Rice Krispie Valentine Treats

Thanks to Pinterest, I decided to make a homemade Valentine gift for Keegan's classmates. I knew there would be a few issues or problems with the idea in my head, but I knew I could make it work.

First off you need to make a batch of Rice Krispie Treats, according to the box directions.

Put the tray of treats in the fridge for an hour or so to really firm up.

Before taking the treats out of the fridge, chop and melt your chocolate.

 I used half a big block of Almond Bark and make 17 heart treats. Worked out perfectly.

Next, cut out your rice krispie treats. I used a heart for Valentine's Day.

Now comes my first hurdle. The first time I dipped the treat in chocolate then tried to put the lollipop stick in. Big mess. So push the stick into the treat to create a hole, then remove it before dunking in chocolate. I was also worried that the treats would be too soft to hold up. So make sure you coat the entire back of the heart shape to give it some stability. Lay out on a sheet of wax paper. Sprinkle with candies shortly after dipping so the candy will stick to the chocolate.

I wrapped each treat and closed with a red bow.

I had my son pose for a picture with his fist up in the air. I used photoshop to add a heart, border and text. Then I had Walmart print 4x6 copies.

Make a small slit at the top and bottom of the hand with an xato knife.

Insert the lollipop stick into the holes so that it looks like they are holding the lollipop.

Activity Advent Calendar

I saw a picture of an activity advent calendar on pinterest that I just fell in love with. Instead of eating stale candy from a cheap cardboard cutout every night, this advent calendar had a Christmas related activity to do every day. There two huge reasons why this would be perfect for us. You can reuse it every year and, the best part, you can cheat!  We all know the holidays get crazy so planning activities 20 days in advance doesn't always work out, especially when it involved two little boys. So the way this calendar is set up, you can make sure the daily activities line up with your schedule. My plan is to check the calendar every night after the boys go to bed. I'll make sure I can do the next days activity, if not, I just switch the cards around.... genius!!

But there was one drawback to the calendar I saw in pinterest, the blog didn't have any instruction. So I made a plan, and even though it changed along the way, I am very happy with the results. So here is the step by step for you!

Here is the original picture (from HERE)

My shopping list:

Foam board (which I ended up not using)

Fabric for the backing (from a remnant bin)

A package of Christmas fabric quilting squares

Christmas ribbon

Package of Christmas scrapbook pictures

Fabric glue

Fabric Paint

Index Cards

Christmas shaped white cards

Christmas Sticker

My first step was to mark out the edge of the foam board on the backing fabric so I knew how to lay out the squares.

Using  fabric pencil, I laid the foam board on top of the backing fabric, and being sure to keep the board still, I traced along the edges.

Next I took the package of quilting squares and laid them out on the backing fabric, making to that similar colors and prints were not close to each other.

This is where I ran into my first bit of trouble. There was no way to arrange the squares so that there was 24 inside the area of the foam board. So I could either cut every square to be smaller and cut every activity square smaller, or I could just find a bigger double thick cardboard to mount it to, instead of the foam board. Finding a bigger board seemed to be easier than all that cutting, so I pinned all of the squares to the backing. Make sure you put individual pins in all four corners, you'll be moving this around alot and don't want your squares sliding around. You can also choose to glue the squares down but it may require touchups with use.

I sewed the three sides of each square, leaving the top open.

Next was finding a new backing to attach to it. I asked hubby if he could find a section of cardboard big enough. But he had an even better genius idea (don't you hate it when that happens?). Instead of attaching the fabric to cardboard, why didn't I just sew pockets into the top and bottom and put dowels in it. That would also make it easier to store since it could be folded up. So with a heavy heart, I seceded that Chad's idea was better and headed out to buy the dowels. I also had to finish the edges of the side now since they wouldn't be hidden behind the foam board.
 

I chose to use a fancy dancy stitch on my sewing machine. Again, you could do this using fabric glue too.
 

Next I folded the top and bottom in and did an invisible stitch, creating a tube for the dowels.  

Once the pockets were done, I inserted the dowels and put drops of glue just inside the pockets to keep the dowels in place.
 

Next, I turned my attention to the activity cards.  I used red and green markers to write an activity on each cutout. Be sure to choose activities that can be repeated each year. It helps to keep them general or something that is already a family tradition. Instead of using "Make snowmen ornaments" just use "Make ornaments". That way you have a little wiggle room from year to year. For the cutout on the 24th, I used "Read Night Before Christmas, and leave out milk and cookies for Santa". I also added stickers to each cutout to make them more festive.



The last step was the really fun part. Decorating the pockets. I used cutouts from a Christmas themed scrapbook package. I laid them out before gluing any on to make sure I liked the way it looked. I inserted an index card into each pocket to prevent the glue from seeping through the fabric and gluing the pocket closed. I used Tacky Glue and attached the cutouts to each pocket. I also used glitter fabric paint to highlight some of the pattern in the fabric and to write the day (1-24).

You can see the index cards poking out the top of the pockets. I was going to remove the index cards once the glue was dried but they were pretty stuck. I could have easily peeled them off the back of the pockets, but I liked the stability they gave. So I just cut off the top sections so you couldn't see them, leaving the rest glued to the back of the pockets.

To finish it off, I tied a ribbon to the ends of the top dowel so it could be hung on a wall, and TADA, a new family tradition is born.

 

Homemade Pretzels

Besides the obvious that they raised alot, these were really good. Not as good as the ones you get from Target or that nice little shop in the mall, but still good.

