Peppermint Puppy Chow

Hold onto your sweet tooth!

Where has this recipe been my entire life?  Probably keeping me from gaining 500 pounds in one night!

Peppermint and puppy chow, the two combined make fireworks!!

It is a good thing that I'm going to be giving these away in goody bags because if not, that could be dangerous!!


So here's the down low on what I used:

16oz. vanilla candy coating
1pkg Andes peppermints
2 cups powdered sugar
1 box chex cereal

Put your candy coating in the microwave along with 1/2 the bag of peppermints and nook them for 30 seconds at a time.  Stir after each 30 seconds is up and it will take about 2 minutes total before it is all melted.
Pour your cereal into a big bowl and begin pouring melted candy coating mixture into the cereal.  Coat all the chex cereal.  Add your powdered sugar and mix well until all the cereal is coated completely. Toss in the rest of the bag of peppermints and voila!

Store in an air tight container.

A little bit of Heaven on earth!

You're welcome :)

Merry Christmas!

Soft Pretzels

The first time I tried to make soft pretzels they turned out ginormous!

No kidding!

I've been kind of scared to try them again simply because the last time they seemed to want to eat me instead of the other way around because they were so big!!

However, I found this recipe and thought, "hmmmm if someone else made 'em and pinned it to pinterest it MUST be good, right?"  Well, the truth is YES!  They did turn out (normal size) and super yummy!!  I can take no credit for this recipe but I am thankful someone out there knew how to make these :)  I found the recipe over here: Homemade Pretzels.

What the recipe called for:

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

3 ounces unsalted butter, melted

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil

3 quarts water

3/4 cup baking soda

1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water

Coarse sea salt

Directions: 

Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. 

Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil.

Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. 

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. 

Roll each piece into a long rope and shape into the lengths or shapes that you want (sticks are easy and tasty).  

Boil the pretzels in the water solution in batches. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. 

Place pretzels on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. 

Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. 

Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

Add additional toppings immediately after they come out of the oven.

From My kitchen to yours, ENJOY!

Photo credit: Homemade pretzels

Super easy Cinnamon chips

Looking for a a yummy snack that takes hardly any time at all to make?  Then this would be a recipe for you!

What I used:
Flour Tortillas (you can use however many you want depending on how many chips you want to make)
butter
mixture of cinnamon and sugar

Get your oven pre-heating to 450.  Place your Tortillas on a cutting board and lightly spread butter all over the top.  Once your butter is spread take your cinnamon and sugar mixture and spread evenly across the tortilla.  Cut into chip size pieces and place on a baking sheet.  Bake for 4-5 min. or until crispy.  This makes a great snack and can be coupled with so many things!  Our favorite is to have fruit with them but you can use almost anything!

Cookies and cream pudding pops

A PERFECT light snack during those hot summer days and best of all, they are kid friendly! Click here for pictures to show you how to make them, or you can just follow the directions below. Recipe comes from Kraft Food and Family.

What the recipe called for:

1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Chocolate Instant Pudding

2 cups milk

6 OREO Cookies

1/2 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Make your pudding according to package directions.

Place cookies in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Use rolling pin to crush cookies. (I actually just crushed them by hand so they were more chunky!)

Add cookies and Cool Whip to pudding; stir just until blended.

Spoon into 9 (3-oz.) paper or plastic cups. Insert wooden pop stick or plastic spoon into each for handle. Freeze 5 hours or until firm.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Don't they just look SO yummy?!

photo comes from kraftfoods.com

Meow Mix

This is a recipe that some family members enjoy and I hope you do as well!

What they use:
15 ozs. Cheerios

Melt together:
1 - 12 ozs bag chocolate chips
1 - 12 ozs. bag butterscotch chips
1 stick Marg (1/2 c.)

Place Cheerios in a large brown bag. Pour chocolate mixture over Cheerios. Pour in 1 - lb. powdered sugar. Shake to mix.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Puppy Chow

Looking for a quick and easy snack idea? This is it!

What I used:
1 box of rice square cereal
1 pkg. chocolate chips
2 tbs. chocolate syrup
1/4 cup butter
1 tbs. vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. In a saucepan put your chocolate chips, choco. syrup and butter altogether. Melt them on low-med. heat and stir constantly. Once it is all melted add your vanilla and remove from heat.

2. In a lightly greased bowl pour out your cereal then pour your chocolate mixture over the cereal and toss lightly to coat evenly. Once cereal is all coated place 2 cups powdered sugar in a plastic ziploc bag and pour cereal in bag. Seal closed and shake to coat with sugar. Once cereal is coated pour it out onto waxed paper and let dry for 30 min. If you wish you may sprinkle more sugar on once dry. Store in a ziploc bag.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!