Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

Small Batch Cherry Preserves

Small Batch Cherry Preserves will harness all the summer flavor you love in one little jar. What are you waiting for? It only takes half an hour!

At the moment I can't stop buying fresh berries. Blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries have been making their way right into my cart every time I go grocery shopping.

It's not a bad problem to have. I guess there could be worse things that could jump into my cart.

Oh, wait. I have a seriously large sweet tooth so there are always cookies and candies jumping into the cart too. I should probably try to stick to the sugar in the fruit instead. Thank goodness all three of our kids love fruit.

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Chicken BLT Ranch Pizza

Tomatoes, bacon, and lettuce add a fun summer flair to this easy Chicken BLT Ranch Pizza. It's a great appetizer or dinner for summer picnics.

*This summer I am partnering with Red Gold® as a brand ambassador creating recipes using canned tomatoes. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Chicken BLT Ranch Pizza - this easy cold pizza is loaded with tomatoes, bacon, lettuce, and chicken. Great recipe for summer dinners and picnics!

Bright sunshine is pouring through our windows today as I sit here. Summer has quickly become my favorite season. I love all things that come with a bright sunny day. Sunshine, blue skies, pool days, picnics, and BLT sandwiches are just a few of my favorite things.

Can I tell you a secret though? There was a time when I thought I didn't like bacon. I know! How crazy is that? The only way I could or would eat it was extra crispy and on a BLT sandwich. Eating it plain was never an option.

Although, over the past few years I have been adding it to different pasta dinners, and I have slowly begun to enjoy bacon in other things.

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S'mores Sugar Cookie Bars

Gooey marshmallow frosting and chocolate bars make these sweet S'mores Sugar Cookie Bars a fun dessert for summer picnics and parties.

Summer is in full swing here. With all these hot blazing days we have made a few trips to the pool and Bahama Bucks. Gotta love a cup full of shaved ice with all kinds of flavored syrups.

Of course when I think of summer, I think s'mores. Ok, that's not quite true because I tend to think about s'mores all year long. I have made it my mission to include s'mores in every kind of treat.

Popcorn, cheesecake, cookies, and even breakfast have all been s'mores-itized in our kitchen. Haha! That's my new word for the month. S'mores-itized! Now to figure out what else I can add chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers too... [Read more...]

Seven Places to Visit in San Francisco

We only had a few days to check out the sites of the city, so here are Seven Places to Visit in San Francisco that we enjoyed. Bring comfortable shoes because you will be doing a lot of walking.

A few months ago my husband had a conference in San Francisco. I was able to fly out and join him for a few days after his conference was over. Since we only had a few days to explore, we tried to hit some of the most popular places.

Now I realize that there are WAY more than seven places that you could visit in San Francisco. But we only had 3 days and our legs to get us there. We did rent a car one of the days because we wanted to visit the redwood forests outside the city, but most of our exploring was done by walking and an occasional Uber.

The first two days we were exploring it was cloudy and raining, so we didn't see things as well as we would have liked, but hey, it was still fun.

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Pina Colada Cheesecake Parfaits

Grab a spoon and a spot in the shade while you enjoy a few of these No Bake Pina Colada Cheesecake Parfaits! These creamy cups are the perfect treat for summer picnics or parties!

This past week our family enjoyed some time away at the beaches in Florida. A week of sunshine, waves, and sunsets was just what we needed after a busy year of school and work. If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen some of the fun things we were doing.

We decided to make most of our meals in our room since it had a mini kitchen. It's nice to have food in the fridge for quick and easy meals after a long day in the sun.

Of course, vacations also call for a few meals out. My favorite thing to order are shrimp tacos, and there is nothing better than a shrimp meal on a beach. [Read more...]

No Bake Nutella Oreo Icebox Cake

Layers of cookies, chocolate cheesecake, and strawberries make this easy No Bake Nutella Oreo Icebox Cake the perfect summer dessert. Chocolate and no bake always get my attention!

Up until this past week, we have had hot days and cool nights. That cooler weather was perfect for having a campfire in the back yard at night and for working out in the early morning.

Then this week hit and we have had more humidity during the day than usual. The hotter days have been carrying over into the evening. That doesn't stop us from lighting up some of the wood in our backyard though. S'mores are a must have during the summer.

Who am I kidding? I could do s'mores all year long. Give me that gooey chocolate and marshmallow any day! [Read more...]

Thoughts from a Mom's Heart

Over the past few years, I have slacked off on sharing some of our family life and thoughts from a mom's heart. Oh, I still share our family stories along with the recipes you love, but I realized that I haven't shared as much about our life. I have so many pictures of what we are doing or thinking, and they just sit on the phone and computer.

Sharing more things with you guys is something that has been on my heart lately, so I hope you enjoy a few posts here and there that are just about us.

Over the years the kids have stopped fighting me about taking pictures on certain days. Christmas, Easter, Mother's day, and the first day of school are all days I want pictures of. They used to groan and moan and cry and give me grief.

Oh, wait, that hasn't changed much over the years. They still moan and groan about it, but they at least are much more willing to appease mom now that they are older.

Plus, I think they have finally learned that if they just do it right away without the grief, it takes less time. Now they still make lots of faces and poses, and I make them come back and take one more good picture with everyone smiling. But at least they do it with a happy heart. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
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Blueberry Lemon Danish

This easy homemade blueberry lemon Danish is a delicious way to start the day. A soft dough and blueberry pie filling make these breakfast treats come together so quickly.

This past week has been busy around here. Our church provided lunches on three days to a local elementary school as a way to thank the teachers for all their hard work. I made some funfetti sugar cookie bars and neapolitan fudge for the first two days, then I decided to make cute little cheesecake parfaits for the last day. Let's just say that 60 parfaits seemed easy when I first started.

I enlisted my hubby to help me chop cookies and wash dishes that night. Four hours later, we finished up the last one. Now, part of the reason it took so long is that I was developing the recipes for two of the varieties we made. The other two recipes were already finished, and we just had to whip up triple batches of each. Easier said than done, though.

Maybe I should have just stuck with an easier dessert, although I heard that the teachers loved all of them. So it was totally worth it!

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Egg Taquitos

Green Chile Egg Taquitos make breakfast a tasty grab-and-go affair! The whole family will love these easy time savers.

We are on the home stretch for the end of school. The kids are on a countdown now. They are all pretty much checked out since there is less than a month of school to go. They just want summer and sleeping in to be here now. I can't believe that in three weeks that will be happening.

Since our oldest is graduating high school, I'm totally pretending that is not a reality because I'm not ready to have my baby be that old. Excuse me while I go have an ugly cry while I look at baby pictures.

Ok, I'm better now, but let's not talk about the end of school again. Let's talk about keeping the kids going strong the last few weeks.

Over the past few years, we have really tried to stress the importance of starting the day out right with breakfast. Not that we didn't feed our kids breakfast before, but they are finally getting it.

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No Bake Strawberry Mousse Cakes

Using store bought cakes and a few ingredients makes these No Bake Strawberry Mousse Cakes an easy dessert to put together for summer parties or dinners.

A strawberry mousse cake topped with hot fudge drizzles and a fresh strawberry on a red towel.

Some days you will find me in the kitchen baking up a crazy storm for hours. Other times I want a quick dessert that takes very little time because I have other things to do. This little cake is one of those desserts that doesn't take much time at all.

Got to love a dessert that looks like you bought it at the bakery, right? Let's keep it our little secret that these take less time to make than driving to your local sweet shop.

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