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Fun Friday: Wear Your Music bracelet review and giveaway

23 May
Do you have a musician in your life? This is a perfect gift for them!

Do you have a musician in your life? This is a perfect gift for them, and you can win these very bracelets!

I love innovation and creativity. When I saw these unique bracelets by Wear Your Music, I thought to myself, “How cool is that?!”

Alex is sporting a gold bracelet made out of guitar strings.

Alex is sporting a gold bracelet made out of guitar strings.

The bracelets are perfect for musicians and music lovers of all kinds. They are trendy, fashionable, and durable and I love that they come in several styles and colors. You can stack them or wear them separately and because the colors are gender-neutral, they’re great for males or females. They come in different thicknesses, so younger kids can wear the thinner, lighter-weight bracelets while older kids and adults might prefer the thicker ones. I also love the affordability of these bracelets as gifts for myself or for others! They have a great shopping guide on their website that lists the perfect gifts for all budgets and all types of musicians. Their jewelry line also includes more than just bracelets, featuring items such as guitar picks, charms and earrings too.

An especially great offering from Wear Your Music are the custom, one-of-a-kind Famous Artist Bracelets, created on-site from donated guitar strings from all kinds of famous artists!

It wasn’t until I really did more research on Wear Your Music and their products that I realized what a great local company they truly are, and how diverse their products were. This is definitely a company I’d be happy to do business with!

Caroline chose a Bass string bracelet in silver, perfect for her outfit that day, but perfect for any day!

Caroline chose a Bass string bracelet in silver, perfect for her outfit that day, but perfect for any day!

Their company “is a music merchandise company that strives to hit all the right notes: Music, Sustainability, Fashion & Charity.” Their headquarters is local, and I love to support a local business whenever I can. Their business is “comprised of women and provides flexible work hours and child-friendly space.”

Okay, really and truly, what’s not to love??

And yet it gets better: “We take recycling and giving back to heart in both our personal and professional lives. Our vision is always both philanthropic and environment-friendly.”

I’m sold.

When my package of bracelets arrived, my girls were immediately enthralled. There was something for each of them and their unique personalities and styles. I tried to guess which bracelet each would choose from the pile, and I was right on with my guesses. Caroline chose one of the One Size Fits All Bass String Bracelets. She chose a silver one and it was an exact match for her outfit that day. It matches everything! My sparkle and bling girl, my youngest daughter Alex, chose a gold One Size Fits All Guitar String Bracelet, and my firecracker, my almost-Fourth of July baby, Liz, chose a red, white and blue One Size Fits All Guitar String Bracelet as well.

A perfect choice for my July baby, a red, white and blue bracelet!

A perfect choice for my July baby, a red, white and blue bracelet!

I have several of these bracelets to give away!

I will be hosting a giveaway from today, Friday, May 23 through Sunday, June 1.

Three names will be announced on Monday, June 2.

One winner will receive a set of three stackable guitar string bracelets in unisex colors (colors: Simply Silver, Backstage Black, and Gangsta Graphite). Another winner will receive one bass string bracelet in Backstage Black, and a third winner will receive a teal guitar string bracelet. All bracelets are one-size-fits all and are unisex colors. All of the bracelets are shown in the top photo in this post.

How do you win?

To enter the drawing, leave me a comment right here on this blog post telling me who you’d like to see wearing these awesome bracelets! I will compile the names and pick three, announcing them on Monday June 2.

 

 

I was compensated for this post. However, the opinions expressed here are my own.

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Fun Friday: My fun new Pampered Chef toy: The microwave egg cooker

15 Nov
This could possibly be one of my top favorite Pampered Chef purchases ever.

This could possibly be one of my top favorite Pampered Chef purchases ever.

I have a new toy from Pampered Chef. I got it at a recent party I went to this fall and it’s made my life so much easier.

When I went to the party in September, the stoneware microwave egg cooker was a special that month, so my consultant had it on hand, cooking an egg in it (which I ate) to show us how easy it was to use.

It was SO easy.

I was sold, instantly.

In this egg cooker, you can make fried eggs, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, little egg omelets, and over hard eggs.

I use ours often to make egg sandwiches for breakfast, for lunches. I also make open-faced ham and egg on english muffin breakfasts.

I.Love.It.

One of our new favorite breakfast and lunch menu items, since acquiring the microwave egg cooker.

One of our new favorite breakfast and lunch menu items, since acquiring the microwave egg cooker.

