Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

All you need are two ingredients to have this Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork for dinner tonight. Serve it with barbecue sauce and buns or use it on tacos or nachos.

Growing up I wasn't a big meat eater. Give me a big plate of veggies and I was a happy camper. My parents always had me eat at least three bites of meat before I could be excused from the dinner table.

One of my younger sisters was the complete opposite. She would finish her meat and then sit there staring at the veggies left on her plate. I don't know why we didn't do a covert trade when our parents weren't watching.

Over the years though, I have started to enjoy more meats. Well, I don't know if eating burgers and chicken counts as more meat. I'm still not a big fan of red meat. The texture and taste just aren't for me. In the past few years, I have come to love pulled pork too. I probably like it because pork is considered the other white meat.

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Cherry Sweet Rolls

These easy no yeast Cherry Sweet Rolls are filled with a homemade cherry preserves and drizzled with a sweet almond glaze. Great breakfast treat for summer mornings!

Can you believe that summer is on the downward spiral? It feels like summer came and went for us this year. I think that is mostly because we had so much going on at the beginning of the summer. Our oldest graduated high school, we had family come visit, and we went to Florida for a week.

Our next big thing is moving...again! Packing our house and settling all the lose ends here will definitely fill the rest of our month with madness. Schools in Florida start earlier than Texas, so my kids are counting down the next month.

They have hit that summer slump of being bored. I may need to put them to work in the kitchen making some Nutella no bake cookies and cleaning up after. Haha! I think they would quickly become un-bored if I suggest that.

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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 Cookie Bars

S'mores Cookie Bars are a fun dessert to make for picnics and parties. The graham cracker cookie base is topped with fluffy marshmallow frosting, chocolate bars, and mini marshmallows. Enjoy the classic s'mores flavors you love, with no campfire needed!

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I have made it my personal mission to add s'mores flavors to as many recipes as possible. Over the years, I have made s'mores popcorn, s'mores pie, and even a s'mores Danish. I call it "s'mores-itizing" all the things!

Honestly, this whole s'mores thing started years ago when our kids were younger. During bonfire nights, they would swing flaming marshmallows around, and then I would find sticky goo everywhere. So, I started looking for ways to add those flavors to my recipes, and sugar cookies seemed like a fun one to try.

Of course, once I discovered sugar cookie bars, I have never looked back. I'm all about pressing the dough into a pan instead of cutting multiple cookies. I have tried so many fun variations, but these s'mores cookie bars are still one of my absolute favorites.

Adding graham cracker crumbs to the dough takes them to a whole new delicious level. And my fun twist to the cookie bars was a sweet marshmallow frosting topped with candy bars.

Classic s'mores flavors without a bonfire. Graham cracker sugar cookies, marshmallow frosting, and chocolate candy bars make every square taste like a yummy s'more. No fire, no mess, and no gooey marshmallow on everything!
Made and frosted in one pan! Press the dough into a pan, bake, frost, and serve it all from the same dish.
Great dessert for any occasion. These bars are always a hit at summer parties, picnics, potlucks, or bake sales. Each pan makes 24 bars, so you have plenty to share. They are also the perfect treat to make for National S'mores Day on August 10th.

If you love s'mores desserts, you might also want to check out these s'mores cookie cups or these s'mores chocolate chip cookies.

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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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Why You'll Love These S'more Cookie Bars