Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Favorite Chocolate Recipes

Last week some friends and I embarked on a "hazing" to encourage each other with weight loss.  These friends shall remain anonymous as this is a "secret" group.  LOL!  So last week we couldn't eat any chocolate. 

No chocolate!

I did have to taste some chocolate buttercream at the bakery.

It was fabulous! 

And I did eat a chocolate covered strawberry.

It was divine!

And I had a piece of toast with Nutella.

It was dreamy!

I guess, you can say I failed this first week of "hazing". 

You know how when you can't have something that is all you can think about?

Well, this made me think of more chocolate favorites.

Now I can share them with you:

1.  Death by Chocolate Cake.  Rich chocolate cake, filled with fudge and strawberry preserves, Milk Chocolate Buttercream frosting and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries on top.  OH MY WORD!

2.  Old Fashioned Fudge Cake.  Old fashioned it might be, but never out of style.  It's so good.

3.  Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  Did you know you can color white chocolate?  You can!

4.  Chocolate Almond Brownie.  This one is gluten free, absolutely no flour!

5.  Libby's Brownies.  This is one from a former co-worker.  It's the best homemade from scratch brownies I've ever eaten. 

6.  Chocolate Whoopie Pies.  If you love the Oreo Cakesters, you'll love these homemade yummies!

7.  Chocolate Mice.  My favorite little girl party treat. 

8.  Chocolate Pot de Cremes.  The best homemade chocolate pudding you'll ever make.

9.  Ultimate Chocolate Truffles.  Creamy and dreamy centers, make you love them ever so much.

10. Chipotle Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Subtle heat creeps up your throat. 

Enjoy!

Party on a Frugal Budget

How do you host a party for your little girl (or boy) on a frugal budget?

Well, for one thing, you do everything yourself instead of paying out of pocket for it. 

1.  Watch videos on how to make a barbie doll cake.  Listen carefully to the instructors so you get the cake just right.  Baking the cake and freezing it ahead of time can save you some time and money later on.  This way the cake is waiting for you.  If it doesn't turn out, you'll have plenty of time to rebake and start over. 

2.  Make appetizers from your stockpiled pantry and freezer.  Frozen spinach boxes I snagged for $.60 and sour cream for $.59 turned into a great Spinach Dip.  If you're not sure what you can make with something in your stockpile, visit the brand's website to see if they have any recipe links.  It's a great way to try new recipes.  Also, keep an eye out for sales and buy when things are cheap.  Plastic forks for $.39 and straws for $.39.  Yep, that's a Walgreens deal from November.

(My friend Jodi took this picture.  Thanks Jodi!)

3.  Make your own invitations.  I found some clip-art and printed out invites.  Then glued on some glitter to make them sparkly.

4.  Make your own cupcake picks from old scrapbook material in the garage.  Well, maybe that's just me, but I have tons of scrapbooking stuff I had to move out of the house to make room for kiddos and homeschooling. (Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these.) I totally forgot to put these on the cupcakes!!!  Oh well, maybe next time :)

5.  Keep decorations to a minimum.  I bought some cheap balloons at Walmart and bought some hot pink tulle from Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon.  Tying the balloons in the corners of the walkways with the tulle draped across, makes for inexpensive, yet festive decorations.

6.  Make punch from kool-aid.  We decided to stick with the pink theme and used pink lemonade.  Freeze some kool-aid in a Tupperware ring (or Bundt pan) and store in the freezer for the party.  Think ahead because if you're like me, I only have one ring so I started about a week before the party to get a couple of these frozen.  Buy kool-aid packets when they are on sale $.20 a packet.  Have sugar, kool-aid packets and pitcher on hand to mix up as needed.  It's cheaper than soda and no caffeine to make the kids nuts.

7.  Visit the Dollar Tree for some great "thank-you-for-coming" grab bags.  I snagged a couple of bags of candy along with these cute puzzle necklaces, all for less than $10.  I divided everything among some "princess" lunch baggies for all the girls to take home.

8.  Print coloring pages off the internet.  I chose some Barbie and the Three Musketeers coloring pages, since that's the movie we planned to watch.  I also grabbed two boxes of 64-count crayons from the Dollar Tree and dumped them into a box for the girls to color at the table.

9.  Barbie Makeover Table.  This could have been expensive, but I picked up on some clearanced hair glitter after Halloween.  So that was a huge savings.  We also used some store rewards to pick up some pretty sparkly fingernail polish at Walgreens.  My biggest surprise find was at Goodwill.  They had received boxes of eyeshadow and lip gloss from a drugstore and marked it 4 for $1.  So I got a couple of shades of each. This was a HUGE hit!  The girls had more fun applying make-up to each other than anything else!  So cute!

10.  Keep it simple.  I got this idea from my cousin.  She said let the girls decide what they wanted to do.  So from the beginning I let Sissy decide what we were going to do for the afternoon of the party.  She said she wanted to watch a movie and play Barbies.  She also wanted a Barbie cake.  We talked about the other fun things we could do and she decided on coloring and sparkles in her hair.  All in all, I think she did a great job for a 4-year-old.  Everyone had a great time.  Can't wait until next time!

How do you party on a budget?  

This post has been linked to:

• Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda!
• Wordful Wednesday at parenting BY dummies
• Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom
• Wordless Wednesday at A Lot of Loves
• Wordless Wednesday at Newlyweds Blog 
• Wordless Wednesday at A Daily Dose of Toni
• Wordless Wednesday at A Beautiful Mess

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Fun Indoor Activities

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but we've been snowed in since Sunday night.  My brother has a 4x4 truck, so he came by Monday to pick up my hubby and they went driving around on the ice. 

