Month: December 2016

Easy One Pan Christmas Bars: MeMaw’s Mystery Bars

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Easy One Pan Christmas Bars: MeMaw’s Mystery Bars

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Growing up in my house around the holidays Christmas music was always blaring, my brothers had I were running amok around our 15 foot tall tree, and my mom was always baking & making fun foods to celebrate.   She seriously was the cutesy-crafty-amazing-mom wayyy before Pinterest was a thing.   Now as a mother myself, I still don’t know how my mother did it all!  One of my favorite cookies she makes are called Mystery Bars!  Today on the blog my mom made them with my daughter and we are sharing one of our favorite {and easy} recipes with you!  

I am doing one of the things I HATE when finding a recipe on Pinterest….telling you some long winded story before getting to the recipe.   Feel free to keep scrolling, or check out these photographs of my mom’s recipe book.   Pre-internet when you could save all your favorite recipes organized in Pinterest boards recipe books were all the rage.   This thing is from the 70’s or 80’s and has hand written recipes from my mother and my grandmother, clippings from magazines, printings from the internet, and even has cooking stains on it.   Its a very cherished item in our family-since if you’ve ever been around the O’Rourke’s when food is on the table you know food = life.

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This recipe is so easy you can whip it up quickly for a last minute holiday party or cookie exchange.   It took us no time to make even with a toddler’s help! The bars can be cut as small or as large as your holiday diet can handle.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 stick of unsalted butter or margarine
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 small bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 small bag of butterscotch chips (or you could use peanut butter chips)
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 1 can condensed sweetened milk

Steps:

Melt butter and pour into a 9×13 inch pan and sprinkle graham crackers on top.

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Press down firmly with a fork into the baking pan.

Layer on the chocolate chips as little or as many as you like!

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Now add the butterscotch chips.

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Next, sprinkle on the coconut!  My toddler LOVED this part! *Note my mother’s “measuring” this is why I must document her recipes-she never really follows them which makes it impossible to copy!

Lastly drizzle the milk on top evenly.

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Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes at 325 degrees.  Once in the oven, do a dance party!!

When the cookies are completely cool cut into bars of any size and viola!  Easy ONE PAN cookies with little clean up!  I hope you enjoy them!

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These are my favorite cookies my mom makes!  I personally like these bars when then are a few days only and not completely fresh so they are somewhat hard.

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What are your favorite family Christmas cookie traditions?  Comment below with your favorite Christmas cookie!

Have a Happy Holiday!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,

Lisa Doyle

5 Tips on Keeping your Home Tidy During the Holidays

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5 Tips to Keep Your Home Tidy During the Holidays with BLACK+DECKER

Keep reading & scrolling for a  GIVEAWAY for a chance to win an awesome BLACK+DECKER product!

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  1. Make a Plan

I am queen of ‘to-do lists’ I feel it really helps me stay focused on what needs to get done, what’s important, and it also lets my husband know what I need help with. Wink wink.   I often will print out a calendar and mark holiday festivities to do with the family on them from seeing Christmas lights, making Christmas crafts, and even wrapping those presents to make sure every moment of the holiday season is used.   Being a working mom I often will clean my entire house on Saturday morning so I can enjoy a clean home all weekend.   I will make a list of things to do-dishes, vacuum with the BLACK+DECKER cordless hand vacuum, do laundry, tidy up bedrooms, etc. that way it can get done quick and efficiently!

  1. Minimize Clutter by Using Bins

I love being a mother, but I hate the sight of toys and clutter! Especially around the holidays when there are more things out in your home, I really like to minimize clutter by using bins that tie in with my décor.  My rule is if it doesn’t fit in the bins then it goes in the closet or gets donated!   This is a perfect time of the year to do a secret nap time toy rotation or to donate some of those rarely used toys to charity.

All of the bins in these photos have toys hidden in them!

  1. Teach the Kids to Help!

Being a parent means you’re constantly cleaning, washing, folding-but hey you also had kids to help with household chores right?   Kids are never too young to start helping out with mommy and daddy with small chores for their age group.   Little tasks for toddlers like putting away shoes, toys, or even bringing their dirty sippy cup to the sink are all chores my toddler does around the house. My toddler as learned that she must help clean up an area of the house by putting her toys away in the bins before moving on to the next activity.   Sometimes this task is done with a smile all by herself, often with help from mom, and sadly sometimes with toddler tears, but it’s a rule we like to have in our home to keep it clean.

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  1. Use the BLACK+DECKER Compact Cordless Lithium Hand Vacuum to Spot Clean Little Messes

Keeping a clean home is important to me, but it should not overhaul the entire day-this is the time to celebrate not clean! Who has time to lug out an entire large vacuum?   I love to keep my BLACK+DECKER  Compact Cordless Lithium Hand Vacuum in arms reach to quickly clean up small messes like Christmas tree pine needles, sprinkles from holiday cookies, baking disasters such as dust from flour, or milk-YES IT EVEN VACUUMS LIQUIDS!!! Hello! This tool is amazing around little ones!   The Compact Cordless Lithium Hand Vacuum is also quiet too so it doesn’t scare my toddler or wake my napping baby.

