» Beating the Macaroni Blues - great baby shoes, baby clothes, baby toys, cloth diapers and parenting tips! If you are anything like me, you are sick to death of the answer from your toddler to the age old question “what do you want for lunch”. Macaroni, macaroni, macaroni. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind it every now and again, but I do think that I can provide something a little more, how should we say, , the rest of the time. In addition to the macaroni and grilled cheese sammy repertoire, my toddler will also tolerate soup, for the most part, as long as it doesn’t have anything yucky in it. So with that I took to making some toddler friendly soup that I could freeze and re-serve in toddler size portions. Chicken breasts or pieces (raw or cooked) 1/2 cup chopped onion (optional) 1 clove of garlic mined (optional) 1 litre chicken broth 1 cup of diced carrots (or whatever veggie your little one eats) 1/2 cup of diced celery 1 cup of egg noodles If using raw chicken, place diced chicken in your saucepan with onion, garlic and a couple tablespoons of water. Enjoy with your picky toddler!
Cookie Dough Dip Go put on your stretchy pants. Seriously. Do it now. Some days, I find that certain recipes speak to me. This is the situation I found myself in late Monday evening. Or the couch from which I was laying on after eating 16 snickerdoodles. You can only imagine what I did first thing yesterday morning. So let’s hit all the major points: 1. 2. 3. Or you can do dirty things like eat it with a spoon. Cookie Dough Dip makes about 1 1/2 cups 1/2 cup butter 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cups chocolate chips Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar for 60 seconds. Garnish with additional chopped chocolate. Oh! I think I love this girl.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles I’ve never liked chocolate chip cookies. Go ahead and throw tomatoes at me if you’d like, but I don’t like ’em. They’re just a plain old cookie, after all, with a few studs of chocolate chips in them. I know there are plenty of cookie-dough-nay-sayers out there… you know, the salmonella scare and all . Chilled dough is rolled into 1-inch balls. Those chilled dough balls are dipped in chocolate and then placed onto waxed paper to set. I dipped a few in Ghirardelli White Chocolate Bark and a few in the Chocolate version too. Oh yeah! Yield: 3 to 4 dozen truffles Prep Time: 45 min + chilling time Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles Best served cold, these treats are for cookie-dough lovers. Ingredients: Directions: 1. 2. 3. Tips: *I used the Ghirardelli Candy Making Dipping Bar- both Double Chocolate and White flavors. *Have your own favorite cookie dough recipe?
Apple Nachos! I have no clue where I originally saw this idea years ago–but in today’s blogging world, apple nachos have become just about as ubiquitous as raw ballz… But, there may still be a few folks remaining who aren’t tuned into all the apple nacho hoopla. If you’ve never tried them, give ’em a whirl! They are ridiculously easy and taste much more awesome than they sound. Plus, my kids LOVE them as a midday snack. Obviously this isn’t a recipe–use your imagination and your fave toppings to make THE perfect apple nachos! I used (to feed 1 1/2 kids and 2 adults): 3 crispy and slightly tart apples (we ♥ honeycrisp! For these, I sliced up some apples thin enough so it would be easy to eat the slice in one or two bites. Then I melted some peanut butter–until it was super runny–and drizzled it all over the apples. Couldn’t get much easier! Share with friends!
My Trash and Treasure THE Chocolate Cola cake I was just introduced to the southern delicacy that is Chocolate Cola cake (aka coca-cola cake) while visiting Charleston, SC early this spring. It was a spiritual experience. It is all that is good and that I hold dear. I’d marry it if I wasn’t already married… seriously. amazing stuff. then I scoured the internet for a good recipe… but none seemed right. Then I was using my home-made binder ‘o recipes from various magazines over the years and I discovered that years ago I cut out a recipe for this very cake… and the recipe listed looked exactly like the cake I wanted to replicate. Naturally, when we had our first BBQ of the season I simply HAD to make one. preheat oven to 350, and grease up (I like Crisco) a 9×13 (or so) pan. mix: 2cups flour 2cups sugar 1/2tsp salt 1tsp baking soda** 1/2tsp cinnamon ** note: I have made this with baking powder or soda – Either way works. now take off heat and add that to the flour mix & whisk until combined. Then add: 2 eggs 1tsp vanilla extract wait.
