Homemade Chocolate Pudding Cups and Pops

I had some extra milk to use up so I found this recipe on cooks.com for homemade chocolate pudding.  I decided to make a double batch and I had just enough to make four good sized pudding cups and a six pack of my Tupperware Ice Tups of pudding pops.  I can’t wait for the kids to try them for a snack after nap.

The title of the recipe links you to cooks.com where I got it.

 

Aunt Edna’s Homemade Chocolate Pudding

 

1 (almost heaping) tbsp. Hersheys cocoa
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. milk
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 (heaping) tbsp. flour

 

Stir sugar, flour and cocoa together and mix well. Add milk slowly while stirring. Continue to stir, on low heat. When pudding thickens add butter and vanilla. Serve.

How easy is that???

Good idea for a homemade snack for the kiddos and a great way to use up some extra milk before it goes bad.

 

Saucy Portobello Pitas

I found this recipe in my new Taste of Home magazine (April and May 2011) and thought it would be a great meal for me to have on the night that I was making spaghetti and red sauce for the rest of the fam.  (I can’t eat anything with red sauce while nursing the baby.. makes her tummy upset.)

 

I realize now that I actually remembered to get a few pics while I was making them, but got all excited and inhaled them before getting a picture of the put together pita.  Whoops….   Next time I make them I will get a pic and attach it to this post.

 

Here is the Recipe submitted by a Lisa Hundley of Aberdeen, NC.

Saucy Portobello Pitas

Cucumber Sauce:

1 c reduced fat plain yogurt

1/2 c chopped peeled cucumber

1/4 to 1/3 c fresh mint

1 tbsp. grated lemon peel

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. garlic powder

 

Pitas:

4 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp greek seasoning

2 tbsp canola oil

8 pita pocket halves, warmed

8 thin slices red onion, separated into rings

8 slices tomato

 

1.  In a bowl, combine sauce ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate.

2.  Sprinkle mushrooms with pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and Greek seasoning.  In a skillet, cook mushrooms in oil for 3-5 minutes on each side or until tender.

3.  Cut pita breads in half; line each with a slice of onion and tomato.  Cut mushrooms in half; place in pitas.  Serve with cucumber sauce.

 

 

I used multi-grain pitas….

My cucumber sauce is a bit boring compared to theirs.  I don’t like the taste of rind… so I left that out.  I don’t care for mint.. so I left that out too.  I also used fat free yogurt instead of low fat.  I think it made my sauce a bit thinner, but was better on points for weight watchers and tasted pretty darn good still.

Portobellos cooking…. yummmm……

Disney Tangled Fleece Blanket $5.99 and FREE Shipping

I think this would go great with the dvd (posted deal for that earlier today) as a gift.  How cute would these two things be together in an Easter basket???

Go to Keeping Cents for the deal info.

(I got two of these blankets – the toy story one.. and minnie mouse one for my kids for Christmas.  They are really nice blankets, were bigger than I thought they were going to be and the personalization comes out so nice.  The kids love them.)

Fisher Price Trio Batcave $22 Shipped

Go here to My Frugal Adventures to see how you can get the Fisher Price Trio Batcave set on Amazon for $22 shipped!!!  I just got this for my son for Easter… along with the $14.99 Tangled dvd for my daughter.

I am thinking this is a good way to ease into lego sets without so many teeny tiny pieces.

 

Tangled Deals

Go here to My Frugal Adventures to see the ways that you can get the movie Tangled.  She shows a few different places with different scenarios, coupons, rebates…..   So.. check it out.

You can get the blu ray movie for as little as $14.99 at Target.

Price Chopper Deals 3/27-4/2/11

Go here to Wicked Cool Deals to get the Price Chopper deal line up for the NE Price Chopper chain.

Menu Plan 3/28-4/3/11

Here is the menu for this coming week.  Things are working out much better having two leftover days… especially since I have been eating lighter.  I just got my Taste of Home magazine yesterday too…. so I already know that there will be an Artichoke Mushroom Lasagna and some Sweet Potato Crab Cakes coming up next week.

