Easy peasy peanut butter fudge

This recipe is so simple, fast and no need for a candy thermometer! It's always great to have a tasty quick recipe under your belt for those times you are invited somewhere last minute and you need to bake a treat or like myself, when a huge peanut butter craving hits!!

All you need:
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
1 cup of butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
1tsp. vanilla

-Line a 8x8 square pan with parchment paper and set aside
-Place your peanut butter and butter in a microwave save bowl covered with plastic wrap and heat in the microwave on high for 2 mins.
-Remove from microwave, stir till everything is all melted. re-cover and heat on high for another 2 mins.
-Remove from microwave again (be careful this time as it may be hot) add your vanilla and powdered sugar. -Stir till everything is blended well. Continue to stir until your mixture looses the shiny look and starts to get a little crumbly.
-Add mixture to your parchment lined pan. Smooth out mixture and lay another piece of parchment paper on top.
-Refrigerate till set (about 2 hours)
-Enjoy!

Carving out and organizing quiet time when you have small children

*disclaimer: This is still new to me so I would love to hear any suggestions and also hear about how you organize your quiet times as well :) 

I have recently started to journal/ write things down during my quiet time. For me, things seem to *stick* more when I write and how nice it will be when my children are grown they can look back at this and see all the things Momma was praying for them :)

So before I tell you how I manage my quiet time I will talk about what I use and what I do first.

I LOVE binders!! I use them for everything, so I thought it would be a good choice for my quiet time. I didn't want anything big and bulky, so I found a smaller size binder (just a little bigger than my bible) at staples. It's from the Martha Stewart line. I have one section where I journal on a scripture. I will often come across scripture that speaks to something in my life at the moment so I write about it. I use the S.O.A.P method. Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer. The next 3 sections are devoted to prayers for my Husband, prayers for my Daughter and prayers for my Son. The last section is dedicated to prayers for others and a place where I can jot down things I want to remember from church seminars etc.

So now on to finding time! We actually don't need to find time because it's already there! We need to MAKE time. How often do we as mothers complain of exhaustion so we sit, just for a moment, to catch up on social media, browse pinterest, watch tv etc..?? I know I'm guilty too! We are not actually resting when we do these things, just zoning out. So if you have time for these things you have time for 'quiet time' if you want it.

Wake up just 30mins. before your children. I know this may not be practical for some of you Mom's that have children that are up before the sun! but if not, it's only 30 mins. I will GUARANTEE you that you will not miss that extra 30mins. of sleep and you will have started your day more refreshed and more focused which in turn will bring down your stress levels.

Squeeze it in during the afternoon! This is when I like to do my quiet time. When the afternoon rolls around my kids start to wind down a bit. They are content to sit and watch a movie or a quiet activity like coloring, play-dough  crafts etc. So it will sit and do my quiet time at the kitchen table. I would be lying if I said my kids sit quietly and never interrupt me during this LOL I tend to my kids, keep focused and then get back to it. Some of you may have children that take a nap in the afternoon, that's a great opportunity to get your quiet time in!

Evenings/before bed. This is when I like to review notes from a ladies morning bible study I recently joined. Have you ever curled up in the evening with a good book? Got caught up in it for a few hours! Why not do the same with Gods word? Now I'm not saying that you can't read a book in the evenings anymore except your bible..just manage your time better. Have your quiet time with God first and if you still want to have more time after to read a book ..etc. go ahead, if not, go to bed. Simple as that. It's all in making the most out of our time and managing it well. Minimizing the time wasters and things that zone us out and setting our priorities straight.

I would love to hear your tips on how you fit quiet time into your day when you have little ones at home and would love to see your prayer/scripture journals as well! Remember to leave a link to your blog in the comments below :)

How to spot clean micro suede furniture

Last spring I was SUPER excited to finally be able to purchase a new sofa set. We shopped around and even though leather is the easiest to clean we chose micro suede because we have animals and thought they might pick the fabric. Micro suede is marketed as an easy to care for fabric...That had me sold! Well.... anytime anything HUMAN goes near my sofa I end up with stains!! My cat lays on it and drools...Water stain! My little ones hands...Water stains! Story of my life.

