Erratic Momma on Blogging.... so far.

I've officially been posting on this blog for two weeks now.  I love it!  Honestly, I'm not sure what I thought I'd get out of this whole blogging thing.  But what I have gotten is a sense of accomplishment.  I find myself trying to come up with ideas that will be blog worthy, and in doing those things, my life just feels more fulfilling.   It's not just about the blogging.  It's about building a relationship with my kids doing the things I'm blogging about.  Doing different and fun things.  Connecting with other blogs, getting new ideas, finding out what other people like.  It's given me a new purpose, a new drive.  I want to make more things, with my kids or for myself, and I love documenting the experience.  And it makes me want to live a better life.  I'm finding so many great organization tips out there.  Like this meal planning board from Oh So Chichi!  I can actually imagine maybe starting some meal planning here.  Maybe.  Wouldn't it be great if I did?

Also...  I can't believe how many hits this blog has been getting!  I officially have over 500 page views.  Where are all these views coming from?  Who are you?  It's worldwide!  I've got page views from Canada, Germany, Russia, Australia, Guatemala, Japan and the Netherlands.  Seriously.  I'm very excited about this.  I thought I'd get a few from my friends and then it'd sort of fizzle out.  So, if you're stumbling upon this blog and we don't know each other, leave a comment and say hi...  I'll say hi back!  Even if we do know each other...  That's cool too...

So what's my goal for this blog now?  Honestly, I'm not too sure.  I started it up for fun, and I intend to keep it that way.  Fun, and hopefully informational.  I've been reading a lot of inspirational blogs lately, and I think I would like it if one day this blog is considered useful, too.  I'm still pretty new to it, so I know I have a lot of polishing and growing to do, and there will be ups and downs, but I can't wait to see what's in store for the future!

Crazy Cake

Also known as 'Depression Cake' because it was popular during the depression era.  But, this cake is anything but depressing!  I've made this twice now, and it is really good.  It's Henry Friendly, which means there is no egg or dairy in it.  I've tried other dairy and egg free recipes before and haven't really been that impressed.  This is something I'll be baking up whenever a need for cakes arise - and will soon be freezing a bunch of these in cupcake form just to have on hand.

Here's what you need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup cooking oil (vegetable will do...  I used Olive Oil)
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups cold water

Pretty basic ingredients.  The process is simple too.  First, put all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until well blended.  You can also do this directly into a cake 9x13 cake pan, but when I did it that way, I found mixing such a large area tedious.  And also, mixing it in a bowl gives me the freedom to use different pans / muffin tins.

Next, make three wells.

Pour the oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract each into their own wells.

Vinegar seems like an odd thing to add, but I promise, you can't taste it once it's mixed in.  You need it to help it rise properly.

Now pour the water over it all, and mix it together.

Pour into your cake pan.  I chose to line mine with parchment paper because I wanted to take the cake out of the pan to decorate.  Also, cleanup is a snap.  You can opt to use cooking spray or nothing at all if you plan on just slicing it from the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes a toothpick (or wooden chopstick in my case) inserted in the center comes out clean.

Yeah, I had to poke mine a few times.

Allow to cool thoroughly and decorate as desired!
I made this cake yesterday, and in honor of Valentine's Day, I chose strawberry frosting.  It was super yummy.  The kids loved it.

I'm not a professional cake decorator.  Just make it and eat it.  Trust me.

Crazy Cake Print Recipe Ingredients 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup cooking oil (vegetable will do...  I used olive oil) 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups cold water Oven temp: 350 degrees F Instructions Whisk dry ingredients in large mixing bowl until well combined Make three wells.  Pour cooking oil, vinegar, and vanilla each into their own well Pour water over all and mix well Pour into greased or parchment paper lined cake pan Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean Decorate and enjoy!

Three Ingredient Soda Can Cupcakes

Seriously.  This entire cupcake is made up of only three ingredients.  And, they're Henry Friendly.

I have been seeing a lot of soda cake recipes around the web and really wanted to give it a try.  But, there was a lot of controversy over diet soda vs non-diet.  One website claimed you absolutely could not use anything but diet, or it wouldn't work.  Others claimed that heating up the artificial sweeteners made it dangerous.  Still others said it's really not dangerous, but the artificial sweeteners lose their sweetness when heated.

While I'm not a chemistry expert, I know lots of people who have baked with artificial sweeteners and lived to tell the tale, so if you'd like to try with diet soda I say go for it.  If you're worried about it, don't do it.  I, however, decided to give non-diet a go.  Here's what I did.

