Homemade Chocolate Pudding

A few weeks ago, as I was attempting to not spend a small fortune on groceries, I saw milk on sale at Target for an unbelievable low {aka less than $3 a gallon} price. So crazy, thrifty me decides to lug home 6 gallons of milk...because the price was just too good to pass up. Well, a week later when the milk was about to expire and I still had a whole gallon unopened I figured I better find a great "use up a lot of milk before it goes bad" recipe!

And what recipe uses up large amounts of milk better than chocolate pudding?!? No other...at least none that I could find! Hasty Chocolate Pudding from allrecipes.com is what I settled on after checking out a few recipes and scoping out my pantry to see what I had on hand.

In addition to the 2 cups{ when I made it, I doubled the recipe} of milk, you also need

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons cornstarch

&

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Add all of the dry ingredients into a microwave safe bowl..

..and wisk them together getting out any big lumps.

Then slowly add in the milk.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir and then microwave in 1 minute intervals until the pudding is thick.

Stir in the vanilla and then scoop into individual bowls...

...or refrigerate {covering top of the pudding with a layer of plastic wrap} the whole batch until cold. 

Chocolate pudding that is both yummy and practical...at least it's practical if you have a bunch of milk to use:)

Shirt of Plenty

I have seen a ton of cute turkey shirts for Thanksgiving floating around the internet lately. I had intentions of making my boys a cute turkey shirt, but was really wishing I could make something a little different and a little more fun instead.

The Shirt of Plenty is what I ended up with after a TON of inspiration {and a template} from Family Fun magazine.

This is the original craft shared in the November issue of Family Fun...SUPER cute Thanksgiving themed felt food. I simply decided to turn my felt food into a shirt instead of making a toy:)

The first step in making this SUPER cute shirt is to print the templates and cut them out. Sometimes the template calls for two of each shape, but you usually only need one.

Use spray adhesive and stick the cut out shapes to different colors of felt. You can mix and match however you want, or follow the suggestions on the templates.

Then add iron-on adhesive to the backside of the felt following the directions on the package.

Cut out the shapes following the template, then remove the paper and the iron-on adhesive backing.

Lay out your design on the shirt and decide where you want each piece to be. Iron the pieces onto the shirt following the directions on your package of iron on adhesive.

The finally step to making The Shirt of Plenty is the most tedious and time consuming....but it also makes a big difference in the appearance of the shirt. Using coordinating colors of embroidery thread, go around the edges of each piece of felt with a running stitch. Make sure to tie off each end of the embroidery thread well, so that the felt pieces stay securely attached.

And that is how you make a SUPER cute Thanksgiving shirt!

Now if I can only find the time {and energy} to make two more:)

Del Monte Fresh Produce Giveaway!

This giveaway is closed. Congrats to Tamara!

DEL MONTE FRESH SUPPORTS TEACHERS
WITH CASH & FRESH FRUIT IN

"TEACHER MONDAY: CASH FOR CLASSROOMS"

Del Monte Fresh Produce is running a new program this fall to help support Kindergarten through 12th grade public school teachers. Their new program will provide cash to teachers to help them purchase school supplies and fresh fruit. The program is called “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms”. One hundred prizes totaling $1,000 each will be awarded to teachers who get the most votes in the online contest at http://www.fruits.com/.

You can read all about Del Monte's Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms program on their website. You can also get more information on their facebook page or on twitter @DelMonteFresh}! While you are checking out the contest, don't forget to explore fruits.com. The website has all kinds of great things to offer like recipes, nutrition information, and even free BlackBerry and iPhone apps!

And thanks to Del Monte, I have a great giveaway for you today...a $25 Gift Certificate good for any fresh Del Monte fruits or vegetables!

Here's how to enter:

1. Head over to fruits.com. Come back here and tell me what one thing you learned! {This is a Mandatory entry and must be done first!}

After the mandatory entry, you can do any or all of the following for one extra entry each. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.

follow my blog

follow me on twitter {@SUPERMOM_Kelli}

Follow Del Monte on twitter {@DelMonteFresh}

Subcribe to my blog via Feedburner

tweet about this giveaway with a link back to me

blog about this giveaway or post it in your sidebar

This giveaway will end at 7:00 am CST on Monday, November 15th. Be sure to leave an email address with your comment if your email isn't visible in your profile! Giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. I will use random.org to pick a winner. Thanks so much to Del Monte Fresh Produce for providing the gift certificate! Good luck!