Mandarin Mondays: Jeep Jeans (The Chinglish Files)

DIY Brownie Pizza

Making a brownie pizza is a great way to use up some leftover holiday candy in a fun and unusual way. My boys love helping to to add the toppings.

For this brownie pizza I used this cake mix brownie recipe and baked it in a 10 inch springform pan. I think ou could spread it out thinner onto a 12 inch pizza pan and just shorten the baking time as well. I had half of a can of cream cheese frosting leftover, but you could use homemade cream cheese frosting or any other kind of frosting as well. The one cup of frosting was just enough for the 10 brownie pizza, and held the candy on nicely.

Next we sprinkled M&Ms, chocolate chips, and chopped up Twix bars on top of the frosting. You could use any other candy you like. Because we didn't have a lot of frosting and I already had some of this amazing caramel sauce (and because I am always looking for an excuse to eat chocolate and caramel together) I drizzled some on top.

Mmmm.

Look out for the Pizza/Cookie/Brownie Monster!

Mandarin Mondays: Designer Jeans (The Chinglish Files)

Happy Easter!

DIY Strawberry Swirl Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

I love chocolate. My husband likes chocolate, but often prefers fruit flavors like strawberry over chocolate. hence my obsession with combining strawberry and chocolate desserts. We both agree that this Strawberry Swirl Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream is amazing.

And this flavor combo is easy to achieve. Even easier with store bought ingredients but you can make all of the components at home as well. Take vanilla ice cream, when nearly frozen but still soft, mix in chocolate chunks and big globs of strawberry jam.

Mandarin Mondays: Trust Make for Brand (The Chinglish Files)

{Free} Glimpse of the Son: A Holy Week and Easter Devotional

Update 2015: All of our Family Devotionals are currently available on our family's educational site, Greenfield Education, A Glimpse of the Son: A Holy Week and Easter Devotional is now available in PDF form for free there.

My husband and I have been working on a family devotional to celebrate Easter as a family similar to our Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day books. We hope to make one for all of lent in the near future, but did not have time this year.

The good news for you is that we were able to finish a short version for holy week through Easter or Resurrection Sunday and we're giving the PDF version away for free.

If you would prefer the Kindle version, it is reasonably priced.

Excerpt from the Introduction

Easter or Resurrection Sunday is truly the most joyous of all holidays.

He arose!

He conquered death so that we all can live forevermore!

Nothing can compare to this great Good News and the whole family should get to share in the excitement. This short ebook shares a glimpse of the final days of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection in a way that attempts to involve everyone.

This book is divided into eight sections each with a reading, thoughts on the passage, discussion questions, and suggested songs and activities. We tried to include a variety of levels for the questions and activities so that this book would be applicable for a wide range of ages.

There are also printable resources including:

• Cross and picture ornaments
• My Resurrection Book cover and pages (so each child can make their own book)
• Decorative printables for framing/displaying

Download A Glimpse of the Son PDF version here.

Want more free Easter books? Check out The Resurrection Story readers Levels 1-4 (free!) at Greenfield Education.

Download A Glimpse of the Son PDF version here.

Purchase the Kindle version here.

Check out The Resurrection Story readers Levels 1-4 here.

Happy Easter!

DIY Nail Monogram Ornaments

I've been making some new Easter decor this year, and these nail monogram ornaments are one of my favorite additions. I used them to mark our hanging Easter baskets, but they would look great on an Easter tree as well.

These ornaments are so easy to make they hardly need a tutorial, but just in case, here it is anyway.

DIY Nail Monogram Ornaments

• Nails
• Wire (I used green florist wire, because it is what I had on hand, but I imagine wire that matched your nails would look even better)
• Pliers and/or wire cutter
• Thread, string, twine, leather, or more wire to hang ornament

1. Arrange your nails to look like desired letter. 
2. Cut short lengths of wire and twist around points where the mails meet.
3. Create a loop to hang your ornament and attach.

Hang up, enjoy, and reflect on the reason for celebrating Easter.

Mandarin Mondays: Crazybomb (The Chinglish Files)

Homemade Easter Treats: Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows

Another homemade Easter treat that I like to make is chocolate dipped marshmallows. They are quick and easy, fun and festive. Our boys think these are a huge treat.

Start with either homemade or store bought marshmallows. You can even even use the animal shaped ones. Maybe this year I'll try cutting out my own marshmallow shapes.

Melt some chocolate using your preferred method. (Here is how to and how not to melt chocolate.)

Dip in colored sugar or sprinkles and place on a cookie sheet to harden before packaging.