Mug Cake- Yup, it is what it sounds like!

There are times when I crave a good dessert.  The problem is, we shouldn't have them in the house and buying a whole box of cookies means eat them, or they go stale.  You see the problem here. So we try and limit the cookie buying/making and brownie making to when guests come over(which is almost never).  If we go out, chances are, if they have a good dessert, I will get it! Creme brûlée forget it- GAME OVER! The thing about getting a dessert when you are out is that chances are it won't make it home, or if it does there usually isn't 1)enough to share 2) enough for more than one night thankfully!

However, as I was cruising around pinterest the other day(or just this morning) I stumbled across someone mentioning this "mug cake" idea....so I pinterested that baby and so many things popped up and I of course had to repin many of them to my pinterest.
I mean....don't y'all have these ingredients laying around?  Oops forgot to include the cocoa powder....

I present to you my Chocolate Mug Cake- no milk, butter, or eggs...it's pretty ingenious and they are all ingredients I have lying around at all times (because I do love to bake!).  The best part....other than the easiness is that it is a single serving! WIN!
Next time I will mix the ingredients in a separate container- doing it all in the mug allowed less clean up, but I still wasn't able to mix everything and so therefore, there was still some unmixed flour in the bottom.  

 I'm not sure why you are supposed to form these three "wells" in which you pour the oil, vinegar and vanilla

I added some semisweet chocolate chips that I had, I did feel that this cake was missing something.  The chocolate chips helped, but I wasn't able to finish it- maybe whipped cream? Maybe some Nutella or caramel? 

I also made Snickerdoodle Mug Cake- not on the same night and this one I finished- maybe it was because it wasn't overly chocolatey?

Running Adventures with PC over Spring Break!

The last few days of my Spring break have been gorgeous! Sunny, warm, maybe a little too warm, but I'll take it.  I even got a little burned today-ooops....sorry skin!

On Wednesday I started out with PC on our normal run around the trail by our house. Usually we do an out and back, but today I decided to loop it.  As I passed the cemetery near our house I decided why not run through.  I always see people walking around in there and it's also the dog park.  People pay and then are able to let their dogs run in the huge area.....I'm not sure how I feel about people letting their dogs pee and poop where loved ones rest.....

In through the squeaky gate we ran. There were plenty of paths/roads what-have-you.  It was actually a little hilly too.  It was quiet- no big surprise there, but I mean for being in the city.  We ran past some mausoleums that needed to have their leaves swept out and many a worn tombstone.  It was kind of sad, some have been there so long that you can't even read what they said.  We didn't run around the whole thing, as I was little tired and also didn't know how much longer PC would be content.  I had given her a munch cup full of mix and raisins that she was happily munching on.

 It is a little weird running amongst the graves, but peaceful too (ha! It should be!)

Thursday- another BEAUTIFUL day. I decided to head over to the National Arboretum .  It's ridiculously close and yet G and I have only been once many years ago.   We stuck to the roads, we didn't venture off onto any paths to explore - for the next adventure.  The trees were beautiful. We didn't see all the areas of the Arboretum, it was also hillier than I expected- to be honest I didn't know what to expect.  So I huffed and puffed a long, but running hills should help me when I run on flat ground.

 In case you can't tell, the picture above is of us running up a hill. :-)

What's a run without a selfie by some beautiful trees.  I actually had enough room on my phone to snap off a few to send to the hubs while he was at work (sometimes I feel a little bad sending him pictures of all the fun things we are doing while he is a slave to the man....but he did ask for pictures, so pictures I will give- so long as I have room on my phone).   This picture doesn't really capture the beauty of the trees, nor is PC looking at the camera. You would think with a mama who is so camera happy that she would learn to look straight at it and smile- knowing that I will do my best to get that "perfect picture." 

This picture is a little better, at least she is looking at the camera....the magnolias were gorgeous. I wish they stuck around a little longer, that and the cherry blossoms.  My goal was to run down to the mall over break, but that looks like it might not happen.  

After we finished "our" run I let lil miss thang out of her stroller to troll around.  She needed to get out some of her energy.  

 I was a little worried that these sweet gum balls would hurt her- but it's important to let her explore.  She had no problem with them, even sat down quite hard on some (it probably helps that she has a nice padded diaper on).  

She then decided to check out this Grass display that they had.  They were displaying all the different types of grasses that you can find- PC decided that she wanted to "read" each of the signs.  Ha I was impressed that she knew that there was writing on the posts- or maybe she just wanted to do a few squats.....

Why I don't post enough.....

