Pretty Pancakes

I made these pink, purple, blue, and green heart-shaped pancakes for my daughter's 7th birthday breakfast. She was not feeling well, so breakfast in bed with pretty pancakes and a candle to top them off, was a necessity to keep her in good spirits on such a special day.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Thank you to Pinterest for giving me this easy idea of using the Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls in my waffle maker for a sweet breakfast. Then drizzle the icing, just like syrup, all over. Yummy!

Cake Pops Really are a Tasty Treat

Cake pops have become a very popular sweet with an easily festive presentation. Several months ago, my husband had a lady bring some cake pops to taste in hopes of the opportunity to sell them in our deli. Unfortunately, they did not taste like cake at all, more like the uncooked cake batter.  I decided to give them a try because of their versatility, and they can be made for so many different occasions.
This is the way I made my first cake pops.

Ingredients:
Yellow box cake mix
white icing
Vanilla wafers

First, I cooked the cake as instructed on the box and let cool. Then I crumbled the cake and added a small amount of icing. Not too much, just enough to be able to form the balls. This is the reason some cake balls taste too gooey, because there is too much icing added at this step. Next, form small, 1 inch balls onto a cookie sheet. After the balls are formed, let them cool in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes. Pull the cookie sheet of cake balls out and start to heat some of the vanilla wafers. I prefer to melt my wafers in a microwavable safe bowl at 30 second intervals until the consistency desired for dipping. Dip the tip of the pop sticks into the melted vanilla wafers about half an inch. Then put the sticks into the cake balls and put back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. Once the pop sticks have set into the cake balls, melt the rest of the wafers and put into a container deep enough to dip the cake balls, and not have to twist them. Twisting the cake pops might result in the cake to crumble (cake pop catastrophe)! After the cake pop has been dipped into the melted vanilla wafers, place the stick into a foam ball to decorate, or simply let set. I used a red cookie icing to decorate these, but plan on using different decorating methods in the future. Sprinkles would be a great additive, or even adding food coloring to some of the left over melted vanilla wafers to make my own icing decorations is another idea.

A New Take On S'mores

I saw these s'mores on Pinterest and decided to give them a try. They are very easy to make and taste even better. All you need is a bag of giant marshmallows, chocolate for dipping, and crumbled graham to cover the chocolate.

Halloween Pretzel Sticks

Pretzels and chocolate are a decadent combination that make for the perfect craving of something salty and sweet. These pretzel sticks were dipped in white Ghirardelli chocolate, and decorated with Halloween colored sprinkles for a festive treat.

Workbooks Galore

There are many different approaches to homeschooling. Every family has to choose which curriculum works for them and their schedule. For our family, workbooks have always been the most beneficial way for our children to learn, because they utilize reading, tangible activities, as well as a sense of achievement upon completion of each section of the workbook. Currently, I have a Second Grader, First Grader, and a pre-preschooler. Needless to say, we have tons of completed workbooks. I am the homeschooling mother that saves everything, and I needed somewhere to store the books. Most of the workbooks are multi-subject, and full comprehensive curriculum, making them very heavy. We use filing bins, because the workbooks store perfectly, and the bins can be labeled with names and grades on the side.

Reuse!

We bought this beautiful dollhouse with all of the realistic furniture for our daughters, and they loved it for about a month. Soon they were on to playing with baby dolls, dress-up, and video games. When our first son started to crawl and get into anything in his reach, all of the dollhouse furniture was put away, and we had an empty dollhouse. We needed somewhere to put books, DVD movies, and video games. I decided to reuse the pointless empty dollhouse into a perfect bookcase. Now, the boys do not have choking hazards, and we can utilize the space!

Easy Purple Flower Cake

I made this cake for my Mother's birthday. She loves the color purple, and I thought a flower would make a pretty cake for her. I used yellow cake and baked it in two 8" circle baking pans. Then I put them in the refrigerator for at least an hour to cool, prepping the cakes to be cut and shaped. I added green food coloring to vanilla icing for the grass,  a small amount of red food coloring to the vanilla for the pink center of the flower, and a raspberry flavored purple icing for the pedals. Once the cakes cooled, I started by applying the green icing (grass) to the first circle shaped cake, making the base layer of the cake. Then, I cut the top circle cake into the desired shape (a flower), and applied the purple icing. I added the pink center and vanilla sides to the flower last. The cake tasted delicious and was super easy!

Learning Sight Words

Learning sight words is an essential part of gaining the ability to become an independent reader. I have been using these wonderful printables found at www.havefunteaching.com for my 4 year old daughter to practice her sight words. Every time she knows a word we highlight the word. Once she can read a whole column of words, she gets a sticker on that column. When she is able to read a whole page of (100) sight words, she gets a certificate of completion.

Easy Horse Cake Idea!

This is a cake I made for my daughter's 6th birthday. I baked the cake using two 8" circle baking pans. Let the cakes cool in the fridge for at least an hour. For the icing, I used chocolate and vanilla, which I added green food coloring to vanilla icing for the grass, and a little red food coloring to make the pink. After the cakes cooled, I cut one of the circle cakes into the desired shape (horse's head). I put the green vanilla icing (grass) on the bottom circle first. Then I put the horse's head on top of the base and started decorating the top layer. My daughter absolutely loved it. The best part was that it was easy!