Strawberry Lemonade Cookies

Good Morning 🙂

I made these fantastic cookies for my Nieces 3rd Birthday Party about a month ago and they were a HUGE hit! Perfect for summer. Super Easy and Super Good!

Strawberry Lemonade Cookies

Ingredients

1

(15.25 ounce) Betty Crocker Super Moist lemon cake mix

1

(15.25 ounce) Betty Crocker Super Moist strawberry cake mix

4

eggs

2/3

cup vegetable oil (divided)

2

teaspoons lemon juice

2

cups powdered sugar (divided)

1

tablespoons milk

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Begin by making the two cake mixes. Pour the lemon cake mix into a large bowl and the strawberry cake mix in another bowl. To each cake mix, add 2 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice; mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate each bowl for 20 minutes to firm slightly.
• Remove batters from fridge, and take 1 rounded teaspoon of lemon batter and roll into a ball. Repeat with the strawberry batter. Gently roll the lemon and strawberry dough together to make one large ball.
• Transfer the dough ball into a bowl with 1 cup of powdered sugar, and roll to lightly coat in sugar. Place on a parchment-covered baking sheet at least 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake each batch for 10 minutes, until they turn slightly golden and are cooked through. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Enjoy these light refreshing cookies…we sure did!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

You know…because it is COLD today. I mean freezing rain and snow…come on! It is the middle of April!

This is a recipe I found that we really liked! So if you are looking for something warm on this chilly (spring) day here you go 🙂

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 onion, chopped

1/4 C butter, melted

1/2 C flour

2 C milk

2 C chicken broth

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ tsp garlic salt

2 C broccoli florets

2 C carrots, finely chopped

3 C cheddar cheese, shredded

2 large potatoes, cubed

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:

• Melt 1 Tbsp butter in soup pot. Stir in onions and cook over medium-low heat until softened.

•  Add melted butter to pot. Stir in flour until well combined. Slowly add milk and chicken broth to pot until mixture is smooth.

• Add black pepper, worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic salt, broccoli, carrots, cheese, potatoes, and bacon. Continue to heat over medium heat, stirring often, until vegetables are cooked through and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes.

By now you know me and know that we usually don’t do anything unless it is EASY 🙂

**A made this and may have made it a little spicier than it should be (too much red pepper flakes, recipe stated is adjusted) but it was still really good!

Homemade Granola Bars

I fell upon this gem one day while I was supporting my Pinterest Addiction! I can not tell you how amazing these are and they are SUPER easy! I have made Peanut Butter ones and Chocolate Chip ones and they are soooo good! I mean not only are they absolutely delicious but my bank account loves them too! Instead of spending the money on the store bought ones, making my own are soooooo much cheaper! Plus these will be a great healthier snack for the kids down the road! It will prob be a fun activity that we can also make together 🙂

I found the recipe here, and follow the recipe to make the bars but adjust a little when adding the “fun” ingredients.

Homemade Granola Bars – Peanut Butter

Ingredients:

2 cups quick cooking oats
1 C rice crispy cereal
1/4 C shredded coconut
1/4 C butter
1/4 C honey or agave
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

2 heaping spoon fulls of Peanut Butter (I use chunky and it works great)

Directions:

•   In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, cereal and coconut, then add in the peanut butter (try and coat as much of the mixture as you can by continuously stirring and breaking up the peanut butter).
• Set a small saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter.  Add the honey, brown sugar and salt.  Stir together then leave it alone as it comes to a boil.  Once the boil has reached all the way around the edges of the pan, begin timing.  Allow this mixture to boil for 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
• Add the vanilla then pour the mixture over the oats, using a rubber spatula to get all the sugar mixture out of the pan.  Mix the ingredients together until the oats are completely coated.
• Once the mixture isn’t too hot (very shortly after, you don’t want to wait to long or it will harden before you shape), press very firmly it into a pan the size of your liking (you want to put it in a pan that will give you your desired length and thickness, I use an 11×7 and they are pretty good! I need to find the perfect pan though, one where I don’t need to cut in half, maybe a 11x4ish?)
• Place in the refridgerator for atleast an hr to harden, then cut them into bars and store in an airtight container.

