Expired Strawberry Yogurt Cake

I plan my meals for the month.

Anal....maybe.

Time saver.....definitely.

I hate coming home and humming and hawing over what to cook for dinner and when I finally settle on something I'm missing 2 ingredients.

So to combat that I "try" plan my meals for the month and shop for ALL the ingredients at once.

I'd pinned "Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake" on the list of  "Food: This Months Dinner" and it sat there pinned for nearly 2 months.

By the time I turned around to make it the first time, Baby C had consumed all the strawberries.

After I bought a fresh batch of strawberries the yogurt had passed it's expiration date.

I finally said heck with all of it and used the expired yogurt to make the cake for the first time the day before Christmas.

In my mind you should never experiment with a dessert you've never made before on the day before Christmas and especially when using expired yogurt.

But it's the end of 2013, I felt like living on the edge.

Well let me tell you!! If you happen to have expired yogurt and or 12 ounces of strawberries laying around PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make this cake.

It is ABSOLUTELY delicious. It's NOT too sweet, and the yogurt gives it such a rich texture and taste, I was out of lemon juice...so I didn't drizzle any on top like the recipe called for but I can't imagine it tasting any better than it did.

My Aunt actually thought I bought it at a store (she knew nothing of the expired yogurt obviously!)

Likes and Dislikes: Christmas Season

A fellow blogger Don does a occasional post called "Likes & Dislikes" and I've been meaning to try it for quite some time.

I often feel like my blog is escaping me, running for the hills, constant log of photos reminding me of what I did when, and less and less of who I am and what I feel, think or want to say.

so I'm hoping with "Likes & Dislikes" I can spend a few minutes expressing myself and my errant thoughts.

LIKES

• newly created traditions
• snow
• christmas music on christmas day
• the turkey taking up ALL the room in the fridge the night before
• wondering how much longer she'll believe in santa
• 1am wrapping frenzie
• seasonal pinterest items
• time to reflect
• starbucks seasonal drinks

DISLIKES

• the thought of those less fortunate
• the thought of those less fortunate being a distant memory by January 31st
• left over peppermint candy canes
• finding that present you hid too well
• wondering what we'll do on New Years
• tv news of someones house burning down on christmas day
• lists of what I'll do better with next year
• the almighty rush to get christmas cards out before dec 25th

Wordless Wednesday

Anniversary

Last night we went out for simple easy dinner to celebrate our anniversary....

One year we'll go out to dinner alone and I'll get to blow out my own candles!

Video Worth Sharing

I haven't blogged in forever and a day but this was definetely a video worth sharing....tears were in my eyes when I finished watching it!

Wordless Wednesday

Something about this shot I love...

So much history.....

There's so much history I still have to teach this little girl all because of one man.

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving 2013 at Disney World

Gobble Gobble

There's something about a kids artwork that always touches me...I simply love saving it.

November Sky, STEM, Girls ROCK!

Girl Scouts is so much more than just those wonderful cookies...

A few weeks ago Baby C went to a "Rocket Launch" science program called "November Sky" held at the Cradle of Aviation.

When I tried to explain to her what the program was she didn't really seem that interested.

I wasn't sure if the program would be above her head or if she'd become a little to used to playing with Barbie and dressing her Build A Bear in tutu's.

The program was thankfully divided into Girl Scout levels and it was perfect for her age. She got to build a rocket from a plastic water bottle and propel it up into the sky by pumping air into the water in the bottle.

Luckily we drink A LOT of seltzer at home and we use the Soda Stream system to make it, so the concept of air being forced into a small bottle and then what happens when it's all compressed inside and then letting go...WAS NOT a foreign concept to her.

In the end I think she LOVED the program and if asked would probably say yes to going back next year.

At next level up the Girl Scouts got to build a rocket using Estes Alpha III rocket kits which ignites and has an engine.

I'm extremely happy that Girl Scouts is steadily trying to push more and more STEM programs into their events realizing quickly that these girls given half a chance and if introduced at a young enough age will excel at ALL of the activities usually designated for the "Boys Only" crowd.

I'm proud of my little one and her water bottle rocket!

Auntie's ORGANIC Pumpkin

Who says you have to add growth hormones and pesticides to make your produce grow BIG!

My Aunt D grew TWO of these gigantic pumpkins in her back yard.

This one is the smaller of the two. Big C said it felt as if it weighed at least 50lbs!

Not quite sure how Auntie cut it all up but she did and we managed to take a big piece home. I made some Crock Pot Turkey Pumpkin Chili and then baked some with a Chicken last Sunday.

