Vanilla Almonds

Kelsey Nixon's Vanilla Almonds.

For her recipe link find it at cookingchannel.com



 

    ingredients

• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups whole almonds

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon



The best part of this recipe, is that I used my own Homemade Vanilla Extract.

It was "marinating" for about 2 months.. and it made all the difference in the taste of these delicious Almonds.



Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Beat the egg white with the vanilla extract, add the almonds and stir to coat.



Combine the sugar, salt, and cinnamon and combine with mixture.

 

Mix all up until Almonds are coated evenly.

Spread on a sheet tray lined with parchment 

Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Let cool and then break apart into chunks

I stored them in an airtight jar, and tried not to eat them every single time I walked by them...

They are so good. Im so glad I tested this recipe. We gave them as part of our teacher gifts this year, and I think they were a hit.

Park Days

This week we were indeed "park junkies"
We were there 3 days in a row, and would have been there today too, but the rain kept us indoors.
I love packing cute little snack lunches.
I got to use my new LunchBots containers and I was very excited.

 



 This little thing knows just what to do at the park now, he knows what areas he likes, and enjoys the sandbox, and slides, he tries to climb everything and has no fear whatsoever... oh, asometimes he just wanders off and I have to sprint after him.. ahh my Andrew...

 

 

Little Miss Fearless... you wouldn't catch her doing this last year.. She's met a few new friends at the park, one whom is going to be 6 .. and she really gravitates towards the older kids.. and I think they make her more adventurous and brave.. which is good for her.. since she's cautious, which I like, but sometimes a little too cautious.

 

For a few days it was party of my routine, fixing cute bento lunches, and packing our swim gear, or extra clothes, diaper bag.. etc

 

She was insistent on wearing my headband like this.. and why not? She looks too damn cute to say no! ha!

 

We met a few friends at a new park on Wednesday.. and it was a steamy one..

This little guy gave me the signal when it was naptime.

 

We played for a little while at least!

 

It was good to see Miss Lucy, and new baby James too!

Lori, it was indeed TOO SHORT.. but hey.. that's how we have to roll with kids these days, right?

 

The next day we kept close to home, but went for a walk.. 

Always following his big sis...

 

While brother naps. She reads... she's trying SO SO hard to read.

She will be so proud of herself when she figures out what letter begins with a word.. and she'll run in and tell me.. MOMMA!!!... P starts with PIG!..haha.. and she says it just like that.



I've been having a lot of fun so far this summer with these kiddos..

We're knee deep in playdates, park dates, and being outside every day (when we can)

Im soaking it all in..

Happy Summer!

Compost Cake for Father's Day

Father's Day 2013

Samantha and Daddy headed to the Carnibal.. a small little town up on Lake Ontario that has a bunch of rides & carnival shops, foods, etc. We took both kids last year around Labor Day... and Samantha and Daddy got to have a little one-on-one time.

I fed Andrew and put him down for his nap. (Hoping for a long one...)

And I got to work on my father's day cake for Daddy.

 

I wanted to do something that he likes .. He loves gardening.. and I was looking for a good garden cake, but most of them I either didn't like, or they looked really really involved.. which I don't have time for these days ...So then we were in Lowe's last week getting some garden supplies and I came across a cupcake book, inside was a "Compost Cake"... and I immediately whipped out my iphone, and snapped a few pics.. Perfect

 

I started with a plain chocolate cake.

I baked 2 cakes (just split the batter up)... in a 6 inch round wilton cake pan.

After they cooled, I cut them up and shaved off about 1/2 inch.. I didnt want the cake to be taller than the pretzels that I would use for my compost "fence"... (keep reading)

 

From there I put one layer on a plate and frosted it with cool whip, and then added some crushed Oreos to what would be the middle layer. 

On went the 2nd layer

 

Repeat frosting the top layer.

I started assembling the "fence" that would hold the compost in, with Rold Gold Honey Wheat Pretzels.

 

After the entire cake was fenced in.. I added some crushed Oreos to the middle to act as the "dirt"

 

Here are the toppings I chose.

Dried Bananas, Gummy Worms, Fruit Slices (trimmed for effect), Green Tinted Coconut Flakes (Lettuce), & a leftover SpongeBob "Crabby Patty" Gummy sandwich.

I just played around and buried the candies until it looked the way I wanted.

I also added some crushed cookies on the outside, and had some worms crawling around.



 

I used some bakers twine to hold the whole thing together, and then made a "Compost" sign 

He cracked up.. and really enjoyed it after our Steak Dinner on the grill

We had a good father's day, and I don't know how I could do the job of Mommy without an amazing partner, friend, and amazing Daddy.

Holy Busy!

I better get a blog entry in ... its been too long!

We haven't been doing anything crazy.. a few things had us down... a tummy flu bug that somehow skipped BOTH kids thank god, and just got Mama and Daddy...

And a small trip to the ER.. (read on...)

