Two Ingredient Cake

I thought I'd make something sweet again but without all the calories. I'm getting burned out on strawberries and sugar free whip cream. So I made cupcakes!

While searching through Pinterest, I found this really interesting way to make a cake using only two ingredients.

1- box of devils food cake mix

1- cup non fat Greek Yogurt

and 1 cup of water (ok that's really three, but water don't count).

 

 

Mix all the ingredients together with a wire whisk and bake 350 until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. It took mine about 25 minutes. I ended up adding a tad bit more water to the mix because the texture was really thick and just didn't look like the soupy cake mix I'm used to. They didn't seem to rise as much as the regular way.

They turned out better than I thought they would. You can't even taste the yogurt at all. They reminded me of brownies.
Personally I did not like them, They were not as rich in taste and a bit gummy. But I would highly recommend this recipe if your allergic or trying to stay away from eggs. 

The original recipe can be found  HERE.

Cake Mix + Fat-Free Greek YogurtPER SERVING (1 piece, 1/12th of cake): 180 calories, 3.25g fat, 306mg sodium, 34.5g carbs, <0.5g fiber, 20g sugars, 3.5g protein


Ive shared this at:
marvelous-mondays at thisgalcooks
mealtime-monday-recipe-link-up at couponingncooking.
terrific-tuesdays at adventuresofadiymom
creatively-tuesday at therusticpig
kitchen-fun-and-crafty-friday at kitchenfunwithmy3sons

 

Feeling like a bad Mom

Do you ever feel like a "bad Mom?" I do at times. But this week, I really felt like a bad one.

What started out as an ordinary day. I had my breakfast, went to the post office and then to work.
about 10:00 am I get a text from my Husband for me to call home. At that point, my stomach fell in my lap because every time the phone rings and/or he needs me to call home, I think "oh Lord, something has happened to my daughter". Let me remind you, my daughter is only 3 weeks away from graduating from four years of College. I am a nervous Mom all the time anyway, However, I'm doing pretty good about that now. I don't worry about her quiet as much, ..OK yes I do.

Anyway, I called home. My husband said he has some bad news. My daughter had been in a wreck. she was fine and it was not her fault. Just shaken up a little and the police and ambulance are on the scene, she will have an officer take her back to school and she will call us when shes there. I was speechless for a second. My instinct wanted to grab my superman cape and head to Charlotte. She was only 20 minutes away. Im pretty sure I could have made it in 5.

My husband and I decided to let her handle this herself (his idea of course). She needed to learn how to get by without us just a little bit. After all , she was fine and this was not her first accident. The first one was below the house heading to high school one morning right after she got her license. I was at the scene before I could hardly get my clothes on. In fact, I think she was still talking to me on the phone when I arrived. That fast. ha ha. Again, she was OK it was a minor bump in an older car than she has now.

This time her accident was...well.... it could have been worst. God was there with her. She was in her little blue Focus. It happened on a busy hwy when someone hit her and took her across 4 lanes of traffic before halting in a ditch. So, now its the next day and I literally can not stop thinking about how she must have felt. How scared she must have been and I was not there for her! I am holding back so many emotions trying to come to grips. Me and my husband have even joked a bit about it just to ease our minds of the stress. But at the end of the day, I feel like a bad Mom because I was not there for her. She had to go through it all by herself. I should have been there.

We just got her this car 7 month ago :(

 

The next day, she said she was sore and now has a rental car so she can complete her internships and work schedule until she graduates. I am so proud of her. Even though we handled alot of the insurance needs, she did good at staying calm, giving correct information and paper work she needed. She is so smart and I hope she can stay out of troubles way for now on. I cant take much more.

I have to say during all this, I stayed calm (better than I thought I would) and was able to continue working the rest of the day. I had a scattered mind , but I made it. (Thats what bad Moms probably do).

We are going to go see her Sunday and I am sure I will give her a check up and kiss the boo boos if I have too.  I still feel awful. 

Grape Salad

We have been  having some really nice weather lately. We have sunshine and storms. I love storms in the spring. I have even able to keep my windows open to enjoy the fresh air. UNTIL, the pollen started. I have the worst allergies ever and this green gook is my enemy. I feel like clawing my eyes out for the pain and itching.

Speaking of green, I wanted to make a healthy (well not really) sweet dish. I found this recipe for grape salad and it was amazing.

 

GRAPE SALAD

2 lbs green seedless grapes

 1/2 (4oz) block cream cheese

4 oz sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts

 

 

Mix together all the ingredients except the grapes and nuts. Once everything is creamed together, add the nuts and grapes and toss until coated. Keep refrigerated. (This is actually good immediately. No need to let it set for a long period of time before eating).

 

My recipe is cut in half of the original recipe found HERE. Because I did not buy enough grapes.
I think you can put cream cheese and sugar together to create anything. In fact, I may try this same recipe using different fruits. What fruit do you think would be good made this way? I'm thinking Pineapple. Yea?

