Hot diggidy dog

Let's here 1 cheer for the first week of school. Hooray!!! I am glad it is over, unfortunately, kindergarten testing is next week. So, no school for my guy. Then we will have the first week of school all over again. I think we are catching on to this bus thing. We haven't missed it since the first day.

I am still trying to juggle school, dance, cleaning, cooking and everything else. The blog, oh the blog, is still here and I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I have a lot of crafts and idea's that hopefully will come together soon.

For now please enjoy this butterfly. The kids and I made these for the lunch the first day of school. I snatched the idea from the Gourmet Mom on the Go. Recipe here.

Use your noodle

A couple of nights ago I was late getting dinner going and needed something quick. The kids were already disappointed that we were not going to be eating out, so I needed something fun. When we do go out they frequently order Mac and Cheese which really irritates me. I don't like paying $4.00 for half a box of something sitting in my cupboard at home. So, I decided to to take a cue from my children and serve Mac & Cheese, but make it a little fancier than normal.

I used the packet of cheese from the box.

I bagged the regular noodles. Replaced it with 1 1/4 cup mini bowtie noodles. (next time I will increase the bowties to 1 1/2 cups.)

Follow directions on box.

I served crystal light in fancy goblets.



There you have it. It's the same, but different.

Best Bread Sticks

I found this bread stick recipe a couple of months ago on another blog. I have tried to find what blog I got it from and I just can't seem to find the right one. However, I found numerous blogs with the same recipe. I thought it might be fun to include a couple of links:

Farm Chick Kitchen (I recognized Lisa in the follower list. She is also a follower here on Bloggin' it. What fun.)

Real Mom Kitchen

Both of these gals had the same recipe. As for me. I have made a few changes. I don't want to just repeat what other blogs do. So here goes.

Pizza Hut Style Bread Sticks

1 1/2 cup hot water

2T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup non fat dry milk (I omit dry milk and use skim milk in place of water.)

1 T yeast (I use SAF)

3 Cups flour

1/3 cup melted butter

Topping:

2 T dry Parmesan cheese

1 T garlic powder

1-2 tsp salt

1 T oregano

And/Or

Sugar and Cinnamon blend

Dissolve sugar, salt and dry milk in hot water or in hot milk. I dissolve it in 1 cup hot milk and then add 1/2 cold milk to cool the mixture. Add enough flour (1 cup) to make a thin mixture. When the it has cooled till warm add the yeast and stir well. Add the rest of the flour. You may need to add a bit more until the dough is no longer sticky, but not stiff. Knead until smooth.

Press dough into rectangle on a greased baking sheet. ( I use butter flavored crisco for extra butter flavor and cut down on the amount of melted butter or you can just use half of your melted butter to coat the bottom of the pan.)

Cut with pizza cutter. Don't worry about cutting though the edges all the way. (I use a baking stone that is smaller than a cookie sheet.)

Let rise 10-15 minutes.

Sprinkle with topping. Okay, so this is my creative part of the recipe. Non of the others use Cinnamon and Sugar. Plus, I do some of both in one batch.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with warm marinara and frosting. I use the basic water and powdered sugar frosting.

This recipe is so quick and easy. I love to serve it with homemade freezer soup.

Camping Cereal Treats

I not sure about you, but I go camping for the great food. Well, the more I think about it, that's why I do most things. Here are a couple of Melissa camping standards.

I am sure you have heard of Muddy Buddies or something similar like: Monkey Munch, Puppy Chow or Snow Man Dropping.

Here is my recipe:

1 Stick Butter

1Cup Peanut Butter

1 Generous Cup Chocolate Chips (I use Semi-Sweet)

12 oz. box Rice or Corn Chex Cereal

1 lb.+ a little more Powdered Sugar.

Melt 1st 3 ingredients in microwave, 1 minute at a time. Mix well. Pour over cereal. At this point you can put the mixture in a large zip lock and add sugar and shake. I like to leave it in the bowl I mixed it in (if it has a lid), add sugar and secure lid. Turn upside down and shake.

Shake it like nobodies business! When all cereal is covered you are down. It's at this point I put it in a Ziploc bag and then store it in the refrigerator. It is so much better cold!

This bowl of yumminess is Gooey Good Stuff.

6 Cups Crispix or Rice Chex

6Cups Special K or Total or Corn Flakes

1/2 Cup mixed nuts (optional)

1 1/2 Cups Coconut

Mix in a large bowl

Then Boil the following for 3 minutes in a med. pan.

1 1/2 Cups White Sugar

1 1/2 Karo Syrup

1 1/2 Sticks Margarine or Butter

Pour over dry ingredients. Let it lay on a cookie sheet for a couple of hours.

Cute slice of summer

I had this cookie mix that I needed to use. So I dreamed up a summery way to use it. You can use a homemade dough or even ready made dough for this recipe.

One pouch made enough dough to fit one mold.

