Biscuit Donuts

Biscuit Donuts
My husband shared this recipe with me years ago, it's from his Boy Scout days.

Ingredients
Refrigerated Biscuits
Vegetable oil

Directions
Preheat deep fryer to 375 degrees. Open biscuits, separate, place a hole in the center. You can use the holes for donut holes or roll them into a few large donuts.

Have an adult place the doughnuts in the deep fryer one at a time. As you see them browning on one side, carefully flip them over and let them brown on the other side. Once both sides are brown remove from oil and let cool on a paper towel, you can then coat the donuts (powder sugar, cinnamon & sugar, glaze, chocolate frosting...)

Valentine's

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, I'm sure it doesn't help that my birthday is two days later and knowing that I'll be showered with love, happiness and smiles at that time; however two years ago Valentine's took on a new meaning. On February 9, 2009 my husband and I were ecstatic to find out we were pregnant, a few short days later I started bleeding (not spotting, bleeding with clots), I frantically called my OB/gyn. Every other day for the next few days I was at the doctors' having blood test done, on February 14th I received a phone call from the practice informing me my hCG levels weren't rising like they should, they wanted to see me early morning on February 16th (my birthday) for another blood test and ultrasound in the afternoon. The doctor then tells me that they believe since my numbers did go up slightly that most likely it's an ectopic pregnancy, ending the conversation with a HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. February 16th I rushed to the lab, had blood drawn then impatiently waited by the phone; around noon my OB/gyn called with the BEST birthday present ever...the hCG levels more then doubled, the baby I was carrying was growing in my uterus! That night my birthday dinner turned into a celebration of life, after everything we had been through the previous week we decided not to wait any longer and share the news with our parents (my mom already figured it out). God answers prayers, today that little baby I thought for sure I had lost is now a happy, healthy, smiling, curious little 15 month old; "I love you yesterday, today and tomorrow too"!



I cheated on Valentine’s cards this year; I’ve been extremely busy (more on that below) and needed a craft that wouldn’t require a lot of time, off to A.C. Moore we went. I found Creative Hands sm’ART Kit, it made 24 “Glitter Too Cool Hearts” and best part according to Benjamin…STICKERS! Benjamin placed the sticker faces on the hearts, on the back of he drew pictures for his friends and I wrote a short message wishing them a happy Valentine’s Day.

On the menu for Valentine's Day
Breakfast- Strawberry Stuffed French Toast
Lunch- Heart Shaped Peanut Butter Sandwiches & Peanut Butter Fudge Cheesecake (my husband made the cheesecake for me for a family dinner on Saturday)
Dinner- Braciole
Dessert- Raspberry Souffle

I’m thrilled to announce that I accepted a job offer and begin working on Monday, I’m beyond excited to be back in my career but it is also accompanied by anxiety when I think about being away from my babies 40 hours a week. To slightly help ease the anxiety, I’ve loved on my boys extra special this past week and planned special activites together. One of the days we went to Babies R’ Us and Build A Bear to pick up a leave at the sitter fuzzy blankie for Hayden and a Bear for Benjamin. Since I’ll be missing out on early afternoon cuddles and story time I picked up All the Ways I Love You, this will allow me to “read” to my babies while I’m at work.

My husband and I have solely raised the boys, I’m finding it difficult to hand the reins off to someone else for 6 hours a day. My sister is going to watch the boys; she’s WONDERFUL with kids making this process a lot easier! I can honestly say I'm not worried about leaving them with her, I know Benjamin will be just fine (daily interaction with other kids his own age will do him good) but Hayden is a MAJOR mommy’s boy and has been clinging to me for dear life (he knows something is up); Hayden has only known me as a stay-at-home mom. We have Benjamin on the waiting list for a 2-3 day a week full day preschool program, which I think he’ll really enjoy.

I’ve enjoyed and cherished the time I’ve had with my boys, being there for their firsts and I’ll miss the field trips, crafts, afternoon cuddles, play dates, etc. But I’m ready to start my career again (I paid a lot of money for a degree and I don’t want to lose my skills) and I truly believe in my heart that this is the best thing for everyone in my family.

