Oreo Pudding Poke Cake

I found this recipe on pinterest and saved it to try sometime when I would need to take a dessert somewhere. We had dinner at a friend's the other night and brought dessert so I thought I would try it out! 

What You Need:

1 package chocolate cake mix (and the ingredients to bake the cake)

2 (4 oz) packages of Oreo Jello Pudding (and 4 cups of milk to make it)

Optional crushed oreos to top the finished product

What You Do:

Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9x13 pan.

Mix the pudding just before the cake is done. Let it sit for about 2 minutes, to thicken slightly so it isn't runny but not fully into pudding.

When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake using a wooden spoon handle or a straw. Pour pudding mixture over warm cake.

Spread it out with a spoon, gently pushing the pudding down into the holes.
Allow the cake to cool for several minutes on the counter then put into the fridge to set (for about an hour)

Once it is set, top with crushed Oreos, if you'd like. Keep refrigerated!

Crock Pot Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

School has started back, which means my free time for blogging and cooking has slowed down! This week we decided to do a crock pot meal on a night that I had to be actively online for grad school from 4:30-7:30, I put it in when I got home from work and was ready to eat my sandwich while doing my class (I cannot wait to eat dinner until 7:30 when my lunch is at 11:30!)

I found the recipe from this blog, originally from pinterest. It was really easy to prepare and yummy too!

What you need: 

1 1/2 lbs beef round steak 

1 green pepper, sliced thin 

1 medium onion, sliced thin 

14 oz beef broth 

1 envelope Italian dressing mix 

4-6 hoagie buns

Provolone cheese slices

What you do: 

Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. 

Cut meat into strips, place in slow cooker. 

Cut with my new favorite knife!

Add green pepper, onion, broth, and dressing mix. 

Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours, or high 3-4 hours. 

Toast bread in a 375 degree oven for 5 minutes, add meat and cheese slices, then bake an additional 5 minutes to melt the cheese. 

You don't have to toast it but I like crispy bread!

It was a great easy meal and all I had to do for clean up was wash the crock pot!

My New Favorite Knives!

I have had a set of nice steak knives and plenty of serrated Cutco knives for a while now, thanks to my mom :) 

But recently as I've started to cook more I've realized that chopping things is not so easy when your only knife option is a serrated one. Luckily for my birthday I got a new knife set! I LOVE it. It is amazing how easy it is to chop things, cut fruit and even cut meat that I am posting about tomorrow! I really never knew what I was missing. I got the Emeril 3 piece Santuko knife set from Bed Bath and Beyond... they're really well priced too (especially compared to Cutco!)

Hanging with my Favorite Baby

This summer has been a lot of fun for many reasons, one of which is that one of my best childhood friends, Marianna, is back in town for a few months. Her husband is deployed so she has moved home to hang out with her friends and family while he is away. She has a 10 month old baby that is the cutest thing I have ever seen and so much fun to hang out with. The other night she had a kickball game to go to and her mom (aka built in babysitter) was out of town so I offered to hang with Mikey for the night. Trey came with me and we had a blast playing with him (and he went to bed easier than any child I've ever met!!)

Trey enjoyed trying to build a tower with Mikey's blocks but he would realize, run over, and tear it apart. He is basically a tiny tornado :) 

Oh? You're putting another tower together?

I'm going to come destroy it

BAM!

Bedtime cutie

After Mikey was in bed the cat decided it was her turn for attention and crawled in my lap. 

A few days later we headed to the pool and put up his baby prison to give ourselves some sanity: 

And a cute one of me & my fave baby:

Cirque Du Soleil: Dralion

For our anniversary Trey bought us tickets to go see Cirque Du Soleil: Dralion when it was touring through Raleigh. The time finally came, last Friday, to go to the show. It was AMAZING. I literally sat in awe with my mouth open probably 50% of the time. This is the third Cirque show I've been to and it was by far the best.

We had awesome seats, there were seats on the floor super close to the stage and we were in the second row of them! You weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but during intermission I attempted to be sneaky and snap one of our chairs when I was walking back down so you could see just how close we were:

We were in the second row on the floor

Since I couldn't take any pictures I got pictures from their website so that I can look back later and remember what we saw and just how awesome it was. 

They had pretty entertaining clowns in between the acts:

The most  buff man I have ever seen in my life doing tricks and rolling around in a metal hoop:

A routine with bamboo poles that they even balanced on their faces:

Women doing amazing tricks with Chinese yo-yos (as I hoped that they didn't fail and come flying to our seats!)

The most amazing juggler I have ever seen... 8 balls at once!!

Crazy jump rope routines:

A couple "in love" using the ropes dangling from the middle, what I have always pictured Cirque shows to be using... 

A girl came down from the rafters in this hoop & hung by her feet, neck, you name it....

The most amazing trampoline act bouncing from that back up a wall:

The dralions dancing around and standing on a ball and rolling it (multiple people at once):

And men diving and flipping through hoops that were simply stacked on one another:

It was such a wonderful date with my hubby and to top it all off I was able to walk up the stairs (normally) for the first time in 2 weeks that night!! I'm making progress with my knee!

Doggie Playtime

One of Tyson's favorite times to get rowdy is in the late evening when we get in bed to watch tv for a little while and let them snuggle. He loves to "flea" Vegas (nibble on her) or "nom" on her as we call it because of the hilarious noise that he makes the whole time. The other night when this happened I took a series of pictures to try to get a few good ones and thought I would share them. This sometimes goes on for 10 minutes and we crack up the entire time. He is so goofy and she usually sits there wagging her tail enjoying the attention.