Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Fall is here!! And in honor of fall I would like to reiterate how fabulously scrumptious these muffins are.
This recipe is printed and tacked to a cork board inside a kitchen cabinet door- it is that good and I use it that much.

I originally got the recipe from Linda (http://www.sundrymourning.com/) and they are my go-to for fall. Teachers, coworkers, bus drivers, principals- everyone just loves these. My sister in law prefers them without the chocolate chips (scandalous!) . I use canned pumpkin and vary the chips – for grown up I might use gerhidelli, for the kids I cut back a little or use minis. I have made the giant size, the muffin tops, the minis and all sizes in between with this recipe. Some folks do not like the cloves so that is optional but i like it with.

 Insanely Good Pumpkin-Chocolate Muffins
 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour                                                         1 1/4 cups sugar
 1 tbls baking powder                                                                   1/2 tsp salt
 1 tsp ground cinnamon                                                                 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger                                                                     1/4 tsp ground allspice
 1/8 tsp ground cloves                                                                    1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 can pumpkin [ ‘regular’ size can, not the large — original recipe calls for 1 CUP]
1/2 cup milk                                                                                  2 tbls molasses
Some amount of chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 400˚ and lightly grease a 12 muffin tin (I use paper holders & lightly spray the muffin papers but ya don't have to). Sift (I don’t) flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices together in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, oil, and molasses. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix (I just do it all in 1 bowl- because I roll like that). Stir in your desired amount of chocolate chips (to taste). Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until tests done.

I have made these for years and years but don't seem to have a picture of them and since i need a photo so I can pin it on pinterest here is my mantle from last year.

Which is your favorite?

I have to go with Greaser (from Cry Baby).

Shakespeare Rocks

Woodpecker(s) in our yard

Not sure if we have one or two woodpeckers feasting on our pecan trees. We love them. The kids love watching them and the bird(s) could care less.

My Babycakes machine!

I was tooling around my fave thriftstore and what do I see?! A pink Babycakes mini cupcake maker!! I squeeeeeealed and about fell over at the 6$ price. It was pristine looking!

These are cupcakes. I was trying to decide how much batter to use and what spoon or implement works best for filling the wells.

Overfilled and slightly crunchy or underfilled – didn’t matter. 7 minutes for cupcakes rocks! At our xmas party I put some girls (hey, Jones Girls!!) in charge of it and they had a blast and did great!

True Dat

The Clips

So, I was trolling around on PINTEREST and saw this neat idea for road trips. Easy Cheesy photo on a clothespin. If the kid causes trouble, the clip comes down and at the next stop only the clips that are on the visor get a treat.

We test drove (ha! pun intended) the idea and it works great! Now, our “treats” were when I handed back a can of pringles the kid whose clip was down got it last, etc. And I would also sometimes say the clip was down for 15 minutes (and keep adding time as the offender talked back) – it gave them some control to be good and have the clip reinstated and also improved time telling skills. (ha!)

Since all three kids sit side by side there was still my Sit on Your Hands punishment for poking prodding pinching touching. And each one has a fleece blanket and they can cover their heads making a cocoon of privacy for themselves. The autistic kiddo started it years and years ago (I told him it was a bubble and he cannot hear or see anything outside of the bubble) and the others followed. It is funny (but calm and quiet!) when each one does it and there are just three blanket covered kids in the backseat.

Even running errands we use these tricks. Got any in the car tricks??

Chalkboard Paint + Mugs

My chalkboard paint addiction is reaching new heights.

I have taken to spray painting mugs. Plastic from the Michael’s clearance bin (sorry cute birds – gotta paint over ya), thriftstore and yardsale finds (I love finding nice shaped mugs) and even mugs from my own cabinets (sorry, freebie mug from work).

I bought a bunch of chalk markers off ebay and gifted mugs n markers at the holidays. The chalk markers stay on through washings. Speaking of, I hand wash these. I just don’t want the spray paint to chip or flake and wreck my dishwasher. Not saying that will happen but rinsing out a mug is no biggie for the peace of mind that my dishwasher is safe from paint chips.

I do not prime or sand – yeah, that’s how I roll. I just use my spray paint trigger and mist several coats over the mugs. The bottoms do get a little chippy or scuffed with use (I’ve been using the same mug  since October). I prep the surface of the mug by rubbing a piece of chalk over it and wiping it off.

oh- and in case you are wondering that orange mug- I used an Identipen and it has not faded or anything- even in the dishwasher. I wish I were a better doodler.

CD case beaded frame

We have been making this for over a decade. CD case (pop out the center and take out the paper) + magnets (glue gunned to the BACK- check which side of the case has the HOLE) + lots of elmers and beads = awesomeness!

I learned early on to pick a color theme and preselect a bowlful of beads. I love using thriftstore found necklaces for this. I start with pony beads, tri beads, whatever. Put the elmers on and let the kiddo place the beads. Have a wet wipe handy or they inevitably wipe glue on their pants.

