Sweetheart Hot Chocolate

All this week I will be sharing Valentine ideas with you. From sweets and treats, a centerpiece idea and more. Be sure to stop by each day and check out the Valentine fun!

How about some "sweetheart" hot chocolate today. Try dressing up your favorite homemade or instant hot chocolate with these adorable pink heart marshmallows for your Valentine party. Aren't they just so cute?! Lots of possibilities with these. Make some pink rice krispy treats, pile the whipped cream on your hot chocolate and stick in a heart marshmallow, or just serve them up in an apothecary jar as part of a dessert buffet. I'll be using these again this week,so come back and see how. The kids and kids at heart will love 'em.

Apple Crisp Anyone?

Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm. Two words. Apple - Crisp. One of my favorites. I wanted to share this yummy recipe that I've been making for years. I got it from one of my mother's cookbooks when I was newly married. It is super easy and good! I love the flavors of the brown sugar and cinnamon and texture the oats and cake mix give it. Oh yeah. The apple pie filling isn't bad either. This recipe is a bit sweet so don't get too ambitious with your serving size(like I tend to do). I like to let it sit a little while after cooking so the topping has time to set and you can really taste the crispness of the apple "crisp." It's very good the next day as well. And with a big ole scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Oh my! Be sure to get the recipe below.

Apple Crisp
1 can apple pie filling
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. quick oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 c. yellow cake mix or 1 box Jiffy brand yellow cake mix
1 stick melted butter

Pour pie filling in 11x7 dish or square pan. Set aside. Mix brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and cake mix together. Pour evenly on top of pie filling, pat down. Pour melted butter over top. Be sure to coat as much of oat mixture as possible with butter. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Works For Me Wednesday- Easy Spanish Moss Topiary

It's Wednesday so that means it's time for another Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family. Today I thought I'd show you a spanish moss topiary that it simple, cheap and will look great with your decor. I really like how it turned out and I'm lovin' the texture and pop of green it adds to my living room.

I started out with a floral ball(Styrofoam ball would work too)that was around $3, a bag of spanish moss, which was $2.97 and a small pedestal planter(that's what I'm calling it anyway). The planter was free for me. It previously had a fake autumn flower thing going on. My daughter's primary teacher gave it to her after an activity they had.FYI, I have seen them at Dollar Tree and Dollar General stores. So I estimated that it cost about $4.50 for the whole thing and 15 minutes of my time. I only used half the bag of moss. Their is an apothecary jar waiting for the rest of the it.


I yanked out the autumn flowers and some of the Styrofoam underneath so the ball would sit well on the planter. Then it's pretty simple. Just pull out some of the moss and flatten it out a bit and hot glue it to the ball. Try not to overlap the moss. It will look bulky and messy. When you're finished you can go back and fill in those tiny spaces with small pieces of moss. Be sure to do this on newspaper or something because taking the moss out of the bag is very messy.


My finished product. Not too shabby for 15 minutes and $4.50. I'm really liking it in my living room. Maybe I'll make more for the master. Enjoy!

We Love Waffles

Yep, our family loves us some waffles! That, up there , is my new waffle maker. The Villaware Uno waffle maker. We had our old one for almost twelve years. It was actually a wedding gift along with a huge bag of waffle mix. We loved our old one, but Ivy, our 2 yr. old, decided to see if it was indestructible one day when she pulled it off of the kitchen counter. No. It was not indestructible. It broke into three big chunks on our tile floor. Goodbye yummy waffles.For a little while anyway.-- I got on the search for a new one. After a bit of research(yes, for a waffle maker)and comparing different brands, I found this one and LOVE it! Hey, we take our waffles serious around here so I wanted a good one. It makes thick Belgian waffles. It also has control settings from 1 to 7 for crispy or not so crispy waffles. I like mine with a bit of crisp and the settings are spot on. It's easy clean up and storage as well. If you're looking for a new waffle maker, I recommend this one.



One thing we like to do in our family is have a waffle bar with different toppings, syrups and different flavors of waffles. Some of our favorite waffle bar fixins are strawberries, whipped cream, strawberry syrup, maple syrup, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, bananas, and nuts. Sometimes we mix it up with the waffles and do chocolate chip, pecan, and apple cinnamon. So good! Last night I tried a new recipe for All- American waffles and they turned out very good! Light and a little crispy, just the way we like them.
You can get the recipe at the end of this post.



All- American Waffles
2 eggs, separated, room temperature
1 3/4 c milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 3/4 c. flour
2 tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Beat egg yolks, stir in milk and oil. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir only until large lumps disappear. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into batter.

Candy Bling!

It's Wednesday, so that means it's Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family. Today I'm sharing some candy bling that will work as a fun valentine.

I was strolling along in Hobby Lobby on one of my many visits there, and spotted this little plastic heart that opens up for $.99. Valentine immediately came to mind. I filled it with Valentine M&M's and tied on coordinating ribbon and added a bow for a cute and easy necklace. Fun and different. However, I would suggest maybe putting a couple pieces of clear tape so it won't pop open easily while little hands are touching it. My daughter thought the candy bling was super cute!

If you don't want to give it in as a necklace, you could always tie on a bow or embellish it however you like.

Funfetti Cookies

The other day Laci and I decided to try out a new cookie recipe, Funfetti Cookies. I like to try out cookie recipes and find new favorites, although I have had some major flops. This one was one of the good ones. I think it is also the easiest and quickest cookie I've ever made. Well, aside from refrigerated cookie dough, but I don't really consider that "making" cookies. Laci and I mixed these up in a matter of a few minutes. These do let you cheat a little by using a Funfetti cake mix. You can also use the Funfetti frosting with sprinkles to top them with. I didn't have that so I just used vanilla frosting and sprinkles I already had. This was Laci's main job. Frost and sprinkle. Mmmmm. They are very good. A party in a cookie! It's really like a sugar cookie with sprinkles in it. Tasty! Although, I think next time I will roll them in sugar before I bake them and see how that turns out. Enjoy!



Funfetti Cookies

1 Funfetti cake mix
1/3 c. oil
2 eggs
1/2 can Funfetti Vanilla Frosting

Heat oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.(I used my mixer) Shape dough into 1- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to about 1/4 inch thickness. Bake at 375 for 6-10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy sprinkles from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in a tightly covered container.

Pinewood Derby 2010

This past Saturday Trent was in the Pinewood Derby. This was his last Derby since 11 yr. olds can't compete. The two weeks before it he worked hard on his car with some help from dad.Although, Will is insistent that Trent do as much of the work on it as he could. This is no "daddy did it" car. He cut and painted and even had a hot rod motor sticking up out of the front. It was a pretty sweet car! It was fast too! Trent got second place in the Webelo division and his car was voted Judges Choice! Way to go Trent! He brought home his trophy and it is proudly displayed on his desk. I love this picture of him smiling from ear to ear. He was so happy to place this year. You rock!