Cookies and Cream Puppy Chow

Cookies and Cream Puppy Chow

Delish, Easy, and Kid Approved!

Well last week was a whirl wind, we moved out of our house and into temporary housing while we await our new home being finished.  Right in the middle of all of this my oldest daughter had her very first Halloween party at gymnastics.  I needed to make something quick and easy that was kid approved and could be eaten in a gymnastics waiting room by kids 18 months to 3 years old with out too much of a mess.  That's easy right?  Well, after thinking about it and realizing I needed to also be able to make it with the few pots and pans that were not packed and ready to go to storage I thought about puppy chow.  This is a snack I never heard of before we moved to Nebraska but its one that my little one really likes, and it couldn't be any easier to make.  Basically its chex cereal, peanut butter, chocolate, and confectioner's sugar.  Since this was a special occasion,  I decided to kick it up with mini oreos making it cookies and cream puppy chow - a twist the kids and the movers liked (since I gave them the left overs I had not packaged for the kids).  I also liked this because I was able to make individual bags for this kids and label them with a peanut butter warning so if any kids were allergic parents/care givers could keep them away from them.  Which is so important when dealing with little ones.  Every packet I made went quickly and everyone asked me how I made it, a surprise since I assumed most people here already knew how.  Definitely recommended as a quick, sweet, picky food!

Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:

1 bag of milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

7 cups of corn chex

1 bag of mini oreos

1 cup powdered sugar

In a large saucepan melt your chocolate chips and peanut butter.  Pour your chex cereal and oreos into the chocolate and peanut butter mixture and stir coating everything.  In a large plastic bag pour your confectioner's sugar then dump your coated cereal and oreos into that bag.  Shake the bag liberally coating everything with the powdered sugar.  Store in a sealed container.

How easy is that?  For the holidays you could definitely add some red and green sugar sprinkles to your confectioner's sugar and serve this in a bowl at your party. 

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DIY Christmas Photo Sessions

Who doesn't love having holiday photos done of their little ones?

Who doesn't have sticker shock when you are faced with the price of the photo?

Here is a simple DIY holiday photo shoot!

This weekend was crunch time at our house, not only did we need to finish packing up our belongings before the movers come, we also needed to stage our holiday photos.  Sounds early right?  Well, we plan to be in temporary housing leading into Thanksgiving week then be on the move through the New Year - so if I didn't get them done it wasn't happening this year. 

My oldest is 20 months, so pictures with her are a challenge, especially with a stranger behind the camera.  We were able to get some great shots on our own with some easy staging, then using the link below I did some cropping and photo effects to make our holiday photos look professional.  I can't share the photos of both kids... you'll have to wait for Christmas cards for that, but as you can see by the photo above this method worked wonderfully.  The total cost of prints from Walmart was under ten dollars, and I burned them onto a CD - a cost which is typically $100 or so for free (I already had the CD).

Here is what I did:

For the backdrop I bought some Christmas wrapping paper and hung it from the wall. - $.98

I placed a package of shatter-proof ornaments on the paper (this also occupied the kids with something new to explore) and I plugged in a strand of white lights and turned them on.  $7.94 total

My husband and I thought Christmas PJ's would be fun for our little ones this year so I dressed them up in matching jammies and slippers - and I topped the kids off with Santa's hat.  We just started shooting the camera and talking with the kids casually.  This led to some great photos.  We didn't worry about getting close up or really anything, we just focused on the kids.  After about 10 minutes we were done. 

After downloading the photos to our computer I went onto the following link:
http://pixlr.com/editor/

This is a Free site for photo imaging.  Just follow the directions and play around with it.  It has great shading, editing, tones and much more and was very simple to use.

Here was my original photo:

Here is what I was able to do with it - I just cropped, encircled, and added some shading.

When I printed this out I was in love!  I could not have been happier with the results and will be sharing this with our family this holiday season.

I hope these tips are useful for you and give you some inspiration when you decide to create your holiday photos.  You CAN do, just give it a try! We couldn't have been happier if a professional had done them, and we love the savings!

Good Luck and Happy Holidays.

