Easy Homemade Chocolate Frosting

If you happened to read my Daybook yesterday, you would know that I planned to bake a chocolate cake for dessert with last night’s dinner. Well, I knew that I had a chocolate cake mix in the pantry when I planned that, but forgot that I did not have a canister of frosting in the pantry as well. Now, this tripped me up for only a fraction of a second, because – after 26 years of planning meals – (laughing at myself here!) I have finally come to realize that I can actually make something from scratch, not having to rely on a premade processed food (which is probably better for us than the store-bought version – although in the case of chocolate frosting, I’m not sure that I can claim that it is good for us at all!)

So, I pulled out a few cookbooks, and searched briefly on the Internet and came up with a recipe that looked simple and included ingredients that I already had on hand. The result was that my family got to enjoy chocolate cake WITH frosting for dessert last night, and I added another notch to my “Cooking from Scratch” experience. The recipe that I used came from Cooks.com, where you can find many, many chocolate frosting recipes if this one doesn’t fit your needs. Here it is ~

Easy Chocolate Frosting

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Stir in cocoa until dissolved. Add confectioner’s sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add more milk if necessary to make soft spreading consistency.

This recipe made just the right amount of frosting to frost a two-layer cake.

My family liked it – but then, who would complain about being served chocolate cake with chocolate frosting? None of the people living in my house, anyway.

Maybe next time I’ll try making the whole cake from scratch – novel idea, huh?

Blessings,
Nancy

The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ February 8

Good Morning! Here is my Daybook entry for today ~

Outside my window. . .a rainy day is underway, with thunder rumbling overhead, and a steady rain coming down.
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I am thinking. . .about the peace of knowing that God is on His throne and in control of every part of our lives.
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From the learning room. . .studies on nests with the youngers; continuing the colonial period with the olders and beginning a study of the moon along with our regular daily subjects. We have really been enjoying our missionary read-aloud on Ida Scudder this year. We read a chapter each Thursday and we all look forward to it. In geography, Paddle to the Sea is finally about to reach the sea, and I believe I’ll hunt down some rainy poems to read for our Monday poetry today.
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I am thankful for. . .my home and the blessing of living here.
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From the kitchen. . .Ham, wild rice, and green beans with chocolate cake for dessert.
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I am wearing. . .navy shirt and blue jeans, and my white sweater to keep warm.
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I am creating. . .shopping lists for Valentine goodies later in the week.
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I am going. . .to make some time for sewing today ~ the rain makes me want to cozy up on the couch with a good movie and my quilt basket.
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I am reading. . .The Excellent Wife and my Bible.
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I am hoping. . .to make Valentine sugar cookies this week with the kids.
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I am hearing. . .David starting up a Teletubbies video, children gathering school books, rain and thunder.
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Around the house. . .Anna and David’s room is freshly painted and reorganized. I just need to hang some shelves on the wall and finish cleaning out the toybox. I have almost finished cleaning out the upstairs hall – still some bookshelves to go through and weed out of.
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One of my favorite things. . .Bath and Body Works “Kitchen Spice” room spray ~ heavenly aroma.
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A few plans for the rest of the week. . .Staying in, except for the regular cheer, basketball, and ice skating lessons. Some shopping next weekend and a Valentine party at our friends’ home.
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Here is a picture thought I am sharing. . .

A beautiful new jelly roll of fabric strips for quilting in lovely spring yellows, greens, and blues ~ the fabric line is called “Nature’s Notebook”.
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To read more Daybook entries, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman’s Daybook, and have a lovely time in whatever you are doing today.

Blessings,
Nancy

Crockpot Chilli

Here is a simple recipe for chilli in the crockpot that I picked up somewhere along the line. It’s great to come home to on a cold day. I made it recently on the day we had ice skating lessons – so nice to look forward to while freezing at the ice rink!

Ingredients

4 lbs. ground beef, cooked and drained
4 sm. cans tomato sauce
3 pkts. McCormick chilli seasoning (I use mild)
2 cups water

Mix all of the ingredients in your crockpot. Cook until heated through, although the longer it cooks the more flavorful it gets – I cooked mine several hours on high, or you can cook it all day on low.

When it’s done – and your house smells all yummy – serve it up with shredded cheese, onions and corn chips for a delicious dinner.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Nancy

Thankful Thursday ~ February 4

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

I am so happy to be back participating in Thankful Thursday again. I have been feeling the need lately to get my focus back on gratitude and to see the beauty and gift in everything around me, as God intends for me to do, rather than always focusing on what is less than perfect and seeing only the negative in each situation. Isn’t it silly the way we want to wallow in the mud, when God tells us he wants us to soar in the sky? He tells us to dwell on what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8) and to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).

Why is that so hard to do? I certainly want to live there, but, most of the time, I don’t. I’m sure that it is a result of my fallen nature, but I think that it is also a result of habit. The first problem has already been overcome by Christ’s redeeming work on the cross, and the subsequent dwelling of the Holy Spirit in my life – “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17).

