Homemade Cheez Its!

I was out and about surfing the web when I ran across a recipe for cheese crackers, that I knew I had to try. I almost always pick up a box of Cheez Its in the store. They have been around since I was a child and I still love them even today. So when I ran into a way to make my own baked crackers, I jumped at the chance to try and make a new family favorite. At first I had high hopes that these would taste just like the real thing, but to be realistic, that will never happen. I don’t have enough preservatives and ingredients I can’t pronounce in my baking arsenal. If I could find something that we like out of this, I prefer the natural, low preservative version.

The recipe is extremely simple to put together, and the end result is a cracker that is light and crispy. You could even turn these into twisted cheese straws, add some spices, and mix and match cheeses. For simplicity sake and for something that appeals to two 5 yr old little boys, I went with plain old sharp cheddar that I grated from a leftover brick of cheese that was just calling my name.

Recipe

Homemade Cheez-Its

(Adapted From: ReadyMade Magazine)

Ingredients:

1. 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated plus a little parmasean reggiano
2. Optional Seasonings (I used a little cayenne pepper)
3. 3 Tbs of unsalted butter, room temperature
4. 1 Tbs vegetable shortening (you can omit the vegetable shortening and use 4TBS of butter)
5. ½ teaspoon salt
6. 1 cup unbleached flour
7. 2 Tablespoons ice water
8. Coarse salt for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Combine cheese, butter, shortening, optional preferred seasonings and salt in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. The mixture will be crumbly.
2. Slowly add the flour then the ice water.  Add a few extra drops of water to help it come together (this is just like making a pie crust) but be careful not to add too much.
3. Pat the dough into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for  30 minutes or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 375?F.
5. Using parchment paper or a silicone mat roll each disc to 1/8 inch or less and cut into 1 inch squares (a pastry wheel or pizza wheel is easiest). A toothpick works great to punch a hole into the center of each square.
6. If you have difficulty separating and transferring the crackers onto the baking sheet return the parchment paper/mat to the refrigerator for 10 minutes (while you roll out the 2nd dough disc).
7. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until puffed and browning around the edges. If you pull them out too soon and the crackers don’t have the desired crispiness you want then simply return them to the oven for 2-3 more minutes.
8. Move crackers to a cooling rack. Makes about 7 dozen crackers if you can keep them around that long!

The recipe is extremely easy.  I found the pastry cutter at Williams and Sonoma for around $10 but there are cheaper ones on Amazon.  You don’t have to be that fancy however, but I like the pretty edges on the cracker.  I will be trying some twisted cheese sticks with this recipe for the Holidays, I think they would be pretty and make a great snack even with a warm artichoke and spinach dip.  Yummy!

Rockboard Scooter Review and Giveaway!

If you have kids and you have a garage, it might look a lot like mine.  We have about twelve different things with wheels on it, and every outdoor play thing known to mankind.  I didn’t have half of the things, I see kids with today, and sheepishly I admit that I would even like to have some of them.

Scooters seem to be a big deal in our neighborhood, I have seen motorized scooters, scooters with three wheels, my boys have scooters that spark, and I’ve even seen those ripstick things that look like anyone would break their neck on.  I think as a parent we are always kept informed by our children of the newest, latest and greatest toys out there.

Recently, we were given the opportunity to review the Rockboard Scooter, and the boys were absolutely excited to get this and try it out.  It was not like any other scooter that I had seen roaming about the sidewalks and streets in our neighborhood.  At first when we took it out of the box, the size seemed a little intimidating to me, but I couldn’t get it set up fast enough for my two before they were up and rockboarding away.

Firstly, there was absolutely no assembly required other than unfolding it and adjusting the handlebar height to fit the boys.  We were sent the full size Rockboard for them.  The recommended age on it is 8 and up with a 200lb weight limit.  They make a Rockboard mini for children ages 5 and up with a 90lb weight limit.  Despite the boys being 5, the full size Rockboard was perfect for them to handle.  I was a tad nervous at first when they got on it, but they made it look easy. Your child does have to have a sense of balance to ride this scooter.

