Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

    I love to bake. I *don't* love to cook, and you shouldn't confuse the two. Baking, for me, mostly involves sweet things and of all sweet things I dearly love a showstopper. You know what I am talking about: the ones that make you close your eyes and pause a minute as soon as the fork leaves your mouth. The kind that are so decadent you wish you could eat them all day, but a few bites are about all the richness you can handle. Definitely the kind that do not involve the words "one bowl" or "quick". Not that I don't love a good, easy recipe, but sometimes the best things really do come to those who wait.

    And to those who use heavy whipping cream! This cake is a "Frankenstein" concoction of three different recipes, none of for which I can take any of the credit. I did tinker the tiniest bit with the ganache, but the other recipes were ideal in their original form. So much so, that I will just kindly direct you to their blogs, so you can give them all due credit for their respective genius.

   However, I do love a good recommendation, so I am happy to make one to you. Make this cake. I will take full responsibility (and accolades) for combining these wonderful recipes together into this masterpiece.

     Here is how I did it: I put my cake batter in two 9 inch rounds, and reduced the baking time accordingly, made the mousse, and while the mouse was chilling, I whipped up the ganache. I doubled the recipe (8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 c. heavy whipping cream, and I added 1 tsp. of vanilla to the chocolate chips before pouring the cream over.) Set your ganache in the fridge to cool-you don't want it to melt your mousse. Spread a little less than half the mousse over your bottom layer. Do this in a hap-hazard, messy fashion to give it that homemade look. Then top with second layer and add the rest of the mousse to the top only of the cake. Use the same "devil-may-care" hand here. Do not be confused: this is *not* peanut butter frosting, and it won't behave the exact same way. Then, once your ganache is sufficiently set, pour it onto the center of the cake and try not to drool as it runs helter-skelter all down the sides and puddles on your cake plate. Pro tip: put this on a cake stand. It is definitely worthy of being on display!

  Then, because it is your birthday (oh, wait, is that just me?) pop in an adorable pom-pom garland cake topper and take exactly three pictures before attacking it with a knife. The photos above are actually from four days later. You may ask: if the cake is *that* delicious, how is it around four days later? Because it is so rich and decadent, the merest sliver is exceptionally satisfying (and also, we may or may not have celebrated Valentine's Day intervening which meant lots of other sweet treats). Keep it chilled after the initial serving so the mousse doesn't get all wonky. That's a professional term, just in case you were unaware. But whatever you do, please be sure that you have plenty of people to share this marvel with. That much heavy whipping cream deserves an audience! So without further ado, the links:

Double Chocolate Fudge Cake (the most delicious "dressed-up" boxed cake you will ever eat!) Bakerella

Peanut Butter Mousse: (chill your bowl and beaters for best results) Cafe Johnsonia

Chocolate Ganache: (this.is.so.easy. Put it on all the things.) Rose Bakes

So, how about you? Do you usually make your own birthday cakes? Or is that just me? Looking for other amazing dessert recipes? Follow my "Scrumdiddlyumptious" board on Pinterest!

Shared Here:
"Made By You Monday" at Skip To My Lou
"What'd You Do This Weekend?" at Recipes and Ramblin' with the Tumbleweed Contessa
"Weekend Recipe Link Up" at Sugar, Spice and Family Life

"Practically Perfect" Smoothies

       I hate breakfast. Well, I probably shouldn't put it exactly that way. I just have this weird thing about not wanting to chew that early in the morning. I am fine at about 9:30-10:00 am, but honestly, it just doesn't work to wait that long to eat. If I have pancakes, or waffles, or an omelet, I want them for lunch or dinner. I basically just want to drink my breakfast. I used to always have a Carnation Instant Breakfast drink, but I have been slowly trying to clean up my eating, and while that is fine occasionally, I have decided that having a smoothie in the morning is really ideal. Unfortunately, it took me a really long time to hone my smoothie making technique, mostly because everyone has a different opinion on what a smoothie should be.I had to play around with fresh and frozen fruit, amounts of liquids, and blending times and techniques. So, this isn't so much a recipe, as a how-to fine tune your smoothie to make it perfect for you!

First, the proportions that I use are almost always the same. I add:
-1 c. frozen fruit
-1/2  a fresh banana
-1/2 c. non-fat plain Greek yogurt
-1/2 c. 1% milk
-1/2 c. loosely packed spinach (basically a handful of spinach leaves, baby or regular)
-1 tbsp. chia seeds or ground flax
Serves 1.

   I wanted a smoothie that was really cold, but I hated adding ice, which a lot of smoothie recipes recommend. It takes me a while to drink the whole thing, and I didn't like that it would get watered down. I also didn't like the little ice chunks. So that is why you need to use frozen fruit. You can freeze any type of berry, cherry or melon that you want! I love to buy the triple berry blend from Costco, and also frozen pineapple. You can use any combination that you like.

