Food Friday: Diet Soda Chocolate Cupcakes

Got the itch for baking again but after making strawberry cupcakes for my sister's bridal shower last week I decided to try to save some calories by trying the diet soda chocolate recipes I've seen on the web.

Recipe:

didn't use a specific site and just went ahead and grabbed a triple chocolate Duncan Hines boxed cake mix and 12oz. Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper. While I know diet soda isn't good I figure it's not bad to use in small portions especially if it saves calories! I then baked according to the box minus the water, oil and eggs.

For the frosting I made simple dark chocolate ganache, using 1 bag Toll House Dark Chocolate chips and 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream. I poured them together and placed the bowl in the microwave for 1 min just enough to heat the cream and melt the chocolate. Whisk the cream and chocolate together to thicken.

These cupcakes were simple, easy and surprisingly delicious!

Simple Saturday: Bridal Shower

Thought I'd share the ideas I used from Pinterest for my sister's bridal shower this past weekend. First, I began the planning (since I'm the maid of honor) by asking all the bridesmaids if they were able to help and contribute items, time and money to the event. I am blessed and all were willing and able to help. We met once to plan who was doing what, then communicated through Facebook messaging, a spreadsheet and phone calls to make sure everything was taken care of. In the end it ended up being fun to set up and with all the help it was much less stressful!

The Idea: Attached to the invite was a recipe card and instructions to the guests to write down a favorite recipe and then if they wanted to to bring a small portion of that recipe to the shower. Everyone brought something delicious and it actually ended up being WAY too much food! The guests then brought their recipe card and dish to the shower and dropped the recipe card off in a recipe gift box for the bride.

The Decor: ( Again, I'm new to blogging so I didn't take as many pics as I should have!)

We tried to keep it simple with a red, pink and cream color scheme and it ended up being beautiful. The pictures are at the end of this post :)

Gifts for the Bride:

Advice Spoons: (Guests wrote advice on the wooden spoon with a sharpie)

Mugs : (Guests wrote a special note pm two mugs, one for the bride and the other for the groom)

Games

The Pin Game: Guests get a pin when they enter and throughout the party can't say three words related to getting married. Our words were the groom's name, wedding and honeymoon. If someone hears you say one of those words then they get to take all your pins. The one with the most pins at the end of the day wins!

Guess the Panties Game: Buy a bunch of cute panties in the bride's size and stuff them in a jar. Have the guests guess the number of panties in the jar. The person closest to the number wins a gift and the bride keeps the cute undies!

Pass the gift: (my sister found this game, and I'm not sure where she got the idea so I will ask)

Unscramble The Wedding Words: Each guest gets a list of jumbled words that I printed FREE from here and then within 1:30 secs whoever can figure out the most words wins!

Toilet Paper Dress: Divide the guests into teams of 3 or 4 and give them 2-3 rolls of toilet paper then have them dress one member of the group within 3 minutes. The judge or bride get to decide what team made the best dress! The winning team gets a prize!

The party ended up being so much fun and everyone left commenting on how much fun they had and how beautiful it was.

What bridal shower ideas do you have?

Teachable Tuesday: Teaching Emotions

For some children knowing and understanding their own and others emotions can be difficult. Some children have a difficult time identifying emotions properly as well as expressing their own emtoions appropriately. Use the packet I made to help teach and model emotions with your kids or as a class. Classroom management is essential to a thriving, well functioning, stress free environment. Students need to be able to identify emotions and respond accordingly. Before you plan any curriculum this summer make sure you have an in-depth management plan and check out Harry Wong's, The First Days of School. It is an amazing resource for any and all teachers! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to check out all my free products and the other fun items in my store :)

 

Have a happy day!!!

 

Sunny Sunday: Dr. Seuss in relation to our faith!

It is an understatement to say that I love Dr. Seuss and all of his books (especially as a teacher) so I was more than thrilled to find out that this summer our pastor will linking a new Dr. Seuss book to the Bible every Sunday this summer! So EXCITED!

This week our pastor gave an amazing sermon linking Dr. Seuss's book Horton Hatches the Egg to our faith. Here's a quick synopsis on what was discussed this Sunday and how unbelievably true it is!

In the book Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton offers to warm the egg for lazy Mayzie. Horton through trials and largely bad events refuses to budge from the nest and remains faithful to the egg. The egg obviously wasn't his biological egg but he stayed anyway and vowed to be the egg's forever family no matter what. In the end Mayzie watches the egg hatch and tries to take it back leaving Horton feeling defeated and sad. When the egg hatches it is a bird that looks like an elephant! Proving that the egg belongs to Horton. :)


There are two parallels in relation to this story of God's love and our faith:

1) We are God's adopted children. God can be viewed as our Horton. He remains faithful and is our loving adoptive parent who showers us with unconditional love. God's love is persistent and 100% faithful! This truth is so good!

