Blue Bubblegum Ice Cream

Soccer update:  Chase's first game went great.  There was no blood, no tears, no tantrums.  No children lost limbs or threw over the water table in a rage. There was no big reveal at the end where we found out one of the boys was actually a girl pretending to be her twin brother so she could prove girls can play soccer as well as boys and win over Channing Tatum in the process.

He listened to his coach (actually he perched himself on his coaches knee every time the kids all came in to take a knee...) and ran after the ball with all the other kids.

I noticed that he is really non-agressive.  I guess it is pretty confusing to be told to share all the time and not take other people's things and then to be screamed at to "be agressive" and try to steal the ball from other kids.

Talk about mixed messages.

I basically had a panic attack when I walked in to the sports store to buy his equipment.  I played sports as a kid but never soccer, football, or basketball (ie: all the sports my kids will probably want to play.)  I just stood there and stared at the 6 different kinds of cleats wondering which sport they were each for and whether my kid needed bands to keep his shin guards up or whether he was supposed to wear two pairs of socks with his cleats.

Like.  How do people even learn how to use these things?

What did people do before Wiki Answers?

(In case you are wondering, there is an article on eHow entitled "How to Wear Soccer Shoes and Shin Guards".)


I know I've been whining a lot recently about the LONG summer we've had this year, but really, my boys are my little piece of heaven.  They give my life purpose. I love that I can stay home with them even though sometimes I think I'd rather shoot my brains out than listen to the Doc McStuffins theme song one more time.

I really love to make treats that I know will put a huge smile on their face.  In all honestly I developed this ice cream just because I knew they'd freak out when they saw it.  If you like Baskin Robbins pink bubblegum, you will like this.  The great part is there's no bubblegum pieces to pick out so you wont have to save it all in a big wad on your napkin to eat later.

You do that.  Right?

If you want, you can turn this ice cream into Bubblegum ice cream cupcakes.
(Just sub bubblegum ice cream for the black raspberry ice cream.)

Or, if ice cream isn't really your thing, you can always make regular Bubblegum cupcakes instead.

This isn't super sweet considering it is Bubblegum flavored, so feel free to go a little heavy on the sugar if you want.

 Happy Thursday!!

Read More

Tiki Punch Freeze

 

I am apparently the only one whose school district hasn't started back up again.  (And we still have 9 days of summer... WHAT?)

I'm sorry, four months of summer is just too long.

If the Halloween decorations are out my kid should already be back at school.

I'm going finger-lickin' insane without a solid routine or schedule.

Basically the only good thing about it still being summer is finishing up the last of the summer treats.

Tiki punch freeze is a little spin off of the root beer freeze's I posted recently.  I just used a can of Tiki Punch (any sparkling fruit punch will do) in place of the root beer.  It is surprisingly good, and tastes kind of like a sweet sherbet.

It's quite a bit sweeter than the Rootbeer freeze, so smaller glasses may be in order, or you can always add some ice to water it down a tad.

Let's start saying goodbye to summer, shall we?

Read More

Peanut Butter Butterfinger Crumble Cookies

Want to meet one of my new favorite cookies?

Crumbly.  Peanut Buttery. Butterfinger-y. 


Delicious.


Also, it's a great way to use up some of that Halloween candy that you'll be rolling in pretty soon.

Read More

Rolo Brownie Trifles

Today I walked in to my preschoolers room and he had miniature dinosaurs, shells, and rocks all lined up against his window frame.  I tried to move a couple of them to clean the window and he got all upset:

 "Mooom! They're lined up according to the period they lived in.  That one belongs in Cretaceous not Triassic."


Excuse me?


Do you know what I was doing at age 4?

Probably picking my nose or trying to figure out how to put my shoes on the right feet.  (Seriously... I struggled with that one.)

I love this child and I love that he uses his brain but suddenly I'm left wondering where his childhood has gone.  He is starting soccer this week and I'm biting my nails wondering how he is going to fit in with his team and whether he's going to freak out if they don't win, or pants somebody else's kid, or spend the whole game explaining the anatomy of the human body to the referee. 

It seems like life suddenly got so much more complicated.  Not only do I have to worry about him being kidnapped, run over, or maimed, now I have to worry about kids refusing to play with him, calling him a nerd, or informing him that he's NOT actually as good at soccer as he thinks he is (He has REALLY high self-esteem which doesn't seem to be based on any kind of external feedback).

When you're pregnant you think, "Gosh, I'm going to be so tired all the time and constantly feeding a baby and now we'll need to get a babysitter when we want to go to the movies." 

You don't think about that baby growing up and getting his feelings hurt or failing at something they love or being excluded or unhappy and being entirely unable to control any of it.


As a control freak, I think I just discovered a whole new level of anxiety.


Whydotheyhavetogrowupsofasssst?
     

Sometimes when I'm anxious I eat stuff from my Pinterest boards.  Like these trifles. I like them best assembled right before eating.  You can make all the parts in advance and store in the fridge, I just don't like the rolos after being in the fridge.. 

Pretty sure the chocolate bible says chocolate should always melt in your mouth.

Read More

Frozen Hot Chocolate

Summer.

I'm over it.

Does that make me a bad person?

Is it sacrilege to say I'm counting down the days to boots and leaves and Fall treats and baking with pumpkin?

Is it weird that I bought Christmas presents yesterday?

{These questions are all rhetorical.  Unless you happen to agree with me, I mean.}


Today I was so bummed to find no apple cider at the store and no Halloween M&Ms at Target.  I had to step back a little and re-evaluate my life a little and pull out my calendar book to check which month it was.

I went home and decided to compromise with this recipe. It's frozen so it's obviously summery.  But it's also hot chocolate which is a Fall/Winter treat.  Best of both worlds.  (Sing Hannah Montana here.)

