Spicy Parmesan Pasta

Most of the recipes I post are adapted from recipes I find on Pinterest.  This one is no different. 
The recipe I used is from the Boss Sanders website.  I needed to make it a little more budget friendly.  The Boss Sanders recipe is for a Romano Chicken.  Since I work really hard to keep our family on a food budget, I needed to make a few changes. 

Much of the recipe is the same as the original, so I'll refer you to her website for the bulk of the recipe.  The main problem is that I didn't want to spend $4 on a small block of Romano Cheese and $4 on a small jar of Sundried Tomatoes.  Also, her recipe is too spicy for our family.  I even cut the cayenne pepper in half and it was still too spicy. 

So here are the changes.

For the Sauce:

• No Romano cheese.  Instead add an additional 1/4 cup Parmesan.  I was able to get a small bag of Parmesan at Winco for $2.33, and I only used half the bag.  We use Parmesan a lot so the rest won't be wasted!
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper instead of 2 tsp.
• Leave out the black pepper and add it in the end if you need more kick.

 For the rest:

• I added about 2 T of Red Cooking wine while cooking the mushrooms.  Yummmmm.
• I left out the sundried tomatoes
• I also left out the chicken to make a meatless meal.  

As always...Let me know if you have any questions!!

Animal Alphabet Traceable Letters

**NOTE!!! I have consolidated the tracing letters to one document, so now you can download it once and get them all!

My friend and I have decided to do our own preschool for our children (some call it a "Joy School", I believe).  In preparation for that, I decided to make some printable tracing letters.  I wanted to share them.  They're not perfect, but will work for our purposes.  I spent a lot of time drawing the animals and putting the pages together, so they are only for personal use.  Thanks!!

*Update-  So, I came up with a genius idea.  I'm probably the last one to think of this, but I thought I'd share in case it'll help anyone else.  I wanted the kids to be able to use each sheet multiple times, but I didn't want to have to get each one laminated because, you know, that'd be expensive, and I'm all about being cheap.  Enter dollar store sheet protectors!  They aren't great quality, but you get 16, I think, so you can do front and back.  Put the papers in, put a little tape at the top and use dry erase markers.  Then you can just wipe them down with a wet cloth and the kids can go at it again!
If you like what you see, please sign up for email alerts!  I'll be posting more preschool ideas soon and you won't want to miss it!


Download them all here!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgy Cake in a Crockpot

It's a mouthful for a title, but it's a mouthful of deliciousness peanut buttery, chocolatey,  heaven.
I absolutely LOVE this cake!!  I've tried a crockpot lava cake before, and though others liked it, I wasn't a fan.  What I really wanted, was a little something with chocolate and peanut butter.  So I found a recipe I thought I'd like and improvised a little.  I found the base recipe here.  I cut the recipe in half  and added a few things.  Check out her full recipe and compare :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgy Cake in a Crockpot.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 T. cocoa powder
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup milk
1 T. butter, melted
1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 t. almond extract
1/2 cup peanut butter (microwaved for 30 seconds)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk.
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water

It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's really quite simple. (Believe me, I consider things with more that 6-7 ingredients a lot of work!)

In a medium mixing bowl add all ingredients in order except the last three (1/2 C. brown sugar, 2 T. cocoa powder and boiling water).   Mix until smooth.  The batter will seem pretty thick.  Spread across the bottom of a 2 qt. crockpot (this cake will rise).  Add the 1/2 C. brown sugar and 2 T cocoa powder to the top.  Poor 1 cup boiling water over the top and DO NOT STIR.  Cover the crockpot and let sit about 90 minutes on high.  Serve with ice cream and indulge yourself!!