Some people are AVID posters.  I wish I was better......my problem stems from the fact that I like to post blogs with pictures. Some people read blogs just to read, but I like the visuals too- it's helpful and I get ideas (which can be dangerous too).  I also have a tendency to get jealous then of other people's lives, such as LoveTaza, especially when she goes to amazing exotic places (Ok, Hawaii, but I've never been!).

At Christmas I received a new camera- YAY, but the pictures don't automatically load up to my computer, it requires several steps lol, ok, so it isn't thhhhat bad, but it takes a little longer than uploading from my iPhone.

This brings me to my dilemma.....I still have an iPhone 4s. It's fine and does what it needs to, except that I have NO MORE ROOM! When PC was born it was game over. The pictures and videos took over and I am scared to delete them, even after uploading to snapfish.  I even load them onto a flash drive.  I am slightly obsessed I mean they are my baby's first year- each and every "boring" moment that I captured.   I've started emailing myself videos and also loading them onto Vimeo.

So....because I refuse to delete tons of videos and A LOT of pictures I rarely have room to take pictures of the daily occurrences. I am trying to do better because she's doing a WHOLE lot more now and I just can't capture the moments :-(   I don't understand the cloud- how do I access it?

Refrigerator Raider!

A few weeks ago I was making something, lunch, dinner, snack, what have you and left the fridge open.  Then came the pitter patter of little feet.  Lil Miss PC padded over to the fridge and because I am always curious to see what she'll do (they are quite curious) I left the door open. Yes, our door is full of glass containers, but they are pretty sturdy and she's pretty close to the ground.  She's actually handled glass before and is pretty careful.  She's the little girl who will go to grab her water bottle, but if it feels too heavy will use both hands instead of swinging it down, or pulling it onto the floor.  

Well, she immediately started pulling items out of the door and......then took them over and put them on our step stool- another huge play item for her (simple things right?!). 

I mean, everything is so colorful and in different places- my child's new toy chest. LOL!

 I turned around the other day, after leaving the fridge open and didn't see her, then I looked again and realized.....yup, she had officially climbed in, that little monkey.  If you look at the bottom left picture, you'll notice that yup, we store all our hottest condiments in the bottom of the fridge, probably because we use them so infrequently.  Try not to judge my fridge too much, it's getting better.  I mean you see those clementines in my bottom drawer right?!

 This is actually PC putting the items back into the fridge, much to her mother's delight.  Maybe she watches me clean up after her waay too much and it just looked like so much fun that she HAD to try.  Given this is like 1 of like 15 time she has been in the fridge, but, I think.....that she is learning....hopefully.

Are You and Avid Consigner?

I have never consigned before, at least not to this extent.  I've taken some of my things to the "higher end" consignment shops here in DC.  My style just doesn't "fit" in with what they are looking for, nor do I feel that the prices are very "consigny" in my mind. 

I've heard about these consignment events here in the DC metro area, but never partook.  It just seemed like so much work.  TRUTH!!! As a newbie to this, it was overwhelming to say the least.  I had already collected PCs clothes I then had to use their online system to make labels. I had to say size, a description, brand, price.  You could also select discount which would be half off at the Half Price Sale or donate.  So I printed out all my tags, hung all my clothes, but didn't affix my tags to my clothes- Rookie mistake! Ugh....I went last night to drop off my items, moms were pulling up with minivans filled with trash bags of clothes- no lie.....people with huge storage containers and wagons full of clothes. WOW! I thought my laundry basket and large bag from Marshalls was pretty snazzy- FALSE! I also brought our extra baby swing, which after seeing the amount of swings feared it being sold.  I ended up only tagging a few items because I was too overwhelmed and hadn't tagged a thing and thus was sitting on the floor as prepared mom after prepared mom went by me. Whomp Whomp! 

People even have their own clothes taggers- you know the ones that attach prices to clothes! Although I can see how it would save A LOT of time with safety pins. 

Most of these big consignment sales are hosted by mothers of multiples, but as I do not have a multiple, I could still participate, which was nice. It also meant that there were a lot of double clothes too. Some were even rubber banded together. Don't break up the team! 

This picture is of the non clothes room- aka gymnasium. There were books, toys GALORE, swings, strollers, walkers, excersaucers, videos, more toys, baby gates, rockers, pack n' plays, I mean the list goes on..... 

Some of the girls clothes, I mean there were racks on racks of baby girl clothes! But they are so organized. They've been doing this for awhile. Everything is run smoothly.  You get an ikea bag to use for shopping- Totally normal- people hoarded, then sorted. Again, overwhelming!