The microwave egg cooker was affordable. It’s not huge, so it’s easy to store, which is key in my small kitchen. And it’s SO easy to use. SO easy.

To make the eggs above, I melted a little pat of butter in each well in the microwave, cracked my eggs in the wells, poked the yokes with a fork and cooked them for one minute and ten seconds.

Done.

Breakfast. On a week day.

I was recently asked to give a list of some of my “must haves” and this was definitely at the top of my list. It got me thinking though, what are some of my top favorites besides this?

1) My two scoops. I use one small one for scooping cookie batter and one medium sized scoop for scooping cupcake and muffin batter.

2) My large scraper

3) My micro scraper. I use the large one when I cook and this one to clean out the last of my Nutella from the jar.

4) My weighted whisk. This has taken the place of a hand-mixer when I mix cake batter, brownie mix and scrambled eggs.

5) My mini food chopper. I’ve chopped onions, celery, carrots and more in this little chopper. For a small tool it does a big job!

6) My stoneware mini loaf pan. I’ll be pulling this out next week when I make my mini cranberry breads for Thanksgiving.

7) My stoneware large bar pan and my stoneware pizza stones (I have large rectangle and small round and use them both for pizzas, for cookies, for crescent rolls; and I use the large bar pan for my granola bars, for cookies, and for nachos on a Friday night.

8) My Deep Covered Baker in which I can cook a whole chicken in the microwave in 40 minutes.

I think the things I like best about Pampered Chef tools is that they last, they’re good quality and they seem to always know exactly what I need, before I know I need it.

Like my microwave egg cooker.

I’m hosting an online party this month, so I’ve linked over all of my top faves to their spot in the online catalog in case you want to take a look!

At the moment, all I know is that I can’t wait until Pampered Chef comes out with their newest product that I didn’t know I needed!!

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Fun Friday: Mozaik 48 Piece Mini Dessert Set

17 May
These were so much fun I just had to feature them for a Fun Friday post!

These were so much fun I just had to feature them for a Fun Friday post!

A few weeks ago we hosted our daughter’s First Communion at our house. Besides cake, we had several other desserts and today I wanted to feature one of them.

My friend Paula had sent me this cute little 48 piece mini dessert set in the mail,  a set from Mozaik. When she saw it in a store near her, she said she thought it would be perfect for First Communion, and she was right.

Around the same time, the girls and I had attended an event at our local library that I covered for the newspaper. Advertised as a Teen Cooking Challenge, the kids had to each create their own healthy trifles, using pudding, whipped cream, and fresh fruit.

Trifle picture

I never imagined that I’d find my First Communion dessert at a kids’ cooking event at our local library!

When I saw the kids’ trifles, I knew I’d found my dessert, simple as it was, for First Communion.

And when I say simple, I mean really.simple.

The desserts I made were in two variations: Jello Sugar Free, Fat Free instant cheesecake flavored pudding or chocolate flavored pudding, prepared using skim milk, and topped with a low fat topping from Aldi’s that’s like Cool Whip. I topped the cheesecake desserts with fresh strawberries and the chocolate desserts with fresh blackberries.

Yup. That’s it!

Each little cup has a matching little spoon, which made for a really cute, yet seemingly elegant, healthy dessert! They were such a hit, there were just a couple of them left over at the end of the day.

There are so many cute ideas that you could use this set for, both desserts and appetizers. Picture a healthy veggie dip in the bottom with a few celery, zucchini and carrot sticks sticking out, or picture individual shrimp cocktail sauces with a few shrimp. Perfect, right?

Right.

And that, my friends, is my Fun Friday post for today!

Enjoy your weekend!

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It’s February Vacation Week: Welcome [Back] to the Jungle!

18 Feb
Vacation week idea: Let them write on all your windows, mirrors and doors!

Vacation week idea: Let them write on all your windows, mirrors and doors!

Not every school system has February Vacation Week, but ours does. A lot of people dread vacation weeks, but I look forward to the break. I like having my kids home with me and I like the break from all the stress and running around.

At work, Don gets a lot done through the week while the school building is quiet and it airs out from all the flu and virus germs that fill it all winter.

However, if you’re home for the week you may be looking for ways to fill the time. I find that no matter what, the week flies by, but it helps to have some fun little ideas in your back pocket, just to be safe.

Valentine’s Day was just last week so we have received some new games, crafts and activities which will be perfect for this week. As with last year’s Welcome to the Jungle posts, I’ve decided to feature some of the things we’re doing throughout the week, passing along any fun ideas to you.

