To Eat “Peeps” or Not to Eat “Peeps”… That is the Question!

You all have likely seen marshmallow “Peeps” for sale in the stores around Easter time. Not sure what I’m talking about? This is the way the original ones looked when I was a kid.

It would seem that folks either love them or dislike them very much. I fall into the latter group. I have never understood why people love them, but to each his own! Each year just before Easter, they show up in stores and I am always amazed at the flavors that are now available! For the sake of honesty, I have never tried any flavor except the yellow ones. My throat says “Umm, not happening!” every time one gets close enough for me to smell it. So maybe some flavors are better than others. I can agree that they are quite cute and colorful! The other day I found the following colors and flavors at our local store:

Pink…

Blue…

Purple…

Dr. Pepper flavor…(really?! I don’t care for Dr. Pepper either.)

Rice Krispies Treats flavor…I do like real Rice Krispies treats.

Fruit Punch flavor…

Party Cake flavor…this one at least sounds good.

Sour Watermelon flavor…

Cotton Candy flavor…

This is a new one I haven’t seen before. Peeps Delights S’Mores flavor dipped in milk chocolate. This one is almost tempting me to try it…almost. 😉

Oh and they also come in bunny shapes which really are quite adorable!

So here is the million dollar question…do you like marshmallow peeps? I am actually curious and would like to know! If your answer is yes, which flavor do you like the most? How about taking a survey of your family members? Do you get more likes or dislikes? According to Wikipedia, Peeps have been marketed in the United States and Canada since 1953. So I’m guessing there are a TON of people that really like them! LOL 😉 If you are one of those, I hope you enjoy them! If you don’t care for them, yea…I understand! 😉

More Lego Clearance News!

Hello there! Just popping in here to say if you are looking for Lego deals, check out your local Walmart store! They have some great clearance prices on Lego right now! (At least at the store here close to us.) Here’s some of the bargains I found:

#1.) Lego Creator Main Street #31141. Regular price $140.00, sale price $84.00. (I might have brought this one home with me.) 😉

#2.) Lego Botanical Collection Wildflower Bouquet #10313. Regular price $60.00, sale price $47.98.

#3.) Lego Harry Potter Quidditch Trunk #76416. Regular price $68.00, sale price $39.50.

#4.) Lego Friends Sea Rescue Boat #41734. Regular price $80.00, sale price $48.00.

#5.) Lego Friends Heartlake City Community Kitchen #41747. Regular price $68.00, sale price $39.50.

#6.) Lego Friends Hair Salon #41743. Regular price $29.97, sale price $19.50.

#7.) Lego Creator Beach Camper Van #31138. Regular price $49.97, sale price $29.50.

#8.) Lego Disney Peter Pan & Wendy’s Storybook Adventures #43220. Regular price $19.97, sale price $11.50.

#9.) Lego Friends Igloo Holiday Adventure #41760. Regular price $49.97, sale price $29.50.

#10.) Lego Minecraft The Deep Dark Battle #21246. Regular price $52.00, sale price $36.00.

#11.) Lego Batman Batmobile Pursuit: Batman vs. The Joker #76264. Regular price $26.97, sale price $16.00.

#12.) Lego Avatar Skimwing Adventure #75576. Regular price $34.99, sale price $19.50.

Run run run to Walmart for some great Lego deals! 🙂 Hope you find the one you want!

Happy Leap Day!

So today is an extra day that we only get once every 4 years. Kinda cool? Yep, who doesn’t need an extra day, right? So are you doing anything special with your extra day? This cute Leap Day picture is from Sandra Boynton’s Every Day’s a Fabulous Holiday calendar. 🙂 Are you doing any leaping on Leap Day?

Do you know what a person is called whose birthday is on Leap Day? You would be called a “leapling” or a “leaper”. If you were born on February 29th, then you would only celebrate your birthday on the right day once every 4 years. Kind of a bummer, but you could celebrate either the day before or the day after your actual birthday. Or maybe both! 😉 I read about a lady that turned 100 years old today but she has only celebrated on her actual birth date 25 times! Kinda funny!

There is a rather silly thing that happens on Leap Day and that is that women can propose to a man instead of waiting for the man to propose to her. But really, I don’t think anyone pays any attention to this anymore. 😉

What animals would be great for celebrating Leap Day? Maybe a frog or toad?

