Time For Crafts

Olive Oil--What's the difference?

2011-09-27T09:31:00.001-07:00

Extra Virgin olive oil versus light olive oil? What's the difference?

I don't know about you, but I've always wondered what the difference is between all the different olive oils. I thought I'd do some research.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the purest type of olive oil you can find. When the olive is pressed, oil comes out and if the olive was of the highest quality it will be pure olive oil, making extra virgin olive oil.

However, if the olives aren't good quality, then the oil that comes out of the pressed olive has to be refined further, which results in a lighter color. This starts the progression through the different types of olive oils and why the variation in the colors.

They are both healthy and have basically the same attributes since they are both derived from olives but the extra virgin olive oil contains a better color and flavor that is most suitable to dressings and the lighter olive oils are better suited for cooking at high heats.

So in synopsis.....
"Extra" means more money but a better quality. Always use this type for dressings.

"Light" means less money so you can save a little bit of money by using this type of olive oil to cook with.

Beef Stroganoff

2011-09-26T23:11:00.001-07:00

This is one of my go-to meals-- when I'm not sure what to make... or I don't have a lot of time....this is a meal that is on the list of easy to make that everyone in the family will enjoy. So we typically have it about once a month. It's a staple for us, like spaghetti. It's like a beef stroganoff, but we never called it that growing up. We always had other macaroni/pasta names for it because the beef stroganoff we normally eat looks much different.
It takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and it is something that I almost always have the ingredients for in the pantry/freezer.

Here is a picture of all the ingredients that you'll need:

Here's the recipe:

{{Easy Beef Stroganoff}}

(printer friendly version)

Pasta, your choice (macaroni noodles, egg noodles, cooked to package directions)

1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 large onion, diced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 Tablespoon Worchestershire Sauce

First I start a pot of water boiling, with salt added. When the water boils, add the noodles. Brown the meat in a separate large skillet over medium-high heat and season it with the salt and pepper. After the meat has started cooking, add the diced onion. When the meat has cooked through, (take care not to overcook the meat), add the can of cream of mushroom soup, milk and worchestershire sauce. Wisk the ingredients together over medium heat and then heat to a simmer. When the noodles are done, drain off the water and pour the noodles into the sauce. Mix together and serve.

This is what the sauce looks like after everything has been mixed in and it is waiting for the noodles.

I typically serve it up with some green beans or other vegetable on the side.

Corn on the Cob Cooking Tips

2011-09-26T23:04:00.001-07:00

With fall coming on in full swing... harvesting all those fruits and vegetables from the garden come as well. Plus fruit and vegetable stands are popping up everywhere with bountiful baskets of food to chose from.

Corn on the cob... a sure sign of fall.... Sometimes the ears aren't as sweet as we want them to be.

A surefire way to get the sweetest corn on the cob? Add some salt to the water when it is boiling. Well duh... I think everyone does that, but if you also add some sugar to your water, every cob of corn becomes even sweeter.

Fill a pot full of water and add the salt and sugar to the water. While the water comes to a boil, shuck the corn (remove the husks) and run them under cold water to remove any stubborn silk that wants to hold on. When the water is boiling, carefully add the cobs into the water. Cover the pot with a lid and let the corn boil for about 6-10 minutes (less if you want your corn more crunchy). Remove the corn from the boiling water with tongs and dress it up the way you like it best. I love rolling it in some butter and adding a small amount of salt and pepper.

Of course... there are other ways to cook corn on the cob. You can grill it, steam it or even microwave unshucked corn for 2-3 minutes.

Here's a recipe for tasty grilled corn on the cob:

{{Tasty BBQ Corn On The Cob}}

(printer friendly version)

1/2 cup butter, softened
cayenne pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pinch onion powder
salt & pepper to taste
6 ears corn, husked and cleaned

Preheat an outdoor grill to medium to high heat and lightly oil grate. In a medium bowl, combine cayenne pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, onion powder, salt and pepper. Add the softened butter and mix well. Apply this mixture to each ear of corn and then place each ear into a piece of aluminum foil, big enough to wrap up the corn. Wrap like a burrito and twist the ends to close. Grill over medium high heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the corn is tender when poked with a fork.

Enjoy the end of season's bounty...

Also here is a yummy Fresh Corn Casserole... a great way to use up corn on the cob in a new way.

Cake Batter Ice Cream

2011-09-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

{{Cake Batter Ice Cream}}

(printer friendly version)

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (40% milkfat content)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup cake mix, sifted (I used Betty Crocker White Cake Mix)

Whisk the whole milk, heavy cream, & sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the vanilla and sifted cake mix (sifted to avoid lumps). Pour mixture into the freezer bowl and churn as directed by your ice cream machine. Remove ice cream from freezer bowl and place into a freezer proof container and freeze for 8-10 hours.

Here are the ingredients I used to make this ice cream. Make sure you use a good quality ingredients in order to achieve the best quality ice cream. Specifically, make sure you have a fresh heavy cream with about 40% milkfat content. I used the Darigold Heavy Whipping Cream (which we bought this time at Cost-co) and it made the best homemade ice cream we've ever had.

This is the ice cream maker that we have. We've had it for over 10 years and every summer when we bust it out to use... we are happy that it continues to work. It is loud, but it works very well. One day we'll upgrade to another ice cream making machine.... but for now... we will keep kickin' it old schoool!It was yummy right out of the freezer bowl... you can tell it is a bit soft, but it had great flavor.

The night when we made it, we added some fresh strawberries to the top and it was like eating soft serve ice cream. It was thick and creamy, but not stiff like hard ice cream. My kids compared it to ice cream shops, which is great. That's always a nice compliment. They really liked it and were asking for seconds.
The next day, after the ice cream had been in the freezer for about 10 hours... it scooped out of the container like this.... and eventhough the recipe doesn't contain any eggs, it was extremely creamy and smooth.

I swear it was ice cream like you would get out of a Dreyer's container or even from Coldstone Creamery. It was YUMMY!!!

Zucchini Lettuce Wraps

2011-09-25T20:12:00.001-07:00

Zucchini Mexicali... A dish that I started making a few years ago, after my mom found it and I think it is AMAZING! It uses so many veggies and of course it uses zucchini (it should since it has zucchini in the name), which is a crop that is very plentiful this time of year.

Click here for the recipe to make this easy and very healthy dish.

I've been making this dish quite a few times already this summer and while the kids typically eat it wrapped up in a tortilla like a taco/burrito, I prefer eating it wrapped up in lettuce leaves.
And sometimes I will add some shredded cheese on top. And that is all! These could be used as an appetizer too... I will eat a bunch of them for lunch and I love it! Plus you can make this dish without any meat so it is completely made of vegetables. YUM!

Green Bean Side Dish

2011-09-25T15:56:00.001-07:00

Here is a delicious side dish using green beans, tomatoes, onions and bacon! Mmmm.. bacon.

{{Green Bean Side Dish}}

(printer friendly version)

1/2 pound bacon
1/2 onion, diced
2 15 oz. cans green beans, drained
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
black pepper, to taste

Cut the half pound bacon into strip and then crisp in a frying pan. After the bacon has become crispy, drain on a paper towel. Leaving a small amount of grease in the pan, saute the diced onion. Then add back the cooked bacon, drained green beans, and the can of diced tomatoes. Heat through and season with some black pepper, to your tastes. Serve on the side of your main dish.

Here is a fantastic way to get nicely diced up bacon. I store my bacon in the freezer since we don't use it that often, plus you can use some of it and return it to the freezer without having to cook the whole pack of bacon.

Place the frozen bacon on a cutting board. Using a sharp chef's knife, slice the bacon into 1/4-1/2 inch strips, depending on how big you want the bacon pieces to be. Place the knife on the bacon and firmly press down using the base of your palm You have to apply steady and firm pressure to get through the frozen bacon.

The recipe only calls for a 1/2 pound of bacon, so I chopped off half of it and the other half can go back into the freezer. To make it easier to cut through, you can let it sit out for a few minutes, but you don't want the bacon to thaw completely because it doesn't cut as easily.

Place the cut strips of bacon directly into the frying pan and cook over medium heat.
As the bacon cooks, it will separate and you will have the small pieces of bacon. Fry it up crispy...And then drain the bacon on a paper towel until ready to use.

Open the cans, while the onion is sauteing in the frying pan. Drain the green beans but not the tomatoes.

Dump the bacon, beans and tomatoes back into the frying pan with the sauteed onions. Season with some black pepper, stir everything together and heat through.
Serve on the side with your lunch or dinner entree. Delicious!

Tips for nicely and neatly dicing an onion... click here.

Other convenient ways to cook bacon... click here.

Chicken and Rice Soup

2011-09-22T19:39:00.001-07:00

Mmmm... Fall is here! I am so excited! While the weather has cooled off a bit, it is still pretty hot outside during the day. However the evenings do cool off... not to a point that soup is fully warranted, but it was still fun to make one of my favorite soup recipes.

Typically I make this soup on the stove top, but since it is still pretty hot during the day, I decided to try making it in the crock pot. And it turned out wonderfully!
Here's the recipe...

{{Chicken & Rice Soup}}
(printer friendly version)

1 Rotisserie Chicken, already cooked (from Cost-co or other grocery store)
Water
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 large onion, diced (can substitute ~2 Tablespoons dried minced onion)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon crushed garlic
2 teaspoons oregano
1 bay leaf
1 cup minute rice
1 bag (16 oz.) frozen mixed veggies (any variety, I typically use corn, peas, beans & carrots)
Maggi Seasoning, for flavor and seasoning after

Place cooked rotisserie chicken in a pot. Add water until chicken is just barely covered. Add chopped celery, diced onion, sea salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, oregano, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then cover and allow to cook on medium heat for about an hour or two. This is the step that is making the yummy broth that is going to be the base for the soup. Remove chicken from the pot and let it sit out on a cutting board. Let the chicken cool so that you can remove the chicken from the bones. Add chicken back to the pot, plus 1 cup minute rice, and the bag of frozen mixed veggies. Cook on high for another 10-15 minutes until the rice and veggies are soft and tender. Serve with Maggi seasoning (described below) and some yummy rolls with butter!

**Crock Pot Method: Place cooked chicken into the crock pot. Cover chicken with water and add chopped celery, diced onion, sea salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, oregano, and bay leaf. Cover crock pot and cook high for about 4-6 hours. Remove chicken from the crock pot and let sit out on a cutting board. Let the chicken cool so that you can remove the chicken from the bones. Add chicken back to the crock pot, plus 1 cup minute rice, and the bag of frozen mixed veggies. Cook on high for another 30-45 minutes until the rice and veggies are soft and tender. Serve with Maggi seasoning and some yummy rolls and butter!

***I like using the Cost-co Rotisserie chickens because they tend to be a lot bigger than most grocery store chickens and they have more meat on them. Sometimes we will eat some of the rotisserie chicken for sandwiches and then use the rest of the meat, the chicken bones and an extra chicken breast to make the soup. The flavor of the rotisserie chicken is amazing and adds some great dimension to this soup. So even if you eat ALL the chicken off of the bones, you can still use the chicken bones to add flavor to the soup, and then cook some chicken breasts for the soup.

***This is also a great soup to make using left over turkey after THANKSGIVING! (It's only a two months away!) Turkey changes the flavor of the soup a bit, so it's like a whole new recipe!

Chop your celery right off the bunch and then rinse the pieces in a colander, then dump the celery into the pot.

Click here to see a great way to dice your onion.

Here is a picture of the frozen mixed veggies that I normally use. I didn't have this mixture so I used some frozen corn & frozen peas instead. This part is completely adjustable. Pick veggies that you like and add those to your soup.

Mmmmm... It is a wonderful soup just like this... And only one more thing can make it better.

And that one more thing is this... Maggi! We enjoy this seasoning on hard boiled eggs, celery and radishes among other things, including this chicken & rice soup. It is a liquid seasoning and you can sprinkle a few dashes into your bowl of soup to add even more fun flavor. Most people probably don't have this, but you can find it at the grocery store... sometimes by soy sauces and sometimes by Asian foods.... just ask where it might be stored at your local grocery store.... and try it. It has a strong flavor so a little goes a long way.

