Rice Crispie Treat DEATH MATCH Trial Recipe: Cake Batter

What?!  Two rice crispie recipes in one week?  In one day?!

Well, I happened to be making the chocolate peanut butter banana treats when a gaggle of little boys swarmed through my kitchen.  (No lie - I had between 8-12 of them in my home at various times today.)  And when they saw those rice crispie treats they went nuts.

"I'm hungry!"  "I want a snack!"  "I'm STARRRRVVVVIIINNNGGGG!!!"

Well, you can't argue with an insensible gaggle of little boys.  But neither can you give them a pan of treats that need to be refrigerated for two hours. 

So instead I decided to try the Cake Batter rice crispie treat recipe my that BFF Gigi sent to me when she heard about the DEATH MATCH.

(Side note: Am I cool enough to get away with using the term BFF?  I didn't think so.  Dang.)

Here were the results (with obligatory caption on the photo):

These were actually pretty tasty.  There was a very distinct birthday cake flavor, which I liked.  I think if I made these again I would add more cake batter, just to get more flavor.  Also, I might try another flavor, like strawberry.  However, this recipe only calls for 1/3 cup of cake mix, so I'm not gonna go out and buy a bunch of mixes just to test flavors, because then what do I do with the rest of the mix?  (My leftover mix is currently in the freezer until I come up with some idea.  Or make more rice crispie treats.)

So although I will most likely make these again in the future, I don't know that these are quite worthy of ETERNAL FAME AND GLORY.  Sorry, Gig.

Oh - and how did the gaggle of little boys like them?  Well, by the time the treats were done only this many boys remained.

Oops.  Cut your face out of that shot, Andrew.  Let's try again:

Well dang.  That's not any better.  How did Tess like them?  (I gave her a tiny strip.)  She did not like them - too sticky for her.  She kept getting them stuck on her fingers and then successfully flinging them all over the kitchen.

*******
On a completely unrelated note...

This story probably deserves its own post, but I'm too lazy to start a fourth one for the day.

While I was making these treats, J's dad came to the door.  (J lives right next door, and his father works for the Sheriff's office.  I don't know whether or not they'd want their names on here, so we'll just stick with J and J's Dad.)  This little scene ensued:

J's Dad: Hi Maren!  Can I steal J?  I need to go run a quick errand.

Me: Oh, he's downstairs playing with all the boys.  You can just leave him here, if you want.  I really don't mind.

J's Dad: Well, that's okay, I don't know how long the errand will take, and I know you have a lot of kids here.

Me: Really, it's no bother!  One more boy doesn't make much difference.  I've got it all under control.  (A phrase, I might add, that I never use.  Why?!  Why did I use it then?!)

It was at this point that Cole came streaking through the living room and up to me, diaperless and loudly singing the ABCs while taking drunken swigs from his sippy cup.

Me: I'll go get J.


Yeah, I think that pretty much sums it all up right there.

Rice Crispie Treat DEATH MATCH Trial Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana

So I have around 854 cousins on my dad's side of the family.  They are all, in a word, awesome. Unfortunately, we are spread out around the country and rarely get to see each other.  Through the magic of the interwebs we've been able to keep up with and get to know each other pretty well.  But it's not quite the same as being together.  Fortunately, there's a Roper family reunion every other year where we can spend some face time together.

A few months ago I posted something about rice crispie treats on Facebook.  I can't even remember what it was about, but I'm sure it was in praise of them.  (I'm a big fan.)  My cousin, Jen, begged to differ, saying she didn't even really like rice crispie treats - except for scotcharoos.  

Blasphemy.

First of all, if done right, rice crispie treats are YUMMY. They're light and sweet and crispy and gooey all at the same time!  They aren't seasonal - they're good any time of year.  Plus, they're super-easy to make.  Oh - and have you noticed?  They're always the first desert to be finished at any sort of ward function.

Second, scotcharoos are gross.  Mainly because they have butterscotch in them and I'm not a fan of butterscotch.  At all.

(Side note: that is a lie.  I do like a scant handful of butterscotch chips in my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  But that really is the only time I like butterscotch.  Blech.)

(Another side note: for some unknown reason, butterscotch is really hard for me to type.  I keep making mistakes and having to fix it.  This makes me like it even less.)

Even though I wasn't insulting Jen's scotcheroos, but rather all scotcheroos in general, Jen took offense to my comments.

Words were spoken.  (Er... typed.)

Threats were made.

Oaths sworn.