   Using frozen fruit makes for a really thick smoothie. I don't have a high-powered blender (Someday, I would love to!) but the Oster I have works just fine, as long as I am careful with it. I add my fresh banana first, then the fruit. After that, milk, yogurt, spinach. I turn it on high liquefy. I watch to see if it is mixing-if not, lift the frozen fruit up-*away* from the blades. This allows the machine to draw the fruit in from a different angle. It sounds kind of technical, but I was just wished that someone had told me that it doesn't work as well to try to shove the fruit onto the blades! I let it blend for about 30 seconds, re-arrange with a spatula, and then blend again. When everything is evenly colored, there are no visible chunks and it is pulling down in the center it is done.

   One of the most important things to know is: if you want a thinner smoothie that isn't as cold, use more fresh fruit (say, 1/2 c. fresh berries, 1/2 c frozen berries). If you want a thinner, cold smoothie add more liquid. You can swap out the milk for anything, occasionally I will add half milk and half orange juice, but you could use all juice.

   I don't like my smoothies to be super sweet, either. However, sometimes I will use Tillamook Vanilla Bean Greek yogurt-that stuff is amazing! You can use regular yogurt instead of Greek, but you will be sacrificing a lot of protein. And honestly, you won't be able to tell the difference! Once it is all blended together, it is liquid anyway.

   If you are having problems with your spinach not being completely blended in, try blending it with just the milk before you add anything else. Once your milk is smooth and green you are good to go! If you are tasting the spinach, just decrease the amount initially. I have never really had a problem with it. I have never tried adding kale, I have heard that is a little stronger. I just figure that if I don't notice the spinach it is a great way to get some veggies first thing in the morning!

   I also love that it is easy to freeze berries that are past their prime for eating, and they still taste great in smoothies. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries-they are so delicate! Once they are headed downhill, I just wash them, lay them out on a tray, freeze them for 30 minutes to an hour and then put them in labeled ziplocs. Don't skip this "flash-freezing" step, or you will end up with a giant lump of berries that you can't measure. And it will be beastly to blend!

    I have seen where you can freeze your ingredients in individual baggies so that you just have to dump it all in, but I haven't found that to be especially time saving for me, and it also prevents me from being spontaneous with my fruit combinations. I usually have a least two or three different types and I like to mix up the quantities.

   You can also use frozen bananas in place of fresh, I usually cut mine into 1 inch chunks before freezing. That will make your smoothie really thick! I love to use a fat smoothie straw, my sister gave me these great reusable ones. Be warned though: freezing your bananas seems to intensify the banana flavor, and if your banana is overripe it will taste even more that way. Just use those bananas for baking!

    You can also switch things up by adding peanut butter, or protein powder. I also find that smoothies are a great way to use up leftover fruit salad-that usually isn't appetizing to look at, but throw it in a smoothie and you won't even know!

   So, hopefully this will help you to avoid some of the mistakes that I made. Smoothies are really one of the best breakfast foods ever-protein, fruit, some veggies, and all those omegas, minerals and vitamins for around 300 calories? Yes, please!

    If you have any great smoothie tips-especially for those of us without $200 blenders, please share!

Linked up:
"Motivation Monday" at A Life in Balance 
"Pin It Thursday" at Sweet Bella Roos 
"Thrifty Thursday" at Living Well, Spending Less
"Craft Frenzy Friday" at Craft Dictator
    

Valentine Snack Mix Printables

         I really wanted to make a printable for the Valentine's Day trail mix I made last year. It was such a fun Valentine! I changed a couple of things before I created it, I called it "snack mix" since mine is mostly sugar, but that way you can put whatever you want in yours and still be able to use the printable. I would say, since it is "Happy Hearts", that you should include a few heart shaped things, but this time of year that is easy! I especially love the big puffy pink heart shaped marshmallows. But whatever you put in yours, I hope you enjoy using this printable! Simply print as many copies as you need. Then you can cut apart the rectangles, fold them over (the white part forms the back) and use them as bag toppers to cellophane treart bags. Or, to change it up, only cut out the colored parts of the printable, and punch a hole wherever you like, and tie them onto your bags with ribbon. If you don't want to use bags, tape the labels onto whatever container you like! Lots of choices. :)

    I really wanted to make this recipe again, and I think we will (my daughter wants to hand these out as her Valentines again this year because she loved it so much last year) but I have not had the time to put any together. Since I wanted you to be able to use the printables, you will just have to imagine them on cute little bags of snacks! Either way, these snack mix Valentines will be a fun, original treat for your kids (or you!) to bless friends and family with this Valentine's Day.

Valentine Snack Mix Recipe:

5 cups of Quaker "Whole Heart" cereal

2 cups of chocolate chips

1 bag of Twizzler cherry bites

2 8 oz. bags of conversation hearts (I know, disgusting, but I was going for looks!)

1 and 1/2 bags of Jet Puffed Strawberry HeartMallows

Gently toss all the ingredients together except marshmallows. Add the marshmallows in equal portions after measuring the snack mix into containers or bags. It will make enough trail mix for about 40 half cup servings (including marshmallows). You can add or substitute to your "heart's" content-have fun!

