Peanut Butterscotch Bird's Nest Cookies

These are some of the BEST no bake cookies I have ever had! They are always a big hit at parties, and can be tailored to almost any holiday. Since it is almost Easter, I made them with peanut butter eggs on top, but if you want to make them for Christmas you can make them without the eggs and say they are haystacks for the reindeer. Either way they taste delicious and will be devoured before you know it!
And its great to do with kids, like these cute little mini's of mine!


Recipe:
I ended up doubling the recipe for mine since they were going to a school party.

Ingredients:

2 C butterscotch chips
1 1/2 C peanut butter chips
3 C crunchy chow mein noodles
1 1/2 C marshmallows
Peanut butter eggs, or any egg shaped candy
Wax paper

Directions:
 1. Place crunchy noodles and marshmallows in a very large bowl and stir. In separate microwave-safe bowl, melt the chips 30 seconds at a time until they are completely melted. (when it looks like there are only a few chips that are unmelted stir like crazy until they become smooth) 
2. Pour melted chips over crunchy noodles and marshmallows then stir with a spatula until the peanut/butterscotch coats all the noodles and marshmallows. 
3. Drop about 1/4 C of the mixture onto a sheet of wax paper (I put the wax paper on cookie sheets so that I could move them if needed). Use your hands to arrange them into bird's nests with a small indention in the middle. While the mixture is still melty, add three eggs to the middle of each nest. Let dry for 30 minutes. (after 30 minutes I put mine in a bag and then in the refrigerator since I would not be serving them until the next day. You could also store them in the freezer, they will last about a week to two weeks if you let them.)

 First step, put these yummy crunchy noodles in a BIG bowl. Maybe snack on a couple too...

 

 
Then add some soft little marshmallows, and maybe sneak a few of those too...

 

Now put those oh so good smelling peanut butter and butterscotch chips in a microwave bowl. Then microwave for 30 minutes at a time, siring between each interval. (ok, I did eat a couple of these too. One should never bake while hungry!)  

 

After a minute and a half they will look like this...

 

Then after another 30 seconds will look like this...This is where you stir like crazy until the rest is melted...

 

Like this! Oh it looks so swirly and yummy!

 

Then pour your mixture over those crunchy noodles and the fluffy marshmallows. Stir until it is all coated with the delicious melted peanut butter and butterscotch.

 

You will have a messy and crazy thing that looks just like this. 

 

Now take a 1/4 cup measure and scoop out the mixture onto the wax paper. With your hands make a small indention in the middle to hold your eggs.Yes I said your HANDS, and yes they will turn into swamp creature hands, but it will be worth it.

And DONE! Look how cute they are, I can't wait to eat them all, just kidding I'll share one...
 

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A little nature...

Spring is here in Florida! What better way to enjoy it than to be outdoors? My little family and I went out last weekend and did just that. We took a little nature walk, and of course I brought my camera along for the ride. Here are some interesting shots I got...

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All about the dress...

I just saw the new David's Bridal commercial and thought, "WOW! Is that really what people are thinking?"(link to commercial). I know that it has been talked about on many blogs, but I am going to talk about it again. No wonder there are so many failed marriages out there, if this is what women think on their wedding day, what are they thinking afterwards?

Yes I know the dress is important for a bride, but is it really ALL about the dress? Should the husband to be really be "the invisible man" as the commercial says? No, I don't think so. A wedding should be all about the couple, together as one, because they are becoming one. Not "all about the bride, and for the bride it's all about the dress." For the bride it should be all about her husband to be, as for the groom it should be all about his wife to be.

When did this view of the wedding become so wrong? When did the actual wedding become more important than the actual marriage? I understand it is a special day, and one that you only plan on having once, but I think women need to start focusing on what is truly important on that special day, the whole reason for the event, the promise to love their future husband for the rest of their lives.

