Wilton Giant Cupcake - 'Pin It or Forget It'

I was perusing the kitchen items at the local Goodwill the other day when I discovered the Wilton Giant Cupcake pan. I hit the jackpot! Not only was it only $4.99 and in great condition, but I love all things Wilton. It is my go to brand when I purchase baking products. Since I have never made a giant cupcake before, I decided to visit the Wilton website and see if their instructions would give me a 'Pin It' or if I should 'Forget It'.

Since it was the 4th of July I thought it would be fun if I got creative and made a 4th of July themed cupcake. 

I enlisted some help from my girls. I think they were as excited as I was! 

We followed the directions perfectly! After we pulled the cakes from the oven the colors were so pretty. I will admit that the blue looked green, but I was okay with that. 

After the cakes were cooled, we iced them. We made sure to use more food coloring and pretty sprinkles to liven up the cake even more! 

We then carefully placed the top of the cupcake onto the bottom of the cupcake. After it was securely placed onto the bottom of the cupcake we stood back, scratched our head, looked at each other and just laughed! What the heck did we just create? Did we create a mushroom or maybe we created a rocket?! I am not a professional baker but the instructions seemed easy enough. Sadly, we had 3 adults working on this project and none of us could make it work. 

'Hotter Than Hot' Hot Sauce

The majority of my family loves hot and spicy food; I am not in that majority. My husband loves to make the family his 'Hotter Than Hot' hot sauce, so I talked him into letting me share his recipe with the entire blogging world. 

Season to taste. You decide how much seasoning to add. Do whatever makes your taste buds happy. 

'Finish This' Week 27

For July 4th, I celebrated by... hanging out with family and friends that are family. Drinks, food, and fireworks equals good times and good stories. I love our family so much and love that we can do the stupidest things but laugh so hard! You can find a few fun videos on my Instagram from that night- go ahead and FOLLOW me.  

My go-to cosmetic product is...no specific brands, but foundation, blush, eye shadow, mascara and lip gloss/ stick.. Most often my go-to cosmetic product is 'a la natural! 

I am inspired by... Money! I love money and I love to make money and I love to find ways that I can make money while being at home with my girls. Money makes the world go around and sure helps when I want to go to Target! 

The best relationship advice I received was... from my husband and I! When you get married you are married forever; unless of course your spouse is abusive one way or the other. 

When no one is around, I tend to...let the 'hounds' loose! Now I know you don't think I am being literal here, right? 

Peach Salsa - A 'House of Fauci's' Pin It or Forget It

As I was perusing blogs the other day I stumbled upon a recipe that caught my attention quick! It was a beautiful recipe that was filled with flavor. A recipe that I knew my husband would fall head over heels for. The amazing blog that I stumbled upon was The Cowgirl Gourmet. I just have to say what an awesome name for a blog that is! The recipe that she posted was called A Peachy Revelation; I simply call it 'Peach Salsa'. 

Since it is peach season and there are peaches sold on practically every corner where I live, I knew I had to not only pin this salsa but I had to make it. 

This Peach Salsa recipe is simple; cut, chop, mix, sprinkle and squeeze. To find the exact measurements take another peek at The Cowgirl Gourmet's blog and read how she mixes it up. 

I served the Peach Salsa on top of grilled chicken. When my husband saw it, he said, "Wow, you've become quite a little chef" and my witty response was, "Well, I am a blogger now." 

When my husband tasted the first bite of the chicken that was topped with the Peach Salsa, he looked at me and said, 'WOW, this is good, this is really good!' My husband is not a picky eater and likes most food, but he talked about this Peach Salsa for days. I am not exaggerating!  

World's Best Cinnamon Vanilla Shake

The other day my girls wanted me to buy them a shake from Sonic. Unfortunately, this mama is cheap and since it was before 8pm and their shakes were not 1/2 price I had to deny their request. I told them that when we got home I would whip them up the World's Best Cinnamon Vanilla Shake; and I did. 

