St Patrick's Day Fun

Love this fun Green Day!

It started this morning with the kids running around to see what our naughty little Leprechaun did to the house.  For some reason he likes to snag a shoe from each child in the house and fill it with some treats or gifts. This year they got golden rolos and skittles, plus a fun new pair of glasses. Sammie & Anthony got the cool aviators while Jared's has an orange mustache attached to his green glasses and Morgan got the 80s Shamrock shades.

A few little tricks that silly little guy worked on while we were all soundly sleeping...

• He colored the toilet water green and unrolled the toilet paper a bit. 
• He arranged the kid's alphabet magnets into the word lucky and then sprinkled some rolos around there too.
• The kitchen chairs were left in complete disarray...turned over and on top of each other.
• Some of the family pictures had funny faces and mustache's drawn onto the photo.
• Finally the milk was turned green. 

Silly little mischievous leprechaun. 

After the tricks were found it was time to eat some breakfast. We went simple this year.... LUCKY CHARMS... cuz "They're magically delicious!" Served along with the leprechaun tinted green milk.

Plus to add some fruits and veggies into their breakfast we had some Turtle Juice Smoothies. 

{{Turtle Juice Smoothie}}

(Printer Friendly Version... click here)

2 frozen bananas

1 big handful of fresh spinach

1 yogurt (flavor of your choice)

2 cups fresh or frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, one apple, can of pineapple, one orange, raspberries, etc.)

2 cups juice, any kind

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Blend all ingredients in a blender.

Will be different every time depending on the fruit chosen.

Pina Colada = pineapple juice, pineapple, banana, spinach and pina colada yogurt.

Blueberry Monster = blueberries, banana, spinach, vanilla yogurt, any juice.
This recipe was originally created by my friend Gina Smith and we use it all the time. We vary the fruit and juice to alter the flavor a little, but there is always a BIG ole handful of spinach added to the blender. When I first started making this the kids had no idea they were eating so much spinach, then they saw me doing it and at first they wanted to be abhorred... until I mentioned to them that they'd been eating it for quite some time. They paused... and realized it was true and they don't even complain anymore... they even pull out the spinach leaves when we go to make our green smoothies.

While the kids were happily munching on their cereal and smoothies... I was getting their green lunches ready. I made them a PB&J Shamrock sandwich, a green squeezie applesauce, a green Sprite, a green Fruit by the Foot, a green apple, green Sour Cream & Onion chips (the bag was green at least), and for dessert some Thin Mint cookies. They were super excited about the lunch since they got things that they don't normally get to have. FUN! That's what the holidays are all about. I also went here and printed out a lunch box tag to put in their lunch too.

After lunches were packed, and teeth were brushed... we stopped to take some pictures of their green-ness before they left. Sammie had a green strip of hair that we clipped into her hair and a green scarf. Jared brushed his hair up into a faux-hauk and then I sprayed it with temporary green hair color that we picked up on clearance after Halloween.

Then they were off to school!

When school was over and they busted through the door... they were welcomed by this lovely little rainbow snack. I've seen a bunch of variations and basically just pulled together what I thought my kids would enjoy the most.

Red= Strawberries (or could use raspberries, watermelon, cherries)
Orange= Mandarin Orange slices (or fresh clementines/orange slices, cantaloupe, )
Yellow= Pineapple Chunks (almost did bananas but the pineapple was more yellow)
Green= Green Apples (or kiwi, green grapes, honeydew,)
Blue= Blueberries
Purple= Purple Grapes

I gathered up the rolos that had been scattered everywhere by the leprechaun and used those to create my gold at the end of the rainbow. The puffy white cloud at the other end of the rainbow is a creamy fruit dip that growing up we affectionately called Angel Dip. It is a very popular dip and SUPER easy to make. Only 2 ingredients needed. ***If you've never made this before... you really need to. You don't know it, but something has been missing from your life... and it is this dip. You can mix things into the dip to turn it into different fun flavors, etc, but in its original form, it's a CLASSIC!