Wordless Wednesday

Veterans Day she was the only one that showed for Hip Hop Dance Class

Friends....

Baby C just finished her Mags&Munchies drive for Girl Scouts.

It's not the most popular sale compared to the Girl Scout cookies.

But each year I go through the regime of registering online and having it send out a customary personalized email inviting friends and family to buy magazine subscriptions or snacks.

All the while lamenting "Who has time to read?

This year I allowed the online system to crawl my gmail contact list and send emails to everyone in there....some 329 emails were sent to friends and family.

I was shocked that all of the responses and magazine subscriptions that Baby C got this year, ALL were from friends as opposed to family.

Her first magazine subscription for $35 was from an internet friend whose blog I started following nearly 6 years ago and whom I've never even met!!!

The next was from her old baseball coaches wife....and then one from an old friend of mine...the one that gave me the biggest smile was from a an old college friend who is now working and living in Africa.

It truly touched me that friends were there to support her with her growing endeavors and it made me realize that true friends are real GEMS!

Wordless Wednesday

Her spirit makes me smile!

Fall Playdates

As a child I didn't grow up with play dates.

You just went outside and played with whomever was outside at that moment.

Sometimes you knew the kids names, some times you didn't.

The face was always familiar and as long as you both had bikes....the world was your oyster.

On occasion my mother made friends with another mother from school but being s single parent with a busy schedule it didn't happen often that I got together with other kids from school.

I always lived on the other side of the tracks from the private school that I attended and friends always lived too far for me to travel alone, not that I had a clue which bus, train or back street I'd have to take to get there anyway.

These days the minute a child yanks your arm screaming "Can I have a playdate with..."....out pops each parents smart phone and that calendar app pops open.

Many playdates for Baby C are formed from old co workers with kids, many not remotely close in age but kids always seem to gravitate towards one another no matter the age and an instant bond is often created.

Baby C acted like the best big sister for Baby Gabby on this "fall playdate" even when Baby Gabby turned and commented to her mother "Why's she always helping me, does she think I'm a baby?"

Wordless Wednesday

She changed her mind on the wig and had the face to show it!

Wordless Wednesday

 Ava's Birthday

Halloween

This came home from school today!

Dine In Movie

Big C took me away for the weekend to Atlantic City for a late birthday weekend get away. On the way back we finally checked out a Dine In Movie theater, I've wanted to experience a dine in movie theater for years now.

We had a fantastic time...we went to see the movie "The Counselor" and I feel asleep and started snoring!!! Big C had to elbow me to shut up...I've never fallen asleep during a movie before. Big C on the other hand has fallen asleep during PLENTY!

The food was awesome...something took over me and I ordered the shrimp pizza which was amazing for a movie theater (i'm not a big seafood person), I coupled it with some chips and queso and finished it off with Apple Crisp a la mode. No wonder I feel asleep.

The chairs reclined to a sleeping position and the Mango Margarita didn't help my lethargic state and rather full belly.

The price of the movie tickets was the same as a regular movie theater which I thought was a great deal, and you had a little buzzer to press if you needed service any time during the movie.

Ten on Tuesday and then some....

I just took a shower and as I did, 10 items for a "Ten on Tuesday" blog post rattled through my head. I wonder how many of them I'll remember now...

1. Does anyone else think of blog posts in random places?
2. Baby C and I made these, Chocolate Covered Pretzels to go in her lunch bag for snack. She picked out her snacks for the week and pinned them herself. YES I'll make a pinner out of her yet...BUT can someone tell me why they don't look like the picture on pinterest? 0_o Thank goodness they taste scrumptious or I'd be mad throwing away that expensive cooking chocolate that I must have bumped my head to buy in the first place.
   
   
   
3. She asked for her heating blanket this evening...she's such an old lady.
4. My Visual Basics class has prevented me from going to the first 3 Girl Scout meeting. My poor leader has been solo with 15 2nd graders and right now she's at home cutting out Trefoils as I type. I feel so bad I can't wait to get back to being a Co Leader.
5. I still have to hang up half of the clothes in my closet they're just laying on the closet floor they've been there for 2 weeks now. I'd pay someone to hang them all up right about now...
   
   
   
6. I don't like grits or seafood that much at all. It's that kind of "not like" where I wouldn't even order it off a menu. Sunday dinner was a dinner of love for Big C... "Slow Cooker Grits and Shrimp" I was blown away at how good it taste.
7. We tried to weed out baby books in her room this evening. For every 2 books I pulled out to donate she put 1 back...I guess this 7 year old wants to read Barney in between her Junie B. Jones chapter books....it was hopeless.
8. I added this "Dinner in the Sky" to my pinterest bucket list...not quite sure what hangover I was under when I added it...now just looking at the picture I start to itch...
   
