Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter everyone!!!
Lexi had so much fun Easter egg hunting today!!! :) especially the eating the chocolate inside part. :)

I am busy making our Easter dinner!

The menu:

Roasted turkey with mushroom and sausage stuffing

Low fat scalloped potatoes

Roasted Brussel sprouts and asparagus

Lemon squares

Yummy!!!

Recipes and pictures will be posted soon:)

Hope everyone is having a great day!!

Spiral Carousel Lace Braid Ponytail Hairstyle

Here is another cool spin on the typical side ponytail braid. It looks harder than it is! The only thing I would warn you of is that if you have long layered hair like mine, it tends to come out throughout the day. Since the spiral is like a ladder, the shorter pieces tend to come out.
It is a really cute idea, but I wish I hadn't cut my hair with so many layers!!! =o)
Bebexoxo has it in three separate lace braids and then a center braid with the spiral carousel. (The video link is at the bottom.) As she says in the video, if you are doing this on yourself, it is easier to do a side spiral. I also only put one lace braid in my hair since it was way too much trouble to do three; and unnecessary I think.

Lace Braid

I tied the lace braid when I got to the end and I hid the ponytail holder with my hair.

The link on how to wrap your hair around your ponytail holder is in the posting labeled unique 4 strand braid (braid in braid). Here is the link to it. Remember that you wrap your ponytail holder BEFORE you start the spiral carousel lace braid!!!

For some reason the actual video wouldn't upload to this post, but here is the link for it:
Spiral Carousel Lace Braid Tutorial
I hope you all have lots of fun with this!! =o)

Till next time!

-Mindie

My new tattoo

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't get the chance to post DIY hair today! I went to get a new tattoo!
I will do a proper hair posting tomorrow. But until then... Here is a pic of my tatt:)

"Imagine" because life isn't complete without imagination (and its the font from the john lennon album), stars because I love stars, and a diamond since its Lexi's birthstone. :)

Done by Pat at Old Glory Tattoo Co in Asbury, nj! Make an appointment if your in the area!! They are awesome!!!

Tomato Soup and Caprese Panini

Soup is my go to food when it's cold outside. It's so warm and comforting. =o)
On Monday it was nice, but a bit cold outside, I felt like having soup and a sandwich. And my go to soup is always homemade tomato soup and a caprese panini.

When I was younger, growing up in an Asian home, I did not eat tomato soup as you can assume. =o) But I also never was curious about it. I thought it was really gross that people would eat tomatoes as a soup. So I never missed it. But who knew it was SO delicious!!!!
The first time I had it was in college, Rutgers, at the Busch dining hall. I know what your thinking, oh boy, she didn't like it. WRONG! It was ssssooooooo delicious!!!! I have been trying to find some place that made it that good ever since. After searching for a while, I decided to try and make my own. I had no idea what to expect, but all I had was a dream and my appetite. =o)
I pretty much found the recipe on the first try!! Yay me!

It is the EASIEST soup to make I think. =o)
So here it is! (With some changes of course. =o)

Creamy Tomato Soup
Adapted from Chow.com

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes in their juices, preferably San Marzano
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes and the juices
• 3/4 to 1 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
   

Directions:

1. Heat oil and butter in a medium to large sized pot over medium heat. Once butter foams, add onion and a big pinch of salt. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is completely soft and just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
2. Add tomatoes and juices to the pan and stir to crush up tomatoes. Add broth or water and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Simmer until tomatoes begin to fall apart, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves, and allow soup to cool slightly. Carefully purée soup in a blender until smooth (you may have to do this in batches). Return soup to the stove over low heat and stir in cream. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

  Now onto the PANINI!

The panini recipe is pretty much a basic caprese recipe. I didn't use one that I found since this panini is pretty simple, but also very versatile. 
Here is what I used. 
Mozzarella Caprese Panini

• 2 slices nice crusty bread (1/2 inch thick)
• olive oil (brushing)
• 2 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
• 3 slices slicing tomato
• salt
• black pepper 
• fresh basil leaves (Chopped, use as much or as little as you like)

Directions:
1) Brush inside of the slices of bread with olive oil.
2) Layer the mozzarella on on side. Then layer the tomatoes. Add some salt and pepper. And then layer the basil on top.  