And thus, the Rice Crispie Treat DEATH MATCH was born!  It was decided that we will bring our best rice crispie treats to the reunion and then let the judges decide whose is best.

Nevermind the fact that we don't really have judges yet.  Nor have we decided if we will bring just one pan, or enough for all 397 of us Ropers.  And I don't know that anyone has told Aunt Valerie about this, and she's the one in charge of the reunion this year.  Has anyone told Aunt Valerie?

Nevermind.  It doesn't matter.

Because I am bound and determined to win. 

BOUND AND DETERMINED!!!

My cousin Jen (of Jen's Favorite Cookie fame) claims that the winner of this contest will win bragging rights.

I laugh at bragging rights!  I scoff at them!  No - I plan on winning something much better:

ETERNAL FAME AND GLORY!!!

That's right, people.  This mess just got real, yo.

Ahem.

Anywho, in order to win this eternal fame and glory I have decided to search out the best rice crispie treat recipe I can find.  So far my running favorite is the s'mores rice crispie treats I made last summer for national s'mores day.  But what if an even better recipe is out there, just waiting for me to find it?

So for the next few months, each Friday I will be testing out a new recipe or two and blogging about the results.  Needless to say, Lance is most pleased with this turn of events.

This week's recipe?  Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Rice Crispie squares, found via Pinterest and on this website.

Chocolate, peanut butter, and banana are arguably one of the best flavor trifectas in dessertdom.  And since rice crispie treats are like the tofu of the dessert world (they can take on just about any flavor), I figured this would translate well.

I made the rice crispie layer with no problem. But when I started making the top layer, I knew this recipe had issues.  Specifically, I'm pretty sure the topping layer's ingredients measurements are way off - as in, too low.  Just look at how thick their layer is:

And look at mine:

And, yes, I quadruple checked everything.  Oh well.

(Side note: notice how I added the title of the recipe to the picture.  I think it's some sort of blogging law or something now...)

But how the treat looks doesn't so much matter as how it tastes.

Verdict?  Pretty darn good.  The banana flavor came through a lot more strongly than I thought it would.  In fact, it reminded me very much of a peanut butter and banana sandwich, with a hint of chocolate thrown in for good measure.  Very tasty.

But award winning?  DEATH MATCH winning?  Probably not.  Besides, these treats require refrigeration, which probably wouldn't work too well at a camping family reunion.

Bring on the next contender!!

Spring Break Shirts

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet, but this week was Spring Break.  It was mostly pretty good.  Oh, there were definitely moments where I wanted to toss the kids out the door and tell them not to come back.  There were moments where I actually did that.  But for the most part it wasn't that bad.

I wasn't planning on any big outings or vacations, but I did have lots of activities planned.  You know, fun ones that are sneakily educational.  Pinterest is teeming with ideas, many of which I swore to myself that we would do.

One.  We did one activity.

Le sigh.

Because sometimes kids just don't want to do activities like that.  And other times moms don't.  So whatever.

A few weeks ago I found white shirts and a onesie at Hobby Lobby for around a buck each and knew just what to do with them: Sharpie and Alcohol tie dye!

You rubberband parts of the shirt around a cup, draw on those parts, and then drip some rubbing alcohol onto them.  Viola!  It looks like tie dye!

Here's the shirt I did for Cole.  (There was no way I was gonna let him loose with a Sharpie.  Luckily, he wasn't even interested.)  See?  His shirt is drying with the cups still on.

Josh really enjoyed this activity.  I think he would have done four more shirts if I had let him.  We talked about diffusion on a very basic level, and I think he kind of understood.  He loved the alcohol part the most.  He did not, however, like getting his picture taken.

Here's the shirt I made for Tess.  Isn't it cute?  Except for that random yellowish-green spot on the lower left corner - Josh decided he needed to add that there without asking me.  Grr...

Cole finished shirt.

Josh finished shirt.

Where's Spencer's shirt?  Spencer was too cool to do a shirt - until we peer pressured him into doing it.  And then I forgot to take pictures.

Today I got all four kiddos in their shirts.  But for the life of me I could not get all four kiddos to look at the camera at the same time.  Cole and that rotgut flip camera...

So I got one good picture of the cooperative children, and

... one of Cole.  

Fakin' It

Joshie come into the house today with a good-sized splinter in his foot.  Since it was quite painful for him, I knew that it would be best to get the splinter out then, rather than wait for Lance to home. 

