Friday, September 16, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Frosted Cake Batter Blondies
I found this off Pinterest and just had to try it.
Frosted Cake Batter Blondies
-1 white or yellow cake mix, or funfetti mix
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
-1 egg
-1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
-1/2 cup white chocolate chips
-1/2 cup mini marshmallows (I omitted)
-1/4 cup sprinkles (unless you used a funfetti mix)
Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine mix, oil, egg and milk. Stir in chips and marshmallows. Batter will be thick. Spread in prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, until center is just set.
Frosting:
-1/2 cup butter, room temp (I used Earth Balance dairy and soy-free spread)
-2 cups powdered sugar
-1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
-1 Tbs milk
-sprinkles
Mix butter and marshmallow fluff until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing slowly. Add milk and mix on medium until smooth. Frost cooled blondies. Top with sprinkles.
I got antsy and put the frosting on while the blondies were still warm, so they didn't firm up as well as they should. They're super rich and sweet, so a little bit will go a long way but they are oh so tasty!
Frosted Cake Batter Blondies
-1 white or yellow cake mix, or funfetti mix
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
-1 egg
-1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
-1/2 cup white chocolate chips
-1/2 cup mini marshmallows (I omitted)
-1/4 cup sprinkles (unless you used a funfetti mix)
Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine mix, oil, egg and milk. Stir in chips and marshmallows. Batter will be thick. Spread in prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, until center is just set.
Frosting:
-1/2 cup butter, room temp (I used Earth Balance dairy and soy-free spread)
-2 cups powdered sugar
-1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
-1 Tbs milk
-sprinkles
Mix butter and marshmallow fluff until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing slowly. Add milk and mix on medium until smooth. Frost cooled blondies. Top with sprinkles.
I got antsy and put the frosting on while the blondies were still warm, so they didn't firm up as well as they should. They're super rich and sweet, so a little bit will go a long way but they are oh so tasty!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Getting my You Know What Together
Here's pretty much the bare minimum goals I need to meet:
-Keep Rich, Lucy and myself well-fed with a balanced, mostly nutritious diet (this includes meal-planning, couponing, grocery shopping and cooking)
-Keep pets fed, healthy and happy
-Keep pets fed, healthy and happy
-keep the house free of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)
-Keep myself sane and fit by making time for running
In Charleston, it was just me and Rich and we had a lady that cleaned the house every other week. All I really had to do was light cleaning during the week. I never cleaned the bathrooms, mopped, etc.
Fast forward to moving back to Arkansas, and we lived with my parents. They have someone that comes once a week to clean and mom cooked dinner every night. Yeah, we got really spoiled!
I knew the fly by the seat of my pants wasn't going to work once we got settled in our new place. I needed a plan. I needed to get organized. Since I'm the kind of person that likes to read 4 books and 18 blogs about something before I actually do said thing, I started reading. I came across Flylady and that's what I've been using. Basically, it works on the premise of not procrastinating, developing daily routines that keep things under control so you don't get overwhelmed and have to spend whole days cleaning. I printed out a schedule, added in tasks specific to our family (ie brushing the dogs), and got started. I tweaked it for a couple weeks and now I have a pretty good system down, with the bulk of my "chores" done on my days off, Monday and Wednesday and the weekend. Now the house stays mostly clean all the time, and CHAOS stays away :) For example, my morning routine involves wiping down the bathroom counter and sink everyday and a quick swish in the toilet with a brush. That way the bathroom never gets filthy. On workdays, I usually chop/prep the night before and put ingredients in the slowcooker before I leave for work. My nightly routine involves laying out clothes for the next day, packing the next day's lunches. It is a lot of work, but it's also nice to feel like things are under control. Gone are the days of waking up, wondering what to wear, what to eat and running around like a crazy half-dressed person in the morning trying to get ready.
Meal planning and the slowcooker are wonderful. I plan so that I can cook on my days off, and eat leftovers or slowcooker meals on my workdays. Rich picks Lucy up from daycare and gets home before I do so he can put simple things in the oven (like potatoes), then we can eat when I get home.
Running-this has been a tough one because my Wednesday runs have gotten longer and are now too long for me to comfortably push Lucy, plus she gets bored on anything more than about 4 miles. I feel guilty about it, but wind up taking her to daycare for halfdays on Wednesdays while I run and grocery shop.
Getting my $h^! together is definitely a process, and there are some mornings that the toilet doesn't get swished. But overall it's working and makes life so much easier. Anyone have any other tips to keeping a family and household running smoothly?
-Keep myself sane and fit by making time for running
In Charleston, it was just me and Rich and we had a lady that cleaned the house every other week. All I really had to do was light cleaning during the week. I never cleaned the bathrooms, mopped, etc.
Fast forward to moving back to Arkansas, and we lived with my parents. They have someone that comes once a week to clean and mom cooked dinner every night. Yeah, we got really spoiled!
I knew the fly by the seat of my pants wasn't going to work once we got settled in our new place. I needed a plan. I needed to get organized. Since I'm the kind of person that likes to read 4 books and 18 blogs about something before I actually do said thing, I started reading. I came across Flylady and that's what I've been using. Basically, it works on the premise of not procrastinating, developing daily routines that keep things under control so you don't get overwhelmed and have to spend whole days cleaning. I printed out a schedule, added in tasks specific to our family (ie brushing the dogs), and got started. I tweaked it for a couple weeks and now I have a pretty good system down, with the bulk of my "chores" done on my days off, Monday and Wednesday and the weekend. Now the house stays mostly clean all the time, and CHAOS stays away :) For example, my morning routine involves wiping down the bathroom counter and sink everyday and a quick swish in the toilet with a brush. That way the bathroom never gets filthy. On workdays, I usually chop/prep the night before and put ingredients in the slowcooker before I leave for work. My nightly routine involves laying out clothes for the next day, packing the next day's lunches. It is a lot of work, but it's also nice to feel like things are under control. Gone are the days of waking up, wondering what to wear, what to eat and running around like a crazy half-dressed person in the morning trying to get ready.
Meal planning and the slowcooker are wonderful. I plan so that I can cook on my days off, and eat leftovers or slowcooker meals on my workdays. Rich picks Lucy up from daycare and gets home before I do so he can put simple things in the oven (like potatoes), then we can eat when I get home.
Running-this has been a tough one because my Wednesday runs have gotten longer and are now too long for me to comfortably push Lucy, plus she gets bored on anything more than about 4 miles. I feel guilty about it, but wind up taking her to daycare for halfdays on Wednesdays while I run and grocery shop.
Getting my $h^! together is definitely a process, and there are some mornings that the toilet doesn't get swished. But overall it's working and makes life so much easier. Anyone have any other tips to keeping a family and household running smoothly?
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