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New after school snack recipe: Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

7 Feb

I’m a couponer now, I told you last week. In my new life as a couponer, I have discovered something in the coupon fliers: Recipes! Last week I found one that looked like it would be a great after school snack that all my of kids and I would like. It only had two ingredients (even better!) and both were things I almost always have on hand. I decided to try it this past week and my kids inhaled it.

The thing I like about dips with veggies and/or fruit is that I find that my kids will consume much more fruit or veggies with a dip than they would if they came home and I directed them to the fridge for a piece of fruit. So, I like to find new and different dips for them and I love to surprise them with something new when they come home. They show up ravenous, so I like to have their snack on the table when they get in, before anyone has a low-blood sugar meltdown. Sometimes I’ve only just gotten in myself, so my after school snacks need to be quick and easy, just like all my other recipes and meals.

So, here’s our newest addition to the recipe files. I’ve already made it twice in one week, it was so good. Please note that if you have a peanut allergy in your house, this would not be a good one for your family, my apologies.

You only need two ingredients for this recipe! Love it!

PEANUT BUTTER YOGURT DIP

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt

Dipping suggestions: bananas, apples, graham crackers

Mix the yogurt and peanut butter together until completely mixed. Try to refrain from licking the spoon over and over before the kids come home. 🙂

When I first made this I only had single-serve yogurt cups, 4oz each but they worked out great, I just used two. When I made a stop at the store later on in the week I picked up a bigger container and more peanut butter. The second time I made it, it was a weekend, and Alex mixed the whole thing herself, so even kids can make this dip pretty easily.

PB Yogurt Dip

My kids love to come home to a new after school snack.

That’s it! That’s all there is to it. The first batch I made had a little left over, the second time I made it, the entire thing went. Give it a try and see what you think!

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Recipe of the day: Brown Sugar Brownies

3 Feb
Brown Sugar Brownies

These brownies melt in your mouth!

I found this recipe on the back of a package of Domino Light Brown Sugar a while back. The title alone made me want to try them. I love brown sugar. You can always tell if a recipe is going to be good by how the batter tastes, and this batter is delicious.

The recipe is quick and easy, and it will make a great dessert for the Superbowl game, or really any time you want a delicious dessert!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (one stick) butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (we don’t like nuts so I never put those in.)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease 8×8 baking dish.

In large bowl beat sugar and butter until fluffy.

Beat in eggs one at a time.

Beat in chocolate, then flour.

Kids can help with this recipe, which technically doesn't even need a stand up mixer.

Stir in nuts if using them.

Pour into pan.

Bake 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan and cut into bars.

Makes 2 dozen bars.

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The Best Things in Life

29 Jan

Today we took our kids out to breakfast. We had a coupon AND a gift card, so we were good to go. We were so careful with our selections that we will be able to go out again with what’s left on the gift card on a night when they have “kids eat free.”

While we were there, we sat and planned out our meals for the next two weeks, since it’s a pay week,  making our grocery list, and then headed for the store. At Price Rite we spent exactly $200 on the two weeks’ of groceries and we got 85 items; ingredients to make two lasagnas, a roasted chicken, BBQ ribs and more, more, more.

But, despite all that we did and all that we got, the best thing of all was free….the cardboard box from Price Rite. It wasn’t even from today’s trip, it was from a different trip, but they spent the whole morning playing with it.

Here’s a sneak peek at this week’s menu:

SUNDAY: BBQ ribs and chicken with homemade corn bread

MONDAY: Poached salmon over rice with steamed broccoli hollandaise

 

TUESDAY: Sausage and Peppers

WEDNESDAY: Cranberry Chicken

THURSDAY: Spaghetti with Tuna sauce

FRIDAY: Daddy Does Dinner…surprise!

SATURDAY: Make two, freeze one Lasagna

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Seeing the forest through the trees

23 Jan

Sometimes clarity is hard to find when you're in the middle of a situation.

Two weeks ago I had an absolute meltdown while on Facebook. It was a weekday morning and I had one kid home sick (I know, shocker)  and I’d spent the entire morning rushing the others through their morning routines. No one seemed to have themselves together that morning and there were missing hats, gloves, water bottles, and despite all of the hunting and gathering, still a homework folder was left on the table as the bus pulled away, again. My normally low blood pressure was probably through the roof as I sat down on the couch and updated my status as to the fact that I was about to lose my mind. Again.

