Sweet 'n Crunchy Mix

I'm not sure if the following treat could be classified as 'baking'. No offense to the contestant who submitted it to the Taste of Homes cooking contest. It's just that it's soooo simple. I can't believe that I didn't think of it myself. Again, no offense intended. Really. 

These are highly addictive. I made them "for the kids". And the kids loved them - and so did I. So simple, and nut free for my little kiddo with the nut allergy. 

You can tweak this to include any of your favorite cereal or munchie-type snack. I'm thinking plain goldfish crackers would be good in there...some more salt to counter-balance the sweet. The options are endless. I started with a mixture of mini pretzels, multi-grain Cheerios, Crispex, Teddy Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

The original recipes says to simply add the sugar to melted butter but I thought it would be grainy if I didn't cook it into a syrup first. So that's what I did.

The original recipe also calls for 4 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon but I thought that was overkill. Plus I only had 2 teaspoons left, which incidentally was a good thing. Pour the syrup over the cereal.

Then bake it for 20 minutes at 275 degrees F. Give it a good mix half way through.

When you first take it out, the Teddy Grahams seem soggy, but once they cool off they become crispy again. It's not rocket science for sure (no offense), but it's yummy. 

Recipe for Sweet 'n Crunchy Mix
(Source: Taste of Home- Special 2011 Collectors Edition)
2 1/2 cups Crispex (or Chex)
2 cups Mulit-grain Cheerios
1 package of honey bear shaped cookies
1 1/2 cups mini pretzels
1 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
Melt butter, sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized pot. Bring to boil and let cook for about 2 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over your mixed dry ingredients and incorporate thoroughly. Spread onto a rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 275 degrees F. for 20 minutes, stirring it thoroughly halfway through cooking time. Allow to cool before digging in. 

Lost Smile

This is my daughter. I love her to bits and then some. 

It seems, however, that she's completely lost her ability to smile whenever a camera is pointed at her. 

Well, she's lost her ability to smile like a normal person, that is. 

Sometimes I get lucky and I capture a moment before she has a chance to process the fact that a picture is being taken.

But as soon as she's aware that the camera is out, it all just goes down hill fast. 

I have to trick her and casually take pictures of everything around her, pretending not to notice her. Then I surprise her by quickly pointing the camera in her direction and shooting. This process is a bit tedious but it works because it deprives her of the opportunity to "pose".

But as soon as she becomes aware of the camera being pointed at her something strange happens to her face.

It's problematic. 

She used to be able to deliver her crazy beautiful smile on command. At any given time, if I needed to fill a frame, I had my pick of dozens upon dozens of beautiful pictures of her amazing smile.

But those days are clearly over.

I guess it's candid pictures or photography trickery from here on out.

God help me.

Happy 3rd Birthday to My Little Man

Dear Dylan,


I always knew you'd be a handful. I really did. 


You gave me a run for my money from the first day I knew you were coming. A trip to the emergency walk-in clinic for the pains I thought were a near fatal bladder infection turned kidney infection is what tipped me off to your impending arrival. Oh, how excited I was to find out my self-diagnosis was wrong.


My back went out, while I was pregnant with you and I quite literally couldn't sit down for months. Crazy new chairs were invented by your grandfather in an effort to give me relief. They didn't work. 


Then, when you decided to join the rest of of the world, you did so in a hurry and didn't allow your poor mommy the time required to get the drugs she so desperately wanted. Needed. I will tell you this story in more detail at a time in your life when you are fully able to grasp what that means. Several times, in fact. Yes, I'm one of those moms.


You are one strong spirt. Your eyes tell a story long before you open your mouth.

One minute you make me want to pull out my own hair and then the very next minute I can't kiss you enough.

You have finally retired your ratty stuffed Elmo and are now obsessed with Spiderman.

Last week you said, "I'm cool, mom. I'm cool.  I'm cool, right? Mom? Am I cool?" You are super cool.

You call your Ipod your "Ipot".

You call popcorn "c*ckporn" and, though I know I should correct you, I simply refuse.

You are a "momma's boy" according to your dad and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

You ask unabashedly for cuddles. You are a world class cuddler. 

You tell me that you love me about 76 times a day. 

You enjoy telling your sister that you don't love her.

Your favorite foods are hot dogs and spaghetti and fruit roll-ups. 

The only vegetable you willingly eat is cucumber.

You can make your sister cry in 3 seconds flat. You do it with a smile on your face. Sigh.