How about a kangaroo? They are both great at leaping! 🙂

For Leap Day you could leap about just like a frog or a kangaroo! Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy your “extra” day today! 🙂

Let’s Make Chaffles!

Have you ever heard of a chaffle? Well, you know what a waffle is, right? Chaffles are made with cheese and they are quite yummy! So let’s take a look at how I made some chaffles for my husband and I. First off, I used my mini waffle maker that I found at WalMart for around $10.

It’s really cute and just the right size for 1 or 2 people.

There are lots of different chaffle recipes floating around out there but this is how I did it. You’ll need 2 Tablespoons of almond flour, 1/2 Cup of grated cheese, 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. These can be made gluten free. 🙂

I made 2 different batches of batter. For the first batch I used cheddar cheese and for the second batch I used mozzarella cheese. Both were quite tasty! 🙂 Put the ingredients into a small bowl.

Stir until all ingredients are moistened. This is the cheddar mixture.

And here is the mozzarella mixture. The egg I used for the mozzarella batch was larger and so the ingredients were more “soupy”.

Preheat your mini waffle iron according to the manufacturers directions. While it’s heating, make sure any assistants are ready to help you. This is my assistant, Rusty. 😉

When the waffle iron is hot, spoon some batter onto the waffle iron and close the lid. Make sure not to overfill the waffle iron or the batter will run out.

Check your chaffle after a few minutes and see if it looks done enough to suit you. Mine took less than 5 minutes to cook. This is the cheddar chaffle all ready for someone to take a bite!

This is the mozzarella chaffle that my husband very quickly gobbled up! 😉

This recipe made 2 -3 chaffles each. Chaffles make a great quick snack or even part of a meal. I bet they would be great with a fried egg on top. I added a drizzle of honey to mine and that made it even better. I hope you’ll give the chaffles a try! 🙂

Easy Mug Cake for Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! 🙂

Here’s a great super fast dessert for this Valentine’s Day! So fun and easy you won’t believe it and your kids will love it! It’s a Mug Cake, which means you mix it and cook it all in a coffee mug. You will need 2 cake mixes. 1 must be an angel food cake mix and the second one can be your favorite cake flavor. I chose Chocolate Fudge. The brand of cake mixes I used was Betty Crocker but others will work just fine too.

Pour both dry cake mixes into a bowl that you can store the ingredients in.

Stir together carefully as the powder will “poof” easily. 😉 Be sure its mixed together well.

Now comes the fun part! Put 3 tablespoons of the cake mix into a microwave safe mug.

Add 2 tablespoons of water and stir together. Make sure all the dry powder on the bottom and sides of the mug are mixed in well. It will look a little foamy.

Put the mug in your microwave oven and microwave for 1 minute and presto! You have a little individual cake! 🙂

Let it cool to your desired temperature. Top with a dollop of frosting or some whipped cream or ice cream. I used whipped cream and it was quite yummy! 🙂

Doesn’t it look delicious?!

Mmmm! Super simple and super tasty! A great way to have something sweet and it’s already a controlled portion. 😉

Enjoy your Mug Cake! 🙂 You can be sure I’m enjoying mine! 😉

A Simple Game for Valentine’s Day

Tomorrow is the day for hearts and love and flowers and fun! 😉 Here’s a quick idea for a super simple game you might play with the kids on Valentine’s Day. Let’s call it Valentine Tic Tac Toe.

All you need is a piece of paper and a pen and some Valentine’s Day candy. Pick out 5 pieces of 2 different colors of candy…1 color for X and a different color for O. Draw a Tic Tac Toe board on your paper and you’re ready to play! There are lots of candy pieces that would work for Valentine Tic Tac Toe. Here’s enough colors of candy conversation hearts for 3 different games.

I love M&M’s candy so that’s the one I would choose to play with! 😉

You can even find candy hearts in the food decorating aisle of your favorite grocery store.

Depending on the size of your family or group, you could play separate games and the winners advance to the next round. The final winner could get a special prize and everyone could enjoy some Valentine’s Day candy! ;) Have fun!

It’s Pizza Day!

Yum! Everybody loves pizza, right? If you do, today is your day! I love Sandra Boynton’s calendar picture for today from her “Every Day’s a Fabulous Holiday 2024 Calendar”:

Cute little guy, isn’t he? But back to pizza…be sure to check around your local area for pizza shops that are running sales on pizza today! I’m sure it will vary depending on where you live. One type of pizza we sometimes buy from a grocery store is one that makes the crust using cauliflower instead of regular flour. No, it doesn’t taste like cauliflower, which is pretty cool! They have different flavors and toppings available. We like to add a little more pizza sauce and cheese before baking ours.

