Easy Carmel Corn

You will need:
1 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1 cup butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can sweet condensed milk
2 1/4 cup light brown sugar
Prep:
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper...trust me,
do this first!

Then, pop you some popcorn!
Melt the butter with a wooden spoon...

Once melted, stir in corn syrup and milk and
then the brown sugar...

Stir, stir, stir, stir and stir while bringing
to a boil...
Boil until your candy thermometer reads 220 degrees

If you don't have a thermometer just boil for
3-4 minutes.
It should look creamy with a light caramel
color. If it is ends up clear you have cooked it too long.
And then pour onto your popped popcorn...

And stir...again, with wooden spoons...

Once the kernels are covered, pour it out on the
cookie sheet you first prepped.

Let stand for a bit {ya right...we started
picking at it as it was being poured out} and then eat up!
{If you are making popcorn balls, start making
the balls shortly after you pour it on your sheet.}

Pilgrim Candy Bar Wrapers

What a fun teacher gift for the Thanks giving Holiday, I hope you enjoy

All you need

Candy Bars

and print the Pilgrims from the link below

So easy and cute

http://www.4shared.com/file/70013624/453cd71b/Pilgrim_Candy_Bar_Wrapper_with_Hat.html?dirPwdVerified=68cafba6

Happy Halloween

Haunted House, Count Down Calender

For the House I used

2 large tissue boxes and 1 small one

yellow napkins or tissue paper

stickers or what ever Halloween decals you have

All I did was paint boxes black used a white paint pen or colored pencil to draw the house designs, cut out windows and shutters

Stuffed the boxes with napkins or tissue paper,

Glued boxes together,

Cut out roof pieces and decorate so easy.

Calender

Cardboard

colored paper

Halloween stickers or whatever you have on hand

clear Velcro dots

Just use your imagination I printed of the numbers and saying on my computer and Velcro the number to the cardboard.

I saw this idea and had to try it. It was just what I needed easy and tasty

I made to round cake mixes frosted them and add all the cute Halloween candy they have it was fun for the kids and so quick to do.

With my busy schedule I like the quick and easy and you can still have something fun a creative for you kids for the fun holiday

Pudding Cake

I've had a busy day, I made lasagna in my crock pot, played around with my cricut and baked this delicious cake. A gal I work with gave me the recipe, and it is so yum-tastic.

And the best thing is you can mix it up all depending on the cake mix you use and the flavor of pudding you use.

It is so easy and oh soooo good.

Here's what you need...

1box cake mix (any flavor) I used white

1sm pkg instant pudding (I used coconut cream)

1c sour cream

1/2c water

1/3c oil

Mix well, batter will be thick so spread it around pan and shake in pan to remove all air bubbles, grease pan bake at 350' for 25 to 35 min (depending on what pan you use.

Pudding Frosting

1c milk

1sm pkg pudding (I used coconut cream)

8oz cool whip

Blend together spread over cooled cake and let cool so pudding will set up.

Hope you enjoy making different variations. My next cake will be Chocolate with banana cream pudding and strawberries. I think I'll call it Banana Chocolate Split Cake.

Let me know what you do.

I Did It

I dusted off my cricket machine and decided to realy start using it. I still have a lot to learn, but once I get it broke in and feeling like that old pair of sneakers...well I don't think I'll be able to leave it alone. :) This image was print and cut from Nursery Tails.



Every butterfly needs a little bling so I added small gems to the wings. Look at the dimension you get by adding pop dots and folding the wings up. I left the dragonfly flat which adds even more dimension to the popped butterflies. I Love the look of the printed sentiment and hope to see lots more sentiments on future cartridges.

No Bake Cookie Bars

This is so yum-tastic. It's as easy as making rice krispie treats .
They did not last long in my house. That's how I know it's a good recipe.

