--Candy Cane Snowballs--

We made these yummy little pillow cookies for Christmas neighbor treats.  They were very yummy.  You could also make them for Valentines Day with all your left over candy canes!  I found the recipe here.

Candy Cane Snowballs

• 3 c. powdered sugar, divided
• 1 1/4 c butter, softened
• 2 t. vanilla (or if you’d prefer a stronger peppermint flavor, you can replace 1 t. of vanilla with a teaspoon of peppermint extract)
• 1 egg
• 3 c. flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3/4 c. finely crushed candy canes, divided
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2-3 T. milk

1. In a mixing bowl, beat 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and beat until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Slowly add to mixing bowl, beating until combined, about 1 minute. Stir 1/2 cup finely crushed candy canes in by hand.
3. Roll dough into small balls using just under a teaspoon of dough. Rolls balls through granulated sugar to coat and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool.
4. While cookies bake, stir together remaining 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar with 2-3 T. of milk. Add just enough milk to form a thick glaze. Drizzle over cooled cookies and top with remaining crushed candy canes immediately.
ENJOY!!

-Pepperoni Poppers-

I found this new cooking blog from Celeste's friend called THE PIE HOLE!  On there she posted a yummy recipe for these cute little things.  She suggested they looked like eyeballs and to serve them for Halloween.  So we whipped up a batch and served them for lunch.  They were a HIT - we plan to make them a lot at our house:)  BTW they are so kid friendly, my daughter loved helping make these.

Pepperoni Poppers -

1 can thin crust pizza dough
4-5 pieces of string cheese
pepperoni or ham (my favorite)
ranch or marinara for dipping

Directions:
Separate the pizza dough into 15-20 small balls, around golf ball sized or a little smaller.
Cut the string cheese into 4-5 pieces and stuff into the center of each dough ball. Seal the cheese inside the ball.
Lay on greased baking sheet and press down slightly.
Place a pepperoni on top of each ball.  And an added olive for an eerie look - hehehe!!
Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through

-- Give Me S'more Cupcakes --

I have seen S'more Cupcakes all over the Internet. 

And I wanted to make a fun end of Summer treat for the kids so...

Since we had left over big marshmallows, Hershey bars and graham crackers from our Summer S'more making I decided to whip up a batch.

I had just gotten a new tin full of A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. recipes from Amazon (check it out HERE).  Inside was a recipe that sounded very yummy and quick.  Let me just say it's one I am going to make A LOT!!

Give Me S'more Cupcakes --

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. milk

1 egg

24 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped*

2 c. mini marshmallows*

Preheat oven to 350*.  Line 24 mini muffin cups with paper baking cups (I bought mine HERE).

Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, chocolate chips and baking powder in medium bowl.  Whisk milk and egg in small bowl; stir into crumb mixture until well blended.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling about half full.  Press chocolate kiss into center of each cup.  Press 4 marshmallows into top of each cupcake around chocolate kiss.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until marshmallows are lightly browned.  Cool. 

ENJOY!!

*We used the Hershey bars and big marshmallows cut into four small pieces instead.  Doesn't look as pretty as the picture but sure tasted good:)

○RESURRECTION ROLLS○

So I know that Easter is over but after hearing my mom rant and rave about how GOOD these were I thought we would give them a try.  We missed having family night since my kids went home for a few days with my parents so tonight we made these as a family and went over this lesson with the kids.  I was very proud of my kids when they started going over the story with us and how they understood why the rolls were hollow:)  I loved their excitement to see that the marshmallow had disappeared. 

Oh and BTW these are so YUMMY!!  I think you can use the recipe any time of the year to teach your kids the importance of Christ's Resurrection and enjoy a tasty snack to go along with it!

RESURRECTION ROLLS
----------------------------------------------
Crescent rolls
melted butter
large marshmallows
cinnamon
sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Give each child a large marshmallow cut in half, this represents Jesus. Have them dip the marshmallow in melted butter, which represents the oils of embalming. Then dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represent the spices used to anoint the body.

Then wrap the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

Place in cupcake liners and in a muffin tin. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The oven represents the tomb.

When the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, He is risen. (The marshmallow and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)

•Scrumptious Soft Pretzel's•

I have been doing a little preschool with my kids each week and since our letter for the day was "P" we decided to make pretzels.  I found an easy kid friendly recipe and gave it a try...

Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 C warm water
1 pkg yeast (or 1 T)
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
4 C flour
Add sugar to warm water then sprinkle yeast on top. let it float for a min. then stir to dissolve the yeast. Let sit for 10 min. as yeast activates and starts to foam. Add salt and flour and knead 5-10 min; adding more flour as needed to reduce stickiness. Divide dough into 12 pieces and roll into snakes. Twist into pretzel shape and place on nonstick baking sheet.  Make an egg wash with one egg and 1T water, lightly beaten together. Brush pretzels with egg wash then sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. Bake @ 425 for 15 min. or until lightly browned.  Serve with nacho cheese or brush with butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on them!:)
*For left over pretzels, brush with butter and sprinkle with parmesan and broil one minute. It makes a yummy treat.

