Sweet Surprise

As I was perusing my stinkin' Facbook page, I came across a friend's post about the cooler weather and what we like about it. Another friend posted that her crockpot comes out of summer hibernation. Egads, are you serious?!? My crockpot NEVER goes in to hibernation. Well, except those times I don't feel like cooking and dining takes place out of the home. There are so many great recipes that aren't stews and soups that are great for summer. That got me thinking about a couple of recipes I have yet to try. They're desserts.

I use my crockpot for dinner so much, I completely forgot about these two recipes I am about to share. I have made a pledge that I will try these one night soon. My friend JW gave these to me. I'm not sure what the name of the cookbook is but the last half says "to One Pot Meals." The beginning of the title is covered. If anyone knows where this came from, I would love to give credit where credit is due. Anyway, on with the sweet stuff. I can't offer changes because I haven't tried them yet. You know when I do, I'll have to change something.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 8 1/4 oz pkg chocolate cake mix
3.9 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
2 C sour cream
4 eggs
1 C water
3/4 C oil
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT chocolate chips. Blend on medium speed with mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into slow cooker sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover and cook on low setting for 6-7 hours or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Serve with whipped topping or ice cream. Or both.

I lied. I should have looked at the recipe before I posted it. I don't use a non-stick spray. I use oil. Use what you have. I use olive, I have a friend that uses coconut. The main point here is to coat your crock to prevent major stickage. I know several of you groaned about semi-sweet chocolate chips. Use what you like. I would even suggest you take a walk on the wild side and use peanut butter chips or even white chocolate chips. For those of you that are thinking of your health (and with this recipe, who isn't?) try carob chips. If you want to make it as chocolatey as possible, there is a dark chocolate pudding that is mmm, mmm, good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

This next one does remind me a little of fall. It's all about apples. Again, to keep this caramelly goodness from sticking to the crock, coat it well with oil.

Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Delight

1/2 C apple juice
7 oz pkg caramels, unwrapped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 C creamy peanut butter
4 to 5 tart apples, cored, peeled, and sliced

Combine apple juice, caramels, vanilla, and cinnamon in slow cooker. Add peanut butter and mix well. Add apples. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours. Stir, cover, and cook on low setting for 1 hour.

Can you imagine how great your house would smell? I may have to buy another crockpot. Both of these sound crazy good to me. If you try either of these, I would love to hear what you think.

Have a great day.

Busy Days

We started school in August, but all of our extras didn't start until September. And since then, we have been going and going and going. But really, even though we have added a couple of new things this year, it doesn't seem like we're gone all day every day this year. Part of the reason is that I'm not dancing this year, our Wednesday isn't slammed pack from beginning to end, and our activities are a little more spread out. Well, for the most part.

Today was full from beginning to end. Chess club was today. The boy loves to play chess. The girls like it, but not quite like the boy. Hubby was off so he got to go with us. He even played chess. We met some friends there and after chess was over, we walked around the quaint little town where chess club is. The downtown area is very nice. They have these great little shops.

But more importantly, today was free frozen yogurt day. See the second picture? That is a great sign, isn't it? Gotta love it. And we did. It was so good!!!. The top picture is what we all got. They
had vanilla, peanut butter, green apple, raspberry chocolate cheesecake, pomegranate, and peach. They had toppings galore, including the biggest blackberries I have ever seen. You bet your bippies I got some blackberries. I also had Whoppers, peanut M&Ms, and chocolate chips. It was so good on my raspberry chocolate cheesecake yogurt. The only one that didn't get tried was the peach. Poor peach.

After we parted ways, our little family pod went home for lunch. I took the two biggest with me to look for shoes. Ugh! Kids grow way too fast. Didn't I just buy shoes? Anyway, we headed south to a little town where hubby used to work. It is not so little anymore. We found this great shopping center that just made me smile before we even got out of the van. I love to shop. One of the best parts was finding the shoes the boy wanted from one store at another store for $10 less. I love a bargain. The second best thing was finding a movie theater. It may not seem exciting, but since we only had two theaters in the whole county (I am not lying), it was a fantastic find.

Today was busy, but productive. We played chess, spent time with great friends, ate free frozen yogurt, shopped til we dropped, and still managed to grill steaks and have a nice dinner together. If you ever see a sign like the one above, go. You can't beat free with a stick. Well, you could, but why?

