I don’t call people out. I don’t disparage others.

However.

How-freaking-ever.

How. DARE. YOU.

It’s one thing to bastardize a recipe, to snag a pic of mine and pretend you took it.

To use it in a post without giving proper credit…

I can overlook that, offer correction, suggestions, guidance, you might not know better, you might not know how, you just.. might. not. know.

However.

YOU.
You despicable creature.

You stole the words from my heart. You took my heart, my feelings, my love and you stole them for your own. The only thing you did was change your initials.

I can overlook so many things.  I can pass so many things off as not realizing, not knowing better… however, to blatantly steal words, feelings, emotions, a love letter.  To be so classless and so unimaginative as to rip the words from someone else’s heart.

How. Dare. You.

I would never drive traffic to a troll.  I would never want to drive traffic to a plagiarizer, however.. I’m blessed and grateful that someone saw her words somehow and recognized them as mine.

Please, check her site. Google your words. Set up alerts and check them. Back check them.

This. Is. Personal.

How. Dare. You.

{damn: there appears to be another one}

Here’s the link to report spam blogs to Blogger

Megalomaniac Mommy compiled a list of the bloggers she stole from

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

Cook them just enough and you have those chewy, soft, doughy, delicious brown sugar and vanilla flavored cookies that are the favorite of so many chocolate chip cookie lovers; cook them just a mere two minutes longer, until the edges are a deeper golden brown and they take on the crispness that is valued among those other chocolate chip cookie lovers

I apologize to y’all.  This recipe will not have the normal amount of instructional pictures… if you follow me on twitter and were around on Saturday, you’ll know why:

A moment of silence, please.  I do not know what has happened to my beloved KitchenAid Stand Mixer’s on/off lever/switch/toggle.   I’m now crippled in the kitchen as I use my mixer weekly, often daily even.
My wonderful 80 + year old neighbors lent me their hand mixer which has been around longer than I have so that I could make these cookies and other goodies for our guests and I’m eternally grateful.    Since I was wrestling with a hand mixer instead of my beloved KitchenAid stand mixer… I wasn’t able to take my normal pictures.  Hope y’all forgive me

ENOUGH about me On to this recipe which I promise y’all will thank me for later!

Princess wants me to tell y’all the the dough is *nearly* as delicious as the baked cookies

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMerlot

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

When Blogging Friends Come Over

L is for Lotus. Go visit her inspirational, sarcastic and amazing self for more weekly winners

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

How about the first teacher to make a difference in your life?

I remember both.

I have a unique perspective.  My mom was an elementary school teacher.  I grew up in an elementary school, early summer and late summer meant the smell of chalk dust, freshly washed blackboards, the plastic-fresh-paper-rubber-crisp smell of brand new books and the sharp joy of hearing that CRACK as you snapped open the binding for the first time.

I grew up creating bulletin boards and organizing the cabinets and desks of elementary school classrooms.

I grew up watching men and women who were driven to teach, whose purpose in life it was to make a difference and I saw those who weren’t.  I saw those who were in it for the paycheck and the “easy schedules”.  I also saw who returned year after year after to year to set up their classrooms in un-airconditioned buildings.  Those two groups, were worlds apart.

I have seen first hand the difference between a teacher who is passionate about teaching, educating, making an impact, leaving a lasting impression on a child’s mind and heart and a teacher who’s teaching because that job provides the best vacation schedule.

Do you want to know the easiest way to tell which teachers are which?

Go to your child’s meet the teacher night and watch.  Take your child to school the first week of school and walk around a bit, watch.

Those teachers who have the passion, who are driven to share, to educate, to empower to make a difference.  Those teachers are the ones surrounded by past students, those teachers are the ones who are swarmed with hugs and hellos, those teachers are the ones that the parents wait to talk to, to greet, to smile at, to squeeze their hand in thanks, if even for just a moment.

Those are the ones who have more than a job, those are the ones who are living their passion for changing the future.

My mom was one of those teachers.

There was never a time out with my mom when we weren’t stopped by a past student, current student or parent wanting to talk to her, to thank her, to share stories and accomplishments with her, and my mom, she always had time for them.

A teacher’s day is never done, phone calls and now e-mails come in at all hours.  They spend money out of their own pockets to keep the classrooms going, to provide the little extras and sometimes even the necessities. They spend hours creating lesson plans, reading, grading and preparing.  It is not just the 8 to 3 for these amazing life changers; oh no their days can easily start 2 hours before the school bell rings and last until long after their students’ bedtimes.