I let the kids roll, shape and brush on the egg wash so our pretzels looked very "pretty!"  They didn't turn out as golden brown as I had hoped...I think it was from not enough egg wash, but they sure did taste good:)

♥YUMmy Valentines Day Treats♥

So I have been slacking on my treat making and dipping this year.  I really wanted to make cake pops but time and exhaustion from this pregnancy has taken over. But the kids and I did spend an afternoon dipping a few tasty treats for our family and friends.  I turned our left overs into a festive Valentine center piece for a family party that we had:)

We dipped and sprinkled--

Marshmallows

Oreo's - chocolate and vanilla ones

Rice Krispie treats that we cut into hearts

and since my husband is a HUGE fan of chocolate covered cinnamon bears I made him some of those (cinn. lips too)!:)  They took awhile and didn't turn out as pretty as I had hoped but they sure are YUMMY!!

Ingredients we used--

*Kroger Chocolate Almond bark

*Kroger Vanilla Almond bark colored pink (use paste not liquid food coloring)

*Valentine Sprinkles

*Sucker Sticks

*Wilton bottles for drizzling

*Anything you would like to dip:)

 My next task is to dip strawberries in our left over chocolate...all the stores were sold out but I eventually bought some and they are my favorite!!!!!  Next month I have some very yummy new treats I wanna try for St. Patty's Day....So stay tuned!

♫♪Fruit Pizza - Yummy Yummy♪♫

I have a wonderful SIL Jesica who sent me this recipe for Fruit Pizza and I just had to try it!☺ It was very easy and Ohhh so TASTY!! Take the refrigerator Sugar Cookie dough and bake at 350° for 12 minutes - Let cool completely!
Than take 1 1/2 c. Powdered Sugar, 1 c. Cool Whip and 1-8oz. pkg Cream Cheese - blend together till smooth. Spread over top of cooled cookie.
Add your favorite FRUIT!!
VOILA!! A tasty dessert...
Oh than you can't forget to add a dash of one sweet taste tester!!
Doesn't it look good enough to EAT...well grab your fork and dive right in!!

Thanks Jesica for a very YUMMY new dessert we will be having A LOT at our house!!☺

TaStY ApRiL FoOlS DiNnEr...

What's for dinner this April Fools' Day? Cookie fish sticks and tart taffy peas.

Gelled Juice and Faux Fish Sticks
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Lemon-flavored gelatin
Red food coloring
1. Following the package directions, mix up a box of lemon-flavored gelatin (we added a drop of red food coloring to darken it). Pour the mixture into clear glasses and insert a drinking straw into each. Place the glasses in the refrigerator to set. When they're ready, serve the jiggling juice to the next parched target (or two!) looking for a cool drink.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Cornflakes
Sugar wafer cookies
Peanut butter
Green taffy candy (we used green apple AirHeads)
Seedless strawberry jam
1. For the fish sticks, place a couple of handfuls of cornflakes in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Cover 2 sugar wafer cookies with peanut butter, then toss them in the cornflake crumbs to coat. 2. For the peas, tear off and roll small pieces of the taffy candy into balls. If the taffy is too stiff to work with, microwave it for about 6 seconds. 3. For the ketchup, use a fork to stir a few teaspoons of the jam until it's smooth. (I even added red food coloring to make it look more red)

Colorful Cupcakes

The first surprise here: there's not a grain of sugar in these cupcakes. The second surprise: your kids will love them anyway.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Meat Loaf
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Potato Frosting
3 cups mashed potatoes
Food coloring
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with foil bake cups. 2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the meat loaf ingredients until well combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the lined cups (the liners should be about three quarters full). 3. Place the filled muffin tins on cookie sheets and bake the cupcakes for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. 4. Divide the mashed potatoes among three small bowls and stir a few drops of food coloring into each batch to create blue, yellow, and pink pastel frosting's. Spread a generous dollop on each cupcake.

All recipes courtesy of www.familyfun.com :)

Bush Family Thanksgiving Menu

Ellie’s Thanksgiving Menu

- Turkey
- Bread
- Cereal
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Taco’s
- Sprite and Root Beer
- Ice cream and Brownies


To Prepare you wash your hands and put pretty clothes on…

Turkey – Put it on the rack and than in the oven for 20 minutes.
Bread – Put sour cream on it, get a pan out and put it in the oven for 6 minutes.
Cereal – It’s the ABC’s kind with marshmallows – just put milk in it.
Mac & Cheese – Get a bowl, put cheese in it and cook for 6 minutes in the microwave.
Taco’s – Put sour cream and cheese on a taco – cook for 6 minutes in the microwave.
Ice Cream – Get chocolate ice cream from the freezer.
Brownies – Get them from the fridge and just put chocolate on them – don’t cook them.
Drink – You just get it from the fridge and put in a cup.
Enjoy!!


Dalton’s Thanksgiving Menu

- Fish
- Turkey
- Bread
- Pink Juice
- Ice Cream and Popsicles

To prepare put on a dressing thing and these on your hands (An apron and Hot pads).

Fish – Put it in a bowl and cook it in the oven for 42 minutes.
Turkey – Buy it at the store, it’s frozen so put it in the oven and bake for 8 hours.
Bread – Take the bread out of the bag and put in the oven for 40 hrs. – now it’s toast so put peanut butter on it to make a smiley face. Use grapes for the eyes and nose.
Pink Juice – Take water, milk and Strawberries – mix it and it turns pink – like pink Lemonade.
Ice cream – Chocolate and Pink Popsicles
Enjoy!!