Right click the image to download and save, then print!

Linked up at:
"Create, Link, Inspire" at The Crafty Blog Stalker

Easy Vanilla Caramel Fruit Dip

      Sooo, if you thought that my last recipe was ridiculously simple, you may as well not read any further. However, if you like no-brainer recipes that surprise you by how delicious they are for their lack of complex ingredients or directions, please continue!

    This recipe was born of a left-over part of a block of cream cheese and one of my most favorite things ever: Kraft's Jet-Puffed Caramel and Vanilla Mallow Bites (This is not a sponsored post, by the way, I truly just love them!). So, just so you know *exactly* what you are looking for, I have a really bad ingredient photo:

Aren't they pretty? To make this dip all you need is:

-4 oz. (1/2 a block) of cream cheese
-12 Caramel & Vanilla Mallow Bites

To serve:
-fruit of your choice: apples, bananas, strawberries, this would also be good with graham crackers!Or on brownies, or ice cream... ;)

     Cut your block of cream cheese into 4-6 rough chunks into a large microwave safe dish. Add about 6 of the marshmallows. Heat on high in the microwave for 1 minute. When you pull it out, you will see why I recommended a large dish.

See how puffy the marshmallows get? Give it a good stir and add the rest of the marshmallows. Depending on how melted your cream cheese is at this point, microwave in 30 second increments until you can mix it all together fairly well. There may be a few little bits of cream cheese, but it will still be delicious, it doesn't need to be heated to death! Serve warm, if you like, or at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers. Serves 4-6.

     And in less than 5 minutes you have a creamy, tasty dip for your fruit! My kids absolutely adore this, but don't think it is just for them. The marshmallows have such a great flavor, it is really amazing how it makes it seem like there are lots of different ingredients! That can be your little secret, but it is one I am happy to share with you.

     I actually think you could use any flavor of marshmallow you like (regular ones would be a teeny bit sweet and bland for my tastes) I think it would be really fun with the chocolate swirled ones, or the strawberry ones. There are even ice cream flavored ones... so many choices! However, I love the caramel vanilla ones so much, I don't know if I would be willing to try anything else...

Linked up at:
"Create It Thursday" at Lamberts Lately
"Fabulously Frugal Thursday" at A Life in Balance

Avocado, Corn and Black Bean Salad

             I have a major problem every year around this time: all I want to eat is cream soups and cookies hot from the oven. That doesn't work so well. However, I have also discovered this easy and delicious avocado, corn and black bean salad (Such a nice change from the usual lettuce and cucumbers!) and it is making it a little bit easier to get my 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables! A sweet friend first made this avocado, corn and black bean salad for me. I have changed it up a little to suit my tastes, and I can't get enough of it. I love guacamole, but this bumps up the nutrition factor by adding in tomatoes, black beans, sweet corn, and red onion! I actually will eat this for lunch accompanied by some fruit-it's that good. It is also delicious as a topping for tacos (chicken ones, especially, on corn tortillas! Yum!), enchiladas, or served as a hearty salsa/dip with chips. A friend also suggested putting it on burgers, which I think sounds divine. Try it, you will love it!

Avocado, Corn, and Black Bean Salad- a delicious, healthy side!
Here's what you need:
-two Roma tomatoes, chopped
-1/2 c. black beans, rinsed and drained
-1/4 c. red onion, chopped
-1 avocado (you don't need for it to be super ripe, that way it will stay in "chunks" better!) pitted and chopped
-1/2 c. sweet corn, I use frozen and "thaw" it by popping it in the microwave for about a minute. You don't need for it to be warmed.
2-3 tbsps. of your favorite "fruity" vinaigrette dressing. My friend originally made it for me using raspberry, but I absolutely love Kraft's Zesty Lime Vinaigrette.
-garlic salt and pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients together gently, adding dressing and then seasoning to taste. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Refrigerate remaining portion (If there is any left!).  Serves 2-4 depending on whether it is served as a side or a dip.

  It is so easy to throw this together, once your ingredients are all prepped. I prefer mine with a little less dressing, so it is more salad and less salsa, but use your own judgement. It is terrific served straight after tossing, but it is also delicious if you let it marinate in the fridge for a few hours. If you leave it overnight the avocado will brown a little, but it isn't any less tasty! I consider it a personal challenge to see how many times I can sample it while tasting the seasonings. Don't think that this wonderful salad should just be saved for summer, either! It will brighten up any dreary winter's day, and it would make a great Superbowl snack, too. It will be the healthiest thing on the table, but no one will care because it is so delicious!

Don't you just want a big bite? I do! Mine is all gone, but there is always tomorrow...

