Yummy Sheperd's Pie Recipe!

A friend of mine just sent out an email asking for a few recipes to get her out of a recipe rut! Once she gets everyone's receipes back, I will post them here, just in case you all are having receipe rut too!

Here is what I sent in:

Sheperd's Pie

1 sm onion
2 tbsp butter
1.5 pounds lean gr beef
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1.5 cups of mixed frozen vegetables
Salt and pepper
8 to 10 med potatoes
1.5 cups of milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups instant baking mix (bisquick)

Beef layer: course chop onion. Sauté in 2tbsp butter. Add ground beef and brown. Add tomato sauce. Throw the frozen veggies in the microwave and cook for 5 minutes in 2 tbsp water. Drain water and add veggies to beef mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.

Potato layer: peel and slice potatoes. Cook in boiling water until fork tender. Drain and mash potatoes. Start with 1/2 cup milk. Add 1/4 cup butter, sour cream and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to mash until well blended. Add milk as needed to adjust thickness of potatoes.

Biscuit layer: combine baking mix with 1 cup milk. Dough will be thinner than regular biscuit dough.

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray 9x9x2 inch casserole dish. Layer of potatoes, a layer of vegetables, layer of meat. Pour/spread biscuit mixture over the top. Drizzle with melted butter, if desired. Bake 35-45 minutes until top is golden brown.

Yummy!!

Maddie*Kate New Oilily Dress Listed!!

Sorry I have been gone for so long! Mallory was sick for a few days and I just haven't caught myself all the way up with things around the house or all the custom orders sitting in my sewing room!! Thankfully, she is all better now, with the exception of a FAT LIP from a playground accident at school. My poor mom came down with a flu-like thing this week too, and has been lying in bed most of the week!! AND it's been FREEZING here all week! Where are the 80 degree days??? It's February in Florida!! We've had frost on the ground every morning for the past 3 days. I know it's nothing compared to the snow and -15 degrees up north, but our thin blood can't take it!!

Here is a brand new listing for us tonight! Made with this darling Skipping Rope Oilily fabric, lots of embroidered designs and ruffles! One-of-a-kind design will best fit size 4-6.
You can find the listing by clicking here!



Jack had his little birthday party with his best-est friend, Anna, last Sunday. They are only 1 week apart in age. We had the party at a great park not far from our house. The weather was perfect!! There was a face painter, pizza, cake, kites, and bubbles, and of course, the huge playground!!
Everyone had a great time (except Mallory, as she started feeling yucky that day).

Anna was the princess and Jack was her prince ;-)








And, I got my hair chopped off last week!! I love the new style and feel like a hip mommy now! LOL!



Check out this FAT LIP!! OUCH!!!

Sibling Similarities

Everyday about 4:30 or so, I go through each room in our house to see what needs to be picked up before Daddy gets home from work. The kids rooms were generally clean today, as they decided to DESTROY the living room by cutting up envelopes in to snowflakes and try to glue the pieces back together. There were a million little flakes on the floor and table and lots of glue everywhere too!! I was fine with it, as it kept them entertained while it rained and it was easily cleaned up with the vacuum and some Windex.

When I went back in to each kid's bedroom to put away their laundry, I was shocked to see these:

This was in Mallory's. Notice how all the big ponies match the little ponies, and I love how Barbie is on the big horse and naked Ken is on the little horse, lol.


This was in Jack's. A perfect circle of his "men" getting ready to hurt the one in the middle with their swords and sticks.


I also wanted to share a super cute website for all of us Mom's out there. We have a little boutique that sells these shirts, and I think all Mom's should have at least one of them! I have the "Lucky Mom 24/7" in cranberry!
Check it out here!

Go Vote!! Free Gift!!

We were very honored to be chosen along side some amazing designers for "Best Custom Designs for 2008". Go over to the Boutique Buyers Blog and vote for your favorite girls, boys and accessory designer from the list! You will be entered to win a prize!
What are you waiting for? Go vote already!!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Son Jack!!

So, I'm not going to win any Mom of the Year awards this year, as Jack's birthday was YESTERDAY, and I didn't come here and go on and on about how wonderful he is. Well, he is WONDERFUL and I love him more than I ever possibly thought I would be able to love a little boy (all of you that knew me when I was pregnant with a baby boy know exactly what I'm talking about!!). We have been so busy! Friday was his little party at preschool, so we sent in 10 football themed cupcakes, because that's all that we know in TAMPA right now, is FOOTBALL (for those of you that don't follow football, the Superbowl is in Tampa next weekend). I had to rush to get a little t-shirt made for a friend Friday morning for a parade on Satuday (I will talk about this more a little farther down in this post) and buy Jack a present for him to open on Saturday morning, as his birthday party isn't until next Sunday.