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent!”
― Dr. Seuss, Horton Hatches the Egg 

2) Horton can also be the example of the faith we are called to have. Horton remained faithful but can we remain faithful as well? We will have numerous trials and tribulations in our lives just as Horton did but it is in those times and all times that we must trust and be faithful to God. This is also a strong reminder of the story of Job. Job was pushed to denounce his faith but always stood strong and firm in his faith. So...just as God remains 100% faithful so must we as well.

God is so good. It's so easy to say that when things in our lives are the way we want them to be but the statement doesn't change as our circumstances change. God is good. Period. Always. Forever.

What are your thoughts? Please share!

Foodie Friday: Drink more water!!!

We all know that water is essential and that most of us don't drink enough. As I've said before I really don't like water but I figuring out how important it truly is. So... here's another quick water recipe I came up with that I really enjoy. I love flavoring water, it makes me feel so exotic!

Recipe:

3 cups water
Slices of cucumber (to taste)
A handful of raspberries (frozen or fresh -mine aren't quite ripe yet so I used frozen)
2 sprigs of mint (fresh from my garden)
Squirts of lemon juice (to taste)

Mix and enjoy! So simple and so delicious!

Drink more water and feel better!!!!

What are some of your favorite water recipes?

Simply Saturday: Favorite workouts for when you just don't feel like it!

On this crazy journey to lose weight I have found definite go to workouts that keep me motivated. Sometimes I just don't feel like working out, even when I know I will be proud and feel great afterward, getting going can be difficult! On those days I usually choose one of the workouts listed below because I know once I get started I will be happy I did!

Here's my list of 4 favorite workouts:

1) 20min Turbo Jam or 40min Cardio Party Mix 1- I love these workouts because they are extremely upbeat and they fly by. I know by the end that I have worked hard because each and every time I end up sweating like crazy! After the 20min workout I almost always add in another 20min of weight lifting and even if I don't I still feel like I accomplished something for the day :) It also helps if I've had a busy day and can't find 60min for a workout.

2) Run/Walk- I have dogs and I know that they need and love exercise so I feel horrible if I don't take them out daily for a quick run or fetch session. The days that I just play fetch I feel lazy because I know my dogs and I can both get our exercise if we go for a run so lately I've been convincing myself to just get out there and do it! I tell myself to just get out there for 20min and run/walk as needed and once I get out there I find that I always go at least 30-60min instead. I'm not the best runner yet so I alternate between 3/4-1mile jog/running followed by 1/4mile walk and then I repeat. I like to use Run Keeper as an app to track my progress.

3) The 400, 300, 200, 100 workout. This workout is exhaustive but I love it because I know I have accomplished something big afterward and I get to watch TV while doing it! I've looked up each of the exercises completed in this workout and the average person who completes this workout will burn about 1,000 calories! That's a huge amount for me! Anyway, here are the exercises:

400-Jumping Jacks
300- Crunches
200-Squats
100- Push Ups

Break those numbers up into 6 or 7 different sets and you got yourself a killer workout!

4) Frisbee Golf- If you've never been Frisbee golfing before, look it up and get out there and go! Not only is it free but it makes for great exercise!  My last adventure ended up totaling a 6mile hike and over 1,000calories burned and I didn't even really notice because I was busy playing the game!

What are some of your favorite workouts?

Have a happy healthy day!

Thankful Thursday: FREEDOM!

Let FREEDOM ring!

Definition of Freedom:

Noun The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government.

On this day and everyday it is so important to be thankful for the freedom we have in the great U.S. of A!

Much of that freedom is due with thanks and grattitude to the great men and women who serve in the forces that protect us. Thank you to all service men and women for the hard work, dedication and sacrifice you provide so we can live in this great country!


This is the greatest country in the world! And everytime I say the pledge or hear our national anthem I feel extremely  proud and happy to be a part of this great place. We are so blessed to live, eat, work and play here, for so many people in this world will never get that opportunity. Let's on this day and everyday remember the true freedom we too often take for granted.


Put yourself in a third world country for a minute or two and realize all you have here! We are so BLESSED!

I can truly say I am PROUD to be an AMERICAN! Can you?



How are you celebrating our Independence this 4th?

Teachable Tuesday: Salty Fireworks!

4th of July is almost here and as a fun little summer school project the kids made salty fireworks! I did this project with preschool age children and two boys in 2nd grade and each one of them loved it. The preschool teacher next door had completed a simliar project earlier in the year with her students and that's what gave me the idea!

