Brownie Waffles

A few weeks ago, I was watching Rachael Ray and she mentioned something about making brownies on a waffle iron. My first thought was that they wouldn't cook all the way through...but I figured I would give it a try anyway. My helper was just a little excited about the idea of Brownie Waffles...can you tell?!?

I got a little more help cracking the eggs.

Then we gave the batter a stir. I added a little bit more water than the recipe called for so that it would spread on the waffle iron better.

Fill up the waffle iron and spread the batter around.....

....just don't forget to spray your waffle iron with cooking spray or you will end up with a crumbly mess of brownies!

These would be so fun served up with some whipped cream or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream:)

Can you tell I'm on a waffle kick lately?!? I actually have a few more ideas in my head {and pantry} so be on the look out for some fun waffle ideas in the next few weeks!

How to have Decent Furniture with a House Full of Boys

This is our breakfast table. From a distance it looks pretty good.

 But the closer you get, the easier it is to tell that a house full of boys use this table and it's {unfortunately} cream colored chairs on a daily basis.

 Now don't get me wrong, these chair started out a beautiful cream color and they stayed that way for a few years in my {rarely used except for crafting} dining room. When we finally outgrew our 4 seater table, the logical thing to do was to move this bigger table into the breakfast nook for everyday use....the only problem was those beautiful cream colored chairs. We tried being careful, we tried cleaners, we tried scrubbing...nothing was going to keep those chairs clean! The only solution was to recover....using something a little more durable than cream colored fabric!

I considered using a vinyl type fabric so that spills would clean up easy, but who wants to eat dinner on a chair that squeaks like Marie Barone's couch:) That is where this bolt of fabric comes in. I picked it up at Hancock Fabric on clearance for $6 a yard...and it is outdoor material! I figured outdoor material would repel stains and clean up easier than normal fabric, plus it was so cheap that I got a few extra yards so I can recover them again if we have any major oops!

To recover your chairs, simply remove the seat from your chair. Cut out a piece of fabric big enough to cover the front of the seat and wrap around the sides.

Use a staple gun to attach the fabric to the underside of the seat and then cut away any extra fabric.

Covering up those stained cream cushions made our chairs seem like they were brand new...now we are just waiting for our first spill to test out our newly recovered chairs!

And just for fun here is a before and after....though I almost considered labelling them the opposite because the first one is "after kids have been here" and the second one is "before kids have been here":)

So how can you have decent furniture with a house full of boys....cover up their stains and have an extra stash of fabric just in case they when they inevitable make more!

Watermelon Waffles

With summer here, I am already scrambling around for fun ideas to keep my boys busy and to avoid hearing the dreaded "We're bored!" from them! So for lunch yesterday, I got out my trusty waffle iron and made a fun summer treat: Watermelon Waffles:) These are SUPER easy to make {even easier then Rainbow Waffles} plus they are extra sweet because of the added watermelon seeds {chocolate chips}!

Start by mixing up some waffle batter using your favorite recipe or box mix. Let your little helpers get in on the action by stirring:)

Pour about 1/3 of the batter into another bowl and add some green food coloring. Add red or pink food coloring to the remaining 2/3 of the batter. You could also make these even more fun by adding in some watermelon flavoring {by adding some dried jello powder or some kool-aid mix}.

Star by pour the red colored batter in the middle, then go around the outside edge with the green batter. Spread the red around if you need to get the colors to meet, then sprinkle some chocolate chips {aka watermelon seeds} onto the red batter.

Once the waffles are done, cut them in half and you have a fun slice of watermelon waffle...just don't sprinkle salt on it:)

These would be adorable served up as dessert at a picnic and because they can be loaded up with chocolate chips, there really isn't any need for syrup!

What kind of fun treats are you making for your kiddos this summer?