The Calm Before the Storm

So, if you donate you get 30% of the sales, but if you volunteer 5 hours of your Saturday you get 70% of the sales. Win. You also get to shop at 8 am before the public. OOOHHHH! It's worth it! These moms mean business. I got there at 8:30 with my shift starting at 9:30.  There were only like 4 swings left, mine was gone! WIN! I bought a few items, but I really didn't need much as PC is pretty well taken care of. However, I did do a little shopping at the half off sale.  Here's a picture of my loot.  She needs summery items. I tried not to go too crazy.  The gray chevron dress actually has a C on it, very specific, but it works for PC.  

We also scored a few toys, not too many.  PC likes to play with cars, although these aren't the ones I thought they were the ones that rev and then crash into each other, but they do make noise. 

 

 I also scored a Britaxcarseat at half price - it was priced at 65$ I purchased for $32.50. I know I know, it's used and I'm being trusting. But I saved over $200 and it doesn't expire until April 2017, so we can get two years out of it.  It is also rear and forward facing. I think it's the Britax pavilion in cowmooflage. Looks like this. 

Tips that I learned:

1) I may need to start earlier than the day before I drop off items

2) Organize by size, makes drop off sooo much easier

3) Save all baby hangers!

4) Investing in a tagger may not be soo bad, if you intend on doing this more than once

5) Put shoes in ziplock bags, or use zip ties to keep them together

6) If you consign a lot, you also have to take back a lot if it doesn't sell

7) Toys are hit or miss

8) Furniture sells (swings, bouncy chairs, etc...)

The event I attended was the Northern Virginia Parents of Multiples - they have a spring and fall sale (I will be back!)

There is also the Annapolis Mothers of Multiples Sale

Snowed in means.....Homemade Pretzels

So, last winter I planned on making pretzels each snow day, but then we didn't get very many and I also had a 4 month old, so it wasn't exactly practical.  I decided this year we would try again, of course we've already had about 4 snow days, but better late than never.  I am a big fan of traditions, so when PC is a little older hopefully she will enjoy this....and hopefully I will also be able to perfect them.  I mean, who doesn't want to eat a fresh warm pretzel as they watch the snow come down? I mean other than gluten free people.....and since we aren't, bring on the white flour! LOL, actually the last time I made them I only had whole wheat flour and while they were good, I bet these will taste even more glutinous! I also didn't boil mine last time, you know like they do with bagels?

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

I got the directions from here, but you can also find the recipe from Alton Brown from here

I have to say that my dough just never seems to double in size, maybe that's why my pretzels always seem so dense and not light and airy.  I still have to perfect this. If anyone has any suggestions.  They say to put the dough in a warm place to rise, so I placed it on the stove. Maybe too warm?

I will say, I enlisted my hubby to help with rolling out the dough- also they suggested breaking into 8 sections. I might do more so that the pretzels are not soo thick.  Anyway, he ended up doing a fantastic job.  The job is now his, until PC wants to help:-)

 Boil in the baking soda/water mixture for 30 seconds- we were literally timing it.

 Brush after boiling with one egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp water.

 Salt with pretzel salt- which we didn't have, so kosher salt it is

 Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown

 We also decided that, being a snow day, why not also make a dipping sauce. We are not mustard people.  So, the hubs whipped up a batch of beer cheese dip.  If there are two things that we ALWAYS have it is beer and cheese.  Although- I might add less beer, a little too boozy for me...haha- we also added a little hot sauce for some heat and some paprika to make it pretty. Hubby got the recipe here- it was real easy and he whipped it up super quick!

Meatless Monday

It's Tuesday,  yes, I realize that.  So, this post is a little late in coming, but meatless Tuesday just doesn't sound the same.

As part of our 21 day fix I have been trying to add variety to our meals, so why not make Chana Masala.  I mean, I looove Indian food, plus I could just add all the ingredients to my wondrous crockpot! Best device ever, although I am saving up for a 7-1 Pressure Cooker, which does that, plus rice cooking and sautéing as part of the deal! WIN!

To make it healthier, I made brown jasmine rice (in our rice cooker) and we bought some whole wheat naan from Trader Joes. I've actually made whole wheat naan before, I just didn't have the time this time.  I got the recipe for my Chana Masala from here.

