Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

This morning it was (finally!) chilly here in North Texas and I needed something warm in my cup. I don't know why it is that when I need coffee the worst, I have such a hard time making myself make it! So I went to the pantry and made a very quick drink mix for mornings just like this.

Auntie Hoot's Mocha Mix

2 cups of sweetener (sugar or sugar substitute)
4 cups instant milk
1 cup dry coffee creamer
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 package of instant pudding (chocolate or vanilla)
1 jar of espresso powder
3/4 cup of cocoa powder

Mix together and store in a ziplock bag. Heat water in microwave & add 1/3 cup of mix and a couple of stale marshmallows. You can dress this up for gift giving by adding crushed peppermint (those soft ones should dissolve nicely in the warm liquid), homemade marshmallows or perhaps a small bottle of adult beverage for spiking. (If you're into that kind of thing.) Enjoy!

I'm baaaaack!

A friend has been asking about what happened to my blog and when I came back to see where I was when I dropped the ball...well now I know why things fell by the wayside...without going into much detail, Big Daddy and I are not new parents and it's okay. No really, we're good. God has taken really good care of us and I absolutely know that what happened was simple biology. God held on to both of us really tightly during that time and Big Daddy and I have experienced so many exciting changes since then. God just keeps sending us love notes. It's all good!

Lately I've been obsessed with cake balls, Valentines Day and cheap dates.

First off, the cake balls. I think I am the last person on the planet to experience them but just in case I'm not here are the basic instructions. If you want something a little snazzier, check this out! Want to try some? Contact http://www.yeschefcatering.net/

I've been making valentines. I've made a series of sarcastic cards for single girls and I've also been making valentines with a black white and red as my palate.

Look a few pictures that inspired me:
This one is from http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/02/04/ladybug-valentine/






Or check out this at http://www.delish.com/entertaining-ideas/holidays/valentines-day-recipes/valentines-day-table-decorations

Okay, just one more from http://www.trueblissevents.com/blog/ (I am a garland/banner freak!)

And yes, I'm still searching out new and fun ways to continue to date my sweet Big Daddy. This week I scoured the interweb for great ideas for thrifty dates. Here are my top 10 favorites:

1.Dollar movie with snack smuggling.

2.Tonight we go for a drive together where you only stop or turn when you encounter a street that starts with the one of our initials.
3.Tonight we are spies. We need to go to the mall & we have to choose someone to follow until we cannot follow them any farther. Then the other person gets to choose who we follow.
4. Tonight’s main event is the $10 shopping spree. Each of us gets $10 and 1 hour to locate and purchase a gift for each other.
5. Tonight we’re going to play games at Starbucks. Banangrams, Everyword or Blokus will all work!
6. Heads or tails driving: Before you get to an intersection, flip the coin. Heads we turn right; tails we turn left.
7. Let’s play bingo with daubers and the crazy bingo grannies!
8. It’s a picnic! Let’s go to the market to shop for our meal. Our limit is just 5 items so let‘s choose wisely.
9. We're going to feed the ducks!
10. It’s a Coinstar date! First we cash in the change and that’s our budget for dinner.

I'm starting a date bag, where I put all my ideas in a bag and on Fridays when we're stumped, we can pick a date from the bag.