3) Close the sandwich and drizzle olive oil on one side. Turn the flame on the grill pan to medium-medium high. Place the oiled side down on the grill pan. (You can use a panini maker obviously, but I don't have one. I feel that it takes up too much room and I can make do with my grill pan, cast iron skillet, and some cans. =o))
4) Drizzle the other side with olive oil and place the skillet on top. Balance the skillet with cans. (This will press the panini down and give it nice grill marks.)
5)  After about 3-4 minutes, take the skillet and cans off and flip the panini. Place the skillet and cans back on top. (See the picture to the above of my make-shift panini maker.)
6)  Wait 3-4 minutes and then your panini should be done! Yum!

I would recommend making at least two sandwiches at a time if you are choosing my grill pan cast iron skillet method. The skillet tends to be off balance and a little too heavy for just one sandwich. I made only one once, and it squished it pretty flat. =o) It was delicious still, but flat. 
***You can add some grilled chicken in this, or some spinach, or whatever you'd like. As I said before it's pretty versatile. ***

 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!!! =o)

DIY Fold Over Clutch

Crafting Monday was a BUSY one!!!

Navy Blue Clutch that I made

My co-worker brought my attention to this cute idea. DIY fold over clutch. We looked at the directions and thought to ourselves, "That doesn't look bad!" FYI, It looks deceptively easy.
I mean it wasn't THAT bad, but boy did I get frustrated. It also didn't help that my sister is NOT an experienced sewer at all, so on top of trying to figure this craft out, I had to teach her how to sew.
I decided to use the tutorial that had a liner in it because I thought it looked better. And who doesn't like a purse that has an awesome liner?

Here is the link to the tutorial I used: DIY Fold Over Clutch

Her directions were pretty good, but there were some parts that you had to figure out.

For example, trying to get the sides near the zipper closed, I couldn't use the sewing machine. So there is some hand sewing in this project!

Here are some tips that I came across that she didn't mention:
1) Get a leather needle for your sewing machine AND for hand sewing.
2) Make sure you know the basics of using a sewing machine otherwise it will be a disaster.
3) Get AT LEAST 1/2 yard of fabric. (I got a full yard just in case. The "leather" I bought was for upholstery. It was labeled at vinyl.

4) The liner does not have to be lining fabric, it can be anything you want. I would stay away from slippery fabric. I think we got ours from the linen section.  

This is a better pictures of the lining I picked.

This is the clutch that my sister made. It is black with...

A turquoise flower lining.

I hope that you guys have fun  making this!!! I can't say that the whole time was fun, but it was exciting to see how it turned out. I will be making the same one my sister made on another day. =o)

Happy Crafting!!!

Milkmaid Braid

Here is another great way to put your hair up when a) you don't want to wear it down and b) if you are having a bad hair day. 

Since I wash my hair every other day or every two days (depending on how my hair is the second day.), it is nice to put it up the day I don't wash my hair since hair styles stay munch better when the hair is a little dirty. 

If you need a dutch braid refresher, I posted a good tutorial a while ago. 

Here is the link to it.

This hairstyle is pretty simple. So give it a TRY!! =o)

1) You start with two dutch braids. You braid them all the way as if you were going to have two dutch braid pig tails.

2) Take the braided ends and pin them to your head however you'd like. I went for a braided bun type look . Add in any accessories, and boom, your done. =o)

3) You are ready to conquer the day! That was easy. =o)

 

Side Profile

Other side

Closer shot of the "bun"

Hair Friday

Hey everyone! Sorry about not posting yesterday! Spring break started for us and all the teachers went out to celebrate. I was unable to gather my information for a posting.
I will do two postings this weekend to make up for it!
Hope you all had a wonderful Friday!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

I am always looking for new vegetables to try. I have tried spagehtti squash when I was younger, my dad is a vegan so we were ALWAYS trying new (and weird) foods. It was not enjoyable at all. I'm not sure if it was the texture or the way my dad cooked it, or what not, but I did not like it. So I was turned off from it for a very long time. 
When I saw this recipe, I began to think, okay, maybe it's not THAT bad. And plus, this has cheese, it CAN'T be bad. =o)
This was ssssssssooooo YUMMY! Not only is there ONE veggie, but TWO, with the spinach. 
I don't like using reduced fat anything because I feel it compromises the integrity of the flavor. So I just use the real stuff and use less of it. 
Since I felt this was more of a side dish, I added some rotisserie chicken on the side to make it a little more substantial. 
This had so much flavor and with the chicken, it satisfied my tummy. 
I hope you all will enjoy it as much as my family did! =o)
    
Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese with Chicken

Adapted from: Skinnytaste.com

 










Servings: 7  • Serving Size: 1 cup
 

Ingredients:

• 5 1/2 cups cooked spaghetti squash (from about 2 small or 1 large)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup flour (use 2 tbsp corn starch for gf)
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth (vegetable broth for vegetarian)
• 6 oz Sargento sharp cheddar
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups (about 4 oz) baby spinach
• 1/8 cup grated parmesan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

1) Cut the squash in half lengthwise; remove and discard seeds. Place squash on a baking sheet. Bake until tender, about 1 hour. Separate the strands of squash with a fork and place in a medium bowl; discard shells. Maintain the oven temperature.

2) Heat butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in flour. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continually 3 - 4 minutes.

3) Add milk and chicken broth and continue whisking, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil and becomes smooth and thick, about 2 minutes stirring; season with salt and pepper. 

4) Once it becomes thick, remove from heat, add cheddar cheese and mix well until cheese is melted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked spaghetti squash and baby spinach, pour into a baking dish and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake until bubbly and golden 25 to 30 minutes.

Crafting Monday

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I don't have a post for today. I have been SUPER busy all weekend, and today.
My morning started with Lexi NOT wanting to wear the dress I picked out for her. (Crying up a storm and refusing to put her clothes on... yay...)
Work was good, thank goodness my students were great today! =o)
Then I had to do 2 hours of home instruction, which also went great!
Afterwards I came home (got home at 5:40), made dinner, ate dinner.
Played with Lexi for 10 mins, then put her down to bed.
And, WHEW, what a day....
So that leaves me enough time to create a quiz for Wednesday, and check homework.

I promise that I will have a craft next week! Since we have spring break next week I will be doing some crafting with a co-worker! yay!

So please stay tuned for next week for a new craft, and Wednesday for a new RECIPE! =o)

Thanks everyone for reading.

Oh, and if you find an awesome craft that you want to see made, please let me know! I will try and see if I can make test it out for you! =o)

Leave me a comment or some ideas!

<3 Minide

High Bun with Side Braid

As you all know, I L-O-V-E buns! haha...any type... but especially the ballet bun. I think that is is so cute, easy, and makes you look so polished.
I also L-O-V-E braids! So finding this tutorial was AWESOME since it combined my two favorite hair styles.
These pictures are actually from two different days. I just love this braid so much, I do it a lot. =o)

I changed a few things from the video though.
1)  Instead of a spiral staircase, I just did a dutch braid.

2) And for the bun, even though I had enough hair, I used a donut. It was so much easier to create the bun rather than tease it and then try and get it in a bun. If you have thin hair, you may want to tease it and then use the donut.

Turkey Meatball Soup with Barley and Kale

 

One week I was not feeling so well and I was lucky enough to have this recipe on hand. Courtesy of my co-teacher. This soup was so filling and delicious and definitely made me feel much better. This soup lasted my husband and I a good three days. Of course by the end of it, we were tired of it.

Luckily my co-teacher was the guinea pig and made it the day before and was telling me that the barley made the soup really thick. I really don't like this type of soup to be too thick so it was a nice warning for me to change it up.

As you can see from the picture of the recipe, my co-teacher found it from a magazine.

  

I, of course, did not follow the exact ingredients, so here is my revised version. 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 medium carrots, peels and diced

2 ribs of celery, diced (I try to get the inner most ones with the leaves. I think the leaves have so much flavor! =o)

1 cup diced onions

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

6 cups of chicken broth (I used Rachel Ray's low sodium chicken stock)

3/4 cup of barley (I used a quick cooking version. I think this would be good with pearled barley as well. I just didn't  have the time to wait for it to cook.)