So Jack woke up Saturday morning to a table full of presents, as Nate went shopping Friday afternoon too and his Grandma Nancy sent some presents from North Carolina!!





Saturday afternoon was the annual Gasparilla Children's Parade in Tampa, so what better way to celebrate my little pirate's birthday? The kids had so much fun catching beads and eating cotton candy. We have enough beads here to have our own little parade! I didn't bring my camera to the parade, but I think Nate got a few pictures on his i-phone that I'll have to get him to send over in the morning so I can post!

We woke up this morning and surprised the kids with a trip over to Orlando to Hollywood Studios. We thought we would mix it up a bit, as every time we've gone over, we've gone to the Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful day, about 72 degrees out, not a cloud in the sky and not very crowded at the park! Here is a summary of our day...







Jack's favorite part was meeting the Power Rangers, as he thinks he IS a Power Ranger most days.















Happy Birthday, my sweet little boy. I can't believe you are 3 already. Your Dad and I love you so much. You amaze us with how sweet, sensitive and caring you are. We hope you enjoyed your birthday weekend as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you!

New Brother & Sister Sets Listed!

Come check them out! Mallory and Jack had a blast with their photo shoot, as they got to go on an Egg Hunt!! They were such troopers, as the temperature was around 50 degrees and windy! BURR!!

You can find the girls listing by clicking here.



And, you can find the boys listing here.






We are also having a little promotion as my sweet little boy is turning 3 tomorrow. Here are the details:


I have been meaning to post the pictures from Nate's birthday party...
We all had so much fun, we are planning the next Low Country Boil!

Nate and my dad "prepping" the food. Look how big that pot is!


Almost done...


The Birthday Boy/Chef!


Pouring it out on the table.


Time to eat!


Singing Happy Birthday!

New eBay Listing for Maddie*Kate

Spring is on it's way!! You wouldn't know it by the way the wind is blowing outside my door here in the office. It's supposed to be 33 degrees tomorrow morning, there's even mention of the possibility of SNOW! Yes, you heard me right, SNOW in Florida, Central Florida that is!

Mallory was not in the mood to take pictures today, as you might be able to tell from a few shots in the auction, but it was either today in the nice breezy 70 degree weather, or tomorrow in the FRIGID coldness (is that even a word?). There wasn't school today, so I took the kids and two of their little friends to Bounce U to burn some energy. Since it was so nice outside, we decided to take a little nature walk in this beautiful park behind my dad's business. We will definitely be taking some modeling pictures back there when there are some leaves on the trees!

So here is the sweet little dress that we listed tonight. The auction is for the dress only, and we will re-create it for the winning bidder in a size 2T-8.
You can find it by clicking here.



Nate's birthday bash was a hit! Everyone loved the Low Country Boil. We will be doing another one again soon! I will post pictures from the party tomorrow. I need to get to bed!

Happy Birthday My Dear Sweet Husband

Today is Nathan's 35th birthday. To celebrate, he wanted to have a party with a few of his friends and decided to have a Low Country Boil. For those of you not from the South, a Low Country Boil is a mixture of shrimp, potatoes, corn, sausage, onions, and CRAWFISH!! You put all of these ingredients, along with some creole seasoning in a huge pot and boil them up!! When they are done cooking, you put some newspaper down on a table, spread the food out on the newspaper and everyone just eats from the table! It should be a great time!

The crawfish just arrived via Fed Ex overnight from Louisiana this morning. Being the animal lover that I am, I felt so bad when we opened up the box to see these poor little things in there still alive...well...most of them anyway. I've never eaten a crawfish, so tonight should be interesting.




We have been consumed with party planning and funeral preparation (not a good mix)all week, and it will be so nice to just relax and enjoy the party tonight!

So, here's to you, Nathan! The BEST husband, father, friend that I could ever imagine having in my life. Mallory, Jack, and I love you more than you could possibly ever imagine! Have a wonderful birthday!!

New CUSTOM listing on eBay for Maddie*Kate

Woo-hoo! Our first custom listing for 2009 is up!
You can find it by clicking here.
This is so sweet - perfect for Spring and Easter! We will remake it for the winning bidder in a size 2-8.





Who are the cutest kids in the world?


On a sad note, my dear great aunt "Momo" passed away this morning. She was in a car accident eariler in the week and suffered a broken knee, along with a few minor injuries. She made it through the knee sugery yesterday, but her heart just couldn't handle it. She was 87 years old. She is the third "grandma" that we have lost since April... Rest in Peace Momo.

Sample Sale has Started!!

Be sure to check out the great deals on some of our favorite sample sets. We will be listing today and tomorrow. Some will be listed at HALF of the original sale price!!! WOW!!!

You can find all of Maddie*Kate's listings by clicking HERE, or go to eBay and type in Boutique MK Sample Sale!