Linked up at:
"Take-A-Look" Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts
"Teach Me Tuesday" at Someday I'll Learn
"Handmade Tuesdays" at Ladybug Blessings
"Create It Thursday" at Lamberts Lately 
"Pin It Thursday" at Sweet Bella Roos 
"Fabulously Frugal Thursdays" at A Life in Balance 
"Thrifty Thursday" at Living Well, Spending Less
"Craft Frenzy Friday" at Craft Dictator

Easy Oreo Cream Cheese Pie

   I am a firm believer that pretty much anything with cream cheese in it is good. I love cream cheese in savory recipes (I use it in my mashed potatoes!) but I can't resist a dessert with cream cheese! My mom frequently made a dessert growing up called "Four Layer Delight", that had a cream cheese layer, pudding and lots of Cool Whip. I remember licking the bowl clean of the cream cheese layer! I adapted that dessert a little to make this delicious Oreo Cream Cheese Pie. It is so easy, and the premade crust makes it so quick to put together.

 You will only need a few ingredients:
1 pre-made Oreo crumb crust, buy it where you would buy pre-made graham cracker crust

For the cream cheese layer:
4 oz., or half a block, of softened cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
8 oz. container of Cool Whip-softened (you could use homemade whipped cream, but I prefer the texture of Cool Whip!), you will divide this

For the pudding layer:
1 box of Oreo pudding, this is larger than a standard package of pudding, but it still only makes 4 servings, that's the size you want!
1 and 1/2 cups milk

Topping:
-Mini Oreos (I used two small bags, one crushed and one whole) and Hershey's syrup for topping, but only if you want it to be "fancy"!

1. Blend the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth.
2. Add 1/2 cup of Cool Whip and blend again.
3. Spread evenly on bottom of pie crust.
4. Mix pudding according to package directions for "5 Minute Pudding"-but only use 1 and 1/2 cups milk!
5. Spread pudding evenly over cream cheese layer.
6. Top with remaining Cool Whip.
7. Sprinkle with crushed Oreo cookies, and use whole miniature cookies around edge.
8. Drizzle with Hershey's syrup.

Cover and immediately refrigerate pie for at least 2-3 hours for a softer pie, or freeze 3 hours to overnight for a firmer texture. Delicious either way!

Serve to at least 8 appreciative friends or family members! It isn't the *most* photogenic of pies, but it is tasty. Of course it is, it has cream cheese in it!

Linking up:
"Thrifty Thursdays" at Living Well, Spending Less 
"Super Saturday" at Made From Pinterest

Sharing Some "Crockpot Goodness"

Please note that the photos above are all property of their respective owners, and are correctly linked on my Pinterest page!:)

Some of my friends and I were discussing the virtues of our crock pots this morning at church. I have to apologize to my mother: she tried to convince me that it was the most marvelous piece of kitchen equipment and I ignored her excellent advice for the first 7 years of my marriage. I have now seen the error of my ways!

I approach crock pots recipes a little differently than normal ones. A huge reason I use my crock pot is to save time. If I have to cook a lot of things, or the recipe has more than a few steps, I just skip it. I do have a couple of recipes that I like that I have to cook one extra component (rice, ground beef) but for the most part I want my crock pot to *cook* not just heat!:)

I also categorize those recipes differently on Pinterest. I have a board dedicated entirely to crock pot recipes, because usually rather than wanting a specific meal, I want to use my crock pot! So, I thought if you felt the same way, maybe you would appreciate it if I shared some of my best loved recipes with you. You can find all my crock pot pins on my "Crockpot Goodness" Pinterest board!

1. CrockPot Chicken Tortilla Soup This is my favorite tortilla soup recipe. It is soooo easy! I love that it calls for all "pantry" ingredients-that is a recipe that doesn't call for fresh ingredients, only frozen or shelf stable. I usually have all the ingredients on hand, so it is quick and easy to throw together. I have discovered that if I put my substitutions/recommendations in the comments of my pins, it makes them easier to keep track of, and then if I have a friend I want to send the recipe to, all the changes are attached! You can see my subs for this recipe on my pin. This recipes makes a ton, it would easily serve 8, so I always freeze half of it, and then heat it on the stove top. Two meals from one crock pot recipe? Yes, please!

2. Crockpot Baked Potatoes This is one of those that you probably think: isn't that easier to just do in the microwave or oven? Well, it is probably the same amount of work any of the three ways, but the skin is just delicious this way, and it is handy for me because I buy *gigantic* Costco potatoes, and they fit better in my crock pot than in the microwave! It is also nice to get started on this part of dinner earlier in the day. We usually have entree potatoes by adding ham and cheese, or chili on top. It also gives me a lot more flexibility about when dinner is ready!

3. Crock Pot Beef Stew This link leads to 8 crock pot meals that you can prep and put in your freezer. I am just not that organized so the ones I have made I just prepared the day of and put everything straight in the crock pot. (I have also made the taco soup and it is yummy, my notes about that are on the pin, too.) This beef stew is just amazing! It was so tender, definitely better than my attempts on stove top and so much less time consuming. Please notice that I recommend to wait until the end to add the peas, or they will be mushy and also unappealing in color.:)

4. Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice I learned the trick about adding the peas at the end of a crock pot recipe by reading the comments on this recipe. (I add peas to this to give it a little more nutritional value, about 1 and 1/2 cups cooked frozen peas.) It is a really tasty spin on chicken and rice, and I skip the part where she says cook the corn at the end and add it, and just put frozen corn in at the beginning when I put the chicken in. You do need to cook the rice separately, and I am never on point enough to do it the day before like she suggests, but for some reason it is just easier for me to think about dinner before lunch, so I just make the rice then. Another reason I love my crock pot!