1 lb of ground turkey (I like Perdue)

3/4 (or more) cup shredded Parmesan Cheese, plus more to garnish

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper (to taste)

1 can (15.5 oz) small white beans. (These are a little smaller than cannellini beans which I like better in this soup)

8 cups roughly chopped kale. (I couldn't find escarole the first time I made this, but when I made this soup for the second time, I decided that I liked the kale better.)

As for the directions, I pretty much followed the directions on the original recipe. 

 

ENJOY!!!

DIY Re-made Maxi Dress

 Welcome to another CRAFTING Monday!!! =o)

I have this one maxi dress that I LOVE, but I really wasn't in love with the top of it. The pattern was SUPER cute, but the top was weird. So I bought it last fall, and haven't worn it since. I hate having NEW clothes in my closet that I can't wear!!!!! =o) [I bought it from my friend's online store: Dame. She also has a store in Santa Monica, CA.. if you are NEAR go visit and Find Dana and tell her I sent you!] 

While on one of my many Pintrest adventures, I came across this AWESOME blog, A small snippet, and found a tutorial to make a maxi dress from fabric and a tank. (I still have yet to tackle this project, I will SOON!) So it gave me the idea that I could just create a new maxi dress from an old tank and my current maxi dress.

Here is the link to the other blog and the tutorial: A Small Snippet

I wouldn't say this was the EASIEST thing to do, but it was definitely necessary! 

Step 1: Find a tank (Mine is one from express, plain black) and a maxi dress.

The Tank I started with and the Dress.

As you can see the top of the dress as some flowy fabric near the bust. 

It really did not flatter me at all. 

Step 2: Decide where you want the dress to fall.

I decided that it should be a little more high waist-ed, right under the bust. As you can see here I pinned where the tank would attach to the dress skirt. (The top pin) and the bottom two is where I actually cut. I wanted to make sure that I had enough fabric just in case I messed up somewhere. You can always take off, but you can't put it back on without more hassles! =o) And sewing this project was enough hassle for me!

 

Step 3: Start to attach the skirt to the tank. 

I don't have a picture for this because I got pretty frustrated with it while I was working! =o)I think I should have chosen a tank that didn't have the built in bra top. It would have made things ten times easier. Also Lexi was bothering me throughout the whole process. =o) 

Step 4: Trim the skirt is necessary.

Again, I don't have a picture for this. By this point I just wanted the dress done. I almost didn't hem it, but I had to or else I wouldn't wear it! I wasn't going through all this work to just NOT wear it!!! =o)

Here are the pieces all together. The cut bottom part of the tank, and the cut top of the dress.  Then the finished dress.

Final Look

This is what the dress looked like in the end. =o) I am really happy with how it turned out and I can't wait for Spring to come so I can wear it!

 You can't see it in the picture, but I actually made a happy mistake in the front. It twisted while I was sewing, again just wanted it done! =o), and it happened to be a cute accent.

Also, I had to leave part of the back un-sewn together because in the original dress there was a cute opening. And since that part of the skirt had elastic, I needed to keep it that way so I could get the dress on. It was really cute though. I will post pictures up with me wearing it soon.

As I said before, I can't tell you that this was an easy project. I sure am happy that I started with this dress rather than completely from scratch like the tutorial I linked above. Now I think I am ready to tackle the other maxi dress!

Enjoy! If you have any questions, Please let me know!

-Mindie

3 Braided Buns

Here is a braided hair style that I found on Pintrest. I thought it was really cute and simple, but yet keeping all the hair out of my face. As I have mentioned before, the winter takes a real toll on my hair. It makes it static y from my jacket, dry heat, scarves, etc.

Here is the link for where I got the idea: Braided Buns

It is REALLY simple.
Step 1: Start with three ponytails right underneath each other. (You can make more if you'd like. I just stuck with three.)




















Step 2: Take each pony tail and braid each one. Then I started to put the top braid into a bun. Pin in place.
Try to make it as flat as possible otherwise it is too high.





















Step 3: Continue putting the other braids in buns in the same fashion that you did with the first one. Pin the other buns in place and spray hair spray where necessary.

And that's all folks! =o)

Enjoy!

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

 You all know how I LOVE cabbage, so when I saw this recipe, I was super excited. I love halupki, but it takes too long to make. This was a great alternative and it didn't take as long to make.

