No Bake Granola Bars ~ Gluten Free ~

  Okay so among trying to get my kids on a gluten free life style, it's been hard to get my picky 6 year old to try new things. But one recipe he absolutely loves is these home made no bake granola bars. And it's not that hard to make that's the best part! I highly encourage you to try this!!

What You Need:

1/4c butter

1/4c honey

1/3c packed brown sugar

2c quick cooking oats

1c crispy rice cereal

1/2tsp vanilla

2Tbs mini chocolate chips

Directions:

~ In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey, and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in the vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased small cookie sheet and press down to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. (If you have a large cookie sheet like me, you pack down the mixture to one side. Press good so mixture sticks together). Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down into mixture. Cool on a counter top to room temperature for 2 hours before cutting into bars.

~If your mixture isn't staying together, you can stick in refrigerator for up to 20 minutes (no longer or they will become to hard) to help it stick together. Made this recipe twice and it depends on how you boil the ingredients on the outcome of how thier going to stick together,  I got different results both times. It's really a hit or miss kind of thing.

Cough Drop Suckers

   What do you do when you have a little that has a horrible croupy cough, and your so afraid to give them a cough drop in fear of them choking. Well I have found a solution, my little wild thing croupy coughed all night long last night, then he finally decided he was just going to get up for the day at 3:30 this morning. So I had plenty of time to start thinking of things to do for him to help. I remember seeing a while back on Pinterest, people making jolly rancher suckers, by melting down the jolly ranchers and sticking a sucker stick to it. Super simple, so I figured well why not do the same only with cough drops and I don't have to worry about him choking. My awesome husband kindly went to the store and bought 3 different bags of cough drops to try and sucker sticks. Its basically following the same instructions for the jolly rancher suckers, except I used a different degree on my oven. 

  So here are the simple instructions.

What you will need:

• Cough drops (whatever you or your little prefer)
• Sucker Sticks (They might be labeled Lollipop Sticks)
• Parchment Paper
• Saran Wrap

From left:

Halls Defense Sugar Free (asorted citrus)are not as strong as most cough drops

Luden's (cherry flavor) taste exactly like candy so I'm not sure if they work all that we'll

Halls Triple Soothing Action (cherry) are the strongest out of this bunch so not sure how a toddler would like the taste. 

Directions:

  Preheat oven to 300 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper place cough drops spaced out (because you will be adding sucker sticks after they melt down) so make sure you have plenty of room. Bake for 9 minutes, once removed from oven immediately place sticks onto melted surface and let cool for about 5-10 min. Once cooled wrap them individually for storage and store in an air tight container. Note: oven times will vary, I have a very old oven that's why it takes 9 minutes for the cough drops to melt.

TADA!! 

IMPORTANT: These are NOT candy, they are still cough drops, so I would not recommend giving a young child a whole bunch at a time, I would do 1 every so many hours, if its needed.

Crazy New Life Style!!!

    Hey all, it has been a while since I have posted anything on here, and I wish I could say I have all this stuff to post that's why I have been away however I only have two. Unfortunately we have been noticing problems with our oldest wild thing, and we are having him tested for ADHD. The only thing is we are not putting him on medication because well I just don't believe in it. I have nothing against anyone who puts their kids on it or is on it themselves. Its just not something I want for my child. So we have been attempting to change his diet and the things he eats. eliminating things like milk, red dye, and ultimately we are now trying to transition him to a "gluten free" diet to see how that helps him. I have been stressing so much over this because well to be completely honest gluten free everything is expensive!! Snacks, cake, brownie, cookie mixes. Its all expensive and that's something we are not use to.
    I have been doing some studying however, and I am coming to a decision to try and just home make everything gluten free, right down to making my own gluten free all purpose flour so I can bake with. So I am beginning to try more recipes on my own now, so he can still have the things he loves like brownies, ice cream etc. just making it gluten free, but also something good tasting. So today I am trying out gluten free Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream, super simple recipe. I am hoping to try it out on him tonight, and get his input so I can share.
    This is definitely a new life style we are not use to, and of course if one of my boys is going to have to be gluten free, I may as well do both, that way its not unfair that my youngest can have all the unhealthy snacks and my oldest has to just watch and have his own. So far this has not been so easy on either one, as they are so use to being able to have just anything from the store and now we have to read the backs of everything and they can only have so much. Its frustrating to say the least, but I know with a lot of prayers for strength, that God will guide us and help us to not overly stress and to be calm about it. I know I have already wanted to break down in the store looking at all the expensive stuff, and then I thought well I am a stay at home mom anyway, I may as well just make all my own stuff from scratch. It will be a challenge but like I said with the right amount of prayer and faith, I'm sure I wont go crazy over it!! :-)
    Cant wait to update you all on the ice cream! Be Blessed Ya'll!

Here's One For My Fellow Wino Momma's Out There!!

   I know there are some mommas out there who like their wine just like me, and when your a full time wife and mom you know a good glass, a very large glass when the occasion calls for it, is all you need to help you drown out the wild things running loose, screaming like some banchies running through your house, and the forth or fifth time you've fussed just doesn't cut it. Ahh we'll I let it slide when it's close to bed time because their burning the rest of their energy off, or so I desperately hope!