So you will need:

Sugar cookie dough

Homemade mold(see below)

Chocolate sprinkles

Red and green food coloring

For a mold I used an empty Crystal light container. I liked this container because I could put the lid back on it to give extra support. However, a toilet paper or paper towel roll would be better in size. You could use masking tape over the open top for more support to keep the shape. Whatever you use cut of 1/3 of the top.

Dye 1/3 of the dough green and the rest red. Place wax paper in mold. Then press green dough into mold, pushing dough up the sides. Fill with red dough.

Cover and freeze for 1/2 hour or refrigerate until firm.

Remove dough from mold and cut into slices.

Bake as directed in recipe. (I love parchment paper for baking.)

During the last 30 seconds of baking sprinkle the red part of the cookie with chocolate sprinkles.

Yummy, it's like little slices of summer.

Beary good

It doesn't take much to turn a simple ball dough into a fun edible friend. I used Rhodes Roll dough, which is so easy, oh so easy! With just a few pinches and a little manipulation you can give your kids a tasty pal to eat with their dinner.

Hmmmm, reminds me of my own tummy, which oddly enough also rises on a warm day.

Now your little carnivores can bite the head off of their lovable friend.

Cool Trick Cool Treat

I am loving food on a stick and it doesn't get better than chocolate. Don't let this summer go by without try this little trick. Push a lollipop stick into a large or small candy bar.

The wrapper will create a barrier between the chocolate and the kid. Hopefully reducing a melty mess.


For a even better cool summer treat. Place candy bar pops in the freezer and serve frozen.

At the kids next lemonade stand have them sell these frozen little cuties. To help make pushing in the stick, prick the wrapper and bar with a sterilized needle and use as a pilot hole.

Like cake pops, but easier.

I know I don't need to go on and on about the glories of Bakerella. There are not many of us who haven't gone over to visit her and drool over her beautiful photos of beautiful food. If you haven't been over recently, her newest post is a must see.

After doing a post on my attempt at cake pops, I received a lot of comments from other lovely ladies who had tried the little buggers. Although very cute, they are very aggravating to make. I later made a post of my marshmallow version of Bakerella's flower cake pops, seen here.

Have you ever cut into a wedding cake just to find out it's a Rice Krispie treat? There is a reason the professionals use Rice Krispie treats, one of those reasons is the fact it's easy to work with. The following is a demonstration of using Rice Krispie treats in place of cake and frosting. Giving you the rice krispie pop. Use this method for making Bakerella's cute creations.

Mix a batch of Rice Krispies using your favorite recipe. I added an extra 1/2 cup of marshmallows. I had to add this photo. My spatula broke in mid stroke.

Roll balls, squeezing the krispies tight. I also patted the mixture flat, about 3/4 inch thick, so I could cut out stars. Re-pat scraps and cut out more. Use leftovers to roll balls. (For best results, dip stick in melted chocolate/candy before inserting. Then let dry overnight. This will keep the stick from coming out the top.) Insert sticks. I let the treats stiffen over night.(I did the treat part at 11:00 pm. So, I was just to tired to finish.)
The next photo is a little out of place. I wish I new how to move photos around.
Melt chocolate. Dip balls or cut outs. Roll in sprinkles.

A good place to buy you lollipop sticks is JoAnns. You get more for your money than at Wal Mart.

The two pictures below are of marshmallows. If you plan on covering your treats with these cute little bags, remember to make you balls small.

I got tired of rolling balls. So, I made 3 big ones. Then drizzled the last little bit of all the chocolates on top. I think I will wrap these up and give them to friends.

Roll, dip and eat like crazy.

Food Face

Parents Magazine featured these plates in their June Magazine. I absolutely love them. My kids would have a blast and it would keep them at the table longer. Kids who stay at the table eat more too. So if you have a little one who takes a bite and wants to leave the table you might want to try Food Face. Here is the link: http://www.popdeluxe.net/

Kid Food

My kids love the Gerber raviolis. They cost about $1.25 for a very small serving. I love them too, because they do not have sauce on them and usually contain a vegetable. I found this bag of cheese tortellini for $5.50 at Wal Mart. If you boil them in water seasoned with chicken bullion they are very similar to the Gerber ravioli. What a savings and you store them in the freezer so they are ready to go.

Me Make Over and skinny legs

Oh boy, I can't believe a week has gone by and it is time for another Me Make Over Question. Today's question is: Share some of the music that you work out to. What helps you rock it!? What gets your blood pumpin? It is not even a hard question and I am having a hard time answering it. I listen to anything I can get on the radio. I have one of those MP3 Players and I don't know how to use it. It has been 2 years and I just can't figure it out.

I started my blog so that I could share some of my tips and such. Here is one to help lower the fat content in chicken drumsticks. They are usually priced low and they are super tasty as well as kid friendly. All it takes are drumsticks, paper towels, glass dish or freezer bag and marinade.

Hold large meat end in your hand while peeling back skin with the paper towel.



Remove skin from towel and discard. You can use the same towel several times.

Place in bag or dish. Add marinade. Refrigerate or freeze. When ready grill, bake or broil.