It was a little weird that there was cheese on it, but how could cheese NOT make it better???  Haha... it was SO delicious with the cheese, but I'm sure it's good without it too.
 Enough said... now go make some stuffed cabbage casserole! =o)


Recipe Adapted from Skinny Taste

Kalyn's Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Kalyn's Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
Recipe slightly modified from Kalyn's Kitchen
Servings: 10 • Serving Size: 1/10th with cheese • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 250.9 • Fat: 11.3 g • Protein: 16.9 g • Carb: 23.8 g • Fiber: 5.5 g • Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 459 mg (without salt)  
Without Cheese: • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 194.9 • Fat: 7.7 g • Protein: 10.5 g • Carb: 23 g • Fiber: 5.5 g • Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 291.2 mg (without salt)  
 

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1 lb. 95% lean ground beef (You can use ground turkey to cut out some of the fat.)
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 1 tbsp finely minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp sweet Hungarian Paprika (If you don't have Hungarian, you can just use regular paprika, or even smoked paprika!)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 
• 1 1/2 heads green cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups cooked brown rice 
• 2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese (Sargento)

Instructions:Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray. (My dish was 13" x 10")
Heat a large frying pan on medium heat; add ground beef and cook until it's browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as it cooks. Remove ground beef and set aside. In the same pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, dried thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef. Add water to the pan. Simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes. While it simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves; chop the cabbage coarsely into 1 inch pieces. Heat remaining olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven; add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.

Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray and the layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, remaining cabbage, and remaining meat mixture. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges. Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese (if using.) Bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown. Serve hot.Freezer friendly if you have leftovers. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then either microwave until hot or heat in the oven in a glass dish covered with foil.

Turquoise Necklace

I haven't beaded necklaces for a while because I was fresh out of ideas. Since I got my new iPhone 5 last fall, it has made going on Pinterest so much easier! I definitely spend A LOT of time on it! =o)
Anyway, I came across the CUTEST necklace! I am totally in love with this turquoise-esque color! And the best part was that it came with DIRECTIONS on how to make it!!!

Here is the link: Pinterest Necklace

So I didn't quite follow the directions exactly since I couldn't find the same exact beads. Mine were a little bigger, but I also made a longer necklace.

Things I changed:

1. Bigger beads: The bead diameter was a little smaller than 1/4". I fit 50 beads on each single strand of wire.
2. I used two colors. Turquoise and a Dark turquoise (I'm not sure what to call the color, but you can see it in the picture).
3. I beaded the wire strings to about 11.25" instead of the 5.5" the directions say. So I would cut about 15" to 20" of wire instead of the 10".
4. And the chain total was about 9.25" long. I wanted the necklace to be closer to my neck instead of dangling down.
5. I used a lobster claw clasp rather than the clasp shown in the picture. (The person noted at the bottom that she ended up changing the clasp anyway.)

I think that is all I changed. =o)
Enjoy!

Oreo Cupcakes

 My friend Stephanie, from Stephanie cooks, made these cupcakes for her son's first birthday party. They were DELICIOUS and they had a nice surprise of the other half of the Oreo on the bottom! So of course I HAD to try and find the recipe. =o) I cut the sugar in half because I felt that there was enough sugar in them already from the Oreos. I also used white whole wheat and whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. (It makes me feel like they are a bit more healthy. =o))
I brought them to school and they were a big hit! My principal asked for the recipe and the vice principal couldn't get enough of them! Apparently he is a picky eater!
So overall, these are totally fabulous! 

Enjoy!!! =o)

 Recipe adapted from : Annies Eats

Oreo Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

·         24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached

·         2¼ cups all-purpose flour (I used half white whole wheat and half whole wheat flour)

·         1 tsp. baking powder

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

·        About 1/2  cup sugar

·         3 large egg whites, at room temperature

·         2 tsp. vanilla extract

·         1 cup skim milk

·         20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I quarter them)

·         8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

·         6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

·         1 tbsp. vanilla extract

·         4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

·         2 tbsp. heavy cream

·         Oreo cookie crumbs (Or ground up chocolate graham crackers)

·         24 Oreo cookie halves

Directions

·         Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up. 

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. 

With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. 

Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

·         Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

FROSTING:

·         To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla extract. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. If needed, you may need to keep adding powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want.)

·         Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.