BOSTON CREAM CUPCAKES

• 1 (3.4 oz) box Vanilla instant pudding
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream

(NOTE: this pudding mixture tastes like pastry cream..it can be used as a filling for a fruit tart or other pastry calling for cream filling such as cream puffs.)

1.Make cupcakes/cake according to directions on box. Use your favorite yellow cake, ours is Duncan Hines. Let cool.

2. Mix together pudding, cream, powdered sugar, milk, and sour cream. Beat on medium speed until stuff peaks form. For cupcakes, cut each cupcake in half and add a dollop of filling. Put top back on cupcake and frost with ganache. I am making it as a whole cake, so the entire filling is going over one layer and the second layer of cake will be covered in the ganache

Ganache:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat cream in sauce pan until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat, pour over chocolate in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix together. Let cool slightly.

Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Chocolate Kiss Cherry Cookies

• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 Cup Butter, Softened
• 2 teaspoons Maraschino Cherry Liquid
• 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
• 4 Drops Red Food Coloring
• 2 1/4 Cups Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup Maraschino Cherries, Drained and Chopped
• 48 Milk Chocolate Candy Kisses

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2.Combine Powdered Sugar, Butter, Cherry Liquid, Extract, and Food Coloring in a bowl. Mix well
3.Add Flour and Salt. Mix well
4.Stir in the Cherries
5.Shape Dough into 1" balls
6.Place 2" apart on ungreased sheets
7.Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until you can see that the lower edge is a light golden brown
8. Remove from oven and press a candy kiss into the top each cookie.

Thursday Thoughts

I made a change to our schedule today and I think it is going to work out well for us.  Princess Belle is an early riser.  She is always up much earlier than the little girls are.  So we decided to do her schoolwork before the girls get up.  Then we do school with the girls after they have their breakfast and we can have all our schoolwork done before lunchtime!!!  We did it today and it was great!  Princess Belle was much more alert and responsive and interactive that early in the morning.  It was a good start to the day and since we always have fun when we do kindergarten with the girls, that is a great way to end our school day.  Then I have lots of time in the rest of the day to do other things!

Here are some of the things we have done for Halloween during kindergarten:

Wordless Wednesday: Homeschool Today

Click the pic above to get to other Wordless Wednesday Participants or go check out the following links:

Wordless Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday Bloggers, 5 minutes for mom, Ms. Mystery Case, Tales of a Pee Dee Mama, Only Passionate Curiosity, and Stacys Random Thoughts!

TOS Schoolhouse Review Crew: VocabularySpellingCity

 

Princess Belle has a weakness in her spelling, and while she has been improving lately, I was delighted to be selected to receive a VocabularySpellingCity Premium Membership from VocabularySpellingCity for purposes of review.

I was blessed to be given a one-year membership to the Premium side of VocabularySpellingCity, which is an award winning website used by public, private and homeschooled students.  This educational tool is for students in grades K-12, primarily in the subjects of spelling and vocabulary. I really like sites that are easy to navigate and use on a daily basis, for both myself and for Princess Belle and VocabularySpellingCity definitely fits the bill on that one!  Princess Belle really enjoys using the computer and any program that allows her to learn and be productive while using a program that she is readily able use is a big hit!  She really liked this program a lot!  VocabularySpellingCity has really been an excellent addition to our homeschooling.  It's not teacher intensive.  It's educational AND fun!

Price per year for the Premium Membership:

Families - $29.99 up to 5 students

Classrooms - $49.99 up to 25 students

Schools are priced per student - click HERE for prices on the entire school.

Recommended for K-12'th grade.

Vocabulary Spelling City is a website that provides completely customized spelling and/or vocabulary teaching.  They have been around since 2008 and have been growing rapidly with the times.  In 2011 they added vocabulary and changed their name from Spelling City to Vocabulary Spelling City. In 2012 they added an app, which has since been wildly popular.  There is a free version so you can go ahead and try it out. 

