Pear Mice

Vanilla Snowmen

It is something to do with the kids when they want to be out building a snowman and it is too cold or they are sick or, like here in Utah, when the inversion makes the air quality awful.

Basically, you use vanilla ice cream for snow and  add goodies to make the face and body.

I started with a light dusting of coconut for "snow" covered ground:

Next, I made a plate of leftover Christmas candy:

Then I scooped 2-3 balls of vanilla ice cream and let them build:

Penguin Party!

We "invited" some penguins to our holiday dinner this year!

(olives, cream cheese, carrot)

Lazy dessert...

This is best filed under things I threw together and didn't turn out half bad... :)

1 small bag frozen raspberries, dumped into a glass baking dish that has been sprayed with oil

1 chocolate cake mix, dumped directly on top of the raspberries

1 stick butter, cut into slices and put on top of the dry cake mix

Bake for about 1/2 an hour. You will see it bubbling slightly on the edges when it is done.

It looks like a big gooey mess, as you can see, but was actually pretty tasty. I let it cool for a little while, but served it while it was still warm. Goes great with vanilla ice cream too. Think cobblerish dump cake?

Carrot Cake Pops and a Lollipop Garden

 With a 3 year old b-day, I decided to go the Cake-pop route.  It seemed (and was) SO much less messy!  That "frosting" isn't gooey, it is firm chocolate.  YUM!  The recipe looked so easy, I couldn't pass it up.

I decided on Carrot cake, since we were going with an Easter/Spring theme. 

1 box cake made per directions on the box and cooled.

Take 1/2 of the cake and 1/2 container of Cream Cheese Frosting and mix together making a dough.

Roll into balls (or carrot shapes) and stick in the fridge 2 hours or the freezer 30 min. (Make them small... like donut hole small, or to your horror, your beautiful creation will slowly make its way down the stick and die a sad death.  With the carrot shapes, you can get a way with more weight because it it distributed differently... still, there was much bellowing and perhaps a few off color words dierected at the demise of some of my best cake pops.)

Melt white chocolate pieces and add desired food coloring.

While chocolate is melting, prepare candy sticks or dowels.  Candy sticks are a lot more pricy. (I used dowels 3/4 covered with floral tape and on the one pictured, I used floral wire covered with floral  tape to make the stem of the carrot.)

Dip the tip of the stick into the chocolate and place the firm, cold dough onto the stick. Hopefully you will have more luck dipping your dough in the chocolate.  Not only did I have to thin my chocolate out with milk a bit, but I spread it with a spatula, as the chocolate kept pulling the dough off of the stick for me.

Place in styrofoam or a candy stick holder, like the one I got at Walmart and I would suggest keeping them cool until use.  As you can see, some turned out MUCH better than others.  But the kids loved them and their faces were CLEAN!

I had seen the idea for a lollipop garden on Pinterest using Tootsie pops.

It looked so cute and all it was, was the candy stuck in a patch of grass.  Cute and easy, right?

Well, not for me.  i couldn't find Tootsie pops anywhere.  So I used dum-dums.  Well, dum-dums are significantly shorter and got lost in the grass.  So I added a mini muffin liner and tied the bottom with emroidery floss, then placed them in the actual flower garden.  Even the boys att he party liked picking these flowers.  :)

Complete with egg hunt, gift bags, coloring printable crowns and

rounds of duck-duck goose, simon says, and a bubble machine, I only spent

$30 on the entire party.

Edible Turkeys!

We made these cute little turkeys for an activity at church tonight.
Thought you all might enjoy them! Follow the link for a list of ingredients...

Turkey Ingredients

Homemade Pizza From Scratch

Sauce:

1 6 oz can of Tomato paste
1 1/2 C water
1/3 C. EVOO
2 cloves of Garlic minced
salt and pepper
1/2 Tb chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 Tb chopped fresh Basil leaves
1/2 Tb chopped fresh rosemary leaves
(you can use dried, but you'll have to tweak it to taste)

Mix together all ingredients making sure to dissolve the tomato paste and let sit for a few hours to get a better flavor.  No need to cook it, just spread it on the crust.

