Lei Lani Romero Projects : 2015

5 Holiday Must Do's

This holiday season, incoorporate these five "must do's" into your family's tradition.

1.)GINGERBREAD COOKIES

This year has been busy, and with barely any time left to bake, I was about to ditch the cookie baking tradition all together. I always bake from scratch, but sometimes you need a little help pulling it all off.
So for those of us on a budget and with no time to lose, I recommend Betty Crocker's Gingerbread cookie mix. It's the first gingerbread instant mix that I have ever tasted that actually tastes gingery enough and doesn't leave you wishing you had baked from scratch. It's a fast and easy alternative and the dough is beautifully smooth in just minutes.

As for cookie cutters, I found the most adorable mini-cutters at Target for about $3.00
Hand decorated cookies make wonderful hostess gifts and with these mini-cutters, all the guilt of eating sugary treats is gone! Besides, cutting out cookies is a must-do project especially if you have little ones coming over for the holidays.

For frosting use traditional sugar icing, and sprinkles can be found at your local grocery store.

2.)AFFORDABLE GIFT WRAPPING

I always go hunting down ideas during the Christmas season and am always in love with gift wrapping DIY's, but they always seem too pricey for my budget.
This year I decided to go with traditional gift wrap and peppermint twine. Its simple, yet charming and doesn't break the bank. I wrapped ALL my gifts for under $10! I also recommend the generic card packs sold at Target. One pack includes four styles and it's only $3. Cute and affordable.

3.) DECORATING

This year I bought yet another mini-tree for only $8 at Target. Definitely affordable and fit for apartment living. There are tons of "mini" ornament options at Target, Wal-mart, and even Michaels.

4.) SPENDING TIME WITH LOVED ONES

Whether it be playing a game of scrabble, driving home with a christmas tree tied to the roof of your car, or spend together cozied up to the fire place watching holiday movies, don't forget the reason for the season, and remind those you love that you love them!

5.) LOTS AND LOTS OF HOT CHOCOLATE AND LAUGHTER (and ugly Christmas Sweaters)

The holidays arent complete without Hot chocolate and cozying up to the fireplace, I know mine aren't.
For a christmas card alternative for the price of $0 take the family portrait yourself this year with the help of a tripod!

Happy Holidays!!!

-Leilani

2:16 PM
0 Comments

A Coffee Themed Birthday

Coffee and chocolate, Mmm Mmm Mmm.

For all of you coffee lovers out there, today I am going to show you all the necessary steps to make a delicious coffee themed surprise. I originally made this for my boyfriend's birthday since he is a lover of coffee, but this cake is perfect for all occasions.

Here are some ingredients you will need:

-Dark Chocolate

-Kona Coffee Beans

-Chocolate Frosting

-Brownie mix (+eggs +Veggie oil)

-Marshmallows

-Confectioners Sugar

-Muffin Tin & a round cake tin

-Frosting Gun

-Fondant tools

-Rolling pin

How to make a Mocha-Coffee Brownie cake:

Step One: Bake your brownie mix of choice, I bought "Mocha-Brownie" flavored box mix.

You will need a round cake tin and a muffin tin.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Step Two: While your Brownie cake is in the oven, melt the dark chocolate. Dip the Kona Coffee beans in the melted chocolate.

Step Three: Place the chocolate covered coffee beans on wax paper, and freeze.

Step Four: Melt the bag of marshmallows in the microwave, until completely melted. Once smooth, add confectioners sugar and mix until no longer sticky. You should be left with a thick hard fondant.

Step Five: Shape the fondant into coffee cup shapes. Use the cupcakes as cups of coffee. It helps drape the fondant over the "cupcakes". Let coffee cups sit until hardened.

Step Six: Load chocolate frosting into a frosting gun or bag with a nozzle. Swirl frosting in a spiral shape from the inside out to create beautiful frosting roses.

Step Seven: Place cake, coffee cups, and chocolate covered coffee beans on a cake tray to achieve ellegant plating. Add candles.

Step Eight: Celebrate! Life is meant to be celebrated.

Here are some photographs of our birthday celebration for my barista. For a nice birthday surprise I filled an extra large box with helium balloons and placed his smaller gift boxes at the bottom.

