Hadley at 9 mos.

Hadley will officially be 9 mos. on Sunday, February 7.

She is finally 16 lbs, 3 0z. (10th percentile), although she is still is in size 2 diapers because she is so skinny. What a problem to have! She is 28 inches long (65th percentile). Last month her first tooth started poking through. It looks like she is going to take after Adam and wait to get her teeth. He only had 4 teeth on his first birthday! Her short hair is finally starting to grow a little. Unfortunately, it's not long enough to do anything with, but long enough to look rather unruly in the morning and after naps! Hadley is still a great sleeper which we are grateful for. She is starting to scale the furniture with a few careful steps, and we hope that is as far as she goes for awhile. We are not ready for a new walker. Hadley is all smiles most of the time & we enjoy her calmness in our home.

Mini Muffin Pan Treats

I was baking up a storm today. I've been craving these, and thought great, I'll make them for my visiting teaching girls, and then I can have some without going overboard. After checking the weight loss blog of our 100 days challenge group, I'm thinking of anonymously delivering some to the big losers so far, just to even things out. Wait, they read my blog, drat.

Pampered Chef Truffle Brownie Cups:

Nonstick Cooking Spray

1 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter (do not substitute margarine)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Assorted garnishes: orange zest, maraschino cherries, toasted almond slices, whipped topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 325. Spray wells of mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place 2/3 cup f chocolate chips & butter into medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 40-60 seconds until smooth, stirring after every 20 second interval.

Add sugar & egg into the same bowl as melted chocolate. Add flour, mix just until flour is incorporated. Divide batter evenly among wells, filling about 2/3 full. Using a mini tart shaper, gently tap batter to create level tops. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges or set. (Do not overbake.)

While brownie cups are baking: Pour heavy whipping cream into microwave safe container. Microwave on high 1-2 minutes until hot. Add 1 cup of chocolate chips & whisk until smooth. Place container into freezer for 10-12 minutes or until mixture is cool & starting to thicken. Stir after each 5 minute interval. Spoon ganache into a ziploc bag & close.

Remove pan from oven & cool 2 minutes. (If you have a cookie cooling rack, set pan on this to cool faster) Press tops of brownies with mini-tart shaper to make indentions. Cool in pan for 3 minutes. Carefully remove brownie from pan. Trim corner of ziploc bag with a very small hole, just enough for the ganache to flow through. Pipe ganache evenly into brownie cups. Garnish if desired.

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies:

Check out my friend Summer's blog for the recipe.

Cheap Crochet Headbands

A few months ago I did a post on how to modify these crochet headbands if you have a Sam Moon nearby. I found an easier, cheaper, & better quality way that I thought I'd share. Hobby Lobby now carries crochet ribbon in their ribbon department. It cost .99 a yard, and is available in pink, black, & white. The ribbon was 30 percent off this week, so each headband cost me about 30 cents to make.

Step 1: Cut ribbon. Fold right sides together. Sew edges together.

I sewed up and down this about 3 times.

Step 2: Open up the headband, and sew down the edges that kind of want to stick up.

Be sure to use a coordinating thread. Trim the threads & your done!

Sizes:

These sizes are very forgiving. To get the best fit, measure your child's head, and subtract 1-2 inches. Cut your ribbon that length & then sew.

Or estimate:

15" fits a 9 mos. old with plenty of room to stretch. The 15" size also worked well on a toddler.

14" is a good fit for a 9 mos. old.

11-12" is perfect hospital newborn size.

This was a super easy project. I made 8 of them in less than 15 minutes total. Which was great because I needed a break from the minky hell of another project. You can hot glue a ribbon strip to the center to add a bow on, but I found with experience it's just as easy to skip that step and use the holes in the crochet head band.

It's not perfect, but it's done

Hadley's other hairbow holder could not hold all the ones I've made for her. I decided a back up hairbow holder was in order. (Don't judge me, I've waited for a girl for a long time!) She has a lot of mini bows that won't work until she grows some more hair! This will hold those until we put them back into the rotation.

I've been trying to challenge my creativity by only using things that I have around the house instead of buying new stuff. Other than the frame I got at a church yard sale for only 50 cents, I used fabric, ribbon, & paint that I had on hand. I probably wouldn't have picked all this if I went out and bought supplies for this project, but it made for a cheap project using leftovers. The pink paint matches the pink ribbon much better in person.