5. Honey Sauced Chicken I make a lot of chicken dishes, and so that is probably why 3 out of 5 of these recipes are for chicken. This honey sauced chicken is really easy, however, if you have more than 2 adults and two small children, you will want to double this recipe. For some reason, I use about a pound (the recipes calls for 3/4 lb.) and it still doesn't seem like quite enough. But that could also be because Joel loves it! I serve it with rice and stir fry veggies.

I have tried several other recipes on my board, too, but I don't want to spoil all the fun! If you are looking for some inspiration, take a look around. May your crock pot be as useful to you as mine is to me!

Snow Day, and Quite Possibly, the World's Best Hot Cocoa

 We haven't had much snow here. After the majority of winter is over, that is when it snows the most, and as usual, we got about 5 inches on Wednesday. The kids were very excited to finally get some use out of their snow gear-as a matter of fact, we hadn't even taken the tags off Josie's snowpants until then!

Playing in the snow demands hot cocoa. (I found out that it shouldn't actually be called "hot chocolate" unless there is liquid chocolate involved. I use the powdered kind, so it doesn't fit those parameters.) And not just any hot cocoa, but the best!

 

People the world over are probably laughing right now at the lameness of me posting this, but it is a secret that I wish someone had shared with me! To make perfectly delightful cocoa you need:

-Nestle's Caramel Chocolate Cocoa. Do not substitute. It *must* be this kind.

-Kraft Jet Puffed Caramel and Vanilla SwirlMallows. Again, no substitutions.:)

- Any kind of ridiculously sweet sugary creamer- in this case, I used International Delight's S'mores, which was perfect.

You take your mug, use a tall one, it tastes better. Put your cocoa and two marshmallows in the bottom. I like to use my Kuerig for the hot water, it makes it a good temp (cocoa water should never be boiling) and the steady stream of water over the marshmallows makes them melt. 

I use the next to largest brew size (that is 10 oz. in case you were wondering, or doing it the old fashioned way with water on the stove). Then stir it all together and add a generous amount of creamer, probably three or more tablespoons. The great part about that, is that the cold creamer will make the cocoa the perfect drinking temperature.

 Then, if you are really feeling decadent, add some canned whipped cream. An extra marshmallow, merely for "photography purposes", and ta-da: practically perfect hot cocoa.

 

The munchkins were pretty excited over it. You need extra energy, playing in the snow is hard work! Bringing them insulated mugs of sugary deliciousness bought me an extra 40 minutes of kids-outside-the-house time, so there's that, too. :)

 

It also spurred some creativity. I have had this "snowman kit" for a long time, but we kept forgetting to use it. (Dollar Spot at Target-sweet!) Well, I finally remembered, and the snow was not good for packing. So Josie came up with this-she said Mr. Snowman was "laying down". I was pretty impressed!

 

Carson, typical boy, had more fun throwing lumps of snow. He went out to play again yesterday, too, and let me just say: snow is great for encouraging sleeping! Two hour nap, and then they both slept in until 9 am.

Anyway, so that was our snow day. Now go make hot cocoa!:)

 

Thanksgiving and A Birthday

My Thanksgiving baby had another Thanksgiving birthday this year. Josie was born on a Thanksgiving Thursday and this year she turned six on Thanksgiving day. It was fun to remember all the excitement of her delivery! Her dad gave her flowers (she loves flowers, such a girl!) as a wake-up gift.

 Her brother gave her pajamas and bunny slippers for Kit. She was thrilled! I thought it was hilarious that she slept with her bow in- it made her look so cute for her photos. Usually, we do breakfast in bed, but since we weren't going out for lunch, we had a special birthday breakfast at McDonald's. A sausage McGriddle is one of the birthday girl's favorite things.

 We had been invited to have dinner at our friends' house, so we had a very peaceful morning. I whipped up my most favorite Thanksgiving dish, sweet potato casserole, while the rest of the family took in the Black Friday ads and the parade.

 I wanted to snap a shot of one of our favorite traditions: watching the Macy's parade. Jocelyn couldn't believe it was on when I was a little girl. We really should have a tradition of watching the dog show-that is what I watched while I was in labor with her!

 I also wanted a good picture of my two favorite turkeys. I got some really good ones-for once! This one is such an accurate representation of their personalities.

 Josie was excited to get to spend her birthday with her best friend, Hannah. I was excited that I didn't have to cook! Lunch was delicious, thanks to my dear friend, Sarah, and her sweet mom. It is so nice to not have to spend the holiday with just our little family. I always miss my wonderful extended family, and it helps make it a little easier when you are with good friends.

 Jocelyn discovered a love of pumpkin pie! It is kind of tough to fit 6 candles in a little piece of pie- next time her birthday is on Thanksgiving we will have to put them on the whole thing!

