Jello eggs

4th of July Jello Cake

Have you ever had Jello Cake? It is one of those delicious, easy, and inexpensive desserts...not to mention how FESTIVE it is.

I made one for our early 4th of July BBQ. And it was delightful!

To make your own 4th of July Jello cake,

1. Make a yellow or white cake as directed on the box.

2. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes. Then poke holes with a fork through the entire cake. It will look like this

3. Just before it has cooled, mix up 3 oz. jello as directed on the box. (I wanted 2 colors so I used 1.5 oz of each color).

4. Pour the unset jello over the cake slowly so that it is absorbed and doesn't rush to the bottom of the pan.

5. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, but the longer the better. Keep refrigerated until you serve it.

6. Before serving, spread cool whip on top and garnish with fruit or sprinkles.

Mud Cup Dessert

I LOVE this treat. It's so simple and so fun for summer.

All you need for your mud cup dessert:

• 2 cups crushed Oreos
  
• 1 large box chocolate pudding
  
• 8 oz. cool whip
  
• Gummy worms (at least 2 per person)
  
• Plastic cups (paper will also work, but it won't look as pretty)

First, mix the chocolate pudding as directed. Let the pudding thicken for 5 minutes. Then add the cool whip and 1/2 cup of crushed oreos.

Pour that mixture into the cups. Then add crushed oreos on top and gummy worms.

Keep these refrigerated until you are ready to serve them.

Green Tacos

It has been a tradition of my husband and I to have green tacos on St. Patrick's Day.

Yep, we dye the chicken, sour cream, onions, and anything else possible green.

My husband is into making homemade tortillas lately. So, I'm making him make us green tortillas this year for our green tacos. Can't wait!!

Green Mean Machines

We love having "Green Mean Machines" on St. Patrick's Day for dessert. I'm not sure where we got the name for this, but since I can remember, I have looked forward to having Green Mean Machines on St. Patrick's day. And I still do. After you have a green dinner, try this simple, but refreshing dessert drink.

Green Mean Machines

1/4 gallon Lime Sorbet
1 liter Sprite or 7-up (more or less for thicker/thinner)

Mix these ingredients in a blender until you get your desired consistency. I like it thick, so I am very generous on the sorbet.

Enjoy!

March 14th is Pie Day!

3.14. You may recognize this number from your math class as 'pi'. In my family, we look at 3.14 as March 14th-- a.k.a. PIE DAY! We celebrate this holiday by eating pie and you should too :)

For a simple, but delicious pie, try this recipe:

CHEX PIE

4 cups crushed Corn Chex
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup crushed salted peanuts (optional)
1/3 cup margarine melted
1 quart vanilla ice cream (or other flavor)
hot fudge or favorite topping

Mix crushed chex, brown sugar, margarine and peanuts together. Press in greased pie plate and bake for 10 minutes at 300. Remove from oven and cool completely. Put ice cream on top of Chex crust. Freeze over night or at least for 2-3 hours. Serve with hot fudge or your other favorite topping.

***Photo instructions below***

Mix crushed chex, brown sugar, margarine and peanuts together. Press in greased pie plate and bake for 10 minutes at 300.

Let the crust is completely cool. (you don't want soupy ice cream now, do you?) Once cool, scoop softened ice cream into the crust.

Completely fill the crust with ice cream, making sure to firmly press it into the crust.

After you have completely filled the crust, put a piece of tin foil over the pie and freeze it for at least 2-3 hours. However, the longer you freeze it, the better it will be.

Finally, you get to enjoy this simple masterpiece!

Happy Pie Day!

Birthday Sticky Buns

We always got to choose what we wanted for our birthday breakfast, but we always chose Sticky Buns. I'm sure my Mom loved it too because they are so simple to make. You can prepare them the night before and just bake them in the morning so you can enjoy the birthday festivities! :)

Birthday Sticky Buns

1/2 cup margarine
3.5 oz butterscotch cook and serve pudding mix
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
15-18 Rhodes frozen rolls

Spray a bundt pan and place frozen rolls inside. Set aside. Melt margarine completely and add in pudding mix, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Place this mixture over the frozen rolls. Let rise overnight. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°. Cool for 10 minutes. Then turn the pan upside down onto a birthday plate or serving dish. Eat warm!

For the Birthday Plate tutorial click here.

Mini Kiss Cookies

Who doesn't love kisses at Valentines?

