FMM: Winter Recipes

Amber is once again hosting Friend Makin Monday. This week she is asking:

"What is your favorite recipe for this time of year?"

I have a few favorite dinner/baking recipes that I love for this time of year, (I posted one of them yesterday, Pumpkin Pie in a Bag) so I wanted to change it up a lil bit for FMM. With it being football season and the holidays, I LOVE to snack. I thought I would share another recipe love that I have....DIPS....I LOVE to graze on chips and dip. It's the perfect activity while watching a football game or waiting for a holiday meal to be prepared (although not the healthiest activity). It's a yummy dip recipe that I learned from a good work friend a couple of years ago called Corn Dip.

Corn Dip

2 cans Mexican Corn (drained)

16 oz sour cream

1 cup real mayo

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch cilantro

2 cups cheddar cheese

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cummin

1/4 tsp lime juice

Mix everything but the onions and cilantro together. Chop the onions and the cilantro in a food processor (or you can chop finely by hand or blender). Then mix the cilantro and onions with all the other ingrediants. Chill overnight and then serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

For other great recipes, be sure and check out Friend Makin Monday.

Happy Monday!

Pumpkin Pie in a Bag

Yesterday we had an early Pre-Thanksgiving gathering to accomodate one of my sisters work schedule. We had a great time spending the day with family! Brayden especially LOVES anytime he gets to spend with his big cousin, Zach (he's 16), aunts, uncle, grandparents and great grandparents. He is definitely a lil entertainer with all these extra family members as his audience. :)

Since we were celebrating a lil early and it was just our immediate family, I thought it would be a perfect time for Brayden to try out a recipe we do in first grade: Pumpkin Pie in a Bag! It's super easy, but just a warning, it can be a lil messy too.

Pumpkin Pie in a Bag

*** This recipe here is for about 24 students, so I just halved it for us to make at home. It made about 6 full mufflin liners.
Materials:
• 2 cups cold milk
• 2 packages (4 serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• Graham crackers - enough for 25 squares
• 1 can whipped topping or tub of Cool whip
• 1 gallon freezer bag per group
• Muffin liners

Directions:
1. Combine the milk and instant pudding in the freezer bag.
-Remove the air and zip lock shut.
-Squeeze and kneed with hands until blended for about 1 minute.


2. Add the pumpkin and spice.
-Remove the air and zip lock shut.

Sorry...don't look to closely at the details of what is in our bag. I didn't read my own recipe and put the pumpkin in before I did the pudding mix...oops. :)
-Then squeeze and kneed with hands until blended for 2 minutes.

Of course, I had to add in a lil "math" lesson. We had 6 volunteers in the room, so I had him count to 10 as they each kneaded his mixture for him. Then had everyone repeat the kneading process.
3. Break graham crackers into squares and then put into cupcake holder for the "crust".
4. Cut off the corner of your freezer bag and squeeze about 2 tablespoons of pie filling onto each graham cracker.

Now if you have a stubborn lil child like I do, he insisted that it had to be "cooked" before he ate it. To appease him, I stuck it in the refrigerator, set the microwave timer and waited for it to ding. :)

5. Garnish with whipped topping and enjoy!

He also had to make his "annual Native American" hat to wear as we ate. I must say, I am very impressed with his cutting abilities nowdays...especially since he had to use "grownup" scissors rather than his own.

Happy Early Thanksgiving!!

"Fall Mix" Recipe

I put together a tasty lil treat this past weekend that I thought I would share.

First, I came across THIS really great recipe for a Candy Corn Bark that I thought looked DELICIOUS. I thought it would be great because 1)I LOVE candy corn and 2)I LOVE to make peppermint bark during the Christmas season...so I thought it was the PERFECT combination. After having to go to 2 stores just to find candy corn and Halloween oreos (pre-Halloween) I was ready to go with my candy corn bark. Well, that is until I found THIS great recipe for a Monster Mix from one of my favorite blogs. I couldn't choose between the two so instead I decided I would do the next best thing.....combine the two. =)

So I...

Combined in a large bowl:
* miniature marshmallows
* Reese's pieces (I couldn't find halloween M&M's)
* Halloween Oreo's (broken up)
* Pretzal sticks (I broke into 1/3)
* Candy Corn
(I didn't really measure, just put in an equal amount of each.)



Then I melted white almond bark in the microwave and stirred it into the mixture. After it was evenly coated, I scooped it onto wax paper to dry (sort of like peanut clusters).

It turned out DELICIOUS!! Now of course, I couldn't quite eat the whole batch myself, so I decided to share it with my teammates at work.

Favorite Fall Recipe: Caramel Rice Krispie Ball

Over the summer, I shared one of my favorite summer recipes so I thought with the new season I should share one of my favorite Fall recipes. This can be perfect for large group if you have any parties coming up.

Caramel Covered Marshmallow Rice Krispie Ball

{not sure of the official name}

They are super easy to make, especially if you have a special lil helper!

Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter
1 bag caramels
Rice Krispies
10 ounces bag Large Marshmallows
Toothpicks

Before you begin, have your special lil helper remove all the plastic from the caramels.

Directions:
1. Melt milk, butter and caramels in a double boiler. Stir often.

2. Stick a toothpick into a marshmallow and dip into caramel mixture.
3. Roll into rice krispies and then set on wax paper to dry.

TADA!.....the finished product:

This particular batch isn't necessarily the "prettiest" things in the world, but I would rather sacrifice the looks to keep my sweet and special lil helper around. =) Also you might notice from the picture, I decided to leave the toothpicks in. Hopefully this way it won't be quite as messy when eating (especially for Brayden), but you can remove them if you would like. When finished, I like to refrigerate the leftovers.

