Mother's Day Recipe

Momma Momma has been off-line for several months and I have greatly missed my interactions with other mothers. FYI I am 4 months pregnant with my second child and it has been kicking my behind. But I wanted to post a special Mother's Day Recipe that would be simple and delicious. Since I crave chocolate all the time......it is a chocolate cake


Super Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (3.5 ounce) package non-instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large saucepan combine the non-instant pudding mix with 2 cups milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the pudding is thickened. Remove from heat. Pour the dry cake mix into the saucepan and mix until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. You could frost and decorate with fresh fruit too.


I hope that everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day that is free from Cheerios in your hair and involves long naps.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

This is recipe is a twisted to the traditional Pecan Pie


Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 9 inch single crust pie (from scratch or frozen)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large mixing bowl beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, flour, melted butter or margarine, salt, lemon juice, and corn syrup. Mix thoroughly, then stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until set and golden.
4. Serve with your favorite vanilla bean ice cream.....
   

Fit Mom

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately, but the allergy bug went through our house and we finally recovered..........

I wanted to give my readers an update on my one of the new year resolutions we commented to doing together. Some of you may remember me mentioning wanted to be come more physically fit and I found a gym in my area that allows me to have time for myself and wonderful child care at the same time. I recently joined Life Time Fitness and have loved every minute of it. I am not your typical gym membership kind of gal and am, like most of you, very particular who I leave my daughter with, however this gym is different. It is very family oriented and affordable. In addition to my membership, I am given 2 hours a day of child care for as little as $6 a month. It is not your normal, sit in a room and watch t.v. type of gym child care either. My daughter is able to work on computers, interact with other children, have pretend time in a kitchen and even play basketball and climb in an indoor sliding system. They have swim lesson and a list of other classes for the kids to choose from.

The ratio is 12:1 and depending on the time of day, I have dropped her off when the ratio is more like 6:1. Can you imagine the relief of knowing that she is some where she enjoys and in the hands of certified, background checked adults whom she had bonded with.

I now officially have no excuse for working out.....the gym even has a spa/salon area if I want to get a massage while I'm there.

There are currently 85 locations in 19 states. Check out the site to see if there is one in your area. It is money well spent.

Jennifer Hudson

While she is not a mother....I just had a to take time out today and comment on the awesome job Jennifer Hudson did singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. In her first public appearance since her recent tragedy, Jennifer stood strong, looked amazing and brought tears to the eyes of many yesterday. If you missed it yesterday, here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc8W9jJSpIs

Check it out....it will give you goosebumps.

7 layer dip

This is a great super party dish!!!! It is quick and easy

• 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch chopped green onions
• 1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In a medium bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.
2. Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Spread over the refried beans.
3. Top the layers with salsa. Place a layer of tomato, green bell pepper, green onions and lettuce over the salsa, and top with Cheddar cheese. Garnish with black olives.

Malia and Sasha

Words can not express how I felt yesterday during this historic occasion. However I am sure there are hundreds of blogs that posted about yesterday's events and what took place. I wanted to take time out and point out the wonderful outfits the first daughters wore for this event. Malia and Sasha were each fitted in original J.Crew coats that were elegant and affordable. Everything down to the colors, styles and fabrics were hand picked specifically with these girls in mind. Unfortunately they are not currently available in J.Crew stores, however they do have a wide variety of winter wear at http://www.jcrew.com/index.jsp as part of their crewcut kids collection. I thought it was nice to see them in something that was classic and brightly colored, while at the same time being something I could put my on little girl in (most J.Crew kids coats still run about $100, which can still be a little pricey when you have smaller children who grow every week).

Good job Michelle, she seems to be working hard to keep her girls well grounded with all that is going on around them. She is even bringing her mother to the White House with her for added support.

Ambrosia Fruit Salad

This recipe is easy, easy, easy. All it involves is putting all the ingredients together. You can add more cherries and marshmallows if you like (I usually don't).

• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) can fruit cocktail, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows (optional)
  
• 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine the whipped topping, coconut, chopped nuts, fruit cocktail, pineapple, mandarin oranges, marshmallows and cherries. Mix together well and refrigerate for 30 to 45 minutes.

This is a delicious treat. When I made it for my family I use lite whipped topping and low sugar fruit and it is just as good.