Rice Pudding

If you ask my husband, rice pudding is my favorite dessert in the whole wide world. I love making it. Unfortunately my cookbook is the garage *grr*! So, I found the closest recipe I could find. My favorite recipe only calls for milk, rice (cooked... great way to use leftovers!), sugar, cinnamon, eggs, and raisins! It is so simple and so delicious. It is truly a comfort food recipe!
Oh I have one tip for making rice pudding... if you are making the rice for this recipe (as opposed to using leftovers) then stir while making the rice (this is generally against the rules in rice preparation) HOWEVER, stirring does just the most perfect thing for rice pudding that wouldn't work for general rice eating times.... it breaks down the outside of the rice hulls making the rice creamy... oh so delicious!!! Yum!

BAKED RICE PUDDING

4 eggs, beaten 3 c. milk 1/3 c. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 c. cooked rice 1/2 c. seedless raisins (more, if you wish) Combine all ingredients and pour into a 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Set dish in a pan of hot water. Bake in 300 degree oven for about 1 hour. After first 30 minutes, insert spoon at edge of pudding and stir from bottom. Continue baking until knife inserted near center of pudding comes out clean. Serve hot, warm or cold. Serves about 6 to 8.

Want a Jesus Encounter?

My hubby's cousin, Jeremy, has a great blog called Jesus Encounter. He is a very talented and inspired writer who is on fire for God! Go ahead and check him out!

RosePetal Cottage

Wouldn't you love to be a little girl again? I know I sure would. I remember when I was little I loved having my own little place. Nobody else's. Not my brother's. Not my sister's. I had quite a few, actually. I had a tree fort, a place across the creek called "The Golden Valley"--named so by myself and my best friend for its dry yellow golden grass, a giant refrigerator box. But when I was watching a commercial a few months back about the RosePetal Cottage I just fell in love!!! But honestly I don't have the money for it *yet*. Thankfully, my friend Sarah at Sassyfrazz directed me to probably the greatest contest ever. It is for a RosePetal Cottage! God bless you, MomsViews!!! Woot! So, head over there and sign up for a chance to win a beautiful Cottage for your little girl!

Pottytraining?

Anna is so cute... she loves to do what we do. When we go potty, so goes in there and tries to take off her diaper so she can give it a whirl, too. I think she'll be easy to pottytrain. I was, according to my parents, easy to train and was trained by age 2. Every morning Anna wakes up with a dry diaper and thirty minutes later, her diaper is full. I haven't actually timed it, but I bet that if I do, I could get her to go potty on her own little training toilet. That's exciting, but scary. Scary because my little girl will soon be growing up!
Hey, I just found out about a contest for Huggie's Clean Team Products. I also watch a toddler every other week so I'm excited that I'll be able to test this product on a couple of different age groups... plus this would be my first review. Just click over to MetaBlog: Parents for more information.

Goodnight Moon

My daughter received "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise-Brown in her Easter basket from my mom for Easter. I asked her to when she asked me which book to get her. It came in a box with a cute little bunny in blue and white striped pajamas, just like in the book. Goodnight Moon is one of the first books I remember my mom reading to me. She was always great at making the "voices" for her tales and I loved it. It wasn't until much later in life, when I was in college, that I learned that Goodnight Moon, the story that held so much meaning to my childhood, that the book is a true classic. I am so glad I get to share this wonderful story with my daughter. About the book itself: I learned in college that when you write a children's story that one of the important things you can do with you write is have lots of repetition. There is plenty in this book. The story begins with describing the room, then piece by piece, you say "Goodnight" to each of the parts of the room: the mush, the comb, the old lady who whispers "Hush" and so on. But I when I think back of when I read this book with my own mother, I remembered the pages. The colors on the pages are so vibrant: green, yellow, red. Each set of colored pages alternates with a black and white page. And have you ever noticed that in the beginning of the story the moon in the window is very low and as you turn the pages the moon rises into the sky? I am convinced this is quite possibly one of the best bedtime stories ever. I love it. I wish I had one to give away, but I don't. So you'll have to go buy it or borrow it from your library for free! ;)
Marget Wise-Brown also wrote two other books in the Goodnight Series and many, many other books. To read more about Margaret Wise-Brown, visit Mararet Wise-Brown.com