 A girl after my own heart: she used her candles to lick all the Cool Whip off her plate. Pumpkin pie without cool whip is like a mashed potatoes without gravy-except for worse!

 Another favorite tradition is making a snack-craft. We did turkeys last year and this year I copied these little acorns from my sister.

 These were a snap, and the kids loved making them! It is:half a mini Nutter Butter cookie, an unwrapped Hershey's kiss and a mini chocolate chip (we stuck ours on with a little bit of peanut butter piped out of sandwich baggie). So easy, so cute!

They were obviously a hit with Carson, who clearly takes after his dad. Josie had a great birthday, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Who can go wrong with good food and great friends?

Scary and Sweet Treats

We were invited to a friend's home the other night for dinner, and I brought dessert. I wanted something a little more interesting than regular old brownies or cupcakes, and I wanted it to feel "fall-y" too! I found this cookie recipe at Land 'O Lakes website, and it seemed really easy-and I also had all the ingredients. A couple of tips: I lined my baking sheets with parchment paper. The cookies slid off like a dream-I am sold on that stuff! Next, I did not make my own frosting, I simple tinted a can of store bought stuff with a couple of drops of red and yellow food coloring. Last, I made my cookies much bigger than the recipe recommended. It saved me from rolling and cutting out 72 cookies! Doing the sandwich cookie with the cut-out top made it look festive without having to go to the trouble of icing shaped cookies. The cookies turned out perfectly, I was very pleased. Besides, no one thinks that I can cook. I can, I just don't usually like to!

This one was just for me- eyeballs! I don't know why, but I think the eyeballs everywhere this time of year are hilarious. I found this recipe for "Edible Eyeballs" and I really wanted to try it!

They also turned out perfectly (for the most part, I will explain later). Even the little kids knew exactly what they were, and it was so funny to hear them ask for an eyeball!

A couple of tips: I did not have an empty egg carton, so I simply stuck all my eggs in a bowl in the fridge so I could use mine. Second, many eggs these days have two tiny holes in the bottom for ventilation, in case a child puts them over his mouth. I found that sort of messed them up. The ones I did in the old eggs (without holes) turned out perfectly, where as the ones that had the holes in them had jelly bean goop on them (the black stuff you can see on some of them in the photo). Someone online said they used a camping egg container instead of the plastic eggs and I bet that would work really well, and you could skip worrying over the holes. I wanted to show you both the "good" eyeballs and the "bad" ones so you could see what I was talking about!

I was thinking these might be fun to make with mini eggs and use regular hard Lifesavers and mini jelly beans! It was super simple to do: you mix pudding, put a black jelly bean in a Lifesaver gummy and put it in the egg half. Then you fill them with pudding and freeze for 3+ hours. Then you pop them out by pushing with the back of a fork.

So cute! Well, for eyeballs... Anyway, I would definitely make these for a party-they are a little tricky to eat, but they look so cool. You could probably use green pudding and make monster eyeballs, too. This would be a great project for an 8-10 year old. They wouldn't even need any help from mom!

-In case you were wondering where I got the cute little pumpkin plates from, they are $0.50 each at Walgreens right now. I couldn't resist, and they are the perfect size for the kids!

Two in Review: Chocolate Syrup

To be perfectly honest with you, when I think of chocolate syrup, I always think of a brown bottle of Hershey's. Growing up my mom always had a bottle in the fridge (and more often than not, a couple of reserves in the pantry!). There is absolutely nothing wrong with it- as a matter of fact, I rather like it. However, a while back I decided I wanted a big bowl of ice cream, with melted peanut butter and chocolate syrup on top. Much to my horror I realized that I did not have any! I vaguely recalled seeing a recipe to make your own, which I had given little thought to.

So, like any good internet user, I searched until I found a recipe! I actually found two- I made the first one, found on Small Notebook, because it was easier and required fewer ingredients. I liked that it had a slightly thicker consistency than Hershey's. However, Rachel (the author of Small Notebook) said that she only need 1 teaspoon for a glass of chocolate milk. I must like my milk to be more chocolaty because I used about 1 tablespoon for a glass. I also think that it didn't blend as well, most likely because it was thicker.

Then I tried this recipe from Sugar Bananas. It called for some different quantities, and also for corn syrup. Not surprisingly, it was even thicker than the first recipe! I had a really hard time using it for chocolate milk, and after I had stored it in the fridge for a few days I had to microwave it to get it out-which made it even thicker the next time! I put both recipes in a bottle similar to this one, except I bought mine at Walmart and paid $1 for (and it has a little attached cap to close it with). It worked fine for the first recipe, but even after I cut the top off some to make the opening larger it was still REALLY hard to get the second one out. In the end, I actually had to unscrew the whole top to get any out. If I made the second one again, I would probably store it in a different container.

