Cookie Lovin'

Caroline got an Easy Bake oven for Christmas and we finally got around to putting a light bulb in it so she could actually bake something!!

Isn't it funny that a light bulb can bake cookies?

The cookies were pretty and tasty!

Luke agreed.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?
Mine is chocolate chip . . . warm right out of the oven.

The Post with No Pictures

Spring Break is over at our house.

We didn't go to the beach.

We didn't go  to Disney World.

We didn't go anywhere, really.

It was wonderful.

My husband is a teacher and he worked extra hours at his 'second job' to earn a little extra money. (I'm so grateful for him ~ he never complained.)
The kids and I hung out at the house a lot.
The weather was COLD and rainy, but we tried to make the best of it.

We played Wii.
We watched movies.
Lots of movies.
Old movies like Dr. Dolittle. (the original one)
We played games.
We had "cleaning parties".
We drank pop and ate candy because it was Spring Break.
We had friends over for play dates.
We stayed up late.
We slept in.
We read lots of book.

I didn't fill up the gas tank once.

It was wonderful.

Several times I thought I should be taking pictures of everything, but then I decided not to and to just soak in the fun.

I don't have any photos, but I do have a ton of very fond memories of Spring Break 2011.

Favorites on Fridays

Favorite Coffee: Trader Joe's Fair Trade Organic French Roast Decaf


I cannot drink caffeinated coffee.
The doctor has told me I am allergic to it.
I get the cold sweats, I feel faint, my heart races, I feel awful.
I can tell within minutes if the nice person at Starbucks has made a mistake and has given me the real deal.

When I am at home, I choose to make Trader Joe's Fair Trade Organic French Roast Decaf because:

1. it's organic (I don't have to worry about chemicals)
2.  it is naturally decaffeinated (cold water process rather than chemically treated)
3. I think it tastes (and smells) great!!
4. the price is right

source

Roasted Corn, Black Bean, and Mango Salad

I found this recipe on MyRecipes.com.
It is awesome as a side, as a salsa, or served over greens as a salad.
I highly recommend it!!
I never thought I was a mango lover, but it tastes so delicious in this recipe . . . so fresh!!
(this recipe makes a TON . . . so you may want to make half a recipe or be prepared to have lots of leftovers, which is not a bad thing!)

source

Roasted Corn, Black Bean, and Mango Salad

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears)

** or you could take the easier route and buy Trader Joe's already roasted corn!!  just a thought**

2 cups diced peeled ripe mango (about 2 pounds)

1 cup chopped red onion

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 drained canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds. Stir in corn; cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Place corn mixture in a large bowl. Add mango and remaining ingredients; stir well.

Enjoy!!

Reusing Pretty Bottles - a kids craft idea

My Sweet Caroline likes to be "green". She doesn't like to throw anything away that could be used for something else.
Lately, she has been noticing how pretty bottles are.
They all have such unique shapes.

She decided to get out her acrylics and make them even prettier.

She used her Gesso first to prime the bottles.

Then she and Luke just painted away . .. so fun.

They turned out pretty cute, right??

Super Easy Toffee Bars

This recipe is so easy and you will be amazed at how good it is!
I was first introduced to it by my friend, Julie, at Joy's Hope.  I tweaked it a little (added a stick of butter).  She calls it "toffee crack" because it is so addicting. 
Make it at your own risk . . .

Here's what you do . . .
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Put a layer of saltine crackers on the parchment paper.
(I like to put them salted side down so you can taste the salt)

Melt two sticks of butter with one cup of brown sugar (dark or light)over medium heat.

As soon as it starts to boil, turn a timer on for three minutes.

Pour over saltines.

Put in 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and pour bag of chocolate chips on top. Let the chips sit and melt for about five minutes.

Spread and then put in refrigerator to cool and harden.

Break up into pieces.

Enjoy.  Try to eat just one.

Let me know how that goes. :)

SUPER EASY TOFFEE BARS

saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup light or dark brown sugar
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips



1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F  

2.Line cookie sheet with saltine crackers in single layer.(I put parchment paper down first) 

3.In a saucepan combine the sugar and the butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over saltines and spread it over crackers completely.
4.Bake at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate. Cool completely and break into pieces.

$40 Mudroom Makeover

My word for the year is "intentional".
I am trying to make every area of our house purposeful and lovely at the same time.

One area in our house that desperately needed a little makeover was our mudroom/laundry room.
I never really knew exactly what its purpose was.
Well, besides to hold our washer and dryer and to serve as a hallway into our garage.

We had dry erase boards and cork boards hanging up all over that made us think we were organized, but they really didn't hold much and it just looked sloppy.

Soooo . . . I called in my sweet dad to help.
We took down all the cork boards and dry erase boards and any other boards that were hanging on the wall and we put up other kinds of boards . . . like this one. 

(My dad bought the boards for less than $2.00 a piece because they were not perfect, which is fine with me.)

He sanded them and nailed two parallel to each other (horizontally)and then he put some vertical ones in between. 

You can use any measurements you want here.  We decided to create 19 inch squares (except for the area behind the door . . . that is a little wider)

*IMPORTANT* Make sure to put the nails into the studs on the bottom board because that will be where the hooks are going to go.  (lots of heavy backpacks need studs!)

It is kind of like a little section of board and batten. (I liked it in our family room so much . . . I just had to throw it in somewhere else!)


The next step was to prime the boards and then just paint everything (wall and all) under the top board white.
I just used trim paint that we already had.

Then I repainted the top section blue and hung some awesome hooks I found at Hobby Lobby.  (I couldn't find the "perfect" ones sold separately so I bought some that were attached to a board and then just unattached them) The hooks were $9.99 for each set of three.

Then we hung two hooks per 19 inch square (two for each of our three kids) and hung a black and white photo of each child over their hooks and . . . . voila!!!

Here is the UNpurposeful and UNlovely BEFORE.

And here is the purposeful and lovely AFTER.

COST:

Irregular boards  . . .about $10

Paint . . . . . . . . .leftovers

Picture Frames . . . . already had

Hooks . . . . . . . . .$20

8x10 photos . . . . . .about $10 total (from Walmart)

TOTAL . . . only $40!!!! for results that I am so happy with.

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