The second is something that will require some effort on my part to break. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) This daily, hourly, minute-by-minute putting off and putting on is where the rubber meets the road. Each time I habitually start to think in my old patterns I have to choose to think the way God wants me to think about that situation. This is hard work, and I can honestly say that I am just at the point of realizing that this is what I need to do – I haven’t really spent enough time actually putting it into practice. But I am thankful that the Lord is moving me forward at His pace, and I am trusting Him to keep growing me in this area.

All that to say, that I am thankful to be back writing Thankful posts each Thursday as it will help encourage me (and hopefully you, too!) to walk in gratitude more consistently. I hope that we will both be blessed by it and I look forward to sharing my thankful thoughts with you.

To read more thankful thoughts, please visit Iris at Grace Alone .

I’ll be back with you later on ~

Blessings,
Nancy

A Fresh New Look!

Well, we’ve given the blog a light, fresh new coat of paint, and replaced the header with a fresh new look as well. I am ever so grateful to my lovely daughter Laura for her talented work in bringing all of my wishes to fruition on the technical end – she is an amazing artist whether she is working on paper or computer, and I would be lost without her knowledge of graphic design and computers.

The new three column format will give me a chance to add the booklists that I have been wanting to add for awhile now – books we’re reading currently and books we love. I will be working on getting those up soon.

I am still tweaking some things as I go along – trying this here and that there, so don’t be surprised if you stop back by and things look a little different.

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings,
Nancy

Matthew’s New Car!

Our son, Matthew, bought his first car yesterday! He has been searching for the right one for weeks, driving many and coming home empty handed each time. Yesterday, the search finally ended, and he is now the proud owner of this new (to him) car -

I think it’s safe to say that he’ll be wearing a smile (at least on the inside) for some time to come.

Blessings,
Nancy

Our new Keepers of the Faith year has begun!

Keepers of the Faith is a club which meets at church once a month. The boys (and Dads) club is called Contenders of the Faith, and they meet separately from the girls (and Moms) club. Each monthly meeting the kids learn about one of many different topics – skills to learn, etc. During the rest of the month, they work at home on badges that they earn when they complete the requirements for the specific badges. The club runs from January to October each year, with a final Expo night held in November when the kids can share what they have learned, worked on, and the badges they have received during the year.

We held our first Keepers of the Faith meeting of the new year last week. The boys learned all about knife sharpening, while the girls wrapped candy bars in colorful papers and ribbons for gift giving.

Being the first meeting of the year, all of the children turned in a list of badges that they would be working on throughout the year. They can work on and finish other badges, too, but if they finish the ones on their list they earn a special “Finisher” badge. The badges are listed and explained in their handbooks, which are great resources for learning lots of new skills.

Here are the badges that my children chose to work on this year -

Tommy
Bible Reading – The Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
Bible Memory – The Lord’s Prayer
Skills – Lapbooking
Ice Cream Making
Diorama

Sarah
Bible Reading – The Pentateuch
Bible Memory – The Lord’s Prayer
Skills – Card Making
Singing
Album making

Michael
Bible Reading – The Gospels and Acts
Bible Memory – The Widow’s Offering (Mark 12:41-44)
Skills – Lapbooking
Trees
Diorama

Anna
Bible Memory – various Love verses
Skills – Ice Skating
Muffin Baking
Card Making
Snacks & Drinks (preparation)

I will share pictures throughout the year of their works in progress and the things they are learning in their club meetings. We have some fun meetings planned for this year – Volleyball, Honey Bees, Chess, Rip Circle Flower making, to name a few.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Keepers of the Faith program, you can go to their website – Keepers of the Faith - and check it out. The clubs can be run formally through your church or with other families, or you can simply work through the badges individually as a family. We were so happy to find this program already in place at our church when we started there 4 years ago.

Have a nice day!

Blessings,
Nancy

The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ February 1

Happy February! Here is my Daybook entry for today ~

Outside my window. . .the sun and the clouds are playing tag, and right now the sun is winning.
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I am thinking. . .about redecorating the blog – Laura and I are playing with a few possibilities, which might be ready to go up this week – we’ll see.
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From the learning room. . .reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic – along with studies on the American colonies, Revolutionary War, the planet Earth, and apple trees.
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I am thankful for. . .the beautiful pink flowers sitting on my piano and the sweet husband who brought them home to me the other day.
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From the kitchen. . .Chicken and Dumplings for dinner tonight.
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I am wearing. . .white t-shirt and blue jeans – yes, again.
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I am creating. . .working on the December block of my Be-Attitudes quilt – “Be Joyful”.
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I am going. . .to be working on Anna and David’s room all week – cleaning it out and organizing – I made a good start on it yesterday.
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I am reading. . .The Excellent Wife.
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I am hoping. . .to start participating once again in Thankful Thursday, starting this week.
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I am hearing. . .a discussion about the North Pole not really being straight up on top of the world due to the Earth’s tilt, a narration of The Tortoise and the Hare, David blowing his nose, a discussion about hemispheres and seasons (my own voice included in most of these – well, except the nose blowing).
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Around the house. . .coloring sheets and markers scattered over the table, laundry to put away, dishes to wash, and a new 80 gallon water heater ready and waiting to be installed later this week!
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One of my favorite things. . .my red plaid quilt that I snuggle up in every evening on the couch.
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A few plans for the rest of the week. . .organizing the littles’ bedroom, Ladies Bible Study, cheerleading and basketball, ice skating, orthodontist apptmt., and sewing.
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Here is a picture thought I am sharing. . .

