but totally tasted like a cracker!!! There are two things that I am going to do different the next time I try this 1) Bake for only 5 minutes - I baked for 7 and they were almost inedible at that point 2) Going to drape over only one bar - draping over 2 made them too wide However one thing that I did do right was the chicken for the tacos - If you haven't tried Lawry's Santa Fe Chili Marinade I highly recommend it! As you can see I didn'

One of mine and Eddies favorite things to order when we get pizza delivered is Cheesy Bread . . . YUM!!! Just thinking about it makes me drool . . . Anyways on Pinterest there has been a ton of recipes floating around for copy cat recipes and figured I might as well try it out, plus with me making my own pizza crust now I have been looking for something to do with the extra roll of pre-made crust in the fridge. My recipe is based off of Joshua Trent's Recipe , however with mine I have simplified it and added in some extra seasonings Copy Cat Cheesy Bread Ingredients: -1 can of pizza dough -1/2 cup of butter -8oz of Mozzarella Cheese -Parmesan Cheese -Garlic Salt -Italian Seasoning Directions: 1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees 2) Melt 1/4 cup of butter in the microwave and pour into the bottom of a cookie sheet with a small lip around it 3) Un-roll pizza dough and place on top of butter 4) Melt another 1/4 cup of butter in microwave and brush onto top of pizza crus

Eddie dared me to dye my hair red ... little did he know that I'd actually do it

I don't think there is anyone that doesn't like free stuff and for that reason I have a few secrets that I want to share with everyone 1) BzzAgent - www.bzzagent.com : with BzzAgent you are sent products that you test out and tell people about and report your experiences back to them. The more you report and the more you tell the site about yourself (through surveys) the more chances you get to try different products. Along with getting the various products for free you also get MyPoints for every report you put in 2) My Points - www.mypoints.com : with MyPoints you get points for doing different activities that you can then trade in for gift cards. You get points from BzzAgent (see above), for reading emails and clicking on links, shopping online, and doing consumer surveys on various topics. 3) My Savings - www.mysavings.com : This is my go-to website for FREE product samples 4) Rewards Gold - www.rewardsgold.com : Once you become a member of this site they will e

If you didn't know already PIZZA is a favorite in our house. . . Eddie would probably eat pizza every day if he could and it is something we always have the ingredients for along with 1 or 2 frozen pizzas in the freezer. With that said I have always made my pizza with store bought crust whether it be pre-made crust from Trader Joe's or in a can from various grocery stores (next to the can of biscuits). However last week I got the crazy idea to make it myself and with the help of my secret ingredient it is super simple. . . Thank You Pizza Crust Yeast!!!!! Homemade Pizza Crust Ingredients: -3 cups Flour -1 packet Pizza Crust Yeast -1 1/4 cups Warm Water -1/2 teaspoon Salt -1 tablespoon Honey -1 tablespoon Olive Oil Directions: 1) Place 1 cup of flour into a mixing bowl followed by the yeast, water, salt, honey, and olive oil 2) Turn mixer on low or use hands to mix all the ingredients together 3) Slowly add the remaining 2 cups of flour until a dough

For my Birthday this year Eddie got me a SodaStream and . . . I AM OBSESSED!!!! and secretly I think Eddie is too :P Basically it is like making carbonated crystal light/Mio but it comes in soda flavors . . . since buying it we haven't bought any soda and use our Brita Water Filter wayyyyyyy more than we ever did before we are even drinking more regular water (however this one could just be a coincidence since it has been over 100 degrees every day) Here's the flavors we have tried: Diet Cola - good but tastes more like a generic soda then real diet coke/pepsi Diet Orange - one of our FAVS tastes like non-diet orange soda Diet Fountain Mist -YUCK!! Tastes good with Bacardi Citron but nasty without it Diet Dr. Pete - like the diet cola it is more like a generic than a real diet dr.pepper Diet Root beer - Eddie likes it (i don't drink root beer so. . . ) Diet Energy - Tastes just like Sugar Free Rockstar We have also tried adding crystal light and mio to the ca