I got a box of Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme cake mix, because that particular cake mix is Henry Friendly, and a can of Orange Fanta to keep it citrusy.

Mix it until well combined.  It'll look like this:

Then, fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350F for approximately 18 minutes.
What's the third ingredient?

Marshmallows!  Get the campfire sized ones.  When the cupcakes are just barely done, place one marshmallow on top of each.  Once I had done that, I pushed them back into the oven, closed the door, and turned off the oven.  The residual heat is enough to melt the marshmallows without making them toasty, which I didn't want for this particular cupcake.  If you want toasty marshmallows, leave the oven on and let it bake for about another 5 minutes.  Here's what mine looked like right out of the oven:

After they've been sitting for a bit, the marshmallows kind of flatten out and give a nice frosted look, much like the first picture in the post.  The citrusy flavor of the cupcakes went really well with the marshmallows.  The kids and adults I fed these to all thought they were really great.  And, once you pull it out of the oven, no need to wait for it to cool!  Enjoy them warm, too!

Three Ingredient Cupcakes Print Recipe Ingredients   1 box cake mix of choice   1 12ox can soda of choice   1 bag of large marshmallows (or substitute with frosting of choice) Instructions Mix together cake mix and can of soda until well combined Fill cupcake liners in pan about 2/3 full Bake at 350°F for approximately 18 - 20 minutes When cupcakes are just done, place a marshmallow on top of each.  Turn off and close oven door.  Leave until marshmallows have melted to desired softness. Remove from oven and enjoy!

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Confessions of an Erratic Momma: Mornings

I am so not a morning person.  I wish I were one of those people who wake up happy and can't fall back to sleep.  Who feel their most energized and well rested in the morning.  Who smile and sing a happy song, run a couple of miles, fix a healthy breakfast, and generally start their day on a positive note.

I am the person who wakes up, groans internally when I see the clock, closes my eyes for 'a few more minutes' and falls right back to sleep because the bed is so warm and soft. Groans again when I next open my eyes and see how much time has actually passed, and scrambles to get ready.  I spend entirely too much time sifting through clothes, hoping to find clean matching socks for the kids and pants that fit.  Because, my other confession, I hate doing laundry.  The clean clothes just pile up, begging me to sort, fold, and put them away.  If only I would do that.  It would probably help with my morning routine.

I have to remind myself sometimes that it wouldn't be right to keep my kids home from school for a day simply because I'm still sleepy.  I'm sorely tempted to sometimes, but I would never do that.  Their education is much too important.

My three year old, Henry, is also not a morning person.  After dragging myself out of bed, I have to drag him out of bed.  And he likes to pretend he's still sleeping when I know he's not to make things more difficult.  He's lately taken to pulling the blanket back on and whispering, "I'm sleeping," with his eyes closed, as if he's talking in his sleep or something.  And half the time, he really is sleeping and it is a chore to get him to wake up enough to get ready.

I'm embarrassed about our breakfast habits.  So I'm not going to share them.

I am so not a morning person.

But...  I'm so grateful for each day.  It takes me awhile to warm up and realize that a new day full of possibilities is waiting for me.  That I get to do something fun with the boys, enjoy the company of my husband when he's home, get some snuggles, be creative, and just enjoy everything I've been blessed with.  I'm so excited to learn new things, spend time with friends, and offer my time doing things that matter to me and my family.  I love being a mom and a wife and everything that entails.

So, my new goal is to wake up each morning and not focus on the immediate affects of waking up.  Instead, I will try harder to thank God for the new day as I open my eyes.  I'll try looking forward to the blessings in store for me that day, and maybe waking up and starting a new, healthier routine will become easier.

Also...  fold the laundry.

Mess Free Finger Painting!

So earlier I showed you how to make your own simple finger paint.  As I mentioned before, it's not the best for simply gliding onto some paper, but it's great for what I'm about to show you.  I tweaked this idea a bit from a cool tutorial by The Hippie Housewife.

Here's my version:

First, I wanted something portable that I could pull off the table in a moment's notice.  I decided to get a couple of those wipeable place mats.  Plain white is best if you can find it, because it gives you the best "painting on paper" feel.  However, if you can't find a simple white design, just get any wipeable mat and put a white piece of paper on it.

Next, get a gallon sized zip style baggie.  I'm using Ziploc freezer bags for sturdiness.  Pour (or squirt if you got those bottles) two colors into the bags - one in each corner like so:

Next, move the top of the baggie up to the top of the place mat.  If there's a logo or anything on the bag like mine, have that side facing up.  You'll see why in a minute.  Tape it down.  I used painter's tape because it'll be easier to remove if / when I decide to change out the bag of paint.