We have a recipe in my family that we call Kiss Cookies. They are SO scrumptious and are always the first to go at any family party or gathering. The only problem is, I hardly ever have Hershey Kisses on hand.

Well, I think I may have just come up with a solution. They are still just as tasty, a bit more cost-effective, and so dang cute--MINI KISS COOKIES.

What you will need: flour, salt, baking soda, margarine, peanut butter, 1 egg, vanilla, brown sugar, white sugar, and chocolate chips (Complete recipe is at the end of this post)

Stir 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1/2 tsp. salt together and set aside.

Cream 1/2 cup margarine and 1/2 cup peanut butter together.

Then gradually add 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. When all of that is well blended, add the egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla.
Then add flour mixture.

Roll into balls. For mini cookies, use 1/4 tsp. of dough for each ball.

Then roll each ball of dough into sugar.

And place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 5-7 minutes, depending on how soft you like your cookies.

As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, take a chocolate chip and place it in the middle of the cookie.

Let the cookies cool and you have yourself mini Kiss Cookies. Of course, you can make regular ones with Kisses.

Serve them on a platter or wrap them up for a Valentine's gift.

Kiss Cookies
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter
sugar (to roll the balls in before you bake)

Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Cream margarine, peanut butter until well mixed. Gradually add sugars, mixing until creamy and well blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Then add flour mixture. Roll dough into balls and dip in sugar. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes for mini cookies or 7-9 for larger cookies. Remove from the oven and quickly press chocolate kiss (or chocolate chip) on top of each cookie.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

Let's be honest. Sugar cookies=festive. I just love making sugar cookies for holidays and especially love using holiday-shaped cookie cutters. The other day I made some Christmas Sugar Cookies and they turned out delightful. Here's the Recipe: (The full batch makes 100 cookies, so I just halved the recipe.)

Sugar Cookies
What you'll need: 1 lb. margarine, 2 cups sugar, 3 eggs, 2 tsp. vanilla, 6 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt

Cream eggs, butter, and sugar first. Add remaining ingredients one at a time. Refrigerate dough for a few hours or overnight. Roll the dough on a floured surface and cut into holiday shapes. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes or longer if you want them crispier.

And if you are like me and do not like store-bought frosting, try this recipe out. It's a winner:

Sugar Cookie Frosting

What you'll need: 1/4 c. margarine, 1/4 c. milk, 3/4 lb. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla (for chocolate frosting, add 1/4 c. cocoa)

Beat all ingredients until creamy. Add food coloring for different colors.

English Toffee

A Christmas Favorite!

What you'll need: 1 lb. butter, 1 cup water, 2 1/2 cups sugar, 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup, semi-sweet chocolate chips, candy thermometer

Melt the butter. Add the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate chips. Cook until the mixture reaches 285 on a candy thermometer. Then place in a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle chocolate chips on the top and spread with a bowl scraper. (They will melt). You can also sprinkle nuts on top if you like nuts.

Christmas Eve Cream Cheese Chicken

It's a tradition in my family to have a candlelight Christmas Eve dinner of Cream Cheese Chicken. The best part of this meal is that its delicious, but simple. It can be cooking in the crock-pot while you are doing last minute shopping!

What you'll need: 2 1/2-3 lbs. chicken breasts, 1 package Good Seasons dry Italian dressing mix, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese

Place chicken breasts in the crock-pot. Sprinkle Italian dressing mix over the chicken. Cook 2-4 hours on high (or 5-6 hours on low). Just before the chicken is cooked, mix the cream of mushroom soup and cream cheese together. When the chicken is done, do not drain the liquid. Add soup mixture to the chicken and heat thoroughly. Serve over rice. Serves 6+

Hot Chocolate with Grasshopper Cookies

Cold winter nights call for Hot Chocolate, or as my mom would call it, hot totty. Here is a way to jazz up your cocoa:

What you'll need: Grasshopper cookies, hot chocolate

1. Make a cup of hot chocolate as normal.

2. Bite off 2 corners from your Grasshopper cookie (the corners must be diagonal from each other).

3. Stick the Grasshopper cookie into your cocoa with one bitten corner in your mouth and the other in the hot chocolate.

4. Slurp your hot chocolate for 3-4 seconds through the cookie.

5. Quickly pull the cookie out and put it in your mouth. It will dissolve instantly and you will get a warm savory taste!

6. Repeat. And I promise, you will want to repeat. :)