Recipes, DIY, Crafts, and More!
We hope that you enjoyed Pennywise Kids’ first video last week! We’re back with another and even more excited about this one.
Chocolate.
Marshmallow.
Mousse.
Need I say more? This mousse tastes very similar to Jason’s Deli’s chocolate mousse that you find on the salad bar. One of my favorite parts of going there.
It’s easy to make so the kids can help. And I love how light and fluffy it is. A great summer treat!
 |
There’s a new chef in town! And she’s a kid!
Chef Addie will be joining me in sharing some fun and fabulous Pennywise recipes. We’re calling it Pennywise Kids!
Watch the very FIRST Pennywise Kids video below! The recipe from the video is also below.
|
|
I posted this recipe years ago, but decided to make a little video about the process while making it the other day. You can find the full recipe for 3 Ingredient White Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge here.
|
|
The following is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Better Bakery. It is 100% my own opinion.
Well happy New Year to you! I am not used to this 2016 yet. It feels futuristic to write 2016. Am I the only one? So weird with that 6 there.
Did you make any resolutions? I made a few. To lose weight is one. Not that original, eh? I’ve got more, like to get my youngest to eat anything more veggies. Picky McPickerson she is.
What do you do when your daughter won’t eat her veggies? Throw CHEESE on it!
Cauliflower is already one of my go-to veggies because of the mild flavor and tenderness. But with cheese? I mean. Yaaaassss! And I love that you can grab them in the frozen food aisle and they are ready to prepare. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
This cauliflower is bound to turn Picky McPickerson into Veggie McVeggieson. You want to know how cheesy it is? My daughters thought it was Mac & Cheese!
Did you happen to catch that super tasty looking stuffed sandwich there in the front? Of course you did. It’s pretty magnificent. Oh. My. Goodness. This is something new I found that has quickly become a family fave- Better Bakery Artisan Melts.
The bread on the outside looks like a pretzel and even sorta tastes like a pretzel, but it’s artisan bread. Heaven on a plate and the ultimate main dish to the Cheesy Cauliflower side. My favorite kind of Better Bakery Artisan Melt was the Chicken & Bacon Club. It is so good! I was pretty impressed at how closely the sandwich matched the picture on the box. That just doesn’t happen with some products.
These handcrafted artisan melts are made by bakers who are committed to the Better Bakery art and want to make better food. How nice that? They truly love what they do and make a quality product that reflects that!
The Cheese & Pepperoni Pizza kind was also tasty! They are a great quick and easy lunch or dinner idea when you’re in a hurry.
You can pick them up in the freezer section of your grocery store. I found them at Walmart! Better Bakery stands by it’s promise of “Always Handcrafted” with each sandwich hand cut, rolled, topped, and picked.
You can get a coupon for $1.50 off 1 Better Bakery Artisan Melts and locate a retailer near you, here!
To make those, it’s as easy as popping them into the oven or microwave. The recipe for the Cheesy Cauliflower is below! Here’s to the new year with successful resolutions!
|
|
Long time now see, eh? Only since February. That’s not too long is it? Nah. We’re all busy folks.
How have you been? That’s good to hear.
I’ve been doing well. Just a teensie bit busy, but good. I have been thinking about you and how I have left you hanging for months without a recipe. Then today, I whipped up something that I thought was worth sharing.
And here we are!
These, ladies and gentlemen, are Birthday Cake Crispy Treats. Made with all the same ingredients regular crispy treats are, except cake mix is added.
And sprinkles.
They are incredibly simple, uber tasty, and contain enough sugar to send you to the moon.
My 4 year old helped me in the kitchen to make these today. She is a great spoon-licker! And I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I am too.
|
|
I’m a pretty big fan of granola. Are you?
I bet you didn’t know that nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day more than granola.
It’s true.
When you make these Valentine’s Day Granola Cookies, it’s like a big old gigantic bear hug of Valentine’s Day goodness. For one because you can make them into cute and adorable little hearts. And for two because you’ll make them healthier for your favorite Valentine.
These tasty cookies are made using better for you ingredients, so you can feel good about making these for your Valentine.