{{Angel Dip}}

(Printer friendly version... click here)

1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened (nonfat works great)

1 7-oz jar marshmallow crème

Using an electric mixer or food processor, blend ingredients until mixed thoroughly. Refrigerate. Serve with fresh fruit, such as strawberries, cantaloupe, grapes, watermelon, etc.

For dinner we always have a corned beef roast & vegetables. I pick up the corned beef at the grocery store or Cost-co and the directions for cooking them are right on the package. It has a yummy flavor that is different than a typical steak. This year I threw everything into my crock pot.

1. First there is a layer of cut up celery, carrots, onions (and you can add potatoes, but I didn't this year).
2. Then I put wedges of cabbage on top of the veggies. (Best to keep the cabbage out and add it in half way through cooking though so it doesn't get too soft.)
3. Next comes the roast and I sprinkled a few of the celery, onions, & carrots on top of the roast.
4. The corned beef comes with a little package of pickling spices that you will want to save and then sprinkle over the top of the roast and veggies.
5. I made 2 cups of beef broth and poured that into the bottom of the crock pot.
6. Cooked everything on high for 4 hours and then when we pulled everything out it was perfect. We sliced up the meat against the grain, added some of the veggies to the plate with a pile of rice (you can spoon the broth over the rice if you want, or thicken it up for a gravy).

You can't go wrong with a slow cooker meal, especially one that is easy and turns out great. Click here for the full recipe.

Along with dinner we had some green leprechaun juice. My 11 year old daughter Sammie adorned our glasses with a cute little dry erase marker mustache. She loves to set the table for holidays... she pulls out tablecloths and place mats and tries to make things match and look cute. (So proud of my little Sammie!)

For this juice, I just kinda improvised with what I had.

{{Leprechaun Juice}}

1 frozen can of limeade concentrate

1 frozen can of lemonade concentrate 

2 liter of Sprite

Green food coloring

Mix it all together and serve. 

Finally it was time for dessert... It's so hard to pick just one... So I picked two. (Even that was difficult... there are so many fun things to make for each holiday.) Here's what I made... one thing new and the other was tried and true... an oldie but goodie!

The first treat I tried today was the Lucky Charm treats. Basically a rice crispie treat but instead of using rice crispies, I used the lucky charms cereal. I thought they might taste extra sweet since the cereal has a coating of sugar on it, but it tasted like cheerios covered in marshmallows. Fun! My baby couldn't wait to get his little hands on them!

Finally... the oldie but goodie. Mint Brownies. And since there is a certain someone in my house that doesn't like mint in, there was a third of the brownies that didn't include the mint frosting... just the chocolate... And those kind are good too! If you want the recipe for these brownies... click here.

Oh yeah... one more thing. I thought I had mint extract in my pantry and while I was making the frosting I couldn't find any minty extracts anywhere. They were all gone! I was committed to these brownies... the kids were depending on them... I'd already told them that they'd be having them. So in order to prevent a coup I did something I have never done before. I had a small vial of doTERRA Peppermint Essential Oil and I added in 3 drops of the oil to the frosting so they would be mint and it worked! I had heard that people cooked with the oils and so I tried it. I didn't want to run to the store for the extract. I should have started with 2 cause it seemed a little bit strong to me, but the kids didn't complain or even notice a difference. They were asking for more.

Another St. Patrick's day... done and over with. It was a busy but a fun day.  Now we get to start planning Easter! 

After School Snacks

The kids are ALWAYS famished when they come home from school. Always! Sometimes I just let them grab something from the SNACK bucket in the pantry, or a fruit, and sometimes I made them a snack to eat. It all depends on how much time I have and when we will be eating dinner.

Today I took 5 minutes and put together this plate of snacks for them when they came home from school. They gobbled it up in minutes. (It is amazing that they can put away so much food sometimes.)

 

A few days ago I had made some banana bread in mini loaf pans. I cut up the last loaf and spread it out on the plate. I broke apart some graham crackers and spread peanut butter on one side and then turned it into a little sandwich. That's it graham crackers and peanut butter- it kinda tastes like a quick and easy peanut butter cookie. Finally, I sliced up a green apple (somehow the kids developed a preference for green apples over the red- so that's what they got). 

