Rice Krispies Treat Ice Cream Bowls {birthday cake edition}

Confession: I came across this fantastic idea in a magazine, but I couldn't find any pictures online, so I'm making my own Pinterest pin...using my blog as a platform for how to make BIRTHDAY CAKE RICE KRISPIES TREAT ICE CREAM BOWLS. Are you intrigued? Here's the how to:

You can use your favorite Rice Krispies recipe, following it until you get to the "pressing it into the pan" part . OR you can make Cake Batter Rice Krispies (Right?!) like I did. Because, let's face it, what's better than cake and ice cream?
Photo via: gimmesomeoven

The following pictures pretty much explain all that you need to know concerning how to make these mini bowls, but just in case you're confused, this is what I did (comment if you have any questions):

Once your rice krispies are made and hot off the stove, distribute them into your non-stick muffin pan cups, molding them into bowl shapes. Remember, you want the sides to be big enough to hold a couple scoops of ice cream. Allow the mini bowls to set in the pan before removing.

Once your cups have set, remove them from the pan. Melt some chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl. Dip the tops of the cups into the chocolate. Set aside and let the chocolate harden. Once the chocolate has set, you're all set to go! Scoop some ice cream into your cups and enjoy!

Cute, right? They're super yummy too.

I'm sorry to say that I don't know how many bowls a full batch of rice krispies treats make. I only made enough bowls for my little family for that night, making regular rice krispies treats with the rest of the mixture. I'm curious to know how many they would make though, so maybe I'll come back and update this blog with the amount. I'm also curious to know if they freeze well. If they do, that would totally make it worth making a big batch of them. I have a feeling I'll be back.  

happy birthday, husband.

My husband celebrated his birthday on Wednesday. It was a very laid-back birthday (per his request). I didn't want his birthday to be boring and yet I wanted to respect his wishes. This year he bought his own present (something that he really wanted and only he could buy since I have no expertise in the world of hunting), so I knew gifts were going to be small and not *that* special. 

I decided to go all out and make yummy food and treats and surprise him with those. I made cinnamon rolls the day before, hiding them in the refrigerator the next morning. The morning of his birthday, I snuck down, popped the chilled dough in the oven and made some coffee, sneaking back upstairs to get the baby up. The smell of them baking+the smell of the coffee brewing was intoxicating and a wonderful smell to wake up to. He was able to enjoy a hot roll right out of the oven with a cup of coffee before heading off to work. They were a yummy birthday treat and I think they were one of his favorite things about the day. 

The other thing I put a lot of thought and work into was his birthday cake. He said he would be fine with something simple like a chocolate cake made in a baking pan. Whoa. Boring. I love my husband and respected most of his birthday wishes, but I wasn't going to make a boring birthday cake. I was going to make a Oreo Ganache Cake, goshdarnit! I decided not to go overboard on it though, taking the simple route. I researched different options and came up with a mixture of different ideas. It ended up being a very pretty cake and delicious too. It wasn't overly-sweet and it was surprisingly easy to make and assemble. I'm documenting my version on my blog so I can pin it and have it for future reference, as I'll definitely be making this again. 


 Oreo Ganache Cake 

Ingredients

• For the Cake:
• 3/4 cup (about 3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (about 3/4 ounce) cocoa powder
• 1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about 4 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
•  
• Procedures

1. 1
   Make cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom of a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper and lightly coat the inside with non-stick pan spray. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into large bowl; set aside. In medium bowl, whisk sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
2. 2
   Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until smooth. Pour batter into pan and bake until cake is just firm and toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove from pan to completely cool on wire rack, about 1 hour.
3. 3
   Set aside 2 Oreo cookies (for topping). Chop remaining cookies into 1/4-inch pieces; set aside.