My verdict: if you are looking for something that tastes and has a closer (just a little bit thicker) consistency to the "real thing", go with the first recipe. If you are looking for something that is closer in consistency to fudge topping, try the second. They were both a teeny bit grainy- the Sugar Bananas one more so than the Small Notebook one, but I actually liked that- and will readily contribute it to a cooking error on my part more than anything else. I will probably make the first one again, I liked it's consistency and also it was more chocolate tasting and less work. So, there you have it. Now go make your own chocolate syrup-it's easy and tasty!

"Snow" Easy

Isn't that a tasty and delicious looking dish of ice-cream? Would you believe that I made it out of...snow?! I know, everyone has heard of snow ice cream. But I had no idea it was so easy- or tasty!

I looked on the internet for recipes. Most of them called for heavy cream, condensed milk, or half and half. I didn't have any of those things on hand. Quite a few called for raw eggs, and I wasn't comfortable serving that to the kids. I saw a couple that just called for vanilla, milk and sugar, but I was worried that might be grainy. Then I hit upon an idea: we had eggnog in the fridge from the holidays. I figured that would work well- and it did! After all, eggnog is eggs, milk, sugar and spices, right? My very simple recipe ended up being:

Eggnog Snow Ice Cream

1 c. eggnog

6 cups clean snow

Mix until well blended. Serve (or freeze) immediately. Serves 4 generously.

Fun, huh? I liked the really creamy consistency. To ensure that I had really clean snow, I set out a plastic bowl last night on the back steps. Although, this is probably not a great recipe if you are a germ-o-phobe!

Snow- the perfect setting for snow ice cream. Isn't it pretty?

The kids really enjoyed it and they thought that it was great fun that it was made out of snow. Since there was a considerable amount of snow in it , it really didn't taste too eggnog"gy".

Carson, sampling his.

So, that's it! Our first taste of snow ice cream. I am sure we will be making more- it is the perfect kid-friendly recipe, since it doesn't require beaters, or anything raw. I think we will probably try a more traditional version next time, but for now the eggnog saved the day!

Super Salads

I just had a wonderful tasty salad for lunch. I love, love, love a huge entree salad-but usually only at home! It is one of the few things that I feel like I can make better than a restaurant. My love affair started when I realized how tasty lettuce is when it isn't iceberg! I only use iceberg for tacos (and that on rare occasion because I rarely have it in the house). We usually either buy what we jokingly refer to as "the box of weeds" (mixed spring greens) or the artisan lettuces that they sell at Costco. I don't usually eat Romaine, either, I find it too hard and there is a lot of waste because the core pieces are bitter. I have found that I love:

-oak leaf

-Bibb

-curly endive (those are the ones that look like seaweed)

-red leaf

-red tip (this is not the same as red leaf)

-Butter

-spinach (this is considered to be a type of lettuce)

-any type of leaf lettuce

-mesclun (sometimes also called "spring greens" or "baby greens", has dandelion greens, etc.)

I do not like:

-arugula (they say this is "peppery" but I think it is just yuck!)

-radicchio (this is the "red cabbage" that is so bitter)

-Romaine (it is okay in Caesar salads, but we don't have it often at home)

-iceberg (I never use this in a salad at home)

Two good sources for discussing types of lettuce are here and here. The lettuce is definitely the most important part of any good salad. I used to buy the bagged mixes but those are ridiculously expensive. And does anyone else still feel the need to wash the pre-washed lettuce? So they didn't save time, either! Now I only buy those when I want Caesar salad because I don't keep Caesar dressing on hand. My favorite tip for preparing lettuce for salads is to use my kitchen shears to chop it. It is so much quicker and cleaner than using a knife and cutting board. I just snip it right into the bowl. Speaking of bowls I strongly recommend you buy the shallow wide bowl/plates for your salads. It gives you better distribution of ingredients than a narrow, deep bowl and helps to mix the dressing better than a plate. The one in the photo above is perfect!

So now you have your lettuce in your bowl, what next? Then you get to add all the fun stuff!

For veggies I add:

-cucumbers (it is all in how you chop them. Trying slicing them in quarters, cutting out the seeds and chopping into small pieces. Removing the seeds makes them less soggy and bitter)

-tomatoes (I remove the seeds and "gunk" in these, too and Romas are my favorite)

-carrots (I prefer to remove the skin and then peel them into my bowl, rather than chop or grate)

-onions (I like thin half slices, Joel prefers chopped)

- baby yellow, red and orange bell peppers

-celery (that is one of my favorites!)

-olives (prefer them sliced)

-pepperochinis (especially in the salad at Olive Garden!)

Recently I have gotten more adventurous. I don't usually prefer fruit in my salad but I do like:

-apples (these are especially good with bacon and ranch dressing)

-dried blueberries (these are AMAZING with a fruity vinaigrette)

-strawberries (in small quantities)

-craisins (also in small quantities)

For protein:

-pepperoni (I quarter a stack of these with my kitchen shears and that makes them bite-sized)

-deli ham (I just snip it with again, my beloved shears)

-roasted chicken

-chicken fries or nuggets (if you haven't tried these, they are really good! Just chop them up.)

