Quick and Easy - Brownie Cheesecake Bites

     Yes, thats right! You don't have to take a double take at the title, it says, Brownie Cheesecake Bites. Just the name of them make you say Mmmmm Good. I love desserts! If I wouldn't gain weight from eating baked goods, I would make desserts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This particular dessert is two of my favorites made into one and it is delish!
   

 
 This is called a Quick & Easy Recipe because it is done with premade mixes. (Don't Judge)  Now adays not everyone is able to buy all the ingredients needed for a homemade recipe or they do not have the time. I do however prefer to buy the ingredients and make it homemade but, in this situation I didn't have time, I wanted to make these as a snack to take with us on our road trip to get it started off right, with a great dessert!

ALWB Interview - Get to know a little about me!

Good Evening Everyone! Welcome if you are new here and visiting from ALWB and if you already know me and are one of my wonderful readers from Raised Southern Thanks for stopping in and joining us again! Also if you did not know I am the Blogger of the Month Coordinator at Alabama Women Bloggers, and we are doing a self interview because our community has grown so much lately and we thought this would be a great way for us to get to know each other and connect a little bit more. So here is some more info about little ol' me!


1. What part of the state do you call home? 
     Lillian, AL, The Gulf Coast, and I sure do love it down here. I couldn't live with out beautiful white sand and rolling waves. 

2. How long have you been blogging? 
     I have been blogging since 2009, I started blogging just when I had the time, but I found myself constantly thinking about it about what I would blog next. 

3. Why did you start blogging?

Healthy Snackin', Get Crackin' with the Harlem Globetrotters *GIVEAWAY* Birmingham, AL Game 3/16/14 @3:00

     The top- selling snack nut item and the beloved American basketball team, The Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Birmingham, AL at the Pete Hanna Center on March 16, 2014. Both Wonderful Pistachios and the Harlem Globetrotters are working together to promote healthy snacking and living. Wonderful Pistachios have chosen the Raised Southern Readers to have a chance to win a family four pack of VIP tickets, meet & greet passes before the game and a basket full of Wonderful Pistachios to snack on!
     The game will be at the Pete Hanna Center on March 16, 2014 at 4:00 p.m., The meet and greet starts at 3:00 p.m. The lucky winner will get backstage access and get the chance to mingle with the players and collect photos and autographs!  Who doesn't love healthy snackin' so get crackin' and enter our giveaway to win these wonderful prizes! GOOD LUCK! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you have  been to a Harlem Globetrotter Game you know how awesome these fellas are. If you have never been to a game prepare to be amazed.  My husband and son attended a game last year when he was 8 and enjoyed it very much. My son was so excited he started talking about how he wanted to play basketball and trying to do all the tricks he had seen at the game with is dad. My husband said it was great as well and would absolutely go again. I suggest checking into it. It truly is fun for all ages! Here are some videos of what you can expect from the Harlem Globetrotters! 

Relax and Rewind with Rewined Candles from Bourbon and Boots

Give me wine and candles and you have the key to my heart, give me a Rewined Candle from Bourbon & Boots, and I'm yours forever.

     I am a lover of candles, especially ones that are uniquely made and have a great look to them, so they look good when they are not burning too. I have recently fell in love with a particular brand of candle. Usually I am not one to go with "brands" of products, I'm the whatever smells good and looks pretty type of gal, easy going. Rewined Candles not only smell amazing but also have a beautiful, classy, simple, country, southern style! Yes, this one candle is all of that!

      Rewined candles are made from recycled wine bottles. Rewined Candles started from a guy that worked in a restaurant and saw a lot of recycled and discarded bottles and the idea was sparked to re-purpose the bottles into candles that mimic the wine, and Rewined Candles was born and has grown to be large company and built a family of retailers. The scents of the candles mimic the tasting notes of the wine and vary in 10 different scents. If you are not a wine drinker, or even if you are and not familiar with the wine terminology, a tasting note refers to a tasters testimony about the aroma, taste identification, acidity, structure, texture, and balance of a wine.

     The scent of the Rewined Candle that has caused me to fall in love with these candles is the Pinot Noir. The description for the Pinot Noir is this earthy complex wine mimics the ground that produces its fresh fig and cranberry rooted by the rustic aromas of leather and violet finishing with hints of musky earth tones. I have to say, this is one smell I can't get enough of.  This fragrance is such a calming scent. The main thing I love about these candles is that I can smell it, even when it is not lighted. That is important because we don't always want the candles lit, but we always want our homes to smell like they are.

   


     These candles would also be great to have at a outdoor get together,wedding, party, or a romantic day at the beach. I would want to take the candle to the beach with me, on a personal day or family day, just so I could enjoy it's fragrance in the wonderful sun and breeze.





     You can find these wonderful candles at Bourbon & Boots. At Bourbon & Boots they offer Authentic Southern gifts, stories, and style. This wonderful site is not only beautiful but also has some of the most unique gifts, that have true southern style and are handmade.
     The shop carries something for everyone, and you are sure to be the one that gives the best gifts. Not only is this site beautiful and carry the greatest handmade products I have ever seen  (yes,my wishlist is a mile long) it has wonderful Virtues as a business. I love that the Virtues for this company range from, " We value outstanding design and high quality products" all the way to "We want to meet you, talk to you, and be friends" and "We love your grandma."

    Now, I don't know about y'all but anyone that wants to have good conversation, be your friend, and loves your grandma, that's a company I would like to buy from. Not to mention, they have Rewined Candles and I will be ordering those often!

     Bourbon & Boots wants you to come in, sit down, stay awhile, and take a look around. I can guarantee you won't regret finding this wonderful , authentic, southern store.

They are offering you 5% off your purchase with this coupon code of : blograisedsouthern14 ( all lowercase, all together, no spaces) Shop with them here : http://bourbonandboots.com






*This post was only compensated with the product, a Rewined candle furnished from Bourbon & Boots. No other compensation was given. All opinions are mine.

Butterfly Snacks

     Valentines Day was last Friday and of course we had to make a special snack for each of the kids classes. My friend Mandy had made these adorable butterfly snacks for her sons class and when I seen them I knew that is exactly what we had to do for little Miss. Princess and she LOVED them.

 Since it was Valentines day we also added candy to the snack bags. When you are making them for a school snack make sure you make healthy choices! It's not only important for your kids who may get a well balanced meal but it's more important for the kids who may not. Miss. Princess has children in her class with fruit allergies so we only send pretzels generally, but for this special occasion we added Valentines hearts.

    What y'all will need:
-Plastic Snack bags
-Pipe Cleaners
- Pretzels (whatever other healthy snack you would like to add)

     Fill the snack bags with whatever snack you have chosen, you can choose two different snacks if you would like and have them on separate sides of the butterfly. Once the bags are filled, take a pipe cleaner and wrap around the bag, make the ends even together and twist at the bottom of the pipe cleaner, closer to the bag, to keep the snack separated. To finish twist the ends of the pipe cleaners into curly spirals to make the butterfly antennas.

How easy and cute are those! This will also be a great snack to send during spring.