Frosting

1/2 cup butter room temp
4-5 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (until desired texture and creaminess)
Cream butter add powdered sugar, extract and whipping cream until desired consistency. Add color if you want.

My Favorite Sugar Cookies

This is my Mom's recipe and I love them!
2 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
cream butter and sugar
add eggs, salt and extract,mix then add flour and baking powder. Bake at 375 for 8-10 min. I like my sugar cookies soft and chewy so i barely brown them on the bottom. If you want them crunchy then just extend the baking time.

Roasted Vegetables with Quinoa

This is a great main dish recipe. Roasted vegetables are delicious. Any variety that sounds good to you will work. Ella had so much fun helping me put it all together. Her version of helping is to eat the tomatoes as fast as I can cut them. Today she also had fun tasting the peppers, carrots and zucchini. I had to chop extra because she ate a lot of them before they got roasted. It does a mother good to see her child eat vegetables!
Pre-heat oven to 425
1 med to small red bell pepper chopped
1 tomato chopped
4-6 garlic cloves whole
1/2 butternut squash peeled, seeded and chopped into cubes
3 carrots peeled and sliced into sticks about 2-3 inches long
1 yellow squash chopped
1 zucchini chopped
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
balsamic vinegar
fresh lemon juice

I put the butternut squash on one pan, the carrots and summer squash on on another one and the peppers and tomatoes on their own. This was for ease of cooking since tomatoes and peppers will roast faster than the squash and carrots. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 20-35 min checking about every ten min and stirring halfway through. It is done when they are browned and look slightly caramelized. Boil 1 cup of water and add 1/2 cup quinoa. Cook for about 40 min while veggies roast. Combine quinoa and veggies. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar to taste. You can also serve it with Parmesan cheese or feta. This feeds about three hungry people and a toddler. Enjoy!
(Ella made a train with the carrots and was saying Choo choo!)