25 September 2013

Baking Catch Up


Am I the only one who goes through spurts of having it all together and then you have a couple weeks where it all kind of falls apart?  I'm not?  Good.  I am hoping that since I am not the only one to do this that you all will extend a bit of grace.  You know, all 9 of you who read this thing.  I am a little behind on blog posts, and am trying to get things together to participate in our community wide garage sale this weekend.  Add to that a cake pop business and homeschooling and my free time is a bit tapped out.  So this week I am digging into the archives and pulling out some oldie but goodies (OBG).  CLICK HERE to read today's OBG!  

24 September 2013

Pinterest Picks


I have stated many times the love affair I have with Pinterest.  I know I am not alone.  I know you all love it too, so we can revel in it together.  I thought today I could show you a few of the pins that grabbed me recently.

Picture Source
I love this!  It's simple, yet eye catching and can be customized to any season!  Just switch out the candy corn for red and green m & ms....or miniature christmas balls.....or at Easter try out the pastel candy corn!  Love it.

Picture Source

I love the colors in this quilt!  I don't quilt.  I have never even tried it.  It's one of those things that I wish I had time to get into.  Maybe one day.  For now I will just post pictures of quilts and pretend that I could make it if I really wanted to.

Picture Source

I would love to do this for Christmas!  So simple yet very effective!

Picture Source

Isn't this so cute?!  There's a few ideas in this one that would be fun to do with kids.

Somewhere between homeschooling and cake pops I want to try to do some of this stuff!  You know, with all my extra time.  ;)




20 September 2013

I Am Robot


As we go into the weekend, let's make a conscious effort to forget all about work and spend time with our families!  If you own or run a business, you know how hard and sometimes impossible it is to quit working on the weekend.  This coming from the wife of a man who will be holed up in the basement all weekend working towards his cd release in a few days...I am so thankful for a husband who, even in the midst of a hectic schedule, still finds time to spend with his family.  Even if it's just a 5 minute tickle fest on a break from the studio.

And if you are a Mom who also works (in OR out of the home), you know how difficult it can be sometimes to find that balance.



I love that my kids always remind me in their own special way the importance of spending time together, of just being silly together.  What would I do without them?  My life would probably be a little neater, a little more together, a little more organized and much less crazy and hectic.  But since you can't have one without the other, I don't want the neat, the organized, and the calm.  Bring on the crazy, because at the end of the day, it's all worth it.  So completely and totally worth it.

19 September 2013

Thursday Thinker: I am lazy

 

"Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise," -Prov. 6:6
I always heard about the ant, about how it works hard and does its job well, but there are some things about the ant that I never knew before going to church last weekend.  Pastor Tim Howey gave great insight into the life of the ant with a ton of amazing facts.  Two things for me that stuck:

*Most ants are female
*Ants have no leader

It is absolutely amazing, all that the ant accomplishes...and with no leader to guide them!  

A sluggard is a lazy person.  I've never really considered myself a lazy person.  Then I heard this: "Procrastination is a version of laziness."
How many times have I put off doing what I know I should do?
Too many.
How many times have I convinced myself that I am fine and justified my sluggish ways to the point of not moving at all?
Way too many.

"How long will you lie down, O sluggard?  When will you arise from your sleep?"

How long, indeed.

I will be very honest with you.  The two biggest areas of my life right now where I need to pick up the pace and get moving are: 

1. Going deeper with God
2. Take better care of my body with good food and exercise

What areas of your life do you need to get moving in?  



17 September 2013

Pinterest Project: The Best Texas Sheet Cake

Cake before icing set

Welcome to the best texas sheet cake.  I found this post through Pinterest and decided to try it because her pictures just looked so yummy!  Upon reading the post and further investigation I realized that this cake recipe is the same that has become quite famous by The Pioneer Woman, and is a recipe that has been around for a VERY long time!

Now, I know you are probably looking at my picture and thinking, "really?"

I am planning on having a lot of fun with the "Pin-tastic" posts on this blog.  I fully expect some attempts at a Pinterest project to be utter failures, some to be completely awesome, and some to be middle of the road, take it or leave it, eh? kind of projects.

Where does this cake fall?  I would say middle of the road, but NOT because of taste, and probably because this is my first time making it.

The taste is amazing and I can totally see why it's been around for ages.  The problem I had was with the icing not hardening the way it seemed like it was supposed to.  A very thin, top layer did harden a teeny bit, but whenever I cut into it, the icing was still runny.  I didn't try putting it in the fridge since it was so big I didn't have room in my fridge to do that.  So maybe that would have helped, I don't know.

Regardless, it did prove to be the best texas sheet cake ever, in spite of my inadequate skill.

Enough talk.
More bake.

First, in a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.


Sometimes if I just want to whisk something real quick I grab my Kitchen Aid whisk from where I keep it in my Kitchen Aid bowl, locked into my Kitchen Aid mixer on the counter.  So much quicker than just opening the drawer that is literally right in front of me and pulling out my hand whisk.  Ain't nobody got time for that!