Here's what you'll need:

Black constrcution paper or other heavy paper

watercolors

paint brush

water

kosher salt

Elmers bottled glue

The process:

1) Using the Elmers glue draw fireworks on the construction paper

2) Sprinkle salt all over the glue and shake off the excess (make sure the glue is coated with the salt)

3) Use the watercolors and gently touch the brush to the salt and watch as the watercolor spreads over the salt. ( A couple of my students wanted to push down on the paper hard but that just spreads salt everywhere and the effect is lost so I made sure to model it for them first and then help those who have weaker fine motor skill)

4) Leave to dry

Again I forgot to take pictures of the process, this time I got to wrapped up in helping! But here is a pic of the finished product :)

Have a happy, safe and enjoyable 4th!

Thankful Thursday: The little or BIG accomplishments in life!

I can't wait till life settles down and I have time to post again! I feel like I'm am endlessly working, packing and cleaning! Maybe this whole moving thing will teach me to not be such a pack rat in the future!

Anyway... today I just wanted to share a quick post about a child I've been working with who has Autism. At the beginning of the year he had a large list of inappropriate behaviors, a sad home life and of course big issues with expressing himself. He is currently in the summer school program I am teaching and I can not help but notice the huge amount of progress he made over the year! Sometimes when you see a child all the time and even though you track their progress you don't actually realize how far they have come.


He began the year, biting, kicking, yelling, screaming, punching, spitting,scratching and more! After the first few tantrums I really questioned if I could make it through the year. But, I knew that if I didn't work my hardest to help him then no one else would. So... my aide and I planned and planned and planned. We developed multiple failed behavior plans and systems and after a couple weeks of no progress we refined what we did and tried again. Months went by and slowly things changed. It was really until today, June 27th, 2013 that I have realized that every one of those major behaviors has been extinguished and that we haven't had a major incident in over 3 months! It went from an episode almost every other day to maybe an incident once a month! I can't believe the progress he has made and I am so thankful that he is such a happy, friendly kid now!

It is amazing because over the year not only did his behaviors improved but his social skills and speech skills have dramatically improved as well. He holds small conversations with friends and adults, he tells stories, he laughs and he is excited to be at school. He is smarter, more social and such a joy to be around!

I guess in the end I feel that it is so important for people to realize that in the midst of disaster, trials and tribulations there is always hope and with hard work, prayer and dedication things can and will change for the better!

Never give up!

Simply Saturday: A quick God story

I was supposed to post this past week but within the last week I got a new job offer to teach 6th grade in a different county! So, in about 24hrs worth of time my husband and I made the decision and have decided to move! The last week has been crazy and hectic with packing, cleaning and going through the steps to try and sell our house! Anyway, it's never an excuse but that's why I've been so bad about posting this last week.

Quick back story for all your believers out there:

It is so apparent when God is at work. I've been looking to transfer from special education to general education position this summer and have ran into many obstacles. The district I currently work for recently restricted Special Education Teachers from transferring into a regular education positions so I knew that if I wanted a new job I'd have to apply outside of my current school district to get it. First, I applied at a Charter School and for two weeks played phone tag with the principal there and it never worked out! It was discouraging and horrible but I thought I wanted the job. I didn't pray or ask my family to pray, I just went for it and thought I could do it on my own. Boy, was I mistaken!

After a couple weeks with no positions being posted for any of the counties near me I began to pray. I asked God if this was supposed to be a part of my future that He would guide me to the choices I needed to make, that He would take control and lead me. I asked Him to give me peace if I was not supposed to make this change and that I would be thankful for whatever He had planned. After this prayer things changed.

A couple days later job positions became available for a different county and I applied not expecting much to come out of it. (It is very challenging to get out of special education once you are there) I got a call for an interview within a day. The principal wanted to set up an interview for the a couple days later but I was leaving that same day to go camping. I explained to her that I would cancel the trip if necessary so I could attend the interview and she offered a phone conference interview instead. I took the offer (of course) and a couple days later found myself interviewing for this position on a park bench overlooking the Pacific Ocean! It was an amazing experience and I knew that God was at work in my life. Just that morning, my mom called me and told me and she and the family had been praying and that our church prayed for me on Sunday.  Anyway, after the interview they said they would get back to me in a couple days and let me know. To my surprise, a couple hours not days later I got a call from her and was offered the job! Hassle free, fell in my lap opportunity! I met with the principal face-to-face a couple days later and she was amazing! I know now in my heart that this is and was the opportunity waiting for me but I had to let God hold the reins and guide me there.

I've realized in life that it is at those moments when you have little to do with it that God does his best work. He wants us to trust Him, to trust that He has the best plan for our lives!

In the end, my husband and I have decided to move to the town where I got the position ( it would have been about an hour commute each day, instead my husband will have a 30min commute) and it just so happens that his parents live there! We will be closer to them and to my family as well, so it is defiantly a huge blessing!

