GF Lemon Cupcake Balls

A few weeks ago, I purchased some gluten free cake mix at Marshall's. Shortly after buying the lemon mix, I decided to to make some cupcakes. I figured I could practice some of my long lost decorating skills from last summer. I followed the box directions, which didn't require too many extra added ingredients.

I'm sure it was user error, but for what ever reason when I poured the batter, some of the cupcake holders started to buckle a little. They made a little indent that didn't look nice. I was hoping when the cupcakes baked, the little dent would pop back out.

 No luck though, they stayed looking deformed.

So I decided to try plan B. I crumbled all the cupcakes in a bowl and mixed them with lemon cream cheese frosting that I made from the recipe on the box as well. I would like to mention that I did try a cupcake before I destroyed the evidence. It was a good tasting gluten free cupcake: moist and lemony.

After that I rolled the mixture into balls. Then I put them in the freezer until the next day when I was ready to coat them in white chocolate. You need to put them in the freezer so the crumbs don't mix in with the chocolate when you coat them.

Then came my second failure. When I was in Michigan I saw a cute little Crockpot-like chocolate dipper at a store. I thought to myself, how perfect! I have a Crock-Pot little dipper at home that I can use. Clearly, I did no research because I poured white chocolate chips in the pot and turned it on. I didn't add any liquid. Oops. The chocolate burned and never got liquidy. Luckily the cake balls were in the freezer so there was no rush to get them coated. I probably should've used candy coating chocolates or added some oil or shortening. 

The next day, I tried round two. I melted white chocolate chips in the microwave. I read the directions on the bag so that I wouldn't burn them in the microwave too. I decided to add a little oil, to make the chocolate a little smoother. I dipped the lemon cake balls into the chocolate with a spoon. It worked out okay; I feel like some had too much chocolate. Also, they don't look the prettiest but I'll take it for my first try. I have the Red Velvet Mix still and plan to attempt cake balls again. This time I will correct my mistakes. I also want to drizzle some chocolate or dip them in sprinkles to make them look a little cuter.

But I love the idea of cake balls or pops! They are smaller in size and I have been keeping mine in the freezer. Whenever a sweet tooth craving hits, I pull the container out for a minute and take one out. It is the perfect situation for me because then I don't feel like I have to devour 12 cupcakes in a week. Gluten free products are already more expensive, so keeping them in the freezer cuts out all the waste too.

Finishing First Week & Football Foods

A successful first week of school is finished! However, I am utterly exhausted. I always forget how much walking and talking I do that my body isn't used to (from being lazy all summer). The week was spent learning the rules and establishing classroom procedures. My students really enjoyed this Post-It note activity that I came across on Pinterest. 

The week ended with the start of college football for my MSU Spartans! Check out Iivana's fabulous new jersey.

Despite being tired from the work week (and looking that way too), Iivana and I were ecstatic about the game and Sparty's win. It wasn't the prettiest, but I'll take it.

This photo cracks me up! Iivana is crazy. I was trying to take a picture with her...but she wanted to show you her pearly whites.

I tried to continue the tradition that Justin and I started by making football appetizers for the game. (Check out some of the finger foods we made last year: here, here, and here.) I decided to make a pizza inspired appetizer. Remember I bought some pizza crust mix at Marshall's? My random mixture that didn't follow the box recipe, didn't turn out the way I had hoped. It was still edible, but not great.

My experimented creation wasn't worthy enough to share all the details. But these gluten free pizza puffs are a much better recipe to share. I've made them before and they are soft and delicious!

Crayon Wreath

Yesterday, I posted about the first day of school and showed a preview of a wreath I made for my classroom. For the base of the wreath, I used a craft ring like this. (I bought mine at Michael's, but this one is comparatively priced on Amazon.) I used the remaining crayons from my melting art project.

I started by laying the crayons on the base in a circle. I was having trouble keeping them even, and forming a perfect circle in the middle. After trying several household objects to fit in the center, one of my pots acted as a perfect base to work around.

After I had the crayons laid out in position, I put a strip of hot glue on the back of each crayon.

You'll notice I don't have ribbon to hang the wreath. I would suggest gluing some ribbon around the base right away so that you can hang it later. Then you can glue crayons over it an not even notice it underneath. I didn't do this until I was done, and unfortunately don't have a picture of mine with the ribbon. I meant to take a picture today of it hanging in my classroom, but I forgot. (I guess I was too busy teaching.) I ended up taking two crayons off, gluing some ribbon, and then re-gluing the crayons over. So either way it worked out.

I also bought this apple and star from Michael's. They are little wood pieces that were already decorated. All I did was use a paint Sharpie to write my name.

I will try to take a picture of it hanging and add it in later this week. Today (the second day of school), I successfully learned the names of all of my students. I had them time me and I did it in 40 seconds. Tomorrow I am going to beat my time!

UPDATED:

Here is the picture of the wreath hanging in my classroom.

First Day Jitters

Today was the first day of school with my new fourth graders. So far, I have 25 students with 15 of them being boys! My friend at work showed me a picture of her son today on the first day of his senior year. She was joking about taking a picture of him, and then I admitted that I still take a yearly photo on the first day. My mom always took pictures of us growing up and I've continued the tradition as a teacher. Here was last year's photo! This was the best I could do with my self-timer, since Justin is still deployed.

