...did someone say chocolate...

Aubrey and I have a common love for baking, so when I saw this easy, scrumptious looking recipe from Hungry Girl, I knew we had to try it! The easiest thing I've ever made and so yummy! This is technically a brownie recipe, but I think it's more cakey... I guess it's kind of in between

...Ingredients...
1 box of devils food cake mix
15 oz can of 100% pure pumpkin ... The can I had was 29oz but I, fortunately have a food scale. Don't just throw it all in, make sure it's only 15oz
Foil cupcake liners

And that's about it... I know... Shocking

First, preheat oven to 400

Stir together the pumpkin and cake mix. It will be VERY thick but do not add any of the ingredients called for in the mix. All you use is the mix and the pumpkin. Stir good until it is smooth and uniform

Divide batter into a 12 cup, cupcake tin, each lined with foil baking cupcakes. They will look way too full, but they won't be. Cook for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

That's it... Super yummy right out of the oven!

Book Sling

Knowing that our small space will soon house another bouncing bundle, I'm slowly taking steps to better use what space we have. As I was looking for ideas I came across this treasure and just had to make one for Aubrey! This super easy book sling requires no sewing (though, it couldn't hurt) and provides a perfect spot for your child's favorite bedtime stories if hung near their bed. If I happen to stumble across some extra time, I'll probably add some appliqués to fancy it up. In the mean time, here are the directions...

Materials
Iron
48x32 inch piece of fabric (though, make whatever length you want)
2 - 48x6 inch lengths of iron-on adhesive
2- double curtain rod brackets
2- 48 inch long dowels with diameters that fit your brackets... Or match whatever length you chose... I actually just purchased a double curtain rod set that had two rods and two brackets, looks really nice and isn't too much more expensive.

So first wash, dry, and iron your fabric. Put the printed side, fold it in half lengthwise and iron in a crease

Unfold the fabric so that the printed side is still down... On the long edges iron on your strips of adhesive as shown in the picture above. Follow the instructions specific to your adhesive, I used heatnbond. Once added to the edges, take off paper, fold the fabrics long edges toward the center crease, and iron together, turning fabric to iron on printed side. When done right, this should allow a channel for dowels to go through. I also went ahead and added a seam to the short edges too, just to make it look more finished, you would just do this part first, then do the long seams... If you're not interested in this extra step you can just cut the short edges with pinking shears, about an inch from each side.

I had my husband do this next part, putting up the brackets to make sure they're level and the perfect distance apart. This will take a level and a tape measure... You know, man tools :)

This was a super easy project that both Aubrey and I love... A great way to utilize the wall space above your child's bed.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Banana Oatmeal Bread

Okay, so as much as I'd like to ignore that I was MIA for months on end, I guess I should start this off with an apology. Excuses are boring, but indulge me.... After months of trying we finally got pregnant with baby number 2! Unlike with Aubrey, I've been sick as a dog this go around. Once that finally subsided, well, we had vacation, the little downs syndrome scare, and here we are, months later! Well, I'm playing a bit of catch up, but please don't expect me to post something everyday. because I won't. It might take me 3 years to actually get 365 different activities, but for now, enjoy.....

...Ingredients...

1 & 1/4 cup of flour, white

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 tsp canola oil

1 large egg, beaten

2 large egg whites, beaten

3 ripe bananas

1 cup old fashioned oats

...Instructions...

Preheat the oven to 350 and in a large bowl mix together all dry ingredients. This is a perfect job for your "kitchen aide" (mine is named Aubrey). Once its thoroughly mixed together, add oil and eggs and mix again

In a smaller bowl mash bananas with a potato masher. This was Aubrey's favorite part until taste testing time!

Add mashed bananas and oatmeal to the batter and stir... and that's about it... the hardest part, really, is waiting, and you'll have to wait a while. Let it cook for 45-55 minutes, or until the top is firm to touch. It smells delightful and it was difficult not to cave and just pour a half baked loaf into my tummy. Blame the baby.

Baked Apple Streusel

Another yummy treat we made with the new gadget was this warm baked apple streusel. So simple and so delicious! Aubrey and I almost had as much fun making it as we did eating it!!!

Ingredients

4 apples - Granny Smith

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 cup of old fashion oats

2 Tbsp of reduced calorie margarine

Peel, slice, and core apples. I cut them in quarters again, as I did in the previous post. Put them in a medium size baking dish and stir in 1/4 cup of brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.

Have your helper mix the flour, oatmeal, and remaining brown sugar with margarine and crumble it over the top of the apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes and pair with frozen yogurt for some extra goodness!