I could go on and on, I could write about the Kindergarten teacher that my daughter had last year who is a blessing beyond words and a woman I shall cherish always, a woman my daughter still speaks of daily.  I could write about the darling woman who is making Princess’ First Grade Year so special already, a woman who is creative, vibrant, funny, passionate and sweet; who leaves her own little baby every day to give my daughter and 17 other students a brighter more passionate future.

But, I won’t because the clock ticks on and the hour grows late.

Instead I’ll share with you a few tidbits of information and then offer you a prize for sticking with me

I’ve always been inspired by my mom and other teachers and thought often in life that I wanted to be a teacher… Life, however, had other plans for me

When I was contacted by Emily and Cooper aka.. the Motherhood Divas about writing in partnership with the Clorox Power a Brighter Future program, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.  I kind of love Clorox and I am tremendously passionate about educators and education.

So many school districts are cutting funding for Arts and Music programs and some are even eliminating PE and recess and to me, that says that we as a society, as parents are failing our children.

It drives me bananas when I see people C&P press releases or contest blurbs or whatnot but this time, I’m doing it.  I couldn’t put this any better and I want to make sure that y’all get the information and see how easy it is to nominate a school, a program. To MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

• Each year parents hold fundraisers (oh hai.. yes I am PTA Vice President and Fundraising Chair *cough*) to keep enrichment programs in schools. Now there’s another way to raise money for your child’s school: Power A Bright Future, created by the Clorox Company, will help brighten kids’ futures with school grants to help fund critical programs. Parents and teachers can help kids continue to learn and play by nominating their school programs for a Power A Bright Future grant from the Clorox Company.
• Since 1980, Clorox has donated $80 million to non-profit organizations and community programs with a focus on schools. This year, the company is awarding four grants, totaling $110,000, to help fund school programs that will brighten and enrich the lives of kids.
• There are multiple ways to participate and win. In addition to nominating your school and voting, participants have the chance to win a variety of daily prizes including supplies for your school and coupons for Clorox^® Disinfecting Wipes, Clorox^® Regular-Bleach and Clorox2.

• As part of the Power A Bright Future grant program, Clorox is seeking nominations for school programs for a chance to win a $50,000 grand-prize grant or one of three $20,000 grants to help provide critically needed resources to school programs that enrich kids’ lives and create brighter futures. In November, four schools will be chosen to receive grants and the opportunity to impact the lives of children in their communities.
• ·   To nominate a new or existing school program, visit www.Clorox.com from August 12 to September 27, 2010 and choose the category that best represents your idea.
• The three categories include: Learn, Play or Create. Upload a photo and a short summary of how the grant would make a difference, for example:

1. Learn:Education-focused programs (e.g. establishing a school recycling program)
2. Play:Sports and exercise-focused programs (e.g. building a playground)
3. Create: Arts-focused programs (e.g. funding an after-school music program)

• ·Nominators will receive exclusive Clorox classroom tools and the chance to win coupons for Clorox^® Disinfecting Wipes, Clorox^® Regular-Bleach and other great prize packs daily.
• Once the nomination period has closed, we will leave the voting up to you. Between October 4 and November 1, be sure to vote for your favorite nominee. To encourage votes for their entries, nominators will receive a “Promote-it!” kit with tips on how to encourage votes, like sharing on Facebook and an e-mail for friends and family members.

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I know that was a TON of information but I sincerely hope that y’all read it, thank you for sticking with me and I hope that you have clicked the link and made your nominations and asked your friends to do the same.

So, here’s the deal.  YES, I am receiving a compensation for participating and writing this post. The money will go back into my daughter’s school.  I’m going to use it to purchase extra supplies and probably a bit of it to cook up some goodies for the wonderful people who work at my daughter’s school (and my son’s pre-school, too!)

However, I do have a Clorox Power a Bright Future Gift Pack to give away!!!

It includes:

• Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
• Dr. Harley Rotbart’s book Germ Proof Your Kids
• Clorox Hand Sanitizer
• Tissues
• Fun stickers
• Crazy cutting scissors
• Markets/pencils/crayons

Here’s how to enter:

• I want to know your best memory of the educator (teacher, coach, principal, counselor, secretary) that made the biggest impact in your life (MANDATORY)
• BONUS: tweet this and leave in a separate comment

This contest runs from Sept 2nd 11:30 PM CST to Sept 5th, 2010 6 PM CST

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

I remember when happiness was staying up until 2 AM sitting on the apartment balcony and getting up again at 6 AM to go float the river with friends because we could.

