Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

The Best Peach Shake Recipe

~ EAT

 

 

Every year when the peach season comes around, there is one thing we drink a lot at our house; a peace ice-cream shake. It’s so good that it just doesn’t feel right drinking it within my immediate family, so I invite my girlfriends over and we have a peach shake night! We talk about our children, our trials and challenges, and funny moments and the peach shake just makes the moment that much sweeter. Most of the guests always ask for seconds and no matter how many times I’ve had this shake, I never get sick of it!

 

I have an awesome recipe to share with you today that is the best peach shake you will ever have. It has a touch of tart, sweetness and creaminess that you’re going to love! I got this recipe from Jamie Rasmussen and am so grateful she’s letting me share her recipe with you!

 

 

Peach Milkshake recipe
Ingredients
3 peaches, pitted (skinned is optional, I leave mine on)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp almond extract
4 very large scoops of vanilla ice-cream(I use almost half of the half gallon)
*optional: whipped cream

DirectionsPut all the ingredients in the blender and blend. Enjoy the shake!

 

Korean Bulgogi Recipe + Football Party Ideas

~ EAT, PARTY

This Football inspired party has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. This party is dedicated to my friends who love Korean B.B.Q and Diet Coke, you know who you are! I will be sharing a Korean bulgogi recipe using Coke, how perfect is that?  #ShareYourSpirit #CollectiveBias 
Football Party Ideas

Football Party Ideas

I purchased the COKE at my local Sam’s Club. Did you know that you can order online at Sam’s Club and instantly go pick it up? I’ll be using that service more often, it makes my life way more convenient!

    How to set a Football-inspired Party Table


    -Green tablecloth
    -White ribbon or tape
    -Banner
    -Football cut-outs
    -Party zone tape
    Lay the green tablecloth on the table. Tape the ribbon vertically onto the table, I used 5 strips. This is your “football field”. Put the banner up on the backdrop along with the football cut-outs and tape the party-zone tape across the edge of the table. 

    How to Make an Easy & Fast Football-inspired Treats

    For a football ice-cream sandwich:
    -Ice-cream sandwiches
    -Ready-mix white frosting with tip
    -Popsicle sticks
    Stick the popsicle sticks into the ice-cream sandwich. Draw the football design on the middle of the sandwich with frosting. Serve and enjoy!
    Football brownies:
    -Round brownies from the bakery section
    -Ready-mix white frosting with tip
    With frosting, draw the football design onto the middle of the brownies. Serve and eat one or two yourself!
    Korean Bulgogi Recipe
    1 pound bulgogi beef
    1/3 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
    ¼ cup Coca-Cola
    2 tablespoons brown sugar
    3 tablespoons sesame oil
    3-4 large cloves garlic, crushed (1 ½-2 tablespoons)
    ¼ large onion or ½ small onion, thinly sliced
    1/4 cup chopped green onions (about onions)
    ½ teaspoon black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon salt 
    ½ small Asian pear, pureed(use 1/2 small apple if you don’t have a pear)
    1. Ask the butcher to slice the meet thin to 2-3 mm. If you are slicing it yourself, slice it while it’s still a little bit frozen for easy slicing. 
    2. Puree the Asian pear. Add onto the remaining ingredients except for the meat. 
    3. Pour the marinade onto the meat, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins. or overnight. 
    4. Grill, or saute in a pan until the meat is cooked. 

    Check out more delicious COKE recipes.

      Homemade Boba Recipe

      ~ EAT

      I have some delicious boba drink recipes for you today and am so excited to share it with you! Boba drinks are also known as bubble tea or tapioca drinks, it is originated from Taiwan in the 1980’s. The real original boba drink consists of Taiwanese black tea, small tapioca pearls, condensed milk, and syrup or honey. Many variations have been created since then such as fruit milk teas, which is basically a fruit smoothie but with tapioca balls added in. This is the drink I order when I go to boba shops or such as the one you see in the pictures below, because being LDS, I choose not to drink tea such as black tea or green tea. But I have added in some original boba drinks with tea in it for those of you that want to try it out!

       

      Cook the tapioca balls

       

      Drain the tapioca balls
      Add to your drink cup
      Cut a square size Glad Press’n Seal
      Seal it and poke the straw in. Now you have your boba!