I recently read a research study that showed that corn oil is better at lowering cholesterol than extra virgin olive oil! You learn something new every day!
I like to use Mazola® Corn Oil because it has a neutral flavor and lets the other flavors in my cooking and baking stand out. Mazola® Corn Oil made a great addition to the granola cookies that I made. I’ve also used to it to make breaded chicken and stir-fry.
I have a special tip for you. Happy Valentine’s Day from me. I love you. Yes, I do! I can’t take all the credit for it. I saw this on Rachael Ray recently and thought it was genius so I had to share.
Sticky stuff like honey is so hard to measure out and then get out of the measuring cup. You lose some as you pour it out because it sticks. I never feel like I get all the honey out. Here’s a tip:
Genius, right? LIFE-changing!
The Mazola® Corn Oil does a great job holding all my wet ingredients together. The egg whites and honey kinda want to go off and do their own gloppy goo mess, but the oil man. It keeps the harmony.
I will not lie to you, Valentine. I did eat from this very spoon.
Here is yet another genius idea. I KNOW! I really, really love you.
Put a cookie cutter on parchment paper (that’s on a cookie sheet). Spray it with a taddy bit of cooking spray to keep from sticking. Then spoon in your granola and pat down. Remove your cookie cutter and you have your heart-shaped cookie.
I was so happy with how they turned out. I was going for a cookie-like texture and not a granola bar and this was exactly what I got!
I’ll be making these often. I love how versatile they are. You can add in raisins or nuts or whatever you’d like. I added a few chocolate chips to these and red sprinkles on top to be festive. You can certainly leave them out to keep them better for you.
Check out more research facts about the benefits of Corn Oil and be sure to check out Mazola®, too!
|
|
I love Valentine’s Day. Not because we get all romantic and stuff, but because it’s such an easy holiday to decorate for.
Throw up some things that are red, pink, or white and you have got yourself some Valentine’s spirit. Not to mention that hearts are everywhere. All the dollar stores are brimming over with decor and treats galore. And the love things makes it pretty cool too. 
Our anniversary is just 2 weeks after Valentine’s Day so we never get too mushy on the 14th. But I love helping my daughters get their little Valentine cards and treats ready for school that day.
Ah, yes. The days when you could use cheesy lines and call everyone your Valentine!
I made up these little heart Valentine Pies the other day and I must say they were a hit. I’m sure these have been done before, but I have never made them before now. SO simple.
I think they would make a great treat for my daughter to take to school on Valentine’s Day!
I used store bought pie crusts. You know me! I rolled them out and used a $.50 cookie cutter to cut out little hearts. I will use a bigger cookie cutter next time as these were just a taddy bit too small.
I dropped about a teaspoon of canned cherry pie filling into the middle of the heart and topped it with another pie crust heart.
I used a fork to crimp all of the edges. Helps to keep it from coming apart while it’s cooking.
Lastly, I cut a X in the middle to keep it from puffing up in the oven.
Make these extra tasty by dropping a dollop of whipped cream on top when they are warm! Use any pie filling you’d like or make your own.
Easy as pie!
|
|
When I was young, our neighbor had an apple tree in their yard. I remember first finding out that the tree had apples on it. I ran over there and picked me one and took a big bite out of it. And then I realized…this was no regular apple tree. It was a tree of crab apples. Have you ever had a crab apple? They are not so good. Very sour, hard, and give you a sore tummy.
Now regular apples, I love. I’m more of a green apple eater than red, but I’ll eat whatever I can get. And I adore dips for my apples. Just a big dollop of peanut butter and a juicy slice of apple can make my day.
Fall is the season when apples are ready for harvest. Though I find them just as juicy and fresh anytime of year at the grocery store. And they don’t seem to vary too much in price, which is nice.
I’ve got a dip for you today that you’re going to love. After we ran out of apples, we used our fingers to scrape the rest of the dip off the bowl. It’s so good.
This dip is very similar to 2-Ingredient Fruit Dip, but the ingredients are a little different.