I've shared this at:
lil-luna-link-party
made-by-me-76-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio
showcase-your-talent-thursday at whatscookinglove
tasty-thursdays at mandatorymooch
full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage
freedom-fridays at myturnforus
get-schooled-saturday too-much-time.com
mealtime-monday-recipe-link-up at couponingncooking
marvelous-mondays at cookinforthesevendwarfs

Marshmallow Macaroni Cheese Cupcakes

Don't judge the taste by the name! This is actually good!

On of my favorite snacks is the Marshmallow and cheese things that mom used to make us when we were little. I know, Its sounds nasty but you put a marshmallow on cheese and a Ritz and its awesome! The combination makes a magical tastes put together. Try it!!! Everyone that I have ever gotten to try these things fell in love with them.

SO, that brings me to my newest experimental recipe.

"Marshmallow Macaroni and Cheese cupcakes". I call them cupcakes because they are more on the sweet side.

I have been seeing on Pinterest, these macaroni and cheese cups with Ritz crust and it donged on me that the only thing missing was the marshmallows. However, For some reason, I could not find the recipe. The picture never took me to one, so I figured it out the best I could imagine.

1. First I used a whole sleeve of finely crushed Ritz and poured 1/2 stick of melted butter into them and pressed in my muffin pan to make like a small pie crust.

I used reynolds aluminum liners but you can make these without any liners.

 

2. While I made my crust, I boiled 8 oz of macaroni. Once done, I combined the macaroni with 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon self rising flour, and about a cup of cheese (or more).

I always make my macaroni and cheese in a crock pot so I really don't know how to make the old fashion kind,  so just make it the way you would normally make it.

3. I put the macaroni and cheese in the Ritz crust and baked 375 for about 20 minutes.

4. Then I added a large marshmallow on top and toasted until it was....well....toasted.

 

Go ahead, try it! Don't have alot of time? Try just doing the Ritz thing I mentioned at the beginning of this post. It is still my favorite snack.



Ive shared this at:
sunday-show-off-linky-party twiggstudios
mealtime-monday at couponingncooking
terrific-tuesdays at adventuresofadiymom

Crochet Swiffer Pad *Pattern*

I don't know about you but my swiffer is not like the ones on the TV commercials. Mine sits alone and sings with the duster in the closet. Why? Because I refuse to buy those awfully expensive swiffer pads. I'd rather just use my broom to sweep up the dust.

UNTIL NOW!

I made me a nice little swiffer pad for my swiffer. Its soft and gentle on my hardwood floors but yet has a little more rubbing power than those papery swiffer brands. Dont worry about not haveing the "static power". The dust bunnies stick to this just fine.

I used 100% cotton, but you can use any yarn I assume. (cotton will shrink some).

When it gets dirty, I can just toss it in the washer. It works wet too! I can spray my Stanley Steemer wood cleaner on my floor (thats some good stuff by the way) and wah-lah!  I can swiff and mop with this handy little thing and use it over and over, saving me money.

Crochet Swiffer Pad

H hook

Abbreviations:
Hdc: Half double crochet
Sc: single crochet
Ch: Chain

Make a ch 15 inches long (it was 57 chs for me)

Row 1: Hdc in second Ch from hook. Hdc remaining stitches. Ch1 turn.
Row 2: Hdc in each stitch across. Ch1, turn.
             Repeat until your piece is 5 inches tall. (I used my swiffer to measure).

Fold over each end by 2 1/2 inches and Sc all the way around the pad.

All Done!

Ive shared this at:
made-by-me-75-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio
terrific-tuesdays at adventuresofadiymom.
nifty-thrifty-tuesday at coastalcharm
blog-stalking-thursday at thecraftyblogstalker
under-100-linky-party at beyondthepicketfence
friday-link-party at craftionary
strut-your-stuff-saturday-link-party at sixsistersstuff
get-schooled-saturday at too-much-time
make-it-pretty-monday at thededicatedhouse
retro-repin at niftythriftyfamily  

Finally Spring

Its the beginning of April and we are finally seeing signs of spring here in North Carolina. In the Winter, our temperatures hardly ever get below 35 degrees, so we never really have it cold here and Spring temperatures usually begin in March. But not this year, we have struggled fighting the ups and downs of the weather since February. It will be 35 and sleeting one day and 70 the next. Its crazy.

 

Me and my husband went for a walk around the neighborhood like we often do, when I noticed spring is finally here.

 

I'm glad I took my IPhone so I could take a few pictures and show you the beauty around us if you only take the time to look. Sorry for the lack of quality pictures. Wish I would have taken my camera instead.

 

 First it looked drab with the trees barely blooming, but I took more notice as my walk continued.

 

I saw spring! Flowers were popping up everywhere, bees were kissing the azaleas, and the dogwoods were finally opening up.

See the busy bee?

 

I love the Yellowbells

 and the Dogwoods

White Buttercups

 

Tulips are my favorite flower next to Daisies

 

and I'm pretty sure these came from a store. Ha!

 

HAPPY SPRING!

Slippers and Scraps

I feel bad about putting crochet projects on my blog without having a pattern to share as well. But this is the case. I really struggled to figure out how to do the soles and tried several different patterns I had found. I ended up using one that worked but cant remember where I found it. As far as the top of the slippers, I kinda just did my own thing by seeing how others were done. I would share with you how I did them but I honestly don't know what kind of "together" stitch I did. It just worked and I thought they were too cute not to share.

