20 Perfect Easter Treat and Dessert Recipes - From Other Blogs

This year, Easter is April 20th, which means it's not too early to begin planning your Easter dinner. However, my focus in the kitchen has usually been dessert. I really enjoy baking. I have a collection of Easter desserts that I have been hoarding and I would like to share them with you, in hopes you'll make one of these delicious dishes for your family. These are my Easter faves from other blogs!

Lemon Pull Apart Bread from Barbara Bakes

Rainbow Cake Mix Cookies from The 36th Avenue

Super Moist Carrot Cake from Sally's Baking Addiction

The Perfect Lemon Bars from I Heart Naptime

Double Chocolate Banana Bread from Smitten Kitchen

Blueberry Cheesecake Pie from Brown Eyed Baker

The Best Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Averie Cooks

Cream Cheese Pound Cake from My Baking Addiction

Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes from Love From the Oven

Paleo Chocolate Pie & Raw Graham Cracker Crust by Kelly Brozyna feat at Nom Nom Paleo

Salted Caramel Banana Cream Pie by Tidy Mom

Maple Oat Nut Scones from The Pioneer Woman

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread from Joy the Baker

Paleo Salted Chocolate Coconut Pistachio Clusters from PaleOMG

Mini Funfetti Cupcakes with Sprinkles from Kevin & Amanda

Meyer Lemon and Thyme Icebox Cake from She Wears Many Hats

Coconut Key Lime Macaroons from Dessert Now Dinner Later

White Chocolate Raspberry Tarts in Mason Jar Lids from Dessert for Two

Mini Pineapple Coconut Angel Food Cakes at The Tasty Kitchen

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake from the Smitten Kitchen

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Week 3: The Master Cleanse

Every day last week I was slipping. Not alot, just here and there. I was beating myself up about it. I was craving Frappuccinos. I was tired of water. I was SOO hungry in the evening. I just wanted to GIVE UP. At least for the week.

But low and behold God or the Universe or the PICK YOUR SELF UP AND QUIT WALLOWING FAIRY sent me a gift curse gift. 

The Master Cleanse. 

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo folks, not the lemonade and maple syrup kind of cleanse. No No No No No.

The ULTIMATE master cleanse. 

The-103-degree-fever-can't-stop-vomiting-where's-the-Immodium kind of cleanse. For two days.

At first I looked at it as a curse. Actually the whole damn time I felt cursed as I clutched the pasta cook pot and waited for the fever to break. But now, as it's passing, I feel blessed. Not because of the weight I still lost, but because I was given my pity party and I realized MAN this illness would have been alot easier if all the food I was puking wasn't so unhealthy. I also swore to myself I was never eating again but hey, that's not cool. So instead, I guess I will stick to what I SHOULD be eating which is fuel for my body. Being sick was just what I needed to get my rear into gear and stay the course.

It's been said it takes 3 weeks to break a habit and usually those 3 weeks are hell. I am hoping this next week proves a little easier.

As far as changes I've noticed, I can now wear my current jeans comfortably. I am no longer fearing/dreading having to buy a size larger. In fact I wore them all day today before realizing I never once complained they were hurting my waist when sitting down and I didn't say "I just have to take these pants off!" - Score!

Mini goals: Except for the days of Pukepalooza, I did meet my water goals so I am counting it this week :) I did NOT get my exercise of 3 hours so that goal is going to carry over for this next week.

Weight lost this week: 4 lbs

Total weight lost: 14 lbs. (See previous weeks' losses here)

Next week's goals: Three hours of exercise by the end of the week and continue with the 48 oz of water a day. I also want to add that I didn't take my Greens at all this past week so I have a goal this week to drink them every day.

And because my kids are just the best, I must share this lovely photo of E-Man with you. He is such a doll. :)

Have a good week!

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Crochet Nesting Bowls - (Link to Free Pattern Included)

Last year, I discovered my love for yarn.

I had initially tried knitting, and while soothing, my patience runs a little thin especially since I am not yet adept to knowing how to fix a dropped stitch. When I was six years old, my grandmother taught me how to crochet, a skill that was lost on me as I got older. Now, twenty five years later, I've taught myself how to crochet using books and YouTube videos. For the last six months or so I've been hoarding yarn and using free patterns to "make things," as Bear calls it. I am currently in the midst of a few projects but I carve out time for some quick in-betweens.

Mr Sunshine, waiting patiently for me to finish

Yesterday I whipped up some nesting bowls. In my case it might be a Pinterest fail because my middle bowl ended up being very close in size to my small bowl. Who knows, I might have been distracted (I have three kids!) and missed a couple double crochets. I still love this set and Mr Sunshine has been filling them with his button collection.

I found the pattern at The Purple Chair Crochet and the instructions were very easy to read. I will most likely crochet another set to see if I can correct my sizing error on the middle bowl. I love the scalloped edge of the larger bowl and the design made by the treble crochet on the small bowl.