Today’s activity idea is one that may or may not shock you: if your kids are bored, let them draw on all your windows, mirrors and glass doors!

Yup, that’s right: day one and I’ve already lost my mind.

Fun gift idea and February Vacation activity!

Fun gift idea and February Vacation activity!

Elizabeth received a new activity as a Valentine’s Gift from my mom and dad this weekend. The Crayola Crystal Effects Window Markers were an instant hit when the girls opened them up. We let them use any glass surface: windows, mirrors and the sliding glass door served as their canvasses.

It was so awesome.

The mirror in our bathroom is huge, a perfect place to try out the new markers.

The mirror in our bathroom is huge, a perfect place to try out the new markers.

The way the markers work is simple: you write on your chosen glass surface and then watch as right before your eyes the regular-looking marker turns into a beautiful crystalized image.

As you watch, it actually looks as if the image is moving while it changes. It’s very, very cool.

We had friends over on Sunday with kids of their own and we let the girls take out the markers while their friends were here and they all seemed to have a blast with them, even the one boy out of the group had a great time, so it’s definitely something a boy would enjoy also.

The one issue we had with using the markers in the bathroom was that we left the artwork up during showers.

Ooops.

It all dripped down the mirror and we had to take it off and start over again. It actually says on the box not to use it in a high humidity area, such as a bathroom. But, our bathroom mirror is so huge, we did it again anyway, but this time we’ll wash it off before the next shower.

You can see how the writing goes on like a regular-looking marker before turning to the crystal effects.

You can see how the writing goes on like a regular-looking marker before turning to the crystal effects.

Which leads me to my next tip: taking off the artwork.

You can take it off very simply with a wet paper towel, followed by a dry one to wipe off any remaining residue. Those are the instructions on the box, and it worked just as they said.

Mirrors seemed to be the best option for us because the windows tend to be cold, at least in the winter, and the crystal effects take longer to work when the glass is cold.

Mirrors seemed to be the best option for us because the windows tend to be cold, at least in the winter, and the crystal effects take longer to work when the glass is cold.

I’d definitely keep this in my arsenal of birthday gift ideas for the future, it was lots of fun and it’s a gift that they can use over and over again, each time with a different result.

Although I don’t know the cost of these, I am pretty sure I’ll be able to find them in my local craft store, and most likely be able to use a coupon for them there.

I think these markers have tons of potential in our house! I can foresee writing special birthday messages on mirrors or windows, or writing fun messages for special house guests when they visit our home, the way we write on our message boards and chalk boards.

If you’ve ever used the Crayola Crystal Effects Window Markers yourself and you have any fun tips or activities to share, leave a comment and let us know! We have all week to experiment with them!

Our bathroom has a mirrored medicine cabinet and a huge mirror, double the fun!

Our bathroom has a mirrored medicine cabinet and a huge mirror, double the fun!

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Product Review: Clif Kid Organic ZFruit Rope

4 Feb
Clif Fruit Ropes are every mother's dream snack for her kids.

Clif Kid organic ZFruit Ropes are every mother’s dream snack for her kids.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to try out the Clif Kid ZFruit Rope organic fruit snacks. As a mom with three kids whose tastes vary quite a bit, I’m always on the lookout for snacks that are healthy (my main goal) and satisfy their quest for things that taste good (their main goal).

It’s a hard balance to achieve, so I was excited when Clif offered me the chance to have my kids give their ZFruit Ropes a try. The information on the box made my heart jump for joy:

*They are organic and gluten free.

*They are fat free, cholesterol free and low in sodium.

*They are equal to one serving of fruit.

*They contain no artificial preservatives or flavors.

According to the Clif website:
• CLIF Kid Zfruit™ is a tangy, chewy fruit snack that is equivalent to one serving of organic fruit and provides an excellent source of vitamin C. Zfruit offers a great-tasting fruit snack that doesn’t need to be washed, peeled, cored, seeded, cut or refrigerated before eating – making it easy for kids to eat organic fruit anytime, anywhere.

I was also excited because the Fruit Ropes come in a variety of flavors: Grape, Strawberry, Sour Apple, Fruit Punch, Tropical Twist and Mixed Berry; something for everyone’s taste buds.

The first one we tried was Strawberry, since it arrived on our doorstep first, and separately from the rest. The initial opinions were good. Everyone seemed to enjoy that flavor.

However, when we tried the other flavors, we had mixed success at best. My heart sank a little bit, as the reviews from my kids came in. They weren’t loving the ZFruit Ropes overall.

