Tag: valentine’s day

DIY Heart Handprint Painting for Valentine’s Day

Welcome back friends!

My little girl hasn’t quite reached the age of exchanging multitudes of valentines amongst her classmates and/or friends so I thought we would create a few fun pieces of artwork instead! These heart handprint paintings are the perfect Valentine for moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles; the sky is the limit!

Let’s have some fun and get painting!

SUPPLIES
  • Small mounted canvas (large enough for a handprint)
  • Foam paint brushes
  • Acrylic paint
  • Heart shaped paper, small
  • Scissors
  • Sticky tape
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Select the colors you would like for a background, this can be one or more dependent on your preference.
  2. Squeeze dots of the background paint color(s) you selected on the canvas in any pattern you prefer. I was going for a gradient look so I arranged my dots from light to dark.
  3. Using a a foam paint brush, you and your little one can spread and blend the paint over the canvas in back and forth strokes.
  4. For a completed look, paint the edges of the canvas if you have not already done so, then set it aside and allow it to fully dry.
  5. Print and cut a heart out of paper and use sticky tape to attach it to the dry canvas.
  6. Select the colors you would like to use to create the handprint, this could be one color or more, we did six, one for each finger and another color for the palm!
  7. Using a different foam paint brush for each color, brush the colors onto your little one’s hand. Gently press the painted hand down on the canvas, aligning the heart under their palm.
  8. Gently pull the hand away, then peel away the heart if it did not come off onto the hand.
  9. If needed, use a small paint brush to touch up the edges of the heart, then allow the painting to dry.
  10. Enjoy!

Homemade Valentine’s Bittersweet Fudge Recipe

Welcome back friends! Who would like to celebrate love and create some bittersweet fudge, sprinkled with a little salt this Valentine’s day? Usually I crave a sweeter chocolate, but this fudge has just enough sweet to cut through the bitter dark chocolate taste and if you add a little salt on top? Pure delicious!

Let’s make some!

INGREDIENTS
  • 16 ounces of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
  • 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla
  • Kosher salt (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil. 
  2. Break the chocolate down in to smaller pieces and place it and the sweetened condensed milk into a double boiler.
  3. Melt the chocolate into the sweetened condensed milk, stirring to incorporate.
  4. Once the chocolate is melted, add the vanilla.
  5. Remove from the heat and spread the fudge on the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle Kosher salt over the top of the fudge if desired.
  6. Refrigerate for two hours or until firm. 
  7. Use foil to lift fudge from pan before cutting into pieces. I used a heart cookie cutter to create heart shaped fudge pieces for my Valentine(s).
  8. Enjoy!

Chocolaty M&M Valentine’s Day Cookie Recipe

Happy February friends! I have some chocolaty Valentine cookies for you, and whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, cookies are rarely unwelcome!

You may have heard that you can make cookies with boxed cake mix and this recipe does just that, but with a boost of unsweetened cocoa powder and M&Ms! They are delicious; rich and not too sweet. If you’re looking for something tasty to bake for yourself or someone(s) you love, please try these and enjoy!

COOKIES

  • 1 box of devil’s food chocolate cake mix
  • 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup of butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups of “cupid’s mix” Valentine M&Ms
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Pour the cake mix and unsweetened cocoa into a large bowl and stir gently to incorporate.
  3. Add the eggs and softened butter into the dry ingredients and mix until a thick dough forms.
  4. Divide the M&Ms: Mix one cup into the cookie dough and place the other cup into a separate small bowl.
  5. Roll the dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls, then dip the top of each dough ball into the small bowl of M&Ms and place each one onto the baking sheet.
  6. Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes depending on the power of your oven.
  7. Bring the cookies out of the oven and allow them to cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack for another 5 to 10 minutes.
  8. Repeat this process until all the cookie dough has been baked, this should yield about 16 cookies.
  9. Enjoy!

Bob’s Burgers BUJO – February Valentine Spread

Bob's Burgers February Valentine Bujo SpreadI’ve been keeping my eyes open for a Bob’s Burgers planner, but I have yet to find one, I’ve decided to make my own!

