Matthew's Puzzle and a mom putting it all together

Gluten Free Rice Crispy Treats with Frosting

March 20, 2012 By Maryann

My boys had a big carnival fundraiser at their school this past weekend. The school asked for volunteers and since I couldn’t really give my time I offered to make food for the cake walk and bake sale. I made a gluten free yellow cake with chocolate frosting for the cake walk, just incase the boys actually won and went to pick a cake. For the bake sale I again made something gluten free thinking the boys may wish to purchase a snack while we were at the event and I wanted to make sure they had a safe and delicious choice.

But I am pretty busy and didn’t feel up to making gluten free cookies and the cake for the cake walk. So I opted to make Gluten Free Rice Crispy Treats. I really wanted to offer something more than just traditional rice crispy treats since that is a some what normal in-home treat. I didn’t want to make anything with an artificial colored candy add in so I decided I’d make a chocolate “frosting”, but the treats had to be packed into baggies which meant I couldn’t use a soft icing. I needed something that would stay firm and not stick to the wrapping.

GF Rice Crispy Treats with Chocolate Frosting

Rice Crispy Treat

10 oz bag of mini marshmallows – verify they are GF

6 Tbs of butter

5 To 6 Cups of Gluten Free Rice Crispy Cereal – note that most rice crispy cereals are NOT GF!

Following the traditional method I melted the butter and marshmallows then stirred in the cereal. I pressed the mixture into a buttered, glass rectangular pan and allowed it to cool.

While the cereal bars cooled I prepared the frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

8 oz of dark chocolate chips – I used 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips

1 to 2 Tbs milk

1 to 2 Tbs powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. This should only take 30 seconds to 90 seconds depending on microwave strength. Make sure all chips are melted. Add 1 Tbs of milk and 1 Tbs of powered sugar. The mixture will stiffen. Add additional milk and sugar if needed. Immediately frost the cereal bars. Allow to cool fully, then cut and serve.

Summer is on the Way

March 16, 2012 By Maryann

I’m heading to Brandcation this year and it is on the beach in Pensacola, Florida! That means bathing suits are on my mind. Being the mom of 3 little boys means I need a real, functional bathing suit, but being a woman means I want a good looking one too. Lands’ End has all of that, and more!

DIVE INTO SWIM SEASON WITH LANDS’ END

ANNUAL SWIM SAVINGS EVENT – 25% OFF AND FREE SHIPPING WITH $50 PURCHASE

Lands’ End is helping families get ready to dive into swim season! The annual Swim Event offers 25% off of the company’s legendary regular-priced swimsuits and swim accessories. The sale inspires families to shop early to find swim favorites such as collections featuring vintage island prints or bold pops of color.

WHAT: Lands’ End Swim Event – 25% off all regular-priced swimsuits for women, men’s and kids and swim accessories including:

* Sandals

*Totes

* Beach Towels

*Watershoes

FREE SHIPPING: Sale includes free shipping with a $50 minimum purchase

WHEN: Friday, March 16 – Monday, March 19, 2012

WHERE: www.landsend.com

You know me, I LOVE free shipping. And I’m totally digging the bright bold patterns!

Wordless Wednesday – Kombucha Bottles Swing Tops

March 14, 2012 By Maryann

To continue the Kombucha theme on WW, I’m including a pic of my new Swing Top bottles I will use for the kombucha’s second ferment. I’m going to try and get fancy and add juice to the kombucha, seal it in the swing tops and ferment a second time. It should produce a flavored kombucha that is slightly effervescent!

Why I May Never Get Vested in Another Network Show

March 8, 2012 By Maryann

Major TV networks and I just don’t see eye to eye when it comes to quality TV programming. I’ll admit they must have someone on their team that has incredible vision and helps them pick thoughtful, well written shows. Then, somehow, those same well written shows don’t get the viewership (shame on you American public) The networks want so they pull the proverbial plug.

The latest show to get the axe was the gritty, yet funny, cop drama, Prime Suspect. Based on the British show by the same name, it chronicled the life and police work of Jane Timmoney as a NY homicide detective. My husband and I really enjoyed the show as it wasn’t predictable like so many other police dramas. It utilized real character development and had interesting plots and subplots. Prime Suspect required the viewer to pay attention and invest in the characters. It didn’t have as slow a burn as my favorite police drama, The Wire, but it wasn’t always wrapped up nicely, either.

National networks have had a history of getting me hooked on unique, interesting TV only to leave me wanting when the show underperforms. Some deceased favorites include the British remake ( apparently British remakes are the kiss of death) Life on Mars, The Unusuals (which replaced Life on Mars), the Good Guys (which admittedly wasn’t that ground breaking, but was unique), Veronica Mars, Southland (a truly fantastic police drama that was thankfully picked up by TNT), and Life starring Damian Lewis, who has now moved on to Homeland. Which thankfully does not reside on A major network as it is a hard hitting, exciting look into homeland security and an American POW turned terrorist against his own country.

As you can see I’ve had a terrible run of bad luck with major networks and rarely do I find anything worth watching that isn’t cancelled. I don’t enjoy, or even get the appeal, of the typical, very popular shows. They seem to serve up either amazing show that ultimately get cancelled or television pablum that leaves me bored.

Thank goodness for other stations such as HBO, FX and Showtime, which have stepped up to fill in the gaps with shows like Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Nurse Jackie, etc. Happy viewing and Stay Well.