Chewy No-Bake Cookies
1 (16-ounce) package of Oreo cookies
5 cups (1 bag) of large marshmallows
4 tablespoons butter
Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to hang over the edges, and set aside.
Place Oreo cookies in food processor (or crush in a large Ziploc bag with a rolling pin) and pulse until crumbly, but not ground.
Melt marshmallows and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl until puffy, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove and pour in ground cookies. Quickly stir to combine, then transfer to baking dish.
Allow to set for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove bars from pan by foil edges. Cut, serve, and enjoy!

Source: Picky Palate

Shark Snack Attack

The kids saw this and wanted to try and make it so we attempted it.

It turned out pretty good

What I used..:
- 1 Watermelon (try to find one with more of an oval shape if you can)
- Blue Jell-O (2 large, 8-serving pkgs)
- Fish-Shaped Candies
- Blueberries (x2 for the eyes)
- Toothpicks (3 or 4)

Other Supplies I used, though all optional:
- Tray (I used a pizza pan)
- Foil
- Saran Wrap
- Blue & Green Markers
- Melon Ball Tool

Directions:
1) Prepare Your Ocean Water
I followed the recipe for Jell-O Jigglers, found HERE, ahead of time. I thought that having blue, Jell-O Jigglers would not only make a fun snack, but looks much more like water than the watermelon used in the original photo. Don't you think?

2) Prepare Your Tray
I covered a pizza pan with aluminum foil and had my children color the foil with blue and green markers. We then covered the colored foil tray with Saran Wrap so that the color would be protected. Remember that your shark will cover a good portion of your tray, so you don't have to completely color it.


3) Cut the Watermelon
Wait... first, let me recommend you wash your watermelon.
Now, lay your watermelon on it's side and decide which end would make a better shark head Slice off the other end at a slight angle (not too much).

Next, rest your watermelon on it's cut side, and decided where you would like the shark mouth. Make sure here that you are adding about an inch or so for the teeth you will be cutting out of the rind. Here, (Make sure to save your wedge for the shark fin!)

Next, with a small knife, carefully score around your shark mouth, only about 2-3 millimeters deep. This will help you to peal off the rind down to your cut so you can begin to form the teeth.

Again, with a small knife, carefully cut away the green rind down to your score lines around the mouth.

4) Remove the Good Stuff
... and SET IT ASIDE! We'll be using that in a bit.
I chose to use a melon baller here, but you may choose to take a knife and cut away all of the watermelon.

5) Cut the Teeth
But before you do that... I rinsed my shark once to get all the sticky off, and set it on some paper towels to help absorb the extra moisture.

6) Add Gills & Eyes
I used a small knife to cut into the rind (careful not to cut all the way through) to make an eye and the lines for the gills behind the mouth.

I broke a toothpick in half and used that to attach a blueberry to the center of each eye.

7) Add a Fin
Take the wedge you cut to form the shark mouth to make your fin. Below you will see how I cut my wedge to get a nice triangle fin.



Then I removed the watermelon from the other side. I placed the fin up to the shark and realized I needed to cut a bit of a curve on the bottom side to have it fit nicely. You may need to do the same.

To attach the fin, I placed a couple of toothpicks into the shark and pushed the fin into place.

8) Finishing Your Shark Attack Snack

Transfer your shark to your tray, if you haven't already.
Fill your shark mouth with your reserved watermelon chunks or melon balls.


Next, cut your Jell-O Jigglers into bit-sized pieces, and arrange them around your shark on the tray.

Finish it off by adding some candy fish to the shark's mouth and the ocean water around him. I didn't do this, but thought some whip cream would even be a fun touch. Messy, but fun. :)




And here's your finished snack.

Snkckers-Stuffed Snickerdoodles

I wasn't expecting these to be so good. Chocolate in snicker doodles? Who does that? Would they taste good? Would the candy explode? Could I call them Snickers doodles? Is this why my pants don't fit? So many Questions.

They were amazing, the chocolate the Carmel, the peanuts. What a winning combination. You can not go wrong with these. Note to self double the batch next time.