Also, it's delicious.

Read More

Chocolate-dipped Butterfinger Oreos

My husband and I are slightly obsessed with Disneyland.  We're one of those families that will go every single year if we can. We last went about a year ago and promised ourselves we'd wait until our littlest guy was 40 inches to go again.  Well, he's 35 inches, a little runt for his age, and I'm really not sure we can wait that long.  Do they sell child-sized stilts?

These Oreos are an attempt to bring a little Disneyland magic into our home even though they have nothing to do with Disney except they look like they belong there because everything at Disney is freaking delicious.

You caught me.

I really only go for the food.

Also I found out today that the Arby's symbol is NOT an ice cream cone with a bite taken out of it.  It is in fact a cowboy hat.

WHAT!!

Since my entire world has just been shattered I pretty much feel justified in eating lots of these.  Seeing ice cream cones instead of hats probably says all kinds of deep psychological things about me that I don't want to know.

Have a happy weekend friends!

Read More

Vanilla Bean Cookies n Cream Ice Cream {Best Basic Vanilla Bean Ice Cream}

Do you ever say "This is the best thing I've ever eaten!"  But then think, "I eat lots of yummy things... Realistically this can't be THE best thing I've ever eaten.  What kind of label is that anyways? How could you ever decide?"

I say that a lot, but then I remember that I really do know the best thing I've ever eaten. 

When I had our first son I was induced.  Which means they basically starve you until your baby comes.  Unfortunately he was a long time coming and I only had chance to sneak a sucker in that 20-ish hours or so.  (Seriously... tell a lady to have a baby and not feed her? Dumbest idea ever.)  Without going into details, he was a very difficult & complicated labor, my epidural didn't work, and I'm not entirely certain my doctor was actually an MD.

Fast forward to his arrival. My sweet sister-in-law worked at the hospital where I delivered and gave me a coupon for a free shake at the cafeteria.  My husband cashed it in as soon as they moved me to recovery and I vividly remember this Caramel Oreo shake being The. Best. Thing. I've. Ever. Eaten.  INMYLIIIIFE.

I inhaled it.

And seriously?  I still dream about it. 

There is zero doubt in my mind that I will ever eat anything as satisfying and delicious as that shake.

But making a pretty good copycat is always a good idea.  This vanilla bean ice cream is amazing, and even better if you put a whole bunch of Oreo chunks inside. Putting caramel sauce on top?  Heavenly.  It could turn out to be one of the best things you've ever eaten.  Make it into a shake if you want.

Read More

Chocolate-dipped Frozen Key Lime Pie on a Stick

Awhile ago when I shared my true feelings about key lime pie I mentioned the Key Lime Pie Factory where they dip frozen slices of key lime pie in chocolate.  Since then I've had these on the brain, and I decided I better make some at home since Key West is pretty much at the opposite end of the country.

It turns out I am not above buying single serve pie slices from Walmart's frozen section to save lots of time and energy.  They certainly aren't gourmet, but are surprisingly good.  And for 98 cents... a pretty good deal too.

If you want to use your own pie just cut it into slices, separate the slices, and freeze for about 6 hours or until frozen through.  (Placing them on a cookie sheet with an inch or two between each slice works well.)

These would be so cute for an end of the summer dinner party!  I'm thinking coconut cream would be delicious.

Read More

Mini S'mores Ice Cream Pies

It wouldn't be summer without some version of S'mores would it?  We've had a really hot windy summer and lots of fires so we have been too paranoid to use our firepit much. This is a great solution AND it means you don't even have to sit by a hot fire.

Sweet summertime!!

Have a pie.

Read More

Rootbeer Float Freeze

Did you know it's national root beer float day? I have a 4 year old who is in love with all things root beer.  Root beer gum, root beer cupcakes, root beer barrels, and you guessed it- root beer floats.  We like to do a blended freeze version that perfectly combines the root beer and ice cream in every slurp.  It's way easier to eat and less messy for kids.

Yes, we did have these for breakfast today.

Happy Root Beer Float day!!

Read More

Raspberry Turnovers

Have you been staying up as late as I have watching the Olympics every night?  I swear I'm a walking zombie these days.  I've been putting milk away in cupboards instead of the fridge and finding my husbands socks with the cleaning supplies.  It's been worth it though.

Gabby Douglas?

ADORABLE.

And know what really weird?  Watching the Olympics and realizing one of your good friends from elementary school thatyoumightatotallyforgottenabout is an Olympian.  And looks exactly the same as she did in 4th grade.


While we're on the topic of the Olympics, I give you these turnovers, also known as:

Breakfast of champions!

Really, I'm pretty sure they probably serve these at the Olympic training center cafeteria. All those swimmer and gymnast guys with 8-packs obviously eat these daily.

These are so easy peasy but people will think you're all fancy for making your own pastries.  Probably your children will fall all over themselves complimenting you on being able to do what the woman at Safeway does.  Feel free not to shatter any of these illusions.

Read More

Black Raspberry Vanilla Ice Cream Cupcakes

If you follow me on Facebook maybe you've been wondering why I was looking for nut cups.

You know, the cupcake wrappers. 

Well.... voila.

Ice cream cupcakes themed after my favorite Bath & Body Works lotion from college.  (I still have it too because apparently I am incapable of finishing a bottle of lotion.)

As it turns out, this combo is just as great in ice cream cupcake form.  I highly recommend these!  The frosting is a marshmallow whipped cream frosting so it is light and airy and perfect.  Sub any cupcake or ice cream flavor you want to change things up a bit.

(Esp. if black raspberry ice cream is $5.99/gallon at your Walmart too.  Insane!  Don't tell my husband, k?)

 

Read More