Mug Cake

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here for almost a week now!  It is just what I needed to get in gear and start some over-due Spring cleaning.

Today, though, it is rainy.  Clouds and rain make me a little less energetic, as well as a little bit hungry.  I know...RIDICULOUS!  So, I had a hankering for something sweet and unhealthy, but our oven broke.  UGH!  So, my solution: MUG CAKE!

And seriously, doesn't a great book and a mug cake sound great on a rainy day?

A mug cake is exactly that.  Cake made in a mug and cooked in the microwave.  It's easy peasy and quite yummy, not to mention quick.  This mug cake is super versatile as you can add what you like to yours.  I made my favorite chocolate coconut cake and a mint chocolate chip cake to share with the kiddos when they get home.

 

CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE {recipe}

4 Tbls Flour

3 Tbls Sugar

2 Tbls Cocoa Powder

Pinch of Sea Salt

2 Tbls Coconut Oil (or Olive)

2 Tbls Cream or Milk

1 Tbls (chocolate chips, coconut or whatever your heart desires)

2-3 drops of Real Vanilla or Mint Extract (OPTIONAL)

Combine in mug.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Add 15 seconds if not cooked through.

Okay, so they aren't that pretty.  Maybe if you made them in little tea cups?

Have a wonderful week!!!

Teacher Appreciation Compilation

It's that time of year again, when our school has "Teacher Appreciation" to give thanks and celebrate the teachers.
Check out the awesome idea's below from fellow bloggers that are super talented and amazing!

With a candy bar inside:-)

We made these for the "specials" teachers last year

So cute and  bright!

We made this last year...SO CUTE!

These adorable scissors are on my list this year!

We made this last year, but we put the highlighters in a clear bag.

I love these because they are so cute but also inexpensive!

LOVE these!!!

There are so many cute ideas out there, and of course, stuck in my brain just waiting to get out!
One of my favorite blogs, eighteen 25, has a plethora of fantastic teacher appreciation gifts.  Check them out here.

I have made some of the cute gifts pictured above, but since I wasn't blogging at the time, I didn't take any pictures.  In the past, we have brought a few gifts for each teacher during the week of Teacher Appreciation.  It doesn't have to be something extravagant each time, it could be something as simple as an apple with a cute tag.  It is fun and the kids love taking gifts to their teachers!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week!

Shamrock Hair Clip -Tutorial-

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner and I always like to be festive!  A couple of years ago I made this adorable shamrock hair clip.  I don't remember where I saw it, but I couldn't find it again when I looked...so I thought this would be a great tutorial....my FIRST one! 

First of all, it is really easy.  Secondly, it's really inexpensive!  What more can you ask for?

Shamrock Hair Clip

Items needed:

Green 3/8" ribbon (I used Grosgrain)

Alligator Hair Clip

Lighter or Candle

Glue Gun

E-6000 Glue (Optional)

Step One:

Cut 6 3-inch pieces of ribbon.  Singe each end by carefully and quickly passing it through the flame of a lighter or candle. This will prevent the ribbon from fraying.

Step Two:

Using a glue gun, glue the ends of two pieces of ribbon together making a right angle.

Step Three:

Take the bottom piece and glue it to the top piece, evenly above where the two pieces meet.

Step Four:

Take the unfinished side and put it over-then-under, making a "weaved" look and secure it with glue.

Step Five:

Repeat steps two, three and four until you have made 3 pieces.

Step Six:

  

Set the pieces together to look like a shamrock.  Attach them together by hot gluing them to a small green piece of felt.  Another way, as I did here, is cut 2 1-inch pieces of green ribbon and attach it to that as shown.  These photos are showing the back of the shamrock.

This is the front of the shamrock after glued together.

Step Seven:

Cut a piece of ribbon long enough to cover the clip.  Singe the ends and attach to the clip using E-6000 glue or hot glue.  I prefer using the E-6000 glue for this.

Step Eight:

Attached finished shamrock to ribbon covered clip using hot glue.  I added a little bling to spice it up a bit.  (I made 2 different sizes, in the shamrock on the top I used 4-inch pieces instead of 3-inch.  I prefer the bottom shamrock, using 3-inch pieces.)

We went outside to take some pictures because it was an unusually beautiful day here, but it was super windy! 

This clip is very easy to make and it really took me less than 20 minutes!

I hope you will give it a try!

Evil Aspartame

I used to be a Diet Coke addict.  Not just a little; I was totally and completely hooked, couldn't live without it!  I knew it wasn't good for me, but I didn't care.  It wasn't until I was pregnant with my 3rd child that I quit...cold turkey.  I was reading the book Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven, which is a book that outs the food industry, the FDA, and really just puts everything out there bluntly.  I was disgusted and honestly furious at some of the topics and that these things could be happening in America! 

Aspartame was a topic in the book that really hit home because of all of the Diet Coke I was consuming.  I started looking into it more personally and realized that I was feeding my family foods with containing aspartame, such as chewing gum. 
Now we are an aspartame-free household.  NOTHING will go into my family's mouths that contain this harsh chemical!

Check out this recent article containing the TOP 10 WORST SOURCES OF ASPARTAME. 

Do some research to become more familiar with the side effects and the obvious possible links that aspartame has to migraines, seizures, brain tumors and breast cancer (just to name a few).

It is a serious start to the week, but I feel like I need to put it out there.  Another one of my friends was just diagnosed with breast cancer last week.  If I share some of my personal beliefs about health with you, then I feel like I did my part it spreading the word about some of these unhealthy additives that are prevalent in many of the foods Americans consume today.

I have written several posts about our personal healthy living practices:
The Nitty Gritty: Chemicals and Additives we Avoid
Tap Water Containing Fluoride
Genetically Modified Foods
Raw Milk
Raw Milk Again
Fluoride Warning at Local Store

Have a great week!