These are just the frozen Rhodes rolls... defrosted and then baked! LOVE these things! They are so easy and so yummy when you don't have time to make rolls from scratch!
Mmmm... love cold winter just for all of the wonderful soup recipes I get to make again!

Colored Glue Art Project

2011-09-20T11:00:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick project that I put together after I saw a similar project here at CraftKnife. She used acrylic paint to tint her school glue, however I just chose to use the food coloring in my kitchen to tint the glue into paint.
I used red, blue, yellow and green and dropped about 10 drops of each food coloring into the bottle.

Then using a bamboo skewer stick, I helped stir the color in. The bottle of glue was entirely full and I think it would have helped if the bottle was not as full.

After stirring it, I had the kids shake the bottles. The glue was colored but it didn't fully look like it at first. We opened the bottle and started drawing. At first it came out white and then it changed colors and stayed that way.

After playing with the bottles for a while, the bottles mixed in completely.
Mission accomplished. 4 bottles of school glue at 25 cents each (gotta love back to school shopping). A couple of drops of food coloring... and happy kids.... PRICELESS!

Here are some of their pictures. They did a great job and had lots of fun doing it.

Asian Salad

2011-09-18T08:03:00.001-07:00

I start drooling again everytime I look at these pictures.... This salad is so yummy! This salad started from an idea from my fabulous friend and it is delicious! There are quite a few ingredients in this salad... understand, it is not hard to prepare, but it just takes some time to chop and prepare. It is a great salad to serve at a party too! You can put all of the fruits and vegetables and toppings into separate bowls and let everyone create a salad bar so that all the guests can create a salad to their liking. You can include as many or as few of the ingredients listed, but for the full taste and complexity of flavor, you kinda have to add all of the parts... at least once!

It is really yummy.... There is crunchy and sweet and salty flavors... it is fabulous! Let me say it again... I think you should try it at least once.

Here's a close up of the salad.... Mmmmmm.... Ready? Let's get to the ingredients...

Fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried...

Leafy romaine lettuce... Wash the lettuce first and let it drip dry. I should have taken pictures of a great way to cut up romaine lettuce in order to get nice bite size pieces.... let me try to explain it... Using your chef's knife, hold the lettuce at the base (on the left side). Starting at the base, slice up the leaves of the lettuce (parallel to the leaves... like if you are holding the lettuce like the picture, you would slice from left to right). Rotate the lettuce a half turn, and slice up again. Then starting at the top of the head of lettuce (on the right side of the picture) chop up the lettuce, until you have finished chopping the entire head and have reached the base.

To fully diversify the flavor of the salad.... use a nice crisp iceberg lettuce as well... all chopped up into bite size pieces.

Add green (not pictured) and red cabbage... prepared the same way.
First slice a chunk off of the main head of cabbage, and then thinly slice it using your chef's knife.
Finally, chunk the cabbage up into about one inch pieces.

Chopped celery... I like to chop off the celery directly from the bunch...

Then wash the chopped celery in a colander and let it dry before adding it to the salad.

Mmmm... Green onions... great flavor for any salad. Wash the green onions... dry them off.
Then chop them into small bits.

I like to put the spinach, leafy romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, red & green cabbage, celery, and green onions into one big salad bowl so that there are fewer sides. But you can put everything into individual bowls. Of course this will depend on how many bowls or how much room you have to lay it all out. All the colors together are wonderful when you put it in a bowl together.

These are things that I typically leave on the side...

Jicama... I love jicama (pronounced hick-uh-muh)! It is a watery, sweet, root vegetable with a tremendous crispy crunch. It is fabulous. You can find them at the grocery store in the produce section. You want to pick a firm, medium sized jicama that has dry roots. You don't want it to be soft or with wet spots because that is an indication of rot. It keeps very nicely in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. It is a great source of vitamin c and it is fat free. TIP: You can eat these jicama sticks along with your carrots and celery sticks. A GREAT SNACK!

First peel the jicama root with a peeler or with a knife.
Then slice it into 1/4 inch slices...
Turn it the other direction and slice it again... creating these long skinny sticks of wonderful jicama goodness. Put these into a bowl to be added to the salad when you are compiling your plate full of salad.

Bean sprouts... Buy them in bulk in the produce section. Wash them off and put into a bowl.

Fresh oranges, cut up.

First cut off the top and bottom of the orange. Take the peel off. (either pull off the peel or cut if off with a knife)Separate the slices, but leave them slightly together to make it easier to cut them. Slice them into small chunks and put into a bowl. A nice sharp serrated knife works really well for the oranges so they don't become mushy and they hold their shape.

I LOOOOOVE avocado and I think it always make a salad or a sandwich taste better and they are incredibly good for you! These are Hass avocados... To find a good avocado you want to feel it to make sure that is firm, but tender. I know it sounds like a contradictory thing, but you want it to be firm all over, with a slight soft feeling but not mushy. Sometimes at the grocery store you will find very firm avocados, but they will ripen up quickly on the counter (or you can put them into a brown paper bag).

Once you have found the perfect avocado, you take a knife and slice it around the middle of the avocado and then pull the two halves apart. Take the seed out by stabbing a knife into the seed and twisting it out.
Then slice the avocado into squares. Slice it up one direction and then again in the opposite direction so that it looks like this. (Sometimes I like to sprinkle salt and pepper on the avocado at this stage and eat it right out of the skin with a spoon!)
Using a spoon, scoop out this green goodness.
This avocado is a very soft and ripe avocado, so the squares are a little bit mushy, but it has great flavor. Put the avocado directly onto individual salads, or into a bowl for self-service. Okay... we are almost done... just hold on, it will be well worth the time it takes to cut everything up.

Crushed peanuts... Salty and crunchy... they add immense dimension to the salad. I use Dry Roasted Peanuts, lightly salted.
A great way to cut up peanuts is to turn your large chef's knife onto the side and press it down on top of the peanuts.
Move the knife around until all the peanuts have been crushed into pieces. If you need to, you can turn the knife to its sharp edge and finish chopping up any large pieces. Put these into a bowl with a spoon for serving.

A terrific crunchy piece of this salad are the crunchy won ton strips. Buy some won ton wrappers at the grocery store (found in the refrigerator section- normally by cheese and dairy type stuff). Pull out a stack of won ton wrappers and cut them into about half inch strips.
Heat up a small amount of oil in the bottom of skillet over medium heat. Fry a few of the won ton strips at a time. You'll have to do them in batches, depending on how big your pan is and how much oil you use. Keep them moving around so they don't get overdone.

After they turn a golden brown, transfer them to a paper towel to drain the oil off and if you want you can sprinkle a tiny amount fine sea salt on top of them. These will be the final piece of the salad puzzle, other than the dressings. (I know you are probably wondering if it will ever end. It will!)

Peanut Sauce... you can either buy a pre-made peanut sauce in the Asian section at the grocery store.... or make this yummy peanut sauce. My friend Gina gave me this recipe and it has become a staple in my recipe box... one that I will treasure forever! It has to be remembered! It is fantastic for pizza and dipping and salads and lettuce wraps and many more things. I like to make a batch and keep it in a bottle in my refrigerator so it is easily accessible. You can pour this dressing onto your salad cold or warm it up a bit.
{{Thai Peanut Sauce}}

(printer friendly version)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

6 tablespoons soy sauce

6 tablespoons water

4 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 -1 teaspoon lime juice

Combine all the ingredients into a heavy saucepan and cook over medium to low heat until fully combined. About 10 minutes. Serve on salad cold or warm. Use as a dipping sauce for veggies. Use to top lettuce wraps. Use as the sauce for a Thai Chicken Pizza

Drizzle this delicious peanut sauce onto the salad.

Finally... the dressing. This is just a purchased dressing that is fantastic and has the perfect flavor for this salad. Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame dressing.

The only other thing that I didn't put on this salad, that you will see on the ingredient list is chicken. My husband likes to have protein in his dinners, so if I am making this for a family dinner dish, then I make sure to include chicken. I've used canned chicken, or I've marinated some chicken in the Asian Toasted Sesame dressing and then grilled or baked it, then you can slice it up and put it on the salad. I love it when the meat is slightly warmed up. I like having the contrast between the cool, crisp vegetables and then the warm yummy chicken.

{{Asian Salad}}

(printer friendly version)

Fresh Spinach leaves

Chopped up iceberg lettuce and romaine lettuce

Red Cabbage, thinly sliced

Green Cabbage, thinly sliced

Fresh oranges, peeled and cut up

Avocado, cut up

Green onions, chopped

Celery, chopped

Carrot, grated

Peanuts, crushed

Bean Sprouts

Jicama, thin strips

Cooked Chicken

Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

Peanut Sauce (Pandkok KaDang… recommended type)… RECIPE for Gina’s Peanut Sauce (above)

Won Ton Strips (egg roll wrappers cut into strips, fried and lightly salted)

Mix all chopped ingredients together or put them all on the side for people to create their own salad. Add dressing and a small amount of Peanut sauce. Sprinkle with some fried won ton strips and serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this salad as much as we do.

Hair Bow Holder

2011-09-17T22:57:00.002-07:00

Hair bows for girls... Where do they all come from? How do you collect so many? They seem to multiply and then you can't find the one that you want. At least this was my problem. They were getting cluttered up in the drawers in the bathroom.... I'd seen many different bow hanging ideas on other websites, and at a variety of stores. After much deliberation...I chose to make one large frame to hang on the kids bathroom wall.
I took a framed metal board (made by my brother) and we took out the glass and replaced it with plexiglass to make it lighter. The frame measures 41 inches by 21 inches. Inside measurements of the board are 35.5 inches by 15.5 inches. Then I used two different types of ribbons, one that is green with white polka dots and another one that is an orange ric rac. I have 16 strips of each ribbon and they are each about 18 inches long. For a total of about 8 yards. There are a total of 38 stripes of ribbon, which makes for a grand total of 16 yards of ribbon. Starting with the orange ric rac and then alternating the ribbons, I wrapped them vertically around the glass/plexiglass and the metal and secured them to the back with packing tape. Finally when all of the ribbons were taped into place, I put the ribbon wrapped metal & plexiglass into the frame and secured it.
Then you can start putting all of the clip flowers directly onto the ribbons that are on the board. It helps to hold all the flowers in an organized way and it keeps them from getting lost or crumpled up in a drawer.
My daughter wrapped some headbands around the ribbons as well and that seemed to work for some of the fabric ones.

Ta dah! Done. I put it up high so that the baby can't get into them, but my 9 year old daughter can reach them so she can use them as she desires.

I feel like we use our flowers more and a better variety of them since we can see them all at once.

Cocoa Kiss Cookies

2011-09-14T19:30:00.001-07:00

These are a new FAVORITE cookie of mine. I try new cookie recipes all the time and while most of the time they are delicious, most of them don't make it into cookie hall of fame. At least in my recipe book hall of fame.

But this one was AMAZING! I loved it! They are like a chocolate version of Sandies (A.K.A. Mexican Wedding Cookies, Snowballs, etc. They have a million different names.) Plus to make them even better, they have a chocolate kiss in the middle of them which gives them extra goodie good-ness.
With no further ado..... Here's the recipe....

{{Cocoa Kiss Cookies}}

(printer friendly version)

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 bag (9 ounces) Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolate
Powdered Sugar

Beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Stir together flour and cocoa in a separate bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Add pecans; beat until well blended. Refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrappers from chocolate pieces. Mold scant tablespoons of dough around each chocolate piece, covering the kiss completely. Shape into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool slightly, about 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Roll in powdered sugar. Roll again in sugar just before serving, if desired.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Here are the cookies after they have been cooked. The dough was wrapped around the kiss and then baked in the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for about a minute, before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Then they get coated in powdered sugar.

Then you can coat them again in more powdered sugar right before you serve them so that they look this beautiful white color.

They melt in your mouth. You want to limit how much dough you put around each kiss so that they are a decent size but not too big and so that you can get the full 4 1/2 dozen of cookies from this recipe. They are yummy cookies. You can omit the pecans if you want... but I think they really add a great flavor and dimension to these cookies.

