Adventure into Domesticland

Monday, November 3, 2014

My attempt at cake pops... more like balls!

The other day, my sons school had a science fair and I signed up to make goodies for the bake sale. Why??? I'm not entirely sure because baking is not one of my strong points, but I wanted to contribute. Of course I was the farthest thing from being a good prepared mom. I procrastinated until suddenly the fair was but hours away. Panic set in because I really had nothing planned. I run around the kitchen like a chicken with my head cut off trying to figure out what I had and what I could make with it!

I found a package of white cake mix, chocolate cake mix and exactly 6 eggs; I think to myself "I can do something with this!" I frantically rip apart every cabinet in my kitchen looking for cupcake wrappers to no avail. As for frosting I figured I'd look up how to make it on Pinterest but was running short on time and patience. So thinking fast I thought cake pops!

I Pinterested (is that a word?) cake pops and got the basics of how they are made. Well again I had no frosting, which just so happens to be a key part to the formation. So I frantically searched my cabinets until I found pudding, sprinkles and powdered sugar... I can make something work with this... right?

So here goes nothing!!! I figured if they turned out horrible I'd just grab something at the store but really how could I go wrong with cake and pudding?!?! Get the print easy recipe here, otherwise here's the long version of the directions:

First you bake the cake according to the package. While that's baking, prepare the pudding according to it's package. Refrigerate the pudding. When the cake is done, pull it out and take it out of the pan to cool. Once it's cooled enough (I recommend letting it cool completely so it doesn't burn your hands, not that it happened to me or anything!) you crumble it all up, like below.

After you have cake crumbles add the pudding and mush it with you hands. It should have the consistency of mashed potato. As I found out with my chocolate batch if you add too much pudding you get mushy blobs instead of nice round firm balls.

Before you start mushing though be sure to have your powdered sugar ready. I added the sprinkles to it so it was a one roll job. Back to the mushy cake... start rolling pieces into about 1 inch balls with your hands, then roll them in the powder sugar mixture and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. After they are all rolled, place the sheet in the refrigerator so the balls firm up a bit and there you have it. I got about 36 balls with this recipe and the kids love them.

In fact my son said even though the chocolate ones ended up being mushy blobs he liked them best! My daughters and I loved the white cake ones aka the green balls!

I wrapped 3 balls together in plastic wrap, threw a card with my branding on them and off to the science fair we went without a minute to spare. Seriously though, for whipping these up on a whim and in only 2 1/2 hours I think they came out pretty darn good. Even if the chocolate ones did look like poo covered in rainbow sprinkles! Obviously I'm not one of those mom's that has time to teach you how to make perfect fondant cover cake pops but if you need an easy, tasty alternative, here you are!

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Thanks for sharing another adventure with me!
Stay safe, stay sane and stay absolutely splendid!

Facebook @ Alice Kingsleigh or Adventure Into Domesticland
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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

DIY Hanging Herb Garden

I've wanted a herb garden for a while, but just as I was going to start one we moved and then we moved again. So now that we are settled again I was determined to get it started.

After many pins on pinterest I decided just what I wanted. See for the house prior we had a wall length sliding glass door, so I had bought a nice long cappuccino colored curtain rod and simple matching sconces to hang it. So of course I wanted to find a way to use the set in our new place, but the only windows we have that are the length of the wall are over my kitchen sink and I didn't really want curtains there.

However these windows get great morning sun, really they are well lit all day so I thought, how fun it would be if I hung my herbs here! I found plant terrariums on Amazon and bought waxed thread in the same cappuccino color.

I bought a few pre-planted herbs in good health, but small enough to get into the terrariums. But I also started a few from seed (and they are already sprouting! ) I water them by just spraying them with a squirt bottle every other day. It's really neat to see the roots growing.

This project was super easy and just brings so much life to my kitchen (literally! ) I must admit I did have my hubby hang the bar, just because he's sooooooo much better at it than me. ;)

I hope you enjoyed this project!

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Thanks for sharing another adventure with me!

Stay safe, stay sane and stay absolutely splendid!

Monday, September 29, 2014

I gave up coffee!

Crazy I know! It's been exactly ONE month since I have had single cup of coffee! Here I am a self proclaimed coffee addict and I just gave it up. Well actually, dare I say, I found something better! Like ten times better.

Reader - "What?!?!?!" "Okay now we know you're crazy lady."

Alice - "Aaaaaaand it's natural and it's not caulked full of harmful nasty ingredients!"

Reader - "Lock her up, she's gone mad!"

Alice - "No, no really I haven't it's a tea."

Reader - "Go on..."

Ha ha sorry I don't know where the odd little conversation moment came from, I'm weird like that. Anyway yes it's a tea but the results are amazing. We drink coffee for the caffeine, right and energy we get from it...

But by 2-3 in the afternoon you hit that awful, I'm exhausted please just give me a bed, slump. Not to mention if you drink to much with out eating or like me just drink too much your super wired for all of five minutes, then you kind of feel sick and then comes the jittery twitch where you look like a crack addict coming down off a high.

In other words the effect doesn't last and drinking coffee all day just makes you sick. Or if you suffer from migraines like I do, I can actually trigger a headache! In fact, I had an older friend who was a migraine sufferer as well, tell me to cut out coffee and see how I felt. So that was looming in the back of my mind when I found this amazing tea!

Are you ready for what I switch too and gave up coffee without even thinking twice...
It's Herbalife.

I wasn't really looking for a replacement. However, like I mentioned, I was considering lowering my coffee intake but when I stumbled upon this, quite on accident, all it took was one glass and I knew I had found my solution!

I personally like the Lemon flavor. The tea itself is a blend of green, black and orange pekoe teas. It does have caffeine still, but for some reason it hits me in a totally different way.

❤ I drink it cold, on ice and chug it. Unlike coffee where I usually sip it til it's cold, reheat it and sip some more. This is refreshing and crisp.

❤ The energy I get from this is almost instant, feels natural and last for hours without the jitters! I drink 1 in the morning and 1 at lunch. If we are going out and I want that extra boost I'll drink one around dinner time. But no later or all be up all night!!!

❤ No creamer! The stuff they put in creamer is so icky for you, loaded with sugar and you're looking at 35 - 70 calories per cup depending on how much creamer you like. The tea only has 5 calories per 1/2 tsp which is equivalent to an 8 ounce glass of tea.

This photo is of my 32 oz Bubba cup that I used to drink my coffee out of! Now I drink only 8 oz out of my Austin Springs bottles. It's a 16 oz bottle, but as you can see I fill it with ice first, so it's only 8 ounces of tea. =========>

So there you have it. This is the straight and honest truth. I dropped coffee because of this tea!

Disclaimer: There ARE Herbalife & Amazon links placed throughout this post. Should you click one of these links and purchase product through said link, I will receive a small commission. However, I only recommend products I personally use and love! Full Disclaimer Policy.