As they add beads the window morphs shape and just stop them before it is too small. I usually do it over several days. I had a bad experience with some old zip drive cases – for some reason they glued shut! I had never had that happen with cd or dvd jewel cases.

I like to pour tiny seed beads or pearls in the center window and tilt the case to make them stick to the inner edge of the glue around the “window” opening.

Day 2 we go back and add some smaller beads and fill in gaps. Same on day three maybe. And give it a good couple days to dry. You can go back and peel off glue drips. The glue dries clear but try to keep smears off the window opening. Then just open it to add a photo – which can be changed out. These make impressive (and cheap!) gifts. We once made one in shades of white for a teacher getting married – was a hit! This is something I usually keep a few on hand in the gift box (wrapped in bubblewrap).

Me: from a- z

Photo credit: my 4 year old

Age: 43, 44 in 2 weeks but, I usually can't remember & have to do math on my fingers to make sure.
Bed size: King – and we need it! Most nights at least one cat and one or two kidlets end up in our bed.
Chore I hate: sweeping and moping – it seems futile the moment a kid spills something.
Drive: a truck
Essential start to my day: a shower.
Favorite color: ? red ?
Gold or silver: Silver- I am always scared I will lose gold so don’t wear much of it.
Hobbies: photo crafts, paper crafts, decluttering.
Instruments I play: Is an MP3 player an instrument.
Job title: SAHM, Limon Family CEO, part time online sales person. Depends on who's asking.
Kids: 3.
Lived: Pensacola & Jacksonville Florida, Gitmo Cuba, Rota Spain, Hawaii, all over Texas (Navy Brat).
Make up: renewed my love for it. Digging 2 Faced base and Mac eyeshadows.
Number of Cats Currently: 2 inside, 1 indoor/outdoor and a passel of outdoors, some I share with my neighbor. Had over 2 dozen for about 10 years (rescuer not hoarder)
Overnights away from kids: Does hospital after labor count? Then 0.
Pet Peeve: the mouth noises my kids make and when they chew on shirts – ugh!     
Quote from a movie: "Have fun storming the castle." or “would you say I have a plethora?”
Right or left handed: Right but surrounded by lefties.
Siblings: sister 10 years younger than me and brother 23 years younger than me.
Time I wake up: 5:15 is when the alarm goes off 6:15 on saturdays.
Underwear: always.
Vegetable I hate: Eggplant.
What makes me run late: forgetting things or “having” to stop by chickfila for a tea enroute.
X-rays I've had: head, hands, arms, most recent was foot.
Yummy food I make: chex mix, dips, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, oatmeal cookies.
Zoo animal: I prefer domesticated animals – like cats (except when a fat one walks on you with teeny paws!).

Teacher craft in process

I saw this cute birthday countdown calender (on Pinterest I think) but the sign holder- although very cute- is like 8 bucks at office depot.

Kinda blowing my cheapie budget considering I was thinking of making at least 6 of these, maybe more like a dozen.

But then I looked up and saw this

Remember I had made it awhile back? So I had hubby drill the holes and I made this:

(sorry for the blurry photo – too lazy busy to take another one). I used the binder rings and lots of stickers and scrapbooking leftovers. The numbers are these big black old stickers I have had fovever. I used the cropadile to punch the holes and computer printed a bunch of holidays so the teachers can just change out the holiday bit. The hard part (because math and logic is hard for me) was figuring out what number to go on the back so that once the cards are flipped to the back, they can be turned around on the rings as needed. (Boy, that makes no sense- I mean I wanted to use both sides of the cards as effectively as possible)

Then I got the bright idea that since this would be in a class there would be lots of grubby paws on it so I laminated each number card. But that created some issues. Since I had not originally calculated the laminated edging into the size, each card was too long now and I had to trim each card before laminating and then trim and round the corners with scissors because no one has made a frigging corner rounder that work on lamination (I wish to heck I could patent that idea and make a fortune!). And rounding the corners always makes me grumpy because they never look identical. ugh (ok, just me, right?) I also used the cropadile once again to re-punch the holes.

And it seems that in a fit of purging I let go all my clear acrylic frames and none of the thriftstores have ANY all of a sudden. I got one from Dollar General but it is kinda flimsy. Will try it and let ya know how it goes.

My plan is to pound these out over thanksgiving weekend and gift them to the teachers on the 12th day before the end of school before winter break when I start my 12 days of gifting. (other gifts I have set aside: bacon chocolate bars, chalkboard spraypainted mugs, chalk pens, chalkboard thought bubbles- still have to make those- fleece blankets with names on them, our annual xmas music cd and more).

Not quite the NRA

I can *NEVER* get this to work.

Goodwill Rocks!

Look what I found!! I have a couple of thriftstores that I go to regularly. This particular goodwill is in a nicer neighborhood so they have good stuff but sometimes their pricing people must be smokin’ somethin’ because the prices are all over the place.