Serve with a tall glass of milk... And enjoy!

Pretzel Bites

2011-09-13T09:25:00.001-07:00

Mmmm.... walking through the mall. You smell the yummy pretzels so you stop and get one or two or a cup full (you know the pretzel bites). Now some of that yummi-ness can be enjoyed from the comforts of your home. Rhodes frozen rolls are practically a staple in my freezer so these were something I was dying to make.

They turned out so good too. I ate about 12 before I got the platter out the door for the intended party.

Here are the rolls after they have been cut up. They are sitting on a cookie sheet, sprayed with cooking spray and then covered in plastic wrap.

Let them sit for about 35-45 minutes, until they get puffy.

Start a pot of boiling water and toss the unbaked dough into the water and toss them gently in the water for about 45 seconds. Pull them out of the water with a slotted spoon and let them drain on a paper towel.

After they have drained for a bit, place them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
While they are in the oven, melt some butter. Mmmmmm... butter!

Pull out the toppings that you want for your pretzel bites. I made some plain and salty with a coarse sea salt, another set Parmesan cheese and finally some that are cinnamon sugar.

After they come out of the oven, they will look golden brown and are yummy and chewy just like this, but it only gets better and better with each step. Brush them with the melted butter and then sprinkle your toppings.
Here is a pile of parmesan cheese bites still on the baking sheet... still too hot to eat, but that didn't stop me from trying.

Finally they made it to the serving tray. I put the cheddar dip in the middle and then these are the parmesan cheese pretzel bites on one side and then the sea salt pretzel bites are on the other side. Both taste so delicious in the cheddar dip. I didn't add any garlic to these bites, but you can put all three toppings on one bath (salt, garlic powder & cheese) and they are yummy.

Here are the cinnamon sugar pretzel bites.... slathered in melted butter and then drenched in lots of cinnamon sugar.

They are YUMMY by themselves and extra YUMMY dipped in vanilla glaze.

(printer friendly version)

Rhodes Frozen roll dough

*as many as you like – each roll makes four bites

coarse salt, parmesan cheese, garlic powder (not garlic salt), cinnamon & sugar
Vanilla Glaze or Cheddar Dip (optional, but delicious... recipe below)

Place frozen rolls on a plate so that they are not touching, spray lightly with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Put rolls in the refrigerator overnight and keep them in the refrigerator until about two hours before you need the bites to be ready. (Remember: Note how many bites fit on your baking sheet and that it takes 15 minutes for them to bake in the oven. They will be ready to eat when they come out.

When you remove the rolls from the refrigerator they will be thawed, but won’t have started to rise. Take a thawed roll. Cut it in four equal sections, first in half and then each again in half. Place dough bites on greased sheets. Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and let dough rise until double in size (about 35-45 minutes). (While they are rising... this is a great time to make your dips if you want to have them for the bites.)

Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil. When dough has risen, plop about 10 pieces into the boiling water, tossing gently for about 45 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon, and place bites on paper towels to drain slightly. Move bites to greased baking sheets, and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until done and golden brown.
Brush bites with melted butter, sprinkle with Kosher or Sea Salt, Garlic Powder, toss in Parmesan cheese or any combination of these flavors. You can also make Cinnamon and Sugar bites. Make a mixture of Cinnamon and sugar, {{About 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, and mix together well.}} and after you butter the pretzel bites, toss them in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
You can serve the Parmesan Pretzel bites with a cheddar dip, and the Cinnamon and Sugar Pretzel bites with Vanilla glaze. So yummy . . . so simple!

{{Vanilla Glaze}}

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract.
Combine sugar, milk, butter and vanilla and mix well.

{{Cheddar Dip}}

1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
1 cup milk
Salt & White Pepper to taste
1 1/2 to 2 cups of grated Cheddar Cheese.

Melt the butter in a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until blended, and butter has turned lightly golden brown. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thickened slightly. Season with salt and white pepper. Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar Cheese until smooth and all of the cheese has melted. Optional: Shake a few red pepper flakes into sauce for added zing!

I found this recipe here, just get off your butt and bake... love it.

Chewy Granola Bars

2011-09-08T19:35:00.001-07:00

These chewy granola bars are very much like a no bake cookie, at least in the process of making them. You heat up some sugar, honey and butter on the stove in a saucepan, add the granola and whatever additions you'd like and it's done. They only take about 30 minutes... and that's factoring in the 15 minutes of cooling time. These are soft and chewy just like a Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. {Adapted this recipe which I found on this website.}

Cooking Tip: Freeze your chocolate chips or peanut butter chips so that when they are added to the hot granola mixture they won't melt, they will soften but still hold their shape. Plus storing your chocolate chips in the fridge or freezer helps them to stay fresh much longer. Press your desired toppings into the top of the granola bar after you have pressed them into the pan.

Make sure to line your pan with foil and lightly spray the foil so that the bars come out easily from the pan and then you can cut them into even shaped bars.
Cut the bars into one inch bars and prepare for them to disappear.
You can also cut them in half and make smaller granola bars.

(printer friendly version)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 cups plain granola (such as Back to Nature)
1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, Rice Chex, etc.)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, FROZEN

***(substitute these chocolate chips for ingredients listed below depending on the type of bar you want)

Variations:
{Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip}
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, frozen
1/4 cup peanut butter chips, frozen

{S’mores}
2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs (optional)
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, frozen

{Oatmeal Raisin}
1 teaspoon cinnamon (add with the brown sugar)
1/2 cup raisins

Line two 9x5 loaf pans or one 11x7 inch baking pan with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil. Set aside.

Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. **Don't overcook at this stage, it will cause them to be very hard when they set up.** Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add the granola and rice cereal into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the frozen chocolate chips onto the top of the granola bars and gently press them down with the spatula.

Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set. Can also speed this process up by sticking them in the refrigerator. Picking up the foil by the edges, lift the granola out of the pan and cut into bars. Store in an air tight container.

Here is a S'more version... using large milk chocolate chips and mini marshmallows (the kids gobbled these up!)

Here are some more chocolate chip granola bars using mini-chocolate chips... Possibilities are endless.... just play around with different toppings.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bites

2011-09-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Ready for a quick and easy, sweet and salty treat? Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bites... These can be made in like 10 minutes and you can make a lot of them too. They look fabulous and much, much, MUCH more complicated than they actually are. Recipe is at the bottom with a link to a printer friendly version as well...not that you really need a recipe for these little beauties.

All you need are three main ingredients... four if you include the drizzled chocolate.

Ritz Cracker, Creamy Peanut Butter, and Large Marshmallows.
Place the crackers on a rimmed baking sheet.

Add a dollop of peanut butter on top of each cracker and spread it around. You can add as much or as little as you would like. Totally a preference here. The peanut butter will melt during the marshmallow roasting, but will set back up after they have cooled.

(This is a great recipe to get the kids in the kitchen to cook. They can do almost every step. Just need a little help with the broiling, and melting of chocolate, but otherwise, they can do it almost entirely by themselves.)

Cut your large marshmallows in half and place one half on each cracker. If you don't want to cut the marshmallows in half... you can place an entire large marshmallow on top, but they aren't as bite sized if you do this... you know not as easy to just pop the whole thing in your mouth type of thing. But with the extra marshmallow yummi-ness, they are equally as fantastic.
After the marshmallows are in place, put them into the oven set to broil. Place the rack in the middle of the oven so that the marshmallows don't roast TOOO quickly. Keep an eye on them... it doesn't take long for the marshmallows to turn golden brown.

Quickly the go from looking white, to nicely golden brown to a lot golden brown....

After they come out of the oven, drizzle them with melted white chocolate and if you'd like some semisweet chocolate, put that on as well. TIP: Put the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag and cut the tip of the corner off and then use it like a pastry bag to drizzle the chocolate onto the cookie. Note: They kind of taste like a peanut butter s'more cookie when you add the semisweet chocolate. Super YUMMY!

Just keep on drizzlin' until they are all adequately covered. My philosophy: The more chocolate the better! And don't worry about being neat and clean in your drizzlin' technique.... just cover them in the chocolate. Also... Do you see some of the ones in the top right corner of the picture here are full size marshmallows... the kids reached for these ones first because they enjoy the extra marshmallow. I liked the smaller, more bite sized snack.
Beautiful treats! Looks much more exquisite and complicated than they actually are. While the chocolate is still wet you can garnish them with more deliciousness. Such as some toasted coconut. If you make some Samoa Cookie Bars you can make some extra toasted coconut to use on these. Or add a sprinkle of sea salt to accentuate the flavor of the chocolate. Colorful sprinkles are fun for some colorful party flair. Use your imagination and add almost anything.

They also can be made with mini marshmallows as well so if you don't have large marshmallows... you can still enjoy them. You definitely need more peanut butter when you use the smaller marshmallows to help keep them on the cracker when you toast them.

Ta dah! Ready to serve!
{{Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bites}}

(printer friendly version)

Ritz Crackers
Creamy Peanut Butter
Large Marshmallows, cut in half with kitchen shears
White and/or semisweet chocolate, melted to drizzle on top

Turn your oven on to broil. Place Ritz Crackers on a baking sheet. Slather on a dollop of creamy peanut butter. Place half of a large marshmallow on top of the peanut butter that is on each cracker. Place the baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack and allow the marshmallow to turn a beautiful golden brown.

Remove from oven. While they are cooling, melt the white and semisweet chocolate (separate bowls, not together). Pour each individual chocolate into a tapered bottle or use a ziploc bag with a tiny hole cut into the corner to help you drizzle the chocolate over the cookies evenly and easily.

Variations: While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle some toasted coconut on top, or some sea salt to accentuate the chocolate flavor, or even use some sprinkles to give them a bit of colorful party flair.

Allow the cookies to cool on the counter or stick them in the refrigerator until set.
Serve up the cookies and enjoy! And I dare you to only eat one! Great for a quick and yummy snack that is sure to please.

Found them here...

Crock Pot Bajio Green Chile Chicken Salad

2011-09-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

This is a favorite salad of mine... The Green Chile Chicken Salad from Bajio. My mouth starts drooling just as I think of it. The sweet and salty and spicy collection of flavors in this crispy salad. It is sooo yummy! I made a very extensive version of this salad about two years ago and now I have a quicker and simpler way to make this salad, with almost the same results.

The salad begins with a bed of lettuce leaves, some shredded cheese, the chicken (the most important part of the salad), some chopped tomatoes (instead of fresh pico de gallo), some corn tortilla crunchies, and then finally the cilantro lime dressing (the second most important part of the salad) with a warmed flour tortilla on the side.

In order to make this salad... you must make the chicken and the dressing. The rest is superfluous. You can add black beans or rice or any other things that you might like in tacos or salads. But like I said before... you MUST make the chicken and the dressing. So let's get on with the chicken....

Here it is in the crock pot.... ready to serve up...

Here's the recipe...

(printer friendly recipe click here)

5 frozen chicken breasts

1/2 cup salsa, medium (I used Herdez salsa)

1 Tablespoon cumin

1/2 cup brown sugar (or more to taste)

1 4-ounce can of diced green chiles (HOT)

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thinly

6-10 ounces of Sprite (almost a full can)

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons cold water (never use warm or hot water)

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot except for the cornstarch and cold water. Cook chicken on low for 5-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Mix together cornstarch with the cold water and whisk into the juices left in the crock pot. Add shredded chicken back into the crock pot and cook for one more hour for the juice to thicken.

**If you want a more spicy chicken, rather than sweeter, add a hotter salsa and more green chiles.

To make the corn tortillas crunchies.... Pour some oil into a frying pan and heat up over medium heat. While the oil is heating up, cut the corn tortillas in half. Then cut each half into strips that are about 1/4 inch wide.

Test the oils readiness by putting one small strip into the oil. If it starts popping and frying the tortilla... then you know the oil is ready. Place a small amount of strips into the oil and cook them until they are crisp... it only takes a few minutes. They will quickly go from crisp to golden brown to overdone... so keep an eye on them. Using a slotted spoon, remove the strips from the oil and drain them on a paper towel. Sprinkle a small amount of fine sea salt over the warm strips and toss. Set aside to use on the salad.