The peak of happiness was the freedom to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted with nothing tethering us down.

Now, as a mom, happiness has a whole new meaning.

My daughter’s smile is happiness.

My son’s giggles and chubby hand in mine, that’s happiness.

Happiness is lying on my back in the grass making up stories about the clouds in the sky.

It’s staying up until 1AM making the perfect bow for my daughter’s first day of school and then waking up at 6 AM to make her the perfect breakfast.

My happiness is watching my son pull a crumpled dollar bill out of his pocket and watching him run the crane machine and come back eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed, mouth split wide in a grin and tiny chest puffed out because HE spent HIS money and just won Mama “the perfect necklace” from the crane machine and my happiness, was putting that shiny silver paint coated plastic necklace around my neck and watching him practically burst with pride and joy at his accomplishment and gift of love.

That is happiness.  That is what fills my bucket.

Scribbled crayon drawings, sticky fingers entertwined with mine, tiny hands that grab my face for kisses and the soft weight of their sleeping bodies as I carry them to bed or read them a book.

Unconditional love has taken the place of unlimited free time and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post was written as part of The Happiness Blog Project. The “Happiness Blog” is a social media project created and executed by Cecily Kellogg, sponsored by Diva

Now for the fine print:

Part of bringing happiness to your life is simplifying things so you can enjoy it to

Read, I did not get compensated in any way for this project. However, a donation is being made to the Vitamin Angels Charity in my name.

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

Her walls painted colors with names like Tinkerbell and Ballerina.

Gauzy sheer white curtains embroidered with pink flowers and sequins frame the window over her white wrought iron bed, the bed that I laid my own head on as a child and dreamed of Prince Charming, Writing and Shooting Stars.

Fancy Nancy, Olivia, Franny K Stein and Sesame Street fill her white bookshelf,

You walk in her room and you know that a little girl lives there, tap shoes and cleats, Mary Janes and cowboy boots mingle on her closet floor while up above there are skirts and frilly sun dresses and t-shirts and shorts.  A little girl lives here; a little girl who loves nail polish and bows and boots and soccer and kickball and ballet all with the equal passion that only the young to whom all things are still possible possess.

However, there’s one item in her room that will give you pause.

As you walk in her delicate, pink and green, cotton candy room; you’re confronted with a brown recliner.  An old chair with wood arms and a brown fawn suede seat.  It juts out of one corner, knocking the delicate balance of her room slightly out of whack.

It detracts from the inherent girlness and youth of her room with its strong lines and utter masculinity.

However, this chair has a story, a reason, a purpose and once you know it, it fits into her room and your heart and you know it could be nowhere else.

This chair was her great grandfather’s chair, her father and uncles fought over who got to sit in it and who would eventually own it when PaPa (paw paw) upgraded.  Nathan got the chair.

It’s moved around our house since Princess was a baby, I didn’t want the chair, it didn’t fit into my vision of our home. However, once I brought Princess home from the hospital, it was to this chair that I migrated to nurse her, rock her to sleep and feel her moist hot breath against my skin and the fluttering of her tiny heartbeat.  It was in this chair that I sat for hours on end and watched in fascination as her eyelashes twitched against her plump rosy cheeks and her rosebud mouth moved with her dreams.

This chair has moved with us from house to house and city to city.

PaPa passed away last year.

Princess was his only great granddaughter and the pink lady apple of his eye in a family full of rambunctious boys her big blue eyes, bow mouth and freckles delighted him and stole his heart in the way that only little girls can.

So now, this chair sits boldly in her room and as she cuddles  into it to read her books, draw her pictures and write her dreams in her journal; I see her once again, a small girl nestled in her PaPa’s big strong arms,  she looking up at him with wide innocent eyes and he looking down at her with wonder and love and awe.

And my heart knows that although you may come to our house and wonder at the imperfection and wrongness of that chair in her room; my heart knows that chair was meant for that room.

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

Over the past 6 weeks I’ve shared some recipes to make back to school lunches, snacks and meals easier, I’ve given some HEB/ConAgra goodie packs away and I’ve challenged myself and y’all to use more coupons.