Apple Chips

So I know its been a while, but we're coming back with a boom! I got an apple slicer, peeler, and corer for my birthday and I've been going crazy with it. We've been using it for projects in the kitchen all week! Definitely a new favorite toy for both me and Aubrey :) This is one of the many new things we created this week!

Ingredients

4 Apples - Granny Smith are perfect

6 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Apple Slicer if you have one :)

If you have an apple slicer, its so easy, just help your little kitchen aide with the gadget and viola, apples are sliced, peeled, and cored. If not, use you're pre

ferred method to get thinly sliced apples for the chips.

I cut all the apples in quarters to get smaller chip-like pieces

Spread out pieces on two sprayed cookie sheets and mix cinnamon and sugar together. Sprinkle mixture over the top of apple slices. Bake until crisp and lightly brown, about 45 minutes at 325 degrees. They don't look very appetizing, but trust me, a simple project for a semi-healthy sweet snack :)

February Extravaganza

I know I've been slacking on posting our daily activities during the month of February. In my defense, we've been SO busy with projects that there's been absolutely NO time to post! We did a lot for Valentines day and once that was over it was planning Aubrey's birthday bash! Now that I have time to take a breather, I decided to post pictures of some of the fun things we did in February, though, as I look through these pictures, I notice I'm even lacking in that department. Oh well! It was a fun month none the less :)

We made Valentines for our local friends... These took SEVERAL days because we had to make so many! Aubrey Loved her water bottle painting! They turned out so gorgeous!

We made three different types of truffles... Oreo, Chocolate Mint, and Nutter Butter. One type of truffle a day. These are always fun, and we get a tasty treat afterward!

We had all kinds of valentines, but no way to hold them. One day we worked together in making a little carrier. Aubrey loved using stickers and stamping on letters!

SNOW finally!!! It seemed like forever since we got fresh snow! It was a sight for sore eyes for sure! We woke up early to play in the snow with Daddy before we headed down the hill and he headed to work!

All that snow falling made it tough to get down to visit family and prepare for Aubrey's birthday party. We decided to take a birthday train ride! Aubrey loved it and did sooo good!

Once we got down the hill, it was raining like crazy. My sister had a bright idea to take the kiddos to the Stockton Children's Museum. It was amazing and so much fun to hang out with some of my favorites!

A bad picture of Aubrey, but had to use it! You saw the tutu tutorial, they turned out so cute! If you look close you can see the owl on Aubrey's shirt! It was so fun and so easy to make owl shirts for all the little girlies!

After our pizza party, some of us went to Funderland in Sacramento for some extra fun! Aubrey wanted to ride the fish so bad... but felt less enthused once she was actually ON the fishy!

So much happier squished in the tea cups with Abs, Mama, and Auntie!

Had so much fun spending time with family! I keep hearing "I want my Grayson" and "Where's Melia" Wish it didn't go by so fast... I sense a trip to the El Paso Zoo sometime in our near future!

Easy Tutu's

Aubrey's birthday is right around the corner. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE dressing Aubrey in ridiculous things for her birthday, a tradition I started just last year, but plan to continue until shes old enough to stop me! Our plan is to go down the mountain and hang out with family and I have a lot of nieces. That said, I thought it'd be extra fun if this year I made tutu's for all the girlies. The perk, they're so simple! I didn't even break a sweat making five tutus!

Materials

Rolls of tulle, found in the wedding section of your local craft store

Thin headbands

Large Book... or back of chair...get creative

Ribbon

Ruler or cutting mat

Scissors or craft cutter

First, measure and cut your tulle in 14 inch pieces. You can work it however you'd like, but I liked cutting all the tulle strips first, in two different colors, keeping them separate for now. That way I don't have to keep going back to this step.

Once your strips of tulle are ready grab one strip of color A and then stack one strip of color B on top of it. Next, hold them together and tie them onto your headband, as shown above (yes I'm wearing pajamas, judge me later). Keep doing this until you've tied tulle all the way around the headband. You can push the strips tightly together, or spread them out more, depending on how full you want your tutu... er, I mean, your child's tutu!

Once you've done that, you can spruce up this sassy skirt but adding strips of ribbon. To do this, cut 10 inch pieces of ribbon and distribute them evenly amongst the headband. Just tie them in the same way you tied the tulle. I'd say around 10-12 pieces of ribbon would suffice. I used two different types of ribbon on this one.

And there you are... the tutu is complete and ready to wear.