As I wrestled a wailing and flailing and surprisingly strong five year old and held his foot with one arm and tried to remove the splinter with my eyebrow tweezers with my free hand, this thought came to my mind: where along my journey of life did I become qualified to do something like this? 

It was at this moment that Josh kicked me in the face.

Just kidding.  But almost. 

I got the splinter out, gave him a lollipop to ease the pain, and sent him on his way.  (It's a well-known fact that lollipops are often the best medicine in cases like this.  A lesser-known fact is that a good, warm bath will cure just about any ailment my children bring to me.  Congested?  Get in the tub.  Tummy ache?  Go have a soak.  Strange rash?  A bath can't hurt.  I'm known as the Bath Mom around these parts.)

This experience got me to thinking about how much of my mothering is based on the old "Fake it 'till you make it" adage.

Most of it, quite frankly.

I have four kids, but there are lots of times I don't know what I'm doing.  Sure, I've learned a lot along the way, but kids have the uncanny ability to throw innovative and sometimes unnerving situations at you All The Time.  It's as if they're always two steps ahead of me.

I hardly think I'm alone in this situation.  It's not like there's a school you can attend to learn how to be a  mother. 

(If there was, I'm pretty sure the course titles would include:

• 17 strength-training exercises to help you diaper a squirming baby
• How to get a tantruming child into their car seat - with an audience
• Blood, vomit, poop & pee: 12 bodily fluids you will come into contact with and how to remove them from your couch
• 39 effective threats to whisper to your children while shopping in a crowded public area

Graduate courses would be something along the lines of:

•  How not to kill your child when they roll your eyes at you.  Again.)

Whoa.  Detour there.  Sorry about that.

Anywho, there is no school for motherhood because nobody in their right mind would take on that sort of course load.  In the course of the day I am the following: co-CEO of the Madsen Family, a teacher, a doctor, accountant, publicist, dietician, bad cop, good cop, wrestling match referee, spiritual adviser, chef, chauffeur, janitor, seamstress, laundress, politician, housekeeper, artist, IT professional (admittedly, I do have much help on this one!), facilities manager, psychologist, conflict negotiator, engineer, scientist, and on and on.

You could go to school every day of your life and never earn enough degrees to satisfy the list above.  It's no wonder I have to fly by the seat of my pants so often - I got a degree in advertising.  What was I thinking?!

Well, for how often I have to fake it, things seem to be going fairly well.  I mean, I haven't lost a kid yet, so I have that going for me.

I find comfort in the thought that my mother, the woman I look up to and whose mothering skills I try to emulate, probably faked it just as much as I did. 

I mean, I turned out pretty okay, right?

(Feel free to fake your agreement.)

Thing 4

I have been told that there has been an alarming lack of cuteness on my blog lately.  My apologies and recompense as follows:

Look at all those teef (how we pronounce teeth around here) in that mouth!

She doesn't really have those little baby feet anymore.  She has giant toddler feet, which she likes to clap together when she gets really excited.  It's super cute, but she won't do it for the camera.

If you say "Yay!" or "Hooray" around Tess, she'll start applauding.  It's pretty fun.  You know what else is fun?  Those fantastically huge and chubby thighs!

I luuurrrrve this picture.  I don't know what she's looking at, but she sure was excited about it!

Oh mercy.  She's been rubbing the back of her head on her mattress again.  I keep trying to comb it out, but little untangleable dreadlocks keep forming.
 

Oh Thing 4 - I sure do love you!

Cole vs. Church

We're still have so very much fun with Cole at church.  (Is there a sarcastic font?  Because I really need it.)

After a very long Sacrament Meeting with Cole we finally reached the closing hymn.  While we were singing it Cole started acting up again.  So I decided to try to distract him from his bad behavior.

Me (loudly whispering into his ear): Cole!  Cole!  It's time for nursery!  Do you want to go to nursery?

Cole (looking at me with those huge blue eyes): Yes!  Nursery!

Then he started wiggling out of my lap to go to nursery.

Me: No, Cole!  Nursery is after the song and prayer.  After!  Then we will go to nursery!

Cole: After?  All gone?

Me: Yes!  First song, then prayer, then nursery.

Cole (shaking his little fist in righteous indignation toward the chorister and organist): All done!  Stop it!  STOP IT!!

Then it was me misbehaving in Sacrament meeting because I could not stop laughing.

Shopping Bonanza!