The scooter is propelled forward by your child rocking the main step platform back and forth with their feet.  I had a slight heart attack at how fast they can get this thing moving, but thankfully it comes equipped with a brake on the handle bar.  In my nervous mom voice, and probably for my own sake, I had to continually remind them to brake, but they had the hang of it before I really had to say much, they quickly retorted “I know Mommmm” in the voice of a teenager in a five year old’s body.  The Rockboard also doubles as a regular scooter, you simple lock the platform back into place and off you go. It comes equipped with a kick stand as well, which I really like, this way the scooter isn’t getting tossed to the ground.

Product Features

One thing in particular, that I did notice, is that over time with braking repeatedly, you could possibly need replacement urethane wheels. Since we haven’t had it that long that may or may not be an issue. All in all we really like it, and it drew quite the crowd when we got it out. The boys liked the fact that it could “race” really fast as they say, and it also appealed to the older kids 9, 11, and 12 that decided to take it for a spin as well. It is now one of my boys favorite things to get out when they want to play.

This would be a great scooter for younger and older kids alike. It deviates from the standard looking scooter and it is pretty cool how it gets around. The Rockboard scooter retails for right around $200 which may be a little pricey for some but you can find it at Target, Amazon or even Toys R Us.

Would you like to see your kid rocking the neighborhood? To help you with your holiday shopping and to give you a chance to get your special someone a really cool and totally rocking scooter, Rockboard was kind enough to give one DoubleBug’s reader a chance to win their very own full size Rockboard Scooter!.

Here’s What You Gotta Do
(Mandatory) Leave a comment and tell me why you want to win

Additional Entries

Tweet about this giveaway and leave the link to your tweet

Follow me on Twitter @Laurie2008

Open to US Residents Only

Giveaway starts December 7, 2011, and Ends December 14, 2011

Good Luck!!!

**A Rockboard Scooter was provided in order to facilitate my review, the opinions voiced in this post are my own.**

VTech DS6421-3 Cordless Phone

This one time (recently), our cordless phone was left on the bumper of the car (whoops!), and my husband, took it for a little drive where it spent the night lonely on the side of the road in the rain.  It still worked sort of, but no one could hear me when I talked. It’s been a long time since I’ve paid much attention to cordless telephones.  If you’re anything like me, you look at a cordless phone and think “hey, it’s just a phone, what’s the difference?”.  Thanks to VTech, I’ve had a chance to play around with a new modern “digital answering system”, the DS6421-3.  Apparently there’s a lot of difference between cordless phone systems nowadays, a lot has changed over the past 5+ years.

First, here’s what’s in the box, neatly packaged:

• Quickstart guides, user’s manual
• Wall mount bracket
• 3 cordless phones (handsets) with batteries
• 1 base station with power adapter and phone cable
• 2 charging cradles with power adapters

Specs

I won’t go into all the detailed specs here as part of this review, you can find the complete listing on the VTech DS6421-3 site here.  This set of phones operates on the DECT 6.0 standard.  That means it uses the 1.9 GHz frequency and it won’t interfere with your wireless network (home wifi equipment  that generally uses 2.4 and/or 5 Ghz frequency).   Another feature that comes in handy is the “Connect To Cell” technology.  Connect to cell means you can use both your cell line and your landline with this set, easily switching between the two.   The VTech DS6421-3 also includes “Push To Talk” technology so you can use the sets like walkie-talkies.  Overall, the features are pretty impressive, equaling those of some of the more expensive high-end sets on the market.

