favorites on fridays

So . . . did you watch the royal wedding??

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I didn't get up early to watch it, but I have been watching coverage of it today.

Truly beautiful.

In keeping with the whole princess theme, I thought my "Favorites on Fridays" post should be about . . . well, princesses (and kisses)!

Favorite Book to Share with my Daughter about Purity: The Princess and the Kiss written by Jennie Bishop.
 

It tells the story of how a princess received the gift of a first kiss from God when she was born and her parents kept it safe for her while she was growing up. When she became old enough, they gave it to her and urged her to use it wisely and only to give it to the man she would decide to marry. Well, of course, several different men tried to sweep her off her feet with money, looks, and opportunities, but she chose a farmhand with a good heart to give her kiss to . . . oh my . . . I know that we have a few years before Caroline will be thinking of giving kisses away to boys (-SHUDDER-), but what a beautiful way to teach her the importance of purity.

"Love . . . comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

I Timothy 1:5 NIV

Starbucks style pumpkin cream cheese muffins

In the Fall, Sweet Caroline loves to get these at Starbucks.
They are pumpkin cream cheese muffins.
They are delicious.
They are $3.00.
(for one!)

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So . . . today when I opened up our pantry and saw 6 cans of pumpkin puree, I knew what I should do with them. (it sure feels like Fall around here, so why not use up the pumpkin now?)

Six. (why did I have six cans of pumpkin??)

Here is my very-much-cheaper version of the Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffin.

I'm glad I tried this recipe . . . it has just the right amount of spices.
I put plain cream cheese in the middle, but you can add brown sugar, an egg, and vanilla to make it more like a frosting. (my boys did not like the cream cheese center, the rest of us loved it)

I think I actually like them better than the Starbucks version!

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 pinch cardamom (optional . . . I didn't use)
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 2 cups pumpkin
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 8 ounces cream cheese (add 1 egg, 3 T. brown sugar & 1 tsp. vanilla if you would like . . . I didn't)
• chopped pumpkin seeds or walnuts or pecans  (optional . . . I used chopped walnuts)
• cinnamon/sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Preheat oven to 350.

Put the entire brick of cream cheese on a piece of wax paper or parchment paper and shape it into a long log.

Put it in the freezer while you mix and fill the pans, up to an hour.

Mix all ingredients together (except cream cheese and nuts).

Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups).

Cut log of cream cheese up into discs.

Put cream cheese disc in the middle of muffin, pressing down.

Sprinkle with chopped nuts and cinnamon/sugar.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (not the cream cheese).

**next time I will use applesauce instead of the oil to reduce the amount of fat .  . I'll let you know how that works out

**also . . . my dad is gluten-free now, so I was excited to see this option:

GLUTEN FREE option:
Keep everything the same, except instead of the flour. . .
2 1/2 cups Bob's gf all purpose flour mix
1/2 cup almond flour
2 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum



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Rainy Day

It's raining,

it's pouring.

It never

ever

stops.

But that's OK.

I've been keeping busy inside. . . .

washing all those plastic eggs for next year(because I'm crazy like that),

looking up interesting websites like TheWritingFaculty (because I'm interested in stuff like that),

waiting on two sick kids (because I love them so),

doing lots and lots of laundry (because, well . . .that's what I do),

and missing this little guy (because he's been at school and a birthday party all day).

We're hoping for some sunny days here in Chicagoland real soon . . . until then, I will keep finding things to do inside.

How's your weather???

free piano music

My kids are taking a little break from taking piano lessons due to sports schedules.
During this "break" from lessons, I have been downloading free piano music from this site.

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They have music for all levels and you can even listen to it being played online before you download it. 

I love the songs because they are recognizable ones.

Many are classic songs that are just made easier to play (like Fur Elise).

Tonight, Caroline learned how to play Spring by Vivaldi (from The Four Seasons) and Jake learned how to play the Theme to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 

And did I mention it is free???

Easter Greetings

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter season celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord.

We cannot even begin to fathom the importance of the events that took place during that special weekend.

Because Jesus died for our sins on the cross, if we believe in Him and ask Him into our lives . . .

. . . we will live forever with Him in Heaven.

What a wonderful gift!!

Please don't let life go on another minute without receiving the gift of eternal life that Jesus has given to you.

Ask Him to forgive your sins and enter in.  It is the most important thing you could ever do.

God loves you enough that He sent His Son to die for you.

Happy Easter!!

xox

cheryl

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16 

favorites on friday

My favorite this Friday is this Friday . . . Good Friday.
Today we remember the greatest gift of all:
"I owed a debt I could not pay,
He paid a debt He did not owe."

wonderful way to teach the Easter story

Today, I bought some Resurrection Eggs from Hobby Lobby for half off. 
That is only $8.00.

If you have never heard of Resurrection Eggs before, they are a wonderful tool to help teach your children about the Easter story.

