Chocolate Whoppie Pie

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Pies

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp.

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk

Marshmallow filling

1 1/2 cups Marshmallow fluff

1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1. Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375*. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.Sift together flour, coca powder, baking soda, and salt on a sheet of waxed paper. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, shortening, and brown sugar on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium; beat for 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat 2 more minutes.

3. Add half of flour mixture and half of milk to batter; beat briefly on low. beat in remaining flour mixture and milk.

4. Using a spoon, drop batter 1Tbsp at a time onto one of the baking sheets, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes or until pies spring back when pressed gently. Remove from oven; let pies cool on sheet for 5 minutes; transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

5. To make filling: Beat fluff and shortening for 3 minutes on medium. Reduce speed to low, and add sugar and vanilla. Beat until incorporated. Increase speed to medium; beat until fluffy. 

6. Sandwich filling between the flat sides of to pies; repeat....

crafts i have been working on...

Here are a couple crafts i worked on yesterday.... They were both super easy, and didn't take very long ( which i LOVE)... I am an Instant gratification person, i don't want to work on something for days / weeks... I am a "Want to get a project done in a few hours" type girl...

So without further Ado....

 

2 of my 3 Blessings.... 

It is hanging over my bed... Just love it !! Yes it was and idea i saw from astepinthejourney and finally made it... 

Next is the Laundry sign... I have always wanted a cute sign for the Laundry room... Always saw some there were cute, but knew i could do a better job for WAY less then what the stores are asking for...

Don't you just LOVE the little clothes hanging... 

 

 

 

Can you believe that both of the boards i bought for $1.50 at IKEA in the "AS IS" section... all the rest of the stuff needed for the projects i had on hand... So for a total of $3.00 i have 2 new adorable signs for the house...

What i have been up to....

Spring is my absolute favorite time of the year... The colors, the weather, the longer days... So with the love of Spring comes my Love for Crafts, and those two are going hand in hand right now.... I have been on so many blogs lately and have found so many adorable and frugal crafts to make, and so i have...

I will post the finished craft as well as the link to the blog that i got the idea from...

First one up...

Tile Coaster

Made this coaster as a sample since we made them at MOPS for a craft day... Love how it turned out.

Here  is a link to a Tile coaster Tutorial, now it's not the one i followed but the same theory... I actually love the rustic look of the tiles they choose... Guess i better do another one soon...

Family Tile

after making the Tile coaster it got me thinking about making a larger (12x12) tile with out last name and the year we were married.. Love the idea of this one, but don't "LOVE" the colors of this one... Still thinking about how i am going to re-do it... Will update when i do.

Dollar Tree Hurricane's

I love the look of all the fancy yet simple Hurricanes, except don't like paying $15 and up on them.. Especially when i can't just buy one, i want a few of them... I know i am greedy !! LOL ! So when i came upon the tutorial at two twenty one i ran to Dollar Tree and bought 2 candle sticks and 2 small candle vases. $1.00 for each item, so for a total of $4.00 for 2 Hurricanes... Love them and LOVE that they were super cheap..

Kids Chore Charts

Suprise this one was my own idea.... Yep i can think of them, sometimes... ;-) I haven't been consistant with having the kiddos doing chores. I know this is something that i NEED them to do, as i don't want them growing up being lazy and not knowing how to pitch in. While they are still young i need to instill this in them.

 I ended up buying 3, 8x10 un-finished wood frames from Dollar tree $1.00 each, and used scrapbook paper i had at home... So total cost was $3.00 !! I cut all the letters with my Cricut, and typed up their chores on the computer. Glued all of it on the sheet of cardstock, then set it behind the glass as if it was a photo... So after the kids do their chores we can write on the glass with a dry erase marker, then just erase when done...

Spring Decor

This was one of my own ideas as well... I ended up getting these frames from the 99 cent store, and i actually like these ones better... They seem like they are make better, and feel sturdier... I will be looking there for them the next time. So $1.00 for the frame, and ended up using the cardstock i had at home. Cut all the cute wording, chick and bird out with my Cricut... I absolutely adore them, don't you !!

Daily To Do

With the idea of the Chore Chart i thought of the "To Do"  frame. I am in the middle of re-doing our Family go to area... You know the one, where all the papers get thrown, the phone is at, my purse sits there, and what ever toys the kids have dumped there during the day... This To Do frame will be hanging on the wall once i get the area finished... And of course when that is done i will make a post on here so you can see it...

So as you can see i have been a little busy, but the thing about most of these crafts is that they take less then 1 hour for each... I love that, i am so impatient and want instant gratification so all of them are perfect for me...

Oh, and last but certinaly NOT least.... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this No sew Ruffle Scarf.

Seriously, how cute is this ???? It was so stinkin easy, ANYONE yes ANYONE can make it... Over at myworldmadebyhand, you can see the step by step Tutorial... Seriously, so easy and took about 45 minutes to make...

Ok, so that is it for now... Hopefully next time i won't have so many things to talk about in 1 post... ;-)

More coupon clipping info...

So i do this often... Start something that i want to do, then not finish...  I have tried so many times to stop my self but get busy with something else... One of these days i will get a good balance and hopefully get it under control... Till then you get what you get, LOL !!! After all it is free... tee hee hee !!

Here are some Coupon blogs that i follow, Money saving Mom and Save at home Mommy.. These are the 2 that i look at most of the time. I think most blogs work together, so there isn't really much use in following many more then 2-3... Some might have a few things differant, but for the most part they will all be the same....

Here is another coupon / Money saving blog that i found...Southern Cali Saver.  Haven't been on it much, but i like that they lady who does it is local... She lives in Riverside county.

When you are getting ready to do you weekly grocery shopping make sure you stop by and see what the current deals are, they will show you by each store as well as what the prices are and where to find the coupons.. Can't get much easier then that, they take all the hard work out of saving money for you...