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)

In a large bowl or mixer, dissolve yeast and sugar in the water and let sit for 10 min.

Stir in
1 tsp Salt
2 Tb EVOO
then 2 1/2 C Flour  (for higher elevations, use 3 C)

For mixers, use bread hook and add small amounts of flour intil the dough is no longer sticky.  For old school, Turn out dough onto a well floured surface knead in flour to same effect.

Place the bowl in a well oiled bowl, cover with a warm, damp cloth, and let rise to double (about 1 hour)  I set the over to warm and then turn it off and place the bowl in there.

Punch down dough, and make into a tight ball.  let it sit and loosen for about a minute.

Roll or toss Pizza to fit your pizza stone or pan.  Add sauce and desired toppings.  This one has 4 cheeses.  And we had a smaller Pizza sheet, as my stone broke *sniff*  So the result as a BeauJo's Pizza effect with fantastic crust that doubled for tasty bread sticks.

If there is excess dough, roll and twist to form the crust and use a knife to make small slices around the crust.

Bake in preheated oven at 450  Using a stone, bake immediately.  For a pan, lightly oil the pan and let the dough rise another 15-20 minutes before topping and baking it.

Cook time is about 15-20 min. until the cheese and crust are golden brown.

Peanut Butter Fudgy Bars

Courtesy of Pillsbury

Base:

1 pkg Pillsbury Moist Supreme Golden Butter Recipe Premium Cake Mix

1 cup Peanut Butter (crunchy or creamy - your call)

1/3 cup water

1 egg

Top:

1 (16-oz) can Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Dark Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup+ M&M's

(optional) 1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Heat oven to 350F

Line cooking pan with foil or parchment paper (13x9 or your choice)

Mix base together and spread into cooking pan.

Bake 20-25min or until puffed and light golden brown. Cool completely before topping.

Combine frosting and 1/2cup peanut butter. Spread over cooled cake bar. Top with candies and nuts. Cut into individual serving sizes. (Chill to set frosting faster)

Grandma T's Porcupines

1 Square butter
1 can Eagle Brand Milk
1 lb Carmels

Melt in Microwave, strring often

1 large box Marshmallows
1 box rice crispies

spread rice crispies accross a cookie sheet.  Dip Marshmallows in caramel and use a large fork to roll the mallows in the krispies.  Put on Waxed paper to dry.

You can also roll in chopped nuts and/or coconut

Fudge Stripe Ice Cream Sandwiches

2 cookies
Large spoonful of ice cream
Squirt of canned coolwhip
Half a strawberry sliced and fanned.

Stack and eat!

FYI--it is a bit messy.  Have napkins on hand.

General Conference Snack Mix

2 cups salted peanuts
3 cups mini Pretzels
1 cup M&Ms
1 cup raisins



Toss together in a bowl or divide up into baggies.   ---In lieu of pretzels or peanuts, I've used Cheerios and coconut as well.

Beve's Pumpkin Potpourri

a FALL TWIST for Gorp Ingredients: 1/2 c. Wild Berries (Red Jelly Beans) 1/2 c. Owl Rings (Cheerios Cereal) 1/2 c. Colored Flies (M&M's) 1/2 c. Butterfly Wings (Fritos) 1/2 c. Cobwebs (Coconut) 1/2 c. Ants (Raisins) 1/2 c. Earth Worms (Chow Mein Noodles) 1/2 c. Squirrel nuts (Shelled Peanuts) 1/2 c. Bat Bones (Pretzels) 1/2 c. Bird Seed (Shelled Sunflower Seeds) Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Makes 10 (1/2 c.) servings. A fun treat at Halloween time, thanksgiving time, or any time during the fall. Number Of Servings:How big are the hands grabing the goodies???

I don't know what to call it.... Trail mix?

Sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, craisins, and raisins. The kids love it and no salt added. I bought the big bags of the stuff and now when the kids get "snacky" this week, I just pull out the bag or put a handful in a baggie to go.

Amuse Bouche-Kiddo style

I thought these were common in every house, but I have met some confused faces when I refer to apples and peanut butter.

Its about the same as "Ants on a Log" (Celery filled with PB and raisins or chocolate chips on top.) But with apples instead of celery.

The fruit kabobs are just small portions of fresh fruit you have around on a toothpick.

These are GREAT for snacks at kid parties... or any parties really. Particularly if you add a fruit dip.

Wednesday Night Pitas

I cut up and cooked chicken breast in some olive oil and green onion and garlic powder.

When the chicken was cooked through, I added Parmesan cheese.

The veggies in the pita are: dark Romaine lettuce, cilantro, and tomato. I added a tiny sprinkle of finely shredded cheddar for color.



For Dessert we had these awesome pre-made crepes. I put yogurt, bananas, grapes and kiwi in them they were a big hit!

Bagel Sandwiches

1 Plain Bagel
cream cheese (aka Schmear LOL)
2-4 slices of deli ham

You get how to build it, right? Then nuke it till it hot (in my microwave that's about 30 seconds.)

Mmmmmm..... and easy.

Edible Play Dough

I have seen this recipe (or various versions of it) all over the internet- and it is fun. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Play Dough

•1 18-oz. jar creamy peanut butter
•6 tablespoons honey (you can also use Karo Syrup)
•3/4 cup non-fat dry milk

Instructions for the project-Mix all of the ingredients together, using varying amounts of dry milk for desired consistencies. Kids also enjoy adding other foods like M&M's or peanuts for , mouths, etc. It is important to note that when you are not using this play-dough it must be stored in an airtight container.

PB&J

A couple of fun ideas with PB&J:

My favorite: Make your basic PB&J sandwich and for a change grill it like you are making grilled cheese. Even easier, if you have a toaster over pop it in for regular medium toasting time. Crispy, warm and delicious.

PB&J Roll Ups: Pull out the left over tortillas from the pantry bought for burrito night and spread on a thin layer of Peanut Butter. Next add just a small dollop of your favorite jam to the middle and pile on some fruit (such as sliced up apples, pears, bananas, raisins or grapes etc). Finally wrap up like your making a burrito and enjoy. My experience - kids love these ... especially if they get to pick the fruit.

Fancy PB&J Egg rolls: I did this for a party. Kind of an upscale kids dish to look pretty next to the grown up dishes. Admittedly the grownups liked them as much as the kids. Start with store bought won ton wrappers (surprisingly they are usually in the produce section, but sometimes in the frozen foods). To prevent them from drying out during assembly prepare all other ingred's first and then open the pkg right at the end. Stuffing's- PB&J, peanut butter and Nutella (spreadable chocolate), peanut butter and bananas, and/or peanut butter and raisins or sweet dried cherries. Egg white wash or plain water in a glass to seal the sides.
-Lay a won ton wrapper out, pile a small amount of select ingred's in the middle, brush the sides with water and roll like making an egg roll. Assemble all rolls and then fry in 2 inches of veggie oil or place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until golden brown. Serve warm.

The quickie pizza

English muffins or a Baguette
Pizza sauce
Shredded Mozzerella
Optional pizza toppings

For fast mini pizzas, slather the pizza sauce and grated cheese on an English muffin or two and nuke it till the cheese is melted.

French bread pizzas are almost the same but you slice the baguette in halves or fourths and then bake with toppings till cheese is melted at about 350.

Quesadillas

I LOVE HOMEMADE QUESADILLAS!!!!!

I didn't get a lot of variety in my comfort food upbringing. Plus as a kid I was super picky. In High School, my mom started making the plain cheese quesadillas and then later added Salsa. Now that I'm on my own and have expanded my pallet in many, many ways, I still revert to the now "fancy" Quesadilla. It now has chicken, salsa, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream.