Butterfinger Muddy Buddies

 

Muddy buddies are one of those treats that you can't make too often. They are so addictive and easy to eat way too much! When I came across a recipe for Butterfinger Muddy Buddies I knew I had to make them for Nate's birthday party.

Start by chopping up your Butterfingers.

In a microwave safe bowl place the chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter. Microwave and stir until smoothe.

Add in the Chex cereal and mix until the cereal is coated.

 

Sprinkle the Butterfinger bits on top. Stir to combine.

 

 

Add the powdered sugar and coat evenly. Spread out on a baking sheet to dry. Enjoy!

 

Butterfinger Muddy Buddies Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
1 1/2 c.  Butterfinger candy bars, chopped (about 5 regular bars or about 16 mini bars)
1/2  c. smooth peanut butter
8 c. Chex cereal
1/2 c.powdered sugar

Directions:

Chop your Butterfingers and set aside. Don't chop them too small as you'll want to see the chunks and taste them!

In a microwave safe bowl add butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave for one minute and stir until smooth. If the chocolate doesn't melt all the way put it back in the microwave in 15 second intervals. Stir after each microwaving until smooth.

Put the Chex cereal into a large covered bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over. Fold until the cereal is coated. Add the crushed Butterfingers and coat the cereal.

Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the cereal and again toss to coat. Spread out on a 1-2 cookie sheets until the chocolate hardens. Once it hardens it is ready to eat!

Wish List

Nate had a very specific wish list for his birthday. Normal kid stuff...Legos, superhero action figures, etc.

Then...

there...

was...

weird...

stuff...

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Chia Pet

Magnifying Glass (a real one, not a toy)

Work out clothes.

He's such a strange little man. But I love him with all his weirdness.

Ninja Enchilada Birthday

 

Our Nate-Nate turned 5 last week. A whole hand! We celebrated with family with a "Ninja-Enchilada" themed birthday party. Nate came up with that idea himself. He loves ninjas and enchiladas are awesome; it was all the better that the two sort of rhymed.

 

The party favors were these cute little take out boxes. We went to the grocery store and Nate filled the boxes with his favorite candies. Including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fruit snacks. Those talking turtles were cool back when I was little and are apparently coming back! Kowabunga, dude!

 

 

We also gave these fierce chopsticks. They served as inspiration for the cake which you will see below.

 

 

In addition to enchiladas Nate's other request was that there would be tons of dessert. "A whole table full." Who am I to argue with that request? Plus, I LOVE desserts!

 

We made cupcakes...

 

Ninja cookies with some awesome cookie cutters that my Aunt Bonnie got us. This was the bad guy according to Nate.

 

This was a good guy.

 

This was a good guy too. By the end of the night we had a lot of ninjas with missing limbs. Apparently our guests didn't want to eat a whole ninja but managed to sneak a leg here and there. Nate said they had been through a battle!

 

 

This was our ninja cake. I used marshmallow fondant. More on that later... It also happened to be red velvet cake. My sister Christina thought it was a bit gory. Ha!

 

It was a fun relaxing day with family and the best part is that Nate thought it was the best party ever! He's already coming up with ideas for his 6th birthday. Can't wait to see what he comes up with!

 

School Picture

I'm in the process of taking pictures of all of the kids at Nate's preschool. I did this last year too. It's a lot of work but fun to get to know all of the kiddos. Gabby has come with me for most of the pictures and wanted her picture taken too. Above is her first "school picture."

Besties

Life has been a bit chaotic for me recently. I pulled my neck and walked around crooked for a couple of days. Then my back was out of whack for compensating for my neck and now I have a cold. Ugh.

I have a lot of posts to catch up on so be prepared to be inundated: my report on marshmallow fondant, Nate's birthday party review, Butterfinger muddy buddy recipe and more!

The above picture is of me and my two besties from childhood. I've known them both for 2/3 of my life! Crazy! We used to occasionally dress like each other in high school and happened to all be wearing stripes at Nate's birthday party. What a fun coincidence! I love you gals!

Splish Splash

 

You will hear a lot of folks around here complain about the rain. It rains to much. It's depressing. Blah. Blah. Blah. What they need is a good day of puddle jumping.

 

 

You get wet. Really wet.

 

 

But it is so much fun!

Birthday Wishes

I make a birthday card for one of my bestie's, Amanda, every year. I think I made the first one in 1998, our freshman year of college (dating myself?). I try to do a different style each year (past examples: 2012, 2013). This year was a simple pen and watercolor of Queen Anne's Lace. I saw a super cute stamp on Pinterest and tried to replicate it but replaced the flowers with fun little hearts.

Jim would argue that Queen Anne's Lace is a weed. Weeds are supposed to be removed. They don't show caring or love. I argue that both Queen Anne's Lace (and dandelion puff balls!) have a certain romanticism and beauty as a wild flower...not a weed.

Tuesday Tips - Coloring Fondant

 

We're prepping for Nate's big 5th birthday coming up. Today we made marshmallow fondant for the first time. I'll be posting the recipe and how to later, if it actually turns out. We learned a couple of things from the process today:

 

#1 - Wear gloves if you are going to color your fondant. Unless you think spotted colorful hands are cool. Nate liked the color.

 

#2 - Grease your work surface liberally with vegetable shortening. Marshmallow fondant is sticky. If your work surface isn't slick the fondant will stick to your work surface.

I'll be rolling out the fondant and cutting shapes in the next few days. Wish me luck!