Baby did a bad, bad thing!

Several months ago I blogged about my failed attempt at making Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies. I have to say I was really bummed when they didn't work out because in my mind they were going to be EPIC and would transform me into some sort of kitchen diva! After the whole debacle I decided to step away from the stuffed cookie thing for awhile but today the urge struck. I was overwhelmed by the desire, nay, the need to make some sort of baked good stuffed with Oreo deliciousness so I headed over to my newest obsession, Pinterest, for some inspiration. I found the following, I made the following, I ate the following and I will be taking the following to school tomorrow!

All the images *as well as the basic recipe* were taken from kevinandamanda.com, because I'm lame and left my camera at school. I attempted to capture a few shots on my phone but yeah, not so much! Amanda's site has lots of great recipes and photography, so you should take a few minutes and check it out!

So without further ado, here is what I found myself making this afternoon!! Chocolate Chip Cookie and Oreo Fudge Brownies!!!

How incredible do these bad boys look? They combine three of my favorite desserts so you know they're going to be fabulous! Thanks Amanda!!!

To get the ball rolling you need to make some chocolate chip cookie dough. I used the Nestle Tollhouse recipe because it is my favorite. Once the dough is ready get out a 9x13 pan and line it with wax paper; this will make removal from the pan so much easier. When the pan is lined, pour in the dough and spread it out so it covers the bottom of the pan like such...

Step 1: Cookie dough crust

Next, top the cookie dough with several rows of Oreos...

Step 2: Layer Oreos over the cookie dough

Whip up some brownie batter, according to the package directions and pour over the Oreos...

Step 3: Pour brownie batter over the Oreos.

Spread the brownie batter evenly over the Oreos. In her recipe, Amanda was very daring and added 1/4 cup of hot fudge sauce to the batter...

Step 4: Evenly spread the brownie batter over the Oreos and bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes

Bake these at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. These are likely to be some of the longest 45 minutes of your life but your patience will be rewarded with these...

I ate one and it was FABULOUS!!! These are definitely not something that you can keep just laying around the house so I plan on taking them to school and sharing the deliciousness with my co-workers.

If you make these I promise you won't regret it one bit! I do suggest that you wait for a time when you know you'll have a ton of people coming over otherwise you'll eat them all yourself and that would be a bad, bad thing!

***This is obviously a lighthearted and frivolous post on what is a very somber day for our country. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who acted so bravely and heroically on September 11, 2001 and to all the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country in the days since. I'm a extremely grateful for your service and pray for your speedy return home! May you and your families be blessed!

Pinterest Craft Ideas (Autumn Edition #1)

Pinterest. I've mentioned this super addictive site several times in my last few blogs and I'm going to mention it again today. A lot.Because I love it. I love it more than my luggage *said in a southern accent a la Steel Magnolias*

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the awesomeness that is Pinterest, allow me to fill you in. Pinterest is a virtual pin board that allows you to find, organize and share all sorts of fabulous things from craft ideas, recipes, home decor and even entire outfits! It is a complete time suck BUT you walk away with great ideas and a ton of motivation and inspiration. Here are a few Autumn draft projects I'd love to tackle in the next few weeks!

MUST make immediately!!!

How cute (and simple) are these yarn candy corns? I wasn't able to track down the person responsible for these or detailed instructions on how to make them but they appear pretty straight forward. You could use some of those foam forms or even some sturdy cardboard. I love the button tops! All around simple, inexpensive and CUTE!!!

Fabulous Fall Rag Wreath from The Simple Standard shop on Etsy

I am in absolute L-O-V-E with this wreath. At first glance I thought this was tissue paper but upon further inspection it is actually made out of strips of fabric. You can find similar wreaths (bummer but this wreath is sold out) on another favorite site of mine, Etsy in The Simple Standard shop. I'm sure this is much more time consuming then the candy corn cones but I still plan on giving this a shot!

DIY Halloween Light Garland courtesy of Good Housekeeping!

Most of us have strands of clear Christmas just lying around our homes waiting anxiously for the month of December to roll around; well here's a way to give those suckers a little more use! Grab some Dixie cups (mouth wash size), adorable scrapbook paper and those aforementioned lights and make the above now!!! Seriously... holy genius Batman! Or Good Housekeeping I should say.  I love this idea because it's going to be relatively inexpensive, super simple and easy to change up for the different seasons and holidays.

