Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

I made this special treat for my friend Vanessa's birthday.

Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

1 box fudge brownie mix (regular size)
1/2 pkg peanut butter chips
1 pkg (13 oz) miniature peanut butter cups
2 cups cold milk
1 pkg (5.1) oz instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed

Bake brownies according to package and stir in the peanut butter chips. Bake at 350* until done (consult the box for times). Cool completely and cut into small cubes.

Cut peanut butter cups in quarters and set aside a handful for garnish.

In a large bowl whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set. Add peanut butter and vanilla, mixing well. Fold in half of the whipped topping.

In a trifle bowl, layer 1/3 of the brownies, 1/3 of the peanut butter cups then top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture. Repeat until you end with pudding mixture on top. Spread remaining whipped topping on top and sprinkle with extra peanut butter cups for garnish. Refrigerate until chilled. Enjoy!

14 of 52 & Island Vacation Mix

A multi-tasking post for you today... my weekly photo plus a recipe all in one!


Island Vacation Mix
disclaimer: this is more of a "treat" than a healthy snack

2-1/2 cups Corn Chex
2-1/2 cups Rice Chex
2 cups macadamia nuts
1/4 cup butter, cubed
4 tbsp sugar
1 cup flaked coconut
1 6oz pkg dried pineapple, chopped
1 cup white chocolate chips

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY (I didn't!)
In large microwave safe bowl, combine cereal and nuts ONLY. In small microwave safe bowl combine sugar and butter, microwave uncovered until melted and sugar dissolves (1-2 minutes on HIGH). Pour butter mixture over cereal mixture and stir to coat. Cook cereal mixture on HIGH for 2 minutes, stirring once. Now add the coconut, microwave on HIGH for 2 more minutes, stirring once. Spread onto waxed paper to cool. Once it is completely cool you can stir in the pineapple and white chips. Store in an airtight container.

No More Paper Piles

I am a piler. I am not an organized person. I do not like sorting the mail or deciding what to do with each piece of paper that ends up on my kitchen counters and desk tops, but I am working on it. I was recently inspired by the BH&G special issue titled "Secrets of Getting Organized" I found at Sam's Club for about $6.

Simple phrases like "for every scrap of paper there must be a labeled container. If there isn't, create one" make so much sense! Or this gem: "Toss it, file it, but never pile it." And to stem the paper flow in the first place "be mindful of bringing this junk into your home." Go visit DMAchoice.com right now to opt out of all that junk mail!

Before you start your own system make sure to read this article too: 9 Common Home Filing System Mistakes and Their Solutions

Now I have this lovely (and quite empty!) filing system for all the mail and papers that come into the house. Of course many of them will head right for the recycle bin or go into the more permanent files, but no more piles on the counters!

Egg Time

Our Saturday was a beautiful day for taking the egg-dyeing/dipping/painting mess outside!

Creative Play

When my children play nicely together it sure is entertaining to see what they will come up with. Recently they have played a "game" where Cali goes to visit her brother at his "house". This involves Cali packing up her babies, their beds, backpacks full of their baby clothes, bottles, toys, etc. and carrying it all to D's room. Today she told me she was going to stay for "5 days" (which explains why Cali took a handful of her own clothes over to his room) and during her stay they play together, take care of their babies, pretend it's bedtime and even... that their babies are sick. Today they told me that Baby Cali was sick and she threw up on Cali's shirt so she had to go change it. This was followed by D telling me his Baby Diego Bear was sick and he threw up on his stuffed puppy so he had to go put it in the wash.

Their other current "game" is taking the eggs we got from our library egg hunt, putting little toys in them, hiding them, helping their babies find them, then acting very surprised and excited about the little toys inside.

How I Feel

Been in a fog of seasonal allergy misery lately. Haven't been to the doc this season so I'm probably not taking enough of or the right combo of pharmaceuticals to treat it. Just wanted to let my loyal readers know why the posts were coming in slow and lackluster these days.

Did a search on Photobucket for "allergies" and this came up, pretty good representation of how I feel lately. I'm sure you'd be surprised to know that despite the misery, Spring is actually my favorite season and I love seeing all the new leaf buds and wildflowers everywhere and I spend at least some part of every day outside "enjoying" it.

12 of 52 & 13 of 52

Last week my friend Maria took pictures of me on my frog-catching quest. That was a really fun day! If you missed it you can see the kids enjoying the adventure here.


This week we had an Easter storytime with a little parade and egg hunt, they had us wear or "Sunday Best" so I actually got dressed up and both kids told me I looked "pretty" awww. Although its been nice and sunny all week it has also been awfully windy so went for and indoor lunch/playdate at the good ol' Chic-Fil-a afterwards. They have such great service... Cali knocked down one of the kid meals and all the fries fell on the floor, before I even got it picked up a guy came over to help clean it and said they were already working on replacing it... all we needed was new fries but they gave us a complete new meal, toy and all.

Funny thing about this picture... you notice her poking her ear? She was telling me it "itched". Well, after nap she had a fever so I called the doc and went in this morning to find out she has a double ear infection. She says it doesn't even hurt!