Installation

Installing the phone is as easy as can be.  You just have to figure out where you want to put the base station and plug the included phone cord into a phone outlet.  You can easily mount the base on the wall with the included wall mount bracket if you want, but I preferred to have mine on the counter.  The batteries included with the handsets come pre-charged, so you just plug them in and the ‘base’ automatically recognizes each handset and configures it.  One handset sits in the cradle as part of the base, the other two handsets can be placed anywhere you like, just plug each of the charger cradles into any available outlet.

Using the DS6421-3

Once you set up the base and cradles, you’re ready to start using the phones.  The VTech DS6421-3 does everything you’d expect from a good cordless phone set.  The handsets themselves are very sleek, fit comfortably in your hand and feel well-built.  The back lighting is good, the screens on the handsets are crystal clear and easy to read.  So far everyone I have talked to sounds crystal clear. Each cordless phone has caller ID, functions as a speakerphone, and the base has an indicator on it that tells you how many voicemails (if any) are recorded.  You can also screen calls right on each handset – just hit the “screen” button  and you can listen to the person leaving the message on the handset speakerphone.  I love not having to get up to hear who is calling.   Another feature I found myself using frequently is the ability to listen to recorded messages from any of the handsets.  Just use the menu to select “play messages”, and listen to the voicemails on whatever handset you have available.

There’s nothing more annoying than having your cordless phone run out of  battery all the time.  The VTech DS6421-3  features very long battery life.  I used the cordless phones for hours and didn’t have to charge  them for at least a week.  I was very impressed with the battery life and I had no low battery sounds beeping in my ear mid conversation.

Another, aspect of cordless phones is their range of use.  I am often on the phone and going out to the mailbox and prefer not to lose connection.  You want something that will let you walk anywhere in the house without interference, as well as short distances like your driveway.  I was able to use the cordless sets throughout the house, outside the house all the way to the street in front of the house with no problems.  VTech lists the range as “up to 500 feet”, which is probably only feasible under the most perfect conditions, but the range on these were great.

The 3 handsets in this set are identical.  They operate using a very simple menu, it didn’t take long at all to figure out how everything worked without even opening the manual.  The menu is operated using a left / right select buttons along with a round disk .  The menu options are straight forward, you can customize pretty much everything from the ring tones to the ringer volume to the number of rings it takes before the answering machine picks up.  You can also set a name label for each handset so you know where each one goes.  This feature is perfect for when you want to use the “push to talk” functionality.   Picking up the phone and pushing the button for “Kitchen” or “Basement” makes a lot more sense then trying to remember where “handset #1” is located.

One thing I really liked about the phones is that when someone calls each set it speaks the name/caller id of the caller.  You don’t have to look at the phone or base to know who’s calling, which is very handy for easy screening of calls.  For me this is more fun than anything, because at first I had some trouble recognizing the pronunciations. The DS6421-3 also has “equalizer” functionality to optimize the sound quality of your phone calls.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine ever needing to use an equalizer to fine tune the sound on my mono phone handheld…. But hey, it can’t hurt, it’s a nice touch they threw in!

Connect To Cell

The “connect to cell” functionality is one of the features relatively new to the cordless phone market.  Basically, it allows you to integrate your cell phone(s) and your landline together into one seamless phone system.  it works like this:  you “pair” up to two cell phones to the DS6421 base, using Bluetooth connectivity.  That means the paired phone just has to be somewhere near the base (in the same room generally) to be connected to the DS6421 base.  Once paired, the base will treat the paired cell phone as another “line” in addition to your land line.   You can receive incoming calls from your cell phone(s) on your cordless phone the same way you would incoming calls on the land line.  Different ring tones indicate whether the call is on the landline or on the cell.

This is an excellent feature for those with a cell phone with Bluetooth.  When you come home, just put your cell phone in the same room as the DS6421 base, plug it in to charge the battery, and you’ll be able to make and receive calls using your cell or your landline with the simple click of a button.   Click the “cell” button, and you receive or make a call using your cell phone.  Click the “home” button, and you receive or make a call using your landline.  Since you can pair two cell phones, two people living in a home cold both have their phones paired, and both use the same set of cordless phones to access either the landline or the cell phone.