   • For the Oreo whipped cream:
   • 12 Oreo cookies
   • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
   • 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
   • 1/4 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4. 4
   To Assemble Cake: make the Oreo whipped cream in 2 batches. In a bowl, whip 1/2 cup cream on medium-high speed to soft peak, spoon into large bowl and refrigerate. In same bowl, whip remaining  3/4 cups cream, sugar, and vanilla to soft peak. Fold into already whipped cream.
5. 5
   Place about 1/4 cup whipped cream in bowl and refrigerate until ready to decorate cake. Fold chopped Oreos into remaining whipped cream.
6. 6
   Slice cake in half horizontally to create 2 layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate. Spread the Oreo whipped cream onto cake. Top with second cake layer.

   • For the Ganache:
   • 4 Squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate
   • 1/4 Cup Butter
   •    Microwave chocolate and butter in a small microwaveable bowl on high 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minutes.
7. 7
    Spread a thin layer of the cooled ganache over the top of the cake. I allowed it to run over the side. I also had a little left over. Chill in refrigerator for about 2 hours to allow cookies to soften and the ganche to harden. 

   BEFORE SERVING:

   Pipe or spoon the reserved whipped cream on the top middle of the cake. Chop up the remaining 2 oreo cookies and sprinkle on the top of the cream.

Thanks to Serious Eats & Kraft Foods for the inspiration. 

A clean house?! What's the occasion?

We're having company over tonight. We haven't had company over in a long time...probably since Simon's birthday in August. I like having people over for the obvious reasons: socializing, eating and laughing.  The not-so-obvious part, being that it forces me to clean. I dislike cleaning. I love the end results, but I hate that is doesn't last. Before the night is over, you probably wouldn't even know that I spent countless hours, dusting, vacuuming and de-cluttering (how did we get so many toys?!). It's well worth the effort though and I'm sure my husband wishes we had people over more often...just for the clean house. ;)

I find that I have to be SUPER organized when it comes to hosting. A clean house, dinner (salad, homemade French baguettes, loaded potato soup, apple/rhubarb crisp and vanilla ice cream...), a presentable me AND kids, doesn't come easily and they all must come together relatively at the same time.

I have a few lists laying around the kitchen counters (the only safe spot in my kitchen where the boys can't destroy) and they all pertain to different things. Food: What I'm making, when to make it, when to have it ready, etc. Schedule for the day. To-do list for the day: Clean, cook, get ready, etc. On top of all of that I have a list running through my head: Miles' schedule, naps, waking up, bottle, etc. Simon's schedule: school, pbs time, nap, etc.  If I didn't write things down, I'm sure my head would eXpLoDe.

I'm so thankful for busy days like this. It gets me up off my butt, and I find that I have way more energy when I have a to-do list to go off of. Plus, the boys seem to be happier, when I'm popping in and out and not so readily available to their every whim - weird, I know. Not to mention I'm really looking forward to the fellowship that we'll have with this sweet couple tonight. I'm SO grateful for happy boys today too, I don't think I would be sane if they were like they were yesterday - crabby, whiny and against naps. Yay for happy cooperative boys (hopefully that lasts throughout the evening...). 

scary dinosaurs

I'm writing with really nothing to write about. Ever feel like blogging just to blog? That's how I'm feeling right now. I have a cup of coffee nearby, the weather is chilly outside (gotta love September, it's chilly in the morning/late evening and hot in the afternoon. The best of both worlds), and the youngest is taking a nap while the oldest watches network Saturday morning TV.  Don't judge, this doesn't happen all too often. Peter's away this morning, helping a family out from our church. It feels like a Friday morning because he's gone. Second Saturday in a row that he hasn't been home. It's okay though, he'll be home in the afternoon/evening and ALL day tomorrow. Squee!

As stated above, my son is watching Saturday morning kids TV. This is a rare treat for him. Every now and then it's nice for him to take a break from PBS and watch mindless kid stuff (kinda like when I watch reality TV - heh). When I do let him watch network kids stuff, I'm reminded of how much I love PBS. Not only are the shows educational, but they don't have annoying ads geared towards kids. Ads that make your kids go insane begging YOU to spend $30 on stupid slippers. Simon wants these SO bad.

Really? Yeeeah, not going to happen kid.

