This Caramel Apple Dump Cake is a quick and easy shortcut dessert that tastes good enough to serve for company. Just six simple ingredients including apple pie filling, cinnamon, nutmeg, cake mix, and butter are dumped in a pan, baked and the results are amazing!
Cook: 45 mins
Total: 55 mins
Ingredients 1x2x3x
- ▢2 cans (20 ounce) apple pie filling
- ▢2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ▢1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- ▢1 cup Kraft caramels bites
- ▢1 box dry yellow cake mix
- ▢1 cup unsalted butter cut into ¼ inch thick pats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together apple pie filling, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out evenly.
- Arrange the caramels over top of the apple filling. Evenly sprinkle the dry cake mix over the caramels.
- Place the pats of butter evenly over the top of the whole dessert.
- Bake the dump cake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbling.
- Cool slightly before serving and ENJOY!!
~Maegan
In the past I have attempted to make homemade brownies and they were a complete fail. After that I have always stuck with Duncan Hines Classic box mix! Recently I gave Dolly Parton’s Fudge Brownies a try and they were amazing, but it made a fairly small amount of brownies. The ingredients her mix called for are the key to such tasty brownies!
In an attempt to convert my classic mix into something as tasty, I substituted milk for the water and melted butter for the vegetable oil but keeping the amount of each the same as instructed on the box. I cooked these the same as I typically would and they came out just as good as Dolly’s but a full 9X13 pan!
My baking assistants are huge fans of the changes and think Duncan Hines should just go ahead and make the ingredient swaps! Give the change a try next time you need a quick and easy dessert!
-Maegan
I have found my love for baking again now that I have a super great helper, and we have enjoyed trying out new recipes.
While I am not a fan of this cake, everyone that has eaten it LOVES IT! I must give credit to where credit it due, this is Paula Dean’s recipe and is very rich!
INGREDIENTS
- Cake:
- 1 18 1/4- ounce package yellow cake mix (Even better with Butter Golden cake mix)
- 1 egg
- 8 tablespoons melted butter
- Filling:
- 1 8- ounce package cream cheese softened
- 2 eggs
- 8 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 16- ounce box powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the cake mix, egg, and 8 tablespoons butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Press the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9×13 baking pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, 8 tablespoons butter, and vanilla and beat together.
- Next, add the powdered sugar, and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.
Let it cool about 10-15 mins to set up and then enjoy!!
~Maegan
In the summer when I got to the point in pregnancy of feeling drained and exhausted by 3pm I started hunting EASY dinner ideas! I am super picky and if I ate out every night it would just be chicken strips and fries over and over, so I try to cook most nights! I sit down and plan out my meals a MONTH at a time including a rough draft of my grocery list for each week (but more on that later)! I have seen these sliders at party’s and such but was never a fan of them due to the poppy seeds! I decided I wanted to give them another try without the poppy seeds! These make a great dinner in a hurry or last minute because there is no thawing or cooking of the meat. We have gotten to the point these appear on the monthly meal plan at least once if not twice each month! So give them a try if you are looking for something delicious you can have on the table in 25 mins!
Ham and Cheese Sliders
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 12 slider buns (Hawaiian rolls are recommended)
- 12 slices deli ham (I do both ham and turkey)
- 8 slices Swiss cheese (Cheddar also makes a good sub here)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut slider buns in half and place the bottoms in a greased casserole dish.
- Mix together mayo and Dijon mustard then spread over the bottom buns.
- Place the ham on the slider buns, overlapping the pieces.
- Place the Swiss cheese on the ham, and then place the tops of the slider buns.
- In a small bowl, combine melted butter, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, and poppy seeds.
- Pour the butter mixture over the sliders and cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking for 10 more minutes, or until the cheese melts.
- Remove from the oven. Use a sharp knife to cut the sliders apart.
~Maegan
- Baby Breeza – This has been the biggest life savor with 2 babies! These were out when we had Mia but I could not justify the price…boy was I silly! Looking back I wish we would have gotten one with her. The Baby Breeza can make a bottle in less than 10 seconds and is way less messy than mixing bottles. I would definitely recommend this as a hostess gift for any new mom! This is roughly $200 and it is something you will use MULTIPLE times per day for 1 year!! INVEST INVEST INVEST!!!
