Survived Day One of Temptation

Temptation: 0 , Willpower: 1 ... Day one of working from my parents house and I stuck to my diet.  My parents house is a diabetics nightmare along with every dieters dream if you want to fall off the sugar wagon!  I stuck strong, brought my own lunch and stayed locked in my dad's office to avoid any temptation.  Except I did have to walk by the M&M bowl that I swear called my name every time I walked to the bathroom.  I gave it the bird and kept walking ... hey I said I avoided temptation not mastering grace in the face of it! LOL.  So you ask what can be so hard to avoid let me take you threw their house!

This is what is on the countertop!!

YUP this is bowl that eyeballed me!

Next to the sugar substitute I can have Raw Sugar

I so wanted to dip my finger in it!

Then I saw the cookies!  

Someone was out to get me!

And my lunch!

YUP I stuck to my chicken in a bag, which is actually very good! And rushed out to pick up the boys to come home for a nice pork chop and broccoli!  The boys of course included rice and cheese but I was good once again.  Soon I will be back to the world of small portions and eating healthier but until that day the scale is my friend I will stick strong.  41 lbs down!

I worked most of the day, helping dad when he needed his pills, ice pack, lunch etc.  Rick came up put dad in the wheelchair so he could go outside and get a little air.  He is going stir crazy and he really enjoyed heading out of the house for a few minutes.

Apple Pie Wonton? Can it Be??

As you all know I'm obsessed with Wonton Wrappers recipes.  I bought a package before I started my new diet and had to use them up before they went bad.  It was our week to go to my friends house for dinner, and I wanted to bring something sweet for dessert.  I then went on the hunt for a recipe for what I had in the house.  Apples and Wonton's ... hmm what can I make?  I came across a few recipes that called for frying the wontons but I wanted to bake them (so they could cook while I was doing my workout ... lol).  Then I found the perfect recipe on Sugar Dish me.  I stuck to my diet and didn't have one but I heard they were very tasty and by the looks on the boys faces it was a hit.  I didn't tempt fate and bring any home with us.

Ingredients

24 wonton wrappers
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
juice and zest of half a lemon (I just used juice)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg
1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Topping (for the mini apple pies):

1/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted butter

non-stick cooking spray (for the muffin pan)

To Make

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Spray the mini-muffin with the non-stick cooking spray. Tuck two wonton wrapper into each muffin cup and then set aside. In a large bowl stir together the diced apples, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Fill each muffin cup just to the edge of the pan. In a smaller bowl stir together the wheat flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle a little of this crumbly topping over each of the mini pies in the muffin pan. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the wonton wrappers are crispy brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool slightly before serving. 

Enjoy I will be working this week up at my parents house.  My dad has been released from the hospital.  He is doing well with his walker but is really tired and recouping.  I'll just be there in case he needs me.

Handprint Flower Gift

I love giving gifts that are from the heart.  Also the boys love to do projects and heck pant is always something they enjoy!  My parents are those people that have all the things a person could ever want.  So what do you buy someone like that?  YUP not sure, so I go with gifts from the boys.  My parents house is a museum of antiques and collectibles so homemade gifts have to be able to fit into the theme.  I like to find a nice frame and if it doesn't match it can be brought out to show off when company comes over. 

I found this really fun project on pinterest.  On Nifty Mom she did a Mother's Day Card, I decided to take this and run for a project for my mom's birthday.   I went to Micheal's found a really cool frame that had floating pictures.  I took a picture of mom and the boys and added their handprint flower on either side of the picture.  Added a little note and tada we had a gift.  I should have gotten a picture on a white background to give you a better idea but sorry I took the picture in their kitchen with the granite counter top in the back.  I'm not sure what happened to the gift since then, so this picture will have to do.  I think this would make a great gift for anyone.  I'm a sucker for a gift that took thought.

What you Need:

Frame (Michael's)

Photo

Poster Board (Dollar Store)

Paint (Pink, Blue & Green) (Dollar Store)

Paintbrush (Dollar Store)

Paper & Printer - if you want to add a note

Scissors to cut out the flowers

Take the poster board lay down in an area that is ok if you get paint on it :).  Paint child's hand in the color of the flower.  Press the hand down hard on the poster board, make sure you press down so the whole hand shows up.  If you're doing two colors pant another hand in another color for a flower.  I then took green to make a steam at the end of each flower.  I let Cole help me cut out each flower once it was dry.  I centered the picture and put a flower on each side, put the back on and it was ready to be hung up!

A fun gift that was pretty easy to make.

Back To School .... Here We Come

We are back in the swing of things and it's flying by already!  Both boys are in school now, I actually handled it better then I thought I would ... lol.  Cole entered the 3rd Grade and is already acting like he is too cool for mom.  Caden entered into Kindergarten and is still my little man!  Both came home from the first day with smiles and talks of how they loved their teachers and class.  I think Cole really is enjoying having a male teacher and bounding great! Here is to a great year!