I will say though, PBS does run ads for waterparks and local zoos. He has it in his head that he wants to go to a huge waterpark. This coming from a kid who hates baths, hates getting his hair washed and hates water on his face/head.

A few months ago, PBS was running an ad for the MN Zoo's Dinosaur exhibit. Of course Simon wanted to go, because he loves dinosaurs. We didn't have a season pass, so we never gave him hope that we would go before the exhibit was over. But, a few weeks later, in mid-June, my Aunt asked if I wanted to go with her and her little girl, they just happened to have a couple guest passes. We happily agreed. Simon was so excited to see his beloved dinosaurs! Truth be told, it could have gone a lot better. Not only were these dinosaurs life size, but they moved and made noises and some even squirted water at innocent pedestrians. Simon was not a fan and quite frankly, was scared out of his mind. You had to pay to get in, so I wasn't about to fight through the crowd and exit through the entrance, wasting precious mula. If Peter had been there, he would have taken pity on his son and left. But he wasn't, so we stayed. Plus, I thought maybe he'd get used to them. Nope. He cried, clung to me and even screamed a few times. I felt awful...and a little humored. Let's just say he didn't have an enjoyable time. Weeks later, he was still talking about the scary T-Rex. My husband was wise and told him that they were just big robots. That actually helped him more than me telling him that they were just pretend. I wish I had thought of the robot explanation while we were going through, he might have dealt with them better. Oh well. It's a memory that won't soon be forgotten and a good reminder that even though the ad looked pretty cool on TV, it might be way too much for a little 3 3/4 year old to handle. And that's why we're not going to the waterpark anytime soon. ;)

Simon and his little cousin were SO pumped to see the dinosaurs!

The entrance

 

scary big!

He started off walking. Holding on to me tightly...

 And then the apprehension changed to terror. I carried him while pushing the stroller. It was an interesting walk.

Aww, look Simon *little* babies. See, they're little!

Scary dude.

This is a pretty cool youtube video of the exhibit. See, it is kinda scary. 

the end.

happy happy killjoy.

Once a year, I hate my husband's job. Once a year, I hate myself for hating my husband's job. I also have an epic woe is me day (okay, so that happens more than once a year). He's off to the games with his co-workers, cheering the Minnesota Twins on in PERFECT baseball weather. I wouldn't feel as left out if it was 105 degrees with a mix of rain and extreme humidity. Proof that I'm not 100% nice.

There are days when I wish my job had fun perks...heck, there are days when I wish there were actual co-workers, co-workers that I could go and hang out with outside of the job. Oh right, that's what date night is for. You know what I mean. Sometimes being a SAH mom isn't so glamorous. Most of the time it's not. Take today for example. 4am wakeup call from the youngest. Whining from both kids all.day.long. Problems with naps. And poop. Wow. That's a four letter word that I'm so very tired of hearing, seeing and cleaning up. Can you tell I've seen a lot of it today? Yeah. Not so glamorous.  Don't worry, I hear my own whining and I'm sick of it as well. I wish I could come up with something that would cheer me up. Maybe I'll make spaghetti for dinner and eat without counting calories. Then I can be grumpy tomorrow too...but at least I'll like my husband's job.

I'll leave you with a pic he texted me.

"Yep, I'm here"

To which I replied: Too bad they're losing. Happy happy killjoy.

{Teething}

It's been a cranky couple of weeks for us. Miles started teething again, and is now sporting two bottom teeth. Poor child. Poor mama. This is his second go around at teething. Although, he doesn't have anything to show for his first, which I'm actually glad about. At 7 weeks (weeks!!!), I spotted 2 white dots on the right side of his gums, I rubbed my finger along his gum thinking the white spots was just leftover milk residue. To my shock - and horror - the spots were sharp. By 8 weeks, there was no denying the fact that they were teeth. Thankfully we had Miles' 8 week dr. appointment and I was able to ask his doctor about them. He said that they were indeed teeth and that we would just have to keep an eye on them. If they continuted to come out through the side (instead of coming through the bottom of the gums like they're supposed to), they might have to be extracted. GAH! I was so horrified and not looking forward to having a baby sporting teeth coming out of the sides of his mouth. Thankfully a couple of weeks later, after incredible pain and discomfort (runny nose, lack of appetite, cranky, restless sleeping, etc.) the white spots started to go away, the teeth decided to go back in. All of that teething pain for nothing. Poor kid. Poor Mama.

