Cupcake Tuesday: Soccer Cupcakes

My son has done great this spring in his Soccer League and it is now coming to an end. Tonight was his last practice and the kids were really excited to see these! Even more, excited to eat them.

I did a basic vanilla batter for the cake. For the frosting I used a #233 tip and a vanilla frosting. I love adding slight flavor to vanilla so I put a creme de mint and a green food coloring inside the frosting. The candies on top are from Wilton.

I've linked up at HoosierHomemade.com for Cupcake Tuesday, make sure you check out Liz's site for some yummy cupcake ideas! This week she did chocolate covered cherry cupcakes (((Drooooool)))

Making Home: Spring Treats & Quick Bake Sale Goodies

I decided to get creative for the bake sale we held this weekend for the Epilepsy Foundation. My favorite item I baked were the Carrot Cake Easter Cupcakes (pictured above). I made the tops look like Easter baskets with eggs. I took 1 cup of coconut and a few drops of green food coloring and mixed them in a bowl for 30 seconds, giving me my grass. I placed the "grass" on the wet frosting, then I placed large jelly beans and used them for my eggs. These were quick and make an awesome centerpiece @ Easter.




Another idea for a centerpiece @ Easter is Marshmallow Kabobs. I took white marshmallows and dipped them in melted chocolate. It was actually an almond bark coating found in all grocery stores. I melted the chocolate in the microwave for about 45 seconds. I then took the marshmallows, put it on the kabob and poured chocolate over it carefully with a spoon over the chocolate bowl. I put on a strawberry marshmallow then repeated one more time. So each kabob had 2 chocolate and 2 strawberry marshmallows.

One more thing I made (not shown) are raspberry brownies. I used a mix that I bought with a coupon from Betty Crocker and Safeway for Fudge Brownies Supreme. I gave them a tasty creative flare in just a few seconds. I took my Raspberry extract and poured about 1/2 tsp in to the mix. This just made this brownies so much more delicious! These were quick, chewy and were one of the first things to sell out!

Looking for a great deal on Brownie and Cake mixes from Betty Crocker? Check out my giveaway from BC and Safeway here: http://www.supersavingsense.com/2010/03/safeway-and-betty-crocker-spring-sweet.html to learn more!

Are you looking for more Easter Cupcake Ideas? Check out Cupcake Tuesday @ Hoosier Homemade!

Making Home: Cleaning Schedule ~ Make Time to Take Time Off!

There are many people out there who love schedules and their lives revolve around them. I am one of those people who hears the word schedule and cringe! Sticking to a schedule just seems like too much pressure. Little did I know that creating a schedule would do so much more good then pressure!

When I first heard about cleaning schedules, I thought there was no way I was going to put things on a calendar to make the dreaded seem even more well, dreaded! What I didn't consider was the time I would put on to not clean. The best benefit of the cleaning schedule are simple: You don't have to be a slave to your cleaning. As a mom of 2 (and soon to be bonus mom to 2 more), I know it's IMPOSSIBLE to always have a clean house. As much as a dream that would be, it's not going to happen. It's easy to think that if we have our house clean all the time, just for that unexpected guest we'll be so happy. But does the chaos of struggling with keeping up with a clean house really equal happiness? We should remember at the end of the day, our kids still love us, as with our spouses and family and when it comes time to meet our maker, he is not going to be pulling out a tally of when our house was clean! With letting the mentality go of focusing on a perfect house, it's easy to see the benefit of the cleaning schedule.

When creating a cleaning schedule:

• Focus on the reality ~ Don't expect to clean the house in one day and expect it to stay clean the rest of the week.
  
• You are in charge ~ Remember that you control the chores and the amount of time to spend on each of them.
• It's okay to divert ~ if you have something on your schedule and don't get to it that day, don't fret! Save it for another day.
  
• Split it up ~ Break up the chores and the amount of times you do it throughout the week.
  
• Do what works best for your family! Plan around cleaning when it's not family time.
  
• Even God rested on the 7th day! Let go of cleaning everyday and instead focus on a day (or more) off!

Here is my schedule:
Monday: Laundry, clean living room (vacuum), spot clean bathroom and kitchen (dishes, sweeping)
Tuesday: Quick Pick ups through out the house
Wednesday: Dishes
Thursday: This is hefty cleaning day! Laundry, clean living room (pick up and dust), bathroom, kitchen(wipe appliances, change table cloth etc), hall, bedroom. My day to vacuum and mop all rooms.
Friday: Spot check house, dishes and any left over laundry.
Sat and Sunday ~ I have a STRICT no clean policy on the weekend. No matter how tempted I am to pick up or do a load of laundry, I know family time is MOST important on the weekends!

Now I do only have 1300 square feet to clean so this schedule is easy for me, it may not be this easy for most. My biggest thing as said before is letting go of having to clean ALL the time. By only focusing on the chores a few days a week, it is easy to focus on more in my life. Best part is, my house doesn't look bad on my days off!

Remember to create a monthly schedule (such as washing windows, blinds, curtains ~ remember those shower curtains etc)

You don't need write down a schedule to stick to but it helps to make it realistic.