I googled many different methods of cleaning the sofa and YES! You guessed it, they all ended up causing more Water Stains!!!!

I recently came across Oxi-clean multipurpose stain remover spray. I originally purchased this for my laundry and after further reading the bottle, discovered you can use this on upholstery as well. I thought I would test out a small area to see if the cleaner would be safe for my furniture. Success!

Before oxi-clean, I spot treated my furniture with rubbing alcohol with moderate success. I get great results with the oxi-clean. It was a big help when my youngest decided to have a 'accident' in the recliner!!

--Try a inconspicuous area before treating your stain--

All you need:
-1 bottle of  oxi-clean multipurpose stain remover
-A natural non-dyed cloth/rag (do not use color as the color of the cloth might bleed onto your sofa fabric)
-Your vacuum

                                                                 (The offending stain!!)

Start by vacuuming your sofa clean.

You then want to saturate your cloth with the oxi-clean. The bottle suggests you do NOT spray directly onto your sofa.

Scrub with your rag in a circular motion feathering out the wet spot.

Allow to dry. (You may notice while it dries your fabric gets a little stiff) this is where a brush comes in handy. Just brush over the area and ta-da! (again in circle motion) Brand new sofa again!

So far since my sofa is fairly new, I just deal with water stains. I know with older sofa's you sometimes get that worn, slick leather like texture on them this technique works well for those issues as well.

---Please note, I am not affiliated with Oxi-clean. The opinions of this post are mine and are purely meant to show you how I clean my furniture.

Black midnight cake & nutella butter-cream frosting

To me, nothing beats a moist chocolaty cake and a hot mug of dark coffee. Thankfully weight loss isn't on my 2013 resolutions ;)

I love to try many different recipes, but this chocolate cake recipe has had me hooked! It's turned out a fluffy, moist cake every time. Never to disappoint! The butter-cream icing is wonderful as well. I usually use it to frost banana squares but found it soothed my chocolate cravings on this cake. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Black midnight chocolate cake:

2/3 cup shortening
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour 
2/3 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups water
1 tsp vanilla

1. beat the shortening, sugar, and eggs till nice and fluffy 2. sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking  soda, and salt 3. mix dry ingredients  and then a combination of water and vanilla in alternately with the sugar/shortening mixture 4. pour into 2 9-inch layer pans that have been greased and lightly floured 5. bake at 350 degrees for 35 mins. Let cool completely on a wire rack before frosting the cake.

Nutella Butter-cream:

1/2 cup of butter
2 cups of confectioner's sugar
4 tbs milk
3 tbs cocoa powder (unsweetened)
ONE CUP of Nutella ;) 

cream together butter and sugar. Add to the mixture the milk and the cocoa powder. Mix well. Finally beat in the Nutella. Beat on high so frosting gets nice and fluffy.

Now go enjoy your chocolate bliss creation!!!!

Traditional Cape Sable Island Creamed lobster recipe

The last Monday in November to May 31st runs our lobster fishing season and there is NOTHING I look more forward to than a delicious meal of creamed lobster :) I remember this dish on many a table all my life, and I'm pretty certain people were cooking it long before I was around ;)

If you google cream lobster, you don't get any images or recipes of how we make it so you are surely missing out! This is not something you would typically see in a recipe book or index card in a ladies kitchen here. Like myself my Mother taught me how to cook it, and my Grandmother taught her. So I will do my best to explain this out. If you tackle the recipe and have any questions, please feel free to email me at momm2maddiealex@hotmail.ca and I will be glad to help! :)

You can make this recipe with just as little as 2-3 lobster!

1. First start by boiling your lobster.
2. once finished, shell said lobster.
3. Cut up your lobster meat in bite size pieces (cleaning tail meat)

4. You are going to fry your lobster meat in about 3 heaping tbs of butter (this isn't diet friendly ha ha) and about 1Tbs. vinegar. I use malt but white is fine too. (Do this as soon as you add your meat to the pan, so all flavor is absorbed through this process since you will be adding cream later.)