But if you don’t want to buy a pizza or you just prefer to make your own, let me share a couple of suggestions. One way to make quick and easy individual pizzas is to use english muffins for the crust. Gather your favorite pizza ingredients…

Cut an english muffin in half and spread it with some pizza sauce. Then add cheese and your favorite toppings. One nice thing about this method is everyone can make their pizza to suit their likes. Using aluminum foil or parchment paper on a baking sheet is a good plan for easy clean up.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F until the cheese melts and browns a bit and the pizza are heated through.

Another pizza suggestion that was shared with me is to make a Pizzadilla. Using the soft round tortilla shells, put one on a baking sheet and spread with sauce and toppings. Top with some cheese. Put another tortilla shell on top. Bake at 425 degrees till browned and crispy, then flip and bake until the second side is browned too. Only takes about 10 minutes. This makes a cracker like crust. And again, everyone can add their own favorite toppings. 🙂

One more fun idea that I saw but haven’t tried yet is to use a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, then make small piles of mozzarella cheese in circles. Leave some space between them. Top each one with pepperoni and your favorite pizza spices like oregano and parsley. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for a minute or two and the place on a paper towel lined plate. Serve with your favorite pizza sauce for dipping!

Wow, there are lots of ways to enjoy pizza, aren’t there?! I hope you will enjoy your favorite pizza on this Pizza Day! 🙂

It’s Time for Some Giggles!

Today is another gray, cold January day here. So it’s time to share some riddles and give ourselves something to giggle about! Let’s do this! 🙂

#1.) What do you call a hen who can count her own eggs?

Answer: A mathemachicken!

#2.) What do you call a pirate who skips class?

Answer: Captain Hooky!

#3.) What does Mickey Mouse listen to on his way to work?

Answer: Car-tunes!

#4.) What do you call five giraffes?

Answer: A high-five!

#5.) What do cows like to read?

Answer: A moospaper!

#6.) What do you get if you cross a duck and a vampire?

Answer: Count Quack-ula!

#7.) What is black and yellow and goes in circles?

Answer: A bumble bee on a merry-go-round!

#8.) What is a giraffe’s favorite movie?

Answer: Giraffic Park!

#9.) What do you call cows that live in Alaska?

Answer: Eskimoos!

#10.) What do you get if you cross a pig and a tree?

Answer: A porky-pine!

There! I hope you are feeling happier now and these riddles brightened your day! 🙂 Keep smiling!

Draw Your Own Squishmallows

Do you own a Squishmallow? They seem to be very popular now and I’m kinda behind the times on learning about them. Our granddaughter got a BUNCH of them for Christmas and now I know why everyone likes them! They are sooo cute and sooo soft and well, squishable! 🙂 (I’m thinking I might need one…or a few!)

And then there were mini squishmallows too! 😉

Our granddaughter has been tracing characters and coloring them and that gave me the idea that it would be fun to draw Squishmallows. There are a couple of ways you can do that. One way is to find a picture of a Squishmallow online and save the picture to your tablet.

Lay a piece of thin white paper over the picture and trace the outline of the Squishmallow.

Take the paper off the tablet and color the picture with your favorite crayons, markers or colored pencils. Use the picture as a guide for what colors to use.

Molina is actually white but the white part didn’t show up in a picture so I colored her a light color so you could see her better. Another way you can trace/draw a Squishmallow is to print an online picture first.

Hold the picture up to a window (or tape it on the window) and use a piece of thin white paper to trace it just like we did with the first one.

Color the picture and ta dah! You now have a drawing of Gorm too!

You can make a whole collection of Squishmallow drawings to decorate your bedroom or maybe you’d just like to do one or two. I hope you will have fun drawing your own Squishmallows! 🙂

Warm Up With a Hot Cocoa Bar

It’s a snowy and cold day today where we live. Brrr! It makes me long for a hot drink and a soft blanket! (Step aside, iced coffee!) This Christmas in a white elephant exchange, I received this cute set for making hot cocoa.

It got me to thinking about how nice it would be to have a hot cocoa bar with all our favorite ingredients. And this cold snowy day is the perfect day for one! 🙂 Here’s what we had for our hot cocoa bar:

Hot cocoa mix – this brand is my favorite!