Then it was done. They walked through the door... saw the plate, said hello and then I didn't hear much from them til there were only crumbs left on the plate and they were saying, "That was an AWESOME snack Mom!" (Mission Accomplished!)

Then it was time to do homework.

Apple Cider Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Oh my goodness! These are A-MAAAAZE-ing! A friend of mine made these and brought them over to me and the kids and I had to fight over the extra cupcake. The flavor of the apple cider cupcake was fantastic. The caramel buttercream on top was a nice sweet that didn't over power and then the extra caramel drizzled on top, just added some chewy-ness that I loved. Sometimes my cakes stick with vanilla or chocolate... sometimes it's nice to "spice" things up a bit!

I immediately asked her for the recipe. She emailed it to me and said she got it from Pinterest. Yay! Well I went on to find out where it came from and there are about a bazillion different recipes out there for this cupcake. I'm not sure who made this specific one, but it is a success!

I made the cupcakes and had to share them with my neighbors.

They are so yummy! A great fall flavored cupcake. It is a nice spice cake that isn't too strong. Perfect for these cool fall days.

Here's the recipe:

{{Apple Cider Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream}}

(Printer Friendly Version... click here)

2 eggs, room temperature

1 2/3 cup flour

1 cup apple cider

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Beat the eggs and then whisk together all ingredients. Doesn’t even require a mixer. Can be made in one bowl. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350º for 19 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

5-6 tbsp melted caramel -1/2 bag of Kraft caramels*

1 tsp sea salt

4 cups powdered sugar

In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and shortening. Add the powdered sugar and the caramel alternately (add the salt in with the caramel), mixing after each addition. Place the frosting into a pastry bag with a large circle tip (like 2A) and put the frosting on in a Round Swirl Pattern.

*The caramel is a little tricky just in that it needs to be the right temperature-- warm enough that it's still liquid and can blend into the buttercream, but not so hot that it melts the butter making everything too thin. Evaluate the buttercream at about 4 tbsp of caramel-- if it's getting way too thin, stop adding caramel or add more powdered sugar. I found that 6 Tbsp. was perfect for my batch.

Drizzle Topping

With the remaining caramels, unwrap the caramels and place into a bowl. Add about a tablespoon of heavy cream (or milk). Microwave on high for a minute and stir. Microwave at 30 second intervals and stir in between until caramel is melted and has an even consistency. Allow the caramel to cool slightly (so it doesn’t melt the frosting), and then drizzle it over the frosted cupcakes. 

And then if you still have some melted caramel left over... you can cut up some apples and dip them in there... while you eat this Awesome Autumn Cupcake!

Caramel Apple Dipping Bar

Mmmmmmm.... Love Caramel Apples.

Love them!

They are the epitome of Halloween for me. I find that I crave them at least once every season.... if not more. My kids love them too.... especially now that they don't have their braces on anymore.

We've made lots of fully dipped apples and then covered them in yummy treats and toppings, but they can be such a pain to eat. This takes "most" of the mess away from eating a caramel apple and the best part of separating out the toppings, means that you can have lots of variety. Each apple slice can be it's own delicious caramel apple.

First I like to start with green apples.... the tartness of a green Granny Smith apple pairs nicely with the sweet caramel. Using a simple hand apple slicer that makes 8 even slices, I cut up the apples. Sometimes, I will cut each individual slice again to make a total of 16 slices per apple, especially if there are lots of peeps... (plus that means there is a greater caramel to apple ratio.... very important!) You can use skewers to pierce the apple before dipping or just use your fingers.

Here are the few toppings that we used this time. Sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, peanuts, macadamia nuts, and chopped up M&M's.

Other topping ideas are:

• shredded coconut, 
• mini marshmallows (can be cut in half so they aren't so unruly), 
• chopped up candy bars (Nestle Cunch, Kit Kat, Twix, Snickers, Milky Way, etc.), 
• crushed up Oreo cookies, 
• crushed up chocolate chip cookies, 
• other nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.), 
• toffee bits, 
• candy corn, 
• cereals (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Trix, Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops- kids love these bright sugary cereals),  
• really just wander around the grocery store and you will find a gazillion things that you can add to this caramel apple dipping bar. 