What you need....
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fun size or mini Snickers bars (I used mini Snickers, next time I would use fun size)
1/2 cup granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling cookies in


Preheat oven to 375°F.


Beat together butter, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Slowly beat flour mixture into the butter mixture.


In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon. Scoop out about a tablespoon of dough. Press mini Snickers bar into the center, then cover with another heaping tablespoon of dough. Form into a ball, pressing down the edges to cover the chocolate completely. Roll in cinnamon-sugar and place on a greased baking sheet, 3-4 inches apart. Use a flat-bottomed glass dipped in cinnamon sugar to flatten slightly.


Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned.


Makes about 2 1/2 dozen big cookies, depending on whether you use mini or fun size Snickers bars.


Source: Slightly adapted from Sunset, 1998.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

1 box of your favorite brownie mix

1C flour

3 eggs

1/3C Veggie oil

3/4C powder sugar

Preheat oven 350'

Mix brownie mix, flour, eggs and oil in mixer until blended.

Place powder sugar in separate bowl.

For each cookie, scoop 1 rounded tabs dough and place in powdered sugar.

Roll dough gently into balls, coating thoroughly with powdered sugar.

Place on cookie sheets bake 11-13min

So quick and easy they were all gone with in minutes.

Graham Cracker S'mores Candy.

It's summertime!

And you know what that means.

LETS MAKE S'MORES!!!

As soon as I read this recipe I had to make them. I always have s'more kit on hand at all times. sun, rain or snow. I am prepared.

Let's melt butter and brown sugar and pour that creamy, caramel deliciousness over a layer of crunchy graham crackers.

And then bake it.

Until it's almost worth burning your fingertips to shove a bubbling caramel sauce-drenched graham cracker into your face.

Side note:

"Stir continuously" does not mean "leave your wooden spoon in the saucepan and stop stirring long enough to take and find your camera, find your memory card, and take a picture of melting butter and sugar, simply because it looks so good you want to rub it on your face." Who does that? Oh ME

Anyway.

Since we've already established that bikinis are stupid, let's throw fistfuls of broken Hershey bars and chocolate chips and marshmallows over the top and bake it s'more.

mmmmmmmm........HEAVEN,

Here is the actual recipe

12 sheets of graham crackers
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups mini marshmallows
4 Hershey bars, broken into pieces
1 cup milk chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang over the ends, and spray foil with cooking spray. Line graham crackers up on the foil so that the sides are touching.


In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and mixture comes just to a boil (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat and pour evenly over crackers. Bake 5 to 6 minutes, or until bubbly.
Remove pan from oven and immediately sprinkle mini marshmallows, chocolate bar pieces, and chocolate chips over the crackers.


Return pan to oven for another 2-3 minutes, or until marshmallows begin to soften and puff up.


Cool completely. Lift from pan using foil edges; cut into bars and enjoy!

Thank you to Stephnie for the great idea :-)

Here's To You Dad.

The kids made these cute soda bottles for Dad. I drew out the ti's and they colored them, you could also draw out shirts and hats ext..... but they liked the ti's.

Happy Fathers Day!

KooL-Aid Slurpees

All you need is:

1 packet of Kool-Aid
2 cups of club soda
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups crushed ice
and, of course, a blender

This is super easy and so yummy

Step 1 ~ Blend Kool-Aid, sugar, and 1 cup of the club soda on high until the sugar is dissolved.


Step 2 ~ Add the ice and blend until the mixture is smooth.


Step 3 ~ Add remaining cup of club soda and blend away...


Step 4 ~ Pour mixture into glasses and put in freezer for 30 minutes.


Step 5 ~ Yell at your kids to stop opening the freezer to see if they are done yet!!!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

I found this yummy recipe and had to try it out. It was so good the family loved it. It takes a little time to make but it is so worth it.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon honey

*If you are in a hurry I also used a pancake mix that you just add water but I added half water then buttermilk and some honey. And it turned out just as good.