For 4th of July this year we went over to Eddie's Moms house for a BBQ and Fireworks. Since I didn't need to cook I whipped up a few desserts all in the red, white, and blue color scheme of course!  Candy Bottle I want to say that this was the simplest of the 3 but really they are all super easy. For the candy bottle I had an empty wine bottle from the night before that I cleaned and took the label off of. Then painted the bottle with blue and white paint (I used nail polish) filled with red candy (hot tamales) then corked it with the cork. 2 Ingredient Fudge Ingredients : 1 bag of chocolate chips and 1 container of Frosting (optional) Sprinkles or other fudge toppings Directions : Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (stirring every 30 seconds) once melted and smooth stir in frosting. Spread smooth on a dish covered with wax paper top with sprinkles and put in fudge to cool for at least 1 hour  Chocolate Brownies Can't really take too much

So FYI you can make microwaved omelets!!! I scrambled up one egg in a glass bowl added bacon, shredded chicken, salt and pepper ... Put it in the microwave for 1 minute topped with cheese then back in for 30 more seconds and TA DA!!! UPDATE (July 27,2012): Looks like I was ahead of the trend. . .was watching doctor oz yesterday and he had a guest on that gave two recipes including microwaved eggs. . . here are the recipes that were featured on the show ( http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/5-minute-microwaveable-power-breakfasts ) Mediterranean Breakfast Pizza Ingredients 1 whole wheat flat bread pita 1 tbsp low-fat cream cheese 1 tsp garlic 1 handful fresh baby spinach 3 thin slices of tomato 1 egg Directions Spread one side of pita with cream cheese. Put pita on a microwave safe plate. Place a handful of spinach on top. Top spinach with tomato slices and garlic. Crack egg in the center of the pita. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, depending on how you lik

When I thought packing and moving our stuff was the hard part I was completely wrong . . . UN-packing has got to be the most annoying, frustrating, and hardest part of moving!!! I guess that's why so many people have a story about boxes packed away in a closest or garage that they still haven't opened years after moving. I want to say that I hope that won't be us but while moving I did find a few boxes that never opened after the first move . . . Anyways, along with the unpacking we have been doing a lot of furniture shopping and with the weather getting nicer we have been going to the gym a lot more leaving (as always) very little time for much else including cooking so meals lately have been even quicker and more simple Open Faced Microwave Egg Sandwich For Breakfast I have been using the microwave to cook eggs and bacon -- leaving time to multitask and cleaning is super easy Eggs --> Crack on egg into a microwave safe dish scramble adding a dash of mil

This Morning on Food Network we were watching "The Best Thing I Ever Made: Sandwiches" which got me thinking I should share the Best Sandwich I Ever Made with all of you Eddie's Roast Beef Sandwich Ingredients: -1 loaf of un-sliced bread -Butter -Minced garlic -1 package of sandwich style roast beef -Swiss Cheese Directions: 1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees 2) Cut Loaf of Bread in Half separating top from bottom to make one big sandwich 3) Spread Butter on both sides of the bread followed by minced garlic and place in oven for 10 minutes 4) While bread is in the oven separate the roast beef slices and put them into a frying pan over medium heat until meat is browned (usually about 10 minutes) 5) Take bread out of the oven and top both sides with Swiss cheese 6) Put the roast beef on the bottom half and place sandwich back in the oven leaving both sides open for about 5 minutes or until cheese melts 7) Put the top on the sandwich and leave in the oven

Last night me and Eddie FINALLY had the house to ourselves and to celebrate we rented a movie (GONE) popped a bottle of champagne and we made one of Eddie's favorite appetizers Chili con Queso or Cheese Dip . . .classy huh? Not the typical wine and cheese party but it was YUMMY and it was of course paired with beer later in the night. If you order this as much as we do at Chili's here is our copy cat recipe: Chili con Queso Ingredients : -1/2 pound Ground Beef -Salt and Pepper -Hot Taco Seasoning -1 jar of Tostitos Smooth & Cheesy Dip Directions: 1) Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees 2) Season ground beef with salt, pepper, and taco seasoning then cook till browned 3) Drain ground beef on a paper towel then put into a oven safe dish 4) Cover ground beef with jar of cheese dip 5) Cook for 30 minutes or until cheese bubbles TIPS/NOTES : -Serve with your favorite chips --- we like Fritos Scoops