Do you have a really good friend who you can always count on? Who you can go without seeing and sometimes even not talking to for days or even weeks at a time, but get back together and have it feel like no time has passed at all?  A friend who has the same sense of humor, likes the same type of TV shows and books as you, but is still different enough in other areas to keep things interesting?  Can you drive/shop with her for 18+ hours and still feel like you could keep going?

I'm lucky enough to have two friends like that.

Yesterday, Gigi and Misty and I had a pre-Spring Break Shopping Bonanza.  And It Was Awesome.

And while the shopping was good (well, great for me - I found several things I needed!), it wasn't the best part.  The best part was being able to spend so much uninterrupted time with my friends.  Because all three of us have such wonderful (and I mean that in all seriousness) husbands, we didn't have to worry about the kids or the house or anything else for the day.  We talked and shopped and talked and ate and talked and maybe got lost a little bit here and there because of stupid Google Maps and the fact that every street in that area has 8+ names and talked and shopped and perhaps ran a couple of red lights although I'll never admit to that and shopped some more and talked and talked and talked.  And then we talked.  Oh, and laughed.  Lots and lots of laughing, because that's what friends do.  They talk and laugh and enjoy being around each other.

And that's what we did.

Thanks for such a great day, Gig & Misty.  I really needed it!

Since I am under a sworn oath of silence as to what we talked about (Actually, you probably wouldn't be interested in most of it... no, I'm lying - you would, you really would!!!) I'll just show you what I bought.

Actually, I'll just show you one thing that I bought at IKEA.  Mainly because it's the only interesting thing - most of the stuff I bought were basic household goods.  Anyways, BEHOLD!

My new cubby for the front entrance!

I have been wanting one of these for what feels like ages now.  See, Spencer always dumps his backpack on the floor and it seems like we're always missing it or things that should be in it or whatever.  And the problem was, we had no designated spot for it.  (Unless you count the middle of the living room.  Which I don't.)  I had thought about hanging hooks on the wall there, but decided I didn't really like that.  So I searched and searched and searched for something like this, but all I could find were ones with only three cubbies, which is one cubby too small for me.  Or they'd cost over $1000, which is about $800 more than I was willing to spend!

Anywho, we came upon this at IKEA and I could have done a little dance of joy!  Actually, I probably would have done a little dance if they had had it in the light birch finish to match my book shelf, but no such luck.  So no dancing for IKEA this time.  But I did bless and praise them because it was only $179!!  Hooray for IKEA!!

*Side note: Misty was an IKEA virgin until yesterday.  I do believe we now have a true convert.*

We also did quite a bit of shopping at various clothing stores, but nobody even found anything until we went to - wait for it - JCPenneys.  I know.  We totally have a Penneys here in Lafayette.  But the one in Schaumburg is a good three times as large.  It was pretty impressive and pretty decently priced.  (Well, in most parts.  We decided the children's clothing was still overpriced.)  I ended up buying an Easter dress, matching shoes, and some new running shoes. (Which will be explained in another post.)  ((I am all about the parenthetical comments tonight, aren't I?))

Anywho, I was on the fence about the dress and shoes - especially the shoes - but Misty and Gig totally peer pressured me into buying them.  I believe their exact words were something along the lines of "Do it!  Do it!  You'll be cool and people will like you!"  Or something like that.

So I bought them, because I really want to be cool and have people like me.

Plus, they were super cute and I haven't bought anything like that in years.  Pictures to come around Easter.

So, that was my day.  I now feel ready to take on a whole week of Spring Break with my kids.  We should do this every year.  I think we will. :)

So, How's That Teething Thing Going?

That dang tooth is STILL not in!!  And it's only number four!! Oy!! And I cannot seem to use enough exclamation points!!  Yargh!!!

Another Year, Another Post

My new blog book came in the mail yesterday.  I'm not in love with the cover this year (it looked better digitally, I guess), but it'll do.

Included, of course, was my annual book dedication haiku to Lance:

A few random pages...

 

I love my blog books!  But not my hair.  It's going through a rough growing out and super-frizzy phase right now.  Seriously, I thought I hated my hair when I was a teenager because it was so straight and thick; I'd kill for that hair now.  Blasted babies, changing my hair...

And there it is, in its place of honor underneath the picture of Lance and I when we were 16.  Man, I had great hair then. 

Laundry Room Quotes

So I was perusing Pinterest the other day and came across this quote printable that I really, really liked:

(You can find it here if you want your own.)

So I decided that it needed a place in my laundry room.  Sometimes you need a little encouragement like that when you're on your 39th load of laundry.  For the day.  Also, I thought maybe a nicely framed copy of the quote would perhaps detract from the wallpaper that's in there.  Oy.