*make sure you press the mixture very firmly into the pan to make sure the bars will stick together and hold their shape

**using my 11×7 dish it makes about 10-12 bars depending on how big you make them

Homemade Granola Bars – Chocolate Chip

Ingredients:

Use all the same ingredients, switching the peanut butter for chocolate chips (I use mini)

Directions:

The directions are mostly the same, except:

Don’t mix the chips into the dry mixture. You should mix them in to the mixture after the liquid is added and right before you transfer to the pan. You don’t want to add them too early when it is still hot because it will melt the chocolate (unless you don’t care and like smeared chocolate throughout instead of chips like me 😉 )

Well I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does! Go and give it a try! your body and bank account will thank you! 😉

 

 

 

 

Ranch Bean Dip

Looking for a quick but very good appetizer? This has your name all over it!

With only 4 ingredients and about 10 min warming you are done!

Ranch Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 can refried beans

1 cup sour cream

1 package of ranch dressing mix

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a medium sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Stir everything together until it is warm and well blended. Enjoy!

If that isn’t easy enough then I don’t know what is!

Have a fantastic Tuesday!! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crescent Roll Taco Pizza

Taco’s & Pizza…YES YES YES!!!

I found this recipe on Pinterest a little while back and we made it for dinner a couple weeks ago and I decided that it is blog worthy, because it is that good and SUPER easy!

Definitely a…

recipe that will be a fun kid friendly dinner!

Crescent Roll Taco Pizza

• 1 tube crescent rolls
• 1 lb hamburger
• 1 cup black beans (drained)
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes (drained)
• 2 cups cheese (I used cheddar and mozzarella)
• taco seasoning

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Unroll the crescent rolls on the baking sheet. Press together the crescent roll’s seams (very important step! Make sure you seal it well so it won’t break apart, you don’t want your pizza flopping! You can even roll all the dough into a ball then use a rolling pin and roll it out to make sure there are no holes).

Brown hamburger and pre-bake the crust in the oven for 5 mins .

Drain meat, then mix in taco seasoning and make according to package.

Assemble your pizza, spread around the taco meat, black beans & tomatoes then top off with the cheese.

Bake for 15min until the cheese is melted and the crust is light brown

Gobble this up and don’t regret it!! 🙂

 

Oreo Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is one of the first recipes I found and made on Pinterest and I make them for different functions here and there and they are always such a HUGE hit!

I am a HUGE cookie monster which I am sure I have mentioned before, but these truly are so good!! Then again, anything with Oreo’s in it is going to get an A++ from me 🙂

 

Oreo Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe makes between 4 and 5 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 package vanilla instant Jell-O Pudding (not prepared)

1 dash of cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

30-40 double stuffed Oreos, crushed into medium chunks (put in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

• In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, package of vanilla pudding mix, and dash of cinnamon.

• In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.

• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

• Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth.

• Stir in the chocolate chips and Oreo chunks.

• Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.

• Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

• Cool on wire rack.

If you are a cookie lover, I promise you this is one cookie you don’t want to skip out on…get to baking! Test them out and let me know what you think 🙂

Apple Cinnamon Scones

This is a

Recipe, that I actually found, and made prior to these little kiddos being born. I made these one Sunday morning while pregnant and A & I LOVED them. I hate that I find so many recipes on Pinterest try them and rarely make them again. BUT this one is a keeper and I HOPE to make them again soon (you know when I have FREE time hahaha). And there are just so many more recipes on Pinterest to try when I do have that time so we will have to pick and choose 🙂

Apple Cinnamon Scones 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1/4 cup Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 stick {8 tablespoons} Chilled Unsalted Butter

2 Apples peeled and chopped (they called for shredded but I like apple chunks in mine)

1/4 to 1/2 cup Whole Milk, plus more for brushing

1 tablespoon Sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine the first 7 ingredients. Then cube up the chilled butter and add to the flour mixture. With a fork, blend the butter and the flour together until small crumbles form. Add in the apples, stir. Gradually add the whole milk, stirring until the dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface knead the dough 8-10 times before forming into a rectangle. Cut eight wedges and place on prepared pan. Brush with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden.

So one lazy Sunday morning (maybe this weekend!) give these a shot, I promise you this is a Mommy approved Breakfast! I tested this Pinterest recipe so you are guaranteed a no fail 🙂

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!