Let’s re-cap:

Week One: Roasted Honey Garlic Lime Chicken

Week Two: Hot Dog KaBobs

Week Three: CrockPot Ro*Tel Shredded Chicken

Week Four:  Diced Tomato and Fresh Basil Pasta Sauce

Week Five: Back To School Snack Ideas

I thought I’d show y’all what a couple of the other participants made with their Combo Loco Deals:

• One of the other bloggers, who is also one of my favorite people in the world shared a pretty spectacular recipe as part of her meal maker challenge and I have to tell y’all, these Fancy Barbecue Sandwiches from DamnTexasHolly are pretty tonguegasmic looking.
• The adorable Rachel, from Following In My Shoes (who won one of the $500 shopping sprees to HEB {CONGRATS!!}) posted this delicious roasted tomato and artichoke pasta.

The Challenge may be officially over but my kids and I are completely head over flip-flops and cowboy boots for those little yellow coupons sprinkling the aisles of our local HEB.  So, I’ll continue my coupon games and fixing healthy, fun, REAL food that my family will enjoy and hopefully y’all will, too!

So, here it is.. the LAST giveaway!

TWO of y’all will win ONE of these HEB/ConAgra goodie bags!

$25 HEB gift card and $25 worth of ConAgra products!  $50 VALUE!

• Leave a comment on this post: favorite coupon tips, favorite quick go to snack, meal, best back to school tips.  Any of the above will garner you an entry.
• Open from NOW until 11 PM CST TODAY, Sept 1st, 2010

CONGRATULATIONS to Nichole and Jennifer for winning!

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

There’s just something about s’mores.  Toasted ooey gooey marshmallows with crisp hot outsides, soft, sticky, gooey insides, paired with crisp graham crackers and soft melt-y chocolate.

However, there are times when making s’mores isn’t convenient, easy or do-able.  However, since coming home from the amazing birthday trip of win, and toasting s’mores on the beach with good friends my kids have been hounding me hinting incessantly that they’d love to have more s’mores (see what I did there?)

So… while I teased her on twitter about a s’mores pie.. I was actually seriously trying to figure out the best way to create a more easily edible, house friendly s’more.  So, I did what I do, I opened my pantry realized it was a disaster and spent 3 hours scrubbing it top to bottom and re-organizing and grabbed what I thought I could use:  pudding mix, graham crackers and marshmallows.

I put one package of graham crackers into my food processor and pulsed them into crumb-dom

To about 1 1/2 C of crumbs, I added 1/4 C sugar and then 4 Tbsp melted butter.  Mix it up, press it into a pie pan and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

While it’s baking, mix 2 boxes Chocolate Fudge Pudding Mix with 2 C cold milk and 1/2 container whipped topping. (I’ll admit, this is not something I keep on hand, however, knowing that pudding mix wouldn’t have the right consistency on its own, I ran out and snagged some)  Whisk these together into a thick, chocolate-y heavenly concoction

Scoop the chocolate pudding deliciousness into the fresh baked graham cracker pie crust (yes, you can use a pre-made, just give it a nice toasting first) and smooth.

Top with a bag of marshmallows, make a pretty design, whatever, I started circling the outside with marshmallows and worked my way inward.

Turn your broiler on high, put the marshmallow topped, chocolate, s’more pie of awesomeness onto your oven rack, leave the door open and watch as the marshmallows, swell, puff and toast.

Once the mallows have reached your preferred level of toasted deliciousness, remove the pie from your oven.

Here’s one of the things that rocks so much about this s’mores pudding pie.

You can immediately slice a piece and devour it straight from the oven;

The marshmallows are all hot and crisp on the outside and melty molten sugary lava goodness on the inside, the chocolate pudding pie is thick and creamy and chilled and the graham cracker crust… there are no words.

Now, on to the amazing tonguegasmic awesomeness of this concoction.  This can be devoured and enjoyed straight from the oven, or you can slice it and heat it for 12 seconds in the microwave which will make the entire pie more closely resemble a traditional campfire s’more; the marshmallow will be hotter, the chocolate soft and melty and the graham cracker crust a bit warm and still crisp.  This can also be chilled and then re-heated the next day.

My 3 yo has snuck out of his room 4 times tonight to try to snag pieces of this pie from the counter.

*I baked this in an aluminum pie pan and then stored it with a second tin pie pan turned over top of it to preserve the marshmallows.

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

Angel Kissed

Back To School Snacks

StoryTeller

Pom Poms

All Wrapped Up

**pompom hat and cocoons knitted by my amazing friend April

Visit the amazing Lotus to link up your weekly winners and take a photographic journey of other’s winners around the interwebz

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to week 5 (I know, right!) of the HEB/ConAgra meal maker blogger challenge!

My kids come home from school starving (their words) so I’ve devised a few quick and easy, nutritious, delicious and fun ideas that work for snacks, lunches or dinners!

