Cake Batter Waffle Sundaes!

How amazing do these look!  Let me tell you how amazingly EASY these were... and how very, very excited my kids were to get to make their own!

Cake Batter Waffle Sundae

All you need is any boxed cake mix.  Prepared as instructed on the box.  We used a Chocolate Cake Mix.  The best part about this is that they are ready very quickly!  No waiting on the oven to preheat...no waiting for the cakes or cupcakes to bake, cool, etc.  And as a bonus this is something easy for kids to make themselves, with a little supervision of course :)

Preheat your waffle iron... pour batter (mine uses about 1/3 cup per waffle section)... Close and cook.... My waffle iron has a green light when finished... probably about 4 minutes or so...

Pour Cake batter in heated waffle iron.  (Mine takes about 1/3 cup per waffle section)

Once they are done, carefully transfer to a plate.  Add a scoop of ice cream, whipped cream, well... whatever your heart desires!  We happened to have some maraschino cherries and mini chocolate chips... and of course some chocolate syrup!  Imagine them with some crushed Oreo's, or some peanut butter, vanilla cake mix with colorful sprinkles and strawberries!  Oh the possibilities get me excited!  These will also be great in the summertime when it is so hot I don't dare turn my oven on!

Here is my oldest... All 3 of my kid were pretty excited about these!

I think the one box mix made about 16-18 waffles!  I really lost count cause we were eating our sundaes up :)    I flash froze the remaining waffles, once frozen, transferred them to a freezer bag.  I think there are around 10 waffles left... These will be great to have a quick and yummy dessert after dinner, or a special afternoon snack for the kids (& me :)

Kristin Hannah's Home Front!

I am getting so very excited!  My favorite author Kristin Hannah has a new book coming out in about 3 weeks!!!!   January 31st to be exact!  You can pre-order now thru her website KristinHannah.com

Home Front by Kristin Hannah

Bread Machine YUMMY White Bread

1 cup  warm water
2 TBS sugar
2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast
1/4 cup veg oil
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

Add water, sugar, and yeast.  Allow to proof 10 minutes until foamy.  Then add oil, flour, and salt.  Select your basic setting and press start!  Mine takes about 3 hours from start to finish.  Many times I will set after lunch and run errands.  By the time the kids are home from school it is near the end of it's cooking and we have fresh bread with our dinner!

I like to add 2 tsp of garlic, & 2 tsp parsley for an Italian Bread to serve with pasta's

By the way, I was one of those people who thought a bread machine was a complete waste of money and space...  HA! Thanks to my in-laws for picking up extra's at yard sales and giving me one!  I am so hooked now! 

Cheesy BBQ Chicken with Bacon

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
Oil (olive, canola, or vegetable)  OR cook in bacon grease*
BBQ sauce
Cheddar Cheese (shredded)
bacon (cooked crisp) about 6-8 pieces
green onions (optional)

There are several ways you can cook and assemble this yummy dish!  My kids absolutely LOVE when I make this!  Here is how I do it.

Decide how you are cooking your bacon.  You can cheat an use real bacon pieces that you can buy.  or cook in the microwave.  I like to cook my bacon in an iron skillet... Then use that grease to brown my chicken.  I know, I know... I am in the south and well bacon grease is not wasted down here LOL!

So cook your bacon or heat a few TBS of oil in an iron skillet.  Set bacon to the side...

Pound chicken thin...  (Again this is a preference, but I find it cooks quicker & makes my chicken go farther for my family of 5... and I won't lie I get to take my frustrations out while pounding away :)  To avoid any mess I like to lay a piece of plastic cling wrap on the counter, then put a couple pieces of the chicken... and another piece of plastic wrap on top... then proceed with the pounding!)

Brown each side of the chicken breasts.  Transfer the chicken to a baking dish or cookie sheet....  brush a little bbq on the top of each breast and bake on 350 about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Depending on the thickness of your chicken will determine how long it needs as well.

Once cooked through flip each piece over... add BBQ to that size along with bacon.  You can a couple on each piece or break the bacon to fit... It usually just depends on how much I have on hand HAHA!  Top each piece with shredded cheddar and return to oven on broil.... just to melt cheese and lightly brown...

I like green onions on top, my kids don't.  do what you like :)

Great served with buttered noodles or rice and a veggie!

Menu Plan Monday, My Weeks Worth!

I generally make my menu for a month at a time.  I do my grocery shopping by the month also....  I usually shop between the 10th and 15th of each month... I know I am weird LOL... It works for my family of 5 though!  I try to limit eating out to once a week... Usually this is on Sunday after church.  I stock freezer, pantry and produce/dairy all in my monthly trip.  Then usually 2 weeks later I stock milk/produce again... and dire necessities that can't wait for the next monthly trip.   I love to bake breads of all sorts.... and usually bake it 3-4x's per week in some manner :) More on my shopping habits later though LOL.

Monday - Sausage, Field Peas, Cheesy Potato Soup, Homemade Yeast Rolls
Tuesday - Spaghetti, homemade French Bread
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Stew
Friday- Hamburgers, french fries
Saturday - Cheesy BBQ Chicken w/ Bacon, Broccoli, rice
Sunday - Dinner: Fettuccine Alfredo w/ chicken, homemade garlic bread

Here is a fun little dessert to make with the kids too: 

Cake Batter Waffle Sundaes

A little behind my methods of Meal planning....
With 3 kids, 2 of which are in school (1st and 4th grade) I try to keep school nights simple and quick because our nights are usually hectically filled with homework, baths, showers, bedtime... Well, it can get crazy without a plan!  One thing I found that helped me from getting overwhelmed when I began menu planning was assigning "spaghetti night"... For a while it was every Monday... then I got all crazy and switched it to Tuesdays :)  Sometimes I do spaghetti with meatballs, sometimes it is spaghetti with meat sauce, sometimes it is spaghetti with marinara sauce :)  I also try to do something in the crockpot once a week, and rotate chicken, beef, etc etc.  And if I am not in the mood for something I will switch up the day that I make it... point is, I have a plan and have the ingredients to make everything.  This saves me time, money, and stress!

Do you meal plan?  If not I encourage you to do so... Really does take the stress of "what's for dinner?" out of my day!


For more Menu Planning Ideas:

Pretty Much LOVE this!

Enjoy Your Saturday :)

Source: fitbie.msn.com via Jamie on Pinterest

My DIY Wooden Drawer Organizer!

Yay! I did it...  So very pleased....  I did a little decluttering and moved all my canning stuff that really should not have been in this drawer in the first place.  I used the Kreg Jig to make pocket holes which I LOVE and highly recommend for joining wood.  You can also use countersunk screws instead.  So for my custom drawer redo I purchased 1 piece of 1x3" wood... I think it was around $2.50 at Lowes.  I measured my drawer... my cuts approx cuts were two 19" pieces, two 8" pieces, and one that was around 12"...I did get all of my needed cuts from that 1 piece of wood!  Crazy that I probably paid about the same for the 2 baskets that poorly fit in the drawer... and left a ton of space where everything would just get jumbled.  Now for the silverware drawer!!!

Here is my before shots again

Side View

What a mess!

For a while I just cut 1 piece of wood... I really wanted to figure out just how I wanted to divide the drawer up

 

I ended up with approx 2- 8" cuts, 2- 19" cuts and 1 about 12".  Here is my 1x3 wood cut and I joined them using the Kreg Jig

Ready to play in the drawer!

Here it is all organized!  Yay! I did not screw it to the drawer itself... but it fits securely in place...  I am very pleased with it!

 

My Little Helper :)