Ingredients

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon salt 1/2 egg 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cold water
coarse salt


Directions


In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, butter, salt, egg and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and refrigerate for 2-24 hours. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Cut each into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a 20-in. rope. Shape into a pretzel. Place on greased baking sheets. Beat egg yolk and cold water; brush over pretzels. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 25 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Perfect Biscuits

I have searched for a long time for that perfect biscuit recipe. You know the one. Wonderfully brown and crisp on the outside, and deliciously soft, flakey and moist on the inside. Of course you need to make these from scratch, I knew no box mix was going to cut it. But I tried several of different recipes and never really got the results I wanted. After watching an episode of Sandwich King on Food Network, I am happy to exlaim, "By Jove, I think I've got it!" Turns out the perfect biscuit isn't just about the recipe, but the technique. Two simple things make a world of difference.



Ingredients



3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder*
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar*
3/4 cup butter 
1 1/4 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon melted butter



Directions



1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place a cast iron skillet in the oven to preheat.

2.In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place bowl in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add COLD milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing dough for four to six strokes or just until dough holds together. Pat or lightly roll dough until 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter, rerolling scraps as necessary. Handle the dough as little as possible.

5. Pull cast iron skillet from the oven and add enough vegetable oil just to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.  Place biscuits, sides touching, in hot cast iron skillet. Brush the top of the biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from oven and serve warm.



Two simple steps, baking in a hot cast iron skillet and refridgerating the ingredients after combining, made a WORLD of difference.

Creamy Chicken with Pot Pie Toppers

Chicken Pot Pie. YUM. This is a great way to transfer the meal into a make ahead dish. I did make a few changes. First major change was the celery. And I do this for every dish the calls for celery. I don't care for the texture of cooked celery but it does add a nice flavor. So instead of chopping the celery up, I leave it whole and toss it in. Then fish it out before serving. You get the depth of flavor celery gives your meals but not the mush grey stuff.  In the recipe it calls for mushrooms, but no one around these parts really cares for them, so I just omitted them and the steps. It also say to bake the puff pastry ahead of time also but this is such an easy step that I decided to wait and do it the night of instead of risking the baked puffed pastry crumbling in the mean time. The result was wonderful. I think I will even add more veggies next time.

Ingredients


3 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 onions

2 fresh bay leaves

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced or quartered

4 baby potatoes, diced

2 parsnips, peeled and diced 1/2-inch thick

2 small ribs celery, chopped

A few sprigs fresh sage leaves, very thinly sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Splash white wine

1 rounded tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, defrosted

1 egg


Directions

Place the chicken breasts in a pot with 1 quartered onion and 1 bay leaf. Fill the pan with just enough water to come to the top of the chicken breasts. Bring the mixture to a low boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and poach the chicken 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken and dice or shred with forks. Reserve the poaching liquid.

In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, a couple of turns of the pan over medium-high heat, add the mushrooms and lightly brown. When the mushrooms are just tender, add 2 chopped medium onions, potatoes, parsnips, celery, sage, salt, pepper and remaining bay leaf. Cover the pot and sweat the vegetables 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf. Melt the butter in the pot, add the flour and stir to make a light roux. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine and add one to 2 cups of reserved poaching liquid. Whisk in the mustard and 2 cups chicken stock. Stir in the cream. Thicken to a light gravy consistency. Adjust the salt and pepper and add in the chicken.



Reduce the heat to low and bake off the pastry tops.



For make-ahead meal: Bake off the pastry tops; cool the filling and store. Reheat the filling, covered, over medium heat to a bubble, and then reduce the heat to a simmer.



To prepare the pastry tops: Cut the pastry into shapes which reflect the shape and size of the dishes or bowls you wish to serve the soup in. Beat the egg with a splash of water and arrange the cut pastry on a nonstick baking sheet or on parchment-lined sheet pan. Brush the dough with the egg wash and bake to golden at 425 degrees F, 12 minutes.

Baked Taco Bowls

We love tacos in our house. They are a great throw together meal. Especially when you have some leftover roast in the fridge. I made these shredded beef taco bowls with the leftover roast from the Braised Beef recipe (HERE) and some inspiration from pintrest. Instead of frying the taco shells, like we had always done in the past, I saw an article on pintrest on how to BAKE the taco shells. The results were delicious. With fried taco shells, they tend to start getting mushy unless you fry them so hard that they are pretty much crumbling when you start to build your taco. With these, they stay crisp and fresh and with the bowl shape, they are all ready for loading.

To make the bowls, preheat your oven to 350. Spray corn tortillas with non stick spray. Lay in an upside down cupcake pan so the shape resembles a bowl. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the shell is crisp and holds it shape.

Then load up with your favorite taco fixings. A quick scrumptious meal.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcakes

One of my favorite cake flavors is lemon. The frosting in this recipe is a creamy and light and just perfect with the lemon altered white cake mix. Super easy and fantastic results.

Ingredients


1 package (2-layer size) white cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package JELL-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup water 4 egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) package PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat cake mix, pudding mix, water, egg whites and oil in large bowl with mixer on low speed until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) Beat on medium speed 2 min. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined 2-1/2-inch muffin cups.

Bake 21 to 24 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, beat sugar, cream cheese, butter and juice with mixer on low speed until well blended. Add a few drops of food coloring until you reach desired color. Frost cupcakes.