2. Boon Lawn Drying Rack- We actually have a large and small one along with 2 accessories holders. The large green one has had a place on our counter since Mia was born, when she finished with bottles we moved to drying sippy cups on it! This is a gift you will use EVERYDAY!
3. Ingenuity Smart Bouncer- I never really saw the point of a bouncer that just vibrates, it seemed boring to me. I came across this auto bouncing seat and it instantly was a huge hit with the twins! It has 2 speeds of bouncing and both babies LOVE it!
4. ZIP PJs!!!! I can not stress how wonderful they are in the middle of the night when you are not awake enough to snap 25 buttons hoping you have them lined up correctly! Some of our favorite brands are Carters, Cloud Island, and Kickee!
Kickee: https://amzn.to/3xLETYB How cute are these options and there are 135 different prints up for grabs!
Carters: https://amzn.to/3EsUaBu
5. Dapple Baby Soap- I first found this soap when I was pregnant with Mia and it is the only dish soap I have used since! It cuts through fats and oils of breastmilk and can remove majority of the yucky red stain from tomato products. I especially love that it doesn’t have a scent… as much as I love Dawn I feel like it leaves a scent on your items! https://amzn.to/3xLDJfH
6. Baby Swings- depending on your lifestyle would determine if you want a compact portable one or a bigger more stationary one. We now use both swings, but with Mia we kept the smaller one at the babysitters house for use there. These are lifesavers when you need to get things done but the baby wants to be moving!
7. Car Monitor- We all have seen the mirrors for the headrest, but in a Tahoe/Suburban the middle seat does not have a headrest for you to attach it to! I reached out to my Facebook community on the hunt for a backseat camera and they came through! This camera is a lifesaver and has a great quality image both during the day and at night! I am all about baby things that are affordable since they grow out of them so fast, but this is something I would splurge on being that they are rear facing for 2 years! It makes traveling with babies a breeze as you can always see them!
8. Swaddles/Blankets- I have 3 types of blankets I use with the babies depending on the need. I prefer the Cloud Island muslin swaddles (Target) when it is hot and they just need something to keep the chill off. Copper Pearl swaddles and matching hats are my all time favorite, they are the perfect thickness and are so soft. If I am needing a thick/warm winter blanket I choose the Aden and Anais stroller blankets.
Copper Pearl: https://amzn.to/3KyAfVs
Aden & Anais: https://amzn.to/3IL107U
9. Nested Bean Sleep Sack- I have already made an entire post about these amazing bags so be sure to go check that out! But a quick overview is imagine weighted blankets for babies! These bags have helped all 3 of my kids sleep for a good stretch of time at an early age!
10. Animal Pacifier- With Mia we used WubbaNubs and with the twins we use Itzy Ritzy. Either way these animal pacifiers are so easy to find in the middle of the night. These are also easier to prop up so they stay in their mouths when they are small and have not mastered holding it in their mouth. I do really like that the Itzy Ritzy brand you can put whatever paci you choose on it and take the paci off to wash it. I would consider that a downfall for the Wubbanub.
Wubbanub: https://amzn.to/3lX2wuB
Itzy Ritzy: https://amzn.to/3SoWGye
These are some of our most loved and used products for the first 3 months! Check back to see how our top 10 things change as the babies get older!
~Maegan
- As an Amazon Associate I receive commissions from qualified purchases. But please know I only share products I use and love!
I found back in the fall if I plan out my meals for the entire month I am more likely to cook! Why is it that if you have to think about what to cook every night you are more likely to eat takeout??
I start by printing a calendar from https://www.printabulls.com/ for the month, getting 1 blank piece of paper, and my cookbook binder where all of our favorites are in one place! If you do not have a family recipe binder, you are making life harder than it needs to be but thats a topic for another day.
*Printabull is a great site that has FREE printable pages for everything!!!
Start by filling in any dates you won’t be home to cook or nights you know takeout is the only option because lets be honest its hard to avoid takeout sometimes! I then go though and start plugging in meals! For us we have gymnastics on Thursday nights so leftovers or takeout are a must for that night. I just keep on filling it in with a mixture of favorites and new recipes until the entire month is full.
Then take the blank paper and create a column for each Sunday (or whatever day you get groceries). I get groceries every Sunday so thats just what works for me! Taking this page I then fill in the ingredients I need to make the dinners for that week. This essentially creates a base grocery list for each week where you can just add items to as you see a need. Bam then your done!
I am a very visual person, so as the month goes along I mark off the days. If I was successful with what was planned it gets a ✅, but if not I put an ❌. This helps me at the end of the month see how well I did with staying on track! I average 4-6 “fails” a month, but that is a huge improvement compared to when I first started!
We do eat a good bit of leftovers because with just 2 adults most recipes are way more than we can eat at 1 meal. Cooking also allows us both to have lunch for the next day vs eating fast food everyday. If you average $10-15 on lunch 4 days a week that adds up quickly especially if 2 people are eating lunch!
I also found that planning everything out like this sets it up where we are not eating the same few meals over and over! Now don’t get me wrong there are some meals that appear every month, but those are our favorites!
Let me know how you plan out dinner? Are you a monthly person, weekly person, day by day, or very last minute type person?
~ Maegan
I am the type who likes cute shirts for all the holidays and school dress up days. I quickly realized after a few school dress up days it can get pricey at $25-30 a shirt and invested in a Cricut Easy Press 2 last winter! I purchase heat transfer or sublimation designs that are ready to press off of Etsy and blank shirts off Amazon! I am now down to $12-15 a shirt and with 3 kids the savings add up!
In the past I bought solid color shirts, but this time wanted to try a tie dyed look! While searching different ways to tie the shirts for designs I came across “ice dying” and decided that was the winner for our Mardi Gras shirts. I have linked the website I used below.
You need: white shirts, ice, cooling rack, and powder shirt dye!
Please check out the link for the official steps, but here is the summary: get shirts damp, arrange ice, sprinkle powder, let sit for 24 hours, rinse, and then wash! I used 2 packets of purple dye and got a good bit of color variation!
Once my shirts were ready to have the design added I grabbed my Cricut and started pressing. I purchased a design off Etsy in the 4 sizes I needed, this particular time I decided we would match.
I purchase all sorts of designs from holidays, school dress up themes, and everyday designs! I have discovered I prefer HTV designs over Sublimation! Htv designs can be put on any color and material shirt vs Sublimation that can only go on white (which doesn’t work best for a toddler).
Ice Dying tutorial I followed can be for here: https://chaoticallyyours.com/ice-tie-dye/
Cricut Easy Press 2: https://amzn.to/3HXkZ2x
Other Supplies for pressing:
Shirt Dye: https://amzn.to/3JHSUOm
Teflon Sheets: https://amzn.to/40vjy2B
Heat Mat: https://amzn.to/3Xd7Hni
I hope everyone got a little insight on how to make cute shirts at a more affordable price tag!
~Maegan
*As an Amazon Associate I receive a commission off qualified purachases.
There are tons of Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes out there and for years I was a huge fan of the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip package that I am sure everyone has seen. I recently came across this recipe and what stood out to me about it was the fact that it is eggless….meaning you can safely eat it raw (not that raw eggs ever stops anyone). I have now made them quite a few times and each time they come out without fail, which is hard to say for cookies! They can be thrown together in a quick minute. These cookies are super moist and tasty, so try them out for your next dessert!
Soft Batch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 8 ounce block of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chip ( I prefer mini chips)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugars until they are smooth/creamy, then add the vanilla and mix well.
Next, add flour, salt and baking soda – mix until all the dry ingredients are just blended-Do Not Over Mix!
Last, add chocolate chips. Fold the chocolate chips into the dough, until just blended. Do not over mix the chocolate chips with the dough.
Place heaping round tablespoons of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet approximately one inch apart. I use The Pampered Chef’s Medium size scooper for the dough, it’s the perfect size and I never have to touch the dough.