They come with a story booklet that gives a scripture passage and little story for each egg.

Some examples of what the eggs contain are . . .

a donkey that Jesus rode into town on,

a crown of thorns,

a cross,

and of course, nothing to represent the empty tomb.

Luke and I went through each egg today and he was so riveted the entire time . . . excited to see what was in the next egg and what it represented.

I highly recommend these eggs!

You can get them here for $12.99 ($4 cheaper than Amazon)if you do not have a Hobby Lobby nearby.

You can also get them at your local Christian Book Store or church bookstore. (I think WalMart also sells them.)

how to tell if an egg is fresh

Since it is Easter season . . . I have eggs on the brain.

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I just learned (from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens Magazine) how to tell if an egg is fresh or not.

Gently place the egg in question in a bowl of cold water.

If the egg is really fresh, it should drop to the bottom of the bowl and lie on its side.

If the egg is somewhat fresh, the egg should stand on end and bob about in the water.

Eggs that float should be tossed in the trash.

Good to know!!

Also . . . check the "sell by" date. The eggs are usually good for up to two weeks past that date. 

(the number before the "sell by" date is the day of the year the eggs were packed . . . the carton below was packed on day 267 ~ Sept. 24) I learned that here.

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The kids and I will be coloring some eggs in the next few days.  I'll make sure to use fresh ones! ;)

sweet music

Jake had to skip his baseball game to play in his orchestra concert.
That was hard for him to do, but I'm glad he did.

I must have really been enjoying the music because I totally missed the girl who threw up in her violin.
And I was even sitting in the very front row!!

How did I miss THAT?!

"third time's a charm" personalized Dollar Tree tote

OK . . . I promised you I would write a post about how to make this personalized tote that I brought to my friend who just had a baby.

I brought her dinner and I wanted to carry it over in something cute, so I dressed up this bag I got at the Dollar Tree.
She almost cried when she saw her sweet baby's name on it.
To see what I brought her for dinner, click here.

I just love these bags!! They had them in other colors as well.  They are not real durable, but they are only $1.00, so I am not complaining!!  They are similar to the kinds you can get at the grocery store for a couple dollars, but these are way cuter.

I found these iron on letters at Hobby Lobby (right next door to our Dollar Tree . . . convenient).   



I just peeled off the letters and lined them up how I wanted them . . . I didn't put them in a straight line, I like to angle them all in a whimsical manner. :)

The next step was to just place the hot iron on the letters for 15 - 20 seconds . . . and this is where I failed. 

I didn't realize that the iron was going to melt the bag.

This is what the iron looked like.

I cleaned up the iron and went back to the Dollar Tree (luckily, it is only a mile away from my house).

I tried a second time using a lower iron temp (my iron has numbers ~ I set it on 4) and using only the tip of the iron instead of the whole thing. 

That worked great . . . until I decided to turn the iron up just a tad to make sure the letters were securely ironed on.

Big mistake.

Ugh . . . just turning the iron up a tad melted the bag again.

It wasn't that bad this time . . . if you look closely, you will see a hole under the name.  Not good.

Soooo . . . this time I had my husband go back to the Dollar Tree for me (and Hobby Lobby to buy more letters!) Why didn't I just buy extra supplies the second time?? I don't know . . . next time I will.

The third time was definitely a charm . . .

the key is LOW iron temp and using JUST the tip of the iron on the letters.  (I think the bag is made out of plastic)

I love how it turned out and now that I know just what to do . . . I will be making a ton of these!!  I'm thinking party favors, beach totes, soccer bags, teacher gifts, alternative to wrapping paper, etc . . . 

So, learn from my mistakes and go make a pretty personalized (and cheap) tote!!

Thanks for stopping by!

~cheryl

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meal for a new mother

When I had my babies, I was not really connected in any church or school groups so I didn't have many people making me dinners.

When I had my third baby, two people brought dinner to me and it meant the world to me.

I felt loved.
I felt cared for.
I will never forget those two dinners or the people who made them for me.

So now I try to take new moms dinners as often as I can. 
I hope they feel as blessed as I did.

Today, I took one to a friend who had a sweet baby girl.

This is what I made:

ValSoCal's Chicken Cordon Bleu Penne
(recipe here)**note: I added another half jar of alfredo sauce and decreased the bread crumbs to 1/4 cup (I used Italian bread crumbs mixed with melted butter)

Cut Up Fruit
(doesn't it look great?? It's all from Aldi and it was cheap!)

Toffee Bars for dessert
(recipe here)

I wanted to carry it over in something cute so I found this bag at the Dollar Tree.

I ironed the baby's sweet name on the bag.

(I will make a whole post about this ironing on process because it was a big fail, not only once, but twice.  I went back to the Dollar Tree two times!  Anyway . . . I have got it down to a science now.)


I added a hair accessory for sweet Mirabelle. (can you get over that name??)

It was a blessing to me to be able to serve my friend in this way.