If you want to make your own set, head over to Jessica's site at The Purple Chair Crochet, or check out my Fiber Arts Pinterest board for more inspiration.

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The Best TV Series to Watch on Netflix

Hubs and I had a brilliant idea last year to give up cable and move to a Roku. We were hoping to save $100+ a month. And you know what? We did. A year later I am preaching the Gospel of Roku.

Our cable bill was about $200/mo (which included internet, DVR, HD channels, Showtime and HBO). We are a one income family and we just couldn't bring ourselves to give the almighty cable company more money than we needed to. Since ditching the cable box, we knocked our internet bill back to $60 a month. We do pay $9 a month for Hulu Plus and $9 a month to stream Netflix but it's a great trade off compared to what we were paying. So sadly, I kissed goodbye True Blood, Shameless, and the Newsroom (as well as American Horror Story and The Americans since we are unable to watch FX as well), but since I have discovered some great Netflix series that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.


In the Middle of Watching....

Malcolm in the Middle - I missed this 7 season series during my very early twenties. Being a parent of three boys now, I am super glad I am watching this show for the first time. My hubs says he sees many likenesses between me and Lois. I take it as a compliment. Plus, it's Bryan Cranston before his Breaking Bad days.

Damages - This Glenn Close drama keeps you guessing. Just when you think you know what's what, the writers of this show throw in another wrench. Close plays a morally corrupt lawyer who dominates the city of New York.

'Til Death - This Brad Garret comedy makes me laugh. He plays half of a 20+ years married couple living next door to newlyweds. I always loved his character on Everybody Loves Raymond so it's neat to see him in a starring role. Sure there's some hokey jokes and canned laughter but this brings me back to the sitcoms from my childhood.

Sister Wives - I'm not one for reality shows but this family is interesting. I also do not judge others or their lifestyles and I could totally see myself being friends with Mary, Janelle, Christine, and Robin.

Recently Finished Watching....

Orange is the New Black - How can you NOT watch OITNB? It's based on a best selling true story book by Piper Kerman and the show was created by Weed's showrunner Jenji Kohan. I also love Jason Biggs' character, Larry Bloom. He and Piper do not seem like a couple but I cannot imagine anyone else playing Larry. The second season airs this summer so start binge watching the first!

House of Cards - I have a crush on Kevin Spacey so I'll see pretty much anything he's in. I LOVE him as Frank Underwood. Sure the show is ruthless and highlights the very dirty arena of politics, but Spacey's acting alone is worth viewing.

The Killing - I personally think they stretched the first story line out too long (over 2 seasons?) but the content was good. I liked the third season the best. It all takes place in Seattle where two detectives search for a crafty killer.


Past Seasons of Series Currently on TV - Go Catch Up, Now!
The Walking Dead - 4 seasons
Sons of Anarchy - 5 seasons
American Horror Story - 2 seasons
Scandal - 2 season
Revolution - 1 season
Parenthood - 4 seasons
The Following - 1 season
Mad Men - 5 seasons

On My "to Watch" list:
The West Wing
Brothers and Sisters

Older/Cancelled Series for you to Discover
Lie to Me - LOVE Tim Roth in this crime drama
Crossing Jordan - Crime drama from the view of the medical examiner (who thinks she's a cop half the time)
United States of Tara - Toni Collette gives an amazing performance as a woman with multiple identities
Weeds - recently widowed suburban mom peddles pot to earn a living. It gets crazy after season 4
Rules of Engagement - 7 seasons of laughter among couples and a bachelor in different relationship stages
Breaking Bad - Series just ended, see Bryan Cranston as a science teacher turned meth maker.

So which TV shows did I miss?

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Week 2: The Snot Monster

Mr Sunshine, full of sickies and ready to share

Last Saturday I felt the tickle in the back of my throat.

Oh no. This can't be happening.

I should have seen it coming though since E-Man and Bear were just getting over a cold.

But I was so careful, I washed my hands, I washed THEIR hands...

E-Man and Hubs at the hockey game

Alas, it was unavoidable. The sickies were coming. I tried to ignore them. We took the boys to their first hockey game that night and Bear and I shoveled cough drops into our mouths the entire evening.

Sunday morning it all started going downhill for me. By Tuesday I had a full blown cold. I sent my husband out for Sudafed (you know the kind, they keep it behind the pharmacy counter because it's made with special components).

Kids will be kids, even when Mom has a cold

I also fell off track with my food. For a couple days, all my body wanted was fluids and the next couple days it wanted comfort food. I gave in. While I didn't over indulge or go crazy with calories or anything, I also didn't eat much of the good-for-you food that I should have. Exercise was non existent unless you count the three hours on Saturday I helped my sister move her belongings into her new place (countless trips with heavy furniture up three flights of stairs). Okay, you pulled my arm, I'll count it.

In finality, I took the week off from focusing on getting healthy so I could get healthy. Yes, that made sense when I wrote it, not so much when I say it outloud. But you know what I mean. As I type this blog, I am sitting in bed, still have a box of Puffs plus with Lotion at my side, and pretending I don't have mom guilt for the unfulfilled requests of playtime from my kiddos the last two days.