After I ranted and raved a bit, I felt much better. My heart stopped racing. I sipped my coffee.

And then…the responses started to come in. Other mothers, friends of mine, commenting that it’s the same for them, that they knew how I felt, they could feel my pain. I instantly felt even better.

Through all of those responses though, several stood out. One friend stated that she now avoided those types of morning problems by doing all of the hunting and gathering the night before and laying it all out, ready to go. Another friend stated that she’d had a laminated check list for her oldest daughter a few years back, and that had worked well. My sister in law in Virginia agreed, stating that she’d used a similar one in the past, hooked to her daughter’s back pack where she could see it.

I was stunned. Why hadn’t I thought of these things?? I am a former teacher! I am an organized person! I have a check list for setting the table, one for cleaning up the basement, in the past we’ve even had one for the steps to take for calming oneself down (I could’ve used that one.) You would think doing these things the night before and setting up a check list would have hit me on my own, that I wouldn’t have needed to be told to try these things. I was incredibly thankful for the suggestions and yet feeling somewhat sheepish that I was so behind the eight ball, so down on my game.

But then it hit me. Sometimes, when you’re in the middle of a situation, something that should be clear to you, just isn’t. And sometimes you need to be told something so basic, just because you can’t see it on your own. And sometimes it’s okay to ask for help. I didn’t even realize I was asking for help, I was just ranting, raving, venting. And I didn’t even realize I needed a solution, a different plan. But as soon as I heard it, it was as if a light went off over my head. Well of course….a check list….doing it all the night before. Of course.

So that afternoon I made up two check lists on two pretty pieces of card stock and put out star stickers so they could mark them off as they went along each NIGHT, packing up their things. When they got home I explained to them how things would hopefully work out the next morning. They were excited (and maybe even relieved that I wouldn’t be yelling so much in the morning).

When I signed onto Facebook again that night, I was so touched. There were words of encouragement from my friends, wishing me a better morning the next day. That morning (which went off pretty much without a hitch) I had yet more words of encouragement from my friends, telling me to update them and let them know how it went. Again, I was so touched. Any disappointment that I’d had in myself was now gone, replaced by a huge sense of thankfulness and relief to have such an amazing network of friends and family around me.

We all support each other. With the internet the way it is today, as far apart as we are, we’re all right there for each other when we need support. I can’t thank each and every one of you enough, if not for that day’s support, then for another day’s words of support, encouragement or celebration. It really does make a difference. Here’s to a good week for us all.

"Night before" check lists

After two weeks I replaced my hand-written check lists with a typed one that I can just print out every two weeks.

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Resolutions and Recipes: Basic Pancakes

22 Jan
Basic Pancakes

It's good to have a variety of different syrups on hand for pancakes. We often have maple, blueberry, strawberry or boysenberry.

Last weekend I posted my recipe for Hot Blueberry Compote, and I showed it over homemade waffles. However, it’s also delicious over pancakes. We always make our pancakes from scratch and the recipe is super easy. You can put anything in them or on top of them and we vary them with toppings and fillings such as: blueberries, strawberries, bananas, chocolate chips (of course) and craisins. My absolute favorite combination is a “pancake sandwich” of two banana pancakes stacked with a chocolate chip pancake in between them. Butter, syrup…mmmmm…..

Here is our recipe for Basic Pancakes, which uses very basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand. As usual it’s the recipe I grew up with. We keep it taped into the front cover of our recipe tin so that all we have to do is lift the cover, and there it is (Don’s idea.)

BASIC PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

2 cups Buttermilk (2 TBL white vinegar and enough milk to make 2 c.)

1/4 c. canola oil (or vegetable oil)

2 cups flour

2 TBL sugar or honey

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Pour onto hot frying pan or griddle.  Add desired fillings and/or toppings.

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Fun for Family “Movie” Night: Whirley-Pop Three Minute Popcorn Maker

20 Jan

Tonight was the first night of American Idol, a show our family enjoys watching. We especially enjoy the audition nights, because of the umm…array of talent…that’s out there. We record the show so that the kids watch the first hour and then, since it’s a school night, they have to go to bed and we watch the second hour at another time. Since it was a somewhat special night, being the first night of the show, we decided to christen another one of our Christmas gifts, this one was from my aunt and uncle:

Whirly Pop Three minute popcorn maker

This was one of our popcorn themed-gifts this Christmas and we tried it out tonight.