One important note to the landline/cell phone functionality is that you only need to have one or the other to use the system.  If you have both cell phone(s) and a landline, the DS6421-3  integrates them perfectly… but you can use the VTech DS6421-3 without having a landline at all, great for those who are thinking of getting rid of their land line and just using cell phones.  With this system you get the best of both worlds, a nice handset with great range and coverage while your cell phone is charging.   For example, you could use your cell phone for free long distance if your landline doesn’t have free long distance.

Another great feature of the connect to cell technology is that the DS6421 phone system can copy your contacts from your cell phone(s) to the cordless phone system.  That makes the issue of having someone’s info on your cell but not your home phone a thing of the past.

You can also connect Bluetooth headsets to the DS6421 for easy hands-free calling in your house.  I found this feature somewhat less than useful since you are limited to a relatively small area around the base of the phone system.  You can’t use the Bluetooth headset and wander off to the other side of the house while on the phone, the Bluetooth signal will get disconnected.  Still, it’s a nice option to have if you need to be on the phone a lot and want an easy hands-free setup.

Expansion

The DS6421-3 can be expanded to up to 12 handsets, although who needs 12 handsets?  I found that the three provided were more than enough and felt like I had phones laying around everywhere.

In conclusion, I really like the VTech DS6421-3.

Pros: great feature set, great look and feel, cell/landline integration, phone contact copying, expandability, long battery life, ease of setup and use, overall value.

Cons: inability to set ringer volume for each handset, ringer options have to be set for all handsets at the same time.

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by the VTech DS6421-3.  It was easy to set up, works great, integrates the land line with the cell phones seamlessly, and does everything at a very reasonable price (less than $100 last I looked).  That’s a great bargain! I’d recommend this set to anyone who’s in the market for a new cordless phone system.  You can save a few dollars by getting a “no frills” cordless phone set, but you’d miss out on a lot of great features and functionality for relatively small savings.  The bottom line: The VTech DS6421-3 is a really great phone for the home.

**I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of VTech and received a product sample to facilitate my review.  All of the opinions I have expressed here are my own.**

My Ford Flex Experience

Not having a car payment is nice. Then you drive by the car dealership on your way home one day and you see those shiny new cars sitting on the lot. Stylish, sleek, with the latest gadgets and gizmos. You read about some of the newer models online, maybe you take one or two for a test drive, but it’s hard to really evaluate a car in such a short time span. Thanks to Ford, we recently got a unique opportunity to really put a car to the “real world” test.
The folks at Ford allowed me to pick out the Ford vehicle model of my choice, then had it delivered to my front door for me to keep and use for a week. Talk about great service.

We decided to make it a family road trip, to head out to grandma and grandpa’s place – about 450 miles away. When you go somewhere for a week and bring the whole family and the dog, you need a lot of space. A regular car was not going to cut it. We decided to try out the Flex.

The Ford Flex is an interesting and unique vehicle. With it’s long boxy frame, it looks different than anything else out there. . It’s not quite an SUV, it’s not quite a crossover, it’s not a minivan, and it’s definitely not a truck… it’s a little of all, it’s a Flex.

The first thing you notice when you get into the Flex is that it’s very roomy on the inside, much more roomy than you would expect by looking at it from the outside. It has 3 rows of seating for a total of 7 seats. The leg and headroom for the front and middle rows are excellent, much better than what I’ve seen in other similar vehicles (including the Explorer). The 2 seats in the third row offer enough space for an adult to sit comfortably. The third row seats are very easy to fold down to expand cargo space as needed, even using  just one hand. One issue we had was that if you have two or more child seats or boosters in the middle row, there’s no way to get to the third row seats. If you put those child seats in the third row, the cargo space is extremely limited, and it’s tough to get the kids buckled into their seats.