Since there were only a few toppings and only my few kids, we put them in piles on a plate... but you could put each individual topping into its own bowl.

The caramel recipe I used is available if you click here. Another quick and easy way to make a caramel for apples is to unwrap KRAFT caramels and put them in a saucepan over medium heat (or you can melt them in a microwave) with a small amount of milk or cream. I would say for a full bag of caramels you would add about a tablespoon or two of cream.

So many choices... so many varieties... so many yummy choices. 

Happy Halloween!

Healthy-ish Halloween After School Snacks!

In our house.... We love Halloween! And it is even more fun when you can make fun food to help celebrate. 

These "Apple Smiles" or "Monster Mouths" have been a tradition for our family since I was a kid.  They bring back so many memories and my kids love them as much as I did when I was their age. Delish! That little bit of marshmallow sweetness paired up with an already great duo- apples & peanut butter. Slice up your apples, slather on some peanut butter, line up your mini marshmallow teeth and slap the top lip on top of the teeth and then take a great big bite in. They are yummy!

These next two were new additions this year.... but both of them are definitely keepers! First we have some Witch's Brooms! I took a String Cheese stick and cut it up into thirds. I started to pull apart one end of the cheese stick to make it look like the bristles of a broom. Use a small sharp knife to help separate the ends. Then take a pretzel stick and push it in the other end of the cheese that isn't separated. Sometimes the cheese would split a bit at the top so it helped to take a small piece of chive and tie it in a knot (plus it makes them look more realistic!). Done! You can make a bunch of these in only a few more minutes.

Here's the second keeper! Used Band-Aids! Ahhhhhh! Don't you love them!? I LOOOOOVE them! And they're soooooo very simple. These obviously aren't as healthy as some of previous ones, but who cares when they are this cute. Break apart the graham crackers into four pieces and lay them out on your serving dish. Use some white frosting and spread it onto the middle third section of the cracker. (I used a small ziploc bag, put the frosting in, and cut the snip off the end of the bag so you can start squeezing the frosting out onto the cracker). The add some blood by adding some red frosting. You can dye some of the white frosting red or just buy a pre-made red gel frosting and put that on. (Plus the gel would look a bit more realistic.)

Ta dah! Kids ate these after school and they were so happy! A great and easy after school snack. 

Yummy Dehydrated Apples

Start with your favorite apple.

Slice the apples into thin pieces. (Use an apple peeler, corer and slicer tool to make it easier.)

To help prevent browning, create a lemon juice bath for the apple slices using water and lemon juice. About 2 T lemon juice to 2 quarts of water.

Remove apples from the water and lemon juice solution and place the apples on the dehydrating tray. Remember to leave some space between the apples to allow the hot air to move around and make the drying process a little bit faster.
Take cinnamon red hot candies and place them in a blender and pulse until they turn then into a fine powder. Put the candy powder into a flour sifter and sprinkle the candy powder over the apple slices.
Dehydrate the fruit for several hours until the fruit becomes dry to the touch. Remember to rotate the trays since some of the trays closest to the heat source will dry faster than the ones farther away. Some of the fruit will finish before other pieces, so pull off those that finish early. Store the fruit in an air tight container.
Here are the finished product. It is amazing... I thought that the apples were going to have a cinnamon flavor, but they didn't. It just sweetens the apples and gives them a fun, vibrant red color.

Easy Snack for Kids

Ritz crackers
Peanut Butter
Apple slices

Spread some of the peanut butter on each cracker and then top with half of an apple slice.

The kids loved these healthy little snacks and they were super easy to make! YAY!
You can also top the crackers & peanut butter with a small slice of cheese.

Macaroni & Fruit Chicken Salad

Macaroni & Fruit Chicken Salad


16 oz noodles, any variety (I chose the bowtie pasta)
2 large boneless chicken breasts
salt, pepper, minced garlic, dried onions
Grapes, cut in half
Celery, chopped
Apples, diced
Green Onions, chopped
1 part Fat Free Plain Vanilla Yogurt
1 part Mayonnaise
Salt, pepper and celery salt to taste



Cook 16 oz noodles according to directions on package. Use two different noodles for variety. Rinse noodles with cool water.