 

For now, we finally started planning SJ's 4th Birthday party..

The theme is a Lemonade Party..

I have been shopping and collecting ideas, and supplies..

But last week the invites that I made went out.

This week was my last week with SJ in school a few days a week.

So I enjoyed my mornings with this little guy.

Note the shoes.. he has a big sister.. enough said.. ha!

So we've been doing a lot of things that start with P.. ha!

Playing...

Plaques

I squeezed in a wedding plaque order this week



 

Pumpkin Muffins

Whenever I make them.. they are gone within 2 days..



 

Playdates

Samantha and her friend Katherine 

 

Popsicles

I made some blueberry cheesecake pops.. and Andrew insisted on eating it all by himself.

 

Purses...

This little almost 4 year old got an early birthday present from Miss Teta Nina.

We LOOOOVE our crewcuts purse!

She loves carrying it around the house and filling it with her little girl goodies.

 

Porch Swingin..

This little one.. things he's quite big now..

Climbing up onto chairs in the house recently, and now onto the porch rocker..

 

just about 20 minutes after this pic, he was running.. (he rarely walks anyway) and he ran right into the car, fell back and smacked the back of his head right on the concrete. The sound was unforgettable. and he was inconsolable for a good 25 minutes. He finally took a bottle and fell asleep, to which I freaked out..because they say you should keep them awake after they hit their head. So I called the doctor, and he suggested I wake him up and take him to the ER, just to make sure..

I was a mess... thinking the worst.. and returning to the Children's Hospital for the THIRD time with this child.. yes THIRD...

It was the fastest ER visit ever.. he got looked over, and strapped down for a CAT scan, and all came back negative.. He was acting normal and answering questions, eating, drinking and responding normal, so I thought he was ok. But hearing that the scan was ok made me feel at ease.

 

Ugh.. what a day.. Daddy came down to meet us but we were already about to get dismissed..
I really really hope we do not have to return to the hospital any time soon.

Picking Up Lunch

It was SJ's last day of her extended 3 week preschool program today.

She had a new teacher, new classmates for about 3 weeks, and today was the end.. I asked her what she wanted for her favorite lunch, so we headed to Wegmans after school and picked out some yummy Organic turkey per her request.



Pizzas & Puff Pastry Tart

We made pizza tonight...regular for Daddy and SJ, and I have been dying to try this recipe from Kelsey Nixon.

Ratatouille Tart with Homemade Tomato Jam..

Sooooo good.. I needed to cook/bake to get over this challenging week...

Here's to a better weekend.. and better week ahead!

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom {Greatful}

Stay at Home Mom...

Those words were like sweet music to my ears when I was in my late 20's

I knew I'd love to stay home with my kids.

"How Much fun, right?" I thought.

Just play all day, feed them, change them, naps, stories, etc..

 

 

I took the kids to Starbucks in the jogger the other day.

The woman who served us looked at me and said "are they yours?" .. that in itself is a compliment, right?

 

I told her yes, and then she asked if I stayed home with them, and I also answered yes.

She said she had been a Mom & Nanny for 26 years, and Staying at home was the best decision she had ever made. She told me:

 

"I think its a wonderful thing that you are staying at home with your kids. In a world of such chaos, its so important to try and really connect with your children and form that bond during the first few years"

 

I nodded, and said "Oh, yea, absolutely"... and then I quickly grabbed our drinks before a tantrum started brewing, and I said goodbye to her.

 

As I rollerbladed home with the kids, I began to hear what she had said to me over and over in my head. It really stuck with me.. It must have.. that was almost a month ago, and Im still thinking about her words on my hardest days.. and thanking God that I am able to be at home right now with my kids.

There are definitely days when I would like to jump out the window, lock myself in the closet, and bury my head in a pillow.. But then there is every day.. when I cant imagine anyone but ME being the one to take care of the two most precious things I have in life.

 

 

This is just our situation. If things had been different, we would have hired on another Nanny, or thought about DayCare. But this is what works best for our family, and Im not ever judging anyone who has different plans/views/ideas/thoughts... just my little disclaimer.

This blog I write for me, and my family, my readers, and mostly for memories sake. I look forward some day looking back and seeing how much our family has grown, what we've gone through, grown through, and learned through.

Earring Frame Holder {DIY}

DIY Earring Holder

 

All my earrings are shoved in boxes, in my old jewelry box, lost, or in our bathroom cabinet where I keep my makeup. I usually rotate between my diamonds & pearl earrings... and never ever wear the other ones exept on fancy occasions...

 

So I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to make one of my own

I started with a plain white frame (glass removed)

 

My little helper...

I cut some chicken wire, and flipped the frame over and trimmed it to fit over the back

 

Then I used a staple gun to secure the chicken wire all around the frame.

 

My husband had this handy dandy trimmer thing.. don't ask me what it really is...



 

Hung it up in my bedroom....

 

And Voila...