      What you’ll need:

      • Glad Press’n Seal
      • Tapioca balls
      • Big straws(to fit the tapioca balls through)
      • Smoothie or milk tea recipe(shared below)
      • (*optional) Bubble tea flavor powder

       

      I got the Glad Press’n Seal from Walmart, the tapioca balls from a local Asian grocery store, I ordered the straws on Amazon. You can purchase the Tapioca pearls, boba straws, and bubble tea flavor powder all on Amazon. There are many different kinds of tapioca balls of colors and sizes, my favorite is lychee jelly! Okay, that’s not considered to be tapioca balls, but it’s an option many boba shops have and I always order it if they have it.
      In order to make boba, you need to first know how to cook the tapioca balls:
      How To Cook Tapioca Pearls:

      Ingredients:

      6 to 8 cups water
      1 cup tapioca pearls
      Preparation:
      1. In a large pot (Make sure the pot is big enough so boiling tapioca water will not spill over) over high heat, add water and bring to a boil.
      2. Slowly stir in the tapioca pearls so that they do not stick together (after 1 minute, the tapioca pearls should float). Reduce heat to medium and let boil, covered, for approximately 15 minutes; turn the heat off and let the tapioca pearls sit, covered, for an additional 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from heat, rinse the tapioca pearls in cold water, and drain.
      NOTE: The cooking time above is a general guideline. If you shorten the cooking time, you will get chewier tapioca balls. Cook longer and you will get less elastic tapioca balls.
      Add the cooked tapioca pearl to your favorite Bubble Tea recipe.
       
      This recipe below for sugar syrup is totally optional, you can just use sugar or honey or xagave but it tastes better to add the sugar syrup in my opinion than just plain white or brown sugar. But it’ll taste good either way!
      How to cook Bubble Tea Sugar Syrup:
      Ingredients:
      1 cup white sugar
      1 cup brown sugar
      2 cups water
      Approximately 32-35 sixteen ounce servings
      Preparation:
      1. Mix sugar and water in a large pot.
      2. Cook at medium to high heat.
      3. Once the mixture boils remove from stove immediately.
      4. Let cool and serve.
        *Refrigerate any excess
      Then use any of these recipes below to make your boba! Note that most boba shops don’t use any fresh fruit and just use bubble tea flavor powder, milk and ice but there are some that uses a blend of fresh fruit and bubble tea flavor powder. I prefer fresh fruit added in and sometimes you have to ask them to add it in.

      Boba Fruit Drink:
      The best tasting fresh fruit drinks include strawberry, watermelon, mango, red bean (adzuki), papaya, and my favorite, honeydew melon.

      Ingredients:
      1 cup fresh fruit
      1/2 cup milk
      1 Scoop bubble tea sugar syrup(recipe above)
      1 cup ice
      2 fl. oz. cup of cooked Bubble Tea Tapioca Pearls

      Preparation:

      1. Put all ingredients except bubble tea tapioca pearls into a blender and blend well.
      2. Make sure that the fruits are grinded into the milkshake.
      3. Add bubble tea tapioca pearls to a cup, and pour your drink over.
      4. Put in your big fat bubble tea straw and enjoy.

       

      Bubble Tea Powder Fresh Fruit Drink:

      Ingredients:
      1 Scoop Bubble Tea Flavor Powder
      1 Scoop non-dairy powder creamer
      1 Scoop bubble tea sugar syrup(recipe above)
      1/2 cup fresh fruit
      1/4 cup crushed ice
      2 fl. oz. of cooked Bubble Tea Tapioca Pearls

      Preparation:

      1. Put bubble tea flavor powder, creamer sugar syrup and fresh fruit into the blender for 20 seconds or until blended well.
      2. Blend the drink less if you like little pieces of fruit.
      3. Add tapioca pearls to a cup, and pour your drink over.
      4. Put in your big fat bubble tea straw and enjoy.

       

      Pearl Milk Tea
      This can be made with black, green, oolong, chai, or jasmine. The most popular are black tea and green jasmine tea.

      Ingredients:
      3/4 cup tea
      1 Scoop non-dairy powder creamer
      1 Scoop bubble tea sugar syrup(recipe above)
      1 cup ice
      2 fl. oz. of cooked Bubble Tea Tapioca Pearls

      Preparation:

        1. Put hot tea, creamer and bubble tea sugar syrup in shaker and mix well.
        2. Add in ice, cover shaker and shake for a nice froth.
        3. Add tapioca pearls to a cup, and pour your drink over.
        4. Put in your big fat bubble tea straw and enjoy.

      *A much easier option is to use our Bubble Tea Milk Tea Powder.