This is a simple mix of ingredients and all you need to do is toss it in a blender and blend it up. Feel free to add more or less to suite your taste buds. 

• 2-3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• a few sprinkles of cinnamon
• 1 ice cream sandwich (you don't have to include this)
• chocolate syrup (as much as you like)
• 1/4 cup of milk (may need to add more, depends on how thick you would like it)
• handful of M&M's

What makes this shake so awesome is the awesome taste of the vanilla mixed with cinnamon and surrounded by chocolate. My girls loved it and I did to! 

'Finish This' Week 26 - Link up

It's never too late...to change! Yes this is a broad answer but it is true and simple. 

I compare myself to others... ALL THE TIME and in so many ways. From body type to how others deal with their kids to how nice others are to their spouse. Sounds silly, but I like to learn from other people's lifestyles and see if what I am doing can be improved and other times I like to pat myself on the back for doing so well. 

My personality is... FUNNY! I love to laugh and I really love to make other people laugh. I am not 'joke' funny but I am 'sarcastic on my toes' funny. Often times I find myself laughing at myself, but then other times I scratch my head when I make a funny and the person(s) doesn't get it. Sucks for them, because they missed a chance for a good giggle. 

On the flip side, put me in the middle of a crowded room where people are in their own little circles and I shut down and just pretend to focus on a picture on the wall or the wrapper on my bottle. This is where I am thankful for my husband, he can talk to anyone! 


I can... change a baby diaper in 5.5 seconds, touch my toe to my nose (not sure why I would want to do that, but I can), meet every goal given to me before the deadline date, give amazing, awesome and unbiased advice, and so much more.  

I embrace change... by sucking it up and realizing that life will go on. Change is not always fun, but it is what it is and sometimes is the best thing for everyone. 

Stop The Dinner Time Insanity - A House of Fauci's Experience

While raising  my second set of kids I became THAT MOM! THAT MOM  that took orders for dinner. THAT MOM that made my  husband and I one dinner and my 3 girls a separate dinner each; therefore making at least 4 dinners a night! For 7 years I allowed my girls to be 'picky' and tell ME what THEY wanted for dinner. This finally ended when my husband came to me one day and said to 'STOP the dinner time insanity' and that enough was enough.

When we told the girls of our plans to no longer make multiple meals at dinner time, they were not thrilled. My oldest daughter was not terribly unhappy about it, but was not thrilled about certain foods that I may serve. The baby, little Bella, was oblivious. The real challenge was going to come with my middle child, Gia. This child has certain foods that she will eat such as strawberries, grilled cheese, pizza, macaroni and cheese, chips, and maybe a few other foods; not many though. 

We explained to the girls that it was time to 'grow up' and help mom and dad out with not having to spend so much time in the kitchen and it would also make for nice family meals. On a side note, I only make dinners around 3 days a week so they were not going to be 'tortured' every day. 

Before our first official family meal I went to Kohl's and surprised them with their very own cute little plates. My hope was that it would help them accept the new dinner time plan. 

I made sure that the first meal that I made was kid friendly; cheeseburgers and macaroni. In an effort to get my Gia interested I had her help me make the burger patties. 

Each family meal was full of stress, it was definitely not what I hoped for or envisioned when I thought of what family meals should be. My husband and I sounded like broken records; eat, stop whining, it doesn't taste gross, hush, stop crying, do you want to be grounded, etc... It was not pleasant and may have made for a great YouTube video! 

As a result of our, at least 3 day a week, family meal times my girls have accepted that they are expected to eat or at least try what is served on their plates. It has gotten easier, not perfect, but much easier and I am so thankful that my husband stepped in and demanded that the insanity be put to an end. Even though these first few meals were not stress free, we will not give up because this can only help our girls grow and our hair to stop changing colors. My husband and I have agreed that the dinner time insanity has to stop. 

Do you have any meal time challenges in your household? How do you handle them?