Hope you enjoy! and Happy Fall!

YUMMY Kool-Aid Popsicles

It's so funny how something as simple as Kool-Aid and popsicle molds can be SO EXCITING to a 4 yr old (and of course a mommy too). Here is a super easy, fun, and cheap classic that we did today: Kool-Aide Popsicles

1. Mix Kool-Aid (we chose Black Cherry) with 1 1/2 cups sugar and water. Stir well.


(Please ignore the white "chalky" look he has going on. Its just sunscreen
he didn't get washed off really good in the shower. Sometimes it works a lil to well, you really have to SCRUB on it!)

2. Pour into popsicle molds. (After going to Amazon, I found you can get a variety of different styles such as Rocket Ships, Jewels, and Cute Sprials.) We also poured some leftover Kool-Aid into ice molds as well.



3. Wait about 6 hours and then ENJOY!
After we each took a lick, we looked at each other with grins and both said "that is sooo yummy!". In fact we liked them so much we both had 2 and quickly made our second set for tomorrow. =) It was sooo simple and basically after you purchase the molds, your only cost is about 20 cents for Kool-Aid and the cost of sugar.

On a side note: I had looked up the recipe after we bought the kool-aide and saw most of the recipes online actually added a box of jello as well. Not quite sure what it will do to it, but tonight when we were at Wal-Mart I went ahead and bought some so we could try it out if we want. We really did LOVE the way we did it though so we might just stick with our original recipe. =)

BEST Cake Receipe EVER!

Needing to make a birthday cake anytime soon? Here is the BEST cake receipe EVER! (Well, according to Brayden and his baking skills.)

Ingredients:
1 whole can of Red sprinkles
1/4 cup Shredded Cheese
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 handful of Hint of Lime Tositos (broken into lil pieces)
4 squirts of red icing in can
1 marshmallow
1 leaf
Candles




1. In one bowl, pour all of the red sprinkles into it.
2. In a seperate bowl, take a handful of chips and break them into small pieces. Then combine onion powder, chesse and icing with the sprinkles and stir until well blended.
3. Now combine all your ingredients, stirring vigorously.
4. Place mixture in your cereal holder. Be sure to put your other bowl on the bottom to catch the mixture. Spin the mixture until it is finished.
5. Place in microwave to bake. (Be sure not to turn the microwave on, you just pretend on this one.) As you remove the bowl, be sure to use hot pads as you remove it from the microwave.
6.In the bottom bowl, add a marshmallow to the middle of the cake. As an extra added embellishment, you can add a leaf next to the marshmallow as a decoration. Be sure to add the correct amount of candles for your celebration.
7. Enjoy your cake, your all done.

**Unfortunately there is no picture of the final result. Then again most cookbooks don't show the final results either. You'll just have to trust us on how delicious it is. =)


Don't you just love Brayden's lil concoction that he created? This is what he was "working" on as I finished my assignment tonight. He kept telling me that he was baking a cake. Lucky for him I was to focused on my assignment to stop his baking skills. He is such a lil creator! I am so thankful to have such a sweet lil guy that can be so self entertaining. =) After he went to bed, I finally got a chance to watch some "mommy shows" on the DVR and as I was scrolling down I came across a new show that we had recorded: TLC's Ultimate Cake Off I realized then thats where his new cake obsession came from. As we watched the show, he was just in aww the whole time. I think it helped that they were making shark cakes too. After we originally watched the show (it was on Monday night) I deleted it. Well of course a few days later he wanted to watch it again. Thankfully TLC repeats its shows over and over, so I was able to rerecord it this afternoon. He's going to be so excited to know we have it back on the DVR. If you didn't get a chance to see it, I would highly recommend watching it. They have some AMAZING talent along with another favorite of ours Ace of Cake on the Food Network.

Summer Recipe: Fruit Pizza

I thought I would share one of my favorite summertime recipes: Fruit Pizza. I found this recipe originally from Pillsbury’s website about 8 years ago and have been making it every summer with my own lil twist. (I’m sure it could really be made all year-round if you'd like.) It is so fun and EASY to make!

Prep Time: about 45 minutes (+ extra hour for refrigeration)

Ingredients:

1 (18 oz) pkg Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookie dough (I usually get whatever brand is cheapest.)

1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened (I usually get the fat free Wal-Mart brand.)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Your Fruit of choice: I use fresh strawberries, purple grapes, 2-3 kiwis, and a small can of mandarin oranges. (The original recipe used strawberries, fresh blueberries, and 1 cup fresh peach slices. I'm not into blueberries or peaches so I changed it up for my tastes.) Bananas are great with it also. To prevent the bananas from browning, I only use them if I know the majority of it will be gone within the day of preparation.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice cookie dough as directed on package. Then arrange slices in the bottom of an ungreased pan. I use my Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan. Press dough evenly in pan, using floured fingers if necessary.

2. Bake at 350 degress for 11-16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.

3. While the cookie dough is cooking and cooling I prepare the fruit. I cut the strawberries, grapes and kiwi into small edible pieces. Then I drain the mandarin orange juice and cut the slices into thirds.

4. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla; beat until fluffy.

5. Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled cookie crust.

6. Arrange fruit over cream cheese. (I use to try to strategically place the fruit in nice, neat rows in an attempt that every piece would have each fruit. I have since discovered it is way faster and easier to just take a handful of one fruit at a time and just scatter it around the pizza.)

7. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Cut into squares and then enjoy!

8. Store in refrigerator.