2 weeks later, round two of teething. This has been the roughest 4 weeks of my mommy-life. I thought I was going to go crazy. It didn't help that on top of my 2 crazy kids, I watched a bunch of other kids too. I started to wonder if my life would ever get back to normal. I actually started to forget what normal was. Miles was no longer my chill laid-back baby. He wailed, he cried, he fussed, he woke up multiple times a night, he was hardly ever happy.  I remember being super excited when he was happy for a full 5 minutes, being filled with hope that maybe the worst was behind us and that he was getting better, only to be disappointed once the crying started up again. At the beginning of this notsofun adventure, I wasn't sure what was going on. I was relieved to finally see proof that he was indeed teething. It gave me hope that this was just a teething phase, that once they popped through, he would be back to his old smiley self.

Thankfully, he has been much happier, and I have too. It's kind of dumb how circumstances dictate how I feel and how I deal with things. It's also dumb at how rattled I get when the kids are crabby. I'm the adult, I should be able to handle tears and loud crying. But I can't - at least not for extended periods of times. I keep reminding myself that this is what happens when I'm sleep deprived. I'm not 100% myself. I'm low in energy and patience...and love. As much as I want this phase to be over with, I know 6 months from now, I'll look back on my baby's life and wonder where his babyhood went. It goes by so quickly. While I might not love the yawns, tears and frustrations that come with being a mom, I do love the baby that makes me a mom. We'll get through this babyMiles...together. xoxo

Miles sporting his 2 bottom teeth at 16 weeks.

{Monday}

It's a hot summer-like day today. 89 degrees with a cool slight breeze. Peter would call it hot and uncomfortable, but I rather like it. And so I'm sitting out on the porch, blogging.

It's Monday which means the house is a mess, the kids are extra cranky and there's laundry piling up. I usually dislike Mondays for all of those reasons.  But today I'm okay with it.

(I knew having a baby was going to change a lot of things, but I don't think I was prepared for how drastically it would change the way I keep house. I don't remember the last time our house was clean to my liking. I feel like I have 5-10 minutes here and there that I can completely focus on cleaning and not be distracted. The sad thing is, by the time another 5-10 minutes rolls around, the previous work has already been undone.  I'm 10 steps behind on everything) 

Yesterday was Father's Day. We didn't have any plans -  Peter wanted to have a nice quiet day indoors and so that's what we did. His gift is still en route and so the only gift he got yesterday was a sheet of white paper, folded in half with pencil scribbling from the oldest son. That and a random I love you, Daddy. Precious. We had some storms that rolled in last night just before we were about to go to bed. Simon no longer sleeps through the lightening and thunder, so we were holding our breath, waiting for his frightened cries. Sure enough as we were brushing our teeth, he started to whimper. The thunder was pretty intense, so Simon slept in our not-so-huge full size bed until Miles' 4am wakeup call. There's something sweet about (every-once-in-a-while) sleeping with your children.

Confession: I've blogged a few times since having Miles. I just haven't posted them. Why? Because I had just enough time to ramble...but not edit. And so my posts are hidden away on my draft page waiting for that final step. One day soon I'll take the time to edit and publish...and confuse everybody with the random posts from my past. Haha.

Speaking of random, did I mention that Peter is home today? Probably not. We both woke up exhausted from yesterday's chill activities (yep, we're definitely parents) and last night's storm. He decided to take a personal day. It's been nice having him around the house as I putter here and there, writing up the grocery list, planning meals and doing laundry - - in-between feeding and playing with the littlest one...and blogging. Simon likes having him around too.  

And just because I feel like it. I'm hitting the publish button. ::faint::