That's a "wrap".

Until next week.

12:01 PM
0 Comments

The Green Tour: Tips and tricks for decorating an apartment using plants

A green home is a happy home.

Today I'm going to be discussing how greenery can lead to a fresher and more ornamented apartment.

As we all know, gardening is a great form of stress relief. But for those of us who live in city apartments, gardening is not the ideal. In this case, potting plants seems to be the best substitute, especially for balconies and interior decoration.

Garden Mums are ideal for the fall, and makes for a nice greeting.

A couple must haves for your home include cacti (lots and lots of cacti), succulents, and other hardy shrubs that can go without being watered on the daily.

Bromeliads are wonderful in their own way, but hard at times to care for. They need their "cup" to remain watered and are picky about temperature, since they are a tropical plant. Bromeliads are bittersweet due to their human reminder of the circle of life. They grow, flower, then gift you with clone pups, and then they die...no matter how good the care. Not to discourage you, caring for Bromeliads is a world of its own, but growing pups successfully is one of the best feelings. The good side of Bromeliads is if you care for them well, you can end up with an amazing collection of multiple generations.

Hanging plants are a nice touch.

Herbs such as mint are lovely, too.

Lastly, my ultimate favorite is my Hibiscus tree. Hibiscuses are wonderful because of their beautiful flowers, which are also good for making hibiscus tea. This kind of tree needs a big pot, and lots of sun. The flowers only live for a day when bloomed, but this tree keeps them coming.

Well, that's all for today. I hope this post has inspired you to live green-fully.

Happy planting!

3:57 PM
0 Comments

Three (Easy) Party Snack Recipes Everyone Will Love

Parties. Get togethers. All good things.

Hi everyone, today I'll be sharing with you some quick and easy recipes I hope will make an appearance at your next home party. These three are simple, yet easy to make in large quantities. For today's blog post I give you all the ingredients needed for you to make your magic in the kitchen with just enough time to enjoy your own party, too.

1.) Strawberry Marshmallow Kabobs

-Fresh Strawberries

-Fruit Marshmallows

-Chocolate (Optional)

-Skewers

2.) Cucumber Sandwiches

-Freshly cut cucumber

-cream cheese

-Dill

-Sour dough bread slices

3.) Mozzarella Tomato Melts

-Bread

-Butter

-Mozzarella Cheese

-Cut Tomatoes

-Cilantro

-Pepper

-Cayenne

-Garlic

Happy cooking!

3:51 PM
0 Comments

A Guacamole Recipe To Rave About

Hello everyone!

I've been promising a series of quick and easy recipes, good for every occasion.

Here's a recipe that will make your house guests rave.

For the last few weeks, I have been obsessed with Avocado and today I will show you one of my favorite ways to eat it...Guacamole.

Here's what you'll need:

-Avocados (2)

-Tomato (1)

-Onion (1)

-Lime (1/2)

-Cilantro

-Cayenne

-Pepper

Before we get started, a good tip to keep in mind is how to tell when your Avocado is ripe, and ready to be eaten... Consistency is key. To ensure soft, and smooth Guacamole, check and see if the skin gives a little when lightly squeezing the avocado skin. If its very stiff, its not ready.

Step One: Slice the Avocado in half, and remove the pit.

Scrape the fruit from the skin and mash in a bowl.

Step Two: Dice Tomatoes and Onions.

Add them into the the bowl with the mashed avocado and mix well.

Step Three: Add in your cilantro, cayenne, and pepper.

Step Four: Squeeze lime juice into your mix and distribute evenly.

Now your Guacamole is ready for the party!

For more recipes and inspiration, Subscribe here at Leilani Romero Projects.

6:42 PM
0 Comments

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

Hi everyone!

For today's post, I've got the secret to delicious tasting homemade fondant.

Yes, there is such a thing as tasty fondant...

Here's what you'll need:

-Confectioner's sugar

-Marshmallows

-Food coloring

-Mixer

-Rolling Pin

-Micro wave safe bowl

Step by step instructions:

1. Poor a bag of marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 45 seconds.

2. Remove the melted marshmallow mess from the microwave and hand mix to distribute heat.

3. Heat again in microwave for 30 more seconds, and mix again.

4. Once the marshmallows have been melted into a fluffy goop, poor into your mixing bowl and begin to mix at a medium speed.

