A Pinterest Inspired School Project!

In my classroom we love making class books!  My kids love making them and they REALLY love reading them!  We've been mastering syllables lately so I combined 2 ideas from Pinterest to create a new class book!

Here is my inspiration:

Source: larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: emmi.co.uk via Emily on Pinterest

We have a binding machine at my school but the pages always fall out of our class books and it is SO tedius putting the pages back into those plastic spirals!  I decided to give this (free) option of binding a try!  All you need is a paperclip (or a few) and rubber bands!  It didn't work out as well as I would have hoped, but so far, it's holding up pretty nicely in our classroom library!

As you can see, I had to improvise and use small paperclips (I'm totally out of the jumbo right now)!  It still worked ok and we just had to talk about why it's important that we do NOT mess with the special binding! :)

Tasty Tuesday....a Valentine's Treat!

This post is about a week and a half past due, but I have a feeling you'll still appreciate what I'm about to share!  Make this for your Valentine!! <3

My friend Kelli invited us over to "watch the super bowl".  Translation: The boys watched the game in the basement while the girls hung out upstairs with snacks!


I agreed to bring a dessert (duh) and found something super yummy looking on Pinterest: Rolo Cake Mix Bars!

Source: cookiesandcups.com via Emily on Pinterest

Lately, recipes with as little ingredients as possible are appealing to me.  Wait, who am I kidding?  Those kind of recipes are always what I'm looking to make!

Here is what you'll need.....

Rolo Cake Bar "Cookies"
1 box (18.25 oz.) cake mix (I used yellow but you can choose your flavor!)
5oz. evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
40 Rolo Candies, cut in half

*Preheat oven to 350°
-Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray
-Using an electric mixer, beat cake mix, evaporated milk, and butter until well blended.
-Divide the batter in half and press one half into the bottom of your greased pan.

-Stick in the oven for about 8-9 minutes.
-While the cake is baking, unwrap and chop your Rolos!

-Remove the first layer of cake from the oven and top with chopped Rolo candies.
-Drop remaining batter on top by the spoonful.

-Bake for about 20-25 minutes.
-Allow to cool, cut, and serve!

Here is one of my bars.  The batter on top didn't spread out as much as I wanted, but they were still pretty tasty!  Next time I might modify the recipe a bit to try to make the top layer more spread out....

Who Likes Oreos?!

A few weeks ago, I pinned a bunch of sweet stuff on Pinterest.  A friend of mine joked that it was obvious what I've been craving. :)  In all honesty though, I've been craving salty and sweet foods! 

Once I saw this Oreo Pudding Poke Cake, I knew I had to try it out.  I was lazy and used box cake mix for this recipe, but it still turned out delicious.  I think I messed up the recipe just a little because I was too anxious for it to be done.  The recipe says to make the pudding right before the cake is done so it isn't set up yet and it is still runny.  I made my pudding too early so it didn't soak into the cake as much as it should have.  The cake was still VERY moist (anyone else hate that word?!) and very delicious!

Source: thecountrycook.net via Emily on Pinterest

Oreo Pudding Poke Cake
*Preheat the oven according to your cake recipe (aka Betty Crocker)
Ingredients:
-1 box chocolate cake mix
-2 (4oz.) boxes of Oreo pudding
-4 Cups of milk (the recipe calls for 2% or higher.  We don't do that here so I used skim.)
-10-15 crushed Oreos

Prepare cake as directed.  After removing cake from oven, poke holes in entire cake using a wooden spoon or straw.  Do this while the cake is still warm!

After the cake is covered in holes, prepare your pudding.  I did this before taking my cake out of the oven and it was too early.  I suggest doing it after poking the holes in order to achieve the correct consistency.  Once your pudding is ready, let it sit for about 1-2 minutes, but do NOT let it fuly thicken!  Pour the (liquidy) pudding over your cake.

Next, stick the dessert in the fridge for an hour or more.  When you are ready, sprinkel the cake with crushed Oreos and devour it like we did!

(You can see in that pic how my cake didn't really absorb the pudding like it should have.)

Oh, How Pinteresting!

I'm linking up with Michelle from The Vintage Apple today!

It's been a while so here are some of my favorite pins as of late....

Teaching Pins

Awesome character traits activity!

Source: adventuresofroom129.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Good classroom management technique!

Source: firstgradeglitterandgiggles.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Good practice for CVC words!

Source: larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Fashion Pins

I might love this for a mommy suit :)

Source: Uploaded by user via Emily on Pinterest

Love the gray and love the gradual polka dots!

Source: primacreative.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Buckeye colors...O-H!

Source: kristen-344.polyvore.com via Emily on Pinterest

Stuff That Makes Me Smile :)

Seriously, this is too cute!

Source: attackofthecute.com via Emily on Pinterest

Can I have one NOW?!

Source: weheartit.com via Emily on Pinterest

This will be my life VERY soon and I love it :)

Source: etsy.com via Emily on Pinterest

Happy New Year, Blogland!