The second thing you notice is that the Flex is very nicely finished. You can tell that a lot of thought and effort went into the interior design and finish. No cheap plastic look and feel. Buttons and controls are where you’d expect them to be and are easy to use. The leather seats are very comfortable and can be adjusted a million ways to fit just right. The overall impression is that of a high end vehicle.
When you have a vehicle for 7 days and you take it on a road trip, you really get a feel of what it’s like to use it on a daily basis. One of the things we really liked about the Flex is that it’s packed with all the electronic goodies you could want. Bluetooth connectivity, built in GPS navigation system, a touchscreen interface on the dash where both the driver and passenger can reach it, Sirius satellite radio built in, easy phone pairing, and the really cool Ford SYNC functionality. You can easily pair up the SYNC with your smart phone (android or ios), play music from your phone or MP3 player, and control the music using voice commands so you can keep your hands on the wheel. Being able to change channels, select songs by title or artist etc all without lifting a finger is great. You can check out all the SYNC features here:

Another cool feature is being able to see exactly how much gas your engine is using at any particular time. The vehicle we used was equipped with the 3.5L EcoBoost engine , and we actually got better mileage than the EPA estimated 16 city/23 highway. We were consistently getting 26 mpg on the highway. We were a little surprised when we stopped for gas and noticed that there is no gas cap on the Flex, it uses the Ford “easy fuel” cap-less system, a nice touch.

Another feature that you won’t find in many vehicles is a refrigerated compartment in the middle console. That’s fantastic when you go on a long road trip, you can put some drinks in there and keep everything nice and cool, even on the hottest of days (the temps hovered in the 100’s during our trial).  I could forgo the refrigerated center console to have a clear path to the far back seats however.

Pros: very flexible with seating, very roomy, packed with technology, very refined, plenty of “oomph” under the hood, good mileage given it’s size.

Cons: when the third row seats are not folded down, cargo space is very small.

So what’s the final verdict? The Ford Flex is a really cool vehicle and true to its name it is very flexible in configuration. The Flex (depending on the model) goes for $29k to $39k. I personally would not be willing to pay close to $40k for the Flex, but in the $30k to $35k range it’s a very good value. Ford continues to add innovative and interesting models to its lineup, I look forward to taking some of the other new models for a spin.

The Omega Vert Vrt350 HD Juicer Love It!

Our family consumes a lot of juice, especially the boys.  First thing in the morning, it is the thing they ask for the most.  To incorporate more water and less sugary juice, I started watering it all down.  Both of my kids love fruits and vegetables of all kinds, so that has never been a struggle, so I started considering ways in which I could still give them the juice that they loved in the morning and throughout the day, but offering them a healthier choice.

A good friend of ours suggested a juicer, so I went on a search to find out more information.  I used to own a juicer back in my college days, and a lot has changed since I owned that dinosaur of a juicer.  There are a lot of juicers on the market, there are centrifugal juicers, masticating juicers, and others, that make your mind spin with information. One of the supposed key benefits to juicing are the mega health benefits.  When you buy bottled juices in the store, most of these are pasteurized which means it is heated.  The problem with that, is you kill off all the “good for you” stuff, and you are  not getting the maximum benefit from the fruits and vegetables.  If you are drinking heated juice, then you might as well stir up some sugar water, and call it a day.  After reading about it, I don’t think I would ever go back to a bottled juice again.

After countless hours of researching the health benefits, I realized that I wanted to try a juicer, not just for my children, but for myself as well.  I recently had the opportunity to review and Omega Vert Vrt350 HD Juicer.  For the most part, juicing is a foreign to me, so when it arrived at my doorstep, I was excited and a little intimidated by using it.  The first thing I noticed is that it was heavy!  I thought there must be a hunk of lead in the box, but to my amazement the juicer itself is very compact in size, the bulk of the weight is in the part that houses the motor, and the Auger (the part that turns to work the fruit through the mesh juicing screen).  I was surprised how easy it was to get up and running, within just a few minutes, I was already juicing my first apple  and a carrot.