Ice Blocks

I've had these ice blocks ready and waiting for our next big storm because new snow is much prettier than month old snow... but I finally just got tired of waiting, though I'm getting worried I might never see another crisp white pile of new snow. It is a super easy project that I'm sure is right for some kids, though mine was not quite ready for it, as you'll soon see.

Materials

Cups

Food Coloring

Water Color

Freezer

First, just fill as many cups as you'd like with water. Add a few drops of water color in each until you've reached your desired hue

Next, put them in the freezer until they are good and frozen. I can't give you a certain amount of time because I left mine in for weeks hoping it would snow, though, snow is not required for this project :) Once they're ready just pop the now ice blocks out of the cups.

And that's about it, just use them like any old blocks. Take them outside to play, because they do leak color while melting. Aubrey was getting mad at them because they were too cold, but wouldn't keep her gloves on. That said, I feel like this is a good project for children who have reached the age of reason... you know, the ones who can see the logic in keeping gloves on while playing with ice. That, friends, is not my child :)

Sneaky Chef Muffins :)

So this one I'm extremely excited about! Not only did I get to sneak spinach and blueberries into a very tasty cupcake, I also made homemade frosting that contains less sugar and is packed with lots of protein and calcium. Super mom for the day, check. Thank you sneakychef.com. There are a lot of steps to this, but you can find them all on her website... which encouraged me to purchase her book, well worth it!
First off, you have to make your puree. Totally simple, and she suggests making a bunch in advance so its readily available. To get the recipe for the puree, go to sneakychef.com, then go to the free recipes tab and click all recipes. Find the make ahead recipe for purple puree.

Make sure to involve your little helper...
Next follow the recipe called "Quick Fix for Chocolate Cake Mix" which omits the oil for the puree and adds wheat germ.
If you feel like making your own frosting, here's the recipe
Makes about 3/4 cup
1 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix dry milk and powdered sugar in a bowl, then add the boiling water and vanilla extract. Mix very well. If needed, add a little more water, half a teaspoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

In the end, the cupcake wasn't bad at all... My husband and I agreed that it wasn't as sweet as following the original recipe for the cake mix. If I did it again I'd probably use regular frosting, saving the frosting recipe shown above for regular cupcakes.... but Aubrey didn't seem to notice the difference.

Homemade Fingerpaint 2... with Yogurt

After the first version of homemade finger paint, I remembered a project that my sister did with her son a few months back... I also remembered that it's 10x easier than whisking flour and water for several minutes at a time, so I thought, lets see how this one compares.

Materials
Plain yogurt
Food Coloring
Formula Divider
It's really so simple, all you have to do it scoop yogurt into the different sections of the formula case...
...and put a few drops of food coloring in each...
and that's it! Aubrey loved painting with it, both in her paper and her arms :-/ Once she figured out the paint tasted good it turned in to a snack... Can't go wrong doubling an art project with her morning snack, right?!

Homemade Fingerpaint 1

I found this recipe for homemade finger paint and had to try it since finger painting is one of Aubrey's favorite things to do. It was actually more difficult than I thought it would be... not horribly difficult, but difficult enough when we're talking finger paint, something simple enough to just go and get in a store. Oh well, it was a new experience none the less, and Aubrey enjoyed herself!

Materials
1 cup of Flour
4 cups of Water
Food Coloring
Makes about 2 cups of paint
All you have to do is mix one cup of flour and one cup of water together in a pan until smooth and add the other 3 cups of water. Cook mixture over medium heat until it starts to bubble gently, and then allow it to cook for another minute or so. I think I didn't cook it too long, and it turned out thinner than I would've liked.
Once the mixture is fully cooked, put it in the fridge and let it cool for approximately two hours.
Separate the mixture into different cups or, as I have, in a old formula divider (my best trick) and drop food coloring in until it reaches the hue of your choice. Stir and then paint. Done.... Okay, I guess it's not that hard, just takes a while.

Handprint Owl

This project was funny because we had no idea what it was going to become when we started. We just started doing piece by piece until we got something. It was a joint effort, for sure, but I love the end result!

First we painted her hands and make two little hand prints.... this was her favorite part. Afterward she just kinda painting while I put it all together... good team work!
I just found a picture of an owl and tried to mock it. I did piece by piece and then threw it all together. I'll try to show you enough for you to be able to do the same.
It helped that I had some neat scrapbooking paper to chose from. I used the piece shown above as eyes for our little owl
Made little feathers by curling up the paper, to give the owl a little bit of "something" extra... again, just kept adding random stuff