Dollar Tree Rapid Brownie Baker Review

As you know, I LOVE the Dollar Tree.  Over the past few months I have been finding several items that help you make your food faster. I have been curious enough to buy and try them out, so I can review them here on the blog.  The first one I am going to try is the Rapid Brownie Baker.  The box says it is by Rapid Brands, and that you can make the perfect brownies in under 4 minutes. 

I opened the box, and found two plastic containers.  One a microwave brownie pan, and the other container with compartments for the ingredients. (brownie mix, egg, water, and vegetable oil) 

Then I saw something that surprised me.  Do you see it too? It was really hard to take a picture, but the brownie pan is make by BETTY CROCKER.  Under the trademark spoon was the instructions that were almost identical to the back of the box.  What I was surprised about though, was nowhere on the box did it say it was from Betty Crocker.

Inside of adding the ingredients to each compartment of the the container that came in the kit, I just mixed them up in one of my Dollar Tree mixing bowls.   The directions say to put them in the ingredient container, pour into the brownie pan and stir until well blended.  I felt it was a little neater pouring the batter in the brownie pan after it was mixed.   I used this Betty Crocker mix that I also bought at the Dollar Tree.  

The box said to cook the brownies on high, for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. When the time was up, they looked a little over done. It reminded me of the texture of a mug cake.  After letting them cool for a few minutes, I cut the brownies with a plastic knife. I recently saw on a Facebook tip video that a plastic knife makes a cleaner cut. It really does!  

While the top side was a little over done, the bottom side of the brownie was really fudgy and chewy. It tasted really good with a big glass of milk. 

Overall I give this Rapid Brownie Baker a thumbs up.  They were not the "perfect" brownies like the box said, but they were still quick to make, and tasted good.  Also since it was only a dollar it is worth it the cost, because you get a really nice microwave brownie pan that you can use over and over.  Thinking I might need to go make another batch of brownies   

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Long List of Free Resources While Self Isolating

Life has really changed for all of us in just a few days.  We are spending a lot of time at home social distancing and self isolating.  I am currently not working because all of the school districts in my state are closed for a least a few weeks, maybe more. One of my children is having some symptoms, so we are also currently self isolating just in case. 

While we are home, I am finding that I have a lot of time to spend on the internet and Facebook.  The teacher in me realized that I have come across a long list of resources that will be helpful for those families with kids at home who are home schooling.  When my kids were younger, getting three children (one with Aspergers) to do their homework on a nightly basis was a struggle.  Now that they are older, I do not need to worry about homework anymore, but I know they would have loved to do some of the things that I am going to share in this post.  

Do you have a child who loves art like mine?   

Here are a few sites to check out 

Free Coloring Pages from 113 Museums. They can learn about art history and make art at the same time. 

Draw with Mo Willems. Each weekday he will be sharing lunch time doodles with kids. (and adults like me who think they are a kid ;)) 

1000 Free Disney Coloring pages from The Farm Girl Gabs

Interested in Virtual Field Trips? 

You are in luck if you like to explore.  There are so many options online right now allowing you to take virtual field trips. 

There are several interesting places you can "see" on DiscoveryEducation.com

20 more places are available on  Adventures in Familyhood

Visit US National Parks on Tech Crunch

My favorite resource (and one I am going to do myself) is virtually visit Disneyland, and ride the rides on Romper.com

Want to see some nature and do something with science? The National Aquarium is live streaming. 

If you love animals, the Cincinnati Zoo will be featuring a different animal every weekday at 3 PM. 

Have a child who loves to read?  Here are connections to an endless resource of books.

You can currently download over 300,000 books from the New York Public Library

2 Free months of Amazon Kindle Unlimited, endless books, audiobooks and magazines to keep your children reading. 

Interested in Space? NASA currently has their Entire Media Library publicly accessible and copyright free. 

I have not forgot the grown ups and down time. There are some resources for us grownups to use during this trying time too.  

Hallmark Channel  is starting a Christmas movie marathon starting tomorrow since we all need a little cheer. 

Netflix has a new option called Netflix party that allows you to have virtual movie nights with friends.  It is a Google extension that allows you to watch and chat with others. 

   

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Unusual Nail Polish Tips - Feature of the Day

Having two girls, we have A LOT of nail polish at our house.  I seriously have no idea how  many bottles I could find. I know I have seen a least a few bottles  in pretty much every room in the house, with the exception of my son's room.   As you can imagine, with that much nail polish,  I had to check out Fluster Buster's  32 Unusual Uses for Nail Polish.  I knew a few of the tips on the list, but there are some I never heard of before.  If you have a lot of nail polish as well, because sure to check out Fluster Busters Unusual Tips post.  Thank you so much Robin for linking up to Dare to Share!

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Potato Blog

Do you ever have a bag of potatos but not sure what to do with it?  I know I plan on picking up a 10 lb bag of potatos on sale at Meijer this week, but did not have recipes in mind.  I will often throw half the bag away because I did not use them before they went soft.   I just found out that there is website/blog dedicated to just potatos!   There are literally hundred of recipes to try!   Check out the website  PotatoGoodness.com  here  and the blog Mom's Dinnner Helper here.

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