Now, flip the bag down.  See how the bag's logo is now on the underside?  Yep, that's on purpose.

Tape down that top part again.  All this tape is just extra security to protect from leakage.  I will not stand for leakage.

Now tape down all the other sides so it stays sturdy on the mat.

Beautiful!  Two portable mess free finger painting stations ready for playing!

Great for teaching about mixing colors...

Smile!  No paint on your fingers!

 

The kids had a blast with this.  I love that it's portable.  They'd create something, then run over with it to show me what they had.  They did some hand prints...  Then threw it onto the floor to do foot prints.  The possibilities are endless!

You can try different mediums in the bags too.  Try adding some glitter, or maybe put just sand in there.  Be creative and have fun!

Homemade Finger Paint

It's been one of those weeks.  A long, long week.  I actually convinced myself as I was waking up this morning that today was Friday and I'd get to sleep in tomorrow.  Ten minutes later, disappointment settled in as I realized that if that were true, I'd missed half a week.  I'm pretty sure Wednesdays are worse than Mondays.

So anyway, to pull myself out of my sad, tired place, I decided a craft project with the kids was in order.  Crafts are a great way to brighten up a day.  Especially kid crafts.  Finger painting has been on my mind for awhile because it's colorful and fun and the kids can get so creative.  But, it's messy and I didn't want to have to buy finger paints from the store.  So, this will be a two part tutorial, dealing with both those issues.

First, making your own finger paint!  I have this recipe for a really simple, no cook finger paint.  It only needs a few ingredients, and the kids can help make it, doubling the fun.  Here's what you need:

2 cups cold water
2 cups white flour
Food coloring

First, you pour the cold water into a bowl.

Add the flour slowly.  I had one of my kids stirring as I did this, and I also opted to sift the flour as I put it in to help avoid clumping.  Mix it up good.  My kids said it smelled good.  Bonus.

Divide the mixture into four mixing containers, or however many colors you feel like making.  I decided to use some disposable cups for ease of cleanup.  Add food coloring of choice into each.

Mix, mix, mix!

And we're ready for painting!  Isn't this picture sweet?  Just so you know, that says "mommy" under the heart.  Spelled M-O-M-E-Y.  Way to go, sounding it out!

I found these cool squirt bottles in the travel section at the store.  They're meant for things like shampoo and body wash, but I thought they'd be perfect for storing the colors I made.  These are 3 oz each.

EDIT: We opened one of these up last night and paint erupted from the bottle.  It seems to have built up pressure while sitting...  So, I would recommend maybe filling up your storage container about half way.  Good news is:  super easy to clean up!

So, this was my first time making this particular paint.  Here's what I think of it:  It's just okay.  Honestly, it doesn't cling to the paper very well.  My son had to put a lot on his finger and basically push it around the paper.  But it's colorful, fun, and if you get those natural food colors (beets and cabbage and whatnot) not unhealthy at all.  Also, I had worried at the start that having food dye mixed in might be a stain producer...  It wiped off of the fingers and table easily.  Luckily none got on any clothes, so I can't vouch for that.  I suspect it won't be hard to clean off though.

I think if I decide to do traditional finger painting with the kids again, I'm going to go for a recipe that requires cooking and see how that is.  My husband suggesting maybe putting a little oil in this recipe could help it to cling a little better.  I may have to try that.  If you try it before me, let me know how it turns out.

All that being said, this recipe is perfect for the next tutorial I have in mind...  Mess free finger painting!

Keep Towels In Place!

You know what I hate?  I hate it when an hour after I put up a nice clean towel in the bathroom, I see it on the floor.  In the bathroom.  Drives. Me. Nuts.  Seriously.  My kids are just incapable of keeping the towel on the towel rack when drying their hands.  Something had to happen.  There had to be a solution.

I thought about safety pins, but I really didn't want to use them on our towels.  I could just imagine the kids yanking on them and tearing holes in their sides.  But what to do?

Here's what I came up with:

Binder clips!  They're safe for the kids and won't ruin the towels.  So, I headed to the store and found these in the office supply section.  I was very excited they had something that matched our bath decor.  I wasn't really expecting that to happen.  I just wanted the dang towels off the floor.

I went home and snapped these onto the side of the towel, making sure both sides of the towel were sandwiched together, and voila!  A towel on the towel rack, that did not move from the towel rack from that point on.  Until I had to wash it.  Which is exactly as it should be.

And that's the story of how the towel got off the floor.