Baggie Painting

February means oodles of birthdays; today I gathered my assembly line (aka kids) for card making day. Hayden did great finger painting, for oooo...two minutes, and then began eating the paint. It just didn’t seem fair that he couldn’t join in on card making day; I remembered hearing or reading about a fun activity for little hands, unfortunately I can’t give credit where it is due since I can’t remember where I heard about this activity. Take a plastic sandwich bag, fill it with paint, seal and let your little one mush the colors inside the bag together with their fingers.

My little artist

Apparently paint is yucky!

Honest mommy, I wasn't eating paint!

Baggie Painting

Snow Fun

Young children love snow but they usually don’t love being in the cold for every long. Here are some ideas that you can do inside.
Toddler Gym

Paint Snow- Lay snow on a tray. Let your child paint the snow with watercolors.

Shaving Cream Snow- Give your child shaving cream to play with on a table. This is an excellent way to begin drawing shapes and letters! Beware…this is messy but smells great!

Cotton Ball Snow- Have a snowball fight with cotton balls! Try to see who can get the most cotton balls across a line or into a bucket. You can even use sand toys for shoveling!

Happy Snow Day!

Easy Berry Ice Cream

Easy Berry Ice Cream
You Can Cook by Annabel Karmel

Ingredients:

1 lbs Strawberries
8 oz Rasberries
8 oz Blackberries
1 cup Superfine Sugar
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
1 to 3 Tbsp Confectioner's Sugar

Directions:
1. Wash your fruit, pick out any bits of stalk, and hull the strawberries.

2. Put fuit and superfine sugar in a pan, cover, and cook slowly for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. When the berries let out their juices, turn up the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Let the fuit cook. then blend it until it's smooth.

5. Pour the blended fruit through a strainer to remove the seeds.

6. Pour the strained fruit into ice-cube trays and freeze until solid.

7. Put the cream in a bowl and whip it until it forms soft peaks when you lift the whisk.

8. Let the frozen berries thaw for 5 minutes, then roughly chop in a food processor. Add the cream.

9. Whizz to combine. Add confectioner's sugar to taste. Serve now (it is very soft), or freeze for an hour before serving.

Sorry for the horrible picture, I had to use my crappy cell phone
camera since I left my Canon Rebel in another area of the house.

Indoor Camping

Growing up in Mesa, Arizona where the average winter temperature is 41 degrees, I despise South Central Pennsylvania winters; I HATE being cold and trying to dress a 14 month old for the snow is like fitting a square peg into a round hole (11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids- Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems. 1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh. 2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this - all morning)! I’ll admit I like one measurable, sleddable, snowman building snow a year but after that I’m ready for warmer weather…well, we’ve had snow and I’m ready for spring, kiss the cabin fever goodbye and send my kids outside into the wide open.

To change up the indoor play routine I dug out and dusted off my old 2 man tent from my collage days, set it up and the kiddos and I had an indoor camping experience. We piled pillows, blankets and sleeping bags into the tent, we read books and for lunch I served a camping style lunch of hotdogs, trail mix, fruit and macaroni and cheese.

Since warmer weather doesn’t appear to be in the forecast, another winter wonderland front is scheduled to arrive tonight, the boys and I are off for a little change of scenery at the Hands on House.

After the Holidays

After 25 Days of Christmas Projects I needed a break from organized/planned projects, while taking a break we’ve been

playing with our Christmas toys.

Reading books we received for Christmas.

Enjoying the popcorn popper pop-pop (grandpa) gave us on New Year's Day.

Learning to climb step ladders..oy!

Playing, eating and learning to walk in snow.






And we made Cake Pops

I’ve been reading a lot about Cake Pops on food blogs and on Family Fun, I decided to check the book out of the library. The recipe was super simple, with just a little bit of help from myself, Benjamin was able to make all the Cake Pops himself.