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Pizza Dip

Super Easy, Super Fast

Pizza Dip

This week is the big move at our house, so needless to say very little has been coming out of my kitchen.  However, Saturday was game day and I needed to think of something that I could make that would be quick and easy, while also meeting the game day stamp of approval from my husband.  I decided that I would make a pizza dip rather than make dough and pull an entire pizza together.  This took me no time, in fact I would recommend it if you have somewhere to go but very little time to pull something together.  It was warm and delicious - both on game day as well as reheated the next day.  I served it with garlic toast slices, but it would be great with just crackers - which is how we had it as a left over.  If your family is a fan of pizza I think this would be a great dip to try for your next event.

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
1 brick of room temp cream cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Pepperoni Slices
1 - 16 oz package of mozzarella cheese
left over marinara sauce (or if you wanted a half jar of premade marinara sauce or pizza sauce)

Preheat your oven to 350.  In your mixer, cream your cream cheese, Parmesan cheese and mayonnaise.  Then spray a 9 inch pie dish and put your mixture across the bottom of the dish.  I then used two ladles of left over marinara sauce and poured it over the cream cheese mixture as a second level.  Finally, top with the cheese.  I added pepperoni because that is what my family enjoys, however you could add any pizza topping your family loves.  Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until bubbly and your cheese begins to golden.  Serve warm with bread, garlic toast, or crackers.

Enjoy!



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Simple Go To Banana Bread

Warm and Fresh

Banana Bread

Every week I buy bananas, and many weeks we just don't get to the whole bunch before they over ripen.  So, I make banana bread at least twice a month.  Its quick and easy to make - I usually make it after dinner, and tastes great along with coffee the following morning.  My husband usually takes a loaf into work with him for the office to share and it seems to always be a hit with his coworkers, but if I make it on the weekend, my daughter loves it with a little butter on top served warm.  This is a can't go wrong recipe that I think you'll love.  You can make it simple just the basic bread with banana in it, or you can add to it with walnuts or chocolate chips.  I do several variations and all are very good.

Here's a tip that I didn't know until a few years ago, when your bananas start to over ripen just peel and place in a Ziploc bag in the freezer until you are ready to use them.  This helps me out because some weeks I may have one banana left and other weeks two or three so I can save them until I have enough to bake.  Also, if you need a quick bake method and you don't have enough over ripened bananas to make a bread, just use banana baby food.  This gives you the same great banana flavor with out having to wait a couple of days on the bananas to ripen.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 c flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-5 ripe bananas - smashed

Optional Additions:
1 cup Walnuts or 1 cup mini chocolate chips


Start by preheating your oven at 375.  With your electric mixer cream butter, brown and white sugar, and vanilla extract. Add your eggs one at a time. Combine your dry ingredients (baking soda, flour, and salt) in a separate mixing bowl, then slowly add this to your wet ingredients.  Finally, add your bananas and mix all together.  This will make a light cake like batter.  If you choose to add nuts or chocolate chips fold them in at this time.  Spray your loaf pan and pour your batter into it.  Place in the center of your oven and bake for 55- 60 min until knife inserted comes out clean.

Good luck!

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Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

Make Ahead

Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

French Toast is something I make for my family, we have a large breakfast each weekend so it tends to find its way to our table about once a month.  I really like to make a french toast casserole because I can make it the night before, after my kids are in bed, let it set up in my fridge and then just have to bake it in the morning.  This weekend, I decided to try and make a Pumpkin French Toast.  Well, it was a big hit, and not only was it great with bacon and orange juice but it was delicious cool as a snack later that day and the next morning with coffee.  I think it would make a great brunch menu item for the fall or even breakfast treat on Thanksgiving or Christmas morning.  The pumpkin and cinnamon mixture is warm and fall like - making this a delicious addition to your fall comfort foods.

Here is how I did it:

Ingredients:

1 loaf of cinnamon bread

1 can of pumpkin puree

3 large eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup maple syrup

Cube your entire loaf of cinnamon bread.  In a separate bowl mix pumpkin puree, large eggs white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup.  In a large bowl coat your bread with the pumpkin mixture, spray your 9x13 baking dish, and then place the mixture in your baking dish.  Cover your dish with plastic wrap and place in your fridge.  You can let this sit over night or for about an hour.

When you are ready to bake this, preheat your oven to 350 and then bake for 40 minutes.  When your are ready to serve, cut into squares and top with syrup and butter or whipped cream- both are delicious.

Hope your family enjoys this as much as my family!