   Yesterday I cleaned my house, like I didn't just pick up things and throw them on top the bowl chair in the living room so the floor is clear a path. I dusted, moved things and mopped, I organized and put things in their proper place. I did laundry and actually put up the clothes rather than fold and leave in the basket for a week. And in the moment my house is immaculate because let's face it, it won't be long before the wild things are ready to leave another massacre of toys and junk through the house, I feel like a Champion!!!! I cleaned until 1 o'clock this morning, and by then I had three glasses of wine down so I wasn't complaining I was just happy I got the work done and got to enjoy my wine in peace and quiet, woo hoo! 

   Sometimes all it takes is a glass of wine and a good prayer to the good Lord above to get through the days of being a full time mommy! It gets hard and it gets frustrating a lot of times, sometimes there is no time to brush let alone wash our hair for days at a time. Or to dress nicely because you inevitably will get full of some substance or other from your rug rats. But sometimes all the hugs, kisses, cuddles,  glasses of wine (wink) and "I love you mommie's" are all the payment you need!

   I know I was called to be a full time mommy, so a lot of times when I get a second to relax with my glass of wine, I always try to shoot a prayer up to my Father in Heaven, and thank Him for simply giving  me the opportunity to be a mom, and a chance to do it over, and possibly better the days He continues to wake me up. Because we'll one day He might not, and I want to know that the my last day was spent being the best wife and mom I could be. 

   I'm hoping that I can soon have two new recipes for you. Now that I have a little leeway in my house work, I may be able to try them out soon, as we don't have any plans to ring in the new year tonight, so we may just spend it at home, and if we do, I want to make sure my kids will have a blast at home, so I may just have some helpers!

   I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Years, and a good time ringing it in!   

Christmas Greetings

   I know I am a day late, but Merry Christmas to you all, I sure hope everyone had a wonderfully blessed day! We had such an amazing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My little loves received some Kindle Fires from Santa Clause and I don't even think they noticed they got other presents ha! But all in all we had a wonderful Christmas, I do have a new dessert to try, it's "no bake" so it's relatively easy it seems. I'm hoping tonight or tomorrow to do it, as of right now I am in the middle of trying to catch up on housework and picking up the reminants of opened presents and what not. I'm sure there are other mothers who can relate!! 

 

              As you can see they are not worried 

                             about other gifts!!

            The best gift in the world is getting to

                            be their mother!!

Home Made Chocolate Turtles!!!

   Holy moly I have found the mother of all recipes, one for home made chocolate turtles, complete with home made caramel and everything! I am a huge turtle fan, so is my oldest son. I love them so much, and now I have my very own recipe for them, and worst of all (yes worst) they are DELICIOUS!! They make a ton, thank goodness I know how to share, I had to package some up and give them to some family, and I still have a ton left over!! This could be the most dangerous recipe I have ever stumbled upon!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C pecans
1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 of a 14 ounce can)
1/2 t vanilla
1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
1/2 t shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco)

Directions:

1. Toss 2 1/2 cups of pecans into a large skillet. Toast them over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they have darkened just a bit and smell fragrant and wonderful. Should only take a few minutes.

2. Find yourself 2 large cookie sheets. Line them with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray. Arrange your pecans into clusters, three to a group works well. You want to leave some space (about an inch) between each cluster.

Image is from her blog

3. Make your caramel (full tutorial with pictures found here). Place 1/2 C butter into a medium-sized sauce pan. Melt it over medium high heat. Add  1 C brown sugar, 1/2 C light corn syrup and 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk to the pan. Increase the heat just a bit and stir it continually. Cook and stir until it reaches 235-240 degrees. I generally remove it from the heat when it reaches about 234 degrees. It will continue to rise in temperature just a bit even without the direct heat, making the caramel just the right texture.

4. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.


5. Carefully drizzle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of caramel over each nut cluster. You’ll want to work quickly, as the caramel will begin to set up. Be sure there is caramel touching all of the nuts in your cluster. The caramel works like glue, sticking the nuts together.

My Image (not as pretty but still yummy)

6. In a microwave safe bowl pour 12 ounces of milk chocolate chips. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each cooking interval.
7. Add 1/2 teaspoon of shortening to the melted chocolate. Allow it to sit for a minute or two (so it can melt and make the chocolate chips more spreadable). Stir it all together

8. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of melted chocolate over the top of the caramel and nuts.

My Image as well!

9. Allow the chocolate to set up. Once it has hardened and cooled you can serve them immediately, or transfer them to an air tight container.

If you are a fan of chocolate turtles, you wont be disappointed they are just oh so good! I hope you try them and I sure hope you enjoy them!

Fun New Ornamets!

   I just finished up all my ornament orders for Christmas, they took off better than what I was expecting, I cant wait to start again next year, only I will start earlier as I was swamped this December and its already a busy month for us. I am finishing up two ornaments of my own time as gifts for some special people so I cant wait to have that up as well.





   And of course this was a big hit, in fact it was a last minute order, and I have had so many people ask me to make them some and I cant get the balls I need because there out. CRAZY!!

Of Course Ninja Turtles would be the popular one hehe!

 

I was telling my husband last night, I will have to start ordering ornaments earl and working on them early especially the balls for the ninja turtles since they seem to be so popular!