In another pot cover chicken breasts with hot water and add seasonings, salt, pepper, minced garlic & dried onions. Remove chicken from broth and cut into pieces. Allow chicken to cool.

While noodles and chicken are cooling cut up fruits and vegetables.

Put all ingredients into a large bowl and add the yogurt and mayonnaise. Stir until coated well. Add the seasonings to taste. Chill in refrigerator for a few hours prior to serving. If made a day in advance, right before serving add some extra yogurt to freshen up the salad.

Dehydrator

I was given some dehydrators a few months ago and I have been dehydrating lots of stuff since. Here is a picture of the dehydrator that I have. You can pretty much dry anything. Some of my favorite stuff to dry has been the fruits (strawberries, bananas, pineapple, apples) and jerky. They turn out soooo yummy and the kids like them too. A good alternative to fruit snacks.

Here is what I did...

1- First wash the fruit and then slice it into about 1/4 inch slices.
2- Lightly spray the trays with PAM non-stick cooking spray. This helps during the removal process after the fruit has dried.
3- Layer the fruit on the tray in a single layer. Each dehydrator came with 5 trays.
4- Once all of the fruit is on the trays you can turn it on. It takes several hours for the fruit to dry. I've noticed there is not a specific time that can be followed. It depends on the fruit and how much liquid is in that particular one. Watch the dehydrator and check on it every hour and a little more frequently at the end to make sure it doesn't get over done. The fruit on the bottom tray seemed to get done faster so I would rotate the trays in order to get them all to finish at approximately the same time. When I would check the fruit on the trays I would pull off the ones that finished earlier than others.
5- Pull off the fruit when it is still soft, and dry. Make sure they are not wet. There seemed to be a very fine line between done and over done. I preferred the fruit to still be soft and not crunchy, but that was my preference. I pulled off the fruit when it was dry but not stiff.
6- Store dried fruit in a zip lock bag or an air tight container. I have also used my Food Saver machine to store some of them for longer storage.

Here are how they looked before they were dried.

Mmmmmm.... Strawberries...
Bananas....
And Pineapple... oh my! (the center of the pineapple isn't very good, so I cut them out using a small cookie cutter that just happened to be in the shape of a star.)
This is what these three fruits looked like dried.
The possibilities are almost endless. I have also done apples, grapes (makes raisins), tomatoes, and some herbs. Plus a few different types of jerky. It's fun to make your own snacks.

Apple Dip

This apple dip is fairly simple but doesn't come with specific measurements... kinda make it up as you go to suit your taste.

Ingredients:

Cool Whip

Caramel Ice Cream Topping First put as much cool whip as you want for dip... then drizzle in the caramel and gently mix them together. More caramel equals more flavor and less caramel will make it more fluffy. Put the dip into the refrigerator while you cut up your apples. Pick your favorite type of apple... this works well with any apple... fuji, granny smith, gala, red delicious, etc.

Put some water in a bowl and squeeze a little fresh lemon juice in it, or bottled lemon juice. (Don't use too much so the apples don't taste like lemon.) Cut your apples into slices and put them into the bowl of lemon water. The lemon water prevents the apples from turning brown. I used my Apple slicer/peeler/corer tool to cut up my apples. The kids enjoy eating the apple peel string that this creates, plus the slices are smaller and you get more dipping per apple...Another tool that works well is the Apple slicer/corer... it keeps the skin on and if you mix different colored apples it looks good...Let the apples sit for just a minute in the lemon water and then drain. Arrange apple slices on the plate around your bowl of caramel dip and serve.

Candy Bar Apple Salad

1 8-oz container of Cool Whip
3 apples, cored and cut into bite sized pieces
3 regular sized Snickers bars, or Milky Way bars

Mix together the Cool Whip and apples. Cut up the candy bars into small bite sized pieces and add to the salad. Serve soon after preparing or store in refrigerator for only a few hours before serving.