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Piled High Apple Pie with Caramel

Piled High Apple Pie with Caramel Pieces

A Delightful Twist to Mom's Apple Pie

Fall is apple season, and I, like many of you, have wonderful childhood memories of apple picking and pie making with my mom and grandmother.  Apple pie has always been a fall staple at our house, one of my dad's favorite desserts, and something my mom would make a few times through out the fall season.  It always lands on our table for Thanksgiving dessert as well.  We all love it, and its one of those things you don't need to fancy up for guests.  This weekend was the first really cool weekend here in Nebraska so I decided to make an apple pie for my family to enjoy.  Since I am trying to clean out my pantry before our move, I did add one thing to my typical recipe - Caramel Bits, they melted nicely in with the apples while cooking and gave just a hint of melted caramel every few bites.  My family enjoyed this dessert and I think it will make it this way to our Thanksgiving with this new caramel addition.

Here's my apple pie recipe, it piles high in a 9 inch pie pan and looks fabulous on your table - it tastes even better.  Hope you try it an enjoy every bite with your loved ones.

Ingredients:

5 Granny Smith Apples Peeled and Cubed into 1/2 inch squares

8 Red Apples - I used Jonah's this weekend and they were perfect, Macintosh are also very good.  Also peel and cube these into 1/2 inch squares

1 cup White Sugar

1 T Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 T Lemon Juice

1 C Kraft Caramel Bits

2 Packages of Jiffy Pie Crust - follow directions for making (I always use two boxes although the single box says it makes 2 pie crusts I never get what I want out of just one and two gives me a nice thick crust)

1 egg

2 T cinnamon sugar

To start preheat your oven to 350.  Then peel and dice your apples, add the lemon juice to your apples.  Mix your sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small dish then pour over your apples coating all apples.  Toss in your caramel bits.  Let this sit while you roll out your dough.

I use a 9 inch glass pie pan.  I roll my bottom pie crust out and lay it in my dish, then I pour my apple mixture in and cover with my top crust.  Using a fork I pierce the top for air holes.  Then, I also use my fork to seal around the edges of the pie.  Finally I scramble my egg and coat the top crust with the egg wash - this makes a golden shine on your pie.  If you like take 2 T of cinnamon sugar and dust the top of your pie for a cinnamon sugar glow.

Bake in your oven on 350 for 45-53 minutes until golden brown.  I let mine sit for about 30 minutes before I cut and serve. 

Hope you enjoy this delicious apple pie.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Cup Cakes

"Buckeye Cup Cakes"

 

My husband is a graduate of Ohio State, and I usually make buckeye candies for him a few times through out the football season.  Tonight the buckeyes are playing Nebraska, and since we currently live in Nebraska this is a big deal.  This coupled with the fact that we are getting ready to move (PCS) we have a party to attend tonight to watch the game and say farewell to all our Nebraska friends.  So, I was trying to think of something new and tasty to make and bring with us.  In the past I have made milky way cup cakes, which were a big hit, so I thought - Why no peanut butter cup cakes?  They would have the same flavors that buckeye candy has, I could frost them with the same look, and it would be a fun twist.  So I tried them.  I used a box cake for my chocolate cake - how much easier can that be?  I just placed a mini Reese's peanut butter cup in the center of the batter of each cup cake before baking.  This melted nicely into the cake as it baked - leaving a creamy peanut butter center.  For frosting I just bought creamy white Pillsbury's frosting - already made.  In my mixer I added a 1/2 c of creamy peanut butter to the frosting.  This made a nice soft peanut butter frosting.  I piped this onto the entire cupcake.  Then, I used a pre-made chocolate frosting and piped it around the edge of the cupcakes - making it look like a buckeye nut and adding that yummy chocolate flavor.

These are chocolaty, peanut buttery, and delicious.  So good you don't have to be an Ohio State fan to enjoy them - even a Michigan fan would love them!  Hope you try them, and enjoy them as much as we did!

In the words of my husband... Go Bucks!

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No Sew Thanksgiving Turkey Applique

Tom Turkey Thanksgiving Applique

I love the look of appliques on kids clothes, and there are some really talented people out there who can make things that are just outstanding - but can be pretty expensive.  For my daughter's first birthday and for some other special occasions I bought several of this type of clothing and wished I could have done it myself.  Well, I was thinking about my grandmother and remembered that when I was a kid she made holiday sweat shirts with appliques on them that she didn't have to sew.  So I searched my memory and remembered that she used stitch witch to make hers along with fabric swatches, so I thought I would give this a try (but in plenty of time to order my kids one from a "professional" if it didn't turn out like I wanted).  I am more than pleased with how this turned out, I made two, exactly the same so my girls will match on Thanksgiving, and I spent under twenty dollars - total.  What a deal, I spent more than that on one last year!  Not to mention they look like a professional made them.  I can't wait to show my kids off in these shirts come Turkey Day! 

