Any which way that you present a marshmallow to me, I will eat it. I love them big, small, melted, torched, as a cream, in a frosting- you name it! I’ve been that way since I was a kid.

My grandmother used to buy bags of the mini marshmallows and stick them in the freezer. I would always sneak in there and get a handful or two at a time and munch on them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ate an entire half bag of them. Probably enough times to be ashamed if I told you. 😉

Even after my love for marshmallows as a child, you’d be surprised that I never have once tried to make them as an adult……until now. I had absolutely no idea how easy they were. And the taste? Wow! Store bought has nothing on the homemade taste. Soft and creamy, there is just nothing like them. I first got the inspiration after watching an episode of Barefoot Contessa. Anyone else watch that? I’m a fan.

You’ll have to excuse my pictures. Still learning the lighting tricks. Anywho, most of the recipes that I’ve seen call for you to cut them into big cubes, but I cut mine into smaller cubes to mimic the mini marshmallows. It was a good and bad thing. Even though they were small, I ate more to make it for it!

I actually had everything that I needed to make these in my pantry already, minus the light corn syrup. The only other ingredient that some might not have is the unflavored gelatin. It’s fairly inexpensive and usually comes in packs of 4 and you just need 3 and 1/2 envelopes for this recipe.

My first impression of this process? Very sticky and messy! But not so much that I would never make them again. After boiling the sugar and corn syrup (etc) you have to transfer the mixture to your pan and that’s when it gets sticky. These fluffy sweet clouds are worth the trouble. You’ll be glad to know that it’s very easy to clean though! I was surprised how easily the sugary mess dissolved and cleaned up. Besides that, I can’t see why I haven’t made them before. What a great present these would make around the holidays. You could make up a big batch and wrap them in pretty cellophane. Cheap and easy!

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Like this post? SHARE it!

How was your weekend? We had a really great weekend full of physical activity and fun. My husband’s parents came for a visit and we enjoyed being with them. I also ran a 5k and came in 238th. Woo hoo! No really, I am proud of that considering there were around 2,000 people in this race. As long as I wasn’t last, I’m happy.

I’m always snacking on something. I don’t like feeling really full during the day so I usually end up “grazing” (that’s what my husband and I call it) throughout the day. I’ve got a simple favorite that’s easy to make and is a great snack idea for a party or get together. People easily grab a handful at a time, but usually come back for seconds. You may have heard of these yummy ranch crackers before, but in case you hadn’t I thought I’d share.

One of my favorite parts of this recipe is that it’s inexpensive. (My favorite kind) Most everything in it is something you might have a hand. Spices, a little bit of oil, and some oyster crackers. If you don’t usually have oyster crackers, you can find them at Dollar Tree or most grocery stores for around $1.

When I was refreshing my memory for how to make these Ranch Oyster Crackers, I came across this version at Peas and Thank You. I liked the idea of not using store bought ranch mix, so I tried this one out.

It starts out with 6 different spices: garlic powder, onion powder, dried mustard, dill, dried parsley, and salt. You don’t have to use these. You are more than welcome to use whichever spices you have on hand or think might be tasty. These are a great starting point.

Pop them into a bowl and they will look pretty and earthy like this.

Do you have a favorite kitchen gadget? Maybe one spoon or pan that you love and use more than another? These are my favorite measuring spoons. Since I was using them to measure out all of those spices, I had to stop and take a picture of them. I just love ’em.

Back to the recipe. So you add some olive oil to the spices and mix them up. This is a part of the recipe that I might change the next time that I make it. See the notes for why.

Then you mix the oyster crackers into the spices and oil mixture. Pour them evenly onto a baking sheet. Don’t stare at my baking sheet! It’s really old. Bake them to toast them up and help the spices bake in.

What are the magic words? Tah-dah!

Your spices and oil have transformed oyster crackers into a flavorful and tasty snack.

Like this post? SHARE it!

You know what I’m talking about!

One of my favorite snacks of all time is Jell-O. It brings me back to childhood and always reminds me of Jigglers no matter what shape it’s in. Though we don’t make it nearly as much as we should, it’s one of those snacks that takes time therefore we often pass it up. It’s silly since there is a speedy method, but we’re impatient.

As you may know, I’ve been on Pinterest. I can’t get away from that place. Someone really needs to put some type of timer on there for how long you can be on it per day. Or maybe I just need to have self control….. Nah, that’s an awful idea. 🙂 I came across this rainbow Jell-O over at Glorious Treats and immediately thought of my Addie. She is all about rainbows and bright colors so this was perfect for a mother-daughter project. We are still novices at these treats so ours didn’t turn out as perfect as Glorious Treats did. But we’ll get better. Addie will make sure of it!

I’m not going to lie, it took some time. Each layer has to set before the next can be applied. Even with the speedy method it seemed to take a while. You see the bottom layer there? Where the purple kinda stepped into the blue’s kool-aid? Yep. That’s where we got a little impatient. As we went on you can see that we learned out lesson and to make sure they set properly before moving on.

When picking out your Jell-O, there aren’t as many flavor options in sugar-free. So you’ll have to get a little crazy and get the kind full of sugar in order to have pretty colors. Unless your store is just a lot cooler than mine and they have a lot of sugar-free flavors.

I will tell you, the regular Jell-O didn’t set as fast or as well as the sugar-free. The blue and purple in that picture were regular and needed a lot more time that the others. Just FYI.

With some of the leftover red that we had, I made up this little parfait. The lighter color is simply already made Jell-O with a little cool whip stirred in. This was such a refreshing treat! I think my most favorite part of these snacks is that they are sweet and satisfy my craving for something sweet. Yet all the while they are low calorie and healthy! But don’t tell the kiddos.

How about making some Jell–O Treats of your own?

Like this post? SHARE it!