Try not to laugh at my demonstration video!

Omega Vert VRT 350 HD Details

The Omega Vert VRT350 Juicer  features the high efficiency of a masticating  juicer in a vertical design that is compact, contemporary and productive. Most juicers process at a speed of 1,650 to 16,000 RPM, destroying many healthy enzymes and causing juice to degrade shortly after being extracted. The Vert VRT350 Low Speed Juicing System processes at 80 RPM, preventing oxidation and allowing juice to be stored for up to 72 hours without degradation. The Vert VRT350 also features an innovative auto cleaning system that keeps the screen clear during juicing and increases its efficiency. The contemporary design is complemented by a virtually indestructible ULTEM juicing screen that will withstand heavy duty juicing. Ideal for fast pace commercial environments, this juicer combines a contemporary styling with the technology to cater to the  health conscious.

 

Features:

• Innovative design squeezes out
juice rather than grinding
• Preserves natural taste and
color of juice
• Preserves natural nutrients
• Exclusive Blade Cleaning System
keeps the screen clean during use
• Efficient Design ensures maximum
juice extraction with the driest pulp
in its class
• Easy disassembly and reassembly
• Auger is extremely hard and durable
• Auto Cleaning System
• 80 RPM for peak efficiency
• Crushing Ribs
• Commercial 1/3 HPMotor
• Exclusive Underwriters Laboratories
Inc. (UL) Household and Commercial
Approval

After using the Omega Vert VRT 350HD juicer for about 8 weeks now, I have noticed a marked difference in how I feel physically and surprisingly, juicing has changed how my skin feels.  I have also used it to help me in my weight  loss, and have just been drinking freshly juiced fruits and vegetables, when I am hungry between meals and have managed to lose weight in the process without feeling cheated.  I actually enjoy getting the juicer out and making fresh juice for me and the boys and experimenting with different combinations.

I have found that if you are over zealous with certain vegetables like celery, you can over power your juice, so with a little experimenting you can find a balance that tastes good to you.  The Omega Vert VRT350 HD comes with two juicing screens which allow you to have more or less pulp in your juice.  We prefer the finer screen with most things with the exception of juicing oranges and lemons.  My husband likes to run his through and even finer strainer after the juicing process, but he is ultra picky about anything healthy  LOL!  In the process of juicing, I also discovered a new way to make blackberry jam as well.  I wanted to make a seedless version, and was fighting with a potato masher to get the seeds separated, but then I decided to try my juicer and it removed all the seeds and left me with just the good stuff from my blackberries!  The Omega Vert VRT350 HD is awesome for this too!

What I love about the Omega Vert VRT 350HD juicer is that I can control what my family is getting with maximum health benefits.  It is very very easy to use and there is no fuss when cleaning it when I am done.  I can juice and clean the system literally in about 5-7 minutes which makes it practical for families on the go.  There is actually very little to clean with the silicone wiper blades that rotate along the juicing screen, there is little in the way of food that gets stuck anywhere.  It is perfect for kids and adults with texture issues who do not like to bite into an apple or a raw carrot but are willing to drink the juice instead.  I also like that, if there are bruised fruits in my fridge, I can toss them in the juicer and still get the same benefit and avoid tossing away money spent on fresh produce.  This juicer is also super quiet!  When I first used it I was expecting loud noises as it would grind up my fruits and veggies and I was beyond surprised.  I can run my juicer early in the morning and no one hears a thing.  We did have a little trouble juicing pineapple, but I found if I cut it into smaller pieces, the pulp chamber was less likely to back up.  Juicing also creates pretty much no waste if you want it to.  With the remaining pulp you can easily use this as compost in your garden, I plan on creating a composting bin starting this fall and this is perfect for that.  The Omega Vert VRT350 HD retails for around $380 and is worth every penny in my opinion.  If you are interested and serious in making some major changes in your diet, I would suggest trying a juicer and I highly recommend the Omega Vert VRT 350 HD juicer.  I have not been disappointed with it in the 8 weeks that I have had it.

