Mollyism: "I'm Not Turtle..."

I just love the age that Molly is right now (she's five) -- she's just at that point where she is getting so much more grown up, but still says things that make me giggle all the time.

Today, she and the boys were playing a game when they were all animals.  Molly walked through the living room and declared to them, "I'm not turtle."

Okay, I thought, she had narrowed down to simply not being a turtle.  But, no, I was wrong, because she continued.

"I'm not turtle.  I sleep during the day, and I'm awake at night."

In her defense though, I do have to admit that though nobody corrected her, she did later say nocturnal instead.  But, I kind of think that I liked "not turtle" best.









photo by TarikB

Mixing Flours as a Healthier Choice

 

I promise to post later this week about my Blissdom Conference experiences, but for right now, I wanted to share a quick kitchen tip that has definitely been working for us.

I had been wanting to switch to whole wheat flour, instead of the unbleached white that I usually use.  But, I was afraid of what everyone's reaction might be in the house (and even my own).  So, I decided to start by just mixing half white flour and half whole wheat flour in my flour container.  

I have now been doing this for over six months, and nothing tastes different.  Every so often, if the thing I'm making is very light colored, the whole wheat flour changes its color just a little bit, but even that is not a big deal.  Nobody is noticing any differences, and I'm thrilled that I'm moving us toward a healthier flour option.  (Of course, full whole wheat would be better, but 50/50 is better than all white flour.)  I'm starting to think we might move to a little more wheat flour and a little less white in the mixture soon.  Wish us luck!

Do you have any other tips for little ways to change to healthier options in foods?

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

Photo by The Stakhanovite Twins

Double Fudge Coca Cola Cake Recipe

 

I have actually only made this cake once, but I've had it many times, since it is my Mom's favorite cake.  Oh man -- it is good.  Crazy good.

I made this last week for the first time when we were having dinner over at our friends Amanda and Keith's house with a priest friend of ours.  So, knowing that I was making dessert for 14 people (there were nine kids), I wanted something that could go a long way.  (Incidentally, I made Rice Krispie Treats too, just because I can't help myself.)

I like that this recipe gets better as time goes on.  So, since we were having dinner on Friday night, I actually made the cake on Thursday.  (When we worked on the last of the leftover cake on Sunday night, it was even better!)  My Mom has also had great success with cutting this into pieces and freezing individual pieces.

Ingredients for Cake:

- 1 cup Coca Cola

- 1/2 cup oil

- 1 stick butter

- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

- 2 cups sugar (white)

- 2 cups flour (I used half unbleached white & half whole wheat, though you can use whatever your preference is at your house)

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 2 eggs

- 1/2 cup buttermilk 

- 1 teaspoon baking soda (careful - this is not added in with the other dry ingredients)

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for Cake:

1. In a sauce pan, bring oil, butter and cocoa powder to a boil.

2. Move to a mixing bowl after items in step one have come to a boil.

3. Mix the sugar, flour, and salt.  Pour them into the mixture that you just put in the bowl.  Beat well.

4. Add in Coca Cola.  Blend well.

5. Add eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla.  Beat well.

6. Pour into a greased and floured sheet cake pan.  (I used a 16-inch cookie sheet that had one inch sides.  A jelly roll pan is also a great option.)

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 -  25 minutes.  (My Mom specifically says 22 minutes though, and that did work for me.)

Ingredients for Frosting (start making this when the cake has about four or  five minutes left to bake -- you'll be frosting this cake while it's still hot!):

- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter

- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

- 6 tablespoons cream or milk (honestly -- I used skim milk.  I used it to make the buttermilk too.)

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1/2 - 1 cup pecans, chopped (optional - I don't use them)

- 3 3/4 cups (3.75 cups) confectioners (powdered) sugar

Directions for Frosting:

1. In a saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, and milk.  Heat until butter melts.

 

2. Beat in the remaining ingredients, and spread on the hot cake.

3. Cool cake before cutting.

The yield on this recipe all depends on how big of pieces you are cutting.  I would imagine you could make large pieces and cut 30 pieces.  I cut it so that I got around 40 pieces of cake from the pan.

Enjoy!

 

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Many Little Blessings: January 2010 Recap

It seems like January just begun, and now it's already over.  I wanted to take this time to thank all of my readers and visitors!  A special thanks to the top ten referrers to Many Little Blessings during January 2010:

1. We are THAT Family

2. The Homeschool Classroom

3. Life as Mom

4. Facebook

5. Conversion Diary

6. My 3 Boybarians

7. Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

8. Catholic Mothers Online

9. A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

10. The Finer Things in Life