To make the turkey body I used brown fabric - I bought 1/4 yard and was able to make two of these shirts, and have enough for one more.  I took a country crock butter tub top and a sour cream tub top and stacked them like I was making a snowman.  I then traced that onto my fabric and cut my turkey body out.

For the feathers, I took a piece of cardboard and cut out a feather shape.  I then traced this on 6 different color patterned fabrics - I bought an 1/8 of a yard of each fabric and have extra to spare. 

For the beak, I just free hand cut a triangle with one of my orange based color fabrics.  For the neck I used some left over red fabric and again free hand cut that shape.

To make the pattern stick I bought stitch witch - it is sold in rolls of 7 yards a package and cost $4.99.  This is really easy to use, the directions are on the package but you simply put the fabric on the adhesive, bottom side down and run an iron over it.  Then you peel the fabric up - the backside will be sticky, and like a puzzle you then piece your turkey together on your shirt.  The stitch witch does not bind to your fabric until you iron it back on so you can move everything around until you get it just as you want it.  Once you have everything as you want it to look - run your iron over the fabric pieces and its done.

You'll notice I made 2 shirts - 1 is 24 months and one is 6/9 months.  I used the same size turkey, I just spread the feathers onto the back of the smaller shirt, so it looks as if the turkey is wrapping around the body.  Also, I like a more finished look, so I used gold glitter puff paint and trimmed out the turkey and all its pieces.  This dried looking as if it was stitched all around the parts and really gives a nice pop to shirt.  Finally, I did sew two buttons on as the eyes.  To bring it all together I used a gold thread to match my paint trim.  Both shirts start to finish took me just over an hour.  That includes making my "pattern," cutting, ironing the shirts and the applique, completing the outlining in paint, and sewing the eyes. 

If you like this look and don't want to spend a fortune try this.  As I said it was very simple, looks expensive, and is super cute.  I can't wait to dress my girls up in this!  I will definitely be making something for Christmas now that I know I can do it on my own in such a short amount of time with such a professional look.



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Light and Fluffy Pumpkin Pie Trifle

Perfect for Fall

Light and Fluffy Pumpkin Pie Trifle

Trifles are always a light and fluffy dessert that can be easy to make and are typically a crowd pleaser.  I have been on a pumpkin "kick" since fall started and wanted to try to make a truffle that would have that pumpkin taste I have craving but still have a light consistency.  This totally hit the mark, and I used things I already had in my pantry, which made it even better, since I am getting ready to move and I am trying to empty everything out.  The pumpkin flavor coupled with caramel sauce and light whipped cream make this dessert delicious and I hope its something you'll try.

Ingredients:

1 yellow box cake

1/3 c vegetable oil

3 eggs

1- 15oz can of pumpkin puree (divided)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 T cinnamon sugar

1 large packet of instant sugar free vanilla pudding

3 C milk

1 sleeve of cinnamon graham crackers crushed

1 -12 oz caramel sauce

1 light cool whip container 

To start preheat your oven to 350, then follow the directions to prepare your yellow box cake.  In addition to following the box directions add to the batter your cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1 cup of your canned pumpkin.  Mix well and bake in a 9x13 baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray for 35 minutes.  When finished remove from the oven and allow to cool.

While your cake is cooling, prepare the pudding by mixing your vanilla pudding mix, milk, remaining canned pumpkin, and cinnamon sugar.  Allow this to cool as directed.  Finally, use a chopper to crush 1 sleeve of cinnamon graham crackers.

Once your cake and pudding have cooled using a truffle dish begin to layer your ingredients.  Break up your cake and line the bottom of your dish, then top it with caramel sauce, then a layer of pudding, a layer of cool whip, and a sprinkle of cinnamon graham cracker crumbs.  Repeat this until your dish is full.  On your final layer, top your cool whip with extra cookie crumbs and caramel for decoration. Chill for at least 2 hours and serve.

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