Overall this is a great product, if you are interested in making health conscious decisions for the family and you want to offer the healthier choices for your kiddos.  Neither one of my boys has noticed a difference in the juice that I offer them from the juicer versus the watered down concentrates I used to give them.  This in itself is worth the switch.  You can read more about the Omega company and how they got started with their full line of Omega juicers.

**The Omega VRT350 juicer was provided for me to review, the opinions expressed here on my blog are that of my own.**

Veggie Garden

Each year I get a little more adventurous with my vegetable garden, and there is something nice about growing your own fresh veggies for your family.  Not only is it fun, everything just tastes so much better when it comes straight from your garden.

Trisha over at momdot, is growing some wonderful things in her family garden.  It seems she is ahead of the game, but I haven’t been too lucky with any early harvests yet.  The weather for the most part here, has been cold and rather rainy, so everything is off to a slow start.

I thought I would give you all a sneak peek though.  Everything is indeed growing, and I think it is just my impatience that has taken over that has me out there telling everything to hurry it up.  I did get to enjoy my first salad with some lettuce, and it was yummy!

So here ya go, in the garden, cauliflower, broccoli, peas (regular shelling/garden peas, and sugar snap) they are the one vigorously climbing the trellis.  I have pole beans (also climbers), cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, asparagus (wont be ready till next year), cilantro, parsley, thyme, rosemary, basil, and oregano.  Up by the house, I have Stuttgarter onions (yellow onion), more tomatoes, more cucumbers, and red peppers.

Here they all are growing in various stages but doing well.  The fence is for the bunnies to stay out, and the white ties are fabric softener sheets to deter the deer.  I also have a motion detector sprinkler that I am getting ready to put back up, otherwise bambi and his friends will eat every blessed thing I have.

Lettuce and Peas Doing Their Thing

Broccoli and Herbs

Both Gardens Side By Side

What are you growing this year in your garden?  What are your favorite veggies?  I plan on doing some canning this year if I get enough.

Soccer Cupcakes

The boys are well into their soccer season, and each game a parent is responsible for bringing a snack and a drink for after the game for the whole team.  At first I felt a little snippy about having to pony up more money to feed 9 other children besides my own after already paying the dues for actually letting the boys play.  Eventually, I realized that there will probably be many many more of these to come in the near future with the boys heading to school.  So, I decided to have fun with our last obligatory snack day.  Since I have two boys, I signed up for two days.

I decided to bring cupcakes this time around.  I was bored with the pre-packaged snacks that had been brought so far.  I am the creative type, and I took it as a moment to just have fun, so I came up with soccer cupcakes after scouring the internet for ideas on how to do them.  Thanks to Wilton, which I drool over their stuff on a regular basis, I got the #233 decorator tip, candy melts in white and used candy colors to tint some black and the soccer ball mold, and I made cute lil cupcakes with icing that looked like grass and candy soccer balls (all 12) that I painstakingly molded one at a time.  Apparently, they were a big hit cause the other little team members tried to take them as well  LOL.  I wish I had brought 24

They turned out so cute!   Don’t ya think????

Secretly I dream of having my own cupcake shop, you know like the ones you see on tv.  These were fun to make and the kiddos love them.

Wordless Wednesday

Pbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbt!!!!!!!!

(totally random capture on the Wild Africa Trek at Disney)

Indoor Activity For Kids

While the weather is ping ponging up and down and Spring is trying to make it’s entry, I am at my wits end in terms of keeping the boys occupied.  They don’t attend preschool, and it’s too cold for them to go out and play with the neighborhood kids.  This is the time where I start to get a little crazy.  We have just about run out of things to do in the house, and we are an outdoor family by nature.  There are only so many tents you can make, cars you can play with,  and tv shows to watch before it just gets old really fast, so I was on the hunt for some kid’s crafts that they could do.

