Joyeux Mardi Gras!

     So Mardi Gras has been going on for awhile, but I usually just celebrate it with the kiddos on Fat Tuesday.  It's a day with beads, masks, purple, green and gold, yummy food, and festive treats!  I usually make the traditional Red Beans & Rice, Gumbo, Dirty Rice, Okra, yadda yadda.... but this year I wanted to do something a little different.  So, I went on Pinterest and found some yummy new recipes to try out on the family.  They are awesome and got the thumbs up!  These were definitely blog worthy!

Here's the Mardi Gras lunch I came up with for Liam 

Purple, green & yellow Gold Fish,

PB&J with sanding sugars,

Grapes & Apricots,

and a King Cake Bar (I made)

While Liam was in school, Kinley and I dressed up!

For dinner I made some finger lickin' Cajun BBQ Shrimp

and some Bacon Collard Greens!

For dessert we enjoyed some King Cake Bars

and Bourbon Pecan Pralines!

Hope you had a fun festive Mardi Gras....

now that we filled ourselves on Fat Tuesday, it's time to fast for Ash Wednesday for Lent!

King Cake Bars

Recipe from The Christian Science Monitor

What you need: Crust- 2 cups all purpose flour (sifted) 1 cup unsalted butter (cold and cubed) 6 TBsp sugar 2 Tbsp milk Filling- 2 (8oz) blocks cream cheese (room temperature) 1 cup sugar 1 egg (room temperature) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp cinnamon Glaze- 1 cup confectioner's sugar (sifted) 2 Tbsp milk colored sanding sugar or sprinkles (purple, green, yellow) How to make them: Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spray a 9x13 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. In a bowl of an electric mixer, mix flour and sugar. Drop in the butter cubes and beat on low speed until mixture is crumble and looks like wet sand. Add the milk and beat until it starts to stick together. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared baking dish then press it in to form an even layer, making sure there are no holes or gaps. Clean the mixer bowl and paddle, then make sure it's dry. Beat the filling ingredients together until completely smooth. Spread the filling evenly over the prepared crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden brown and filling is set. While the bars are cooking, whisk together the confectioner's sugar and milk until completely smooth. As soon as you remove the bars from the oven, spread the glaze in an even layer across the top. Immediately decorate with the sanding sugar. Leave the bars to cool completely. To serve, cut into bars then ENJOY!