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  1. Make it a Game!

To keep little ones entertained and helpful turn any chore into a game or competition. Make the job a race and see who is the best little helper to clean up the mess the fastest.   Turn on a favorite Christmas song like ours-NSYNC’s “Merry Christmas Happy Holidays” and set a goal to get the whole area cleaned up by the time the song is over! Clean up Elf style by talking to Santa in a funny voice.   Give a prize or reward like a small candy cane or be the first family member to open a gift on Christmas morning if they can clean up the fastest.   The ‘Clean Up Monster’ was a game my dad played when I was little which was a modified version tag in the dark-whoever he caught had to clean up! Whatever game you choose, making a dull task fun can make it go much faster!

Those are my top 5 tips on keeping your home tidy not just around the holidays, but all year long!

BLACK+DECKER is a great brand, check out these other items on our Christmas wish list:

  • The 20V MAX Lithium Cordless Drill Driver will be a WONDERFUL drill for my husband to put together all the kids toys and home projects I have him complete.
  • The MarkIT Picture Hanging Tool works wonders making sure all pictures, artwork, and canvas prints are hung perfectly straight.  This is a need for the gallery wall trend in home decor right now!
  • The Cordless 2 In 1 Stick Vacuum is a fab product as it is the best of both worlds a hand vacuum for couches and everything above ground, and a regular vacuum for floors! 

Check out the BLACK+DECKER  Holiday Handbook for more holiday and Christmas tips, recipes, and DIYs!

 

**GIVEAWAY**

The BLACK+DECKER brand will be giving away a 2-in-1 Stick Vacuum to a lucky Redlocks and Shamrocks reader!  This Stick Vacuum makes cleaning super easy with the product’s cordless feature! To enter the GIVEAWAY:

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  1. Check out this LINK and read all about the 2-in-1 Stick Vacuum!
  2. Comment on my blog post below telling me what you LOVE about the cordless stick vacuum OR what you like about the other products from this post: the drill, the hand vacuum , or the picture hanger!

The giveaway is that SIMPLE!   Good luck!

I hope you all have a wonderful {and clean} Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,

Lisa Doyle

Teething Necklaces 101: A Redlocks Review

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I am not gonna to lie, before trying out teething necklaces I was never really a fan.  Whenever I would see moms out and about holding their cute innocent child then to catch a glimpse of  realness- that cute innocent child was actually a drooling baby who was gnawing on their mom’s necklace.  The sight kind of creeped me out at first…until I became a mother to a teething baby and tired one!  Its true what they say about parenting-never judge others.   That was the pre-teething-momma’s views, now I will do anything to help sooth my little ones gums and keep me from getting my shoulder, hair, or outfit gnawd on, soaked, and tangled! Redlocks and Shamrocks is bringing you Redlocks Review on the Nuby Teething Jewelry!*

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Nuby carries three styles of teething jewelry seen in this photo in various colors such as grey, blue, navy, and pink.   They are all made of soft silicone to provide stimulation to gums and emerging teeth. 

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The first time trying out teething necklaces I was trying to get ready for a friend’s bridal shower.   Of course, I was running late, trying to put on mascara, and my baby wanted to be held-the second I set him down he would cry.   As a mom of two I have mastered the-do anything with one hand skill-but my little boy kept grabbing at my mascara!  I threw on the teething jewelry on a whim and it kept him entertained while I finished getting ready. 

The soft textured surface was safe for him to tug, touch, and teethe verses everything else in arms reach on my bathroom counter or on me!

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My weekend mom warrior look consists of workout clothes-even though I rarely get the chance to hit the gym these days.  Isn’t it a workout chasing your toddler around the park and lifting two kids in and out of car seats to go grocery shopping right? 

This design of Nuby Teething Jewelry has a more casual look to it with the black ribbon tying in with my ‘workout’ mom style.  Plus my baby can easily grasp the round disk shape.

This little guy had a blast walking around our neighborhood and going to the grocery store with this compact ‘toy’ strapped around my neck.

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All of the teething jewelry features a plastic clasp for fastening and added security making wearing and taking off a snap! The flat disk style of Nuby Teething Jewelry also comes in a dark navy.  My personal style tends to be more minimalist jewelry not statement pieces so I went with the neutral gray again. 

I keep this one in my diaper bag to throw on anywhere-in this case the park-when my baby getting the terrible teething tingles!   One thing I like about Nuby teething necklaces verses other brands is the price is right!  Teething necklaces should be functional and cute but not break the bank-this isn’t Tiffany’s jewelry!  All styles of the Nuby Teeth Jewelry are of course 100% Silicone, BPA free, and available now on  Amazon!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,

Lisa Doyle

*This post was sponsored by Nuby