Nescafé Memento

I am a hot beverage drinker and proud of it.  We drink coffee like it's going out of style over here.  I could drink coffee at 5:00 in the morning to wake up and at 11:00 at night to go to sleep... and anytime in between to be honest!  If not coffee, I'm fine with tea, hot chocolate, etc.  I prefer the real deal (coffee) when I first get up in the morning but other than that I can be flexible!

Needless to say, I was so excited to be chosen for the Nescafé Memento Bzz Campaign!  I think BzzAgent knew this would be right up my alley.  This is not the first hot beverage / coffee drink campaign I've been chosen for!

BzzAgent advertised this campaign as "Specialty coffeehouse classics, at home, in the office, or on-the-go."  It doesn't get much more exciting than that!  I may be a coffee drinker but as you know, I am absolutely not a big spender.  I will admit that you may find me at Dunkin' Donuts periodically (with my husband and daughter's prompting... as a thanks for them coming along on my grocery shopping trips and putting up with my sometimes lengthy store check-outs) but I will not typically be found out and about spending money on "specialty coffeehouse classics."

My Bzz kit came with free full size boxes of each of the three Nescafé Memento flavors... here are the descriptions from the company's website...

Caramel Latte
A perfect blend of buttery caramel flavor, smooth coffee and pillowy froth - heaven for your taste buds!

Cappuccino
A top layer of frothy foam leads to a smooth creamy coffee - you'll be licking your lips down to the last sip.

Mocha
Rich chocolate flavor and smooth coffee combine to create a delightfully indulgent chocolate lover's dream.

Inside each box of Nescafé Memento was eight tubes of flavored powder that when combined with nothing more than hot water make a fancy coffeehouse looking (and tasting) drink!

I first decided to try the Cappuccino flavor.  My father has always been a cappuccino lover and I remember him letting me try cappuccino when I was little.  I think there is something sentimental about drinking it... something about that frothy combination of bitterness, sweetness, deliciousness... it brings me back to way back when...  So whenever this is an option for me, it's my natural choice.  Depending on where I get cappuccino I never really know whether to add sugar, etc since sometimes it can be a little strong for my taste.  My thoughts on Nescafé Memento Cappuccino? Perfect in every way!  It was exactly the frothy deliciousness I was hoping for without having to add a single thing but hot water!  No cream or sugar needed.

The Caramel Latte and Mocha flavors were a close second to the Cappuccino.  I suppose they would all have equal levels of wonderfulness if I didn't have some sort of psychological attachment to the Cappuccino...  They really were all great!  I love that these drinks are not only tasty but that are easy as can be.  There is absolutely no heavy labor required!  Sometimes when I'm mixing hot chocolate I can mix and mix and mix for what feels like an eternity and when I finish my drink there are still some little pieces of powder floating around and inevitably a pool of chocolate syrup left in the bottom of the mug when I'm done.  This was not the case with these drinks!  They mixed with water very easily and smoothly and there was nothing leftover in the bottom of my mug.

The froth factor of these drinks deserves a paragraph all of it's own.  To me, the froth is what makes a hot drink a fancy hot drink.  These drinks froth up immediately when you add water!  Even before you start stirring.  This picture is of what my drink looked like just after pouring hot water into my mug over the drink mix.  See what I mean?  I will call out my husband here and let you know that he does not love frothy drinks.  He didn't mind the taste of Nescafé Memento but in a line up of different drink options these are not the ones he would choose... because of the froth!  So this says something for the frothiness of these drinks being the real deal!  (And this excites me because without him drinking these, there are lots more for me!)

These drinks are perfect for someone relaxing at home by the fire or someone on the go.  They are perfect for my taste buds and my lifestyle!  Obviously, I highly recommend that you give them a try!

You can find more info on the Nescafé Memento website here and can follow them on facebook and twitter here and here!  You can do all the same with BzzAgent here, here, and here!  If you haven't tried either Nescafé Memento or BzzAgent, you should... and I'd be happy to give you more info on either one if you need it!

Deviled Egg Chicks

These little buggers were all over Pinterest at this time last year and you better believe I jumped right on that bandwagon.  We had six egg laying hens at the time and keeping up with finding homes for all of our eggs was a part time job!

These were an easy and cute Easter treat.  If you have a favorite deviled eggs recipe, you can use that and just turn them into little chicks.  I just used the recipe found here.  Nothing fancy... it was the look I was going for!

I used little bits of olives for the eyes and little bits of carrots for the beak.

Playing with Colored Rice

Our daughter loves to have jobs to do and cooking is something she really enjoys!  Each night, her dinner usually ends with a good stir and mix-up of all that she has left over until it starts spilling out all over the table.  There is always this inner turmoil in me about whether to say "No playing with your food!" or to allow her exploration.  Most days I decide to allow it.  I've been following a blog called Play At Home Mom that encourages "positive parenting" and if you follow their facebook page, they have frequent picture posts and activity ideas that are labeled "Yes, you may..."  They are sometimes things I would never think of saying "yes" to but they have really challenged me and I try to say "yes" as much as I can.  I highly recommend following them here.  Saying "yes" is freeing... for both me, and my child!  (example in picture below... "Yes, on this wintery day, you may wear your bathing suit and pajamas!")

