S'more Sundaes (please!)

A drive-in Custard Stand in our town has this sundae, but I was always disappointed that there was no Marshmallow in a S'MORE Sundae! So, I brought it upon myself to do a little experimenting... boy, was I glad!!! the ingredients are SO cheap and it's fairly simple to make! 



You'll need:
Vanilla Icecream
Hot Fudge
Graham Crackers
Marshmallow "Fluff" (you can find it anywhere near the frosting). 

(Jordan wanted to add a piece of the chocolate bar to each of ours - that's totally optional!)

You'll need to:

1. Crunch up the graham crackers (we use our Ninja, but you can break them up in a ziplock baggie instead).  Set aside.
2. Scoop as much icecream as your heart desires into your bowl.
3. Take a dallop of Marshmallow Fluff and pop it on top of your icecream!
4. Melt the hot fudge (or just warm it up in the microwave) and pour over icecream/marshmallow mix.
5. Sprinkle your concoction with graham cracker crumbs.
6. Devour. 

Crock Pot Roasted Almonds!!!

Saw this recipe on Pinterest and immediately had a craving for them! Seemed super easy to make, so I decided to give it a try! The nice part about this is that you more than likely already have all of the ingredients on hand at home! I've changed the amount of ingredients because there ended up being WAY too much excess sugar at the end.

Time to Prep: 2 min:)
Time to Bake: 3 hours (but oh, so worth it!)

You'll need:
1 lb bag of Raw Almonds (got mine @ Menards for about $5)

1 1/4c sugar
1 1/4c brown sugar
2T cinnamon 
1/8t salt

2t vanilla extract
1 egg white

1/4c water (for later!)


You'll have to:

1. In a BIG bowl, mix the dry ingredients together - Set aside.
2. In your 2nd biggest bowl, whisk the egg white and vanilla extract until they begin to froth.
3. Add the almonds to the egg white and vanilla mix. Coat all of the almonds well.
4. Pour the almonds into the sugar bowl, and mix well!
5. Pour into your crock pot and set on LOW for 2 hours. Mix every half hour or so. 
6. After 2 hours, add the 1/4c water and mix well. Set the timer for another hour, mixing every 20 min or so.
7. Pour onto 2 cookie sheets to cool - make sure to break up any big "chunks" of almonds.
8. Store in an air-tight container (if they aren't devoured within minutes!)

SO excited to get little containers to gift these for Christmas!  Jordan, after tasting them, said they were "so rare... and tender... and so good!" :)

& here's the wrapping job we did for Jordan's teacher:

Enjoy!!!

Reusable Candle Jar - Totally Works!

I am always super skeptical when it comes to trying out things from Pinterest cause, well, we all know the Fails that can come of them! However, this one seemed like a pretty easy, no loss, kind of pin. When one of my candles was no longer use-able, I stuck it in the fridge for a few hours. When I took it out, the wax came out in seconds - painlessly!!! Washed it with soap and water and... voila! Brand new beautiful container! 

Baby Name Art!

I am the proud auntie to another little blessing; my newest nephew, Beckett. This was just a little welcome-to-the-world gift:

Drink the 8!

Every morning, I drink 1c skim milk w/carnation breakfast powder and a large coffee. Every day for lunch I drink 1c skim milk. Every night with dinner I drink soda or maybe some water. That means that every day I've been drinking NONE of the 64oz of water that I need. Yikes. 

SO. I busted this bad boy out of the pantry:

1/2 gallon water bottle that I got from Walmart for like $1 last summer.

1/2 gallon = 64 oz

Recommended water intake = eight 8oz glasses

Well, today was my first day with this new plan and my goal was to drink just half of it during the day, and then finish the other half when I got home. At the end of the work day, it was gone! Granted, I had to use the bathroom every hour and a half (literally, after every class I taught), but I feel so great knowing that I drank so much water without even realizing it! 

Homemade Sweet Potato Fries

SO, I've been craving sweet potato SOMETHING for awhile now. And I figured this would be the easiest/quickest recipe to make: Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Deliciousnesssssssssss

I used one sweet potato (since Bruce, of course, doesn't like them). Ended up eating 1/2 for dinner and putting the other 1/2 in the fridge for tomorrow. 

I mixed up 2T olive oil, 1T pumpkin pie spice and a few dashes of salt - they were DE-lish.

Fruit Smoothies/Frozen Yogurt

This has become an absolute FAV in our home. Thank God it's healthy, or we'd be in trouble...

We love ice cream (I blame my parents for always having a gallon or four in the house growing up, and I curse LeDuc's for their corruption of my childhood...) - So we've turned to frozen yogurt/smoothies as a dessert when we don't want to be too glutenous. 