Here's a helpful cooking tip: When grating cheese... spray the cheese grater with cooking spray to help the cheese come off easily. Nice!

Finally... the cilantro lime dressing... Mmmmmm... yummy-ness!{{Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing}}

(printer friendly version click here)

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (dry mix)
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 small jalapeno, remove seeds
1 cup mayo
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1-2 tomatillos, remove outer papery skin
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut up

Blend all ingredients together in a blender. Chill for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend together. Serve on your favorite salad.

{{Crock Pot Bajio Green Chile Chicken Salad}}

(printer friendly version click here for the recipes for the whole salad)

Chopped Lettuce
Crock Pot Green Chile Chicken
Shredded Cheese
Chopped Tomatoes
Corn Tortilla Crunchies
Black beans or Rice (optional)
Cilantro Lime Dressing
Warmed Flour Tortillas, on the side

Enjoy your salad.... cause I know that I do!

Zucchini Carrot Bars

2011-09-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

{{Zucchini Carrot Hearts with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting}}

(printer friendly version)

2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded zucchini, with peels on
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

{Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting}

1 (8 oz) pkg reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, honey, and vanilla. (Cooking Tip: Measure the oil in a 1/4 measuring cup, then using the same cup measure the honey... it will just fall right out of the cup, nothing will stick to the inside of the cup). Set aside. Shred the carrots and zucchini (peels on add more color and texture, but you can take them off too!) and chop the walnuts. Then fold the carrot, zucchini, and walnuts in the egg and sugar mixture.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and baking soda. Whisk to blend together.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and stir just until combined. Spread batter into a parchment paper lined 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Once the cake is cooled, pull the cake out of the pan by pulling up on the edges of the parchment paper. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the shapes and place on a wire rack over a cookie sheet.

Prepare the frosting. In a small microwave safe bowl, soften the cream cheese by heating on high for about 30 seconds. You don't want the cream cheese melted, but you want it really soft. In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sifted powdered sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer on medium speed. Frosting will be soft. Put frosting into a piping bag with a small circle tip (or ziploc bag and snip a tiny hole in the corner) and pipe frosting over the cooled bars in a zig zag pattern.

**Simplified version.... Just cut the bars into squares and pipe (or spread) the frosting on them.

Store them in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy! Healthy and delicious! Perfect!

Nacho Cheese Dip

2011-09-04T21:23:00.001-07:00

Yummy Nacho Cheese Dip!

Only requires 2 ingredients. Velveeta Cheese and your favorite salsa. This recipe is easy to vary to accommodate as much or as little dip as you need.

{{Nacho Cheese Dip}}

(printer friendly version)

8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
1/4-1/2 cup salsa, medium spiciness

Put ingredients into a microwaveable bowl and heat on high for 60 second intervals and stir until smooth. Will take about 2-3 minutes. Put into a serving dish and garnish with diced green onions, if desired. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Dip will be hot and slightly runny, depending on how much salsa you add and will thicken as it cools. Serve with tortilla chips.

Samoa Cookie Bars

2011-09-03T09:43:00.001-07:00

Mmmmm.... I love Girl Scout cookies... and the Samoa cookies are my favorite. Thin Mints run a close second. It is one of the best parts of the beginning of the year. When the little girls come around to sell their cookies... it is truly a delightful day. But those boxes only last so long, even if you store them in the freezer (which if you didn't know, Girl Scout Cookies store very nicely in the freezer so you can buy extra boxes to help the sweetness last more of the year).

While playing on the internet the other day... I was delighted to find this vinyl sign here... Isn't that awesome! I think it is a very creative NO SOLICITING sign. But I might have to get one that says SAMOAS instead of Thin Mints. Either one would work though.

Anyways.... back to the cookies. Sometimes you need a cookie and this was a great way to make your own cookies. This was the simplified version of the recipe. Instead of rolling out the dough and cutting out all cookies, I found this recipe that turned them into Samoa Cookie Bars. I wanted to make sure they tasted good before spending so much time rolling and cutting and dipping. These were well worth the time and I'm excited to try them in cookie form soon.

Start with the shortbread cookie dough. Mix it up in the mixer.

Then press the shortbread cookie dough into a parchment paper lined 9x13 inch pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the cookie base looks set and starts to turn a golden brown on the edges. Allow the cookie to cool completely on a wire rack.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. While the cookie base is cooling, place your shredded coconut on a rimmed baking sheet and toast the coconut until golden brown. Will take about 20 minutes. You will want to stir the coconut every 5 minutes to keep it toasting consistently and evenly.

When the coconut looks golden brown, pull out the coconut out of the oven and set aside.
While the coconut is toasting, unwrap the caramels and place in a large heavy saucepan with the milk and salt. Melt the caramels on high for about 3-4 minutes. Stirring til smooth.

Then add the toasted coconut to the melted caramel and stir together.

Spread the coconut and caramel mixture over the cooled cookie base.

Let that cool and then cut into 30 bars.

While the bars are cooling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler.

Dip the bottom of the cookie bars into the chocolate and then drizzle the melted chocolate across the top of the bars. Once the chocolate has set, they are ready to serve. (I tested one before the chocolate was set because I just couldn't resist anymore.) I don't think these are difficult to make, there are just lots of steps and waiting time in between each step. But in my opinion... well worth the time spent! The only thing I will change next time is that I think the shortbread was too thick. I think next time I make these, I will spread out the cookie base a little bit thinner.

{{Homemade Samoas Bars}}

(printer friendly version)

Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.

Felt Flowers For Headbands or Clips

2011-09-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

These felt flowers are easy to make and quick. You can make them with as many petals as you want and you can vary the size of the flower based on the size of the petal. Obviously you can make them any color too.

Starting with at least 5 petals, cut them out of your color choice of felt. Using a piece of coordinating thread and a needle, thread them all together. Down on the first side and then up at the bottom of the petal, then down and up, etc. When all the petals are on the thread, you are ready to move to the next step.
Pull on the thread until the petal pull together and form a flower. Thread the needle back into the first petal so that it completes the circle.

Then complete the flower by tying a square knot in the thread and snipping it off. You can use a dab of hot glue to ensure that the thread doesn't come undone.
Next you can add a small rectangle of felt on the back so that it can be added to the headband temporarily. Click on the image to enlarge so that you can clearly see where the rectangle of felt is. Use hot glue on the edges of the rectangle and attach it to the flower.

Attach a jewel in the middle of the front of the flower to finish it off. Voila... Done! Ready to wear.Slip the rectangle onto a headband and place it where you want it. You can have it on top or on the side. This keeps your options open. Plus when you are done wearing the flower, you can remove it from the headband and it won't get squished. You can also put this flower on a clip.

Here it is on the my two daughters. Cute. Simple.

Pancake Art

2011-08-31T11:40:00.001-07:00

We LOOOOOOVE pancakes at our house. They can be so simple to make too. Sometimes it is nice to dress them up a little bit differently. Here are some of the pancakes that we have been making lately.

Here is our sun/flower pancake. Boys don't mind eating a sun... but they aren't so keen on eating a flower. Fruit and pancake... perfect breakfast.

How about a teddy bear for breakfast.... one very large pancake for the head, one medium to small pancake for the nose/snout, and two small pancakes for the ears. Use two chocolate chips for those dark brown bear eyes and then chocolate syrup to draw on the mouth.

Best part here... It's the syrup and it looks like he is covered in honey! CUTE!

Here's a monkey pancake... Once again almost like the bear: one very large pancake for the head, one medium to small pancake for the nose/snout, and two small pancakes for the ears... It is just about how you put them together on the plate. Also for the monkey we mixed in about 1 Tablespoon of cocoa powder into the pancake batter to make the other parts darker. Add two regular chocolate chips for eyes, and then we used mini chocolate chips to make a mouth. Serve with a banana and breakfast is ready!

Another fun and easy pancake... Mickey Mouse! On the griddle or pan where you are making your pancakes.... start with a medium to large circle pancake and then add two more small scoops right on top to create the ears. You want them to attach so it becomes one pancake. (Also we like to make Minnie Mouse pancakes too, you know for the girls....Make sure you put the ears far enough apart and then using a spoon put two triangles in the middle of the ears, attached to the head to look like a bow.)

One is a regular pancake and the other is a chocolate chip pancakes. Make your pancake batter and then while the first side is baking sprinkle mini chocolate chips onto the pancake. Flip and allow them to finish cooking. Serve with syrup.

There's lots of other pancakes that we've made, but don't have pictures of them all. It's fun to play with your food!

Banana Bread Pancakes

2011-08-30T14:14:00.001-07:00

(printer friendly version)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 to 1 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons butter, melted

mini chocolate chips, optional

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Measure out the milk and add the vanilla extract to it. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add in 2/3 cup milk and vanilla, stirring to combine. The mixture will still be dry. Add in mashed bananas and mix. Add in melted butter and stir until batter is somewhat smooth (add the additional 1/3 cup of milk here as needed to make the batter a smoother consistency).

Heat a skillet or grill on medium heat. Using a 1/3 cup measure, spoon batter into rounds and cook until bubbles form on top – about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for a minute or two more. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve hot with butter and syrup.... Mmmmm....Or to make it even better yet.....sprinkle with mini chocolate chips... sprinkle to your little hearts content.

Another fun way to serve the pancakes... turn them into a monkey! I pulled out about 1 cup of batter and added 1/2 tablespoon of cocoa powder to make darker pancakes. Grill up a large monkey head, a medium sized mouth and two smaller ears. Decorate with 2 regular sized chocolate chip eyes and mini chocolate chips for the mouth. Accessorize the monkey with the monkey's favorite treat... a banana!

Mmmmmm.... I love breakfast! Don't you?

Buttery Biscuits... only 4 ingredients needed!

2011-08-29T11:40:00.001-07:00

Easy, Easy, Easy, Easy and very buttery and delicious! These are the melt in your mouth kind of biscuits...

{{Buttery Biscuits}}

(printer friendly version)

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup 7-up

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut sour cream into biscuit mix using a pastry blender, or two forks.

Add 7-Up. Makes a very soft dough.

Sprinkle additional biscuit mix on board or table and pat dough out. Using a circle biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch square pan in the preheated oven. Place cut biscuits in pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

**Short-cut... Instead of rolling out and cutting biscuits, just drop biscuit dough into the buttered pan and bake. Voila... done! See... what did I tell you... easy, easy, easy, easy!

This is what the dough looked like after mixing the ingredients together.

And here is their golden goodness after they have baked in the hot oven! Mmmmm... Mmmmm... Mmmmmm....
Serve with butter, jelly, or with gravy.... so many possibilities.

Church Quiet Book... ready in 5 minutes!

2011-08-28T20:19:00.001-07:00

This was a quick and easy quiet book that I made in about 5 minutes.....

I actually made it right before church.... Using 4 simple items...

1- plastic badge holders (this particular set was purchased at Office Max, 10 for $4.99, but you can buy them cheaper at Wal-mart for around $1.69, however the plastic is lighter-weight).

2- Circle Binder Clips (Purchased a variety pack of 8 silver rings at Target for around $2)

3- Ribbon... any size, color, texture, etc.

4- Pictures (I used a variety pack of pictures that measured 3x4 inches)

I inserted the picture into the badge holder (the picture was the exact size of the badge holder and since there was a saying on the back, I didn't mount the picture or add any embellishments. I simply slipped the picture in).

Next I put the pictures onto the binder ring and closed it.

I tied on a bunch of ribbons to embellish the quiet book and VOILA!!! It was done!

Quick... easy... and the kids enjoyed looking at the pictures and the older kids enjoyed reading the sayings.

5 minutes... done!

Frozen Butterbeer Drink

2011-08-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter... we love Harry Potter! The last movie just came out and while we haven't seen it yet, we are excited to have the chance.