   
   
   
   
9. We did the Just Dance 4 wii last night. I'm old I was done after 6 songs but I did burn 345 calories and got so into it that I shattered a light bulb thrusting my hand in the air...our basement ceiling is so low....my arm is fat.
10. I hope to go Apple Picking this weekend....hope the weather holds out...I bet it SNOWS Friday night and I don't win the lottery.

Pinterest, Watch, Late Birthday Gifts, and BMI Index all rolled into one!

I got my late birthday gift from Big C this weekend.

I started a pinterest board called "Gifts for Me" and I shared it with Big C.

Sure it takes the imagination out of it but I've posted so many items on the board I still never know what I might get.

I was kind of that ungrateful wife this birthday though. He bought a J Crew necklace that I'd posted but her paid full price for it. 

WHO DOES THAT! LOL

I asked him if he could return it as J Crew is way too overpriced and I usually wait until it goes on sale or better yet goes to the factory outlet.

Granted there's no guarantees that it will make it there in the color I want, but with those prices I’ll take my chances thanks.

I asked for this awesome watch Polarft40 instead.

At least it's awesome to me, the poor lass that needs to loose 100lbs to no longer be considered obese on that that universal BMI Index that the Dr. uses for every race, creed, color, body type that comes in the Drs office.

Who invented that damn BMI index anyway?

According to that thing it claims Big C is over weight as well. But if that poor man loses 1 more pound he’ll wither away for heaven’s sakes.

I know for many others this watch is dead boring! Those people are the ones that the dr used to make the damn BMI Index!

The watch comes with a chest strap that measure my heart rate, and allows me to input my weight, height etc and more accurately than most figures out how many calories I’ve burned.

I always wondered how those generic treadmills and wii remotes figured out my calories burned when it didn’t connect with any part of my body…so now I don’t have to worry anymore!

But this also means now there’s no reason to NOT exercise and NOT update my food dairy on “myfitnesspal”. Anyone else use myfitnesspal ? (My username is mcoutrier if you want to add me)

So now my quest is to find the most optimal exercise for me that burns the most calories…I’m actually excited to take this sucker swimming and see what it says when I’m done with those 40 laps (Yeah right 40 laps who am I kidding)

I also wonder if it’s true what they say that you burn a lot of calories during sex? lol

Wondering....

• Shonda Rhimes is an amazing writer and Scandal is even more amazing
• Scandal constantly makes the evening news. I remember when ER was on TV and it made the evening news... "Swoony" George Clooney!
• The new season of Downton Abbey started in my home town already I wonder if Joe watches it.
• I wonder if Granny Annie watches her new survallence system more than her tv now
• I'd like to try a like and dislike post like Don one of these days
• I found a new blog to read called "Whatever" the name alone pulls me in
• I bought these earrings at Brooklyns #AtlanticAntic Baby C picked them out. They're not really me but she picked them so they make me smile
  
• I picked these "things" out trying to live outside of my box. some how I think they'll end up staying IN their box. A bit too daring for me
  
• I get scared that Chrissy's boys will be in college if I blink too slowly...I always wanted boys though I love my Baby C
• I'm thinking of trying these outfits for next week at work. I'm trying to channel my inner "WWJD ~ What Would Jin Do!"
  
  
• I often tell myself that when I loose weight I'm going to get a fitting from Adrienne the next time she's in NYC
• Oh the life of Big C's child free cousin "7 SIGNS YOU’RE THE OBNOXIOUS AMERICAN TOURIST".  By the time I realize I'm obnoxious I've moved on to being rude and sarcastic already
• I need to buy photo paper so I can scrap with Staci again, the last layout I did was months ago and I'm still not even done with Baby C's first year

Fennel tea and a pat on the back

After my rant in yesterdays post That complex line between......Big C truly does deserves a pat on the back for this grocery store adventure.

Wordless Wednesday

At the fair with her cousin

Free ride...Fall clean up

Home Depot Kids Workshop Herb Planter

Homer and Baby C

A balloon flies away and catches her eye

That complex line between...

I found myself reading this post "Kiss the cook" and it reminded me of this tweet I sent out last week:

When I tweeted it my friends all seemed to be having one of "those" days.

One couldn't attend our first book club meeting because she had no one to watch her kids though I'm sure her other half was sitting at home twiddling his thumbs.

Another friend had someone come and get her son 2 hours before the book club so she could go and I have no idea what that kids father was doing why he couldn't watch their kid but in the past he's been at home twiddling his thumbs as well.