I saw this in a basket – they line up shopping carts full of stuff and their volunteers put it on the shelves when they can. Shoppers dig through the carts in search of fresh goodies. I pulled it out and knew what it was (we have had several models of foodsavers through the years). I figured for 9 bucks if it did not work I could return it with the 2 day return policy they have for electronics. But it worked!! Sweet!

I am going to sell my old one (anyone in the Austin area interested?) . And I moved the shiny new tillia to the other counter- it was getting messy each time I used the mixer. You know about my mixer, right? (It was 10 or 15$ at a yardsale and I gave it to the hubs for xmas. He was thrilled!! And he uses it to make bread from scratch each weekend.)

And this is my mug with writing on it. I did a test using different paints and pens to see what writes on mugs. The Identipen beat them all- yes, even the porcelain pens and paints!- And you can buy it for like 4 bucks including shipping on ebay.

I did finally take off the pricetag, by the way. I left it on for over a week- it made me smile each time I saw it.

Get Yer Geek On

Organizing cords

I know- it looks crazy but it works!! I have them on the back of my desk right now!

Pumpkin Muffins!

Finally the weather feels like fall – it means the 4 yr old has to learn to wear jeans instead of stretchy pants, the 8 yr old is just dying to wear his big winter coat and the 13 yr old wants to make so much apple cider that I am googling homemade recipes because those dang little packets are rather spendy.

And in honor of fall I would like to reiterate how fabulously scrumptious these muffins are. I originally got the recipe from Linda (http://www.sundrymourning.com/) and they are my go-to for fall. Teachers, coworkers, bus drivers, principals- everyone just loves these. My sister in law prefers them without the chocolate chips (scandalous!) . I use canned pumpkin and vary the chips – for grown up I might use gerhidelli, for the kids I cut back a little or use minis. I have made the giant size, the muffin tops, the minis and all sizes in between with this recipe.

Insanely Good Pumpkin-Chocolate Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour                   1 1/4 cups sugar                    1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt                                             1 tsp ground cinnamon         1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger                            1/4 tsp ground allspice        1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 can pumpkin [ ‘regular’ size can, not the large — original recipe calls for 1 CUP]
1/2 cup milk                                            1/2 cup vegetable oil             2 tbls molasses
Some amount of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400˚ and lightly grease a 12 muffin tin (I use paper holders). Sift (I don’t) flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices together in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, oil, and molasses. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix (I just do it all in 1 bowl- because I roll like that). Stir in your desired amount of chocolate chips (to taste). Fill the muffin cups 2/3s full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until tests done.

No photo – because I am lame like that. But, trust me, these are *awesome*.

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I’m faster that a tree!

Saw this. It made me smile.

Not sure I am faster than a turkey. Don’t they flap and fly a bit??

Also- piglets are fast! Not sure I would be faster than one.

~

Make Your Own Shrinky Dinks

Does everyone know that #6 recyclable plastic (usually clear take out food containers) is shrink plastic?

It is true!

So, here is what I do. I save it up and trim it down (using my scrapbooking trimmer, scissors, craft punches, etc). I round the corners using a corner punch and punch holes using a hole punch.

Then let the kids write or trace a drawing on it. They shrink up thicker and heavier than the storebought film.

I also like to make teeny tiny ones & have the kids write their names and the year on them. I use them to tag certain xmas ornaments so we know whose are who’s. Plus seeing their penmanship is always cute! I use a jump ring to attach the nametag and it is small enough that it is unobtrusive.

And because I am often lame about taking photos as I craft here are some other photos to show the shrunken size.

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crafting with a 4 yr old

With Christmas less than 100 days away crafting is in full swing.

I got some little flat wooden hearts at Michael’s (thank you, 40% off coupon) and sprayed them with chalkboard paint (define obsession- I am not obsessed *twitch twitch*). Some I punched with my handy dandy cropodile (I was skerred but it punch right through like buttah!) and will use those as gift tags and some I am glueing to clothespins and will pin a gift’s ribbons (that sounds confusing – I just wanted tag options)

Then I had a craft fail (I stuck some cork tiles on some more kitchen cabinet doors and for some reason they made the cabinet doors not close all the way- ugh- so I ripped them off) but I made lemonade outta lemons. I traced the little chalkboard hearts and cut them out with scissors, punched cropadile holes in them and was going to leave it at that but . . . we had the glitter out and, ya know, I have glitter in my veins! They kinda look like sugar cookie ornaments now.

So, Miss Crafty 4 year old painted on the glue and I poured on the glitter (sorry, she is not to be trusted with a paper plate full of glitter on her own!) I used modge podge instead of elmers just because when I cleaned my craft closet recently I discovered a plethora (a plethora I say!!) of bottles of modge podge.

But then we had this leftover glue and glitter and the pile of clothespins was RIGHT THERE. Before I knew what happened we had glittered tiny, small and regular sized clothespins. Not sure what to do with them other than glue magnets to the back and gift them out at the holidays.

Autistic or Artistic?

This is what the eldest drew in a workbook. Wow! I think he really thinks in cartoons and his head is often this kind of a cacophony. Or he is just a pretty cool artist for a 13 yr old.