I'm in LOVE with Amanda Buccola's yarn wrapped letters!

I'm on a yarn kick; maybe it has something to do with my overwhelming desire to wear big, chunky knit sweaters even though it's still in the 80s. Anyway, I think these are too cute! Amanda at TheWhimsicle had these in her Etsy shop, and while they're no longer for sale I thank her for the inspiration with which they have left me. I love the color combination she used to declare her LOVE and think it would be just darling for AUTUMN or HARVEST or BE THANKFUL. Swap out the green and gray for black and you would have a fantastic palate for BOO or EEK.

Visit Itz Fitz over at Etsy for more insanely awesome yarn wreaths!!!

And here's some more yarn preciousness! In general I love wreaths and these cuties are not helping! Can you guess which of the four shown is my favorite? If you said the purple one, well... winner winner chicken dinner!!! Itz Fitz is the genius behind these gorgeous wreaths and her Etsy shop is chock full of even more goodies. Her creativity is boundless and gives me something to strive for.

Well there you go ladies, and possibly gents, a wrap up (heehee, that's funny cause some many of these things are wrapped) of some of the fab things you can find on Pinterest that you can either buy or make yourself.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you back here real soon!

Tasty Tuesday

Today was one of those days that seemed to go on forever. You know the kind; nothing horrible happens and it isn't a crazy, challenging, hair pulling day but it just doesn't seem to end! And wishing it was over only makes things worse! Today left me with just enough motivation to go to Pilates (which was awesome by the way; thanks Anna) and absolutely no motivation to cook. Normally I'd suck it up and cook something but I decided to take the night off and indulge in a long lingering craving for Chinese food. As I sat on the couch eating my Sweet and Sour Chicken I decided it was high time to plan out the rest of this week's meals. I hopped on to Pinterest (seriously I'm addicted to this site and I will be a pusher and try to get you addicted too) and took a look at my FOOD! pins for some inspiration. Below I'm listing the tasty treats I plan on making this week! Enjoy!!!

How fantastic does this peach margarita look?
 Cheers to the ladies at We Are Not Martha!

To starts things off... a little summer refreshment! This peach margarita from the lovely ladies over at We Are Not Martha looks fabulous! I love peaches; they're so juicy and sweet and even better so refreshing! While this is a traditional margarita it can be made sans tequila; try some Sprite or sparkling water instead.



A jalapeno popper in sandwich form? Get out!!!

Ben loves jalapeno poppers so when I stumbled across this recipe, again from the crafty girls at We Are Not Martha, I got super excited!!! Probably more so than is ok because it is only a sandwich! But come on; how beautiful does this look! Thick, crusty bread, cream cheese, bacon and jalapenos. Mmmm, I just made my own mouth water. I think this is what we'll be having for dinner tomorrow!



Baked risotto!?! Miracles do happen!

 Risotto. One of the most luscious, decadent and rich dishes ever known to grace mankind's palate. For all its deliciousness risotto is also UBER time consuming!!! If you've ever made risotto you know what I mean. An hour of standing over the stove stirring and pouring and stirring and pouring. You are the risotto's slave; it knows it, you know it and your frizzy hair lets the rest of the world know it.  This recipe from Dabbling in the Delicious, is amazing because 1) it tastes incredible and 2) it BAKES IN THE OVEN!!! No seriously, you bake it which frees you up for more important things like giving yourself a pedicure, watching a DVR'd episode of the Closer or taking a power nap.

Jen over at My Own Road had this fabulous idea.
Must say... LOVE IT!!!

Strawberries are a definite star of the summer season and I think twist on strawberry shortcake is genius! I dare you to go out into the world and find one person who doesn't love a kabob; especially when that kabob alternates strawberries with angel food cake and is drizzled with chocolate. If you don't like strawberries or have allergies try with raspberries, blackberries or even peach and nectarines.

Well there you go one and all, a peek into what I'll be serving up at home this week. Enjoy these last few weeks of summer and use as many of those gorgeous fruits and veggies as you can!

A Tasty Recipe... for your shower!!!