I really wanted to make a baby shoe that would work for summer instead of the bulky ones I make for winter wear.
I had so much fun with them, I ended up making more! I gave a pair to a friend and put the others in my Etsy shop.

Later, I found alot of little tiny balls of yarn at the bottom of my yarn stash. I usually save these to make small flowers or bows. But I decided to make a little scrap hat with them instead. I started by sorting my balls of yarn from the smallest to the largest. I used the smallest to begin and went from there. I just started with a magic circle, double stitched 12 in the hole and so on. If you crochet, you know what to do next. These really are "one of a kind" you could never do two the same unless you did some serious counting.

I think it turned out cute with an Urban style. I wish I had a baby model because I would love to see this thing in action.

After I finished, I noticed it goes good with the little slippers.


Ive shared this on:
craftionary's friday-link-party
freedom-fridays at myturnforus
strut-your-stuff-saturday at sixsistersstuff
submarine-sunday at usscrafty
sunday-show-off-linky-party at Twiggstudio
april-stash-buster at lindacraftycorner
make-it-pretty-monday at thededicatedhouse FEATURED

Cicada Invasion

As if the Kudzu bugs haven't bothered me enough, I heard on the news today about Cicadas. They said that the Cicada insect invasion will be at its worst this year because they come out of the ground every 17 years. Isnt that just crazy?  

wikipedia

They are around every year because of different cycles, but not many. This year, watch out! It's time for the ones that have been in the ground for 17 years to emerge! This is expected to take place around Memorial day. Yikes!
They are harmless, but they do have a sucky thing that sucks the sap out of trees, so if you leave one on your skin for a long period of time (like who would really do that?) then It will pierce your skin and it would be painful. In other words, do not make a pet out of one.
They are about the size of a battery and make sounds louder than a lawn mower. Really?
Hey thats not all, You can eat them! Yes, people around the world actually eat these things and are known to be crispy crunchy and  have a nutty, almond tastes after they are deep fried or baked. (don't worry, there is a recipe link at the end of this post). eeesh, I dunno. Maybe if they were dipped in chocolate and I was on "Fear Factor" I'd do it, (loved that show by the way).

Here are some fun facts I found about these crazy things. Let me enlighten you.

SOME FUN CICADA FACTS

• The periodical cicadas like this year's brood may emerge in HUGE numbers – as many as 1 million per acres!
• Several broods will emerge in Maryland this year. The largest is called Brood X (That's Roman numeral for 10.)
• These cicadas have been 2-3 feet underground for 17 years, waiting for this spring to crawl to the surface. 
  This year's brood of 17-year periodical cicadas will arrive in early May and be around through mid-June. 
• The noise you hear from cicadas is the male singing to attract females. He makes the sound by vibrating membranes on the side of his body, underneath his wings. 
• The song of just one periodical cicada can be as loud as nearly 90 decibels. If you're standing right next to him, it would sound as loud as a power lawn mower!
• Cicadas are NOT locusts. Locusts are migratory insects related to grasshoppers 
• Periodical cicadas are smaller than the annual cicadas we see and hear every summer. 
• Cicadas don't hurt people or pets. You can keep several in a shoebox with twigs for a day or two, then let them go. Make sure the environment is moist so they don't dry out. 
• The brown casings you'll find are the cuticles (called 'exuviae') cicada nymphs shed after they emerge from the ground and molt into adults. 
• Periodical cicadas cause damage by laying eggs in tree twigs and branches. Females cut a small slit in young branches with their ovipositor, then drop the eggs into the space. 
• Female cicadas will lay eggs about a week after they emerge. After 6 weeks, the eggs will hatch, and the babies, called nymphs, will drop to the ground, where they will burrow into the soil for another 17 years. 
• Cicadas feed on plants, but they don't carry any plant diseases. 
• Developing cicada nymphs feed underground on plant roots while adult cicadas feed on above-ground plant parts of trees and shrubs. They don't damage flowers. 
• young trees with small branches are most susceptible to cicada damage. 
• The best way to prevent cicada damage is to put nets around young trees. 
• Cicadas are edible. You can look for recipes online. (Cicada recipes).

(Source)

Now go outside and finish your gardening. Ha!

Social Drowning

I feel like I'm drowning in all the social media online now days.

I post about things and then find its already been around the Internet a thousand times.

Pinterest is getting overwhelming.

Everyone pins off blogs and everyone on Facebook is posting things off Pinterest.

Is anything a "new" idea anymore?

 
Does anyone even read my blogs? or have they already read about the same thing on Facebook, tweeter or another blog?

I'm drowning!

I wonder if I'm wasting my time. I mean, does anyone even really care what I cooked last night or crocheted this morning?

Sometimes I feel like just hiding and disappearing from it all. It would be different from ordinary to just go back to living the good ole days and let TV be my only source of social living and the recipes I make and things I create be kept in the family.

Does anyone else have days feeling like this? Am I the only one suffocating here?