Although I’m not sure I’d run right out and buy them again, I do think I’d at least try to keep presenting them as an option on occasion because I think that they’re so valuable as a healthy snack choice. I also noticed that even though everyone didn’t necessarily *love* them, one by one they disappeared until the box was completely empty. So SOMEONE liked them well enough!

I certainly recommend that other moms give these Clif Kid organic ZFruit Ropes a try with their kids. Because every child’s taste buds are different, my kids’ mixed reviews aren’t the be-all and end-all of reviews.

In fact, if anyone has tried these or goes out and tries them after reading this, I’d love to hear whether or not your kids enjoyed them and what their favorite flavors are.

I am not giving up on these yet!

**The thoughts and opinions presented in this post are my own. I was not compensated for this post, although I was given samples of the product to try.**

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And last but not least, my gift: Smart Mug for my lunch

28 Jan
One mug has my morning coffee and one mug has my soup for lunch!

One mug has my morning coffee and one mug has my soup for lunch!

I got the coolest gift this year for Christmas!

I wanted a mug that I could plug into my car AC adapter in order to reheat my coffee during the day. Oftentimes, I’ll leave the house for work with a mug of hot coffee, get to my destination in just a couple of minutes, and then when I come out an hour or so later, my coffee is now ice cold. Then I drive around all day, wishing I had that hot coffee.

This year, this was one gift I really wanted, a mug that would warm up my coffee. There are lots of them out there, but this one says “Tech Tools” on it and its official name is the Princess International PI-4121 Red Retro Smart Mug. You can get it here on Amazon.com.

I totally love my mug. This weekend I used it after church. Similar to a work day, I often leave the house to go to church, bringing my coffee in the car with me. Ten minutes later we get there and I sadly say goodbye to my coffee because I know that later when I come out, it’s going to be cold while we run our errands during the hour the kids are at CCD.

Not anymore. This Sunday, my coffee was still semi-warm when I got out to my car, but all I had to do was plug in my mug, flip the little switch on the cup and wait for it to hit about 100 degrees. I was golden. I enjoyed every sip of my coffee during our hour.

With every sip, I thought, “This is the coolest thing.”

But actually, it’s not even the coolest thing of all.

My friend Paula, of the blog My Soup For You, enlightened me to the fact that rather than keeping cookies in my purse and in my car for when I’ve missed lunch and am totally starving after being on the road all day, I could plan ahead just a little bit and make a soup that I could drink, such as her Creamy Lentil Soup, which I’ve linked over to just above. (If you remember, I don’t really love traditional lunches, such as sandwiches, so I never pack one. Plus, I’d rather eat cookies anyway.)

Paula said that now that I had this nifty mug, I could then put my soup into my mug, and flip the switch when I’m ready to eat.

Amazing!

And guess what: She was right!

A couple of weeks ago I did not have enough time to go home in between stories for lunch, so I packed our chicken and veggie chowder for the road. I had time to sit in my car and eat it though, so I took a spoon with me when I left the house.

I left one story and turned on my mug to heat up my soup, so that before I had to go into the next story I had time to eat my soup.  It made my day so much more enjoyable because I was not starving. I don’t like to go and buy food for lunch when I’m working unless I absolutely have to, so I was happy to have avoided that. I went from my second story to my third one with a full belly.

And then, I had my cookies for dessert.

This mug has gotten great reviews from others, and I hope that my experience continues to be as great as it already has been so far, because I really love being able to take soup on the road.

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Hours of Fun: Duct Tape Crafts

21 Jan
Bags, pens, wallets, clothing...you can make it all out of duct tape nowadays.

Bags, pens, wallets, clothing…you can make it all out of duct tape!

Do you ever have those moments when you see something that’s so simple and yet wildly popular, and you think, “I wish I’d thought of that first!”

Seeing what kids can make out of duct tape these days gives me those moments.

Turns out you can make anything out of duct tape nowadays.

A book, a kit and oodles of duct tape...the possibilities were endless!

A book, a kit and oodles of duct tape…the possibilities were endless!

This is not a a new obsession in our house, it’s been popular here for at least a year or more, but this Christmas Caroline received additional rolls of tape for her collection, a book of duct tape crafts and a kit to make a duct tape shopping bag.

Hours of fun. And I’m not being sarcastic either. They spent hours working on these crafts.

Specifically, Caroline and Elizabeth made about 15 duct tape covered pens for Don’s front desk at school. Apparently the old pens seemed to walk away by themselves and his hope was that these uniquely decorated pens would stick around a little longer.