The only time you even remotely grasp the concept of "sharing" is when someone else has something you want. The concept is lost on you any other time.

You're smart.

You went through a phase where you drew on furniture and walls. Here's a picture of your first adventure with a black permanent marker. It was not your last. Mommy finally got smart and only has washable markers in the house now.

I told you once rather flippantly (about 6 months ago) that you could have gum when you turned 3. You remembered. You've remind me every day that you're turning 3 soon and you want gum. Please stop swallowing it. It makes mommy nervous.

It takes you a very long time to pick out your pajamas every night.

You wake us up twice a night when you've kicked off your covers and want to be tucked back in.

You like wearing mommy's shoes and your sister's head bands around the house.

We made a deal, you and me.  You promised not to grow up anymore, and stay my 'Little Man' forever. Your sister flat out refused to participate in this pact. But you... you were quick to agree. "Okay, mom" you said. Then you hugged me. I thought the deal was sealed, but you're not holding up your end. You hit me with 2 major milestones in the same week. Your first day of pre-school, and your third birthday. Why must you torture me so?

Yes. I was right about you. You are a handful. A deliciously sweet, adorably irresistible handful that I love more than you could ever imagine. 


Happy 3rd Birthday, my sweet Little Man.  

Life Happens...

Judging from my last 2 posts, and the then the long silence that ensued on my end, one might have assumed that I had fallen prey to a self-induced sugar coma. Not true. I've been around - I just haven't been blogging. I'm like that. Sometimes I chatter so much you wish I'd shut up, and then the next time you see me I'm subdued and quiet. It confuses people. They'll ask, "Are you alright?" "Is anything wrong?" Nope. I just have nothing to say. It's that simple. Don't take it personally.

So, what have I been up to? Well, getting ready for our holiday. We leave on Sunday and we take a lot of stuff, cause we need it. For instance, we need to have our espresso maker so my husband can make me a Bailey's lattes every morning. We need our margarita maker too, no explanation required. You get the picture. I've been packing like crazy and I cannot wait to unwind.  But...mostly I've been experimenting with my new camera. We are having a love affair my camera and I. My husband bought if for my birthday in June and it hasn't once been put away. I take pictures of everything. Seriously. Everything.

Mango Bread

I bought  a case of mangoes the other day because they were such a good price but, as it turns out, I'm the only one in the house who will eat them.  So, determined not to waste them, I decided to try making Mango Bread.  I looked at several recipes on the internet, as well as Dorie Greenspan's version, however I wanted a more basic recipe, and because no one appears to be crazy about mangoes in my house (besides me, that is) I didn't want large chunks of the fruit in my bread.  I wanted a texture similar to banana bread, moist and dense.

There are a lot of recipes out there for Hawaiian Mango Bread containing coconut and pineapple, but I wanted none of that.  I found a few very basic recipes and decided to try it work from them, making my own adjustments.

When I asked my husband what he thought (and you have to understand that he really is a man of few words, particularly if he's watching hockey) he said "good" "light" and "moist".  When I pushed him on "good" to see if he would elevate it to "great", he said "no". He was right though, it wasn't great.  I'm not sure what he meant by "light" because I thought it was on the dense side, unless he was referring to flavor, in which case I would have to agree.

I am going to tackle this recipe again at the end of the week. I want the mangoes to play a more prominent role and I want it to be "great". 

Mango Bread - a work in progress

2 1/2 cups of finely chopped mango

2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 c. all purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1 1/4 c. sugar

3 eggs

3/4 c. canola oil

1 1/2 t. baking powder

I really was happy with the texture of this bread, it was very moist.  It was just lacking a bit of flavor.  I deliberately used a small amount of cinnamon because I find that it overwhelms things quickly, and unless I'm eating apple pie or crumble, I don't want a lot of cinnamon.

As much as I hate to admit it, I think the whole wheat flour may have masked the flavor of the mango.  Next time I'll just use 2 cups of all purpose. (So much for my attempt to be health conscious!)

I will try using brown sugar instead of white and maybe even using butter instead of oil, but that may compromise the moistness. Have to think about that.

I think a touch more salt would help elevate the flavors and I completely forgot my vanilla, so I will be adding a generous tablespoon next time.

Also, because the bread didn't raise much, might add more baking powder.  

That's a lot of changes!  It almost sounds like it didn't turn out at all.  It's actually not bad at all, I won't be throwing it away... but I think it will be so much better when I'm done with it.  Will keep you posted (ha ha!)