Cute little mini rag balls that are for the moment living on my kitchen island in an old butter crock.
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Thanks for stopping by to visit! To read more Daybook entries, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman’s Daybook, and have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Snowy Day Lapbooks

We finished our Snowy Day lapbooks this week. I did these with Michael, Anna, and David. The lapbooks were centered around two snowy books – “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats and “White Snow Bright Snow” by Alvin Tresselt, as shown in the picture above.

We read the stories and then completed the activities for our lapbooks. We took our time with this one, completing one or two activities per day.

If you are wondering – What exactly is a lapbook? – it is a way to record the information that you learn as you study just about any topic. It is recorded in little booklets with writings and drawings that are then glued into the lapbook. When finished, a lapbook is a great keepsake for the kids, that they love to look back at throughout the years. I purchased and downloaded this lapbook from one of my favorite Lapbooking sites – A Journey Through Learning – I love their graphics! You can find out more about lapbooking by visiting their site.

“A Snowy Day” is one of my all time favorite winter stories to read with the children, and our lapbooks documented the many fun activities that Peter had on his snowy day.

I had not read “White Snow Bright Snow” before, even though it was sitting on our bookshelf. It was a very sweet story about how the snow affects all of the people in the town – the postman, the farmer, the policeman and his wife, the children, the animals, and even the houses and buildings of the town. It ends up showing how things change as spring approaches – a delightful book!

Both lapbooks were glued together to make one large lapbook which looks like this folded out -

I loved some of the special touches that the children gave their pictures, like the eyelashes on Anna’s snowman snowgirl? -

And the snow on David’s tree -

We had fun putting these together. David was sad to see the end of it – he loves cutting and pasting. I am all set with a new one for next month for all of the kids this time. It is a lapbook on the Winter 2010 Olympics, which promises to be lots of fun as we study different events and record the medal winners in our lapbooks.

Blessings,
Nancy

Chicken and Dumplings

Well, I finally did it. I finally made Chicken and Dumplings, which I have been talking about wanting to do for a least a year now. We had lunch at a friend’s home awhile back, where we were served the most delicious Chicken and Dumplings – exactly the way I would want them to taste. So, of course, I asked my friend for the recipe. Once I had it in hand (or umm…computer), it still took me a bit to get around to making it – I tend to be scared of trying new recipes – well, not really scared – just hesitant, due to the learning curve. Not that I don’t try new recipes – obviously I do, or I would still be heating up microdinners – but, I have to really be in the mood on just the right night. So . . . long story short – I was finally in the mood on just the right night, and I had the ingredients ready at hand, so I dove in.

It turned out to be quite simple, and now that I’ve made them, I will certainly be making them again – in fact, I plan on cooking another batch this Monday, barring unforeseen circumstances. So, here is my friend’s recipe (thanks Tammy!) and a few pictures along the way ~

Chicken and Dumplings

1 whole chicken
Salt

Place whole chicken and a little salt in a crock pot. Fill crock pot half full of water. If the chicken is frozen, cook on low overnight or on high for about 6 hours. If the chicken is not frozen, cook on low about 6 hours or high about 3 hours until the meat is tender and the juices run clear. Remove the chicken from the crock pot and let cool. Remove the meat from the bones. Set aside until the dumplings are done. While you are making the dumplings, place the broth from the chicken in a stew pot and bring to a boil.

To make the dumplings:

4 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups milk

Blend all the dumpling ingredients well. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll the dough in the flour. Make sure that there is plenty of flour still under the dough or it will stick to the counter top or surface of the mat you are working on. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut it with a knife into 1 inch squares -

Place the dumplings one at a time, into the boiling broth (you may need to add some water – keep the broth/water mixture in a large stew pot at a level that’s more than half way full but not 3/4 full). Let them cook uncovered at a boil for 10 minutes stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium low and cover the dumplings. Let them cook 10 more minutes. They will need to be stirred often to keep them from sticking to the bottom. Once the dumplings are done, add the boned chicken to the dumplings and broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. This recipe is actually thicker and yummier the day after it is made.

I made these on one of the days before Christmas when it was snowing, and it was a perfect snowy day dinner. It made so much that several of us ate it for lunch all throughout the week. It was yummy down to the last drop in the pot!

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Nancy