5. Fry lobster meat till it turns a nice orange hue. (on medium-low heat for about 15-20mins)
6. Now you will need to add approx. 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream (35%) and 1 cup of blend cream (10%) continue to heat on medium until mixture comes to a boil.
7. while you are awaiting the cream/lobster mixture to reach boiling, mix one cup of water (in a mug or glass) with 2 tbs of cornstarch. Mix well.
8. Once you have reached boiling point, thicken with cornstarch mixture. (Like my mother taught me pour cornstarch mixture slowly into the boiling bubbles, slowly stir it through the entire pan) When finished and you have reached desired thickness turn burner on low/simmer and now it's time to eat!!

This dish is served over buttered toast with a side of fries or mashed potatoes (with additional cream mixture poured on your potato side for good measure) Serve with any additional veggies of your choice. I suggest peas.

Note: Like many suggest to buy local grown/organic fruits and veggies from the farmer vs. grocery store I feel the same with seafood. Purchase your lobster straight from the fisherman to ensure you are getting the best quality you will get. This is a traditional Cape Island recipe so of course it will taste best with Cape Island Lobster :)  ----> Fresh and ORGANIC  sold here

Having fun as a family (on the cheap)

I love Summer! There are always so many things to do with my family, but always traveling can be expensive. We also live in a area where there isn't too many options. We have to drive 1 hour just to get to the closest movie theater and mall! So I thought I would share with you some fun things we do as a family that cost us little or nothing at all. I hope this inspires you to get out there with your family and just take in what you have around you :)

Take your kids fishing! I'm sure they will LOVE it :) If not, they will indeed enjoy the boat ride and the beautiful scenery!! 

Enjoy a frozen treat at your local ice cream shoppe! We have a little retro ice cream shoppe here that we love to take the kids to, have a treat to cool off with :)

Take in your local scenery! If your town as any historic sites or museums go check them out! It's a great way for your kids to learn some history about where they live. We went on a little drive to Cape Forchu so the kids could see the lighthouse and the highland views of the ocean.

Check out a local farm or zoo! This one we went to had both exotic and farm animals. Our kids admission was FREE and pony rides were just a dollar!! We packed our own lunch as well. Great fun on the cheap :)

Take your children out to a playground! Bring a picnic lunch, a book for you and make it a family thing! The kids get to burn off all that extra energy and you get to soak up some sun/vitamin D :)

Bake with your kids! This is a great thing to do on a rainy day. We love to cook together and if the weather is nice, we will sit outside and enjoy our treats!

Our #1 favorite thing to do in the Summer...The beach! Beautiful, refreshing and more sanitary than the pubic pool! We are surrounded by beaches, I have one less than a 60 second drive from my house. The best part?? It's 100% free and my kids have a BLAST!! 

Now get out there and enjoy these last moments of Summer!!

Frugal living Friday

Since we have had such beautiful weather and it has really sparked my Summer state of mind, I thought this weeks topic I could right about budgeting your Summer vacations...Why pay more when you can pay less!!

1. GOOGLE is your friend. look up your accommodations, the best rates, the cheapest time to go. A lot of places offer discounts if you book your hotel through them, and it's no cost to you.

2. Try something different.. When going away we usually aim for a bed and breakfast, cottage or just plain old camping. I love the more rustic feel of the 3 and those options are generally much, much cheaper than a hotel.

3. Coupons!! Like I said, Google is your friend. Print off a few coupons to some places that you would like to stop. Could be anything from a discount on your coffee, ice cream for the kids, the new restaurant you wanted to try etc...

4. Remember if you are traveling far and you have a cell phone. Call your provider and they can offer a plan so you are not facing a hefty bill when you get home!!

5. Do your own cooking while you are away. 3 meals a day plus snacks at restaurants are not cheap!! Besides, as many breakfast places I have ate at..cooking it myself always seems much better :)

I'm also going to add a link to a blog I LOVE..she has some good organizational tips on packing for your travels as well. http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.ca/2012/04/road-trip-packing.html