I don’t know about your kids but my kids are WAY into finger foods and colorful snacks, things easily and quickly eaten on the way to soccer practice, kickball, playgroup, slumber parties etc…

One of my favorite ways to get them to devour a healthy grilled cheese, grilled ham and cheese, toasted PB&J (you get the idea) is to serve it french fry style (i’ve even served them in paper cups, which they LOVE)

For today’s purposes:  we’re serving them sliced on a fun little partitioned serving tray:

Cook your sandwich, and if it has cheese in it, allow it to set for a few minutes before slicing into strips “fries”.  I use my pizza cutter for quick and easy sandwich slicing.

This is perfect with baby carrots (ranch for dipping, if your kids are dippers! I got the ranch dip free with a COMBO LOCO deal that HEB had going: Buy a pack of hot dogs get: chips, dip, relish and Hormel Chili for FREE F-R-E-E!!!) and apple slices, or grapes or whatever your favorites!

This is one of my kids’ favorite quick school night dinners and my son, who eats cold grilled sandwiches, loves to take this for lunch!

After School Snack, Lunch, Dinner Idea #2

Quesadilla Strips

What is it about tortillas and cheese?  They’re a special brand of comfort food, or is that just here in the South?

Monkey only goes to school two days a week and yet he wants a “school” lunch 5 days a week, just like his big sister.  These Quesadilla strips are perfect for his lunches and absolutely awesome for fueling Princess up for soccer practice!  Plus, crazy easy and when served with frozen grapes.. SCORE!

• 2 tortillas
• favorite shredded cheese, I use a colby jack mix or a mexican blend (or really, whatever is on special or whatever I have on hand)
• refried black beans

1. spread a THIN layer of refried black beans (protein and fiber FTW!) on one tortilla, sprinkle shredded cheese over BOTH tortillas and then smoosh the two tortillas, filling sides in, together.  Place the quesadilla on a hot skillet/cast iron/griddle and cook until both sides are crispy and golden.
2. Let rest for a few minutes and then using your favorite knife or pizza cutter, slice into strips and then cut in 1/2 (this makes it easier for small fingers)

I serve these in a small plastic cup alongside a cup of frozen grapes or cantaloupe and it makes for the most perfect on the go snack full of dairy, fiber, protein and vitamins! GO MOM!

After School Snack, Meal, Dinner Idea #3

Whole Grain Mini Pizzas

Everyone in my house has a different taste when it comes to pizzas but we all agree on one thing: WE LOVE PIZZA.

There’s just something about individual pizzas, too, they’re so enticing and fun to eat.

I use whole grain little sandwich rounds, thins, whatever they’re called, they came free with a loaf of bread coupon at my HEB yesterday

I set up a make your own pizza bar for dinner tonight because Nathan was out of town and cooking for two small people and me can be tricky.

• 4 whole grain sandwich rounds/thins
• Italian cheese blend
• OPTIONAL: pepperoni, mushrooms, sauce, diced tomatoes (remember those Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes we got for free.. there you go), green peppers…. etc… etc… etc… you see where this is going.

1. pre-heat oven to 370
2. let each person make their own pizza, we prefer thin crust pizzas so these are PERFECT!
3. Princess:  sandwich round, garlic butter, italian blend cheese. (done)
4. Monkey: sandwich round: pepperoni, tomatoes, cheese, pepperoni
5. Me: everything please
6. Nathan: everything please
7. Bake straight on the rack for crispier pizzas, these take about 7 minutes, depending on your oven
8. Slice, serve. NOM

Princess actually prefers her pizza cold so we make these for dinner and then put hers in the fridge and she takes it for lunch the next day.

These are also FABULOUS for slumber parties and after school cram sessions!

Do you have any FABULOUSLY easy and delicious snack/lunch/dinner recipes? I’d love to hear them!!

I am an HEB ConAgra Meal Maker Blogger participating in the Meal Maker Blogger Challenge.  This challenge involves using and sharing online and in store coupons to create and share recipe ideas of school lunches and easy dinner fixes to help the busy family.  Each of us was allowed to interpret this as we may I will be compensated for my time and talents at the completion of this program and I received a $25 HEB gift card and some yummy ConAgra products as well.  I have ALSO been allotted 5 goodie bags matching the one that I received to give away to readers. THREE have been given away already.. stay tuned…. next week You could be next

©2010 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2009 A Southern Fairytale. Powered by Jalapenos and Diet Dr Pepper All Rights Reserved.