I have a confession to make. Are you ready for it? I love lemons. There I said it. The smell is so invigorating and inviting and fresh and clean (oh, did anyone else have that Outkast song start running through their head?). I adore the many tastes of lemon; tart, sour, sweet. I also love how many uses lemons have outside of cooking recipes so, today I'm going to share one of those uses... SUGAR SCRUB!!!


Sugar scrubs are fabulous. They feel so luxurious, smell so fabulous and leave your skin feeling so soft. I've been interested in attempting my own for awhile now but thought, "naw, it'll be really hard and complicated and I have no time for that." Well, you know what? Sugar scrubs are like the easiest thing ever to make. No joke! So simple!

I found this recipe during one of my (way too long) pinterest browsing sessions. *Pinterest, for those of you who haven't already been seduced, is an amazing site that will be the subject of a future blog I'm sure. If you have like 4 hours to kill I suggest you check it out!* Okay, okay... back to recipe. This was taken from Under The Table and Dreaming blog, which has a ton of great ideas and is just all around adorable. The ingredients couldn't be simpler; sugar, olive oil and lemon juice. That's it! How easy is that. Chances are you already have these things at home!

Here's whatcha do...
1. Juice 2-3 lemons for a total of 4 tbsp lemon juice
2.  Grab a big bowl
3. Pour in 2 1/2 cups white sugar
4. Pour in 1 cup extra virgin olive oil (you can use light if you are put off by the smell)
5. Stir sugar and oil together well
6. Add in lemon juice and stir again
7. Scoop into a container with a lid that can be securely shut.

***This makes enough to fill a 12 oz. container, or two 6 oz containers and so on and so forth.

Lemon Sugar Scrub taken from www.bystephanielynn.com

I love that Stephanie put hers in a mason jar, a perfect choice! And if I had mason jars in my home I would have done the same thing! Instead I put mine in one of those see through kitchen storage jars meant for flour, coffee or sugar, which technically this is so I'm golden!

The lemon scent is subtle, sweet and, in my opinion, absolutely perfect. Because this has oil in it, you'll have to remember to give it a stir on occasion. You'll also want to watch out for slippery tubs!!!

Please make this for yourself and for loved ones. It's instant cheer and a piece of summer that can last through those long, cold winters!

New (School) Year Resolutions!

Once again I've taken a long break from the blog to do lots of other things. I'm happy to announce that Ben and I are totally moved in and the house is almost set up to my liking! School has started and I'm having a blast reconnecting with my co-workers and catching up with my students. Moving up to 8th grade wasn't something I was thrilled about as last year wrapped up but I think it's going to be a blast. Ben and I have put his Big Green Egg (a giant ceramic smoker) to good use as we've hosted our first of many football Saturdays.  It's been a very busy August and September is shaping up to be crazy as well. I'm so excited for this year!

I've been making some New (School) Year Resolutions and one of them is to pay more attention to the blog. I started this to share recipes and what not and I've been a total slacker in that regard. Bad Megan! I think I'm going to have "spotlight" days where I highlight things I love, want, or just generally think are awesome. I'm open to suggestions of things you'd like to see on the blog; so don't be shy, share what's on  your mind!

Another resolution is to pack my lunch every day. I spent a lot of money buying lunch in the cafeteria because I forgot to pack a lunch last year. I'm not sure how well acquainted you are with jr. high cafeteria but to say it sucks would be a MAMMOTH understatement.

I am also going to work on being more organized; in my classroom and at home. I have an awesome "supply station" set up in my classroom and it's working out great. This was something I dreamed up because, once again, my room plays host to a giant printer which sits atop a giant desk with many pullout shelves. I'll post pictures when the super cute labels I ordered come in. The kids are loving because everything is in one place and all the goodies are store in brightly colored little tin pails.

Keeping with the organization theme, I plan on tackling the pantry and under counter cabinets. I've become slightly obsessed with Jen over at iheart organizing. In fact, she's the one designing my awesome labels. I can't wait to see how they turn out!!!

Alright, I'm going to play around with my new computer (big shout out to Mom and Dad for my awesome birthday present) and enjoy Ben and Brian's super witty banter. I'll be back tomorrow with a fun recipe. Enjoy your Saturday!!!

Can I sit down yet?

