My grandmothers Recipes

A few months ago I was sent copies of a few of my grandmothers recipes. You know the small little recipe cards written in scrawled handwriting that are kept in a beaten up old box and that have been handed down from one person to another in the family. I never got to meet my grandmother(fathers side) as she passed away i believe the same year that i was born. Anyhow I was really excited when my aunt offered to make copies of a few of the recipes and send them to me. I’ve held onto them for the past few months, briefly glancing through them and waiting for the right time to attempt to make something from one of them. We’ll the right time may not come anytime soon as my son and I aren’t big desert people. Anyhow I’ve decided to in the next few weeks make a few and share them on here with you! Some of them may include Devil Dogs, Snickerdoodles, Half Moon Cookies, monkey bread and hot fudge pudding cake. I’m looking forward to sharing them and seeing how they come out!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

So this is one of mine and my son’s favorite sweet treat recipes. We don’t make them very often but when we do they don’t last very long!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 c peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Two eggs

For the peanut butter filling

3/4 c Peanut Butter

3/4 C. Confectioners Sugar

I usually make an extra half batch of the filling as i like to have plenty!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; blend well. In large bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar, butter, and 1/4 cup peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and eggs; beat well. Stir in flour mixture until blended, shape into 20-30 one-inch balls and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine filling ingredients and blend well. Roll into approx. 20-30 one-inch balls.

On a no stick service(try baking paper) flatten out the chocolate balls and then shape the chocolate around the peanut butter ball completly covering it. You are then going to take the bottom of a glass to semi-flatten it out!
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 – 9 minutes or until set and slightly cracked. Cool on wire racks. Makes approx, 20-30 cookies.

Enjoy!

Photos From Our Weekend

Just wanted to share a few photos from our weekend!

Lowry Park Zoo Review

Ever since I had my son its been really important to me that he has good experiences and gets to see things and go places that are not only fun but educational. Unfortunately my desire to do these things and my checkbook don’t always see eye to eye. However I’ve found that a lot of places offer special discount days and I’ve learned to take advantage of these days.

(This guy was cute but he had a bit of an attitude)

This spring I learned that the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa was offering a $5 day. Normally it is $23.95 for adults and $18.95 for kids ages 3-11. I jumped at the chance to take my son for only $10 for the two of us! He is a true animal lover and loves learning about new ones and i knew he would be just as excited as i was.

The drive there was easy and a parking space was easy to find as well. I feared that the ticket lines to enter would be long like they have been at other places we have visited in the past but they had plenty of ticket booths open and we were through the gates within minutes of arriving.

I’m not sure where to even start with the park aside to say that the place is incredible! There is over eight themed area like Safari Africa and Lturi Forrest which has animals like Elephants, Cheetahs and Giraffes. The Florida boardwalk that features animals like the Florida Panther, Red Fox and the Southern Stingray and many many more animals to see. There is also an aquarium type area!

There are tons of interactive areas like the Camel Safari where your children can actually ride on the back of a Camel! The Lorikeet landing where you enter a special bird habitat and have the option to feed them(just watch out for poop)! There is also Stingray Bay where you can feed and pet the Stingrays! My son was thrilled with all of the different hands on exhibits and enjoyed each and everyone of them.

Aside from the animals there is also an area that features ride attractions. They are a lot of fun but it is an extra $6 to enjoy them and with all the animals there is to see there almost isn’t enough time in the day to ride them! Another large plus that the park features is a small water play area where your kids can cool off on a hot summer day! We didn’t do this as the day was a bit overcast and rainy as it was.

All and all did i think it was worth the $10 it cost for the two of us to get in? Yes, it was more then worth it! Would i pay the regular cost price if i was unable to go on a discount day? Yes, it is well worth it!

The only negative things was that if you want to bring your own lunch with you that you have to leave the park and eat in a designated picnic area. We chose to eat in the park but ended up waiting in line for nearly an hour! Aside from that it was a wonderful experience and my son was overjoyed to be there!

What to do…..What to do!

So lately i’ve been kind of in a blah, don’t want to do anything, why do i put so much effort into things when nothing is going the way i want it to. I’m not depressed im just annoyed. I’m annoyed because this isn’t where i wanted to be in my life at this time. I should have a career and maybe a date every now and then. Instead i am a single, unemployed mother who’s unemployment just ran out. I’m living off my savings and that is only going to last so long. As of next month i’ll be employed but only part time and making pretty much minumum wage….i was previously making $13.00 an hour….its not like i lack experience or anything….blah.
So pretty much, i’m trying to keep my head up and see the good in everything….i could have had nothing in savings and then where would my son and i be? I moved here because it was supposed to be a fresh start for the two of us but it feels as though im just treading water. My head is kind of all over the place right now. I just need something good to happen….but im not sure what else to do….i don’t know where to even begin!
Anyhow because i don’t want to leave this on an unhappy note and complain about being a self proclaimed failure, bad mother, etc…..which i know i am not any of those things i figured i would share a few photos from our weekend.
Enjoy.

Motherhood

It doesn’t matter how many times a day i sweep my floors, pull out the vacuum or fill the bucket with water and Mr. clean…..come seven o’clock i guarantee my floors will be a work of art with a trail of dirt through the house, cookie crumbs gathering in the corner and the occasional sticky juice spot.

Some days the laundry looks as though it might form its own zip code and there isn’t a clean towel to be found.

The dishes…..well as much as i love the smell of that Dawn soothing botanical and find myself sneaking over to the sink to smell it….well the dishes…they are still multiplying like rabbits.

The toilet paper is never where i left it and the toilet sit spends more time up then it does down and one of these times ill probably go in there in the middle of the night and fall in. But its just the way it is.

The toys…well it doesn’t  matter how many times i pick them up and organize them into their correct bins because by the time I’m done there they’ll be again….on the floor right where they were before and ill be back to cursing in my head every time i find myself tripping over another train track.

His bed is never made and he prefers the floor to the dirty clothes hamper, there’s more of his toys in the tub then there are bath products, he thinks feta cheese, slim Jim’s and cheese sticks are all gifts from god and that there should always be a stockpile of each where he can get to them. He doesn’t like plain milk….it has to have chocolate. He can’t sleep unless his pillow pet is the only pillow he has and it has to be positioned under his head just right. He asks about his dad…..and that drives me nuts….but i do my best to smile and give him whatever answer i think is best.

So what it comes down to is that it doesn’t matter if my house looks like a tornado just landed in the center of it…..hes four and he just wants to play. It doesn’t matter if i can’t stand his father or that he owes me $7000 in child support because he doesn’t need to know that. The only thing that really matters at the end of the day is that he is happy, tucked away safely in his bed with the van on high beside him.

A relaxing afternoon spent fishing.

Photos from our trip back east.

Welcome

Alright, so im really new to this….if you can’t tell already! I created this blog as a place to share giveaways with friends and family. I take no credit at all for any of the giveaways that i post. I am ONLY sharing them with you! From time to time i may also post photos and share a few recipes as well!
Thanks!