Cinnamon swirl:

2 tablespoons melted butter (Instead of butter we used a little milk to thin it out)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flour

*I tripled the swirl recipe for my family of 5 and when I ran out I added Cinnamon/sugar to the rest of the batter and had a swirl cake with a cinnamon cake on the kids plate.

1. Mix all the ingredients together to make the pancakes and set aside. Preheat your pan or skillet and lightly grease it.

2. Make the Cinnamon Swirl mixture and place it into a a small bottle with a squirt nozzle (the name is escaping me…I used one)or a small baggie with a snip in the corner.

3. Spread your batter into small pancakes on the griddle. Immediately add the cinnamon swirls.

4. Cook the pancakes until small bubbles form on the topside of the pancake and do not fill back in with batter.

5. Flip over the pancakes with a turner and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute.

Buttermilk Syrup (Taste like icing)

4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*The kids loved this syrup

1. In a medium sauce pan, combine butter, sugar, and buttermilk. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Stir, and the mixture will become thick and bubbly.

CUP-CAKE JARS

· Make your favorite cupcake batter recipe. Then spray your cupcake pan thoroughly with cooking spray - don't use your liners so you'll have a nice fit in the jars once your cupcakes are complete! Fill each hole about 2/3 with the batter.

· After your cupcakes have completely cooled on a wire rack, bag them in freezer Ziploc bags and freeze overnight.

· Slice frozen cupcakes in half. Place the bottom half in a jar, pipe with frosting, add the top half, and pipe the top.

· Seal the lids (add your favorite scrapbook paper or a photo of the person of honor on each lid ahead of time.)

· Tie spoons to the side of each jar with twine.

· Refrigerate, Yum!!!

*Use any size jar, it just depends on how much layering you want to do.

Foil Dinners

It's that time, yes camping our family loves to go camping. and I love making foil dinners for our camp-outs. These are a few of our favorite. I would love to hear your favorite foil dinner's. Also I got a new dutch oven and would love recipes that are good and easy for camping if you have any to share I would love to hear them.

Breakfast Nest: Prepare one thin sausage patty made from lean country sausage, place on foil; add 3/4-1 cup frozen hash browns creating a nest in center; add one egg to the nest, wrap. Sprinkle with grated cheese just before serving.

Ranch Chicken: Dip one boneless, skinless chicken breast in melted butter then in 1 packet Ranch dressing mixed with 3/4 cup corn flake crumbs and 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, place on foil. Add sliced strips summer squash and bell peppers, wrap. Sprinkle with grated cheese just before serving. (NOTE: One packet dressing mixed as above will coat 4-6 chicken breasts)

Traditional Foil Dinner: Place thin hamburger patty in center of foil. Add thinly sliced carrots, potato cubes, and rings of onion, salt and pepper to taste, wrap. Sprinkle with grated cheese just before serving.

Seasoning Variations: Try one or more of the following: garlic salt, season salt, lemon pepper, 2-3 tablespoons cream mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, BBQ sauce, sprinkle Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, curry, steak sauce, etc (experiment)

Foil and Cooking Tips:

Use heavy-duty aluminum foil, place shiny side in, spray with non-stick spray to prevent sticking.

Create foil packets by wrapping foil around food using a drug-store wrap: Use foil 3-times the width of the food. Fold sides up creasing foil at edge of food. Keeping edges together, make a 1/2”- 1” fold and crease. Fold 2-3 times – leaving enough room in packet for food expansion and steaming during cooking. Smooth ends flat, make four small triangle folds on each end from edge of food to the edge of foil. Fold ends of foil in using 1/2” folds.

Easter Treat Jar

I made thest for the kids teachers for Easter

Materials

• Glass jar with lid


• brightly colored printed paper


• Bunny embellishment


• Jelly Beans


• Mini tag


• Mini safety pin


• adhesive


• Computer for your tag or use stamps


• Wired ribbon

1. Cut a 1 1/2in wide paper long enough to fit around jar, sand edges use double sided tape to stick to jar


2. Place your embellishment on paper, add your ribbon, and tag


3. Fill with your favorite treat (I used Jelly-bellies)

Yummy Veggies

I love the spring and summer for all it's yummy veggies. This is one the kids most favorite snack's Peppers and Ranch. I just can't wait to start planting my own here soon.

