Keeper of the Cheerios

Easy To Make Peanut Butter & Chocolate Bars Recipe

Miranda — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:21:56 +0000

These are oh so delicious and oh so easy to make! My kids love these and so do I but I must warn that they’re pretty rich and should be cut fairly small. I found this awesome peanut butter and chocolate bar recipe on www.Allrecipes.com (my favorite recipe site).

Peanut Butter Bars

1 C. butter or margarine, melted
2 C. graham cracker crumbs
2 C. confectioners sugar
1 C. peanut butter

Chocolate topping:

1 1/2 C. Semisweet Chocolate Chips (I used the hersheys milk chocolate chips though and it turned out great)
4 TBSP peanut butter

In a medium or large bowl combine the butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and 1 C. peanut butter and stir until well blended. Press evenly into a 9X13″ ungreased pan.

Melt the chocolate chips with 4 tablespoons peanut butter for the chocolate topping. Stir until smooth and spread over the prepared graham cracker crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Wordless Wednesday: Me and The Kids

Miranda — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:43:09 +0000

It’s not often we moms actually get a picture of ourselves WITH the kids so I had to share this. I can’t remember the last time I was in a picture with both of my kiddos but we were hanging out at the nature center and my husband snapped this picture of us.

For more Wordless Wednesday photos visit http://www.5minutesformom.com and while you’re here be sure to leave your Wordless Wednesday url in the linky below!

Mix & Match Fun For Young Children with Pop on Pals

Miranda — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:42:03 +0000

It can be hard to shop for 2 and 3 year old children. Toys are often too baby-ish for them or made for older children making it nearly impossible to find safe toys that still hold their short attention spans. But there’s a new toy hitting the shelves, a.k.a. Pop on Pals, and my four year old is very excited about it. Pop on Pals are sure to be an instant hit with your younger children ages 2-4.

We were sent the Pop on Pals Amusement Park set for review and I couldn’t get it out of the box fast enough for my son. He sat and played with this toy set for hours and then quickly moved it up to his bedroom so he wouldn’t have to share his cool new toy with his older sister. A fairly good indicator that he loves his new toy. He has so much fun making the pop on pal go down the roller the coaster, around and around the ferris wheel, and on the boat ride back and forth. He also has a blast making the pop on pal play the carnival games and enjoys the lights and sounds. The pop on pal comes with extra attachments for tons of mix and match fun and encourages imaginative play. I love that the toys are perfect for smaller hands to hold on to and that these sets are also affordable, the Pop on Pals Amusement Park that we have retails for $34.99. Pop on Pals toys would make a perfect birthday or Christmas gift for the younger children in your life.

Check out the Pop on Pals website at http://www.poponpals.com/ for more information and to see the other toys they have available.

Disclosure: We were sent a product for review purposes by Team Mom and Pop on Pals. All opinions and experiences shared here are our own.

Enjoy a Summer Treat Without the Added Calories With Breyers Smooth & Dreamy! WIN IT!

Miranda — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:35:22 +0000

As most of you know I began watching what I eat throughout the day more closely and working out as well. I’ve lost ten pounds but I still have some toning up to do. It hasn’t been easy for sure but I’ve gotten used to the changes in my eating habits. One way I’ve managed to not give up is to let myself have a treat every so often so I don’t feel as though I’m depriving myself.

My favorite go-to treats when I’m having a craving but I don’t want to go completely overboard are the lower-calorie ice cream bars. I recently had the chance to try out Breyers new Smooth & Dreamy Triple Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Bars and I thought they were really good… a little rich almost BUT if you’re craving chocolate they’re definitely a great pick! At only 130 calories per a serving you just can’t go wrong.

There are lots of great flavors in the new Breyers Smooth and Dreamy line including the Triple Chocolate Chip ice cream bars, vanilla caramel chip ice cream bars, as well as chocolate covered strawberry ice cream bars (our store didn’t have these but they look SO YUMMY). Breyers Smooth & Dreamy ice cream sandwich flavors include vanilla fudge brownie, chocolate caramel brownie, and chocolate chip brownie. Breyers Smooth & Dreamy has made it easy to find something yummy and cold to satisfy any craving you might be having and they’re a perfect summer treat!

