Chocolate Pretzel Treats

Mmmm..... What is better than sweet chocolate and crunchy salty pretzels!? I love the combination and these bite size treats are amazing! Easy to make and fun to have at a party or just for a sweet afternoon snack.

Here are the ingredients that you need for these:

{{Chocolate Pretzel Treats}}

24 pretzels (square waffle ones work the best, but you can you use the twists too!)
24 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped
M&M's or other candy coated chocolates

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Next, place all the pretzels on the baking sheet and top each of them with an unwrapped candy kiss in the center off the pretzel.

Third, place the baking sheet in the preheated oven for about one to two minutes, until the kiss becomes soft and shiny. (You want the chocolate soft, but you don't want the kisses to lose their shape.)

Finally, remove them from the oven and place one M&M in the center of each pretzel and gently press down. Chill these delectable treats in the refrigerator until chocolate is set again. Then control yourself and try not to eat them all at once!
Also... a few variations of this recipe include topping the chocolate kiss with a peanut M&M or a peanut butter M&M (instead of the plain kind). Also you can replace the kiss with a caramel filled Rolo and then top them with a whole pecan for a sweet chocolate turtle treat. The possibilities are almost endless.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

{{Neiman Marcus Cookies}}

2 cups butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal, then blend in a blender to a fine powder)

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
24 oz. chocolate chips
1- 8 oz. Hershey chocolate bar (grated)
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice- walnuts, pecans, etc. I've also made the cookies with no nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and both sugars. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Mix together flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to butter/sugar mixture. Add chocolate chips, grated Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Makes about 10-12 dozen cookies.

This recipe makes A LOT of cookies. Recipe can be cut in half for half as many cookies (obviously!) and even better the recipe can be quartered and it makes about 3 dozen cookies. Much nicer for a small family of 4. Sometimes the numbers get crazy when you are trying to downsize a recipe and I always make mistakes, so I like to write them down.

Here's the measurements for the

{{1/2 recipe}}
1 cups butter

1 cups granulated sugar

1 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal, then blend in a blender to a fine powder)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

12 oz. chocolate chips

4 oz. Hershey chocolate bar (grated)

1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (your choice- walnuts, pecans, etc. I've also made the cookies with no nuts)

Here's the measurements for the

{{1/4 recipe}}

1/2 cups butter

1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cups brown sugar

1 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cups flour

1 1/4 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal, then blend in a blender to a fine powder)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. chocolate chips
2 oz. Hershey chocolate bar (grated)
3/4 cups chopped nuts (your choice- walnuts, pecans, etc. I've also made the cookies with no nuts)

Yummy Dehydrated Apples

Start with your favorite apple.

Slice the apples into thin pieces. (Use an apple peeler, corer and slicer tool to make it easier.)

To help prevent browning, create a lemon juice bath for the apple slices using water and lemon juice. About 2 T lemon juice to 2 quarts of water.

Remove apples from the water and lemon juice solution and place the apples on the dehydrating tray. Remember to leave some space between the apples to allow the hot air to move around and make the drying process a little bit faster.
Take cinnamon red hot candies and place them in a blender and pulse until they turn then into a fine powder. Put the candy powder into a flour sifter and sprinkle the candy powder over the apple slices.
Dehydrate the fruit for several hours until the fruit becomes dry to the touch. Remember to rotate the trays since some of the trays closest to the heat source will dry faster than the ones farther away. Some of the fruit will finish before other pieces, so pull off those that finish early. Store the fruit in an air tight container.
Here are the finished product. It is amazing... I thought that the apples were going to have a cinnamon flavor, but they didn't. It just sweetens the apples and gives them a fun, vibrant red color.

Zucchini Oatmeal Bread

I'm back.... One year later! Finally! Here is a yummy, chewy zucchini bread with oatmeal. It's a great hearty bread.

Zucchini Oatmeal Bread

3 eggs well beaten

2 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2 cup grated zucchini (do not peal)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 cup flour (can use 1 cup white and 1 cup wheat)

1 cup oatmeal

Add the sugar to the beaten eggs, then add the oil, applesauce, grated zucchini and vanilla. Add the spices and salt to the flour, then add this with the oatmeal to the sugar and egg mixture. Bake in two greased and floured bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Easy Snack for Kids

Ritz crackers
Peanut Butter
Apple slices

Spread some of the peanut butter on each cracker and then top with half of an apple slice.

The kids loved these healthy little snacks and they were super easy to make! YAY!
You can also top the crackers & peanut butter with a small slice of cheese.

Banana-Pillar

Adorable right! What kid wouldn't want to GOBBLE this right up! Heck... I want to gobble it up! Nice fun and healthy snack for kids.

Banana-Pillar

Banana
Stick Pretzels, broke in half
Peanut Butter
Mini Chocolate Chips
Red Gummy Bear, cut in half

Peel banana and slice. Push a half stick of pretzel into each side of the banana. Smear a small amount of peanut butter onto the banana and stick another banana onto it. Continue until the entire banana has pretzels and peanut butter on them to form the body of the cater- I mean Banana-pillar. After the body is ready, take two mini chocolate chips and using a small amount of peanut butter, stick them on for the eyes. Then using half of the gummy bear, stick that on as the mouth/tongue! Ta DAH!

Serve it to the kids and watch their eyes widen in amazement. You can also try to serve it on a lettuce leaf (you know as if the little guy was sitting on a leaf) and maybe if you are lucky the kids will be so excited about eating the adorable banana-pillar, they will eat the lettuce leaf too!

Macaroni & Fruit Chicken Salad

Macaroni & Fruit Chicken Salad


16 oz noodles, any variety (I chose the bowtie pasta)
2 large boneless chicken breasts
salt, pepper, minced garlic, dried onions
Grapes, cut in half
Celery, chopped
Apples, diced
Green Onions, chopped
1 part Fat Free Plain Vanilla Yogurt
1 part Mayonnaise
Salt, pepper and celery salt to taste



Cook 16 oz noodles according to directions on package. Use two different noodles for variety. Rinse noodles with cool water.


In another pot cover chicken breasts with hot water and add seasonings, salt, pepper, minced garlic & dried onions. Remove chicken from broth and cut into pieces. Allow chicken to cool.

While noodles and chicken are cooling cut up fruits and vegetables.

Put all ingredients into a large bowl and add the yogurt and mayonnaise. Stir until coated well. Add the seasonings to taste. Chill in refrigerator for a few hours prior to serving. If made a day in advance, right before serving add some extra yogurt to freshen up the salad.