A Solar Eclipse Yummy Project

Happy Eclipse Day to all who are living in the path that can see the solar eclipse today! Or for those who have traveled to places so you can see it. We are some of the lucky ones and we will watch it from our yard! I just wanted to share a quick, fun and tasty eclipse project with you! All you need is a few Oreo cookies…8 cookies is enough.

Take 7 of the cookies and twist to open them.

If the filling doesn’t completely stick to one side of the cookie, you can use a knife to put the filling all on one side. Now you’ll need something flat to lay the cookies on. Like a place mat, a plate or a pizza pan, etc. I’m using the backside of a pizza pan. Start with one cookie with the filling side up. This represents the sun before the eclipse starts.

Now take another cookie, filling side up, and place the bare cookie piece so it just covers a little bit of the filling…the moon is now starting to cover the sun.

Place 2 more cookies with each one covering up a bit more of the filling. This represents the moon covering more and more of the sun.

At the bottom place one whole cookie.

We have reached the totality of the eclipse and can no longer see the sun!

Now add 3 more cookie sets to show how the moon gradually slides away from in front of the sun and soon you are back to seeing the full sun!

You’ve made a complete model of the solar eclipse! Pretty fun, right? 🙂 But now for the best part – you can eat the cookies! LOL

One other quick share…this sign is in front of our local grocery store. They were getting into the spirit of the eclipse today! Look what they have for sell! 😉

Happy Eclipse Day! 🙂 The eclipse is about to start here! 🙂 I must grab my solar eclipse glasses and head outside!

Happy April Fool’s Day!

It’s that time of year again when we pull out all our silly pranks and play them on our favorite people! Happy April Fool’s Day! 🙂 Has anyone “pranked” you? Have YOU played a prank on someone else? Our family has had fun sharing the fun pranks of our day and we’d love to hear what silliness you’ve gotten up to! Here are some of the pranks I’ve heard about today…

#1.) Our daughter-in-law took 2 cereal bowls last night and poured some water in the bottom of them and placed the bowls in the freezer overnight with a spoon stuck in the water. This morning she added some cereal and milk to the bowls and served them to her 2 kids. As you might guess, the spoons were stuck in the bowls! 🙂

#2.) This morning I made my husband a little individual cake…a sponge cake. (Can you guess where this is going?) Yes, I used a real sponge. 😉 Here are a few pictures…

Icing the sponge cake…shhh!

It looks pretty normal, right?

Hey, my fork is bouncing off this cake!

Waaaaait a minute…this is the toughest cake I’ve ever seen…this seems very suspicious.

Oohh, its a REAL sponge cake! Very sneaky!

#3) I heard about coffee made with salt water…and coffee with salt instead of sugar added. 😉

#4.) There were stories about strawberries and blueberries and tomatoes being picked from the garden. (Which normally doesn’t happen till late spring and late summer.)

#5.) There was a rumor of a purple horse running through the property…

#6.) There was news about someone buying a new Gladiator… (No, he didn’t really.)

#7.) I saw news on Facebook today that Bob Evans restaurants are selling pancakes on a stick, today only. 😉

It’s great to have a day for fun like April Fool’s Day! 🙂 I hope you have enjoyed yours! 🙂

Coloring Eggs With Cool Whip

I’ve seen the suggestion floating around the internet to color eggs using Cool Whip whipped topping and food coloring, so I had to try it out. 😉 (I may have shiny object syndrome or something) Here’s how it went for me…

You will need a container of Cool Whip whipped topping, white hard boiled eggs and liquid food coloring. And a dish to do your coloring in…I used a cookie sheet.

Thaw the Cool Whip in the refrigerator. Then spread a bunch on the cookie sheet or dish.

Put drops of different colored liquid food coloring all around the Cool Whip.

Using a toothpick…or other small utensil…swirl the colors throughout the Cool Whip.

Roll the white hard boiled eggs through the colored Cool Whip and let the eggs sit on the cookie sheet. A word of warning…your fingers are going to be just as colorful as the eggs! 😉

Let the eggs sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Then rinse in water. Sit the eggs on a paper towel to dry. Here’s a look at my eggs after they were dry.

The eggs looked neat but most of the color was on the light side. (Maybe I did something wrong?) I had one egg in particular that didn’t take on much color even though I did it twice. Overall this was a fun process so you might like to give it a go too. 🙂

Time for Giggles!

Let’s get the week rolling with some silliness! Are you kids ready for some goofy jokes and riddles? Here we go! 🙂

#1.) Why did the chicken go to the doctor?

Answer: For an eggs-amination!

#2.) What happens when ducks tell jokes?

Answer: They quack up!

#3.) What did the bee say to his girlfriend?

Answer: “You are bee-utiful!”

#4.) What do you get if you cross Little Red Riding Hood with a bird?

Answer: Robin Hood!

#5.) Why are giraffes not allowed to drive cars?

Answer: They would cause giraffic jams!

#6.) What do you call horses in adjoining stalls?

Answer: Neigh-bors!

#7.) How did the llama travel to the fancy party?

Answer: In a llama-sine!

#8.) What do you call a sneak attack by a pig?

Answer: A ham-bush!

#9.) What happened to the leopard that fell into the washing machine?

Answer: He came out spotless!

#10.) What do you call a dinosaur that delivers packages?

Answer: Fed Rex!

Hahaha! I hope those riddles brightened your day and set off a nice round of giggles! 🙂

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! 😉

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!