We have a play kitchen here but imaginative play can get boring without some supplements to spice things up every once in a while.  Some uncooked rice, either white, or colored is a great addition to the play kitchen!  We move our little kitchen into our real kitchen for this kind of play because the clean-up feels easier there.  I've decided that as long as the rice stays in that one room, it doesn't matter how messy it gets.  At the end, I just vacuum it all up.

I have found that the more "real" stuff I add to play time, the more captivated my daughter is.  She loves to help me cook and so feeling like she is actually doing it on her own is a really big deal to her.  Measuring spoons or cups, muffin tins, old spice shakers, whisks, etc.  Real spoons are way more exciting than play spoons.  Real rice is way more exciting than plastic fruits or invisible pretend foods.  You get the idea!

Here's the recipe I followed for our colored rice...

Ingredients:

• Rice
• Mason Jars or Zip Lock Bags
• Food Coloring
• Vinegar
• Cookie Sheets covered with foil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees
• Add 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar, 2-3 drops of food coloring and 1.5 cups of rice to jar
• Seal tightly and shake shake shake until the color is well mixed (add more food coloring if needed)
• Drain if needed 
• Pour colored rice onto cookie sheet
• Place cookie sheet in oven until rice is dry (recipe calls for 15 minutes+, I think mine probably took longer than a half hour, just keep checking to see if it's dry)
• When dry, remove from oven, cool, and play
• We store our rice in mason jars on the counter

Here's another recipe that uses kool-aid and rubbing alcohol.  There are tons of options so just google colored rice if you need more ideas!

Homemade Biscuits - no yeast needed!

I had never made homemade biscuits before this week but when my sister in law shared this recipe with me I figured I should give it a try!  I think I've always been intimidated by making bread or biscuit type things from scratch because of the need use yeast (not sure why this intimidates me?!) or be organized enough to make it in advance and let it sit and rise, etc, etc etc.  Anyway, this recipe looked super easy... almost too easy... but I wanted one last thing to go with our dinner last weekend and had no canned biscuits in the fridge so I figured it was time.  SUCCESS!  I had all the ingredients on hand (you probably do too) and these took me less than a half hour, start to finish.  They were just as tasty (if not tastier) and definitely cheaper than going to the store to get canned biscuits.  Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 475
• In a mixing bowl combine sifted flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a liquid measure place 1/3 cup oil and 2/3 cup milk together (do not mix, just pour them in).
• Pour the liquids into the flour mixture.
• Stir until dough forms and pulls from sides of bowl. 
• Turn out onto wax paper and knead ten times (do not use extra flour and do not over-knead). 
• Place second sheet of wax paper on top and roll out to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness (or simply flatten by hand)
• Cut with round cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, lid of a mason jar, or top of a glass (You can also form these yourself by skipping the rolling and cutting.  Just pull off bits and form into biscuits). 
• Bake about 10-12 minutes (10 is perfect for me).
• Depending on how thick you make them, you can make about 6-9 biscuits. 

You can visit my sister in law's blog here.  She hasn't blogged this recipe yet but she should!

FREE Passes To The Discovery Museums!

We absolutely LOVE The Discovery Museums in Acton!  If you haven't visited there before, I highly recommend that you do.  I am working on a blog post about our experiences there but got a very exciting email from them today that I wanted to share with you as soon as possible so you can mark your calendar and plan a trip!

When you visit the Discovery Museums between February 25 and March 10, for every new or gently used pot or pan you bring to donate, you will receive 2 FREE PASSES good toward your next visit!  These pots and pans will be donated to Household Goods Recycling of Massachusetts.  What a great opportunity to give... and get something great in return!

Here are all the details.  I'll remind you again closer to February 25 and will have my blog post about why we love the Discovery Museums so much before then as well!

ACTON, MA – The Discovery Museums has announced a unique program to collect pots and pans for HGRM, Household Goods Recycling of Massachusetts. For every pot or pan brought in to the museums from February 25 through March 10, the donor will receive 2 free passes towards a future museum visit. Pots and pans should be in new or gently used condition and may be donated with or without lids.

All donations will be given to HGRM, an independent not-for-profit organization based in Acton, MA that provides household goods, free of charge, to people in need. 

“This time of year, our supply of pots and pans is always terribly low. We are delighted with the Discovery Museums’ generous outreach to help remedy this problem,” said HGRM’s Executive Director, Sharon Martens. “Thanks to this drive, many more of HGRM’s client families will be able to cook healthy meals for themselves in their own homes."