What i do is get the ad's or go to the coupon blogs and see what is on sale for the week, then make my menu plan.. Another way to make your weekly grocery budget less... (I will put my weekly menu on a seperate post)

Most of the coupons that you will need you can either print online at Coupons.com as well as Target.com, while you are on the target site make sure to sign up for Mobile coupons... They are differant from the ones you will find on their site...  They will text you the coupons, and all you have to do is show the cashier the barcode from your phone, and Viola !! You save money...

That is all i can think of for now, when and if i think of something else i will ad it... If you have any questions let me know, i would love to answer your questions...

Mod Podge Hand Tree's

I came across THIS BLOG... and found this Stunning piece of art, then quickly realized it wasn't JUST art, it was as well a family treasure... Each child's hand formed the Tree... How awesome is that ?? I just fell in love with it, and had to do it right away....

So follow the link and it shows you step by step instructions how to make your very own piece of art...

Those are the one's that we made... The far Left is my 9 year olds the middle is my 2 year olds and the far right is my 6 year olds... How cute are they ???? I will treasure them for years to come !!

P.S If you bought a kit from me... When you take the brown fabric and burlap out you will want to iron them so they are nice and wrinkle free before you glue them down... Also, before i glued the leaves down i put a big glob of glue on the burlap where i was going to position the leaves... It was MUCH easier for the leaves to stick...

Michelle

Weekly shopping Part 1 of 2

Today i had a friend over so i could show her the ropes of coupon clipping / shopping so i got a late start at the stores... It's ok, i would rather get a late start so i can show some fellow friends how to save money...

So this is what i did, stopped at Walgreens, Henrys, Vons and Albertsons... (tomorrow will be Stater bros and Rite Aid...)

Walgreens
Huggies Jumbo diapers $8.99
.59 sucker (had to buy, some reason the register wouldn't accept both Manu coupon and RR rewards for the 1 item... Even though it was less then total...)
Used $2.00 Manu coupon
$2.00 Register rewards
Total OOP $ 6.37
Received $2.00 in RR

Trans #2
1 Packages of Valentine stickers
Buy 1 $1.99 get 1 free (this wasn't advertised on the shelf, but rang up this way)
Had to buy a filler since my subtotal was less then $2.00... UGH !!
.33 carmel (cheapest thing i could find at the last second)
Total OOP $.49

Henry's..
Henry's is a great place to buy fresh produce... I ONLY buy what is on sale for the week, so this week i bought
1 Whole Pineapple $2.00
Asparagus $1.49 lb
Fresh Green beans $1.50 lb
Baby carrots $.88 package
Mineola Tangelos .49 lb
Bananas .69 lb
Red potatoes .79 lb
Nectarines .97 lb
and last but certainly NOT least.... Lambrusco wine... $5.99 ;-)
Total $ 18.54

Vons
Chuck pot roast $1.79 lb
Pork chops assorted Value pack $1.47 lb
Granny smith apples .77 lb
Gala Apples .77 lb
Total  $15.51

Albertsons
ok, so this was the best deal of the day..
6 Jars of Skippy peanut butter on sale for $1.50, used $1.00 coupon from albertsons ad, and $1.00 off each jar coupon from the Vons football ad deals.... 6 Jars of peanut butter... FREE !!!
2 6oz tomatoe paste .50
3 Boxes Honey nut Cheerios $1.25
1 General mills gushers $1.75
4 packages Anthony's pasta $1.00
Foster farms whole chicken $5.00 (1.09 lb, the .77 albertson brand chickens were more like Cornish game hens)
Fresh express bagged salad $1.50
Pillsbury Valentine cookie dough $2.50 ( I caved....  LOL ! )
Albertons split top bread $1.49
2 Fabuloso Lavendar cleaners $1.00
Total $ 24.17

Total for everyting ........ $65.08
still need to go to Stater brothers, and Rite aid... will let you know how that goes..

This weeks Menu / Shopping plan

Ok... So here is my Menu for this weeks dinners...

Wednesday  Whole Chicken, cooked in the oven with Green beans
Thursday Pork Chops  and HOME MADE Applesauce
Friday Pot Roast ( carrots, onions and potatoes)
Saturday.... Some type of pasta (always on Saturdays... since the hubby leaves early)

So there is the menu, now for the shopping list

Henrys   Henry's is great for fresh produce...
Asparagus $1.49 lb  (still haven't figured out, but too good of a price to not have it this week)
Yellow Nectarines .97 lb  (after school snacks)
Sweet Onions .88 lb (Friday nights dinner)
Green beans 2lb / $3.00   (Wed night dinner)
Baby peeled carrots .88 lb  (Friday nights dinner)
Blueberries .97 package (Fri, Sat and Sun)

VONS
Chuck Pot Roast $1.97 lb (Friday's dinner)
Pork Loin chops $1.47 lb (Thursdays dinner)
Gala, Granny smith and red delicious apples .77 lb  (after school snacks)
Mandarins 10lb/$10 (snacks)

Albertsons
Cheerios $1.75 box (must buy 4)  less, if you have coupons..
Whole chicken .79 lb
Anthony's pasta $1.00 box...(Stock up price)  also, search for coupons online...
Fresh Express Salad 3 / $3.00
Albertons brand loaf of bread $1.49

Fabuloso cleaner $1.00  (my favorite cleaner)

Stater Bros
Whole Chicken .69 lb
Capri sun $1.67 ea (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday)
Farmer John Sliced Bacon $2.49 (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday)
Red grapes $1.99 lb


And here is the blog that i follow the most... Love how she has' the stores listed... Easy to find, and easy to read. All this weeks deals will be posted on there...
Money Saving Mom

Happy Shopping !!!!