5. Now, begin to add your confectioners sugar. As the sugar mixes, keep poring more in. Do this until the mix stops looking like melted, sticky marshmallow, and more like a dough. (You'll need a lot of sugar!)

6. For colored fondant, add food coloring and mix into the dough.

7. Once you have your dough, roll thin with a rolling pin. Your fondant is now ready to be used to decorate your delicious baked goods...

Decorating tip: Cookie cutters are great for cutting the fondant into shapes and designs, for cookies and cakes.

Happy Baking!

For more recipes and DIY Projects, subscribe today.

4:08 PM
0 Comments

Nutella Cinnamon Swirl Waffles Recipe

Hello all!

Today I'll be sharing with you my delicious new recipe for fluffy Nutella Cinnamon Swirl Waffles.

This recipe uses absolutely NO Baking Powder and NO baking Soda!

For this recipe you will need:

-A waffle maker (and veggie oil)

-1 cup flour

-1 cup milk

-1/2 cup sugar

-1/4 tsp. salt

-2 egg yolks

-2 egg whites

-sprinkle of cinnamon

-1 big spoon of Nutella hazelnut spread

-rainbow sprinkles

Alright! So here's whatcha do:

In one bowl mix the flour, milk, egg yolks, cinnamon, and salt.

In a second bowl, whisk the egg whites and sugar together to form a paste.

Fold the mix of egg whites and sugar into the first bowl with the rest of the ingredients, and keep folding until no white streaks are left.

Once everything is evenly mixed in, add your hearty spoon of Nutella and swirl in. (You can also do this with peanut butter, for peanut butter swirl waffles!)

Coat in oil, and preheat your waffle maker, then poor the batter. Once fresh out of the waffle maker, fluffy and cooked, add toppings such as melted Nutella and sprinkles (I like a lot of chocolate on mine, but that's just me). Strawberries, whip cream, chocolate chips, peanut butter, ice-cream, butter, and syrup also go great, and make for the perfect add ons.

I hope this post inspires you....

Happy waffle making!

For more delicious recipes, don't forget to subscribe and share!

10:39 AM
0 Comments

Zesty Lemon Chicken Recipe

For today's "Day Four" project, I've decided to show you guys how I like to make Zesty Lemon Chicken. I've been craving everything-lemon this past week and figured I'd use this opportunity to scrounge up some lemons, and make a new blog post for you all.

Here's what you'll need:

-olive oil

-Weber Zesty Lemon Seasoning

-lemon slices

-lemon juice (and zest)

-clean, boneless chicken breast

-baking pan

Step One:

Butter the pan and coat in olive oil. Rub olive oil into chicken breasts as well. Place your thawed chicken on the pan, with a little space in between each.

Step Two:

Season chicken with Zesty Lemon seasoning, and thoughtfully place lemon slices over the chicken for flavor. Add lemon zest and poor squeezed lemon juice over your chicken at this time. Other herbs and garnish of your choice can be added at this time.

Step Three:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about twenty minutes. Leave it in for ten more minutes after that on 450 degrees for juicy, tender chicken (versus cooking on 350 for thirty minutes, and ending up with dry chicken as a result).

Step Four:

Take your baked chicken out of the oven and check to make sure it is fully cooked, and that the juices run clear, and not pink. Thermometer should be around 165.

Voila!

You're a chef.

I hope this inspires you. Keep cooking!

Don't forget to subscribe for more tasty recipes and more.

3:34 PM
0 Comments

Newer
Stories

Older
Stories

Pages

Lei Lani Romero Projects

5 Holiday Must Do's

A Coffee Themed Birthday

The Green Tour: Tips and tricks for decorating an apartment using plants

Three (Easy) Party Snack Recipes Everyone Will Love

A Guacamole Recipe To Rave About

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

Nutella Cinnamon Swirl Waffles Recipe

Zesty Lemon Chicken Recipe

About me

Follow Me

recent posts

Blog Archive

Popular Posts