From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     This was in my inbox this week....

Gooey Cookies and Cream Chocolate Cake Bars

1 Devils Food Cake Mix

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

14 Oreo Cookies, broken into bite size pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a 9×13 inch baking pan with tin foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place cake mix, butter and egg into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Use your hands, it works much quicker  Press into prepared baking pan. Top with broken pieces of cookies.

3. Pour sweetened condensed milk over cookies and top with chocolate chips. Bake for 23-25 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from oven.

4.  After 5 minutes of cooling, run a plastic knife around edges to loosen, this makes it much easier to remove from foil.  Let cool completely, remove foil from pan, then cut into squares.  I cut off all of the edges before cutting into squares (makes for neater squares), but do whatever you’d like!!

Makes 12 bars

 Thanks Vicky!!!:)

What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday?

     Hello Again!!! Welcome to What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday?? Today I'd like to talk about reading apps. Do you have a Kindle? Nook? Ipad? Ipod? Smart Phone? Do you use it to read or have it read to your children?? I am somewhat Old School in that I always said I didn't want one because there's just something about touching a book and turning the pages...However, opinions change and I definitely see a time and place for such readers. For example, I don't have a Kindle or Nook, but I do have an Ipod, presumably for music, but it works great when I lay down next to my kids at night and can read in the dark. Or when I take my youngest to an appointment with me and can hand him my Ipod and have an app read stories to him to help keep him entertained. Wow! Amazing!! Peace and quiet and reading! What could be better?!
     I also noticed in the kids' book orders recently that Scholastic has come out with a reading app called Storia. Currently, it only works on an Ipad, but the concept is there. You get free books when you purchase others and you can also purchase more, of course. I thought it looked interesting.
    I have purchased the Read Me Stories app through itunes which reads stories to my first grader and every so often he gets to download a new one. Also, when I asked a coworker if she used any reading apps, she told me that she didn't have an app per se, but had downloaded several Story Boy books from itunes for her children to read. All of which were free. Better yet.
     After doing a search on the internet, I found that there are several interactive titles out there where the child gets the story read to them, but has the opportunity to play little  mini games throughout. It looked like several Dr. Seuss titles, a Toy Story Read-Along, etc. It also mentioned the title, The Fantastic Flying books of Morris Lessmore for the Ipad which was rated as the best interactive book out there today coming in at a whopping $8.99!!!
    Even if you don't have one of the aforementioned devices you can search YouTube and find books that will read to your children. Sometimes it's a parent reading the story, or a little older child. Other times, you just hear the narrator and you see all the pages of the book turning. (I have a son who is obsessed with YouTube.)
     Sometimes it seems like maybe technology is taking over...but really, you can use it to your advantage and really enhance your reading experience!! Try it, you might like it. I know I did.
   

Book Trailer Monday....

We just got the book the Unwanteds by Lisa McMann and as I read the back cover, I thought, well this sounds fun! So, I brought it home. Seems that I left it laying around and now I have to wait for 2 of my children to read it before I do!!! I told you it looked fun :)!!

Here's an interview with the author and a reading from this fun looking middle grade novel....

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

Here's one that just sounded soo good when Janette was talking about wanting to make it!! Be warned, I have not tried this, but can't wait to!!! Maybe you should try it and let me know what I am missing! wink, wink...

Chocolate Monster Cookie Pie
Yield: 8 slices

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 C. Graham cracker crumbs (about 10 whole graham crackers)
1/2 C. quick oats
3 T. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 C. butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Filling:
1.5 oz. box fat-free sugar-free chocolate pudding (I think I'd just use regular instant pudding myself...)
2 T. brown sugar
1 1/4 C. non-fat milk
1/4 C. peanut butter
1- 8 oz. tub reduced-fat Cool Whip
1/4 C. mini chocolate chips
3 T. quick oats
3 T. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 C. peanut butter M&M's

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, oats, brown sugar, and salt until well-combined. Stir in melted butter and vanilla until mixture is moistened. Press into bottom of pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes or until crust is light golden. Let cool completely. Whisk together pudding mix and brown sugar until combined. Whisk in milk until smooth and thick. Add in the peanut butter and vigorously whisk to combine. Gently fold in Cool Whip. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Pour into pie crust. Sprinkle oats and chocolate chips on top. Refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours until firm. Sprinkle M&M's on top right before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Book Trailer Monday...

This is a cute trailer on Kay Wyma's new book Cleaning House about how children nowadays feel entitled to everything and how to turn that around....

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

Loving the Pioneer Woman again....

Italian Sloppy Joes

Added by Ree on September 19, 2012 in Main Courses, Sandwiches

Prep Time  Cook Time 10 Minutes

Servings 1

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• Leftover Spaghetti Sauce
• Thick Slices Of Garlic Bread (either Storebought Or Homemade)
• Mozzarella Cheese Slices
• Minced Fresh Parsley

Preparation Instructions

Heat up the leftover spaghetti sauce until hot and bubbly.

Bake two garlic bread slices until golden brown and crisp.

Preheat broiler. Place one slice of garlic bread on an ovenproof plate. Spoon spaghetti sauce over the top, adding as much as you want. Top with a slice or two of mozzarella, then place it under the broiler just until the cheese melts. Sprinkle with parsley, prop the second piece of bread on the side, and serve with a knife and fork!

Thoughts on a Thursday...

Appropriate for today.....

hustings

   \ HUHS-tingz \  , noun;

1.

The political campaign trail.

2.

(Before 1872) the temporary platform on which candidates
for the British Parliament stood when nominated and from which they addressed the electors.

3.

Any place from which political campaign speeches are made.

4.

Also called hustings court. A local court in certain parts of Virginia.

Quotes:

But he still had to go out to the hustings , a wordwhose
meaning he'd never learned, and campaign forpeople, or at least
give speeches.

-- Tom Clancy, Executive Orders

Now, do not let them lure you to the hustings , mydear Mr. Brooke.

-- George Eliot, Middlemarch

Origin:

Hustings  is derived from the Old Danish word hūs-thing
which meant "house meeting."