No pen pun intended.

Duct tape is all the rage now, and is hours of fun.

Duct tape is all the rage now, and is hours of fun.

Once the pens were completed, Caroline worked on the duct tape covered bag that came with her Alex Crafts kit. Her bag is so cute, her own creation which I’m pretty sure coordinates with her cousin’s creation as well. She found the kit easy to work with and the directions easy to follow.

Duct tape is available everywhere from craft stores like AC Moore, Michaels and Joann Fabrics, to places like Five Below and Walmart. There are tons of cute patterns and seasonal patterns to choose from, and even licensed character tape, like Hello Kitty for example. Caroline’s kit came with several solid colors and a coordinating patterned tape as well.

The girls’ collection of tapes is growing now, with some cute colors and patterns just recently added in.

Sometimes it’s hard to find gifts for the tween/teen set, but duct tape crafting seems to span those age levels and provide enough crafty options that one wouldn’t get bored too easily. I know my tween/teen girls love it over here!

I just wish I’d thought of it first.

Pens before and after the tape

Pens before and after the tape

The growing collection and the guidebook with even more craft instructions inside.

The growing collection and the guidebook with even more craft instructions inside.

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Another Great Gift: Fashion Headbands

14 Jan
I'd definitely buy this as a gift for a little girl!

I’d definitely buy this as a gift for a little girl!

We received some wonderful gifts for Christmas this year!

Last week I showed Elizabeth’s painter’s tape as a fun gift idea, and this week I thought I’d share one that Alexandra received and loved.

Don’s mom gave each girl a craft project, and today’s post is the gift she gave to Alex: a Fashion Headbands kit.

It was great for her age (7 1/2) and it was wonderful that after she made all of the headbands in the kit, she then got to wear them day after day to show off what she’d made.

The kit came with a stand in it to hold the headbands while they were drying, which I really appreciated.

There were plenty of creative options contained in the kit and plenty of materials for Alex to make lots of unique headbands.

In Alex’s own words, “It was fun to create them!”

Look what I made!

Look what I made!

Oftentimes the picture on the box looks nothing like the finished product that you are able to produce on your own, but this kit was not like that. Alex’s headbands were beautiful, just like the pictures on the box.

So often when I’m in the market for a birthday gift for one of the girls’ friends, I never know what to get. I’m always stumped. However, if I saw this kit in my travels I’d definitely pick it up for a birthday gift. Alex has enjoyed every minute of making and wearing her new headbands!

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: “Roasted” Chicken Recipe and Product Review

24 Oct

Two chickens, two features today, it’s double the fun for you!

Today you get a bonus: a recipe and a product review from one of my favorite Pampered Chef products!

One of my very best friends has been a Pampered Chef consultant for many years, and every so often I pick one item I really, really want and I save up and buy it. I’m not talking a spatula for a few dollars, I’m talking about some of their higher priced items.

Their Deep Covered Baker is one of those items. It’s a product out of their stoneware line and it’s on the pricey end of the spectrum, but I can honestly tell you that it’s well-worth the money.

The Deep Covered Baker is a lifesaver when roasting a chicken! No more all day bake times!

I can also honestly tell you that the very first night we owned ours, we broke it.

I say we.

I won’t say exactly who.

Thankfully, Pampered Chef has a fantastic warranty program for their stoneware.

We have used our baker twice in just a few weeks’ time and this past week we “roasted” two small chickens in it, in the microwave, using my favorite Pampered Chef recipe. That’s the recipe I’m including for you below. You literally “roast” your chicken in the microwave for 30-45 minutes depending on the size, and you’ve got dinner on the table in less than an hour. When we made ours this week we also had stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce and homemade gravy, all of which we made while the chicken was roasting in the microwave.

We had plenty of leftovers left to make chicken salad for lunches, and last time we did this we made a new meal with our leftovers, one which I’ll share with you in the future. For now, here’s today’s recipe.

Throw it all in, throw it all in the microwave, throw it all on the table.

Thirty Minute Roasted Chicken
INGREDIENTS

4-5 pound fryer chicken (or two smaller ones as we did here)
1 stick butter
3 celery stalks, 3 whole carrots
4 cloves fresh garlic (I was out so I used minced)
1 whole yellow onion

DIRECTIONS

Spray the baker and lid with oil (I used no stick spray).

Place chicken, breast side up in the baker.

Melt butter in prep bowl and press garlic into butter. Spread over chicken with a brush.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Be sure that your chicken has reached the proper temperature!