To learn more about Breyers all natural ice cream and their Smooth & Dreamy Ice Cream Bars & Sandwiches visit http://www.smoothanddreamy.com/. While you’re there be sure to enter their instant win game where you could instantly win a day at the spa, gift cards, movie tickets, a maid for a day, free Smooth & Dreamy product and tons of other awesome prizes! Don’t forget to enter to win the sweepstakes grand prize- you could win a day with celebrity trainer, Kathy Kaehler, AND $10,000!

WIN IT!

5 readers will win a Breyers Smooth & Dreamy multipack of ice cream bars or sandwiches. (Free product will come in the form of a free product coupon that will be mailed to the winner.)

Mandatory Entry: To win tell me which flavor of Breyers Smooth & Dreamy Ice Cream bars or sandwiches you’d love to try. http://www.breyers.com/products/smooth-dreamy-ice-cream-sandwich-bars.aspx

Additional Entries:

Enter the Breyers Wheel of Delights Instant Win Game.
Follow Breyers on twitter.
Subscribe to Keeper of the Cheerios via RSS or email (found in the right hand sidebar.)
Tweet about this giveaway: ” Win free Breyers Smooth & Dreamy Ice Cream Bars & Sandwiches- http://bit.ly/9iJiEG ”

Leave a seperate comment for each method of entry.

Open to residents age 18 and older who are residents of the United States with a United States mailing address. Winners will be contacted via email. Contest starts July 26, 2010 and ends on August 1, 2010 at 11:59 pm cst.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Breyers and received products necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Scentsy Warmer & Scent Bars Giveaway

Pictures Of Ethan’s Toy Story Birthday Party

Miranda — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:22:31 +0000

I know.. I’m a slacker! It’s just been a busy week for us and I’m just now getting the chance to put these pictures up from Ethan’s Toy Story party last weekend. He had an awesome time with great friends, good food, and lots of fun playing in the pool we had set up outside.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Ethan’s party:

Ethan waiting for his guests to arrive

The cake and the goody bags (This cake took me forever to make but I had so much fun making it.)

Ethan enjoyed everyone singing happy birthday to him a tad bit too much but after the huge smile cleared his face he finally blew out his birthday candles. I can’t believe he’s 4 already!

Opening birthday presents

.. and finally, playing with the awesome Power Wheels Kawasaki 4-wheeler we got Ethan for his birthday. He LOVES it!

Wordless Wednesday: Why Little Boys Shouldn’t Dress Themselves

Miranda — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:33:30 +0000

This is why you should never tell your little boys to go get dressed themselves…

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom for a huge list of more Wordless Wednesday participants and while you’re here be sure to leave your WW link in the linky below. Happy Wednesday!

It’s Been Four Years..

Miranda — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:44:10 +0000

I remember the day of my son’s birth like it was yesterday.. it was truthfully one of the most terrifying days of my life. What should have been one of the most amazing memories of my son is actually one that still has the ability to make my heart sink in my chest.

My pregnancy with him was scary. It was extremely high risk yet we went into it knowing there were risks. I’d suffered numerous miscarriages before becoming pregnant with him but before having him we’d learned that I have anticardiolipin antibodies which had caused blood clots to form around the placentas of our other babies making it impossible for them to survive. So with Ethan we had hope.. and LOTS of Lovenox injections. Early on I’d experienced a subchorionic hemorrhage (the placenta had started to tear away from the uterine wall in a small section- it was fairly small) which made the rest of the pregnancy a lot more scary but with lots of bed rest we made it through.