There is a free version which offers a lot, but there is even so much more offered with the premium membership.  Check out the comparison here. A Premium membership retails for $29.99. This membership is good for 1-5 students to participate per family. Other packages are available for larger families, groups, and classrooms. Here are some of the benefits of a premium membership:

• Spelling, Vocabulary, and Writing
• Saving Custom Word Lists
• Handwriting Worksheets
• Language Arts
• Flashcards
• More than 25 Games
• Student Progress Tracking
• Separate Student Logins
• The Ability to Assign Work to the Student
• No Ads and Technical Support

You could look at this website as just about a complete language arts program for your student to use on a daily basis.  The program is a hands-on, fun and interactive way for students to learn while giving the teacher/parent full control of their word lists and assignments. And it is fun for students learn through a variety of game such as the ones below: 

 

 

Currently we do not use any spelling programs therefore we don't have any specific spelling lists to use with this program. What we did have was vocabulary lists. I found that it was very easy to simply use our current vocabulary words and implement them into VocabularySpellingCity.  Princess Belle would use this after we were done our regular work.  She would continue on for 1/2 hour or so and then I could see how she had done. Please take a little time and visit VocabularySpellingCity and see for yourself all the possibilities. 

Also visit the TOS Review Crew to see what other families thought of this product.

 

 

One Bowl Apple Cake

This cake is so moist and rich and just perfect for this time of year. (and easy to make!)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup oil
• 6 medium Gala or Fuji or Honey Crisp apples
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil. 
2. Peel and slice the apples and add to mixture in bowl (coating as you go to keep apples from turning brown.) 
3. Mix together the baking soda and flour and add to the ingredients in the bowl. 
4. Mix well (best with a fork) until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients. 
5. Pour mixture into a greased one 9x13 or two 9″ round pans. 
6. Bake for approximately 55 minutes.

Yummy warm with a bit of caramel sauce drizzled over it!

Monday Mumblings

I discovered the cutest little bakery and cafe here in town.  They had wonderful coffee and treats and I even found a discount section in the bakery!!

I took the two little girls out shopping with me for a few things.  Most of the time, I leave them home with daddy when I go, but I have made it a mission lately to take at least one of the kids out with me when I have to run errands.  It was actually really fun.  Because it was a Sunday and the shop wasn't busy, I let them each take a kids cart to push around.

They were very excited and felt very grown up at the thought of shopping with their very own cart.  They were super-helpful too!

I have put up some Halloween decorations in the kitchen of house and I added some Halloween to our front step fall decorations.  I think it looks cute.  It makes me happy anyway.

And here is Little Prince, apparently exhausted by the process of getting out of bed and eating breakfast.

BAKED MOZZARELLA & PEPPERONI EGG ROLLS!!!

12 pieces of string cheese
12 egg roll wrappers
36 slices of pepperoni
Marinara or pizza sauce

On top of an egg roll wrapper, place three pieces of pepperoni as shown in the picture. Place a piece of string cheese on top. Fold corners over cheese. Fold bottom corner over cheese and pepperoni and keep rolling until cheese is tightly sealed. Moisten corners with water to seal. Repeat with the rest of wrappers, cheese and pepperoni.

PREHEAT oven 375 degrees F. Bake 20 minutes or until desired browness Serve with sauce.

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops and Rice

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 boneless pork chops, 3/4-inch thick
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1/2 (10.75 ounce) can milk
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
• Paprika
• Ranch-Style Rice

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add chops and cook until browned.
2. Add soup, milk and 1/2 package salad dressing mix. Heat to a boil. 
3.  Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes or until done. 
4. Sprinkle with paprika.
5. Serve with Ranch-Style Rice. 

Ranch-Style Rice: 
Add remaining salad dressing mix to water when making rice.
Serve with your favorite frozen vegetable blend.

Strawberry French Toast Casserole

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 bread loaf, cut into slices
• Cooking spray
• 1 (12-ounce) jar Peach Jam
• 2 3/4 cups milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 6 large eggs
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Spread softened butter on one side of each bread slice. Arrange 1/2 the bread slices, buttered side down, slightly overlapping in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread Strawberry Jam evenly over bread; top with remaining bread slices, buttered side up.
2. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (through eggs), stirring with a whisk. Pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350°.
4. Sprinkle casserole with walnuts if you are using them. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Shopping

I went out wedding dress shopping with Notsosnowwhite today.  It was fun to have a day out.  We picked out the perfect dress, but it was more than she could afford, so we are going to have to keep looking.  She looked so beautiful in it though.  I do have pics, but I don't know if she would want me to show them, so I won't for now.

Afterwards we went for coffee and went shopping.  It was fun to have a day out with her, we don't get to do that much and I really enjoyed it. 

Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

• 1/2 C Butter
• 2 C Sugar
• 1/2 C Milk
• 4 Tbsp Cocoa
• 1/2 C Peanut Butter
• 3 1/2 C Quick cooking Oats
• 2 tsp. Vanilla

1. Add the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. 
2. Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for 1 minute. 
3. Stir in the next 3 ingredients and drop onto wax/foil paper. 
4. Let cool until set.