Red Velvet Rice Krispies Treats Hearts for Valentine’s Day You may have noticed I share a lot of Rice Krispies Treats, especially around the holiday. Can you blame me though? They’re sweet, gooey and oh-so-good! And these red velvet treats are to die for! Had it not been for my kiddos little sweet happy fingers, I wouldn’t have found the restraint to not eat them all. If you’re making these to just eat, no need to get fancy but if you’re making them for a special occasion like Valentine’s Day, you’ll want to check out Wilton’s selection of cookie cutters. In a small jelly roll pan you can press the treats thin enough to cut with the heart shaped cutters. With a piping bag (or plastic sandwich bag) you can frost these with pretty designs in a cream cheese frosting that makes them even sweeter. Share ‘em, eat ‘em, whatever you do, don’t leave them unattended and expect to find anything left but crumbs left over. Red Velvet Rice Krispies Treats Hearts Author: Cat Davis Type: Dessert Serves: 8 Ingredients Instructions
5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake Have you ever wondered if it’s possible? To make a cake in a microwave oven? With the whole process taking only about 5 minutes of your precious time? Then I have the answer for you. IT. The truth is that I was searching for a decent mug cake recipe for quite some time. Without even waiting that long, the right moment presented itself this week… because when you return from a visit to your sister’s and your sister sends you home with a big smile and a suitcase full of Twilight Saga books, then some really special measures need to be taken, the most important one being to save time wherever possible – cleaning, sleeping, and even baking included. So here I am, with 3 and a half books to read and a lovely new cake to show you. Here are the details… This is what we need. This recipe includes very few instructions. You just basically place all the ingredients (minus the choc chips) in a mug (I did the stirring in a bowl because I wanted to keep my mug clean and nice for photographic purposes).
Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites On Fridays, I teach cooking classes to two kids in our neighborhood. They are pretty knowledgeable-so my job is easy:) I think it is fantastic that they want to learn how to cook at such a young age-they are in the 3rd and 4th grade. On Friday we made homemade soft pretzels,the traditional salty ones and cinnamon and sugar pretzels. For fun, we also made pretzel bites. everyone loved these. Is everyone ready for the big game? Buffalo Hot Wings-these are Josh’s all time favorite. My good friend Gaby, from What’s Gaby Cooking, made Pulled Pork Sliders for the big game. Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites Yield: A lot!
No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars — Buns In My Oven I have this secret that I’ve been carrying around with me my whole life. I’ve always been too scared to tell anyone for fear of what they would say. I want to tell you, but if I do will you promise not to call me names and leave me? I’ve never eaten oatmeal before. No, really. You aren’t calling me names, are you? I hope not, because I think I’ve finally decided to try oatmeal. For now, let me show you these delicious no bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars. This recipe is super simple. Add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of peanut butter (smooth or chunky, your choice) to a microwave safe bowl and microwave until it’s all melted together. Pour the chocolate and peanut butter over the top of the oatmeal crust, reserving a couple spoonfuls to drizzle over the top of the bars. Gently press the reserved oatmeal on top of the chocolate and peanut butter, drizzle with the remaining chocolate and peanut butter and then refrigerate for a few hours. Go ahead, try ‘em.
Double Chocolate Bread with Peanut Butter Spread & Buns In My Oven I’ve been wanting to making this chocolate bread with peanut butter spread for a long time now and for a couple of reasons. The number one reason, obviously, is because it rhymes. Say it with me – Chocolate Bread with Peanut Butter Spread. That’s just fun. The second reason is because it sounds yummy. The one thing holding me back, however, has been my husband. Every couple of weeks I’d mention this bread. Yes. Today, I told him that I just couldn’t live like this anymore and I made the dang bread. I’m sorry. The original recipe called for dark chocolate chunks to be mixed through the bread, but I used half dark and half semi-sweet. Either way, this was yummy. Double Chocolate Bread with Peanut Butter Spread Ingredients For the bread: For the peanut butter spread: 3 ounces cream cheese, softened 3 tablespoons peanut butter 1/3 cup powdered sugar Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together all ingredients until well combined and fluffy.
Candied Strawberries We have a city celebration commemorating the strawberry fields that used to be a major economic contributor of the town in days long past (that is to say, before it was fiscally nonsensical to try to produce a major crop locally that you could get much cheaper from Chile). Sadly, even though we continue to celebrate Strawberry Days, there are no strawberries grown anywhere but backyards in our town. We do continue to eat and observe with a parade, carnival, pie eating contests and rodeos, and really, what else do you need? The kiddies don’t have to know that the city orders five ba-jillion cases of strawberries from CA! All that matters is that we have tons of strawberries to eat (swimming in cream), and to make yummy recipes with! The Chef brought some of these home last Valentines Day and I couldn’t wait to make them to honor our town’s Strawberry Days Shindig!! makes 1–2 dozen, depending on the size of berries, and how fast you can dip!
Homemade Nutella Many years ago I worked in a restaurant in New York with a group of other cooks, who were mostly women and we were all friends. We’d gather in the cold morning kitchen, working around a communal wooden counter near the warm stove armed with cups of strong coffee as we set about our various tasks while engaging in conversations while doing all the repetitive work of chopping the piles of vegetables we used for soups, salads, and other things that we were going to prepare the rest of the day. One woman, who I’ll call Mary Smith (and who, for some reason, we all called her by her complete name, “Mary Smith”, rather than just “Mary”), was bookish and almost librarian in her demeanor, and she was attending a local Ivy league institution, getting her doctorate in Russian and Russian studies. She worked very efficiently with no unnecessary movements, and always had perfect posture, like a ballerina, along with pristine skin and straight brown hair pulled sharply back in a tight ponytail.