There are so many shows out there now that glamorize the wedding, and that is great, but they are also glamorizing brides turning into crazy Bridezillas. They emphasize that the details of the wedding are more important than anything else. That if one thing goes wrong, the day is ruined. How selfish is this way of thinking?

Overall I hope that the thoughts in the David's Bridal commercial are not the thoughts of the majority of women out there...

Above are some images of my dress. I loved it, as many brides love their dress, but what I was thinking about during the whole wedding process was...

This moment right here, where we vowed to become one. This moment where we chose to love each other during the good times AND the bad. For me it was never all about the dress, it was all about the man standing before me.

Now of course our marriage is not perfect, no one's is, we have had our hard times and I'm sure there will be more along the road...But I wouldn't change it for anything...

So please ladies, don't forget about that amazing man you are promising yourself to. Remember that the wedding day is as much about him promising himself to you, as it is about you promising yourself to him.

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Lets Decorate!

We just recently moved, and have yet to add anything to our bedroom walls, so why not tackle that project now? I have been dying to add some color to my bedroom, I am a cheery person and blank walls seem to bring me down. We also decided the kids needed some cheeriness too. So without further a due, here was our project for today...

 The kids painted their own canvas with their "special" paint they picked out.

 Pretty cheery, huh?

 We also picked out some stencils, but Aiden and Addyson had to add a little something of their own ;)

 I can't wait to hang them! My I am starting to feel cheerier already :D

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Craw-fish Boil

So if you did not know already, I am a foodie as well as a photography junkie. I love to try new recipes, and perfect the old ones that hold memories. As most of you know, it is the that time of year for Marti Grass, and my family and I decided to celebrate by trying our hand at having a Craw-fish Boil. The whole family had fun, and it was a perfect night to cook outside.

 Got to snack on some peanuts while you wait.

 Lets get it started!

 Had some fun with the camera while I was waiting.

 So did he,

 and she.

 Can't forget the beer. (I had hard cider, not a beer drinker at all, but hubby is!)

 It smells so good!!!

 Lets stir the pot.

 Couldn't resist, even climbed up into the kids playhouse to take it.

HURRAY!!!

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Lenspiration...

I define the word lenspiration as "the inspiration of photography." For me that means in my every day life I view the world with photography as its inspiration. I can be driving down the road and see a house, the sun is casting the perfect light over it, and I think "now that would be a great photo!"

A lot of times it is just the way people, or my kids, are sitting that give me lenspiration. The photo above was one of those moments, they just happened to sit with the sun behind them and then click! I think its a pretty interesting photo if I do say so myself :).

You will notice that a lot of my photography is shot with my iPhone 5. This is simply because it is always there! Yes, my professional DSLR would be ideal, but who really carries their big ol' camera around with them where ever they go? Not me! My main reason is those two little cuties in the picture above. I am constantly chasing them around, so my phone is my perfect medium. Plus, whoever said that you can't take a good photo from a phone? Ok, that has been said many times, but is completely untrue. You just need to know how to use it, and know what it is capable of.

Just to prove my point, all of these images were taken on my iPhone 5. So there! ;)

Now lenspiration can sometimes mean that you see something a then want to recreate it. Below is an example of those photos. The idea, or lenspiration (I know I'm using that a lot!), came to me one day while my kids were playing outside. The sun was starting to set, and we were about to go inside when I looked over and saw the sun coming through the trees. It was beautiful! A couple weeks later I took my kids out back in their cute little outfits, and told them they had to let me take some photos before they could play(I know I'm such a mean mom). Below is what I got...

I hope that explains "lenspiration" a little bit better, and be sure to share your lenspiration with me on my Facebook page!

Until I post again,
Audrey

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Girls Night!

For those of you who do not personally know me, I am in a mommy group, and every month we try to have a night out. This month happens to be my birthday month so we went down town. Woo Hoo!

Now down town means different things to different people depending on where you live. Well this down town is in Melbourne, FL, and not so big, BUT they have an amazing restaurant called Matt's Casbah. So this sets the scene for our night out...

Oh it was so, good!

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