Easy Delicious Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of oil 
• 1 cup of peanut butter

 Combine cake mix, eggs, oil and peanut butter. Roll into balls and press flat with a fork.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350 for the easiest, most delicious peanut butter cookies ever!

Chocolate Cobbler

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup self rising flour
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup milk
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the above ingredients and spread into a greased 11X7 or 9X13 glass baking dish.

Top Mixture - Mix together and sprinkle evenly on the above mixture.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa

Pour 1 1/2 cups hot water gently over all. DO NOT MIX- just gently pour over all

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve hot, or cold.

Thursday Thoughts

I am on the road to recovery at this point.  Most of the symptoms are clearing up.  I do have some symptoms that are hanging about and giving me a hard time, but I am glad to be getting better.  This was a hard infection to get over. 

On the up side, I did manage to get out and get our costumes.  We made a family fun time out of it, we piled all of the kids into two taxis with Prince Charming and I, and we went out shopping for Halloween treats, Halloween costumes, and had breakfast.  It was fun and adorable Little Prince fell asleep when we were getting ready to go home. 

I love that we are all ready for Halloween now.  It is nice to be able to relax about that.

Wordless Wednesday: Baby toes

Click the pic above to get to other Wordless Wednesday Participants or go check out the following links:

Wordless Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday Bloggers, 5 minutes for mom, Ms. Mystery Case, Tales of a Pee Dee Mama, Only Passionate Curiosity, and Stacys Random Thoughts!

Cranberry Christmas Cake

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 12 oz fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened and light in color, about 5-7 minutes. The mixture should almost double in size. The eggs work as your leavening agent in this recipe, so do not skip this step. This mixture should form a ribbon when you lift the beaters out of the bowl. Add the butter and vanilla; mix two more minutes. Stir in the flour until just combined. Add the cranberries and stir to mix throughout.

Spread in a buttered 9x13 pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. (I baked mine for 43 minutes.) Let cool completely before cutting into small slices. I cut mine into fairly small pieces, about 1"x2", so that they could be easily eaten at a party. Enjoy!

Just a little Moment

The thing about Little Prince is that he spends much of his time, happily exploring his own little world.  He pays little attention to everyone around him.  But he LOVES certain musical shows.  He gets all excited and loves to listen to them. Well today, Prince Charming sat next to him and sang the song from one of the songs along with the show.  Little Prince looked at the show, looked at Prince Charming and looked at the show again and started to dance and laugh.  He got so excited he squeezed his little eyes shut and clenched his hands and started to laugh so hard as he rocked himself back and forth really fast.  It was so sweet.  It was like he had seen his father join him in his own little world and he was overwhelmingly excited to see him there.  I had tears in my eyes when I saw such a joyful connection between father and son.

I think that is how we are going to have to deal with this possible autism diagnosis.  We learn to join him in his world and then teach him how to join us in ours.  And I think music may play a part in our learning to reach him in his world.

#Autism

A SLICE OF HEAVEN CAKE!

• 1 package devil's food chocolate cake or german choc. cake mix
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 jar caramel topping
• 1 8oz tub cool whip
• 4-5 snickers bar (or you can use skor, heathbar, or mini reeses)

1. Bake the cake according to directions in 9x13 inch pan. 
2. Cool for 5 minutes, using the handle of a wooden spoon poke holes into cake, then let cake cool for abit about an 1/2 hour til warm. 
3. Slowly pour sweetened milk over cake, letting it soak into holes, then drizzle caramel over the cake.
4. Let cake cool completely (you may refrigerate it to cool faster just cover well). 
5. Top cake with cool whip, decorate with candy & drizzle with caramel!!

Tomato Basil Pasta! - No Straining, just Stirring

Ingredients

12 ounces pasta (such as Linguine)
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (NOT low sodium)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

STILL sick

I finally broke down and went to the doctor today.  It seems I have some kind of bacterial infection in my throat.  He said there was a lot of yucky stuff built up around my tonsils.  (So much stuff that apparently he couldn't see that I had them out when I was FIVE!)  So I am miserable, but medicated and hopefully on the road to recovery soon.