Monday–  Meatloaf with steamed veggies

Tuesday–  Spaghetti with Sausage Meat Sauce/  Portabello Pitas for me (I can’t eat the red sauce while nursing)

Wednesday–  Leftovers

Thursday–  Filet Mignon with Bearnaise Sauce

Friday–  Tuna Noodle Casserole

Saturday–  Chicken Breast in Wine Sauce with Asparagus

Sunday–  Leftovers

Have Expired Coupons? Send Them to Military Families

I heard of doing this a while back and then forgot all about it.  Mama Cheaps posted this telling you how you can send expired coupons to military families overseas and they can still use them!  Awesome!!!

Why throw them away when you can pay a few cents to send hundreds worth to families that could use them….

 

 

Bows and Flowers as Hair, Shoe, and Shirt Clips

This is what I did today at nap time…  even though only one of three was napping… I still got a bit done.

My idea was to have bows and flowers that can be used as hair clips (individually or as a set), as hair clips, or on shirts.  I didn’t want to have to make separate sets for each so I decided velcro could solve my little issue.

I found some shoes that I had been gathering (hand me down, second hand, or super clearance with coupon almost free).  These are all the ones that I found in storage that are the size my older daughter is going into for Spring/Summer season.

I got together the plain colored ones that I could switch out embellishments to make a bit more fun.

These are some cute white shoes, but they could be cuter.

Stitch pick the bow and remove.

Clean up the shoe and add velcro.  I used sticky velcro and hot glue.

Make a ton of bows and flowers that have velcro on the backs of them.

And….. swap out the fun stuff to make this one white pair of shoes turn into many many pair of super cute shoes.

I also made this little piece out of felt that has a bit of velcro on each end so that I can attach the embellishments around a strap without adding velcro to the strap.

(These aren’t exactly the cutest color combos, but I was working fast and just wanted to try out the concept.  There will be many more ideas of attachments including organza flowers, beads, lace….)

These two were also done using the felt strap part.

Use alligator clips with basic colors glued to them as a base.  Add velcro….. and you can swap out the bows and flowers on the alligator clip.  These clips are great because they can be clipped to headbands for my girls that don’t have much for hair.

I made this faux necklace shirt a while back and have been waiting to add a flower or bow to one side.  Today… I added velcro (just the sticky kind to see how it looked, but I want to add the sew on velcro for longevity.)  Now I can swap out the embellishment on this too.

So… that is what I came up with for now.  I have a ton of ideas and quite a bit of supplies.  I would like to make shoe clips for my shoes too and I have all sorts of plans for different beads, flowers, lace, fabric, felt, twisting, twirling, cutting, pom poms…….. the possibilities are endless now.

What do ya think???  Neat… right…. ???

(I also made a tutu today….. and want to post pics of that with my model showing it off….. and want to post pics of these shoes, shirt, and hair clips with my two models showing them off when I get a chance to convince them to cooperate.  🙂  )

More Spring/Easter Decor and Crafts 2011

Since Spring officially started (even though northern ny weather begs to differ- as it is snowing right now.. urgh) this weekend, I decided to try and round up a few more Spring/Easter decor, craft, and recipe type ideas.  Here are a few that I could pop up real quick.  I will be hunting for more….

I saw these pedestal birdhouses in some catalog or on another site and they were quite expensive.  I love the look of them for spring and would totally use them on my porch or screened in front room (if I had one) all year round.

These are over at The Speckled Dog and she shows you how she made them using some unfinished bird houses and candle sticks.

This tray of nests and eggs is also from The Speckled Dog.  How cute?  She used an old thrifted wooden tray that she painted and distressed and the nests and eggs are from Target for about five bucks!

She used the same nests and eggs combined with Dollar Tree glassware to make these!!!  OMG cute….

Loving this Easter subway art over at Grunged, Glittered, and Branded.

I was thinking this felt flower pillow was quite the way to brighten up a chair or couch for spring time.  See it over at Craftaholics anonymous.

These chocolate covered marshmallow peeps are so cute over at The Idea Room.