      2 minute mango salsa recipe

      ~ EAT

      One of my goals as a mother is to teach my kids to be excellent chefs and this simple and easy mango salsa recipe is the perfect one to start with! This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Del Monte, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #makemangosalsa http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

      My dad used to always tell me stories about how my mom didn’t know how to cook anything when they were married.  He remembers her making this chicken and it wasn’t very good but he told her it was, and she fed him the same chicken for three days straight and how he had to eat it all.  My mom, learning from her experience, always had me help her cook since I was a little girl.  And thanks to her, I love to cook and I must say I am a pretty dang good cook!
      So when I was a little girl and I daydreamed about the day I was a mom, I told myself I would teach my kids to be really good cooks(not just know how to cook but be dang good at it).  I always tell my husband that I want all of our kids to know how to cook well, to sew at least the basics, and to be self reliant.  So I started prepping and cooking with my two girls since they were around two years old.  It ended up being way more work for me as they made huge messes and it took me twice as long to make the food, but I reminded myself that I was teaching them an important skill they would use for the rest of their lives.  I don’t want to send them off to College and worry about whether they’re eating well or healthy!  And since cooking for others is my way of serving others and bringing joy into our home, I want them to bless the lives of whomever they might come across with good cooking.  I think feeding people good food is one of the best ways to serve, which is why we always invite people over to our house for dinner on a weekly basis.  
      Since my oldest turned 7 a few months ago, I’ve been meaning to teach her how to make certain foods all by herself without my assistant.  I’ve been telling her I would teach her how to make pancakes from scratch and to turn on the stove, butter the pan and to cook and flip the pancakes.  Well, it hasn’t happened yet!  I guess it’s a little overwhelming thinking about it and our weekends are usually so busy, we haven’t been able to find the time yet.  So with Super Bowl Sunday coming up and all, this mango salsa seemed like the perfect first recipe for the girls to make, since all it requires is two ingredients and no knives or stoves involved!  My girls made the salsa with lots of excitement and giggles and they loved the salsa.  It’s always a good sign when they lick the wooden spoon clean!
      Ingredients:
      1 Can (15oz.) Del Monte Diced Mangos in light syrup
      1 Jar (24oz) Chunky Salsa (your favorite brand)
      Directions:
      1. Drain the mango syrup.
      2. Mix the mangos and the salsa.
      3. Serve and enjoy! Makes about 12 servings.





      *9 ways to make it your own: (stir in any of the following):


      2 T. chopped fresh cilanto
      1 tsp. orange or lime zest
      1/4 c. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
      1 diced avocado
      1 8 oz. can diced Del Monte crushed pineapple
      1/2 c. diced cucumber
      1/4 c. sliced green onion
      1/4 tsp. cumin
      1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder

      We plan on making this during the Super Bowl Sunday and watching the game while we send the kids to the basement to watch “Book of Life”, which will be available on DVD at Walmart on 1/27, which is the same store where I got the ingredients for the salsa. They will also have a sampling event that will take place at select Walmart stores 1/22-1/25. For more of Del Monte recipes, check out their Pinterest page.

      Banana Crush Slush recipe

      ~ EAT

      Today I’ll be sharing with you this refreshing recipe, banana crush slush!  My MIL would make this banana crush slush for my husband on special occasions growing up and it’s become our family favorite.  This recipe has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MingleNMix #CollectiveBias
      Banana crush slush recipe
      You know those recipes your mom made for while growing up and you get married and you’re like, “Hey, my mom used to make this recipe, it’s really good and I miss it, I need to ask my mom for the recipe!” and you incorporate the recipe into your family dinners?  This is one of them for my husband.  He said his mom would only make this drink on special occasions and him and his siblings would scream in excitement(he was like 18, just kidding, he was a little boy).  I think foods our moms and dads used to make for us growing up tastes even better because we have a sentimental attachment to it and is associated with memories of our childhood and feelings of nostalgia.  So sometimes when he says the above and gets the recipe from his mom and I make it for our family, I taste it and I think, yeah, it’s not that good, but he loves it because it brings back memories for him.  Well, this recipe is different, I really do like this one!

      You can use frozen concentrated pineapple and orange juice as well.  And fresh lemons.  But who’s got time to squeeze out 1/2 c. of fresh lemon juice?  I ain’t got time for that!  I got all these ingredients from Wal Mart.
      Combine sugar and water in big pot and hear until dissolved, turn off hear and add the remaining ingredients.  Put in at least 2 containers to freeze over night or for 24 hours.
      When ready to serve, crush, and put it in cups
      pour 7UP® until it fills up the glass.
      Banana Crush Slush
      2 1/2 c. sugar
      6 c. water
      2 1/2 c. orange juice
      1/2 c. lemon juice
      4 c. pineapple juice
      5 mashed bananas
      1 liter of 7UP®
      Combine sugar and water in big pot and hear until dissolved.
      Turn off hear and add the remaining ingredients.
      Put in at least 2 containers to freeze over night or for 24 hours.
      When ready to serve, crush, and put it in cups and pour 7UP® until it fills up the glass.
      *some people like using ginger ale like Canada Dry‘s 100% ginger ale instead of  7UP®.
      where I got my 7UP®, at Wal Mart.