Ingredients:

• 4 C. water ( I changed it to 3, based on comments, I still thought it seemed a little watery so I thickened it up*) 
• 1 large onion, diced (I also sautéed this up first to break it down and then added it to the pot- actually about half way through)
• 1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 6-oz. can tomato paste
• ⅓ C. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tsp. garam masala
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper (more if you like more of a kick)
• 1 tsp. ground coriander (I omitted because we didn't have it, but the garam masala had some in it already)
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 cans chickpeas (I added three because we love chickpeas and I just felt two didn't seem like enough, plus we wanted to have left overs.  
• Serve over Basmati Rice, or brown jasmine rice in our case
• Cook from 6-8 hours ( I did 8, because I wanted to let it really soak up all the flavors)

*to thicken it I mixed 2 tbsp. corn starch with 2 tbsp. water

Today's Toddler Play Brought to you by....Playdough

Yesterday Ms. PC had a little bit of a temperature and was not her usual chipper self, although she still played, she was just more cuddly and a little more whimpery than normal.  Now, if it were the hubs he would be incapacitated lol.  I will take more snuggles with her any day, even though it does mean she is under-the-weather.  She apparently also is fighting off an ear infection.  We would never have known if the doctor hadn't told us.....well maybe we would have it it had ruptured or something. She's a trooper that's for sure!

PC had her 18 month appointment on Wednesday, complete with shots. Again, the lil trooper only had one little whimper. Good girl! Her stats: She is 19 lbs on the dot still in the 8th percentile, which is normal for where she's been on the chart and her height is 30 1/4 inches which places her in the 10%.  No shocker as her father and I are NOT giants.

So, with it being wintery/icy mix out today we stayed home from Church and didn't venture out into the city, for the sake of her, as well as road conditions.  I haven't done too many toddlery activities with her, as her attention span isn't very long and she still tries to put most things in her mouth.  However, with her dad at home, I decided to try and make some edible no-cook playdough.  The less time it takes the better, as well as the fact that we had all the ingredients here in the house, otherwise we would have tried some other activities, but we don't have xantham gum or borax- guess I need to add that to our shopping list.

I pulled out all the ingredients, vegetable oil, flour, salt, food coloring, cream of tartar. I got the recipe from Pagingfunmums.  P.S. This recipe literally takes all of 5 minutes! WIN!!!

Mix all the ingredients except boiling water and food coloring.
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tbsp of cream of tartar
1 tbsp of oil

Then add 1 cup boiling water- with the food coloring mixed in (I didn't add enough to make it bright. Maybe I need the neon food coloring.) Mix together

 We tried using a stool at the counter, but it didn't work and we were afraid she was going to fall off.  I found toddler step stools online, but $200 no thanks!

 So, we put her in the highchair...I'm a little worried that she will start associating playing in the highchair and then start playing with her food, but this contained her, no fear of her falling and it's easy peasy to clean up!

 I originally gave her a fork to play with- disposable Great! However, after second thought I did take it away so she would not try and eat the dough (even though it is edible). Fork=eating in her mind

Note: The next time I make it, I might add either jello or Kool-Aid to the mix for coloring, as well as great smell!

*~Snow Day!~*

It's been awhile since we have had a "good" snow.  Actually, in my mind, the latest snow here in the DC metro area was, meh.  Let me say this though....it was beautiful and I LOVE watching it fall serenely and softly to the ground. There is something so peaceful about falling snow.  Pre-daughter, the hubs and I would take walks in the snow, at any time of night (that is, if we had the next day off).  Perhaps we need to invest in a longer range video monitor.

Any way....we ended up with about 4 inches and a SNOW DAY! That's the best part.  Because we are teachers it is even better.  Perhaps the love of snow and snow days is due to the love my dad had for snow.

The snow was so light weight that we could just use a broom to sweep it off the deck/porch/stairs.  We have yet to invest in a real snow shovel, as we just don't get huge snow storms.  I would totally eat my words if that means we'll get a HUGE storm, BOSTON HUGE!  That might handicap the DC metro area for many days!

PC had a blast in the snow, well as much as I could tell. She liked walking down the sidewalk and she liked brushing the snow off of the steps and the walls of other people's yards (*sidenote: I need to get PC some legit winter mittens, waterproof ones, but I just haven't been able to find some for her lil PC paws, or good boots, but as she isn't doing too much walking in the snow,  I guess they aren't necessary)

She didn't really walk in the snow, she would stand there and when she would attempt to walk she would basically fall over. Kinda cute.  We don't have a sled, so we couldn't even pull her through the snow, nor are there many hills here....
She did love sledding when we visited my bestie and her daughter and hubby last weekend in Pittsburgh.

but the pups, the hubs, PC and I bundled out and trudged down the block to our park to let the pups run free.

 Snow Dog!

Here's hoping that we get some a few more storms this year! I'll be turning my PJs inside out and flushing ice cubes down the toilet and PC and I will do a few snow dances! 

We <3 SNOW!