Why do men do that?  Must be a macho-thing.

Anyway.

So the kids and I have been stuck in the house.  And you know when kids are stuck in the house after a few days, they start to go BONKERS!

Here's a few things to help ease the cabin fever:

1.  Make a tent out of sheets and play with the flashlight

2.  Have an indoor picnic for lunch, lay out a tablecloth or blanket and have fun

3.  Get that play-doh out of hiding and let them keep their hands and minds busy (or make some homemade play-dough)

4.  Have a movie day (vs. night) complete with pizza and popcorn

5.  Gather all your coloring books and crayons and get busy

6.  Make cookies and freeze some and bake some

7.  Play dress-up in your clothes and Daddy's clothes

8.  Choose some of your older story books and have story time

9.  Make paper snowflakes and tape them to the windows.  Or try these pasta snowflakes.

10.  When all else fails, fill the bathtub with hot, steamy water, put on their bathing suits and let them splash and play in the bathtub. 

We've done all of these accept the cookie one.  I'm thinking it's time for some cookies!

This works for me. What about y'all?

Enjoy!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Kitchen Must-Haves

I love being in my kitchen.  I guess if you've been following me for a while, you already know this.  Over the years I've accumulated quite a few kitchen gadgets.  But there are a few I use nearly every single day.  

So I'm going to share them with you:

1.  Global Knife.  My husband bought this for me a few years ago for our anniversary.  I love it!  It's super sharp and cuts through potatoes like a hot knife through butter.

2.  Le Creuset Pot.  This was another anniversary gift.  It's useful for soups, collards, mashed potatoes, chili...  I bought a smaller Martha Stewart version from Macy's a few years ago. 

3.  Cast Iron Skillet. Every Southern kitchen must have a cast iron skillet.  Perfect for frying taters or baking the perfect cornbread.

4.  Cutting board.  I used to have a wooden chopping block, but it fell apart.  Now I stick with the plastic ones so I can bleach them and disinfect them in the dishwasher.

 

5.  Food Processor.  A few years ago I purchased a Food Network brand processor.  It was my first one and I can't believe it took me so long to purchase one!  I love it and use it for chopping vegetables, grating cheese, making biscuits and scones...so many uses.  If you don't have one, make sure you check the cup size.  A larger capacity allows you more options for using it.  I think mine is 11 cup capacity. 

 

6.  Magic Bullet.  My Momma gave us one of these and it is perfect for blending smoothies, cocktails, purees, salsa.  I could go on, it's definitely one of my favorites!

 

7.  Vegetable Peeler  I have two of these.  They are huge time savers when it comes to peeling apples, potatoes and carrots.  I like the swivel head.  I think I got them at Walmart for $1. 

 

8.  Box Grater Grating cheese, carrots, zucchini, apples, potatoes...so useful!

 

9.  Measuring Spoons and Measuring Cups

 

10.  Pyrex Casserole Dishes.  Pyrex is wonderful!  Did you know you can freeze a casserole in the dish and place them straight into the oven without them cracking or breaking?  Love these things!  The large measuring cups are great for mixing up muffin batter and even baking cakes.  

These are my favorite things in the kitchen.  What about you?   
Do you have a favorite kitchen must-have?

Enjoy!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Favorite Children's Books

Every week we read books with our children.  During the day, in the car, at the doctor's office, on the potty, in the bed, on the couch, you get the idea.  Each week, I plan a homeschool lesson for Sissy.  Among the things to learn and discuss are a couple of books related to the theme of what we're learning about.  Even though we read these books, we also have other favorites.  Some I'd never heard of before having my children.  I thought I'd share those with you now.

1.  Goodnight Moon.  This is an old book, but for some reason, I'd never read it before buying a hardback version on amazon.com for $.01.  We love it and wish I had heard about it sooner.

2.  The Gruffalo.  We love humorous books.  The story is best told if you change your voice when reading the description of the gruffalo.   

3.  My Lucky Day.  First off, I don't believe in so-called "luck".  So don't get all uptight about the title of the book.  It's a funny book.  Depending on the age of your kids, you might have to do some explaining in the end.  We did.

 

4.  Raindrop Plop.  Beautifully illustrated with colors and helps your kids to count.

5.  Welcome to the Zoo.  This is first "picture-only" book I've ever "read" to my kids.  I didn't think I was going to enjoy it, but I'm so happy to say I was wrong and I love it!  The best part is watching for the zookeeper chasing after the ostrich.  So funny!

6.  Peter Rabbit's Giant Storybook.  My Momma bought this book for herself.  Then one day she gave it to us.  We LOVE Beatrix Potter.  She has a unique personality that really shines through some of our favorite stories. 

7.  Good Night, Gorilla.  Have you read this one before?  Oh my word!  It's so funny to watch the gorilla sneak through the zoo behind the zookeeper.  Definitely fun to read before and after a trip to your local zoo.

 

8. The Tale of Pip and Squeak.  Very cute book about sibling rivalry.  I really like to read it to the kids when they've been having a bad day playing with each other. 

9. Any Dr. Seuss books really....  I'm a glutton for rhyming books and course, Dr. Seuss doesn't disappoint!

 

10.  Pete the Cat:  I Love My White Shoes.  This is such a cute book.  It also teaches your children about colors.  It's a sweet book.

Do you have a favorite?  Please share in the comments.  I'm learning there are more and more great authors out there to share with my kiddos!

Enjoy!