About The Discovery Museums

The Discovery Museums are celebrating 30 years of inspiring curiosity. The two museums—the Children’s Discovery Museum for ages 0-6 and the Science Discovery Museum for kids of all ages—are the children’s and science museums of MetroWest Boston, paired on a single 4.5-acre campus in Acton, MA.  For 30 years the Museums have served families and schools from towns throughout New England, with a commitment to informal education that enhances classroom learning. The hands-on, playful exhibits, developed by professional educators, inspire curiosity, exploration, experimentation and imagination.  The Discovery Museums combine manageable scale, convenient location and free parking to provide a fun and engaging experience where children and adults can discover their world together. For more information, please visit www.discoverymuseums.org.

Like The Discovery Museums on facebook here!

** I noticed on the facebook page that the museums are not open for visitors on 2/25 **

Amazingly Easy Homemade Donuts

I have blogged before about how important it is to us that our daughter fills her belly at each meal.  But sometimes she gets an idea in her mind about what she's hungry for and it can take a lot of persuasive work to convince her to eat something other than that.  We try to keep plenty of options in the house that we know she likes... for breakfast this is typically toast with cream cheese or peanut butter, blueberry waffles with cool whip, cereal, fruit, or muffins.  Sometimes she surprises us and asks for something we are not prepared for and this is when my creativity really gets put to the test.  Last weekend she got up and asked for donuts.  Donuts!  I had tried on another occasion to make donuts with some things I had in the house (not including typical donut making things like yeast or a donut pan).  They had turned out okay but they weren't amazing.  The taste was good but they were a little too sticky and crunchy on the bottom.  So when our daughter asked for donuts again I was kind of at a loss.  I figured I probably had about 10 minutes to try to figure something out before I would need to offer her a different alternative so I quickly started googling recipes and found one to try.

OH MY GOODNESS!  These donuts were perfect!  They were super easy and required minimal ingredients, all of which I had on hand.  They were the perfect taste and texture.  I was amazingly impressed with myself, I won't lie, but I shouldn't toot my horn too much because #1: I did not create the recipe and #2: these are not complicated at all and anyone could make them.  I promise if you make them you will love them and whoever you serve them to will be very impressed!  It took me less time to make these than it would have for me to drive someplace and purchase a dozen donuts (which I would not have done, FYI) and it was certainly less expensive.  Try them!  You will not be disappointed!

Ingredients for donuts:

• one can of biscuits (I used a small roll of 10 buttermilk biscuits 7.5 oz)
• about 1/2 cup oil (enough to cover half of the donuts while frying in a pan... add more if you need to)

Ingredients for icing:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• sprinkles, cinnamon sugar, or whatever you are in the mood for!

If the icing is too thick, add a tiny bit more milk, if it's too runny, add more sugar.  The thicker it is the more frosting-like it will be.  A little bit thinner and it will be more like a glaze.  

Directions:

• Cut circles in the centers of the biscuits (I used the cap from a soda bottle)
• Put oil in frying pan (enough to cover half of the donut pieces)
• Heat oil over medium heat
• Place donuts and donut holes in pan and let sit until golden brown on the bottom (just a couple of minutes.  Turn over the brown the other side.  Pay attention because these will get brown quickly!
• Remove from pan to a plate covered with a paper towel (to drain the oil)
• Dip in icing and decorate, or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar

You can find the original recipe here.

If you don't have oil, you can do a version with butter, baking in the oven (recipe here).  I liked these but like I said before, they got too crunchy on the bottom for our liking.  If this is all you have though and you need donuts pronto, they will work!

All of the ingredients for this recipe are things I already had on hand.  I use these same ingredients in tons of recipes so try to always stay stocked up on them.  If you don't keep these things on hand, you should!

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Cake with Apple Cider Glaze

That's right, folks, TWO INGREDIENTS!  This could not get any easier (or yummier).  I have to be honest that when I first came across this recipe I did not have high hopes for it.  All I could think of was a bland, dry, totally non-delicous slab of orange colored dough.  I was actually skeptical enough that I felt a little bit like I was wasting ingredients all the way up until I took my first bite.  And then.... OH MY GOSH!  This is AMAZING.  I will never look for a different pumpkin cake recipe.  I am not exaggerating.  I promise you will love this.

Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• 1 box yellow cake mix (doesn't need to be fancy, I used a box of traditional, not extra moist or anything)
• I also added some pumpkin pie spice to mine but that will change this to a 3 ingredient cake... It's up to you.  1 teaspoon will do the trick if you want to add it (I used 2 teaspoons and it was a bit much... further proof of how skeptical I was!).

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix pumpkin and cake mix together with electric mixer until combined (it will be thick)
• Scoop into a greased 6x10 baking dish (or something close to that size)
• Bake for 28 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (don't overbake it)
• Let cool for a few minutes and then flip it onto a platter and pour glaze over top
• I cut some slits in the top of my cake prior to pouring to get the glaze all down inside too

For glaze, mix the following together:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons apple cider
• 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Let me know how it turns out!

You can view the original recipe here.