Next, melt butter in a saucepan and add the cocoa.  Stir together.


Boil 1 cup of water.


Add the boiling water to the melted butter and cocoa.
Allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat.

Pour over flour mixture.  Be careful you don't step on the baby going from the stove to the countertop.  Very important business going on in that tupperware cupboard!


Stir lightly to cool.


In a measuring cup, pour buttermilk, and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla.
If you are like me, you NEVER have buttermilk when a recipe calls for it.
Here is a good substitute:


Put 1/2 Tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) into a liquid measuring cup.


Add enough regular milk to bring it up to the 1/2 cup line.
Let stand for 5 minutes, then use in recipe.


Next we need to beat some eggs.  After using the last two eggs from the carton, set the carton aside to use in a future home school activity.  That is, if you use the last two eggs.  And if you home school.


Beat the eggs.


Pour the beaten eggs into the buttermilk.


Add the baking soda.


Add the vanilla.  Raise your hand if you always put just a tad more vanilla in then you're supposed to.  I do every time.  It smells so good, I just can't help myself!

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the butter/chocolate mixture.


Stir until it is well blended.

Pour into a 13" by 18" sheet cake pan and bake at 350* for 20 minutes.


Let's take a few seconds to look at this next picture and revel in the smooth-ness of it.  Because this is as good as this cake is ever going to look (due, I believe, to my amazing baking skills.)



While the cake is baking, make the icing.
If ruining the cake adding delicious nuts, chop them up finely.
Melt butter in a saucepan.


Add the cocoa.


Stir, stir, stir.... then turn off heat.


Add the milk.


Add the vanilla......then add a little more.  ;)


Add the powdered sugar.


Stir together.


Here is where you would add the nuts and then stir together.

Pour over the warm cake.  Apparently I did not heat the chocolate long enough to get rid of the lumps.


Clearly.


But had I done that, it would have been perfect!  So go ahead and make your own delicious sheet cake, and don't do what I did!








































16 September 2013

Toddler Preschool Chore Chart


I have been wanting to make chore charts for a while now.  Both my older kids are old enough to start helping out, and I was looking for something that would make it a little more fun for them than just me telling them to do something.  We all know how well that works with a 4 and 2 year old anyway, right?
These charts were fairly simple, yet very kid friendly. Which I guess is pretty important, since the charts are for, well, the kids.  They look at their charts in the morning, see what jobs are in their "AM" line and try to get those done before lunchtime.  They see the jobs in the "PM" line and know that those jobs need done before dinnertime.  When they complete a chore they turn it over to see two stars on the back.  Star side up means that job is completed for the day.  The "Extra" line is for extra jobs they can complete in order to earn a fuzzy pom.  Once they earn a pom they put it in a glass jar we have sitting up on the shelf.  Once that jar is full we will take a trip to the dollar store where they can each pick anything out that they want.


THE SUPPLIES:
Posterboard
Velcro tabs
sharpie markers
contact paper
scissors
star stickers

I only used half the poster board to make two charts.  First I cut it in half, then cut one of the halves in two.


I love these printouts from Homeschool Creations! I love the broad range of jobs on them and how easy they are to read for little ones.  I also love that they have both boy and girl pictures.  Use scissors or a straight edge cutter to cut out the little squares.


Cut out a piece of contact paper large enough to fit several squares onto it. 


Then cut out another piece exactly like it to fit on top.  Smooth it down from one end to the other, being careful to smooth out any air bubbles as you go. 


Once  you've covered the squares go back and use your fingernail to make sure there's no air along the sides of the pictures.


Now you are ready to cut them apart!


Cute little laminated chores.


Use the laminated squares as patterns to figure out where you want them to be, and use a straight edge to mark them. 


 Write out the title and "AM", "PM" and "EXTRAS", or whatever you want to label it, and then place them on the chart where you would like them to be.  It helps to visualize how big the letters should be and where they should be placed on the chart before you start drawing them on with a permanent marker.


Once you have it sketched out you can then go back with a permanent marker and draw your lines.  I think this might have been the most fun for me.  I love Sharpies.


Now that our squares are complete we just have to finish with the velcro!


When I went looking for my velcro I could not find the little circles.  I found these ovals, which work fine, I just really liked the look of circles better.  But they do the same job.  Put a fuzzy side velcro piece on each square.


Like so.


Then put the other "teeth" side of the velcro on the back of each chore.


Next we need to put part of another "teeth" side on the front of the chore squares, so that they can be turned over when the chore is completed.  Here is another reason why I wanted the little circle velcro.  I had to cut them up for this part so they didn't cover the whole picture.


Now put a star sticker on the back of each chore.  


I got a little sticker happy.  Once I had put a star on all the squares I decided I liked it so much that I needed to put another star on each one.


And there we go!  Now the fun part!


Getting the kids to do it!


We have only started doing this, but I think it's working well so far.  My girl seemed to be more conscious of being nice to her brother so that she could get a pom for the "no fighting" chore in her extras box.  Now if it will only last!  Here's to hoping!