Yeah, so you're probably wondering why I haven't taken it down yet. I lack three major things: time, energy, and desire.  I figure it's in a room the public rarely sees and I have a billion other home improvement projects in front of it.  That's why.

So I went down to the basement to look for a frame in my frame box.  (What, you don't have a box full of frames?  Weird.)  I found one, plus two smaller frames that matched.  So of course I had to come up with two more quotes about laundry.  Pinterest saved me again, but this time I made my own printables.  Nothin' fancy, but not too shabby, either.

So I printed those up, put them in the frames... and realized that they weren't the types of frames that hang on the wall.

Dang it.

So I improvised with a bit of ribbon

and duct tape.

You can never have too much ribbon and duct tape in the house.  (Hmm... a quote to hang up in the garage, perhaps?)

I finally got them hung.

Cole was pretty annoyed that I wouldn't let him play with the hammer and my new washing machine.  It's hard to be almost three.

And here they are!  I don't know if they really detract from the wall paper, but they do make me happy.

Huzzah!

Teething Baby

Oh what do you do with a teething baby?  One who whines and cries and demands to be constantly held?  I tried throwing her out onto the screened in porch.  She liked it for a bit, but after a while the novelty wore away and she fell back to whining.  And crying.  And wanting to be held.  Constantly.

So then I gave her a cooled pineapple rind.  That hit the spot.  That top tooth of hers is really giving her some trouble - I've never seen a top tooth take so long to come in!  She gnawed the rind down pretty well, considering she only has three teeth. But after a while she got bored with it.  And started whining.  And crying.  And wanting to be held.  And saying something along the lines of "I want some ibuprofen!  Stat!  Oh, and a salty snack, if you have one."

And so I gave her some ibuprofen.  And a nice, cold, salty pickle from the fridge.

And all was well.  (For a while, at least.)

p.s.  I think Tess looks a lot like me when I was a baby.  Do you agree/remember, Dad?

Marcus... Obama?

I found this on one of Spencer's school worksheets today.

Apparently, his name is Marcus.  Funny - he looks more like a Barack to me.

Batman Doesn't Do Church

At dinner tonight Cole leaned over to me and said, "Hey Mommy!"

"What," I replied.

In a conspiratorial whisper he answered, "I'm Batman."

To which I laughed and then realized that this was why Cole is so rotten at church: Batman is not a churchgoing kind of guy.  He'd much rather be out fighting crime and driving the Batmobile.  Instead, he is currently terrorizing the nursery, hitting and pushing kids smaller than him and stealing their toys.  (Yes, I am the mother of that child.  Oh, the joy.)

Well, too bad, Batman.  If there's one soul that needs a little religion right now, it's you.

Productive Saturdays

I like Saturdays that are productive.  Don't get me wrong - sometimes you need a Saturday off to just to relax and do nothing.  But there's something to be said about really getting down to work and marking off a few projects from the eternal "To Do" list. 

This morning we started with pancakes - green, of course.  (We also had our traditional green eggs and ham for dinner, but I forgot to take pictures.)

Tess especially enjoyed them.

Last night we hosted some teenagers and their youth leader from our church.  They were here from Ft. Wayne for a conference activity.  After I drove them to the institute on campus I swung by Menard's to pick up a few things I had been wanting to buy for quite a while: a hedge trimmer, pruning shears, and a window washing squeegee.

Lance quickly got to work using the hedge trimmers.  Now you can see our house number again!

Then I got to work using the pruning shears to get rid of these stupid boxwood shrubs that I have hated since we moved in.  Tess helped by watching me and crying when the hedger was on.

They were like octopus boxwoods, with long tentacles growing every which way.  Yuck.

Yay!  No more boxwood shrubs!  Okay, so the roots are still in, but I figured we might as well wait to pull those out until we're ready to put something else in.  And that probably won't be for another month or so.  I know the weather's all nice right now, but this is Indiana and I don't trust the weather at all.  $5 says it snows at least once again before May.

Mr. Lance helped clean up the mess with our handy-dandy leaf blower.  Jobs like this are so much easier with the right tools.

So, any suggestions for what I should put in?  It's pretty much shady all the time.  I'd love to have something with blooms.  Guess it's time to start doing some research.

After cleaning up the flower beds we got to work on the windows.  People make jokes about not "doing windows", but I have to admit there is something extremely satisfying in squeegeeing some very grimy windows clean.