One friend text me "Who's watching Baby C?"
I wrote back "Her darn father!"
She replied "What a foreign concept! LOL"

After reading the post "Kiss the cook" I commented

"My husband is a saint compared to most...he cooks Mondays and Wednesday, I Tuesdays Thursdays and Sundays...Friday and Saturday left overs or eating out.

I do the laundry Wednesdays and Fridays and I fold the clothes and he puts them away.

We also sit down on Sunday nights and divide up what needs to be addressed around the house so that might include him scrubbing the bathroom tile one week me the next etc.

But I have to add without a list he'll do NOTHING, he'll also walk over things as if they're not there no matter what they are! LOL"

But while I do commend Big C for being the father he should be and then some, I also feel the torn between what I continued to tweet that afternoon....

If I was a stay at home mom I'd have no convictions about doing 100% of household chores and child raising.

Grilled Pineapple with Mascarpone Cream

I've only recently come across multiple recipes calling for mascarpone cream and after I'm done cooking with it I'm often left with a substantial amount as I often find it only sold in one size and the recipe never seems to call for that one size.

I was happy to come across this recipe for Grilled Pineapple with Mascarpone Cream that I could start using the left overs for...especially considering the fact that Big C loves pineapples...though Baby C does not.

I'll let you know how it comes out the next time I'm left with mascarpone cream!!!

Feedly

How are people liking feedly?

I've been using it since Google Reader went bye bye and in the beginning there were quite a few problems and glitches which is to be expected as I'm sure they never anticipated the demand.

But since then I haven't had any problems and have slowly grown to like it.

Between feedly and google+  I've cut down many of the newsletters and email subscriptions that used to clutter my inbox and I've added them to either feedly or google+.

Granted if I don't check either I could miss a good sale compared to when I was forced to click on it in my email inbox but hey such is life and I probably didn't need whatever they were trying to sell me for 50% off for that day ONLY anyway!

So far so good on the feedly front over here.


UPDATE:

I hit publish on this post....went back to continue reading on feedly and this is what I was presented with, I thought someone was playing a joke for a minute as I hit that refresh button over and over and over

Girl Scout Power

Every year when Girl Scout Cookie sales begin I think to myself how bad I feel for Boy Scouts, they haven't seemed to find that one product that can even compete with the revenue that Girl Scout Cookies bring in.

Truthfully if it wasn't for the fact that the Girl Scout Cookies ONLY come out once a year I doubt very much that they'd have such a cult following.

It's the age old premise of "We crave what we can't have!"

Even if you don't like any of the flavors of cookies that the Girl Scouts have the mere fact that they only come out once a year leaves you scared that maybe there's something you're missing.

And just when I thought Girl Scouts Cookie sales couldn't take it any further than the Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream that they have out.....BAM

They have a marketing genius behind them I swear!

A child and a cell phone....

The best things to do are right in your own back yard.

FREE Outdoor Movie:
I was supposed to meet some ladies for our monthly Scrapbooking crop but I chose to spend the evening instead with the ones I love...at the beach watching a movie.
I like to call it "The First Outdoor Movie of the Fall" as opposed to the "Last Outdoor Movie of the Summer".

FREE Arts & Crafts Class:
I love how she never leans towards the traditionally female item.
She could have picked a soccer ball but picked a football and made herself a football change purse.
I hope she always remembers nothing is out of bounds just because she's a girl.

FREE Home Depot Kids Workshop:
I love the bonding that occurs at each months Home Depot Kids Workshop between Big and Baby C. I used to dig into each project as i love welding a hammer and playing with wood glue.
I love the way the glue dries on your fingers.
But of late I've tried to step back and let Big and Baby C navigate their way through steps and nails and take pictures of their finished products.

FREE Fall Library Fall Festival:
She's growing up before my eyes.
She wanted the candy floss but wasn't interested in the blow up slide.
I had to bribe her to stand next to the Llama though.
I guess she wont grow up to be a vet.
She displayed such a lack of confidence at a game where you had to throw a ball at some plastic cups and knock them down. She threw twice and COMPLETELY missed her target. She immediately burst into tears, refused to try again and stormed off.
It was one of those moments where you were embarrassed to be the parent of "That Child".

FREE Birthday Party:
This roller rink didn't have "skate mates" so she was forced to find her confidence and make her way around time and time again getting right back up after each fall.
I was super proud of her.

NOT FREE: Rise of the Jack-O-Lanterns:
I bought the tickets for this so long ago I couldn't even remember how much they cost but it was well worth it.
An arrangement of 5000 pumpkins all cut out by hand! AWESOME!