So I decided to head to the craft store, and find some craft activities for boys to do for the entire week.  I found some really fun things to do.  We plan on making some Wilton lollipops with their candy melts (I will try my best).  I found some really cute ones with a pirate treasure chest and pirate, and since the boys are really into Jack and the Neverland Pirates on Disney, they got really excited when I showed them.  For our crafting adventure, I found some magnets they can paint, and some wooden race cars, and trains to paint by Faber Castell, they have some really neat things for kids.  I figure it was a great activity so they can use their creative skills, and fine motor skills, and I got the mommy pleasure of watching them.  For being four and some change, they did a really fantastic job on their trains, and had so much fun doing it.

The Tongues Help Make The Masterpiece!

Our next project is our Wilton lollipops, I hope they turn out, because I have no clue what I am doing for those!  They look easy but ya never know!

Ice Wine Better Than Whine

I have never been a wine drinker, and often I have a hard time with most alcoholic beverages, because I somewhat allergic to it.  I am also not a big fan of the strong taste of wine or alcohol in general.

I started to investigate the world of wine after reading numerous articles about the health benefits of drinking wine.  Well over half of the wines that I tried, just weren’t my style because of the stronger taste and since I really don’t drink, not much appealed to me.  If it is alcohol, it shouldn’t remotely taste like it for me to actually enjoy drinking it.

I am a white wine girl, and although most of the health benefits of wine come from the “red wines”, I figure I could start here and possibly work my way into the red stuff.  According to this article by the Mayo Clinic:

“Red wine, in moderation, has long been thought of as heart healthy. The alcohol and certain substances in red wine called antioxidants may help prevent heart disease by increasing levels of “good” cholesterol and protecting against artery damage.”

After my recent check up at the doctor, I found out my good cholesterol was a little low so I went looking for ways in which to help the process along.    This doesn’t mean we all go out and become alcoholics, but an occasional glass of wine is a good thing and may help the old ticker!

Although the wine I have discovered isn’t red, I thought I would mention how delightful this stuff is.  It’s called Ice Wine and it is considered a sweet dessert wine.  It is more like drinking grape juice, it is just that sweet.  After discussing with my neighbor that I liked a sweeter taste to my wine, she suggested a Moscato, which I tried and likes, but Ice Wine is even better.  What makes it so sweet?  According to good ole Wikipedia:

Ice Wine is produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet wine.

With ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterwards. Unlike the grapes from which other dessert wines, such as Sauternes,Tokaji, or Trockenbeerenauslese, are made, ice wine grapes should not be affected by Botrytis cinerea or noble rot, at least not to any great degree. Only healthy grapes keep in good shape until the opportunity arises for an ice wine harvest, which in extreme cases can occur after the New Year, on a northern hemisphere calendar. This gives ice wine its characteristic refreshing sweetness balanced by high acidity. When the grapes are free of Botrytis, they are said to come in “clean”.Due to the labour-intense and risky production process resulting in relatively small amounts of wine, ice wines are generally quite expensive.

Canada and Germany are the world’s largest producers of ice wines. About 75 percent of the ice wine in Canada comes from Ontario.^[1]

My husband was “sweet enough” to get me a bottle for Christmas. The name Inniskillin Vidal Ice Wine, from a supposedly good year (2005). We were eager to try our first glass, and I had mine while soaking in the tub. I fell in love at first drink and I could hardly tell I was drinking wine. The nice part is, I still experienced the mellowed out effects of a nice glass of wine without me wincing from the strong taste that, comes from me being unaccustomed to drinking wine.    I think I have found a new favorite!  You can find out more about Inniskillin Ice Wine, I know I would love to be invited for a tour to experience the process first hand!

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