This was really easy to make. I painted the frame with a few coats of craft paint. I was out of spray sealer, so I just put a coat of modge podge on top to give it a slight shine. I wrapped the cardboard backing with fabric & ribbon and hot glued it in place on the back only. Then stuck it back in the frame, and got rid of the glass.

Hadley has a crooked wall behind her door. I thought this would be a great place to hang this, out of the way. I completely under-estimated the amount of space that was on the wall, and there is no way this will fit! So it's not perfect, but it's done! I'm thinking of attaching it to the inside of her closet door instead.

Ghiradelli Souffles

I made these for our dessert on Christmas Eve. They were excellent! This is a total diet buster, but may be an indulgence you want to try on Valentine's Day. I found two recipes on the Ghiradelli site, and combined to make this one. If you don't have ramekins, which are available Walmart, you can use a muffin pan with liners. Not as pretty, but still dang good.

Image from www.Ghiradelli.com

Ghiradelli Souffles

5 oz. Ghiradelli Gourmet 58 percent Cacao Semi Sweet Chocolate *

6 oz milk chocolate chips*

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar **

6 egg whites

4 egg yolks

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

ten 6 oz. ramekins (or eight 7 oz)

Optional: Powdered sugar, Lightly sweetened whipped cream, Ice cream, raspberries or strawberries

*Note: you will only use about half a bag of each chocolate chips.

**Cream of tartar is best, if you don't have that use 1/4 tsp of lemon juice instead.

Directions:

- You have to work quick working with melted chocolate. Make sure to have everything measured out before starting.

- Preheat oven to 375 with a rack in the lower 3rd

- Butter and sugar the ramekins.

- Separate egg whites from egg yolks in two separate containers. Add vanilla in the yolks container. (No need to stir vanilla in.)

- Measure out sugar and milk & set aside in separate containers.

- In a large heavy saucepan, whisk butter and flour over medium heat until the butter melts and sizzles for about 1 minute. (You want a smoother texture, if butter & flour clump together, discard and start again) Whisk in the milk Turn off the heat, keep pan on burner, add chocolate chips & stir until melted. Stir in yolks & vanilla. Set aside off of heat.

- Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high speed until they hold a soft shape. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff and glossy. Scoop out 1/4 of the egg whites mixture and fold into the pan of melted chocolate. Then fold the chocolate from the pan into the bowl of remaining egg whites. Divide batter among the ramekins, filling each about 3/4 full. Cook immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to two days before cooking.

Bake souffles on a cookie sheet until they rise and crack and a toothpick comes out with thick gooey crumbs, about 15-20 minutes. Previously refrigerated souffles may need to cook 3-5 minutes more. Sieve powdered sugar over souffles and serve immediately. Top with desired toppings.

Andrea's Tortilla Soup

My good friend, Andrea, shared this recipe with me a few years back. It's a lot of cans, but it's so easy. You can substitute rotisserie chicken to make it even faster.

Andrea's Tortilla Soup:
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can rotel (drained)
1 can of ranch style beans with onion (or 1 can reg. ranch style beans & 1/2 chopped onion)
2 cans of chicken broth (or reserve 3 1/2 - 4 cups of broth from cooking chicken)
2 large chicken breasts
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
Optional:
Sour Cream
sliced avocado

Directions:
1. Boil chicken, reserve broth.
2. Add cream soups & chicken broth & whisk into smooth
3. Add beans & rotel. Simmer for 10-15 minutes
4. Cut cooked chicken into bite sized pieces & add desired amount to soup.
5. Pour soup over tortilla chips & top with cheese.

*I use mild rotel & drain it because otherwise it would be too spicy for the kids. You can leave the juices in if you like it a little spicier.

New Year's Resolutions

Jared & I have been starting the new year off right with eating better & exercising.

I joined a group of friends in a 100 days weight loss challenge that started on January 1.

Jared has started shopping for a new speedo for his swims. Can you believe this one is on sale?!

That's the one downfall to the triathlons we did pre-Hadley. It gave Jared the courage to sport a speedo. Awkward.