I have been admiring bullet journals for the past year, and attempted my own, but hit a wall with how complex I was trying to make them. This is technically my first bullet journal so please bear with me as I learn what works and what doesn’t.

Each month will be themed for a different character or idea! I started with Bob for January and this month of February is a Valentine’s episode theme. I tried to hand draw some more pieces this month instead of using mostly stickers.

For the February weekly spreads, I decided to draw small snapshots from Valentine’s Day episodes that stood out to me. The first snapshot is Bob’s striptease for Linda in “Can’t Buy Me Math”.

Bob's Burgers February Valentine Bujo Spread

The second snapshot for the second week of February is Dr. Love’s Love Testometer from “My Fuzzy Valentine”.

Bob's Burgers February Valentine Bujo Spread

The last two snapshots are from the same episode “Bob Actually”. The first is Tina’s hilarious posture as she keeps rushing to the bathroom because of her “chili poops” and the second is a sweet moment when Louise kisses regular-sized Rudy.

Bob's Burgers February Valentine Bujo Spread Bob's Burgers February Valentine Bujo SpreadCheck back next month for a Linda themed spread!

Tony’s Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe (Lady and the Tramp)

Tony's Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe from Disney's Lady and the Tramp. Tony's Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe from Disney's Lady and the Tramp.INTRODUCTION

Welcome back friends! This week we’ll be cooking the Spaghetti that Tony serves Lady and Tramp in Disney’s Lady and the Tramp!

Tony's Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe and Lady's Donut Recipe from Disney's Lady and the Tramp.This recipe is featured when the Tramp takes Lady out to one of his favorite places to eat, Tony’s Restaurant. Once Tony notices Tramp is not alone and has brought Lady with him, he decides to treat this as a special night and serves them spaghetti and meatballs, then serenades them with “Bella Notte’.

Tony's Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe from Disney's Lady and the Tramp.Spaghetti and meatballs are quite fun to make and did I mention delicious? I had to stop myself from snacking on the meatballs before I was done making the pasta! My only regret is that I didn’t make the pasta or the sauce completely from scratch. I chose the timesavers path and used pre-packaged pasta, canned tomatoes and tomato paste. The good news is, most of us do not have time to make everything from scratch, but I do look forward to revisiting this recipe in the future to bring you everything from scratch!

Tony's Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe from Disney's Lady and the Tramp.SAUCE
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons of grated onion
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 2 – 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 – 12 ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1 cup of water
INSTRUCTIONS (SAUCE)
  1. Combine all the sauce ingredients together in a dutch oven.
  2. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (uncovered) for about an hour and 15 minutes.
  3. While the sauce is simmering prepare the meatballs (see below).
MEATBALLS
  • 6 slices of day-old bread, torn into pieces
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 3/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons of minced fresh parsley
  • 1 pound of ground beef
INSTRUCTIONS (MEATBALLS)
  1. While the sauce simmers, soak the bread in the water until fully saturated.
  2. Squeeze the excess water out of the bread, then place it in a large bowl.
  3. Add the beef, eggs, garlic, parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper and salt; mix well.
  4. Shape the mixture into meatballs 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place them on a rack over a shallow baking pan.
  5. Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
  6. Bake the meatballs, uncovered for about 20 minutes or until they are no longer pink then remove them from the oven and prepare the spaghetti (see below).
SPAGHETTI
  • 12 cups of water
  • 3 tablespoons of salt
  • 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles
INSTRUCTIONS (SPAGHETTI)
  1. Bring the water to a rolling boil.Add the salt and allow the water to return to a boil.
  2. Add the pasta to the salted, boiling water and stir.
  3. Bring the water back up to a boil again (don’t cover), then lower the heat slightly to avoid the pot boiling over and cook for as long as directed on the packet.
  4. Once done, drain the pasta.
  5. Remove the bay leaf from the finished sauce (see above) and add the spaghetti, stirring to coat.
  6. Place the meatballs (see above) into the spaghetti and sauce, and simmer until heated through.
  7. Garnish with parmesan cheese if desired, and enjoy!