July 19th, 2006 I’d gone to bed feeling a little off and was starting to have mild regular contractions. The next morning I woke up and headed over to the doctor’s office to see what was going on thinking that for the millionth time I’d just be sent to the hospital to be given medication to stop the contractions since that had become something that happened almost weekly from 27 weeks on thanks to a car accident we were in. Instead the doctor decided to break my water based on the fact that technically I was close enough to my due date and my body was already in labor so it seemed like the safest thing to do for all involved.

After a day spent in labor I gave birth to Ethan that evening.. everything seemed okay but then they placed him on my chest and he was limp and lifeless and turning blue. I screamed at the nurses and they scooped him up and began working on him and the next thing I knew our room had every nurse on the floor running in and the on-call pediatrician was making her way over to our small 5 lb. 1 oz. baby and they wheeled him out while she began chest compressions on him. And just as quickly as everyone had swarmed our room they were gone along with my husband who followed our son. And just like that I was alone. I couldn’t move from the bed since I’d had an epidural, I had no idea if my son was alive or what was happening. In that moment I lost it.. I cried and I prayed and I cried some more.

But God was with me and my son that day. After they got Ethan stable he was placed under an oxygen tent and a nurse had to monitor him that entire night but he did well. I was able to hold him for the first time the next morning and finally look into the face of my sweet baby boy.

Every birthday since that scary day in 2006 you can bet that I’m the world’s most grateful mother. Life is precious and each moment that we get to share with our children is a huge blessing. Ethan has been a blessing since day one and I can’t imagine our life without him. He cracks us up with his impromptu dancing and his honest answers and melts our hearts when he smiles and asks to “cuggle” (aka “cuddle”) and read him stories at night. He loves Diego and all things Toy Story. His favorite things to say include ”I WIN!”, ”No!”, and “Hug?” Since finding out that he needed hearing aids last year he’s made a year of progress in just 6 months.. He’s a little fighter through and through. He’s also quite the hand full and a bit of a walking accident but he owns my heart.

I can’t believe it’s been 4 years already. Time has gone by way too fast. Happy birthday to my sweet and funny 4 year old!

I Finished the Buzz and Woody Toy Story Cake!

Miranda — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:48:03 +0000

It took me forever but the Buzz and Woody Toy Story cake I’ve been working on all day is done and it turned out just as cute as I’d hoped it would be. We’re now officially ready for my son’s fourth birthday party tomorrow and he’s oh so excited. As soon as he saw his cake he exclaimed, ” Wow! Cool! I hungry.” And then he asked to blow out the candles… oh you gotta love kids, they’re always ready for some cake.

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

Miranda — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:35:02 +0000

Recipe for Marshmallow Fondant

1 (16 oz.) package marshmallows
4 Tablespoons of water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 C. shortening at the least
2lb. bag confectioners sugar for fondant (may possibly need a little more)
1-3 C. confectioners sugar for kneading

Place marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds-1 minute (more or less depending on your microwave.) Stir in the vanilla and water until the marshmallow mixture is smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar (1 C. at a time) until you have a sticky dough.

Rub the shortening all over your hands and begin to knead the dough while still in the bowl until it becomes easier to work with and more pliable. You may need to use a lot more shortening during this process. Turn the dough out onto your work surface that has been dusted thoroughly with confectioners sugar. Continue kneading dough until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch (about 5-10 minutes). You may need to use more powdered sugar than mentioned above while kneading your dough.

When you feel the fondant is ready you will need to wrap your ball of fondant tightly in plastic wrap and let it refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).

When you’re ready to use the fondant let it come to room temperature and then roll on a flat surface dusted with confectioners sugar.

Note: This is probably the messiest stickiest fondant you will ever make but it tastes great and works just as well if not better than traditional fondant. In place of crisco you can use butter if you desire, it’s just a preference.

Minivan driving moms & dads- you’re going to LOVE this video!

Miranda — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:33:47 +0000

I am totally loving the Toyota Sienna youtube channel with the hilarious “Sienna family.” As a minivan driving mom I was laughing hysterically all the way through their new Swagger Wagon song video. Watch the video below:

***I have no connection with Toyota, I just really thought these were some great videos and wanted to share them with you.