To celebrate... I found some recipes for Butterbeer, that delicious drink they always drink in the book. When they created "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" in Universal Studios, I was ready to go as soon as it opened. I was so bummed when I found out it was in Florida and not California. If it had been over in Hollywood, I would have been there either on opening day or soon thereafter, but being that it is in Orlando created a bit more of a problem. Oh well... I will go one of these days.

I've heard that at the amusement park they serve Butterbeer... Mmmmm.. Two kinds of Butterbeer... one frozen, and the other not frozen. I found two recipes, modified them a bit so they are non-alcoholic and we tried them both.

Here is the first recipe... It is a warmer version of butterbeer....

{{Warm Butterbeer}}

(printer friendly version)

It warms you up and tastes great! From the Three Broomsticks!

1 cup (8 oz) cream soda (or club soda)
1/2 cup (4 oz) butterscotch syrup (ice cream topping)
1/2 tablespoon butter

Step 1: Measure butterscotch and butter into a 2 cup (16 oz) glass. Microwave on high for 60 to 90 seconds, or until syrup is bubbly and butter is completely incorporated.

Step 2: Stir and cool for 30 seconds, then slowly mix in cream soda. Mixture will fizz quite a bit.

Step 3: Serve in two mugs or small glasses.

A Perfectly Warm Hogwarts Treat for Two!

Here's the second recipe.... The Frozen Butterbeer recipe... this was by far our favorite. We liked this one the best! So if you are only going to try one... try this one first!

{{Frozen Butterbeer}}

(printer friendly version)

For the Butterbeer:
1 1/2 cups cream soda (we used IBC cream soda)
6 tablespoons butterscotch syrup (ice cream topping)
2 cups ice

For the foamy topping:
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butterscotch syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine cream soda, syrup, and ice in a blender and blend until it is slushy.

Pour into a glass or mug.

In a small bowl, combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, syrup and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, whisk together until almost whipped. You want the cream mixture to be slightly loose, not as stiff as whipped cream. Top the frozen Butterbeer with the foamy topping and serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Possible change for our second attempt at this... (but it will require more planning to make it). I think if we freeze the cream soda in ice cube trays and then replace them with the regular ice cubes, it will help the drink from becoming watered down as it melts in the mug.

If you don't let it sit in your glass for very long, then this won't be an issue, but extra flavor is always a plus!

Brownie Cookies

2011-08-26T15:41:00.001-07:00

The yummi-ness of a brownie, in the convenience of a cookie. Less mess! More joy! Brownies are a favorite dessert of mine... their chewy, chocolatey-ness is amazing!

{{Brownie Cookies}}

(printer friendly version)

1/2 cup butter
4 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter and chocolate melt; let cool.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl, set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer. Gradually add dry ingredients to egg mixture, beating well. Then add the chocolate mixture and beat well. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.

Cover a baking sheet with foil and then scoop dough onto the baking sheet using an ice cream scoop. Place dough about 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

After you mix up the batter, and scoop it onto the cookie sheet it will look like this.....

The first batch I made, I put them directly on the cookie sheet and they seemed to stick a little bit and it was difficult to get them off. So I covered the baking sheet with a variety of products to see if I could find a good way to remove the cookies more easily. I used parchment paper and aluminum foil. I think the foil worked the best (not pictured) but definitely makes for easier removable and cleanup after you bake the cookies.

This is what the cookies look like right after they come out of the oven. They are puffy and looking ready to eat... but beware- they are HOT and gooey and VERY messy. I only know this, because I did try one at this stage. You definitely need to get a glass of milk ready to drink if you are going to attempt to try them at this point. Better to let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to cool off.

After they have rested and cooled, they will flatten out and look like this:Then you can remove them from the cookie sheet with a thin metal spatula, and transfer them to a cooling rack to fully cool off. You don't want to let them cool completely on the cookie sheet.
I think these cookies tasted best the first day and pretty good on the second day. Store in an airtight container.

Peacock Feather Headband

2011-08-25T14:24:00.001-07:00

Peacock feathers, or any feathers really... they are so chic and so popular right now! I wanted to make a headband for my darling daughter to wear (and it might find its way to my head one of these days...)

I went to the store and picked up this already assembled peacock feather pad at JoAnn's for around $4, and a black satin head band there as well for $2. I already had the black felt and I cut out two rectangles. Finally, I got a diamond as the accent for the headband... It took about 3 minutes to make this headband. The longest part was waiting for the hot glue gun to heat up!
The peacock feathers were already put together and attached to the felt pad. So all I had to do was attach it to the headband. You could use fabric glue and attach it directly to the headband. However, I didn't want to glue it directly onto the headband for two reasons...

Since the feathers are so big, they will inevitably get smashed when the headband is placed on its side for storage, so I wanted to have the feathers removable... the feathers can be stored flat. Perfect!
Plus, if the feathers are removable then the feathers can be attached to multiple headbands in a variety of colors and you don't need to have as many headbands in the same color. Love it!

Using the hot glue gun, I attached the two rectangle pieces of black felt. One at the bottom and one at the top of the pad. When I only had one rectangle piece of felt, it caused the feathers to poke up in a funny way on top of my daughters head so I attached a second one.
Here you can see both pieces of felt attached to the feathers.

I only put glue on the ends of the felt to create a pocket where the headband could pass through and be held onto the headband, but easily be slid off when you were done with it.
Here it is on the front side. I added a diamond at the bottom as an accent.
Here are some other feather pads that I picked up at JoAnn's. These were each around $3. Now she will have 3 fashionable headbands for only around $15. Nice!
Would also make a great gift for only $5-$6.

See how nicely they all stack on top of each other, which helps keep them straight and organized.

Chocolate Covered Fruit

2011-08-23T21:15:00.001-07:00

Anything is better with chocolate! At least that's my philosophy. I like chocolate. A lot!

I had a bunch of leftover melted chocolate and fresh fruit in the fridge that needed to be eaten... so naturally I put the two together! Naturally! I made chocolate covered blueberries, grapes and kiwi.

For the blueberries... I lined a mini muffin pan with paper liners and then dropped 4-5 blueberries (that had been washed and thoroughly dried) into the liners.
Using a fork, load it up with melted chocolate, and just drizzle it over the top of the blueberries in no particular way. Leave the blueberries slightly exposed so you can see their pretty blue color. Add as much chocolate or as little chocolate as you would like.
You can use a fine drizzle from a fork and it will leave a design on the top of the chocolate. After you have covered them with the chocolate, let the chocolate set in a cool place or in the refrigerator. Best if served within a day of making them.

Chocolate covered grapes... Who knew right? For mother's day, my husband and kids got me some treats from a chocolate sweet shop. There were several sweet things that they brought me and among the treats included some chocolate covered grapes. I was a bit skeptical, but they are delicious. So I decided to make some myself.

Wash and dry your grapes. You want to make sure they are very dry because water and chocolate don't like each other very much! The water will cause the chocolate to seize up. Mmmmm... yummy red grapes!
Next, taking one grape at a time, drop it into the chocolate and using a fork, cover it will chocolate. Then pick up the grape on the fork and let the excess chocolate drip off. Then place the grape on a wax paper covered cookie sheet, until the chocolate is set.
Pick them up off of the wax paper and start popping them in your mouth. As the warm chocolate cools, it seems to shrink and condense on the grape so that when you bite into them, the grape bursts forth its juicy goodness. Sweet and crunchy and yummy! A great way to eat some dessert and fruit too!

Great as a gift too! Drop them into a bag, tie a ribbon on top and share with a friend.
Another fun treat. Trim the skin off of a kiwi... I cut them straight so that they were shaped octagonal, but you can make them circular if you want... or even in the shape of a star. After you have cut them about 1/2 inch to one inch thick, stick a popsicle stick inside them and push it up past the center of the kiwi so that it helps them to become more stable. (At this point you can proceed to the next step or you can freeze the fruit and dip in chocolate after.)
Then dip them in chocolate. A very important thing that I learned while making these... dab the kiwi on a paper towel first before you dip them in chocolate because they are very juicy. This helps to remove any liquid on the fruit, because as stated above, chocolate doesn't like water and as you can tell in the picture... the chocolate started to seize up and get clumpy on some of them.

Let the chocolate set up in the refrigerator and then take a bite. My kids enjoyed these... (I think kids enjoy anything on a stick!). Store in refrigerator and use within a day (unless you froze them and they will last longer).

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

2011-08-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

Wow.... this breakfast was YUMMY! It is a very sweet treat for breakfast, so it won't be something you would make all the time, but definitely fun for a special occasion, maybe a birthday or Christmas?

Here is the full recipe....

(printer friendly version)

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

CINNAMON FILLING:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 Tablespoons butter
2 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Prepare pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk, oil and egg, just until batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).

2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a small zip baggie and set aside. You don't want this to remain super-liquidy. It's best if it becomes a consistency similar to toothpaste (so let it set out for a bit or pop it in the fridge, but watch it so it doesn't get too stiff).

3. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl- heat butter and cream cheese until melted. Whisk together until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla extract; set aside.

4. Heat large skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick spray. Scoop about 3/4 cup batter onto the skillet. Snip the corner of your baggie of filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

5. When ready to serve, spoon warmed glaze onto the top of each pancake.

Tips:

*Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don't flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!

*It's best if you pour the batter onto your skillet, wait a minute or so and then swirl the cinnamon onto the batter. That'll give it a chance to set a little before you add the swirl.

*If your baggie of filling begins to get too thick, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up again. On that same note, it shouldn't be too runny. The consistency of soft toothpaste is perfect. If it's melty and runny, it will tend to run all over your pancakes. Once you micro it, let it sit on the counter at room temp for a while until it thickens slightly.

I doubled the recipe of pancake batter, but only made a single recipe of the cinnamon filling and the cream cheese syrup. The recipe suggest making HUGE pancakes that use 3/4 cups of batter. I found it much easier to make smaller pancakes and stacking up a few.

Here are the pancakes as the batter is bubbling up and I just added the cinnamon sugar filling in the swirly pattern.
The edges of the pancake will start to look dry and the bubbles stop forming. These are the signs to know when it is time to flip your pancake. You typically only flip your pancake one time. Use a spatula big enough to fit the entire pancake because it will flip easier and land nicely back on the griddle.

I cooked the pancakes on my griddle instead of a skillet. The surface is larger so I can make more than one pancake at a time, which is essential with more than one kid. Everyone wants to be first to get a pancake. The griddle recommends 400 degrees for pancakes, but I found that they cooked more evenly around 350 degrees. They don't cook as quickly, but when you flip them, the sugary filling won't burn as quickly either. See on that front pancake in the picture below... you can see the cinnamon filling spilling out a bit and cooking up a crusty layer on top of the pancake.

It takes about 1 or 2 minutes for the pancakes to cook through. Flip it off and place it on the place with the cinnamony swirl-ness on top. It is just pretty!
Then add another pancake on top of the one, and drizzle the cream cheese glaze on top. I didn't think much was required on top. It was so sweet and tasted like a cinnamon roll!

Mmmmmmm.....Yummy! Enjoy these yummy pancakes. It takes a little bit of time to prepare all three part of the pancakes, but once the prep work is done, it was easy to make the pancakes.

(recipe originally found on recipegirl.com)

Banana Bread

2011-08-20T22:49:00.001-07:00

Mmmmm... banana bread. A great way to use up ripe or over ripe bananas.

This recipe was given to me by my sister in law, and I think it came out of the Lion House Recipe Book. Instead of making one large bread loaf of banana bread, I like making the mini loaves of banana bread. It seems like you can eat several slices and feel like you had a lot, when really you probably only had the equivalent of one slice from a larger loaf. Seems like a pretty good deal to me! I'm just sayin'....

So after you have made the batter as described in the recipe below, you have to grease your pans. You can use shortening or butter. Make sure they are well greased. They seem to come out better with a little extra lovin'.

