Recipe InSeitz - Monster Cookies

Grandpa and Grandma Sikkema were here visiting this week and we were so happy to see them! We hadn't seen them since Christmas and they are headed to Arizona now for several weeks so we are so glad they came to visit. The girls had lots of fun playing games, reading books, playing school, and singing and dancing around the house with them. Thursday afternoon Grandma made some yummy Monster Cookies for us that we've been enjoying. Grandma makes these tasty favorites all the time and for some reason I've never made them. However, now I may start because my girls LOVE them. And for those of you that are gluten free they're a great option because they don't have any flour in them.


Monster Cookies

2 eggs
1/3 stick butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 tsp. soda
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup M&M's
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:
Mix all together and place spoonfuls on your baking sheet. Press down with a fork and press 3 M&M's onto the top before baking. Bake at 350 for about 10-11 minutes. Don't over bake. Wait about 5 minutes before removing from the baking sheet. (They may not look done but after they sit for a bit they will be.) Then move to a cooling rack.

Happy Valentine's Day

We've been counting the days until Valentine's day around here and we've put up a heart each day with a verse and something about God's love for us. It's been fun and the girls have been into seeing what is on each heart for the day. I also put up a heart on their bedroom door each day that told them something that I loved about them. This was the first year we've done anything like this and I think it may now become a tradition.

Maya had her Valentine's day party at school and came home with lots of candy and Valentine's from her friends.  She was also proud of her mailbox that she made and decorated.

Another Seitz Valentine tradition is a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. We've done this the past 7 years and this year was no different. It's cheap, easy, and fun and we don't have to fight the crowds! I know we are so romantic over here!

The girls opened some more Valentine's this morning when they woke up and then we had some heart shaped coffee cake before we were off to Church. 

Saturday fun

We are definitely getting a bit of cabin fever around here! Is it March yet? Can we go run outside and burn some energy? We have to get creative sometimes. This morning the girls were being silly with the tunnel.

And then they decided to make an obstacle course with the tunnel. Jump on the pogo stick, leap over the cups and bowls, crawl through the tunnel, walk on some books, and then something at the end with stuffed animals was also involved but I'm not sure what that was. 

Lots of laughs and giggles were had before 9am this morning. 

What will we do the rest of the day? Good question!

Maya had fun trying to teach Cora her ABC's and counting to 20 and putting these puzzles together. 

Recipe InSeitz - Boston Cream Bars

I have a few friends that love all things Boston Cream. So when I knew we were going to have dinner together I decided to try out a new bar recipe and bring it for dessert.  It was easy to make and went over pretty well. At least everyone said they liked it...maybe they were just being nice? But if you're up for some Boston Cream I'd suggest making this dessert for something different.

Boston Cream Bars 

For the Crust

1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
2 large eggs

For the Cream Topping 
2 packages instant vanilla pudding, 3.4 ounces each 
3 cups whole milk

For the Chocolate Topping 
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips 
1/3 cup heavy cream 
3 tablespoons light corn syrup, or honey 
*OR if you want it super easy a jar of smuckers hot fudge sauce melted in the microwave

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan with foil, spray with nonstick spray and set aside. Mix the cake mix, melted butter, and eggs on medium speed until combined. Mixture will be thick. Press mixture into prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, until edges are set  and golden and center is puffy. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

While the crust is baking, prepare the cream topping: In a large bowl, whisk together pudding mixes and milk until thick, about 3 minutes. Place in the refrigerator to thicken until crust has finished baking and has cooled completely. Once the crust has cooled spread the cream filling over it evenly and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the chocolate topping. In the microwave, heat chocolate chips and heavy cream for about 2 minutes, stopping to stir every 20 seconds until smooth. Stir in corn syrup or honey and let cool until thick and no longer warm. Spread over bars. You can also spoon over bars that have been cut into squares. *Or you can use your hot fudge sauce and spread that over the cream topping or over each individual bar that you cut and serve. 

Keep bars in refrigerator until time to serve.

Ice Skating

Maya has been talking about ice skating for quite awhile. I think several of her friends have gone ice skating recently and therefore she was very curious about trying it out too. We had a free Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago and so Joel decided to take her. We live less than a mile from the Pettit center which is an Olympic training center for speed skating so that seemed like the best place to go and try it out.

Getting all the gear on and waiting to get on the ice.

First go at it seemed to be a success. I think there were a few falls but overall 

she liked it and did quite well.

Perhaps speed skating will be in her future?

On the day they went the famous Milwaukee Usinger Sausages were there skating too which was very exciting! Here they are taking the ice and skating all around. Too fun!

Recipe InSeitz - Mexican Baked Spaghetti

I'm way more of a baker than a cook and therefore most of my recipes on here are for yummy treats. I recently had to bring a meal to a friend and this is one of the things that I made. So easy and different from the regular pasta dishes it's nice to throw this one into the rotation every once in awhile. You can make it as spicy as you want depending on what type of salsa you use. And I tend to use a bit more cilantro because according to Joel this is what makes this dish extra tasty. We're big fans of cilantro. Some people are not so again use as much or as little as you'd like.

Mexican Baked Spaghetti

1/2 box of vermicelli pasta (or thin spaghetti)

1 2/3 cups salsa

2 cups cooked chicken chopped or shredded

1 cup shredded Mexican/cheddar cheese (3/4 cup in the mix and 1/4 on top)

2 Tbsp cilantro

Make spaghetti and drain. Then mix rest ingredients all together and add pasta and stir together. Pour into a 9x9 pan and bake for 20 min at 350 covered. Then bake 10 more minutes uncovered and top with rest of the cheese. (and a little bit more cilantro if you'd like)