Snack Mix

I make this snack at least once a week, It's easy, healthy and you can mix it up.

I use....

Cheez-it's - any flavor

Pretzels - any kind (I like the small twisties

Chex Cereal - I use corn chex or wheat chex

1 1/2 pkg of dry ranch seasoning mix

Oil

I use the biggest mixing bowl I have layer all the cracker's and cereal. Pour the oil over it (I eye ball the amount it's about a few tbsp) sprinkle the ranch and gently mix, I store in air-tight container.

It's a good snack for the kids, and I take it camping with us.

Have I told you how much I love Cinnamon Rolls :-)

I'm baking/cooking my way through my mothers recipes that she has sent me through the years. I've written a cookbook and I'm starting on my second one. In dedication to her and I'm using a lot of her recipes and making them my own, the core recipe is the same I just change it up a bit. Mom would always make these when we had a young womens activity, She taught all the girls how to make them.

I made these over the weekend and they turned out yummy. The one thing I loved about my mom was I could call her anytime and ask her anything. I loved that she could make anything out of scratch. For example brown sugar. I needed brown sugar did not have any called mom and she told me I could make it from scratch, how cool is that. I'll share that recipes later. Here is my favorite Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls.

2c Water

2T yeast

1/2c Sugar for sweet rolls or 1/8c for bread rolls

6c Flour

1/4c Oil

1 Egg

2t Salt

Mom like to add rasins and pecons (we had a pecon tree so everything had pecons in it) I like them plain but add what ever you want to them.

1. Dissolve yeast in water and sugar let set for 20min till bubbly add 3c of flout


2. Add oil egg and salt add another 3-4c flour, add enough to make a soft dough, mix knead and let rise for 1 hour


3. Form into Cinnamon Rolls or Dinner Rolls


4. Bake 15-20min at 375'

*******Cinnamon Rolls - Roll or pat out into rectangle, spread with soft butter all over, spread cinnamon and sugar all over. Roll up and slice.

*****Icing - Mix Powder sugar and milk till you get the consistency you want. (we like ours thick) drizzle on rolls after baking

Colorful Cupcakes

I pulled of another April Fools prank,

I made meat-loaf cupcakes, with potato frosting,

All you do is make your favorite meat-loaf, fill muffin tin's. make some mashed potato's I made mine extra creamy by adding extra milk and some cream cheese, and mixed it in my mixer. and just added some food coloring.

It turned yummy and I fooled them all :-)

April Fools

Our family LOVES April Fools, We try and out do each other each year. In the past we've had some great pranks, I'll share some with you maybe you could try them with your family. Kool-aid in the shower head (The kids went to school with tinted red hair and skin it was the best) Dead Fly's in the Pizza (We bought fly's from the fishing section of the store they very real looking and I made pizza that night and placed under topping, When they bite into that pizza and saw what they were about to eat was priceless. Saran wrap The Door (I took saran wrap and blocked the doorway to each of kids bedrooms so when the awoke that morning the ran into the wrap it was funny) Sink Spray (The kids got me with this one. Some how they taped the faucet so that when I turned it on the squirted me in the face, they did get me good) Goooo in the undertoo's (I did this on to the hubby, When he was taking a shower I put mayo in the crotch of his under paint let's just say he didn't like feel of the goooo. Let me know what you have done with your family love to hear your coments I'll post what we did this year. I have a few ideas rolling around.

Spring Time Bark

I made some Spring Time Bark, same recipe just used spring candy corn, and spring colored sprinkels.

Recipe is in my febuary post.