-boiled eggs

-bacon (I like to cook it myself and put it on warm, rather than using bacon bits)

- certain nuts (walnuts, pecans not almonds or peanuts)

For cheese:

-sharp cheddar (my current favorite)

-colby jack

-mozzarella

-feta (I have to buy some of this soon!)

For dressing I like:

-ranch (I am such a traditionalist at heart!)

-Vidalia onion

-Sundried Tomato

-Balsamic Vinaigrette

-Honey Dijon (especially Kraft's light version)

-oil and vinegar

-Zesty Italian

-Strawberry Vinaigrette

I am not a fan of tomato based dressings like Catalina or French. I will try pretty much any type of vinegar/oil based dressing. My mom and my sister like to heat their dressing sometimes and it kind of "wilts" their salads. I do love a good wilted spinach salad with a sweet dressing. I am not that adventurous when it comes to dressings because I don't want a whole bottle of something I might not like sitting around my house. Anyway, if you are wondering what salad prompted this it was pretty simple:

-Butter, red leaf and curly endive lettuces

-onions

-grated sharp cheddar

-chicken fries

-bacon

-carrot

-ranch dressing

Yum! I also enjoyed spring greens, roasted chicken, apples, onions,bacon and ranch over the summer. I like to have ham, bell pepper, onions, spinach and honey dijon, too. I just usually grab what is in the fridge and throw it in. I know, not really that exciting but I was thinking about it so I thought I would share. What are your favorite salad ingredients?

Status Update

So, it kind of seems like no one has really been blogging but me lately, but that's okay.This is usually a busy time of year, and it hasn't been any different for us. What have we been up to?

Well:
-We started homeschooling about a month ago. I thought it would just be Josie (according to the school system she should have to wait to go to kindergarten until next year, but the beauty of homeschooling is that we are not on their timetable!) but Carson has really wanted to do "school" too. He sits at the table with us every single day and does his "work". Sometimes that is coloring, or "writing", or sticking stickers, or playing with playdough but he always listens while we do science and Bible. He may be ready for kindergarten next year! It is going really well. We spend about an 1 and 1/2 hours-2 hours working each day. I feel like that is plenty of time, if she were in part day kindergarten she would only go for about 3 hours. And trust me, we don't waste time with busy work!

-Schooling has given me a little bit more of a routine. I have started getting up earlier than the kids and that is working really well. I started trying to do that about 3-4 months ago and it is really getting a lot better. I get up, have my quiet time, eat breakfast, work out and waste time on the internet. It is nice to be able to set up my day before little feet hit the floor. As soon as either of my children are out of bed they are looking for food. It is great to not have to supervise breakfast while trying to do all that other stuff. Then we clean and then school is from about 10 am until lunch time. Jocelyn is a better student in the morning, otherwise I probably would have tried to do it during Carson's nap. However, like I said before, he is actually loving it. So all is well that ends well!

-I have been trying my hand at some new recipes. I made my own chocolate syrup. That was a lot of fun! I will definitely be doing that again. I had used up all my Hershey's and was craving some ice cream when I ran across this recipe. I actually found another one that I am going to try and see if I like it any better. I also made my own strawberry jam! That sort of seems like something everyone tries at one time or another, so I figured I may as well. At first I thought it wouldn't set, but after refrigerating it, it is great. The kids are loving it on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Makes me feel very domestic! I also made this pecan caramel cheesecake. Joel wanted me to try the chocolate version,so I did, but personally I think I would have preferred regular cheesecake on the top. I also made quiche for the first time and it was delicious! We added everything but the kitchen sink: spinach, tomatoes, bacon, onions, cheese and mushrooms. I have been trying different banana recipes, too. My favorite so far is one called "Monkey Squares". But there is one little problem. The first time I made it I mistakenly added too much butter. I added extra flour to try to help and it turned out...delicious! I made it again yesterday and couldn't remember how much flour I added. It wasn't as good. Duplicating a mistake is hard work! I will have to figure it out and then I will post that recipe and the quiche one.

- In other non-food related news, I have been working at setting up the moms' Bible study again at our church. I am in charge of the actual study, so I have been researching books for that. I am really excited. This will be my first attempt at teaching "big" people! I have spent many years working with children and even teenagers, but this will be my first opportunity to teach my peers. It makes me feel nervous, but I really felt like this is where the Lord wanted me. Stay tuned to find out what study we picked-hopefully we will be starting in the next couple of weeks.

-I am prepping for the JBF sale that is next week. This will be the fifth time that I have participated and I get a little more savvy each time. I actually have over 100 items already tagged and I should be totally finished before the end of this week. That is definitely an improvement over the first time when I was still marking things the day of. I thought I would have fewer things this time but I gathered up some more stuff today and I think I will be at my usual 150 items. I am most looking forward to getting my check! It seems easier to get rid of my kids' things the older they get. Although I am still a little teary eyed over parting with some of their costumes...

So, that is a little of what has been going on around here. As the year winds down I am sure our schedule will only continue to get fuller. How about you? Lots of stuff going on?