Future superstars

Wordless Wednesdays- Who built the ark?

March Reading- or more appropriately titled, Books I would like to at least open in March

I usually try to pick 3 books a month to "Look At." One work of fiction(whatever we are reading for book club), one parenting book, and one spiritual/personal growth book. Since The Hour I First Believed is almost 700 pages, we are spreading it over two months (you will see it on my April reading list as well). What are you "Looking At" right now?

Wordless Wednesday- Sick days

Mississippi Mud Cookies

I decided to let Ava pick what we would be baking. The book has big color photos of every recipe. I handed her the book and she said,"I want something chocolatey." I taught her well apparently :) She picked Mississippi Mud Cookies. They have pecans in them, so I probably wouldn't have picked them on my own. All I have to say is, "THANK YOU AVA!!!!" I really liked these and so did Jason, who really isn't a sweets fan. After we went and bought all the ingredients, my helper ditched me to watch Thumbelina. It was okay though because I had another helper attached to me. Darcy had been sick all week and only wanted to be held.

Funny how she doesn't look all that bad when she is in your arms. I actually made another batch of these for tonight's book club meeting, only I am going to take vanilla ice cream and make sandwiches out of them. Here is the recipe:

1 C semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 C butter, softened

1 C sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 C chopped pecans

1/2 C milk chocolate chips (you can use semi sweet if you want)

miniature marshmallows

-Microwave 1 C of semisweet choc. chips for one minute or until smooth stirring frequently

-Beat butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla and melted chocolate.

-Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in chopped pecans and 1/2 C milk choc. chips.

-Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto parchment paper- lined baking sheets. Press 3 (I personally think 5 is better) marshmallows on to each cookie.

- Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!!!

Promises, Promises

Well, it has been a while since the last time I posted anything, and you are probably wondering, "Where are all those sweet treats you promised us?"

I have continued to do my weekly baking projects with Ava, but we have either made really basic stuff or the recipes have flopped. This brought up the dilemma of should I blog about a flop if I promised a treat? In the end I decided that every baking experience is a treat for me, because of the time spent with Ava.

I thought it would be fun to chose a book that Ava and I could work from. Since it will now be more like a recipe review, there will be no pressure for it to be a success. I chose" Southern Living's Best Loved Cookies-50 melt in your mouth Southern morsels" There are several reasons why I chose this book. The first is that when I flipped through the pages I saw a lot of pictures of cookies with chocolate. The second reason was that everything seemed so rich and gooey, like the type of food you could eat and get that warm comforting feeling inside (does that make me an emotional eater ?). Last of all, the recipes looked fairly easy. I don't want to go out and buy weird costly ingredients that I will use one time.

My goal is to make at least 20 recipes from this book. I don't think it should be too hard, as a lot of the recipes were very appealing to me:) The only thing I am concerned about is my waistline =O

Commercial Break Rocky Road

So here is the first of my sweet treats for the year. My grandma says she has made this so many times she can now make it in ONE commercial break while watching TV. I had two assistants this time so it took me a lttle longer.

My assistants, Ava and her friend Colson :)

The ingredients:

1-12 oz. bag of chocolate chips

1 small can sweetened condensed milk

2 TBSP butter
1- 10 oz. bag marshmallows

2 C crushed walnuts

Microwave first three ingredients until barely melted.

Pour mixture over marshmallows and walnuts. Stir until they are coated.

Scoop into buttered 9x13 dish.

Refrigerate until firm.

Not only do I like the way these taste, I love how easy they are to make. I think I used up all my extra Weight Watchers points for the week because everytime I would walk by them I would eat a piece. Good thing I can just start anew tommorrow:)

If my treats get too tempting I will have to give them away after I make them. Watch out, because I just might show up at your door one day!

New Year's Resolutions

I thought I would start the new year off with a smile, and this picture always does it for me. I must say, if I would have known that Build a Bear clothes fit Darcy, I could have saved a lot of money on her Halloween costume.

Hopefully your year has gotten of to a great start, so far mine has....all three days of it. So down to business, I made some resolutions this year and I'm going to share them with you, in hopes that you will hold me accountable :O

1. Develop a stonger relationship with God. Obviously this will be a constant process, but I can always grow.

2. Have more fun. This was one of my resolutions two years ago. I find I get so caught up in the to dos in my day that sometimes I just need to laugh and have some fun.

3. Keep up my baking projects with Ava and share 45 new recipes with you.

4. Get organized. I am severely organizationally challenged. I think some of you would have heart attacks if you saw the insides of my closets. I get overwhelmed, and then do nothing. Baby steps with this one.

5-6. Exercise more and lose the remainder of my baby weight. I am giving myself 6 months to lose 12 pounds. I am doing Weight Watchers. I'll let you know how that works out for me ;) I really have to work on these because I got off my blood pressure meds and plan on staying off them for a very long time.

7. Be a more engaged parent. Sometimes I feel like Zombie Mom, just going through the motions of motherhood.

There they are. Even if I can't fully accomplish these. I will atleast give it my best shot. I will leave you with my favorite bible verse, and unofficial life motto:

Be joyful always

Pray continually

Give thanks in all circumstances

For this is God's will for you

In Christ Jesus

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!