Cheddar Onion Bundt

This is such a yummy recipe. My family asks me to make it all the time. If you love using Rhodes Rolls like I to go their web site for more great ideas http://www.rhodesbread.com/

Cheddar Onion Bundt

24 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls

½ cup finely chopped onion

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

¼ cup butter or margarine melted

½ pkg. dry onion soup mix

1½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Sauté onions in 2 tablespoons of butter until onions are clear, but not brown. Add 1/4 cup butter and onion soup mix. Spray bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Cut rolls in half and dip in soup mixture. Layer in bundt pan, alternating with cheddar cheese. Continue dipping and layering until all the rolls are in the bundt pan. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap.Let rise until double in size or until rolls reach the top of the pan. Do not over rise. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cover with foil last 15 minutes of baking. Do not under bake. Remove from pan and immediately invert onto serving platter.

Slow-Cooker Patato's and Spring Veggies

I love my slow cooker so much that it's falling apart. It's so nice to put it in the pot and forget about it for a few hours at least. I use it more in the spring and summer because I'm hardly home or to busy outside to slave over a stove. Plus I love quick and easy meal ideas, and I've found if I take one day to prepare all my week meals it's so much easier.

Here is a family favorite.

2lb small potatoes(any kind you like our family loves red)
2 cups baby-cut carrots, cut lengthwise in half
1large sweet onion cut in half and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound asparagus spears, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
6 tablespoons chopped fresh dill weed
1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt

The great thing about most recipes is you make them to your family's taste

1 Cut large potatoes in half as needed to make similar-size pieces. Place carrots in 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Top with onion and potatoes; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt.
2 Cover and cook on Low heat setting 5 to 6 hours.
3 Add asparagus to cooker. Increase heat setting to High. Cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender.
4 Mix oil, dill weed, lemon peel, mustard and 1 teaspoon salt in small bowl. Pour over vegetables in cooker; stir to coat. Vegetables will hold on Low heat setting up to 2 hours; stir occasionally.

Fruite Pizza

It is officially spring out there, even though it doesn't feel like here, I've started my spring cooking traditions. My kids love this pizza for a fun weekend desert. or after school snack.

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
1 cup whipping cream
1 large container of yogurt
assorted fresh fruit

Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray 14-inch pizza pan or 15x10-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, melted butter and egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 45 minutes.
In medium bowl, beat whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Gently stir yogurt into whipped cream. Spread over cookie pizza. Arrange fruit on top.

Last minute St Patty's Day Idea

If you forgot to put food coloring in the milk this morning or send your child off to school in something green, don't worry...you can still make the most of this fun holiday! Here are a few things you could easily start and finish in an hour:

1. Pick up a six-pack of Stewarts Lemon/Lime Soda; then, peel off the labels for a cleaner look.

2. Make a batch of lemon/lime cupcakes using green liners. If you don't have access to fun liners, opt for white instead and add green sprinkles. I used this recipie

Graham Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
CUPCAKES
1 cup flour
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Mix flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Beat in butter gradually. Beat in sugar and mix thoroughly. Beat in eggs, then vanilla and milk until just mixed. Pour into lined cupcake pan. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out almost clean.

FROSTING

4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 stick butter, room temp.
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 T key lime juice
Mix together ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Frost cupcakes.

The kids will have a fun treat when they come home from school.


Make these little Holiday's fun with out the worry.

Photo Box

Thank you Nicole for the fabulous products from Close to my Heart. What a fun project it was.

All the supplies come from Close to My Heart here is a link if you'd like to make this project http://iotamaker.myctmh.com/ and for more fun ideas visit her blog at http://iotamaker.blogspot.com/



You can also make it a recipe box or card box

ROCK STAR NAILS

I saw this on a show and had to try it, I wanted to see how easy and quick it was.



It's so easy and does not take long at all. I applied it on my tips I have semi long nails they are real nails I don't know if it will work on the acrylic but you can glam your toes and it looks awesome

What you need,


Craft Glitter
Base/top coat polish
Craft tray/ paper plate/ Card Stalk

What to do.