My aunt and uncle also gave us some popcorn accessories to go with it:

Popcorn accessories

These are the other accessories that were given to us to go with the popcorn maker.

Since we’ve never had a popcorn popper before, we were very curious as to how it would work and we thought tonight would be a fun night to try it out.

Here’s what it looks like out of the box:

Whirly Pop Popcorn maker

It's a pretty cool piece of equipment.

Once out of the box, the popcorn maker has to be seasoned with oil. After that, we followed the directions, putting oil in the bottom of the pot and a half cup of popcorn. As it heats up, you turn the handle until the popcorn is done. It cooked up very quickly and the entire pot was full. We decided to try the Kettle Corn flavoring. Well, more honestly, I decided that we were trying the Kettle Corn flavoring. They wanted Nacho Chip flavor, but somehow I won them over and we tried Kettle Corn. It was a combination of sweet and salty.

Popcorn into the big popcorn bowl

Last year we got the coolest popcorn bowl at our dollar store...for one dollar, perfect for tonight's treat.

Finally, to top it all off, the gift came with one-time use individual popcorn cups as well, so everyone got their own. It was an especially fun way to start off the season of American Idol this year. We found the Whirley-Pop popcorn maker very easy to use and we can’t wait to try out the other flavors of popcorn.

Here's to another season of American Idol!

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Chicken Soup and a Food Processor for the soul

11 Jan
clip art box of tissues

We should take stock in tissues!

Those of you who know me and have known me for a while, know that my family seems to always be sick. We get hit with colds, sinus infections, ear infections, ear drum infections, the dreaded stomach bug (at least four times a year), and so on and so forth. This year, like years before, we started at end of November, went through all of December and into January, starting with Alex being sick before Thanksgiving all the way through Caroline being sick with a bad cold still today. I’m usually right there with them. It lasts through about, I don’t know…April?

Last week was Elizabeth’s turn again. She started with her cold while we were away for Christmas vacation, even though she was still on antibiotics from her sinus infection, and by the end of last week she had hit the wall, as they say, and I let her take a sick day on Thursday.

Almost any time they’re home sick with a cough and a sneeze, no matter who it is, they always ask me for chicken soup for lunch to soothe their noses and throats. They want me to make it “from scratch” which for me is not quite accurate since I keep chicken broth in my pantry at all times for requests such as this one. And, they’re always very honest with me regarding my soup, reminding me how good Daddy’s soup is (which usually IS from scratch) and that mine is almost as good, but not. In fact, last year when Elizabeth was sick and she told me about Daddy’s soup being the best, she actually thanked me for even trying to compete.

This time though, when Elizabeth asked for soup, I was actually excited! The reason is that I..okay WE… got a new Cuisinart food processor from my mom and dad for Christmas this year!

Cuisinart Food Processor

A Christmas gift from my parents that I was dying to use!

Now I could say, “How could they have known how badly I wanted a food processor?” but really, I told them when they asked for a wish list for Christmas this year. I really, really wanted one. We’d had one for a long time and then it broke and we never replaced it. I used to be “that mom” who made all my own baby foods for my kids and we used that thing to death. But I have especially missed it when I have made my chicken soups for my sick kids.

Therefore, last week when Liz put in her request, I jumped at the chance to open up my new gift. I must say, it was stunning.

Cuisinart 7 cup food processor

Look how beautiful it looks with the fresh veggies inside!

I was a little bit nervous to have such a nice food processor in my possession, “the mother of all food processors,” as my cousin Val said on Christmas Day. I didn’t want to break anything so I read the directions VERY carefully and so far, it’s all still in tact! (We’ve been known to break a few things on the very first day we’ve owned them.)

I must say, the food processor chopped my veggies so nicely and SO quickly! In my soups I usually put in celery, carrots and an onion. Last week, it turns out we were out of onions so it was just carrots and celery and then of course…chicken. For the chicken I pulled about six chicken tenders out of my freezer, thawed them cooked them, cut them up really small and put them into the soup.

Now here’s a funny story for you: take a look at this photo of my ingredients from Aldi’s:

Aldi's chicken broth and pasta

If you look closely maybe you'll see what I missed!