My friend Amy posted on her facebook page a picture of her daughter doing this and I had to do it with the boys.  Their Signs say First day of ... Name ... Age ... And What they want to be when they grow up.

Cole's wants to be a Scientist

Caden wants to be a Policeman

Hope you have a great week and if you have kids in school they have a great first week!

A Sweet Treat "Apple Oreo Cookie"

I was a greeter at school for the new parents coming in for the first day of school.  I wanted to make something fun for the parents and teachers.  I found on Pinterest a recipe where they made apples using mini oreo's on a tooth pick on The Crafting Chicks site.  I wanted to use normal size and was going to use lollipop sticks but the oreo's won't stay together so I just made them with out sticks.  I forgot to take a picture the day after when the red had set up so this picture is a little redish orange (my friend said it looks like a tomato ... LOL).  Easy to make and what a fun treat to bring to school.

Ingredients:

• Oreos (I used Full size
• Wilton Red candy melts (I buy mine at Micheal's Craft Store)
• Watermelon Airheads (for the leaves)
• Pretzel sticks broken (for the stems)
• Lollipop sticks if you can get them to work I skipped it.

I melted my red candy melts in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes (watch them you can burn chocolate I've done it before).  Stir the chocolate to make it smooth, once smooth put a oreo in and make sure it is covered.  White the chocolate is still wet take 1/2 of a broken pretzel in the top for the stem.  Working fast (or you can do this first) cut the watermelon airheads into squares and then form with your fingers into a leaf shape.  Stick next to the pretzel to look like a leaf coming out (if you need to dip the end into the red chocolate to make it stick on the top.  I put mine in the fridge but you can wait about 20 minutes and it will be dry and ready to serve.  If I was passing them out I would put them into their own cellophane bags with a ribbon at the top.

This would be fun for the end of the first week to give to the kids.  Yes I am planning to make something for the boys to take to school. 

School Supply Cakes (2 to choose from)

Well I thought I would make something fun for the teachers (Cole is going to be in 3rd and Caden starts Kindergarten).  I've been seeing these amazing School Supply Cake's on Pinterest and thought I had to make one.  But then I thought I had to make one for each teacher.  You know me I can't do the same for both so I found a different type to make also.

The first one I found cute School Supply Cake on Carries Scrapyard that she made.  I took the picture and ran with it.  NOW if I read her whole post I would have found she found instructions on the Butler's site (yup I didn't so mine is a we'll my own).

Supplies Needed:

(1) Plastic Container - You could use a Roll of Paper Towels also

(5) large rubber bands 

(6) 24 count Crayons

(4) 1-Subject Spiral Bound Notebooks 

(10) Bottles School Glue

(6) Small Glue Sticks 

(20) No.2 Pencils 

(1) box of Kleenex Tissues

Wood Cut-outs (I picked up 2 apples, 1 worm & 1 bus - Michael's)

Ribbon (Apples - Found it at Michael's)

Packing Tape

I took a plastic container placed the spiral bound notebooks around it and one rubber band around it to hold it in place.  Then I added the crayons and glue sticks around the bottom, grabbed another rubber band and secured it around those to keep them in place.  I took the Glue bottles on put them on top and once again took a rubber band to secure them.   On top I stuck a Kleenex Tissue box in the center (half of the box will be behind the notebook paper.  I placed 5 pencils on each side of the tissue box (held on with packing tape).  I found some cute ribbon with apples on it that I added to each tier to hide the rubber bands.  The top tier I tied a bow and then added in the wood apples, worm and bus.

Next on my to do list was one a little bit more "boyish" per Cole :). He picked out this School Supply Cake I found on Come Together Kids.  I had to make it fit to our needs and played around with it a little bit.  The bin I found was a little large so that changed the design a little bit. 

What you need:

(7) Kleenex Boxes

(1) Bin 

(20) Pencils

(6) Glue Sticks

(2) Crayons

(4) Hand Sanitizers

(1) School Stickers - Found at the Dollar Store

(1) School Paper Borders - Found at the Dollar Store

(1) Package of School Cut outs - Found at the Dollar Store

Packing Tape

I took 6 Kleenex Boxes and taped them together, I added the paper School Paper Border around it (use tape to secure).  Add the bin on top, I taped the pencils on the front and then added the border around that also.  Cole added the Cut-out Apple and Stars to the side of the bin.  I then added 1 box of Kleenex on top of the bin, added the box of school stickers in front.  Added the crayons on the side and filled in the gap with the glue sticks.  Added the school border and secured with tape.  We also added on 4 hand sanitizers (taped together) on top.

It took a little bit of time but my helper Cole did a great job and he was very excited to bring them to school to show them off.  I'd say they were a success, what do you think?