This will basically be the precess (I just did my tips so I put clear just on the tips thn when done with all steps put clear on whole nail a couple coats.)
clear polish
glitter
clear polish
glitter
clear polish
glitter
clear polish
2 to 3 coats should be enough.

when dry you can wash hands to clean off excess glitter

Corn Salsa

Ingredients:
4-5 roma tomatoes chopped
2-4 green onions - chopped
1 can sweet corn - drained
1 can white corn - drained
1 can black eyed peas - drained
1-2 avocado - chopped
1/2 cucumber - chopped
1 minced garlic clove
1 cup fresh cilantro - chopped
1 pkg Italian dressing - prepare as directed (homemade better than bottled)Instructions:Combine all ingredients above. Pour in dressing and stir. Let it refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Healthy No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups oats

1 cup coconut

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup natural sugar replacement

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup skim milk

1 TBS vanilla

measure oats and coconut into a medium bowl and mix together*Bring cocoa powder, dry milk, natural sweetener, corn syrup and milk to a boil in a medium saucepan*Continue to boil 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat*Pour how mixture over oats and coconut mixture and mix well*Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and allow to cool. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate

Makes 36 Cookies

Decrative Candles

What You Need.

candle/candle jar

Ribbon

Buttons

Paper

Stickers

Glue Dots (love them)

Anything you have in your craft drawer

Just design and create it's so easy and inexpensive

Conversation Box MP3 Player

Conversation Box MP3 Player

Materials needed:

Box of Conversations hearts
Pink or Red construction paper
String
2 chocolate kisses
White paper (or contact/sticker paper)
Glue stick or tape
Mini pony bead (optional)
Clear tape

Instructions:

Cut construction paper to wrap around conversations box, like a sleeve
Create headphones… cut and tie string into a "Y", to hide the knot at the center of your "Y" string the mini pony bead to cover… tape the ends of the headphone string to the "kiss" tag at the top of each chocolate Kiss…
Wrap the construction paper tightly around your conversation heart box, crease (don't stick together yet?) now unwrap and find the appropriate place for your "headset" to plug in… tape the string to the inside of the construction paper… and now you can wrap the paper around and use glue stick or tape.

Type out songs on white paper cut out for screen, cut out a circle for controlls

Romantic V-day Ideas or For Any Occation

It’s not easy to come up with creative and easy ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day every year. The good news is it doesn’t have to cost a lot either to make the day special for both of you. Here’s some great ideas to create a memory this Valentine’s Day, not with your pocketbook but with your imagination.

Not Your Typical Box of Chocolates. Empty a box of chocolate (either into your mouth or onto a plate...) Then cut out paper hearts to fill each section of the box. On each cutout, record something about him/her that you love. Be specific, "The way you smell when you come to bed at night," "The way you take care of me when I'm sick," or simply "Your recipe for pancakes." Another Variation. Write down cherished memories of your life together. Fold the cutouts, place them in the chocolate box, and top with a red satin bow. The time you spend coming up with these ideas will contribute to your own romantic mood, and what he thinks is a plain box of chocolates will be a gift they will keep close to their heart forever. And, you can add to the box each year.

Get a Little Dippy. It’s fun, it’s messy (in a good way) and it’s delicious – making chocolate-dipped fruit. Tie on your aprons and melt some chocolate chips in a small pot inside a larger pot of simmering water. Stir in some butter until the mixture is smooth. Then twirl strawberries or seedless tangerine sections in the chocolate and set on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Your decadent dessert will be cool in a few minutes and ready for you to enjoy together.

Time by the Fireplace. Before the kids go to bed, have fun roasting marshmallows. After their lights are out, host your own indoor picnic, complete with a bottle of your favorite beverage and chocolate-covered strawberries. Start Reading Together. Give your sweetie a gift of a book in which you are both interested in. Starting Valentine’s evening, read a new chapter each night before bed. This cozy tradition will allow you to spend some quality time together and often makes for thought-provoking breakfast conversations.

