Letter names

I haven't done everything I want to do with this pin yet...but I created this as a header for my family blog. 

I found this pin  

That takes you HERE

Which then takes you to flicker and all the letters.  My goal is to make the above name block eventually and I might make a few as gifts - I have several people in mind!  

The hardest part was deciding which letters I liked.  I think I saved 5 H's, A's, and F's but by then I kind of knew what I liked and didn't like so N, E, and R were really easy.  

As soon as I make the name in real life I will post again on here! 

Oh...How I created the name header for my blog.  I took all the pictures and put them in power point - some time I use inkscape - and made them all the same size, grouped them together and then saved the entire picture on my desktop.  I was easy cheesy!

What a difference...

...a day makes!  Saw this on Pinterest the other day and when I clicked on it someone was selling it for around $20!  I thought I could make that with my printer!  So, I did!  I think I am going to get a  new frame - this one was sitting on a shelf collecting dust so it works for now! 

A Cookie, Oreo, Brownie

So the other day this one was repinned a LOT.  It was bar that had chocolate chip cookies on the bottom, a layer of oreo cookies, topped with a brownie.  Now I am weird about my foods mixing so I didn't know what I thought about this.  I also do NOT like things to crunch in something that is supposed to be soft and chewy so I was really unsure about the oreo in the middle. With that being said I needed a dessert to take to my family reunion and this looked unique enough for me to try.  Here is what you will need - a roll of chocolate chip cookie dough (feel free to make this from scratch), a package of Oreos, and a box of your favorite brownie mix (again, feel free to make from scratch). 

Start by smashing your cookie dough into the bottom of a baking dish. I greased mine even though it said not to.  I used the bottom of a glass to make the cookie dough somewhat even in the bottom of the dish.

 Now layer in your Oreos

 I really packed them in there and then broke some in half to make sure the entire layer was covered

 Then make your brownie according to the package and pour on top making sure that all the Oreos are covered.

Side view

Then bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes.  

Ok so here's the verdict...These are amazing!  Highly addicting and will disappear if you are not careful! I made these for our dessert competition on Saturday night of our reunion.  By Friday night (we arrived around 6 PM) they were half gone and we were having to hide them.  The Oreo was not crunchy at all.  The funnier part of this was - no one could tell what all was in the bar!  I felt really silly when they asked for the recipe - it is so easy!!!  I promise if you make these they will be a huge hit!

French Toast Waffles

Today I tried making French toast in my waffle maker.  Let me tell you - it accomplished several things.  1. My kids who normally won't try new things but love waffles - ate them like crazy!  They loved them because they thought they were waffles.  2. The clean up was a breeze! I just wiped my waffle maker down with a wet cloth like normal and I was done. No messy pot to deal with.
So here is how to make them.  I found the recipe on pinterest but it goes back to this BLOG.
4 pieces of stale bread
4 eggs beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients except for the bread together.  Then dip the bread into the mixture. Having stale bread allows for the bread to soak up more of the mixture.  Place the bread on a lightly greased waffle iron - I set mine, a Belgian waffle maker, on level 3. Any higher and it made it too crispy! I just let my french toast go until the timer on my machine went off.

I put a couple of pats of butter on each slice, powdered sugar on my 2 year old's, and syrup on my 4 year old's. They were gone in a matter of minutes!!!  I will be making these again soon!  Again, the clean up for me was the biggest deal maker!

Peanut butter, banana, oatmeal bars

Today I made these!!! 

They are delish! They taste almost like a peanut butter oatmeal cookie, which are my favorite cookies!  They are very light and fluffy.  I think next time I will make them in a larger pan so they are a little thinner. I want to also say these are SUPER easy to make. They took me about 5 minutes to put it all together and that was with a 2 year old climbing on me! So here is the recipe I found on pinterest.  It came from this blog.  My changes will be in ( )

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon (I added 1 1/2)

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg lightly beaten

1 large mashed banana (mine were very green and I would rather wait until they were really ripe - banana bread ripe)

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Mix together oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon

Add in the vanilla, milk and egg - and mix all together

Then add banana and peanut butter

Pour mixture into a lightly  greased 8 X 8 baking pan (I am going to use a 9X9 or rectangular)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes - cut into squares and enjoy!  You can add more peanut butter on top if you desire!

Review Blog!

I actual try/make a lot of the things I pin on Pinterest.  This is where I will review some of those pins.