pudding |

Easy Peasy Poke Cake

August 5, 2016 By Callie Leave a Comment

I’ve been feeling the need to bake more often and try out new things! Apparently Row is feeling it because she has been asking to make cake most days. She helps with all the steps and mixing and putting in a little love. We love this poke cake because it’s easy. You can use any combination or variety so the combinations are endless. This last one we made was a cookies and cream poke cake.

Ingredients:

1 Box of Jello Instant Pudding Mix-the big box

1 Box of Cake Mix

You will also need milk for the pudding and eggs, water and oil for the cake mix as called on per the box recipe.

Mix your box cake using the recipe from the box. Bake your cake mix in a 9×13 pan. Allow to cool for twenty minutes. Once cool take a straw and poke holes throughout the cake-hence the name poke cake.

Mix your pudding using the recipe on the pudding box. Once the pudding has been mixed pour your pudding over the top of your cake to serve as the icing. Cover your cake and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Once the pudding sets you can either store the cake out of or in the fridge-whichever you prefer.

This cake is super easy and always tastes great! The pudding also helps keep the cake moist.

This one is definitely kid friendly to make and eat! Which kind would you make? We had chocolate cake and cookies and cream pudding-yum!

Rolls Here..Get Your Rolls Here

August 28, 2015 By Callie Leave a Comment

Oh back to school…back to school…as Meg Ryan put it I would gladly send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils or was it Tom Hanks….oh You’ve Got Mail I love you. What I especially love is I’m not going back to school because as a Kindergarten teacher that’s what I did every year. Oh and yes we call it going to school not going to work. I love it even more now. Those kids go and we stay. I celebrated by going to the mall….close parking spot, no line. I went to two stores, got popcorn and did a return and was back in the car with Row in less than an hour-oh yes.

Okay so with Fall-I say this lightly because we are roasting in Texas, with Fall I dream of home cooked meals and rolls.Look I have a thing for rolls. I can’t let one go to waist.

I love baking….and my friend Jennifer does too so we have a deal. We bake and then I split and send it to her house. Sadly these did not make it to Jennifer’s house.

Pudding Rolls

Ingredients:

1 pack of instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cups milk

1 stick of butter softened

4 teaspoons or 2 packs of yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

5 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

This will take about and hour and 20 minutes of prep-but it’s really not bad and 18 minutes of cooking. In a small bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water-mix just a bit. Let sit for 5 minutes. Make sure the yeast is bubbly after so you know it’s active…if not dump and start with 2 new packs.

In a large-and I mean large-think of the flour-mixing bowl combine the pudding and milk. Next add the softened butter-not melted only softened. Now the yeast and water mixture gets added. Oh and the salt and now the flour mixing all gradually as you add. It will be a bit sticky. Mix and then need for a couple of minutes until everything is mixed.

Cover the dough in the bowl and set in a warm place-the counter will do- for 25-30 minutes. It should double in size. If not give it another 10 minutes. Punch it down and let it rise for another 25 minutes.

Split the dough into roughly 15 pieces-roll and place in a greased 9×12 pan. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes until done.

Oh my lord these were so amazingly good. Fluffy but dense, not too dense just amazing. Honestly these are now my most favorite homemade rolls of all time.

You know what else is great about these-using up that instant pudding you get while couponing! Score!

Happy back to school.

Toddler Time-Tub Painting

November 19, 2014 By Callie Leave a Comment

You know what the easiest, cleanest way for a toddler to use finger paints involves? The tub! What an idea….I mean after they paint it’s basically an all over the place ordeal and tubby time is a necessity. Why not save yourself the trip and the headache by painting in the tub…what’s that you say? Make it edible-done!

Our week has started off with a bang. This week in Ibloom we talked about friendships. We talked about friendships that come in and out of your life and the wonderful purpose of each. I have been so blessed with so many friends throughout my life. People who have shown up when I needed them even after years of being apart. There have also been times when I felt I didn’t have a friend in the world. Infertility can sometimes push people away. Women are afraid of saying the wrong thing, or worse of the same thing happening to them. It is for that very reason….the loneliness that I chose to speak out about our infertility struggle from then on. So that you may feel not alone.

On that blessed day that my Row entered our lives I then began to pray for a special friendship. One for Row and I. A friend for her and a Mama friend for me….and boy did He provide abundantly. Today we had some bestie time playing as all toddlers do side by side but not really interacting. Which by the way is called parallel play and is totally developmental. It’s so wonderful seeing them greet each other and “talk”.

We planned our upcoming Toddler Christmas Party-you knew that was coming right? I immediately began a shopping list in my head of Christmas cookies for our cookie exchange-eek. I’m ready to Christmasfy this place!

Onto tubby time. I’m a play advocate! That’s right I believe in learning through play. You’ll hear me time and time again. I try to do one new fun activity a week. You heard the right ONE. I don’t want to introduce too much to overstimulate and I want her life to be fun. I found this super cute and EASY idea for sensory play in the tub.

Supplies-vanilla pudding and food coloring.

Mix the food coloring in the pudding and plop it in the tub. It’s so great because it’s edible too. I initially started with one color-we talked about the color and texture and then onto free play. This was a great sensory activity! We played right before our actual bath time. As you can see she had a blast. A word of warning. If your child is a splasher, thrower, slinger….I would go ahead and remove some items like say the bathmat, hanging towels,etc… Row had a blast and slung it everywhere! I mean behind the toilet everywhere. It was totally worth it though. It was also really easy to clean and didn’t stain anything. Not bath mat, not tub, not even walls. Once she was done I just started up the water, scrubbed a bit with the washcloth and spot cleaned as needed. We will definitely repeat this one!

I hope you’re having a great week! Do you have any great toddler friendly art activities?

Oh and I almost forgot these amazing things came in the mail today. I heart Livie and Luca shoes and these are gray suede with gray sparkles-love! The picture does them no justice.

What’s Row wearing? Matilda Jane Sugar and Spice Knot Top and Matilda Jane yellow chevron puffer