Loaded Baked Potato Salad

by penji1
FullSizeRender (14)

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

I made this for our big 4th of July family BBQ yesterday and it was a hit!  It tastes just like a loaded baked potato in potato salad form, delicious!

1 1/2 pounds potatoes

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup bacon crumbles

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1  Peel and boil potatoes.  Let cool then cut into bite size cubes.

2  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

recipe from Swanky Recipes

Brown Sugar Muffins

by penji1
Brown Sugar Muffins

Brown Sugar Muffins

My cute friend Niki is getting married (so many weddings this summer!).  I made these for her bridal shower on Saturday and they were delicious!  If you love that brown sugar and butter taste then these are the muffins for you!

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped nuts

Turbinado raw cane sugar for sprinkling

1  Preheat oven to 375, 350 for dark pans.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2  Combine brown sugar, butter, egg, milk and vanilla and mix well.  Add flour, baking soda and salt and stir just until combined.  Stir in nuts.

3  Scoop into prepared pans and sprinkle tops with the Turbinado sugar.  Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

recipe from Taste and Tell

Strawberry Brownie Kabobs

by penji1
FullSizeRender (5)

Strawberry Brownie Kabobs

We’re getting ready to go to Girls Camp with the Young Women next week so last night we had a final camp activity here at my house which ended with some swimming and these fun summer treats.  I made a lot of them, somewhere between 60 and 70 and they were all gone at the end of the night, I didn’t even get one!  Easy to make, really cute and apparently tasty, they would be a great addition to any summer party.

1 large strawberry cut in half or 2 small ones per kabob

1 large marshmallow per kabob

1 brownie bite, homemade or store bought, per kabob

chocolate candy melts for drizzling, melted according to package directions

paper straws or skewers

Assemble kabobs by sliding 1 strawberry or 1 strawberry half on the end of a paper straw or skewer, followed by 1 marshmallow, 1 brownie bite then ending with 1 more strawberry or the other half of a large one.  Lay out kabobs on a tray and drizzle with chocolate.  Place in fridge or freezer just until chocolate is set.

IMG_6996

Strawberry Brownie Kabobs

UPDATE:  I made these again and this time used only 1 strawberry per kabob and did not cut it in half.  They held together better and were easier to eat.

recipe inspiration from Erica’s Sweet Tooth

 

Save

Home Style Meatloaf

by penji1
IMG_6779

Home Style Meatloaf

We’re not really meatloaf fans here but the other night it sounded good so I threw this one together.  It was as good as meatloaf gets.   🙂  If you like meatloaf a lot then I’m sure you’ll like this one.

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup milk

1 cup bread crumbs

1 – 2 tablespoons dried onion

1 pound hamburger

additional ketchup for topping

1  Heat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well.  Press into ungreased loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes.

2  Remove meatloaf from oven.  Spread ketchup over the top and return to oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

recipe from Betty Crocker

Rich Buttermilk Waffles

by penji1
IMG_6869

Rich Buttermilk Waffles

You are looking at Bob’s Father’s Day breakfast right there and they were amazing!  If you follow my blog, then you know that we are waffle fans around here and these were divine.  I will absolutely be making these again.

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon – 1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt, unless using salted butter then omit

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1  Preheat waffle iron.

2  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

3  Whisk eggs until frothy, add vanilla, buttermilk and cooled butter.  Whisk until well combined.

4  Pour buttermilk mixture into bowl with flour mixture and stir until well combined.

5  Measure batter into waffle iron and cook until done.

Yield:  5 round waffles

recipe from Food.com

Rustic Woodland “Naked” Wedding Cake with Pink Flowers

by penji1
FullSizeRender (21)

Rustic Woodland “Naked” Wedding Cake with Pink Flowers

Isn’t that gorgeous?  I am responsible for a very small part of that gorgeousness, the “naked” cake underneath all the prettiness was my contribution.  My dear, sweet friend Amber got married on Saturday and asked me to make her a “naked” wedding cake which I did and then she made it look like a fairy woodland wonder, maybe we should start a cake business together.  🙂  I can’t stop looking at it!

Here’s a few boring details about the cake if anyone wants to know – the cake is made from my favorite White Almond Sour Cream Cake Recipe and the frosting is my favorite Buttercream Icing Recipe with a few alterations as I was worried about melting since Saturday was such a hot day.  I did half butter and half shortening in the icing and then added 2 tablespoons of Wilton Meringue Powder and that seemed to be the solution because the icing crusted nicely and did not melt at all that I could see.