Cover and microwave for 30 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees (we usually need 40-45 minutes).

Your chicken comes out cooked, moist, and ready to eat! Be sure to check the temperature before serving.

You can use your drippings to cook up a homemade gravy to go on top and serve the veggies that you cooked in the dish, on the side as well.

Oftentimes we will throw our chicken in the oven either on bake or broil on a separate baking sheet, just to crisp up the skin a little more, but it’s not necessary to do so. You can bake with your covered baker in the oven as well, but you cannot broil in it.

(Should you want to make your roasted chicken in the covered baker in your oven, bake at 400 degrees for 70-80 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees, with the cover on. Remove the cover for the last ten minutes to crisp up your skin.)

A cookbook is available from Pampered Chef for the Deep Covered Baker as well, featuring twenty recipes you can use your Deep Covered Baker for, utilizing both the oven and the microwave. It was my very next purchase once I had the covered baker itself!

Enjoy!

A perfect fall dinner that doesn’t need to wait for a time when you have the entire afternoon to make it!

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My new toy and TWO new recipes!

28 Sep

Isn’t it SO beautiful???

I have a new toy.

I’m *so* excited about it.

It’s something  I’ve wanted for a long, long time. Years and years.

Thanks to the folks at epicurious, I finally have it.

What is it you ask? (See, I always know when you’re asking.)

It’s my new Kitchen Aid Pouring Shield for my stand up mixer.

I know, I know!!!  I’m excited too!

When we went to Washington DC this summer for our White House luncheon, we got a goodie bag from the organizers of the event. There was all kinds of stuff in it, and one of the goodies was a gift card from epicurious! We could spend it however we wanted, on ANYTHING!!

I’d never been on their website before, and omg…there was tons! But, I had a budget of course, and I stayed within $2.85 of that budget. My pouring shield was on sale!! I couldn’t even believe my luck!! Even better…I had a coupon code for being a first time shopper (10% off)…and you KNOW how much I love coupons…I was even able to get a cupcake plunger too (you’ll see that come up on here  eventually too, I’m sure.) It was almost as exciting as meeting Michelle Obama. Well not quite. But you know what I mean.

So now I had to try it out, but I needed to wait for a time when I needed to mix something. You don’t just use a pouring shield every day, you know.

The pouring shield was a dream come true. No baking cocoa all over my counter and wall. Love, love, love it!

On Tuesday when Caroline asked me approximately 47 times if she could bake cupcakes, I knew I had my opportunity. We had a no school day on Wednesday and it would also be a grocery shopping day, so we’d be re-stocked on all the items we needed to make cupcakes, since for every recipe she showed me we were out of something.

We opted to go with Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting.

I know….you had no idea we’d go with the chocolate. Shocker, I’m sure.

Caroline found this new cupcake recipe on the Cookie Madness website. We did not use the no powdered sugar frosting recipe that went with it, however, because we had powdered sugar at our house. I’ll post both recipes  we used, so that you can see what we did for frosting.

This recipe was perfect for testing out my new pouring shield. It worked great every time, not one speck of powdered sugar or cocoa went flying anywhere! I’m in love…

COOKIE MADNESS QUICK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup unsweetened natural style unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted after measuring (4.5 oz)

Cool for a few minutes in the pan and then on a cooling rack, before frosting.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 cupcake cups with paper liners.

Mix together milk and lemon juice and set aside to curdle.

Beat oil and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in
egg, vanilla, salt, and baking soda until well blended. Beat in cocoa powder. With a large mixing spoon or rubber scraper, stir in the flour alternately with the milk until flour is absorbed.

Divide batter equally between 12 paper-lined cupcake cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Remove to platter to continue cooling.

Each of the three girls got to frost four cupcakes and eat one, saving another for the next day.

CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM FROSTING
Better Homes & Gardens

INGREDIENTS***We halved this recipe which was more than enough for 12 cupckaes.***

1/3 cup butter
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

Milk as needed

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl beat butter or margarine til fluffy.

Add in cocoa.

Gradually add 2 cups of powdered sugar, beating well.

Slowly beat in 1/4 cup of milk and vanilla.

Slowly beat in remaining sugar.

Picasso over here took about five full minutes to frost each cupcake. Each one was perfectly done when she finished.

Beat in additional milk if necessary to make of spreading consistency.

One full recipe makes enough to frost the tops and sides of two eight or nine inch layer cakes.

One each, saved for the next day.

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