Today was the first day back to school (work) for what seems like a LONG time!  My last day was December 16th...that's crazy!  The kids were surprisingly good today and I was thankful because I'm trying to beat a bad cold!

What did everyone do for NYE?  We had a low key get together at our place with some of our best friends.  We played some card games, the boys played cornhole [in the basement], and we watched Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest on TV.  Did anyone else think Dick Clark was going to retire?!

Usually I'm not too into watching the TV special until the ball drops, but this time we all watched while we sipped champagne.  Me and one of my best friends Kelli (also prego) were sipping on some tasty sparkling juice!

Hubby & I toasting for the New Year!

Some of the group :)

I also made a few snacks for my friends that came over...all of the recipes can be found on my pinterest page (follow me by clicking the link in my right sidebar)!

Peanut Butter Blossoms (I changed this recipe up a bit by putting the PB cookies into a mini muffin tin and then putting the kisses in upside down.)

Andes Mint Cookies

Easy Ranch Cheese Ball (I modified this recipe a bit from what was on my Pinterest.  I used 2cups of sharp cheddar shredded cheese along with a half cup of colby-jack.  I also used regular (fat free) ranch dressing instead of a dressing packet.  I don't care for pecans so I used walnuts instead!)...sorry, no pic, we dug in right away!

A friend of mine also brought these hilarious cake-pops she made.  They were pretty tasty and very cute, too!

 

Emily's Kitchen

Last weekend, we had a few parties to go to so I went to Pinterest (where else?!) to find some food to take with us!  I ended up choosing an appetizer and a dessert.  If you aren't following me on Pinterest, click the button in my right sidebar or you can find my boards here!

For the first party (a going away party), we took these Jalepeno Poppers.  They were a HUGE hit and very easy to make!

Source: tastykitchen.com via Emily on Pinterest

Easy Jalapeno Poppers

2-3 jalapeno peppers

3/4 of a block of cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 can Pillsbury crescent rolls

The recipe called for canned jalapenos which I thought was a little odd so I used fresh.  I only used 2 peppers because I didn't want it to be too hot for people who can't handle the spice!  If you like it spicier, be daring and use 3!  I also made sure to remove most of the seeds.......

Mix the diced jalapenos with the cream cheese and sugar.  I mashed mine together with a fork to make sure the sugar was mixed in:

Get out your cutting board and spread the crescent rolls into two rectangles.  As the recipe suggested, I pinched together the seams in the dough.  Next, spread your cream cheese mixture evenly over the dough:

 Next roll up the rectangles starting at the LONG end (you'll get more poppers this way)!  Don't roll too tight, the dough will break!  After this step, I stuck my rolls in the fridge for a few hours.  I thought it might make it easier to slice plus I wasn't going to the party for a few more hours!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and slice your logs into about 1" pieces.  Using a sharp knife really helps to make this step stress-free! ;)

Place your poppers onto a lightly greased baking sheet and pop into your oven for about 13 minutes, or until golden brown (mine took about 15 minutes).  Let them cool and enjoy!  This recipe made about 30 poppers for me.

For the second party (a housewarming party), I decided to bring some cookies (mainly b/c they would be fine in the car while we were at party #1.  Sigh....being popular is so hard!  I ended up choosing these delicious Red Velvet Cake Cookies.  This recipe was also very easy and also a big hit at the party!

Source: thesmallthingsblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

Red Velvet Cake Cookies

1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

1 block (8oz.) cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)

1 egg (I used 1/4 cup egg beaters egg product...I hate regular eggs!)

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Powdered Sugar, for rolling

Make sure to set your cream cheese and butter out to soften first!  I did this while I was prepping my jalapeno poppers.  Once the cream cheese and butter is about room temperature or softened enough, mix it up with your Kitchenaid stand mixer!  Oh wait, I forgot....I don't have a stand mixer.  Boo!  I used my Kitchenaid hand mixer and it worked fine....at least, for this step....

Mix in your egg and vanilla and blend until creamy.  Next, add your red velvet cake mix.  If you've never used red velvet cake mix, don't be alarmed if it comes out brown - that's normal!  It will turn red, I promise!

Before mixing....

After mixing!

Stick your cookie dough in the fridge for about 3 hours to harden up.  This will make it easier to form into balls.  Once your mixture is sufficiently chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Now you can use your hands or a cookie scoop and form the dough into 1-1.5" balls.  Roll the balls in powdered sugar and place on an un-greased baking sheet.

Pop these in the oven for 10-12 minutes.  They will look cracked and gooey in the middle, but that's ok!  Let them cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

The original recipe said to sprinkle extra powdered sugar after baking.  I skipped this step and they still tasted delicious!


P.S. Just so everyone knows, my Kitchenaid hand mixer about killed me during this kitchen adventure.  For some reason, it was having major issues with the thick cake cookie dough and I had to keep scraping the beaters off.  ANNOYING.  I was trying to explain to my husband that this definitely would never happen with a stand mixer. ;)  Proof:

growl!