Make a CD of the Songs Special to Your Relationship. Include "your song," songs from your wedding, songs from favorite movies and songs you know your sweetie loves. Add a personal note and leave it on their car seat to find on Valentine’s Day. This way they can play it on their car CD player on their way to work or out doing errands.

Have a Scavenger Hunt. Write a few poems or romantic quotes, wrap candy kisses inside, and hide them around the house. Each note should be a clue to finding the next one. Make sure the final clue lands your sweetie someplace you want to end up for the entire evening.

Cupid Corn Bark

14 whole Oreos, broken up.
1 1/2 C pretzels, broken into pieces. I used the small stick pretzels
1 lb. white chocolate, almond bark or melts found in the bulk food section
1 C Valintine Candy Corn if you can't find it you can Valintine M & M's

Pink and White sprinkles
Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper. Spread broken cookes, pretzels and about 3/4 C of the candy corn onto the waxed paper. Place white chocolate in a container and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds until melted and smooth. White chocolate melts faster and burns easier than chocolate.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with spatula if needed to coat evenly. Sprinkle remaining candy corn and colored sprinkles over the chocolate while it is still wet. Do not let it harden.

Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm. Remove and gently break bark into small pieces. Store in air tight container.

You can do this recipe for each of the holiday just get candy corn for that holiday and sprinkes to match it easy, fun, and sooo good.

Chocolate Dipped Oreo's

OH MY GOSH!! when I saw these I had to make them for my kids and some for me of course, then I had to share them. I love oreo's and this was a great idea. I think it's self explanitory. However I did find out white chocolate burns quicker than dark, after going through 2 bags of white chocolate chips till I got it right. Have fun decorating you can decorate them for any holiday. Great for teachers, friends, neighbors and even your coworkers. Have fun just don't eat them all :-) yes, it will be hard not too.

You can get the take out boxes at any store, in their sesonal section, Your best bet is a craft store.

CAKE POPS

1 box cake mix, any flavor

1 tub frosting,or ½ C - ¾ C homemade frosting

24 oz pkg candy coating(white or chocolate)

Sprinkles

Lollipop sticks

Bake the cake mix according to package directions. Once it's cool, crumble the cake into a large bowl. Place in a large bowl and stir in half of the frosting container or 1/2 cup of your homemade frosting. Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined and thick like a truffle center. Mix in additional frosting if necessary.Roll mixture into 1″ balls and place on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.

Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the flat end of the cake balls. Carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered, remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don't tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too. Insert in a styrofoam block to harden. Decorate as desired.

Best Ever Fried Rice

Best Ever Fried Rice

1-2 Chicken breasts or 10 Chicken Tenders

6Scrambled eggs

2 Carrots (finely grated)

½ White onion (finely chopped)

¾ cup Frozen peas

½ cup Butter

1-2 Garlic cloves (crushed)or

1 tsp. garlic Powder

2 cups White rice (not instant)

Marinate chicken in soy sauce, if you do not have much time, mix it with chicken before cooking In a large frying pan Cook chicken in small amount of olive oil, add carrots and onions and sauté until clear Add frozen peas and cook until soft. In a separate pan cook rice then add to the mixture In another pan, scramble six eggs, chop finely and add to mixture Melt 1/2 cup butter, add crushed garlic cloves to butter, stir and add to mixture Mix all together well, add soy sauce to taste and Enjoy.

Cake Batter Pancakes

Make these tasty pancakes for your little valintines. and for the big one's too.

Cake Batter Pancakes:

makes about 12 pancakes

What You Need

1½ cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup yellow cake mix

1 Tbsp. sugar

¾ tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1-2 cups milk

assorted sprinkles (select holiday themes)

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. I suggest a small taste test as well to see if the pancakes are flavored enough.Preheat a skillet on medium heat (I use an electric grilled and turn it to 250 degrees). Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Serve with vanilla glaze.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

½ Tbsp. milk

½ tsp. vanilla extract

assorted sprinkles

Mix milk, extract and powdered sugar until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more sugar or water/milk to reach desired consistency. Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes