Where are those darn badgers?!?!?!

Oh how I've missed my blog! Us badgers have just recently moved a whooping 3 miles from our old homestead. Moving a whole home while the hubby works 9 hours a night and 3 kids ages 3, 2, and 5 months old is quite the adventure.  






We have spent this week living like a band of gypsy's. Sleeping on a air mattress, meals that include bologna, bananas, and bagels (not pregnant I SWEAR!), and all around chaos has put my crafting to a grinding stop. For some reason no one shares my opinion that the craft stuff should be unpacked first. 






So this week I thought I would take this time to introduce my 3 baby badgers. These 3 kids make crafting fun and easy!

We have been spending these first few days enjoying the cool rain on these HOT days.

This is Miss Olivia, the oldest badger. At 3 years old she still can rock an awesome spandex neon colored bathing suit with a side pony tail and awesome band-aid like any 80s rad chick.

She also has enough spunk for a whole herd of little girls. A girl with a korker bow and a stick is a recipe for trouble.

Next up is the red headed stranger himself, Cody!

He loves this stroller and will pretend to push his babies (a ball with a wolf on it) around for hours. But he's cute enough to pull it off.

Like his sister he is over ran with spunky, rowdy energy. We had a blast taking these sticks and launching them into the field.

The youngest badger is Abigail. Abigail enjoyed our play in the rain under the comfy tent we pitched for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. She looks just like her father and has a joyful, Chris Farley type of humor. Always laughing!

How can you not get inspired by this face?!?!

I really hope to get back to crafting new and exciting things soon. And of course blogging about them!

The support and kindness the craft-blog world has shown me is beyond humbling and touching. I enjoy all the awesome ladies in this great field and I am honored to be amongst such crafty ladies.

So stay tuned...hoping to get the craft lab up and running after our family vacation in 3 weeks. 

In the meantime:

'Mama, just ONE more picture! Then we are done.'

'Ok mama, this is the LAST one!'

They hate my picture addiction but I don't want to miss a single moment with my poor badgers.

Cheesecake Factory Hack: Banana Cream Cheesecake

So who wants to pay almost $50 to buy a yummy banana cream cheesecake online from the Cheesecake Factory?!?! In this economy, I am willing to bet like us there are a few poor badgers out there. So this is the first of what I am hoping are several Cheesecake Factory hacks. I take their awesome, yummy cheesecakes and give YOU the recipe for free!  

Banana Cream Cheesecake

Ingredients:

20 vanilla Oreo cookies

1/4 cup of melted butter

24 oz. of softened cream cheese

2/3 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of corn starch

3 eggs

3/4 cup of mashed bananas (around 2 bananas)

1/2 cup of whipping cream (NOT whip cream)

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 or 2 teaspoons of banana extract (optional, depending on how banana-ish you want it to taste)

caramel (optional- for garnish)

candy pecans (optional- for garnish)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. First process the Oreo cookies in a food processor until they are extra fine. 

3. Melt the butter and mix it with the cookies.

4. Press cookie and butter mixture into a 10 inch spring form pan and place in the fridge to cool.

5. Beat cream cheese until creamy.

6. Slowly add sugar then corn starch into the cream cheese.

7. Add eggs one at a time. Beat the tar out of your batter.

8. Beat in bananas.

9. Beat in whipping cream.

10. Mix in the extracts.

11. Add the mixture to your cookie crust and bake in the oven for ONLY 15 minutes.

12. After 15 minutes are up reduce the heat to 200F and bake for a hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes). It is SOOOO important you decrease the heat to 200F after 15 minutes.

13. Remove the cake and let cool. Then put in the fridge for 6 hours or over night. 

14. Now you can garnish it with some yummy caramel, candy coated pecans, banana slices, or whip cream. Your choice!

Eat and enjoy Poor Badger style! 

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Poor Badger Creations

Helping you with heart failure: Bacon cupcake recipe

God bless America and our love of bacon!

I recommend this cupcake for a fun brunch surprise. They are really tasty and you can defiantly taste the bacon and maple. Before you say 'ewww', keep in mind the McGriddle. It is basically a cupcake with sausage in place of icing. 

Ingredients for cupcake:

*9 tablespoons of room temperature butter

*1 tablespoon of bacon drippings that have been put in the fridge to get solid

*2 eggs

*10 tablespoons of brown sugar

*8 table spoons of maple syrup

*2 and 1/2 cups self rising flour

*2 teaspoons of baking soda

*1 teaspoon baking powder

*SMALL pinch of kosher salt

*1/2 cup of milk

*1/2 cup of finely chopped, cooked bacon

Baking the cupcake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2.Fry bacon and drain the grease/drippings into a bowl and put into fridge. Go ahead and chop the bacon up for the 1/2 cup that you will need (plus some for a garnish)

3.Beat butter and bacon fat with mixer or by hand until it is creamy and fluffy. 

4. Slowly beat brown sugar and maple syrup into bacon and butter mix.

5.Now beat the eggs one at a time into the mixture.

6.In a separate bowl sift your flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together.

7.Slowly incorporate your dry mix into the wet. Also slowly add the milk at this point too. 

8. Fold the chopped bacon into the mix. 

9. Taste and add more maple syrup or bacon according to taste. Don't add too much maple syrup because the frosting is VERY sweet and the maple syrup can break up your batter.

10. Put in cup cake liners and bake for 18-22 minutes. After 15 minutes rotate your pan for even baking. Yields around 12 cupcakes.

Maple syrup frosting ingredients:

*8 tablespoons of room temperature butter

*4 tablespoons of maple syrup

*2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1. Beat butter and syrup until creamy

2. Slowly add powdered sugar into mix

3. Spread frosting onto cupcakes and add a few 'bacon sprinkles' from the left over chopped bacon. 

4. Eat. Enjoy. Run 4 miles the next day to erase the abuse you just put your poor heart through.  

Happy eatings from Poor Badger!

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