Place cookies in the oven on middle rack and bake for 11-13 minutes, depending on your oven. Bake until cookies turn a light golden brown. Remove, place cookies on rack to cool. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container. Enjoy!
~Maegan
As a first time mom I remember the overwhelming struggle of getting Mia to sleep! In the hospital the nurses would swaddle her up and she seemed to love it, but once we got home she hated it (probably due to lack of experience on my end)! This set me out on the journey to figure out how to get her to sleep. I bought all different types of swaddles and sleep bags only to figure out she hated having her arms bundled! I was gifted a Nested Bean Sleep Sack from one of Brad’s former high school friends and it was one of the top gifts we received! With the Nested Bean weighted bag she had the ability to move her arms freely and the weighted egg created a sense of touch that comforted her! She slept in one of these bags most nights until she suckered her way into our bed.
Fast forward to being pregnant with the twins I was given more of these amazing bags by a pharmacy school friend and they have been a life saver! As soon as these babies were big enough to safely fit in the bag we started using them. They immediately started sleeping better and atleast make it 5 hours straight which for 2.5 month olds I will take it!
I love that these bags are sleeveless allowing them to be worn all year and are machine washable because lets be real anything that doesn’t do well in the washer is not meant to be a baby clothing item. Magnetic Me brand clothing did not do well with Mia haha! The Nested Bean bag also can be unzipped from the bottom, so diaper changes are easy and quick.
If you are in the market for something to help your baby sleep longer or looking for a good baby shower gift check out the Nested Bean sleep sack!
Original Version (our favorite): https://amzn.to/3DGd72W
Winter Version made with a quilted thicker material: https://amzn.to/3jpLODo
New Version with Removable sleeves: https://amzn.to/3DBUiOk
~Maegan
** As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission of qualifying purchases. But I do not review or suggest any products other than those I truly love!
I am the keeper. Yea
I am the keeper of schedules. Of practices, games, and lessons. Of projects, parties, and dinners. Of appointments and homework assignments.
I am the keeper of information. Who needs food 5 minutes before a meltdown occurs and who needs space when they get angry. Whether there are clean clothes, whether bills are paid, and whether we are out of milk.
I am the keeper of solutions. Of bandaids and sewing kits and snacks in my purse. But also of emotional balms and metaphorical security blankets.
I am the keeper of preferences. Of likes and dislikes. Of nightly rituals and food aversions.
I am the keeper of reminders. To be kind, to pick up their trash, to do their dishes, to do their homework, to hold open doors and write thank you notes.
I am the keeper of rituals and memories. Of pumpkin patches and Easter egg hunts. I am the taker of pictures, the collector of special ornaments, and the writer of letters.
I am the keeper of emotional security. The repository of comfort, the navigator of bad moods, the holder of secrets and the soother of fears.
I am the keeper of the peace. The mediator of fights, the arbiter of disputes, the facilitator of language, the handler of differing personalities.
I am the keeper of worry. Theirs and my own.
I am the keeper of the good and the bad, the big and the small, the beautiful and the hard.
Most of the time, the weight of these things I keep resembles the upper elements on the periodic table – lighter than air, buoying me with a sense of purpose.
But sometimes the weight of the things I keep pulls me down below the surface until I am kicking and struggling to break the surface and gasp for breath.
Because these things I keep are constantly flickering in the back of my brain, waiting to be forgotten. They scatter my thoughts and keep me awake long past my bedtime.
Because all these things I keep are invisible, intangible. They go unnoticed and unacknowledged until they are missed. They are not graded or peer reviewed or ruled on by a court. And sometimes they are taken for granted.
Sometimes being the Keeper is exhausting. Because you feel like you’re doing it alone.
So to all of you who are keepers, I see you.
I know the weight of the things you keep.
I know the invisible work you do, which doesn’t come with a pay check or sick leave, is what makes the world go round.
So find you a few moms who also are the keepers of all the things and support each other! Parenting is hard, being a mom is hard, but it all goes by too fast and one day you will look back and wish you were tackling practices and homework assignments!
~Maegan