My story isn't by any means amazing or a miracle but it just really hit me through the experience that this can happen in our lives as much as we let God make it happen. We can have endless stories like mine in our lives if we just lean on Him and TRUST! His plan is ALWAYS better than our plan!

Have a simple Saturday! Do you have any fun God stories to share! Please share them in the comments below!

Sunny Sunday: Family Reunion! Way behind on posting sorry!

Sunday was my mother's side of the families' annual reunion. (For whatever reason we always hold it on Father's Day which works for half of the people there!) Happy Father's day DAD!


This year I chose to bake up some yummy summery cupcakes for the event. I know, I know they aren't very dadish but they are pretty! That has to count for something!

For the cupcakes and the frosting I used the recipes found at www.shurgarysweets.com 

*The frosting recipe was actually very similar to the one I use for most of my cupcakes ( I use regular milk instead of heavy cream) and is a very common recipe minus the added lemon. The added lemon was so worth it!



I made the flowers using homemade MMF and Wilton gel food coloring and a regular 5 petal flower cutter.

For the lemon garnish, I sliced mini pieces of lemon and dipped them in sugar! Sounds super sour and it the little pieces are but the added sugar actually made them really fun to make :$

Here is the pair together. Surprisingly I'm not the biggest cupcake fan but these were so good! 

Simply Saturday: Camping, Patrick's Point, CA

The hubby and I finally managed to get away for most of last week and enjoy a much needed camping trip! We made our way to the California Coast and camped at...

Patrick's Point State Park

If you have never been all I can say is.....GO! The coast is more than breathtaking, the views are spectacular, the campground was gorgeous, and the hiking was great!

Quick personal note: Originally we had intended to stay up at Jedediah Smith State campground but our plans changed and we ended up spending our whole trip at Patrick's Point and boy am I glad we did! Our last day camping we drove up the coast to see the redwoods at Jedediah Smith State Park and while they were breathtaking, some of the main roads were closed, hiking trails were closed and it all around wasn't as beautiful as Patrick's Point. As a treat while we were up there though we did stop at a restaurant called The Chart Room and loved the clam chowder! Driving up to see the redwoods up there made for a great day but if we had stayed at the campground there I think we would have been disappointed.

Here are some pics and the names of the places we visited. I recommend every single one of them!

 

(Our campsite in the Abalone section of Patrick's Point Campground. All of the sites there look fantastic!)

 

Agate Beach

 

(View of Agate beach)

 (Agate beach. We searched for agates(precious stone) for hours! Access to the beach is in the campground. It is a small steep hike down to the beach.)

 

 (Tide pooling area accessed from the campground. About a mile walk from the campsites or there is an access road and then a small steep hike down to the beach. The tide pooling was good but down the coast of Cali I've seen better. It was still worth it.)

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Rock and Lookout Point

Both inside the campground and accessible by car and then a short walk to the lookout points. The most beautiful sunsets.

 

(Lookout point to the left and wedding rock to the right)

(Wedding Rock)

(Wedding Rock)

(View from the top of Wedding Rock)

 

 

 

Avenue of the Giants

South of Patrick's Point off the 101

 

 

 (Founders tree and a short interpretive hike)

 (Avenue of the Giants)

 

 

 

 

Fern Canyon Hike in Prairie Creek State Park

 North of Patrick's Point

There is a 5mile dirt road to access the trail. Our little compact car made it fine (even though I was very weary!) In the park there is also an abundance of wild Elk and more redwoods! (Can't find those pics! :( )

 

 (Fern Canyon Hike)

 

 (Fern Canyon)

 (Fern Canyon)

 

 

Jedediah Smith- Hitachi Hike

 

 (Hitachi trail)

  (Hitachi trail)

 (Hitachi trail)

 

 

 Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway

North of Patrick's Point

A graded dirt road coastal drive

I can't find all the pictures I took along the way. When I do I will add them. Very worthwhile drive.

 

 

 

 

Overall the trip to Patrick's Point was so wonderful and there was a huge list of things we could do and see. We would have enjoyed more time there and I know we plan to visit again in the future :)

What are some must see places you have visited?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOODIE Friday! Healthy fruit infused water!

 

 

I'm not sure what's wrong with me but it is so hard for me to enjoy and drink water! I know it is essential to a healthy body and mind but with all the yummy drinks out there water seems soooo boring! I decided something had to be done and I HAD to get more water in my system. Here is a recipe for delicious, healthy water! Try drinking a 1/2 gallon a day!

 

Recipe

1 gallon water

1 sliced lemon

1sliced cucumber

handful of mint leaves

 

Place all ingredients into a gallon jug and place in fridge to infuse over night.

Drink all day the next day.

 

Happy Drinking!