When I made the soup last week I went down to my pantry and grabbed a box of elbow pasta and three boxes of broth and started cooking. Do you see on the box where it says that it’s a TWO POUND box of pasta?? Nope. Neither did I. Turns out, two pounds is A LOT of pasta!! And, it makes A LOT of soup. But, that’s good, because it keeps well leftover for a few days and all of my kids like it. It also makes for a good lunch in their thermoses, which they like to take to school for a hot lunch when they can. Makes life easier for Don in the morning, that’s for sure.

pot of chicken soup

It was when I poured the pasta in that I thought to myself, "Hmmm that's a lot of pasta!"

All in all, my first experience with the Cuisinart Food Processor was great and I can’t wait to use it again!

I loved that in addition to the detailed instructions provided, there was (gasp!) a recipe booklet!! Lots of recipes for food processing! I cannot wait! In the meantime, I’ll be using it to keep on making soup for my babies to help them through another season of sicknesses and stomach bugs, knowing that my soup is not *quite* as good as Daddy’s!

I can't wait to use my new food processor again!

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It’s the little things that matter most

6 Jan

One little comment from Elizabeth yesterday totally made my day.

Let me start by saying that it’s posts like this that are the reason why I changed my blog to The Whole Bag of Chips; I wanted to be able to post anything and everything rather than just write about crafts or foods or kids and then nothing else, ever.

Today’s post is a kid post and it came about because of a totally random comment that Elizabeth made yesterday, that completely made my day.

A little background information: in the mornings our set routine goes like this- I make the coffee and the kids’ breakfasts at the same time that Don is making the kids’ lunches. God Bless him for taking on that task because it’s like being a short order cook: crunchy peanut butter or plain? Jelly or Fluff? Strawberry, grape or boysenberry? Do you like fruit snacks or fruit roll ups? Apple for fruit or orange? Are you sitting at the peanut free table today or not? Does this snack contain peanuts? Do you like granola bars? Which kind?….You see what I mean, I’m sure. With three kids who have a variety of tastes, you can’t really just bang out one lunch for all three and expect them all to like the exact same thing. Meanwhile, I’m sticking six waffles in the toaster, cutting up a piece of fruit for them to share, and I’m done.

Anyway, when he asked the “what do you want for lunch” question yesterday, Elizabeth asked him for turkey and cheese. He asked her if she wanted it in bread and she said no, that she wanted roll ups, the turkey wrapped around the cheese and rolled up. He did a few, put them into a tupperware and off they went.

Later that night, he asked her how her lunch was and she said it was great, and that it was great *because* it reminded her of when she was little and I used to make roll ups for them for lunch and cut them into little spirals to eat. I was shocked. I’d forgotten that I used to do that. It’s been a bunch of years that she’s been eating lunch at school already, so that had to be during the preschool/kindergarten years and maybe even before.

Besides the fact that I was amazed that she remembered the lunches I used to make, I was touched that something so little and so random was a special memory for her. As a mom, you know that it’s the little things during the day that mean a lot to you, but you never do know what memories you are creating specifically for your kids. You just hope you’re doing an okay job and you hope that the memories that they have are *not* the ones where you lose your mind and scream at them over something, but you don’t really ever know until they tell you. Sometimes as a mom, a Type-A kind of mom, I go over and above to try to create an experience that is fabulous so that they’ll always remember it (or so I hope) and think of how fabulous it was. But meanwhile, it’s not always those things, it might just be the little things.

I wonder if my mom knew way back then, what special memories she was creating for me?

As a kid, one of my memories from my mom is that whenever she baked a pie, she’d roll out her crust and she’d use what she needed for the pie but then she’d take the rest of the crust, cut it into strips (I assume) and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar onto the strips. Then she’d roll them up into spirals and bake them. I *loved* that treat and to this day I still think of them although I’ve never done that myself because I used boxed crusts that roll out to EXACTLY what you need for the pie- there’s never any extra.

The turkey and cheese roll ups remind me of that, and although for my mom it might have been a random thing that she did for us, I bet she didn’t realize back then that it was something I’d still be thinking of 40 years later.

It took Elizabeth’s random comment yesterday to remind me that it’s the little things that matter and to reassure me that at least some of the time, I’m getting something right along the way.

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Resolutions and Recipes: A tip I can share, and a recipe I can’t

4 Jan

Our gravy recipe is top secret!

When I was growing up, the day my mother “made the gravy” which some of you call sauce, was a huge deal. It was an all-day affair and included the cooking of both the meats (pork chops and meatballs) and the sauce. The house would smell incredibly good all day long and we knew that at the end of the day (literally, not figuratively) there’d be macaroni and meatballs for dinner.