While I was pretty excited for my first day, Iivana on the other had was not. She knows when I'm off to work and she will be in her room. Just look at that face. She knows the way to her mommy's heart, and sometimes I wish I could still stay home with her! (Remember, I'm a crazy dog lady now.)

I was also going to tell you about this sweet wreath I made for my classroom, but I am exhausted! I talked more than I'm used to today and according to my pedometer I walked twice as much as what I have been lately. Hopefully tomorrow night I have a little more energy, so I can show you how I made this!

So So Salad

First things first, happy 3rd birthday to my baby girl, Iivana. I had intended to make her homemade treats, but I was lazy and bought her a bone instead. I did fill up her pool from last year for her to play today. However, she wasn't too interested in her pool.

I love this picture that I took of her last week. She was out of food, so I went to the commissary to buy her some dog food and they had 2 dollar off coupons. Then I noticed that it was only 11.99 for a huge bag. We normally pay close to forty dollars a bag for her Nutro Dog food! I bought all they had stocked because it was such an awesome deal.

For dinner tonight I made a watermelon and goat cheese salad. It had a citrus vinaigrette that you make from 3 tablespoons of EVOO, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

I used mixed salad greens for the base. Although I wish I had chosen more of an arugula and spinach blend that had a little more flavor than romaine. I topped the salad with watermelon chunks, red onion, and goat cheese. Then I poured some of the vinaigrette.

I had some left over steak that I cut up and topped the salad off with. Overall the salad was okay; I think I had built it up more in my head. I think I would do with out the lettuce and try a different dressing next time. It wasn't horrible, but not something I will probably make again the same way. I'd be happy just eating watermelon and goat cheese. Maybe some basil and a balsamic vinaigrette would be better. But this was an easy and filling summer salad to make.

Colorful Pup

Remember when I went to Painting with a Twist? I had a blast there and definitely want to go again, but I can see how it can get a little pricey to go often. After my first experience at PWAT, I felt more confident in my painting abilities. They walk you through the painting process, so anyone can paint! 

While looking at the calendar for future classes, I came across this neat dog painting. I thought the color scheme would go perfect in my kitchen with these food pictures and colored mats. But I wanted my painting to be of my sweetheart, Iivana. So I decided to take on the task at home!

I already had some blank canvases at home from my melting art project when we bought a value pack. However, I did have to invest in some brushes and acrylic paint. I bought 3 brushes from Michael's that were on sale for 3 dollars each. I bought a small, medium, and a larger sized one. I also bought this starter pack of paint for 9.99, which I used a 40% coupon on so it was even less. Since I'm a teacher, I also got 15% for an educator discount. So I maybe spent 15 bucks on this project. I will eventually buy more colors and alternate brush sizes, but I wanted to make sure that I could paint at home first.

I used my computer as a guide and pulled up the PWAT picture and a picture of Iivana that I took during a personal photo shoot of my doggie. I sketched an outline of her. This was probably the most difficult part, because it was the structure of the painting. 

It's light but you can see my sketch.

Then I painted solid color bases.

I guess I got carried away and didn't take pictures of my other in between steps. I mixed colors, painted layers, let them dry, then added more color. The good thing is that if you mess up, you can let it dry and paint over it. I worked on it for a couple hours one day. I left it like this and then finished it up the next day.

My finished product! What do you think? Does it look like Iivana? The eyes were really difficult for me to mimic. I also think the face on this painting is a little longer than hers, but I like it!

This is the picture I used to draw her from.

Marshall's Finds

Last week, I enjoyed a 90 minute exfoliating massage as a way to finish up my final weeks of summer. Justin bought it for me as a gift before school was out, and I kept putting off using it. I was happy to use it on a summer day, because I wasn't rushing to get there or leave. I could just let my body and mind relax. When it was done, the masseuse told me I should walk around at some of the stores next door because after a massage you are in a sleepy state. She said it is not safe to drive right away.

So I wandered over to Marshall's, which is a discount store that sells mostly clothing items. While in the store, I stumbled upon the small food section and found some gluten free food items. Each item was one or two dollars off of the suggested price that I would probably pay at Whole Foods or Central Market. These are the gluten free food items that I bought: cake mix, pizza mix, chips, and candy.

I wasn't overly impressed with either of these two candy items when I tried them. (And I love fruity chewy candy!) The worms only came in three flavors which if I remember correctly were lemon, grape, and tangerine. What a random combination? The gummy bears just didn't measure up to my standards either. I don't know if since I bought them at Marshall's that they were harder than normal, but they weren't squishy and gummy enough for me (if that even makes sense!)

I love these Dude Ranch flavored Late July chips! I normally buy them at Whole Foods for 2.99 for these smaller sized bag. These were only 1.99, which I was ecstatic to find this deal. The ranch flavor is so addicting that you eat this bag much faster than is intended. I guess I'm lucky they only had two bags in this flavor, because I don't need to have a stock pile of quick eating chips in the house.

It was exciting to find gluten free foods at a discounted price. I will have to remember to keep Marshall's and similar stores in mind for the future. I'll post about one of the cake mixes soon. I still need to try the other cupcake mix and the pizza mix. Hopefully I'll get to them soon. I have a couple ideas in mind, so we'll see...