I usually eyeball the amounts of ingredients, but for TWO-ish servings you'll need:

• 1/2c skim or lowfat milk
• 1/2c low fat yogurt (plain, vanilla or strawberry) 
• 1c frozen fruits (strawberries, blueberries, mangos, pineapples, mixed berry, etc.)
• I usually save a banana or two from the bunch or cut them up when they're turning brown and pop them in the freezer for smoothies later!
• Blender/Ninja!

Directions: Mix ingredients. Ninja (or blend) to oblivion. Taste test - add more fruit for thickness, add more milk to soften. Ninja (or blend) some more. Smoothies = glass w/ fun straw. Yogurt = bowl with spoon. Devour. 

Weight Watcher's Shepherd's Pie (Yummo!)

Okay so after starting Weight Watchers, I was a bit apprehensive about trying some of the "super healthy recipes." Until I saw this one (mashed potatoes? I'm down!). This isn't the quickest to make, but man, is it worth it! It literally tastes like Thanksgiving in a pan. (HUGE hit with the boys, too!)

"Classic Shepherd's Pie"

Here's the recipe: Classic Shepherd's Pie

I found that 2 potatoes weren't enough the first time, so I bought 3 the second time and it was perfect! I also added some skim milk to make them creamier and some garlic salt for taste (The whole thing was a bit bland the first time, so I added more seasonings the 2nd time, too!). I also used ground Chicken with Chicken broth... I'm going to try Ground Turkey next time :)

Wall Art Prints (Favorite Quotes)

Download my favorite quotes below! (All are 8x10in)

Click here for Be Soft

Click here for Bird

Click here for Classroom Rules

Click here for Family Rules - Blue/Green

Click here for Family Rules - BlueRed

Click here for Family Rules - BlueGold

Click here for Maya Angelou

Click here for Teacher-Male

Click here for Teacher-Female

Wall Art Prints (Bible Verses)

Download my favorite verses below! (All are 8x10in)

Click here for this Exodus 14:14

Click here for this Exodus 14:14

Click here for this Exodus 14:14

Click here for Proverbs 31:25 (My Favorite!)

Click here for Luke 1:37

Click here for Peace

Click here for Philippians 4:13

Click here for Philippians 4:6

Click here for Psalm 118:24

Click here for Psalm 119:105

Enjoy!

Wall Art Prints (Seuss Quotes)

Download my favorite Dr. Seuss 8x10 Wall Quotes below!

Click here to download the "Youer than You - Pink" 

 Click here to download the "Youer than You - Blue&Green"

Click here to download this quote in Red&Blue

Click here to download this w/the Navy Background

Click here to download this w/the Red Background

Wall Art Prints (Seuss, Letters, Numbers)

When we moved into our new place, I wanted to spruce up Jordan's room with something unique, so I created some prints to hang up:

This, naturally, inspired me to create other prints. I created the templates in Publisher (which is the most time consuming part), and then had these printed at Walgreens as 8x10's... What I've done since then, however, was print them on high quality paper with my color printer and they turn out just as nice! LOVE how they look with the matted frame.

You can download these 8x10 prints below.
 (See other posts for more prints) Enjoy!

 Click here for the Dr. Seuss Quote

 Click here for the Letters Print

Click here for the Numbers Print

Photo Word Wall Art

For a wedding gift, my sister-in-law gave us this awesome piece of art that spells our last name in photo "letters:" 

LOVE!

Now, it's hanging above some family photos in our hall:

Then, not long after, I came across a craft on Pinterest (no surprise there), that inspired me to make some of my own! I began with one for my stepson, Jordan. It turned out better than I expected:

It's hanging above his bed, now:

Then, my mom got into it, and we both came up with a few of our own:

I've seen Groupons for these puppies; upwards of hundreds of dollars a pop! WHAT?

So, to share this wealth of knowledge with the world, I've decided to explain how to make these yourselves.

Step One: 

Decide which word/name you'd like to create. Set out to different stores to find a frame that will fit the word (the largest frame I've seen had 6 openings, and it was from Kohl's). Kohl's has the greatest variety and usually you can get a great deal (especially when you get that lovely $10 Kohl's Cash in the mail!). Walmart and Target have a few of these, too. I haven't bought any online but I'm sure there would be more variety...

Step Two: 

Go here to download photo letters. You'll want to block out enough time to really look through and save a few of each letter that you like. First, decide on a theme/style or color to focus on. SAVE the "Medium size" photo if available. Create a new folder for each "word" for easier sorting.

Step Three:

I usually use Walgreens Photo for printing (great deals if you sign up for their newsletter and watch out for the coupons/sales!!!). Follow the directions below for cropping your photos so that they aren't cut off or printed horizontally - don't learn the hard way like I did!!!

Step Four:

Insert your photos into the frame and hang it up!  

Enjoy :)