Hey all, sorry to have been M.I.A these last few weeks; I'm sure you've all been on pins and needles anxiously awaiting the return of my delightful wit and incredible storytelling powers. :)

When I last blogged the kids and I were about to make our way to DC. Needless to say, it was incredible! The kids had a great time seeing all the sights you could cram into 2 1/2 days; they went bananas over the Air and Space museum (where I spent the 90 minutes just sitting... it felt awesome) and thought the Declaration of Independence was pretty cool (Ms. Miller, you can barely see the writing!!!). I loved being able to watch their faces as we walked up the stairs of the Lincoln Monument and they took in just how enormous the statue of Lincoln is and their momentary shock and horror when they thought there might have been a typo carved into the wall of the monument. Don't worry, there isn't. We visited the Air Force memorial which made Robbie's whole trip, seriously have never seen that kid so giddy! And Kirby just about died when we stopped by the World War II memorial where he proceeded to bombard us with facts and figures about every aspect of the entire war! My girls are girls and thought our lunch at the Pentagon City Mall was the best because they could do some real shopping. I'll admit it, I speed ate my lunch so I could hit some shops... I missed that place!

I am so happy I had the opportunity to take such an awesome group of kids to one of my favorite places in the world and share my enthusiasm for our nation's history. That being said, I don't see myself doing this again in the next year or two. It was exhausting!!!

I realize that I devoted two fairly substantial blogs to the first few days of our trip and a paragraph to the last several but the details of the trip are starting to fade and I've been busy with some really cool things in the last few weeks.

My parents and I took a long weekend trip to see Ben and Michelle. It was so much fun visiting them and getting close to Moscow. Someday I will make it all the way there!!! I need to hit the bookstore and get some new Vandal gear!

Leah and I took a bestie trip to Boise where we spent time with our great girlfriends. Jerome made a brief appearance and it was so great to see her! Our little traveling gnome is enjoying her time in Wisconsin and has us thinking about taking a girl's trip to Madison. Bring on the cheese!!!

Last but not least, Ben and I moved!!! We packed up our tiny apartment and moved into a nice, big townhouse. And you know what, it's freaking fantastic! We have so much room that it's crazy! We have so much room in fact that we had to buy a new couch to fill up an empty room. The kitchen is crazy spacious compared to the tiny galley I had at the apartment so I'll be able to expand my cooking adventures and try out some new recipes! Never fear dear readers, I'll post lots of pictures!

The place is slowly taking shape and I'm hoping to have it set up and ready to show off before school starts; the couch should be here soon, I'm hoping to get our dining table out of storage in the next day or two and picture hanging shouldn't take too long and then it will feel like home!

Once the place it all put together I'll post some photos of the new place. And for those of you who live close there might just be a party or two to attend at the new casa! Keep your eyes post for the invites!

Alright my lovelies, I'm off to nap! TTFN!!!

And I'm Back!!! (Part Two)

Alright folks, let's pick up where we left off. As you'll recall the kids and I made it from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake to Atlanta with no trouble at all. Well as soon as we boarded the plane in Atlanta all our good travel karma must have been spent because things started to unravel and fast!!!

The plane was boarded and all the passengers were ready to go but alas the Delta control room, or whatever it's called was not. There was some sort of computer issue that the pilot kept assuring us would only take a few minutes to solve; we gave him the benefit of the doubt the first 3 times he said that... after that it was all the people around me could do not to start screaming "LIAR!!!" It is at this point that Alexis leans over the seat two rows up and across the aisle to inform me that she left her wallet with ALL her money and ALL her debit cards on the other plane! Ummm, WTF?!?! No that wasn't my response because you don't say that to 13 year olds but that's definitely what was going through my head and, according to the woman next to me, what you could read on my face. Instead here is the discussion verbatim
Me: "Are you sure? Remember how I told you to check all around you and in your bags to make sure you had everything before we get off the plane?"
Alexis: "Uh, yeah".
Me: "Well did you?"
Alexis: "I guess not"
Robby and Elijah in unison: "DUDE!!!"
Aspen and Shannon in unison: "Shut up Elijah!"
Me: "We don't say shut up! Alexis call your mom"
Alexis: Why?"
Me: "Uh, maybe because you have no money and she might like to know that"
Alexis: Blank Stare
Pilot: "Okay folks, we'll be taking off shortly I promise"
Me: "Alexis... call... your... mom... now............ (clenched teeth, deep breathes, imagining being on a beach with an INCREDIBLY large drink) NOW!"

