Monkey Bread

I find it hard to believe that I have never made monkey bread before and now that I have, I have a feeling that I will be making it a lot. My family loved this and it is just so easy.

On the slim chance that somebody out there is like me and has never made monkey bread before here is the recipe...

1/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 sticks butter
4 cans biscuits
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Melt the first three ingredients and boil for 2 minutes. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Roll each piece in last 2 ingredients. Layer in greased bundt pan. Pour boiled mixture over it. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. Cool in pan for 15 minutes then turn out on plate and serve while still warm.

Also, if you feed it to a bunch of little boys they might call it "fried monkey brains." But whatever you call it, it is delicious.

I know it's not Monday

Most menu planning out in the blogosphere is done on Mondays; however, I was at the mechanic on Monday so I didn't really have a chance to sit down and plan anything out.

We have a couple of family dinners and I have a conference for two days so my hubby will be in charge of cooking those two days. So this is our current plan for the next two weeks.

W- Tacos
Th- Soup and grilled cheese
F- Battered fish and fries
S- Roast, carrots, and potatoes
S- Family dinner for March birthdays
M- French toast
T- chicken pot pie
W- Meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Th- Taco soup
F- Pizza (hubby)
S- Mac n cheese and hot dogs (hubby)
S- Out to eat for my birthday
M- pancakes
T- BBQ chicken sandwiches

I love menu planning because it just makes things so much easier than trying to figure out something last minute.

Bedroom Reveal

This room is not finished. I have long list of things that I still need to do but it was far enough along that we could move the kids and their stuff back in. This project has taken far too long and I really needed my living room back.

So as a reminder, this is the before photo.



Here are some after photos.









We put in a new window, sanded the walls (because they were texturized), ripped up the old carpet, sanded the floor, painted, put up trim, painted, painted, and painted. There was more painting than there should have been in this room and that is completely my fault. But lessons were learned so next time it won't take us 6 months to finish a room.

We still need to touch up the paint (yes, more painting), organize the closet, and I need to figure out what I am going to do with their furniture and what color I want the furniture to be. We need to buy a desk for C and, at the very least, I need to remove the dinosaur stickers from their dressers. I love Goo Gone.

I like it. I think it looks "farm housey" which is good since we live in an old farm house.

I can finally reclaim my living room

We have been working on remodeling our sons' bedroom for about six months now.

It took a lot longer than I thought it would but we learned a lot while we were redoing this room. The room is not entirely finished now but it is far enough along to move their belongings back in.

I hope to put up some pictures tomorrow of what it looks like now but until then this is what it looked like before.

Don't you just love it when the kids help decorate?

So glad I have some Goo Gone.

Happy Valentine's Weekend?

I am not sure about anybody else but I feel like we have been celebrating Valentine's Day all weekend long, probably even longer than that.

Our youngest son, AD, is in preschool and since they don't have school on Fridays they had their Valentine party on Thursday.

Then our middle son, C, was supposed to have his party on Friday but due to a really bad headache he stayed home. Luckily, his teacher collected all of his Valentine's for him and he got to open them that day. He also got 2nd place in the class Valentine Box contest.

Here he is holding up his prize.



Then on Saturday we had a very busy day. We went to a Valentine's party with some Hip Mamas. The boys got to do crafts, exchange Valentine's and swim.

Saturday evening my in-law's volunteered to watch the kids so that we could have some alone time. Not only did they offer to watch our kids they offered to watch ALL the grandkids and that is A LOT of kids. They are quite brave.

My hubby and I went out to eat and walked around the nearby mall. Of course, while we were doing this it started to SNOW. Because you know we couldn't go a week without snow. (No, I am not being sarcastic. Really, I'm not. Right.)

I probably should also mention that while hubby and I looked around the mall I got my Valentine's gift. While I am not really that into chocolates or diamonds I am a sucker for a kitchen gadget or appliance. Since I have really been in to making waffles lately we upgraded my $7 waffle maker to this....



and I LOOOVVVEE it.

Since it was snowing quite a bit and it was a long drive home we ended up staying at my in-laws for the night and I got to use my wonderful gift this morning to make everyone some of these yummy chocolate waffles. They are just sooo good. It was nice to be able to do something for my in-laws since they do so much for us even if it was just breakfast.

And now it is actually Valentine's Day but we are really just too tired to celebrate it anymore. The kids and hubby are on the couch watching a movie and I am zoned out in front of the computer.

Hopefully the rest of you have more energy than me and I hope you and your family are having a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Why I am a horrible mama

Right now I am probably not a favorite in our house. At least not with our children anyway because I cancelled out Spring Break trip. Yeah, I told you, mean mama.

Last year we went to Breckenridge, Colorado and we had intended to do the same this year.

But I started thinking about the cost of the trip, and quite frankly, there are other places I would rather spend our money; like on a new white subway tile backsplash in our kitchen.

Picture: Pacific Sun Construction

So pretty.

I also love the white cabinets. So now our plan for Spring Break is to paint the kitchen walls and paint the kitchen cabinets. Then we can hire someone to install the subway tile back splash and also tile our kitchen floor.

I am sure we can find someplace to take them in the area so they at least feel like they got to do something over Spring Break. Well, maybe hubby can. I might be at home admiring the tile.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these muffins for the boys the other day and they were delicious.



Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
In a bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs, bananas and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture just until combined. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups half full.
Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Valentine's Day Box

There seems to be a recurrent theme at our house. Care to guess what it is?

Baby Shower Cupcakes

I am going to a baby shower on Saturday for one of my husband's relatives. I was trying to decide what would be a cute gift to take.

I had seen Diaper Cakes before but I had never made one for anybody. I decide that since I am known more for cupcakes than cakes that I would see if I could make some Diaper Cupcakes.

After looking at various options I decided to still make the cupcakes but without the diapers. I used onesies and baby washclothes.

This is what I came up with....



Then I just added a bow and VOILA!



Not too bad for my first attempt. Next time I am going to try baby socks, wash clothes, and bibs and see how that looks.