It’s a simple mixture of cream cheese (you know its going to be good), brown sugar, vanilla extract, and sour cream. Yeah, that sour cream gives it a creaminess. Love it.
I love this dip for get togethers. It would be really great to buy a bunch of different types of apples, slice them, and put them on a platter with this dip in the middle. You would have so many colors!
Just make sure that you don’t get any crab apples.
Oh yeah and, you don’t just have to eat this with apples. It’s amazing with any fruit! The recipe was originally called “Caramel Fruit Dip”, so I was going to pair it with apples thinking, you know, apples and caramel are wonderful together. After eating it, it does not have that caramel taste I was expecting. But it is still a wonderful partner for apples!
|
|
I just about had a fit when I started to put this post together because my SD card decided that it wanted to be corrupted and not let me have access to my pictures. But you know what? I showed it who is boss and it eventually gave me my pictures. So you can see the beauty of these adorable little fall treats!
Today is the very last day of summer did you know that? Can you believe that? I sure can! And I’m completely ready for fires and everything cozy. I love fall wardrobes. Everything gets covered up, tucked in, and just more comfortable. Less intense and less need to be in shape.
So you can eat chocolate, right?! Aren’t these acorns just the cutest little fall treats? They are so easy to make and adorable to just set around for a treat. Not to mention that they taste amazing. Anything with a Hershey Kiss on it is going to make your mouth happy.
I made a bunch of these one night and it took me no time at all. Such a fun craft for the kids to enjoy with you. And because it’s so easy you can just let them take over! Just don’t let them eat too many before bed or they may never sleep. Again…
I didn’t put together step by step pictures for you because this one is easy enough. If you have questions please don’t hesitate to ask!
|
|
My oldest has only recently figured out that she likes black olives. It was by mistake that she realized that she did, but I’ll take what I can get. She grabbed a big handful of “grapes” only to come tell me “momma, those aren’t grapes”. Thanks honey for letting me know. I fully expected her to leave them on my plate while saying the everso common “I don’t liiiiiiiike it”. To my surprise, she ate every one of them. Small victories people. Small victories.
I haven’t done just a lot to foster her new relationship with black olives, but somehow it’s blossomed. She now gets them on her sub sandwiches and even requires them on her pizza. I just grin ear to ear when I hear her telling anyone about her love for olives. My husband can hardly believe it.
I got to pick up some California Ripe Olives in order to create to super duper cute little characters. I was just thrilled at how easy and adorbs they turned out. But I honestly think that the very best part was eating the creations. There is just something about cheese and olives man. A match made in hors d’oeuvres heaven. The versatile California Ripe Olive is the ideal ingredient for home chefs and food artists. Not that I consider myself a chef or a food artist even, but they are pretty versatile and are something easy I can add to most meals.
California Ripe Olives are kid-friendly and the perfect option for creating tasty and creative food art for the back to school season. Think about lunch boxes and after school snacks. How cute would it be to put one of these little bumble bees in your kiddos lunch box? Sweet surprise at the lunch table. These may have been my favorite olive creatures.
California Ripe Olives provide a pop of color, texture, and flavor to a variety of dishes—including fun and delicious food art. Like these penguins for instance. Kids won’t even realize that they are eating healthy! These little guys were so easy to make and even tastier to eat! California Ripe Olives are the perfect pantry staple. They are good right out of the can, but mixing it up with little guys like this makes them even more fun.
California Ripe Olives are grown on over 1,000 multigenerational family farms that crisscross the warm inland valleys of California and processed by two family-owned canneries. I love knowing that what I’m feeding my family came from just another family. There’s just some kinda comfort that I get from family-owned companies. Aren’t these little spiders so cute? Perfect for Halloween since it’s just right around the corner!
There is a nifty sweepstakes happening and you’ll want to enter before it’s too late! The California Ripe Olives Back-To-School Sweepstakes runs August 18- September 12th. Follow California Ripe Olives on Facebook, visit the custom tab, and enter once per day for the chance to win an Amazon Kindle Fire HDX!
Want to make the cute little olive art from above? Here’s how:
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
|
|