Have a great day.

Taming of the Shrew

Not really a shrew, more my hair. It's a giant black mass of curls that do what they want when they want to do it. The problem with that is that I'm hot under 80 pounds of hair. Befor eNight of Joy, I asked if a friend's daughter would french braid my hair. I didn't want to walk around all night sewating under all my hair. Instead, I walked around sweating but not under my hair. And let me tell you, it takes a village to tame this mess.


I think S was thinking she needed more hands.

Look at the braid, then look across at the mass of hair waiting to be done. Can you imagine? Honey, I live with it every day.

This is the work in progress. It felt so good, and it didn't sit on the back of neck all night. She did a great job and I am ever so grateful.

The big girl got her hair done, too. We were both glad that we did. Poor thing has THICK hair like her mama, it's just not as dark or curly. We got tons of compliments as well. It made a great night just that much better.

Have a great day.

Night of Joy 2010, In Pics

Our middle schoolers in our youth group went to Night of Joy at Disney World. Hubby and I got to chaperone the group and go with the big girl. She had two friends go with her that had never been before. We had all been to Disney, just not this event. We went to Rock the Universe last year and that's where the high schoolers are going tonight. It was a blast! We got to see the David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, Group 1 Crew, Sidewalk Prophets, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Casting Crowns. We got to ride with very little wait. Most of the kids rode all three mountains: Space, Thunder, and Splash. I love live music, so this is an event I really push to go to.

My favorite band of the night was Group 1 Crew. Their performance was high energy, and had a great sound. Their set was well worth it. Their music is fresh and different. I got to see them in the Youth Leader Lounge. Disney had a room for youth leaders(duh) where some of the artist put on acoustic performances and a question & answer session. There were refreshments and information and free CDs. But, more importantly, there was air conditioning. I got my picture taken with them and got to tell them how great their music is. The big girl asked if we could download a song, but I downloaded their EP instead. We have been rocking to it since, so we were really excited to see them live. Love it, love it, love it!

We got really close to the stage when the David Crowder Band performed. That was a great concert as well. He is a lot of fun and has great hair. I like weird hair, what can I say. We got close to the rest as well except Chris Tomlin and Casting Crowns. We only caught the end of their set, but they were amazing. I love their songs and they are fantastic musicians and singers. It was a great night to be in the crowd, raising hands, praising God, and screaming down the roller coasters. This is a picture of two of the DJs from the local Christian station that introduced the David Crowder Band. We were actually closer, but not according to the camera.

This is our little group waiting for the ferry. Hubby, the big girl, and I had been on the monorail, but not the ferry. We did monorail back, though. We were herded like cattle, but so happy each step we took closer to our van and home by the end of the night.

This is the big girl with her two friends, A and K. This was waiting for David Crowder Band. Crazy girls.

Cinderella's castle with the NOJ screens. I would love to spend the night there for NOJ.

It was fun. It was loud. It was humid and hot. It was uplifting. It was joyful. Thanks, Mickey, for hosting such a great event.

Have a great day.

Sesame Ginger Death Balls

Really, it's just brussel sprouts, but that's what my friend N calls them. I tried this one the other night and it was a hit. Hubby is amazed when I make a brussel sprout recipe that makes him say, "May I have seconds?" Amazes me, too. I got this from Food.com, which used to be recipezaar.com.

Sesame Ginger Brussel Sprouts:

2 (10 oz) containers Brussel Sprouts
2 Tbls low sodium soy sauce
1-2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbls olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbls water

Trim stems and some outer leaves from sprouts. Cut each sprout lengthwise, then into quarters. In small bowl, combine soy sauce, grated ginger, and sesame oil. In nonstick pan, heat olive oil. Add onion and cook until tender. Increase heat to medium-high, add Brussel sprouts and water. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until sprouts soften and begin to brown. Stir once. Remove lid, and stir an additional 5 minutes or sprouts are tender crisp. Stir frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in soy sauce mixture.

I used fresh sprouts and yes, they were organic. I also used ground ginger. I would use a tad more of that if you don't have fresh ginger. Taste your sauce before adding it to your sprouts. If you don't like the sauce, you really won't like it on them. If you don't use low sodium soy sauce, which I don't, don't add salt.