At this point I flag down a flight attendant and explain the situation and ask if I can get the number for customer service so I can do my part to get the wallet back. This is a 30 minute process which is fine because WE'RE STILL ON THE GROUND!!! Just a head's up; if you lose something on a plane you have to file a claim online. No one at Delta will talk to you about it, so annoying. I tell Alexis to call her mom back so I can fill her in on what I found out and she just stares at me. Aspen informs me that Alexis hasn't called her mom yet. This did not sit well and try as I might I could not contain the teacher face (very similar to the mom face but slightly less terrifying). Alexis finally pulled out her phone and called her mom and as you can imagine the conversation wasn't a terribly pleasant one for Alexis. I filled her mom in on where to go and what to do along with flight and seat numbers and told her good-bye. As I was hanging up, the pilot came on to tell us that we were cleared for take off and we'd be in the air in 5 minutes. Well that 5 minutes became 15 but whatever, we weren't at the gate anymore that was huge progress.

I have to stay that during our 2 hour delay the kids were wonderful. They didn't complain and they didn't annoy each other or those around them. They were complimented by the folks around us and I was offered many drinks (on the sly of course) because people think you need many drinks when they hear you're chaperoning 7 teenagers on a trip that last 5 days. I declined the beverages (regretfully) and focused on taking a nap.

Dulles has never been a favorite airport of mine but I was soooo thrilled to see it because it meant we were finally there!!! As the kids and I got off the plane we all waved good-bye and agreed to leave our bad travel karma on the plane. It worked because the rest of the trip went beautifully! We met up with the rest of our group, two schools from California and loaded onto the bus. Our first order of business was dinner at Cheeseburger Paradise (interesting place) and then it was off to Williamsburg to get a good nights sleep.

Day 3:
Our first full day of adventure and sight-seeing. We began the day in Jamestown and that was really interesting.  We saw replicas of the ships the men came over on and the village they lived in. We got a lesson in blacksmithing and learned how to make nails and unanimously decided that 17th century clothing wouldn't be fun to wear in 90 degree heat.

After Jamestown we headed to lunch in Willamsburg; we dined on ham sandwiches (thick, crusty bread that made me thing of Europe) at a darling restaurant called The Cheese Shoppe. The kids got a lesson in how small the world really is when our guide asked if we knew Marty Trillhaus, who local readers might know as the editor of the Idaho Falls Post Register. Somehow our guide (who's name I have managed to forget) and Marty are related, distantly. After lunch there was some shopping in the cute local shops and then it was on to Colonial Williamsburg.



The Governor's Masion



The oh so delcious Cheese Shop

q










Despite the insane temperatures and oppressive humidity we had so much fun at Williamsburg! The kids loved seeing the old buildings and learning about the history of the town and it's people. We saw several actors rehearsing new skits (Holy crap Ms. Miller! Those guys have swords!!!) and learned all about colonial wig making. The secret? Goat hair. Who'd have thunk? While in the wig maker's shop she asked my kids were asked which grown up was theirs and I nervously raised my hand. And then she said the magic words, "I don't say this often but you have such an incredibly well behaved groups of students. They were so polite and asked such wonderful questions." The kids were beaming and well, darn it, so was I. When we left I pointed out that what had just happened is why adults are always harping on them to behave.

There were a few more sites to see in Willamsburg and they were all really interesting but after the wig maker's they weren't highlights. Dinner however was about to become the coolest part of the day.

We ate at one of the dining rooms at the College of William and Mary and the kids were amazed because there were college kids there! And there were like 20 choices for dessert! And there was soda! And real plates! On the bus I established my second trip rule; When veggies are an option, you will eat some. And no, french fries and baked potatoes ARE NOT veggies. The kids took this in stride and enjoyed big salads and fresh green beans with their burgers and mac and cheese. Kirby sat down with an entire place of raw broccoli, color me impressed and his roommates fearing for the evening ahead of them.

After dinner we had a ghost story tour whose impact was lessened due to the brightness of the evening and then it was off for DC! FINALLY!!!

Alright, I will be back in a day or two to finish up the story of our trip but now I must prepare myself to make this...


Fig and Prosciutto Pizza, recipe and image courtesy of Yummy Mummy at http://www.yummymummykitchen.com/