Weight loss this week:

This brings the total weight loss to 10 pounds.

Did I meet my week two mini goals? Not entirely. I didn't even calculate my water intake this week but I am going to have to say I probably didn't get 48oz everyday. At least I got my exercise in last weekend. Would that count as cardio or weight lifting? ;)

Mini goals this week: Still sticking with the original water goal. I am bound to get it down this week. I am adding 30 min of exercise to a total of 3 hours this week.

Next week's post will surely have more to report. This week is in the books.

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Review: February Kiwi Crate "Around the World," Part One

Remember those box subscriptions I told you about?

Well Bear's box for the month of February was Kiwi Crate (affiliate link). 

I had heard wonderful things about Kiwi Crate from my blogger friend, Daisy and June. The recommended ages are three to seven and since Bear is five, I thought it would be a perfect match. I was hesitant about all the different kinds of paper crafts because Bear's eyes sort of glaze over if there's not enough "action." Together, we googled other reviews of Kiwi Crate and Bear was getting revved up about the different kinds of activities in past crates. By the time the green box showed up at the door, he was stoked. I wish I had a picture of how bright his eyes lit up when I opened the crate.

How cute is that Kiwi? I love how the little green slider at the bottom of the instruction cards tells you how much parent involvement is needed. Bear wanted to start with the World Flags so we opened up that side of the box and left the World Map materials in the crate.

Another bonus surprise was the inclusion of a pair of kid friendly scissors to use with each subsequent project! Good on ya, Kiwi Crate.

Immediately, Bear began looking at the instructions. They have words as well as pictures so even though he can't yet read, he could follow the steps easily. I just sat back and watched him go to town. He had enough materials to create five flags. He decided to make the four flags shown in the instructions, Japan, France, China, and Brazil. For the fifth flag, he created his own design.

The only thing I helped him with was to make sure he had the flags in the right direction before adding the sticky felt. He did all of the cutting and threading himself

 (Oh hey look! In the picture above you can see the instruction card with the picture directions, isn't that perfect for little kiddos?)

He was very proud of his finished project. Little brother Mr. Sunshine even lent a hand. 

I will post the completion and review of the second half of the crate within the next week. So far, we are LOVING Kiwi Crate. If you want to make the plunge, you can sign up using my affiliate link here, you'll get $10 toward your first box! Kiwi Crate subscriptions start at $19.95/mo. 

If you already subscribe to Kiwi Crate, which box theme has been your favorite?

*note - we were not compensated for our review of Kiwi Crate. We're just a family exploring our crafting options

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Boys' Bedroom: Redesign and Reorganize, Phase 1

E-Man and Bear share a room. That is what happens when you live in a smaller space. I love that they have this time together while they're young because they will definitely be wanting their own private space when they're older. One of the disadvantages of their shared room is that they accumulate ALOT of "things" and storage is pretty non existent in here at the moment.

Hubs and I have the larger bedroom with our queen size bed. Mr Sunshine has been co-sleeping with us since day one. Only now, almost three years later, have we concluded we need a king bed. Bigger bed means we will be switching rooms with the boys. They need more space, ASAP and they need it organized.

E-man has a collection of Thomas the Tank Engine items. Due in part to his autism, he didn't play with toys until he was 18 months old and a Thomas the Tank Engine was the first toy he ever showed interest in. Over the last five six years he's amassed a collection. We've had a couple different train tables for wooden trains (one which is now sitting in a storage unit), and he currently has two 18-gallon storage tubs full of train tracks that I have NO IDEA what to do with.

Kids' room in its current state

Aidan has a wooden play kitchen, built by the Hubs, that is taking up residence in our living room because the boys do not have room for it in their own room.

The boys have a collection of LEGOs that fills old plastic buckets and they're stored in my laundry area out of reach from Mr Sunshine. I want to be able to give the older boys better access to their toys and to not have to dump out the buckets every. single. time. they can't find the exactly colored two by one brick they need.

Our room in the throws of attempted organization

The closet is FULL of things from storage that now need to be re-homed, re-purposed, or discarded. (Admission: I live with a hoarder. Not the crazy I-have-forty-eight-cats kind of hoarder but the i-can't-throw-it-away-i've-had-it-since-junior-high-and-I-might-need-it-tomorrow kind of hoarder. Sorry Hubs, the not-so-secret is out).

The walls also need artwork. We have lived here for two and a half years and I have never "decorated.". This is mostly in part because our initial plan called for this to be temporary until we purchased a house but our plans have changed quite a bit the last 24 months and we're now content to stay here for another couple years. I guess it's time to make it look more like a home and less like a rental!

My goal is to finish this within 90 days. Each week or so I will show you some of the progress I'm making to complete this overhaul. I am definitely going to access Pinterest for inspiration.

If you have ANY tips for this redesign, please leave a comment or send an email, I'd love to hear all about it.

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