Turtle Cookie Bars

Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened

2nd Layer

• 1 cup pecan halves or chopped pecans
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup milk chocolate morsels

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a mixing bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. 
3. Pat mixture firmly into an ungreased 13x9 inch pan.
4. Arrange pecans over crust.
5.  Combine 2/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. 
6. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 
7. Pour mixture over pecans. 
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
9.  Remove from oven; sprinkle with chocolate morsels. 
10. Let stand 2-3 minutes or until slightly melted. 
11. Gently swirl chocolate with a knife, leaving some morsels whole (do not spread). 
12. Let cool on a wire rack at room temperature until chocolate is set. 
13. Cut into squares.

still sick

I am still pretty sick.  I can't wait until this darned flu leaves me alone.  I don't remember the last time I felt this sick. 

7 Up Biscuits

4 cups Bisquick
1 cup sour cream
1 cup 7-up
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix bisquick, sour cream and 7 up. Dough will be very soft - don't worry Knead and fold dough until coated with your baking mix. Pat dough out and cut biscuits using a round biscuit / cookie cutter. Melt butter in bottom of cookie sheet pan or 9x13 casserole dish. Place biscuits on top of melted butter and bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown at 425 degrees,

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

(Makes 1 dozen brownies)

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon water
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized microwave-safe bowl combine sugar, softened butter, and water. Microwave on high for about 45 seconds or until butter is melted. Stir in 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips until melted. Stir in egg and vanilla extract, mix well. Add flour and baking soda, stir until combined. Allow the batter to cool to room temperature (doesn't take very long). Then, stir in 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spoon batter evenly into Reynolds Staybrite muffin cups.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top is set and a toothpick inserted into centre comes out slightly wet. After brownies are out of the oven, wait for centres to fall. This will happen upon cooling. If not then tap the centres with the back of a teaspoon to make a hole for the peanut butter.

Place peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds then stir. While brownies are still war spoon about a tablespoon full of peanut butter into the centre of each brownie. Top with remaining 1/3 cup of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Cool completely in pan.
Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator. To reheat the brownies just pop ‘em in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

Apple Cinnamon Loaf

1/3 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 apple, peeled and chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside. Beat white sugar and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated; add vanilla extract.

Combine flour and baking powder together in another bowl; stir into creamed butter mixture. Mix milk into batter until smooth. Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Next add half the apples and half the brown sugar cinnamon mixture. Lightly pat apple mixture into batter.

Pour the remaining batter over apple layer; top with remaining apples and add more brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Lightly pat apples into batter; swirl brown sugar mixture through apples using a finger or spoon.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.

Sick

Poor Princess Snifflefritz has been sick for quite a while and now that she is on the mend, I have apparently spent too much time cuddling her and now I am miserable.  All I can think, is that if this is how she felt, I feel even more sorry for her than I did before. 

Apple Crisp

 

• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 1 cup rolled oats 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup butter, melted 
• 3 cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped 
• 1/2 cup white sugar 
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
2. Lightly grease an 8-inch square pan. 
3. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. 
4. Mix until crumbly. Place half of crumb mixture in pan. 
5. Spread the apples evenly over crumb mixture. 
6. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and top with remaining crumb mixture. 
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Wordless Wednesday: Sick Girl at the doctor's office

Click the pic above to get to other Wordless Wednesday Participants or go check out

Wordless Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday Bloggers, 5 minutes for mom, Ms. Mystery Case, Tales of a Pee Dee Mama, Only Passionate Curiosity, and Stacys Random Thoughts!

Impossible Pie

Impossible Pie


All the ingredients are mixed together and poured into a pie tin, but when it cooks it forms its own crust with filling This has a coconut vanilla taste like a coconut cream pie

 Ingredients

•  2 cups milk
•  1 cup shredded coconut
•  4 eggs
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  1/2 cup all purpose flour
•  8 Tablespoon butter
•  3/4 cup sugar
•  1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1.  Place milk, coconut, eggs, vanilla, flour, butter and sugar in blender. Mix well.
2.  Pour into a greased and floured pie plate. Sprinkle nutmeg on top.
3.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Zippy Turkey Pot Pie

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Miracle Whip Original Spread
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1-1/2 cups Kraft Old Cheddar Shredded Cheese
• 3 cups chopped leftover roasted turkey
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas), thawed
• 1/4 cup chopped onions
• ready to use pie crust (or biscuits are good here too!) 

1. HEAT oven to 400°F.
2. MIX milk, Miracle Whip and flour in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2 to 3 min. or until thickened, stirring after each minute. Stir in cheese. Microwave 1 min.; stir. Add turkey, mixed vegetables and onions; mix lightly. Spoon into 9-inch pie plate; smooth top.
3. PLACE pie crust over filling; flute edge, pressing into rim of pie plate to seal. Cut several slits in crust to permit steam to escape. Place on baking sheet.
4. BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 10 min. before serving.