Something easy, simple and delicious. I like those.

Have a great day.

Sunshine Fishing

For a quick family get away, we decided to go to the Sunshine Skyway Pier to do some fishing. Hubby and I used to go all the time, but we haven't been since the boy was still a bun in the oven. He's 9. Our trip had a rocky start and we weren't even sure we were going to make it. I had a migraine the night before and still wasn't 100% by the time we wanted to go. I made it, and even felt better as the night went on.

We had the best time. We didn't catch any big fish, but we caught lots of pinfish and grunts. The kids loved the grunts. They liked to hear them make noise. That's why them call them grunts.

We all caught fish. These are the kids with their big catches. The boy even learned how to bait the hooks. He was better with the shrimp than with the squid, but he did a great job. He wants to learn how to take the fish off the hook next. Hubby is all for that. The boy just didn't mention it until it was almost time to go. He's becoming quite the outdoorsman. He even thinks he's ready to go hunting with hubby. I'm the one not ready for that.

Yeah, don't let her sweet face fool you. That is one awesome fisher person right there. She skunked us all, the little booger. She wouldn't hold them or touch them, but she caught the heck out of them. I'm still a little peaved at her for being so good.

We saw this while we were on the bridge. Carnival Cruise Lines at it's finest. The big girl and I want to go on a cruise. I told her good luck getting your father on one. She said we could take a mother/daughter cruise. Good thinking, big girl, good thinking. We had such a good time. The kids want to go back again and again. We packed a dinner and snacks and drinks. Hubby and the boy smelled like fish no matter how many times they washed their hands. It was 1:30 in the morning when we got home and we were all tired and ready for bed. It was awesome.

Have a great day.

Hamster Wheel

Well, now I've gone and done it. Again. I was having a conversation with some friends the other day about our extracurricular activities. I have loaded us down. Again. What happened to all that talk about slowing down and not scheduling us to within an inch of our life?

We're dancing again this year. We will always dance, I'm pretty sure. The two big kids have changed their classes this year. The big girl is taking jazz, which was the first thing she took after her half and half class. She's even in the same class. Of course, the kids are different, but it's the same time slot. What I think is funny is that she will be back dancing with girls she started dancing with when she was four. They are younger than she is and they have all taken different dance paths than she has. The boy is taking hip hop this year. So far he has taken jazz and ballet. This will be right up his alley I think. The baby is dancing, but we aren't sure what yet. There have been some scheduling issues, so we'll see. But it will work itself out.

The big girl is taking voice lessons. We have a very good friend that is teaching her. The big girl is also in a new praise band at church that the youth have formed. She has a great voice, she just needs to learn to use it for good and not evil. No, really, she needs to learn to project and how to breathe when she sings, that kind of stuff. She is having a good time so far. You should hear her singing all through the house. So she has voice and praise band. The two younger ones (see how the boy can be older or younger? He's in great spot.) will be in the children's choir at church. They practice once a week and will perform at service a few times.

We still have our school co-op. We may add some new members this year. This year, so far, is Ancient Rome, explorers, wonders of the ancient world, and composers. We'll see if the new ladies join and what they decide to teach. I need to get a move on with mine, now that I think about it. I need to get my maps printed and see how they fold together to make a globe. We are going to use the map to track the discovery paths of the explorers and when we are done, you can cut it out and glue it together. So on co-op day, no history. I think we'll get enough in co-op to compensate.

Veggie co-op is still on our schedule. That is a long day so I schedule extremely light that day. This year, choir practice is the same day. Co-op in the morning, choir in the evening. I told the kids they just need to do their math and that's it. I don't see the point in stressing ourselves out. Well, not anymore than we will already be.

Our list of extracurriculars are as follows: dance, dance, dance, dance, school co-op, veggie co-op, choir, voice lessons, praise band, youth, park day, book club, book club, and I forgot about chess club. That's only a couple times a month, but it's still on the list. Most of these are in the afternoon and we are usually done with our school work, but sometimes it's just another thing to add to our day. Why did I do this again? Oh, yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment. My crockpot will be working overtime again. Good thing I love my crockpot. Better that I love my kids.

Have a great day.