The recipe was top secret. No one knew it and it was a combination of recipes from both grandmothers, according to my mom. When she was cooking the gravy you had to stay out of the way and not touch anything, not even the wooden spoon that sat in the pan all day. That spoon was part of the reason the gravy tasted as good as it did.

The gravy recipe yielded more than enough gravy for just one meal, and my mom would divide up the extras into “Newport Creamery” ice cream containers and freeze them that way for future meals. (Those of you in New England know what Newport Creamery is!) Then, on a busy night, instead of having to cook an entire meal from scratch, one of us could just take out a container of gravy and transfer it into a microwave bowl for reheating. Boil some pasta, make a salad, and there’s dinner.

My dad used to joke that he couldn’t “trade her in for a newer model” because my mom would take with her the secret to making the gravy and without that, he would never survive. That and a whole bunch of other things, but really that’s a whole other post. 🙂

When I got married and it was the day of my bridal shower (August 6, 1995) I received a small wrapped box from my mom; it hardly weighed anything at all. But, what was inside was worth its weight in gold, and more. It was….the recipe for the gravy, along with a card which read, “From me to you, one of the secrets to a good marriage. Love, Mom.”

The recipe and the card, in the original box, truly is one of the secrets to a good marriage.

Clearly, I can’t share the recipe with you. It’s top secret. I keep it in the original box, with her card and the box is labeled down the side because I store it like a cookbook with all my other cookbooks, and also because when I was working as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator one day, I got a cell-phone call from my husband (who usually had to make the gravy since I worked weekends.) I whispered into my phone, “What’s wrong??” because he never called me when I was working. “I can’t find the recipe for the gravy,” he said. Hence the red Sharpie title down the side of the box.

For several years I made the gravy myself, but I did let him in on the secret when I started my Stampin’ Up! job so that we didn’t miss out eating it just because I was working. What I can share with you though is this: Making your own gravy and meatballs is a huge money-saver and so much more delicious than not.

See the wooden spoon? Very important.

The total cost of our gravy according to yesterday’s PriceRite receipt is as follows:

Crushed Tomatoes: $2.97 total for the three cans needed

Tomato Paste: $1.56 total for the four cans needed

Grd. Beef for meatballs: $12.72

Pork Chops for the sauce: $8.57

Total: $25.82

We store ours in ziploc bags in our freezer, marked with the date.

That amount of money gave us EIGHT meals. Our pasta is 88 cents per box so you need to add that into each meal as well, plus the cost of your salad that night if you make one.

So for about $5 per meal (that includes the salad and the pasta,) you get an AMAZING dinner that feeds five of us, and I mean amazing. There is nothing like a homemade macaroni and meatball dinner. That’s one dollar per person, per meal. Can you beat it?

homemade meatballs

The kids rolled these, they get more and more uniform each time they do it. Although we did get the question, "Can we make these any shape we want?" No...

There is the opportunity for the kids to help out if you’d like, when rolling the meatballs. The recipe makes for a ton of meatballs so once again, having the extra sets of hands does make a difference and their pride in being able to say, “We rolled all the meatballs,” as you take your first bite, is priceless. Some day our girls will each have the recipe as well, so it’s good to give them this experience early on.

You can make it in the crockpot or on the stove. We had a lot of meatballs this time, on purpose, so it took up two stovetop pots.

So there you have it, the recipe I can’t share with you but the tip for saving money and eating well that I can. I hope that at least that part of it helps you in your meal planning and budgeting!

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Donut Wars: New Year’s Eve 2011

3 Jan
Babyckaes Donut Maker

My new toy!

This year for Christmas I received a Babycakes Donut Maker from my mother-in-law in Virginia. I don’t know how she could’ve known that I had looked at this longingly in EVERY store I went to, but it’s not something I’d splurge on myself. I thought it would be a fun gift; fun for playdates and birthday parties, things like that.

My sister-in-law, Jessica in Virginia received one from her as well, and we spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Virginia with them, staying at my sister-in-law’s house. Between us we have five girls ranging in age from 6 to 12, so we look for fun activities, crafts and special things to do when we’re together, but especially on New Year’s Eve when we have a long night ahead of us.