What not to store in the fridge

I was reading some things and I found out that there are things I store in the fridge, that I don't need to!  Here are some:

1. Hot Sauce can stay in the pantry for up to three years and this includes Tabasco and Frank's Red Hot sauce. You can also include Worchestershire, Heinz 57, Soy Sauce and Sriracha as all non-refrigerated items!
2. Potatoes. Store in dry pantry in a paper bag.
3. Onions.  Try to keep in their original mesh bag or any other that allows circulation and keep in the pantry. Keep away from potatoes which causes onions to rot.
4. Garlic.  It will last in the pantry for two months. Refrigerating garlic can reduce the flavor and actually cause mold. 
5. Winter Squashes.  Any type of winter squash from acorn, butternut, spaghetti squash will taste better and last about a month or more in the pantry. 
6. Melons.  Keep whole melons on the counter to achieve the best flavor. Research has found that storing at room temp helps to keep antioxidants better intact. Once cut you can store in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Cake Batter Fudge

2 C white or yellow cake mix
2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 C milk
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup sprinkles (who really measures sprinkles?)
Instructions

In a microwave proof mixing bowl combine cake mix and powdered sugar. Stir just to blend.
Add in butter and milk. No need to stir.
Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Immediately remove from microwave and carefully stir to combine. Once blended, add in white chocolate chips and blend again.
Fold in about half of your sprinkle to give some color.
Quickly spread fudge into a 8x8 greased pan. Add remaining sprinkles to top and gently press down to secure sprinkles. Refrigerate until completely chilled, then cut into 1 inch squares.

Random Thoughts

1. We had a nice Thanksgiving with family and friends.  I made a big dinner and we all sat and watched a movie with the kids afterwards.  It was nice.
2. I have been working on moving the classroom out of the basement which is proving to be TOO COLD during the cold weather. 
3. Princess Snifflefritz has been miserable the last couple of days, and has kept me up all night for the last few nights, but today she finally seems to be on the mend and I am working on getting food and water into her to help her get better.
4. I love the days following  holidays when we have so many leftovers I have almost no cooking to do.  It is fun for me.  Even coming up with creative uses for leftovers is fun.  

Breakfast casserole in the crock pot!

Breakfast casserole in the crock pot! Cooks while you sleep!

Ingredients:

1. 1 bag 26 oz. frozen hash browns
2. 12 eggs
3. 1 cup milk
4. 1 tablespoon ground mustard
5. 1 16 oz. roll sausage
6. maple, sage or regular sausage.
7. Salt and pepper
8. 16 oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Spray crock pot and evenly spread hash browns at the bottom.
2. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl.
3. Mix well (and slowly) using a whisk.
4. Add the milk.
5. Go ahead and sprinkle in the ground mustard. This might sound like a weird ingredient, but I've come to love (and use) this in most of my recipes.
6. Add plenty of salt and lots of fresh pepper. Mix well and set aside.
7. Cook the sausage on high heat, drain and set aside.
8. Add sausage on top of hash browns.
9. Is this enough cheese? Maybe? Probably. Throw the whole big bag in there.
10. Mix it up well. Or good, depending on where you're from.
11. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the crock pot. Using a wood spoon, even everything out so it's spread evenly.
12. Turn the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

Some fun variations of this recipe. Before cooking (during prep) you can add:

chunks of sourdough bread
diced chiles
salsa
diced green onions

Cola/Pineapple Glazed Ham

• 1 Ham, fully cooked
• 1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar,
• 1 can Coca Cola
• 1 can pineapple slices (optional)

1. Place the ham in a large baking pan, cut side down. Combine the sugar with enough Coke to create a thick sauce.
2. Garnish with pineapple rings (hold them in place with toothpicks while baking.
3. Pour the glaze over the ham.
4. Pour the remaining coke into the pan.

Saturday Photohunt: Plant and A Close Up

The themes for the Saturday Photohunt this week are: Plant and A Close Up. It took a little creative thinking to come up with a picture to fit both themes.  I have lots of pics of plants with my girls.  I LOVE little girls and plants and flowers, but I couldn't come up with one that spoke about a close up at the same time.  Then I thought outside the box.  I have PLANTS in my fall decorations on my front step, and I have two pics, one far away and one close up.  So that is what I chose to share . . . I couldn't leave out all my kids so I also shared one from Princess Belle this summer.

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