In my family growing up, we sugar coated our banana bread pans. After you grease, you sprinkle white granulated sugar into the pan and coat it, kinda like you do for a cake with flour. But you are using sugar and it creates a yummy sweet crust on your bread.Oh but wait....don't put that sugar away yet.... now we are going to fill the pans with batter (about 3/4-1 cup for the mini loaves, it works the same with the larger loaf, you will just put all the batter in after you grease and coat the pan). Next we sprinkle some of that sugar on TOP of the banana bread batter, before it goes into the oven to bake.
I had a lot of bananas to use up, so I doubled the recipe and made 8 small loaves of banana bread. I made half of the loaves plain banana bread, and then the other half of the batter I added some semi-sweet chocolate chips. Then after pouring the batter into the pan, I sprinkled a few more chocolate chips on top. The chocolate chips tend to sink to the bottom so I like to give a few of them a fighting chance by letting them start out on top.
After the pans are all prepared, place them into the preheated 350 degree oven. These smaller loaves also have another great benefit. The larger loaf pan always takes about an hour to bake, and sometimes the crust gets overdone before the insides are fully cooked. However, with small loaves, it only takes about 25 minutes for the center to test done and the crust is perfectly browned and not overdone. Below you will see a picture of the plain banana bread without nuts and WITH the sugar crust.... See that lovely crusty, sugary top!And here is the chocolate chip banana bread... with no sugar crust. You can sugar coat this one too, but with the chocolate added, I always feel like it might be a bit of sweetness overkill.

Here are the 8 mini loaves of bread... done!After letting them cool on a wire rack, I cut up on of each loaf and arranged them on the plate... in a matter of moments my kids and husband had devoured most of the bread. Guess they liked it!

{{Banana Bread}}

(Printer friendly version)

1/2 c. butter (original recipe calls for margarine, but butter just tastes better!)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. mashed bananas
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp lemon juice
2 c. flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and beat. Add banana’s, milk and lemon juice. Then sift in dry ingredients, and finally add nuts. Bake in well-greased loaf pan 1 hr at 350. Makes 1 large loaf or 4 small mini loaves.
(Optional: coat the greased pan with sugar and then sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of sugar on top of batter before baking.)

Chocolate Filled Raspberries

2011-08-20T16:20:00.001-07:00

THIS:

+ PLUS THIS:

= EQUALS THIS:

!!!!!!!

WOW! Yummy Treat!

{{Chocolate Filled Raspberries}}

(printer friendly version)

Fresh Raspberries
Chocolate Chips, milk chocolate, semi-sweet or white chocolate (depending on your preference)

Wash Raspberries thoroughly and let them dry completely.

Take the chocolate chips and gently press one into the center of each raspberry, pointy end down into the opening of the raspberry. (Depending on the size of the berry will decide the size of chocolate chips... a bigger berry works well with the larger chips, such as the Guittard chips. Smaller berries work well with a smaller chocolate chip.)

Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Best if served within a few hours of preparation, but up to one day, depending on the freshness of the berries.

Buttermilk Syrup

2011-08-19T11:27:00.001-07:00

Buttery Buttermilk Syrup.... this is so naughty and so yummy! I love it on french toast, or pancakes, or ableskeivers, or anything breakfasty! We received a mason jar full of this yummy syrup for Christmas, complete with a recipe and it has become one of my favorites. I don't make it all the time, because I love it tooooo much!

{{Buttermilk Syrup}}

(printer friendly version)

2 cubes butter (original recipe called for margarine, but butter is better!)
2 cups white sugar
1 can evaporated milk

Boil these three ingredients for 5 minutes in a deep sauce pan.

Add:
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (this will cause the mixture to foam)

Serve on pancakes, french toast, waffles, etc. Anything breakfasty!

Greek Yogurt & Nutella Fruit Dip

2011-08-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Simple, lowfat fruit dip. Healthy and yummy. Goes well with lots of fruits.

{{Nutella Fruit Dip}}

(printer friendly version)

1 cup non-fat greek yogurt
1/2 cup nutella

Stir together the yogurt and Nutella. Serve with fresh fruit such as strawberries, bananas, apples, grapes, raspberries, pineapples, etc.

Done. Delicious. Dip. Who doesn't love dipping right?

Oreo Truffles

2011-08-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

Yummy sweet chocolates that make a great gift, holiday treat, or just a sweet indulgence.

Start with a 16.6 ounce package of regular Oreos, (not double stuf). I like to open up about 10 cookies and take the one side without cream and put them into a ziplock bag. Then using a rolling pin or can of food, crush the cookies into a fine crumb powder. Set the bag of crumbs aside.

Put the rest of the cookies, including the cream, into a food processor and pulse until the cookies turn into a fine crumb.
When the cookies are crushed, dump the crumbs into a bowl with the softened 8 ounce package of cream cheese. Using the back of a spoon, mix the cookie crumbs & cream cheese into a soft dough. The dough will look wet, but you should be able to shape it.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper. Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll it a ball....
...or an egg, or a heart, or a square, or whatever shape might fit the holiday or reason that you are celebrating. Refrigerate the balls for at least an hour. The truffles will have a nicer coat of chocolate if the dough is cold and hardened.
Melt some chocolate (tips for melting chocolate below)... either white or milk or semi-sweet chocolate. Place a chilled ball of dough into the chocolate and using two forks cover the ball with chocolate. Once the ball is coated, pull it out with the forks and let the excess chocolate drip off the fork. Drop the covered truffle back down onto the waxed or parchment paper. Then you can embellish them in a few different ways.

Take the first set of cookie crumbs that are in the ziploc bag and sprinkle a few crumbs on the wet chocolate.
Drizzle an opposing color of chocolate onto the truffle: white on brown or brown on white.
Leave the truffle plain, and drop some extra chocolate on top. While the chocolate is still wet, use the fork and swirl the chocolate on top as a design.
Or just leave them plain.

Let the chocolate harden either by letting them sit out at room temperature or stick them into the refrigerator.
Once they have set, you can serve them up on a plate, or package them up in a bag embellished with a ribbon.
{{Oreo Truffles}}

(printer friendly version)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg. (16.6 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed

2 pkg. (8 squares each) Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

MIX cream cheese and cookie crumbs (about 4 cups) until well blended.

SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

How to Melt Chocolate:

Place unwrapped chocolate squares in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 30 sec.

How to Easily Dip Truffles:

To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Use 2 forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove truffles with forks, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place truffles on prepared baking sheet; let stand until firm.

How to Store:

Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Taco Tuesday

2011-08-17T15:30:00.001-07:00

For dinner last night we had Tacos.

But instead of just regular tacos, we made these taco bowls. I found this on Kraft and modified their recipe a bit.

{{Taco Tuesday Bowls}}

(printer friendly version)

8 flour tortillas (6 inch)

1 lb. extra lean ground beef (or turkey)

packet of taco seasoning

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups chopped lettuce

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 cup ranch dressing

Salsa

Guacamole

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Microwave the tortillas on high for about 30 seconds to soften and make them easier to mold. Line each muffin cup with one tortilla. Carefully fold back the edges of tortilla, creating a pocket for filling up with taco goodness.

Bake tortillas in oven for about 10 minutes. While tortillas are cooking, brown the meat in a skillet and add taco seasoning (per package directions). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, simmer meat for about 5-10 minutes.

Pull out tortillas and spoon some meat mixture into the bottom. And then from here you add your toppings like you would for a taco... following your own preferences.

Here are a few of my funny looking taco shells... but the kids still had fun eating them.... taco night in a different way.

Creamy Fettucine Alfredo Sauce

2011-08-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

This is a yummy and quick alfredo sauce that doesn't get stringy or funny or greasy. It stays smooth and creamy, even if you eat it as leftovers the next day.

(printer friendly version)

8 ounce cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

3/4 cup milk

Melt cream cheese and butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat. Stir in Parmesan cheese and milk. Using a wire-wisk, stir over low heat until thickened. Serve over fettuccine noodles with sautéed chicken or shrimp. Garnish with fresh parsley.

I put the sauce over egg noodles instead of fettuccine noodles and then sautéed some chicken breasts in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Ta Dah! Dinner is done in about 15 minutes. Serve with some salad.... DONE!

Brownie Shish Kabobs

2011-08-11T08:19:00.001-07:00

We made these yummy kabobs and the kids went gaga for them! A little bit of brownie and lots of fruit drizzled with chocolate. Perfect!

Here they are drizzled with chocolate. Mmmmmm...

(printer friendly version)

1 box fudge brownie mix (including the water, vegetable oil and eggs as called for on the brownie mix)

4 cups fresh pineapple, chunks

5 cups halved fresh strawberries

10 large bananas, cut into 1 inch pieces (Brushed with lemon juice to prevent browning)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

21 (10 inch) bamboo skewers

Heat oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark or nonstick pans). Line 9x13 pan with foil or parchment paper and let it hang 2 inches over the side of the pan. Spray or grease only the bottom of the lined pan.

Make brownies as directed on box. {You can also make your favorite brownie recipe from scratch... if I'm using a box, I prefer the Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies and I have noticed since we live at a higher altitude it works best if I add 2 tablespoons of flour to the mix before adding the remaining ingredients.} Spread brownie batter in prepared pan.

Bake brownies for 26-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from the side comes out almost clean. Cool brownies completely.

While brownies are cooling, start cutting up all the fruit and brush the cut up bananas with a diluted lemon juice water {I did 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a 1/2 cup water and brushed it onto the bananas with a pastry brush}.

Lift brownie from pan and remove parchment paper/foil. Cut brownies into 1 1/4 inch squares.

Line cookie sheets with waxed paper. Alternately thread 3 brownie squares, 2 pineapple chunks, 2 strawberry halves, and 2 banana slices on each skewer. Place kabobs on waxed paper.

In a small microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butter uncovered on high for 1-2 minutes, stirring once the chocolate is melted. Drizzle over kabobs.

***We made some without pineapple, some without banana, but all of them had strawberries. We wanted to satisfy the desires of all those that would be eating these. I actually cut the brownies a bit smaller and added more fruit when possible.

I had to include the kids... They were too busy eating to even smile! This was serious business. They were going GAGA!!!

S'more Cups

2011-08-10T19:24:00.001-07:00

Another yummy S'more treat. These are my new favorite treat. I thought they were FABULOUS! They had the crunchy yummy crust and then the chewy marshmallow topped with chocolate. I {heart} these very much! (I found them on the Pampered Chef website.)

Start by crushing your graham crackers in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin or a can of food. Mix the crushed crackers with the powdered sugar and melted butter.
Spoon about a tablespoon full of graham cracker mixture into a mini cupcake or tart pan. Using a tart shaper tool press the crumbs into a shallow cup. Bake them in the 350 degree oven for about 4-5 minutes, until the crust is bubbly. (I did 4 minutes and it was a bit too long, try like 3 1/2 minutes and go from there.)

While the crust is baking you need to cut the marshmallows in half. I didn't have to dip my kitchen shears in cold water, the marshmallows cut just fine, but if your marshmallow prevents your shears from opening and closing because they get tooooo sticky, then you will need the cold water.
Pull the bubbly crust cups out of the oven and put either one section of chocolate bar (as stated in the recipe) or 2-3 large Ghiradelli chocolate chips (if using smaller chocolate chips, then use more... my rule is you can never get enough chocolate so go for it!). The warmth from the crust will melt the chocolate and then you can top it with half of a marshmallow. When they are all covered, you put them back into the oven for 1-2 minutes until the marshmallow starts to puff and soften a bit. (I had them in there for about 2 minutes, but you have to watch them because it can go too far quickly.)

Here they are all puffed up! Let them sit in the pan and cool for about 15 minutes. Then carefully pull them out of the pan and onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Melt the rest of your chocolate and dip the top of the S'more cup in the chocolate and set back down to cool completely.
You may need to put them in a refrigerator to help the chocolate completely solidify.
Ta dah! S'more cups are ready to go! Eat 'em up! This recipe ONLY makes 24 cups. While that might sound like a lot... it isn't really. You will want to eat at least 2 of them.
And maybe more...
So you might want to double this recipe! Have fun and Happy National S'more Day!

(printer friendly version)

7 whole graham crackers (1 cup finely crushed)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted

4 bars (1.55 oz each) milk chocolate candy, divided

12 large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and butter in a small bowl.