Since we both got the same gift and my sister-in-law has a large kitchen space, we decided to create a Donut Wars event for the kids on New Year’s Eve, to christen our new Babycakes Donut Makers and to make yet another unforgettable New Year’s Eve for our kids, three of whom made it to midnight this year.

The Festivus Christmas Team, I was their team captain.

The Pinkalicious Team, Grandma was their team captain.

To start our Donut Wars, we came up with two teams based on the cake mixes we were going to use for our donuts. You can use the recipes included in the box or cake mixes. For our first time we opted for cake mixes, although I do plan to eventually try out some of the recipes that come with the maker. My sister-in-law had a Funfetti Christmas cake mix and a Strawberry Cake mix, so we named our two teams the Festivus Christmas Team and the Pinkalicious Team. We paired the kids up into two teams of two and each team had one adult captain. (Jessica’s youngest wanted to be a judge, the two daddies were judges and Jess was a floater.) To make it even more fun, the kids dressed up in funky clothes and accessories.

Common Ingredients for all to use

The two teams were each given their cake mix and a vanilla frosting, all the mixing bowls and measuring cups they needed, a Babycakes Donut Maker, and a counter full of Common Ingredients that they could use for their decorating no matter what team they were on. We set one team up on the island and one team up at the kitchen table with the Common Ingredients between them on the end of the island.

Once we got the teams set up with their captains, judges waiting in the wings, the teams got started.

Here’s what followed:

Some egg cracking,

Some egg separating,

Some oil measuring,

They took turns mixing,

had frequent visits from our primary judge, Abbey,

And the Festivus Team had technical difficulties with some faulty ziploc bags.

but overall, things were going well!

The kit came with its own cooling rack and fork for taking the donuts out of the machine, both of which were very important.

Aunty Jessie helped both teams.

While *some* of us took the opportunity to get a nap in before the big ball dropping later on.

Soon the donuts were done for the Festivus Team

and for the Pinkalicious Team, who actually finished first.

and it was time....

...to judge...

...the donuts!

The judges were each given an index card with the team’s name on top. Each team had picked three donuts or sets of donuts to showcase for the judges. The judges had to go to each team and critique the donuts on taste, creativity, presentation and then give and overall score (just like that show we watch, Four Weddings, on TLC!) Jess and I had prizes for both teams as well as for both captains, so no matter what it would all work out. (We love our respective Dollar Tree dollar stores for things like that!)

Christmas Wreath and Snowman face from the Festivus Team- creative!

Presentation: the 3D Festivus Donut on a spackled frosting dish

Hand-chopped candy canes top the Festivus Teams third set of donuts for judging.

Pinkalicious's VERY pink donuts with marshmallow centers for judging.

Hand-shaved chocolate, shaved by team captain Grandma, for the Pinkalicious team's presentation table.

Beautiful pink and white candy cane donuts from the Pinkalicious Team for the judges to eat.

Overall, a grand time was had by all! We found the Babycakes Donut Maker to be easy to use, to include all of the items we needed, and we loved that we had the option to use cake mixes instead of making the donuts from scratch. With that many kids, it was much easier using the mix than working from scratch, especially for the first time.

A few things to note:
1) The donuts are tiny (so you can eat a whole bunch!)

2) The donut maker gets HOT and the directions say so several times in several different places, but even still we had a burn victim no less. Caroline accidentally leaned against one of them to get a common ingredient and burned her stomach. Hello Neosporin. She still finished out the entire competition, with an ice pack on her stomach.

3) Overall it took about an hour to go from start to finish and that’s with captains and floaters. If I were doing this for a playdate I’d make the donuts ahead and let them decorate them. This would help with time, space and less of a chance of anyone getting burned.

4) One cake mix makes about 42 donuts from our count (so we had almost 100 donuts by the end!)

5) The donut maker has a very short cord, perfect for my tiny kitchen corner that has an outlet right there, but depending on your space you might need to plug into an extension cord first.

I’m glad we have the Babycakes Donut Maker and I can’t wait to use it again (neither can the kids) and to try out some of the “from scratch” recipes. There’s also a zillion different cake mix flavors out there, so no matter what our hearts desire, we can have donuts in any flavor we want as time goes on. Alex was already planning on a baking party for her March birthday, which she’s been planning since October, so this just added to her plans. I see aprons and chef’s hats as possible craft ideas!

I definitely recommend this product if you’re considering it, and so do our Donut Wars Team Participants!

All of the Donut Wars contestants and their judge, Abbey

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