Congratulations to Amber and Neal, I’m so happy for you both!

Candy Flower and Rainbow Cupcakes and Mini Cake

by penji1
IMG_6828

Candy Flower and Rainbow Cupcakes

It was my cute neighbor Lydia’s birthday this week and her mom threw her a birthday party at my pool so of course I volunteered to make the birthday cupcakes and mini birthday cake.  When I asked what Lydia wanted, she told her mom flowers and rainbows, can do!  I hit up the bulk food department at Winco for all of this candy which includes regular size M&M’s, jelly beans, candy corn, gum drops, and patriotic Sixlets then I grabbed some Airheads Xtremes from the regular candy department, some mini Oreos from the cookie aisle and lastly a bag of mini marshmallows.  I think you can figure out the rest from the picture.  I used my favorite White Almond Sour Cream Cake recipe and my favorite Buttercream Icing recipe but I did add 2 tablespoons of meringue powder which I bought at Michaels to the frosting to see if it would help with the melting problem that happens in the summertime, it might have but I’m not positive.  Here is a picture of the mini cake, as you can see I was having problems with soft frosting.

IMG_6834

Candy Flower and Rainbow Mini Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Lydia!

 

Frosty S’Mores Cups

by penji1
FullSizeRender (20)

Frosty S’Mores Cups

I made these little dreamies for the girls at church for a camp activity which I could not go to but there were a few left over that were returned to me so I got to try them and all I can say is that they were pretty dreamy!

9 sheets of graham crackers (about 1 1/2 cup crushed)

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup milk chocolate candy melts or chocolate chips

1/4 cup whipping cream

2 cups mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 small box instant chocolate pudding

1 ( 8 ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed

1 /4 cup mini chocolate chips

1  Crush graham crackers into fine crumbs using food processor or rolling pin.  Melt butter and add to crumbs, stirring until well combined.

2  Spray wells of muffin pan with cooking spray.  Divide crust mixture evenly between all 12 cups, saving about 1/4 cup for topping.  Using mini tart shaper or back of spoon, press crumbs firmly into bottom of each cup.

3  Place candy melts and whipping cream in small bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.  Spoon chocolate into ziploc bag, snip corner off and pipe chocolate onto center of each crust.

4  Divide marshmallows between cups, sprinkling over chocolate and pressing down lightly.

5  Mix cold milk with pudding mix for 2 minutes.  Fold in 1/2 of the Cool Whip.  Scoop mixture into cups, dividing evenly between.  Using a knife, smooth the tops and press down a bit to get mixture down between marshmallows.

6  Freeze for at least a couple of hours.

7  Run knife around edges to release treats from pan.  Top with remaining Cool Whip, a sprinkle of leftover graham cracker crust and a few mini chocolate chips.

recipe from Easy Baked

Double Chocolate M&M Cookie Bars

by penji1
FullSizeRender (19)

Double Chocolate M&M Cookie Bars

I made these for Bob to take on the camping trip with the Young Men too.  None came home so I’m assuming they were a hit.  All I had on hand were red, white and blue M&M’s so they got patriotic treats but of course any M&M’s will do.

1 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup M&M’s

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2  Whisk together flour, cocoa, soda, salt and cornstarch in bowl.

3  Whisk together butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl for about 2 minutes or until sugar starts dissolving.  Add egg and vanilla and mix well.

4  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until dough forms.  Stir in chocolate chips.

5  Press dough into pan and sprinkle M&M’s over the top, pressing them slightly into dough.

6  Bake 18 – 20 minutes or until dough appears dry on top.

7  Cool completely before cutting.

recipe from Crunchy Creamy Sweets

Monster Cookie Bars

by penji1
IMG_6760

Monster Cookie Bars

Bob went on a camping trip with the Young Men from church last week so I sent him off with some treats for them.  These were the first batch.  All I had were 4th of July colored M&M’s so they got red, white and blue treats but I’m pretty sure that they didn’t care.  It would be a quick and easy treat for the 4th of July.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups quick cooking oats

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1 cup M&M’s

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2  Beat together butter and sugar then add in peanut butter, eggs and vanilla and mix well.

3  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.  Gradually add to butter mixture just until combined.  Add oats, chocolate chips and M&M’s.

4   Press into greased pan.  Top with additional M&M’s, pressing into dough slightly.

5  Bake 14 – 16 minutes, until edges are slightly browned or toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Let cool before cutting into bars.

recipe from Chocolate with Grace