Place 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture in each cup of a mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.

Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using shears dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly softened. Remove pans from oven to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely.

Break remaining candy bars and place in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 to 60 minutes or until set. Makes 24 cups.

Note: Store the cups in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Freezing is not recommended.

S'more pops

2011-08-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

These are a fun and easy way to eat a s'more without the fire... S'more Pops!

{{S'more Pops}}

(printer friendly version)

What you need....

Large Marshmallows

Chocolate, melted

Golden Grahams Cereal, crushed

Sucker Sticks

Cookie sheet

Parchment Paper or waxed paper

Kitchen torch

Pick up a marshmallow and roll the bottom half of the marshmallow in the melted chocolate and the roll in the crushed cereal. Push a stick into the bottom of the chocolate covered side of the marshmallow and set down on the parchment covered cookie sheet. Allow the chocolate to harden. Using a kitchen torch (or flame on the stove) to toast the other side of the marshmallow!

Or you can just enjoy them like this... no torching needed.

Happy National S'more day!

Pizza Rolls

2011-08-08T18:16:00.001-07:00

Mmmmm... everyone loves pizza and sometimes it is nice to do something traditional in a non-traditional way... ya know what I mean?

Hence the pizza rolls. These work great for dinner or even as an appetizer. I made some with pepperoni and some with just cheese since one of my kids don't like pepperoni. Technically you can fill them up with anything you like on your pizza and they would be delicious. Here's how I made them.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

First you make your pizza dough. {I have included the recipe down below.} Separate the dough into 32 pieces. The dough made enough for two 9-inch pie plates full with 16 in each... 32 pizza rolls total. Once you have your dough separated, let them sit while you prepare the inside stuff.

I have a pile of grated parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano), a pile of grated mozzarella cheese, and full size pepperoni cut into quarters (you can buy super cute mini pepperoni at the grocery store that are stinking cute inside these since they are the perfect size and you can keep that familiar circular shape).
Flatten a piece of dough into a circle and add some of both types of cheese (about 1/2 Tablespoon to a full Tablespoon of each depending on how much cheese you like). Then add some pepperoni, about 6-8 small pieces. Pull the edges of the dough together and form a ball, pinching the dough together.Place the stuffed ball of dough, pinched side down, in a greased dish (sprayed with Pam). Place balls next to each other so they are touching. About 11 on the outside edge...
...and about 5 on the inside for a total of 16.
After they are all stuffed and sitting cozily in the pan, you can brush the tops with some extra virgin olive oil.

Next sprinkle them with an italian seasoning mix.
Finally sprinkle the tops with more of the grated parmesan cheese. This is subjective too... if you like cheese, go for it. It will get toasted and crispy and yummy.
Mmmmm... ready to be popped into the 400 degree oven. Bake them for about 20 minutes.

When they are golden brown, pull them out of the oven and let them cool.

Serve with homemade pizza dipping sauce. {recipe below}.
Pull apart and enjoy! They are yummy!

(printer friendly version of just the dough)

1 tablespoon yeast

2 cups flour

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Mix these dry ingredients and then add...

1/3 cup warm water

1 tablespoon oil

Mix these all together and then start to add in about

1/2 cup flour

The flour may vary. Just add enough so that it is a dough that has a smooth consistency, not too sticky. Knead the dough until it is an even consistency (a few minutes). Let stand for 5-10 minutes.

(printer friendly version of all 3 recipes)

Batch of Pizza Crust (above)

Grated Parmesan Cheese
Grated Mozzarella Cheese

sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters

For toppings:
olive oil
Italian seasoning
grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch cake pan with either cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Divide the dough into approximately 32 pieces. Take each piece of dough individually and add some Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and 6-8 small pieces of pepperoni.

Pull the edges of the dough together and pinch them to form a ball. Place the stuffed ball of dough, pinched side down, in a greased dish (sprayed with Pam). Place balls next to each other so they are touching. About 11 on the outside edge, and 5 on the inside circle for a total of 16 in the pan. Continue with the other pan of 16.

After they are all stuffed and in the pan, you can brush the tops with some extra virgin olive oil. Next sprinkle them with an Italian seasoning mix. Finally sprinkle the tops with more of the grated Parmesan cheese. This is subjective too... if you like cheese, go for it. It will get toasted and crispy and yummy.

Bake in the 400 degree oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or even at room temperature with a pizza dipping sauce or ranch.

(printer friendly version of just the sauce)

1/2 tablespoon of butter

1 clove of garlic, crushed and minced

1 tablespoon of dehydrated minced onions

1 can of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and then add garlic and onion. Saute them for about a minute or two. Then add the tomato sauce and all of the seasonings. Heat through til bubbly. Turn down temperature and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

Watermelon Lemonade Slushies

2011-08-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

This is a yummy treat that everyone in my house enjoys from the Daddy to the Mommy all the way down to the little babies. It is such a refreshing drink that is super easy to make. It only requires a small amount of preparation.
On a hot summer day, while you are slicing up one of those HUGE watermelons to eat, just set aside some of the watermelon and dice it into cubes and put it into a large ziploc freezer bag. Freeze the watermelon and then at any time you can be ready to make this delicious beverage. The watermelon and lemonade are very complimentary to each other and has a refreshing flavor.

(printer friendly version)

4 cups frozen cubes of watermelon

2 cups water

1/2 cup Country Time Lemonade (or 1 pkg of Crystal Light Lemonade for 2 quarts)

Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Makes about 4 glasses.

Pumpkin Craisin Muffins

2011-08-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

I made these muffins for breakfast on morning and since the recipe calls for a cake mix they are super easy and quick to make. Also I made them with craisins, which meant they were pretty healthy too. Paired up with some fruit and yogurt and the kids had a nice balanced breakfast. The kids really liked them too...and that is always nice to hear. I actually split the batter into two bowls and made half of it with craisins for breakfast and the other half with chocolate chips so the kids could have the ones with chocolate chips as a snack after school. Two birds killed with one stone! LOVE IT!

1 Box Spice Cake Mix

Small can of pumpkin puree

1/3 cup applesauce

1 egg

1 cup Craisins or Chocolate Chips (or add more or less to your taste and preference)

Mix all ingredients together and spoon batter into a greased or lined cupcake tin and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until done. Make 24 cupcakes.

Berry Fruity Salad

2011-08-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

Mmmm..... I love making yummy salads during the summer time. It is sooo hot outside and the last thing you want to do is heat up the house by turning on the oven. So we eat salads! I had a salad like this from Wendy's and I LOVED it so I made a similar one at home and love having the stuff on hand to make it over and over again (especially for myself at lunch time).

This is such an easy but still kinda fancy looking salad to throw together and it's so fresh and fruity too!

{{Berry Fruity Salad}}

Romaine Lettuce, cut up
Fresh Strawberries, quartered
Fresh Pineapple, cut into chunks
Fresh Blueberries
Oven Roasted Almonds (directions below)
Shaved Asiago Cheese
Raspberry Vinaigrette (I used the Trader Joe's Raspberry Vinaigrette, but there is a good simple recipe for one included)

(I prepare the salads on each plate individually.) First lay a bed of lettuce on the plate and then sprinkle the desired amount of fruit on your lettuce, to achieve your preferred proportions, with more or less fruit. Next sprinkle on the oven roasted almonds, and shaved asiago cheese and drizzle your dressing. Sit down and enjoy!

With a little bit more time & prep, you can make the salad a complete meal by adding some yummy Grilled/Roasted Chicken, cut up and placed on top of the salad. It tastes so good to have the warm chicken breast on top of the cool, fresh salad. Prepare your chicken the way you like it best (or you can even pop open a can of chicken and sprinkle that on top... just depends on how you like it and how much time you have).

Here's the Trader Joe's Raspberry Vinaigrette....

Drizzled over the salad.... Mmmm... It's ready to eat!

....and here's the homemade recipe for a dressing.

Red Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 (10 ounce) jar seedless raspberry jam

Combine the olive oil, rice vinegar, and raspberry jam in a blender. Process until smooth. Store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Oven Roasted Almonds

2 cups slivered almonds

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place the almonds in one layer on a heavy, rimmed baking sheet.

Coat almonds with oil and then sprinkle them with sea salt and toss to coat evenly.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes so the almonds brown evenly. They are done when they are toasted brown and fragrant. Transfer almonds to a paper towel and cool completely before serving.

**Omit oil and salt and roast as directed for plain roasted almonds.

Roasting nuts helps to intensify the flavor of the nut... so it is worth the extra time to toast them.

Store roasted almonds in a air tight container, or sealed baggie with all of the air squeezed out and put them in a cool, dry, dark place (ideally in the refrigerator) and use within three months.

Mango Quinoa Salad

2011-08-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

Mango Quinoa Salad.... this is my new favorite dish/side dish. It is so fresh and fabulous. It has a great lime-y flavor and I loved it.

I want to try it over a fresh grilled fish or chicken breast. I think it would be yummy! Plus it was easy to make.

2 cups cooked Quinoa, at room temperature or chilled**

1 14 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium mango, peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

6 green onions, sliced thinly

1 handful of chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup)

4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice, (about 1/2 lime or up to a full lime, to taste)

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

**Quinoa can be cooked in water or broth. Vegetable broth or chicken broth offers extra flavor into the quinoa and is great!

Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl. Add black beans, mango, red pepper, green onions and cilantro. In a separate bowl mix together vinegar, oil and lime juice. Whisk until smooth and then pour on top of the salad. Add salt and pepper to taste. Salad should chill for at least an hour before serving so the flavors can blend together. Enjoy alone as a meal, as a side dish or over chicken or fish.

Donut Breakfast Muffins

2011-07-28T20:35:00.001-07:00

For the Muffins:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

For the Glaze:

3 tablespoons butter; melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. With the mixer on low speed, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla until just combined. Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
Spoon batter into cups, filling the cups, and smooth tops. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Bake until muffin tops are a pale golden and springy to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 10 minutes before glazing.
To make the glaze, In a medium bowl mix together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth.
When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. Once hardened, dip a second time and allow to harden then serve.

Yields: 12 muffins

Note: Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day.

**I made the muffins in a mini muffin tin as opposed to a full size, as stated in the recipe. This made about 48 small, yummy almost-bite sized muffins. We all liked the flavor of the muffins, but thought they were a bit dry. The kids were skeptical as I baked them, but they were all humbled when they tried them and actually enjoyed them. My son even said I should probably make them again. I had baked them for about 12 minutes and this might have over cooked them since they were so small. Next time we will try to cook them for less, and if that doesn't work, then I will probably add a little applesauce with the oil. That should add more moisture and flavor instead of adding oil. When I try them again I will update this post.

S'more Cookies

2011-07-27T20:48:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness! Who doesn't love S'mores?! I know that I do and my kids do and they are definitely the epitome of summer time cook outs and camp outs. I've been looking around and EVERYWHERE on the internet and I am running into about a million different variations of this summertime treat. I think everyone is trying to find a way to keep this delicious treat and the warm, happy feeling that it brings all year round. Let me tell you about some of the things I've seen. I've seen S'more cookies, S'more pops, S'more bars, S'more pie, S'more cake, really S'more EVERYTHING!

These cookies were super simple to make. I found them here on this website. Basically after lining a cookie tray with graham crackers, you drop chunks of cookie dough on top.... Bake them for a few minutes and then...

Add more chocolate! Let them cook a little bit longer and you end up with s'more goodness... in a cookie!

They are delightful! Chewy and rich. There is a slight cinnamony flavor that enhanced and complimented the chocolate and marshmallow combination. You gotta try these cookies!

{{S'mores Cookie}}

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Okay... one last yummy picture to look at! The kids absolutely loved these. They exclaimed... "Mommy you have to make these again!" Sounds like they are a winner!

Can I have s'more please?

Fluffy Pink Cake

2011-07-26T13:41:00.001-07:00

While I was making a Piglet cake for a birthday party, I had a leftover 8x8 chocolate cake and lots of pink frosting (Recipes for the chocolate cake and buttercream frosting found here). I wanted to make the cake into something cute and girly, but incredibly simple. What's better than big pink flowers?

I filled a large pastry bag with the light pink frosting and then added a huge flower tip (Tip #864)....

Starting on top first, I piped big huge stars all over the top of the cake. I almost left it like this... It's cute right?!

But I still had frosting left over and decided to just go for GOLD and cover the whole cake with yummy pink buttercream frosting.
All the girls that saw this cake, LOVED it! It turned out cute! Simple! and very EASY!

Piglet Cake

2011-07-25T21:37:00.001-07:00

I made this piglet cake for my niece's first Birthday party. It is her smash cake.

First I made two cakes in 8x8 cake pans from this Chocolate Crazy Cake recipe. It is a waaaaay yummy and moist chocolate cake! It has never NOT turned out. Mmmmm.... Plus it is a good recipe to keep on file because it doesn't require eggs or milk. It is FABULOUS and of course CRAZY!

3 cups flour

6 tablespoons Cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Whisk and combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then make three holes in the flour for the liquid ingredients.

2/3 cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 cups water

Pour oil, vanilla and vinegar each into a separate hole. Then pour the water over and beat together until almost smooth. Pour batter into a prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until tested done.

While the cake was baking, I cut out a piece of paper that measured 8x8 (since that was the size of pan that the cake was baking in). On that piece of paper I drew a rough draft of a Piglet. As simple as I could and labeled the colors that would be piped onto the cake (black for outlines, light pink, dark pink and a little teeny tiny bit of red on the tongue).

At first I thought I would just pipe the outline on the cake and leave the whole cake to be a full square, but decided instead to cut up the cake into the shape of piglet and cut him out of the cake for a more 3-D effect.

I simply laid the paper on the cake, and cut around it. I had two cakes that I was going to layer on top of each other, but decided that it would be too much cake for a sweet little one year old and just made the cake one layer, and I didn't even torte it or fill it. Simple, sweet, chocolate cake.

I stuck the cake into the freezer to chill it while I made the buttercream frosting.

{{Buttercream Icing}}

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

In a large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all of the sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. (Yield: 3 cups of icing)

I doubled this recipe. I'm always nervous that I won't have enough frosting. So I made extra... there's always something to use frosting on... graham crackers, kids fingers love when it is piped on there, another cake, cupcakes, etc.

First I made a small amount black (about 1/2 cup) using the Wilton black icing color.

I covered a rectangle cake board with aluminum foil taped in place on the back. Placed the cake on top and then filled a pastry bag with the black frosting and topped it with Decorating Round tip #5. Using the drawing as a guide, I piped on the outline of the Piglet.

I put the cake back in the freezer to firm up the outline. Meanwhile, I took the pink decorator icing color and made the rest of the icing light pink.

I pulled out about 1 1/2 cups of frosting out and added more of the pink color to make it a dark pink.

Finally, I pulled out a teeny tiny bit of the dark pink and made it red using Real Red icing color.

I took that teeny tiny bit of red and put it into place on the tongue of the Piglet. Then it was time to start piping.... I used a small star tip (#13)for the pink frostings. I started with the light pink and slowly started to fill the areas. It was a slow process since I had chosen to use such a small tip. After filling the light pink areas on top, it was time to start filling the dark pink areas. Next it was time to fill the sides. Continuing with the color that was on top, I switched the tip to a larger star (tip #18) and made a zig zag motion up and down the side of the cake.

Finally using Round Tip #5 and the light pink frosting, I put the name and Birthday information. Then switching to dark pink frosting, I added dots to all of the letters, and added a squiggle line around the Piglet cake.

Then the cake was done! Ta Dah!

M&M Cake Directions

2011-07-24T21:46:00.001-07:00

The day before the party I made a three layers of a simple yellow cake mix in the Wilton 6 x 2 in. Round Pan and two layers in the Wilton 10 x 2 in. Round Pan. Cooled the cakes completely and then wrapped them in plastic wrap to be used the next day.

I made a sugar cookie and the cut out a giant number one with a knife and then baked it. After it came out, the cookie was puffy and rounded (you know the way sugar cookies do), so while it was still warm I cut the edges of the cookie to make sure it was straight and even. The next day I decorated the sugar cookie with a Wilton Open Star Tip (#19). I piped the stars around the edges and then added a mini M&M into the center of the star. Using Wilton Round Decorating Tip #3, I wrote Morgan's name on the cookie.

Finally I made the star burst picks. Using the Stampin' Up Star punch, I punched out stars from cardstock in a variety of bright bold colors. I glued two stars together and alternated the points. Then I hot glued one set of two stars to one side of a bamboo skewer and then two more stars to the other side to create these star bursts.

The morning of the party I made a chocolate frosting and put that between each layer of yellow cake.

Here's the recipe...

{{Chocolate Frosting}}

1 cube butter, melted
2 Tbsp Dutch Processed cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 Tbsp milk
1 pound powdered sugar

Melt butter and add cocoa powder; mix until smooth. Pour into mixing bowl and add salt, vanilla and milk. Then add powdered sugar and mix well.

*** As an aside... let's learn about Dutch processed cocoa powder. It is a more mellow flavored chocolate and has a darker chocolate color. It is unsweetend and will taste bitter if tasted alone. However, you can substitute a normal unsweetened cocoa powder.

It is a soft frosting, so you can add more powdered sugar to make a thicker consistency.

I was in a bit of a rush and didn't take pictures of the process as I was making the cake, so here is the written directions for now.

First I cut out a cardboard circle that fit the 10 inch layer and another to fit the 6 inch layer. Scoop a dollop of chocolate frosting onto the cardboard and place the first layer of cake on the board. Spread the chocolate frosting on as a filler, then place the second layer. There were 2-ten inch cakes and 3-six inch cakes. After filling the cake, it was time to frost the outside. The cakes were partially frozen to make for easier handling. I had put them into the freezer for about 2 hours and since I was going to be putting Kit Kat candy bars on the outside, I didn't I didn't worry about a crumb coating, I just frosted the cakes. The best part of the decorating process came next. Using the full size Kit Kat bars (not the snack size since they are shorter), break them into two part sections, and then press them into the side of the frosted cake. Use any sort of ribbon and tie it around the cake to finish off the "basket" look (plus the ribbon helps to keep the cake from falling apart in case the Kit Kats don't want to stay on the frosting). After doing this to both the large and small layers, I placed some dowels into the larger cake where the smaller cake was going to be placed. I decided that instead of having the smaller cake in the center of the cake, I would off set the cake towards the back of the larger round cake. I used about 6 dowels to support the weight of the second layer cake on top. After the dowels were in place, the small 6 inch cake was placed on top.

Now... open a bag of M&M's (I chose plain) and pour them onto the top of the large 10 inch cake, filling them to the top of the Kit Kat Basket.

I put the number 1 cookie on top and then the star bursts. Finally it was time to fill this cake basket with more M&M's. Ta dah! Ready to go!

Here was the smash cake for the baby. I used only one 6 inch yellow cake, frosted, and then using a sharp knife I cut the Kit Kats in half, pressed them into the frosting, tied the ribbon, put the candle on top and then poured in the M&M's. Don't you love how quick and easy it is! And so stinkin' cute! It was a hit amongst all the kids (and adults) at the party! They loved seeing all that CANDY!

Pirate Cake

2011-07-24T21:25:00.001-07:00

Here is the bottom layer of the cake. I didn't pull out my camera soon enough to capture every step of the cake making process. The bottom while plate is a rotating turn table. then the pink and black layers are from IKEA. They are just think plastic sheets that I added under the cake for some color and decoration. The cake is a Chocolate Crazy Cake. Here is the recipe:

3 cups flour

6 tablespoons Cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Whisk and combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then make three holes in the flour for the liquid ingredients.

2/3 cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 cups water

Then I made a Basic Buttercream frosting (below) to coat the cakes and tinted it pink using Wilton Pink Icing...

and then covered the frosted cakes with a homemade Marshmallow Fondant (below).

Basic Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

2 tablespoons milk
Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

(Medium Consistency): In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

Marshmallow Fondant

16 ounces mini marshmallows (buy the best quality and brand you can find if fondant will be eaten, if used just for decorating, a cheaper marshmallow can be used)

2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted (important to sift because it will remove the lumps that won’t go away during mixing)

4 tablespoons water (if making the fondant to be eaten, replace 1-2 tablespoons of the water with vanilla)

shortening for greasing everything, bowl, spatula, mixing bowl, dough hook, countertop, etc.

1.Put the marshmallows and water in a large microwave-safe bowl that has been greased with shortening. Microwave on high for about 1 minute, until the marshmallows are all melted. The mixture will expand. Stir to incorporate. (After mixing the marshmallows smooth, this is a good time to add coloring if you want to have colored fondant.)

2.Grease the dough hook and bowl of your mixer really well with shortening.

3.Put about 3/4 of the powdered sugar to the mixer bowl and add all of the melted marshmallows.

4.Mix on low speed for a few minutes then check the consistency of the fondant. It will probably still be a little sticky at this point. If it is, add some of the remaining powdered sugar and mix again for a minute or so. Repeat this step until the fondant is firm and neither dry or sticky.

5.Turn out on to a clean, firm work surface that has been slightly greased by shortening and knead by hand just for a minute until there are no flecks of dry powdered sugar remaining. Wrap in cling wrap and let the fondant rest for at least an hour before using.

We rolled fondant balls in both pink and black to add to the base of the cakes. I had made a full batch of white marshmallow fondant and then dyed a small portion pink and an even smaller amount black. The balls are all supposed to be shaped irregularly, and then left the rest of the fondant white.

We rolled out and cut the fondant. Here is the pink fondant that we are cutting into strips using a pizza cutter.

First we cut 3/4 to 1 inch strips...

Then smaller 1/4 inch strips in between.

Here's the second layer, frosted with pink buttercream and then covered with white fondant. Then we used pre-made black frosting from a tube to write the number 9 and the trails for the "treasure map" portion of the cake. Pink fondant are the "X" marks the spot.

Finally we cut a circle of black fondant for the cake topper. I was going to make a skull out of fondant and then I had a new idea. I had a Stampin' Up rubber stamp set that I had been using for her invitations, party favors and other such things, I pressed the stamp image into the top of the cake and it left an impression. I followed the impression with frosting and essentially drew the skull on top with cute heart eyes. Now it matched everything else at the party! YAY!

To finish it off we added one simple rose to the top of the skull. It is of course a girl skull for a GIRLS pirate party! I thought it was perfect. I wrote her name at the top and Happy Birthday on the bottom.

TA DAH! I think it LOOKS MARVELOUS!!

Time For Crafts

Olive Oil--What's the difference?

Beef Stroganoff

Corn on the Cob Cooking Tips

Cake Batter Ice Cream

Zucchini Lettuce Wraps

Green Bean Side Dish

Chicken and Rice Soup

Colored Glue Art Project

Asian Salad

Hair Bow Holder

Cocoa Kiss Cookies

Pretzel Bites

Chewy Granola Bars

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bites

Crock Pot Bajio Green Chile Chicken Salad

Zucchini Carrot Bars

Nacho Cheese Dip

Samoa Cookie Bars

Felt Flowers For Headbands or Clips

Pancake Art

Banana Bread Pancakes

Buttery Biscuits... only 4 ingredients needed!

Church Quiet Book... ready in 5 minutes!

Frozen Butterbeer Drink

Brownie Cookies

Peacock Feather Headband

Chocolate Covered Fruit

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

{{Cinnamon Roll Pancakes}}

(printer friendly version)

Tips:

Banana Bread

Chocolate Filled Raspberries

Buttermilk Syrup

Greek Yogurt & Nutella Fruit Dip

Oreo Truffles

Taco Tuesday

Creamy Fettucine Alfredo Sauce

Brownie Shish Kabobs

S'more Cups

S'more pops

Pizza Rolls

Watermelon Lemonade Slushies

Pumpkin Craisin Muffins

Berry Fruity Salad

Mango Quinoa Salad

Donut Breakfast Muffins

S'more Cookies

Fluffy Pink Cake

Piglet Cake

M&M Cake Directions

Pirate Cake