Personal 7 Layer Bean Dip

Layer:
 Refried Beans
Sour Cream
Salsa
Shredded Cheese
Sliced Olives
Green Onions
Tomatoes






Reusable Lunch Bags


My mom and I made these a long time ago.  I did all the work of taking the pictures and never posted them. So here are the pictures, without clear instructions.  Sorry!





















My little Superman



Before our son was even born I often wondered how we should have him dress up on Halloween.  I wanted to wait until after he was born so we could see him and pick a costume based off of his personality.  Since the time we brought Rylan home from the hospital he stretches all the time.  He has the cutest stretches.  One of his stretches reminds me of Superman.  Thus, we came up with the perfect costume for our little Rylan.
SUPERMAN!  It only cost me 1 dollar!!! I already had the clothing items and felt at my house.  I just had to buy material for the cape.  Now that's my kind of costume. I am sure this will be the cheapest costume this little one will have!

 I made the "S" out of felt.  I cut the red out in one piece and then cut the sections of the yellow.  I then sewed the yellow pieces onto the red felt by hand.  I attached the "S" onto the onesie with zots (sticky dots). This way we could take the "S" off once we were done.

To make the belt, I just cut a strip and a circle. I sewed the circle onto the strip of felt and added a piece of velcro.  I only used the side of the velcro that does the sticky, since it sticks to the felt on its own!  To make the cape I free-handed the pattern.  I sewed to pieces together and turned it inside out.  I attached the cape on with safety pins.  








Isn't he one cute (and sleepy) superman!



Yogurt Pops




I got this cake pop pan as a gift for Christmas a year ago from one of my students.  I was so excited when I opened it and couldn't wait to use it.  Fast forward,one year, it sat under my oven still never been used.  I was just too nervous to give it a try.  Now I know why.  I tried making cake pops and it was a complete fail.  I followed a recipe that came with the pan and it made the cake hard and disgusting.  I ended up throwing all the cake pops away, lost 2 hours of my day, made a huge mess of my kitchen, and very frustrated.  I was so excited for this cake pop adventure and was disappointed with my ULTIMATE fail. 

I love yogurt and frozen treats.  I've seen people put yogurt into a Ziploc plastic bag, cut the tip, and squeeze dots.  They then freeze them for a cool healthy treat.  I thought it would be fun to make yogurt pops instead.  

Instructions: 

1. Put the flavor of yogurt you want into a bag.  I used strawberry and peach. I made some that were all strawberry and some half strawberry and half peach.   Cut the tip off the bag (make it very small).

2.  Squeeze the yogurt into the pan.  Once the yogurt fills the spheres completely, shake the pan to cause the yogurt to compact.  Fill up the spheres some more. Do this a few times until you feel like the spheres are full of yogurt.  (I didn't do this step very well, so my yogurt pops sunk and weren't a complete sphere. 
3.  Put the sticks in the yogurt and freeze.  I left them in over night. 

4.  Take the pan out of the freezer.  Let them sit out for a few minutes and then take the top off.  If the pops don't come out of the bottom easily you can put it over warm water or put it on the warm stove for just a second.  
5.  I wrapped them with cellophane and tied them with a bow.


They melt fairly fast, so you don't want to keep them out too long.  

These are a great snack and very fun.  If you are going for just the taste and not the look you may as well freeze a go-gurt. But if you want a cute and fun treat I would recommend these.

Delicious Sugar Cookies


            Last Valentine's Day I got together with some amazing gals to frost about 75 or 100 heart shaped sugar cookies  to give to the ladies in my ward (church).  Shelly Burton was the baker who spent many hours slaving away baking in the kitchen.  All I did was help frost these delicious cookies and taste test them.  Shelly shared this recipe with me.  WARNING:  You may not want to try this recipe.  They are so good that you may regret ever trying these cookies.  You may end up eating more than anticipated, speaking from experience.  




Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
3 Eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
3 tsp baking powder

1.  Cream butter and sugar
    2.  Blend eggs and vanilla with cream
    3.  Add flour and baking powder.  Mix all together
    4.  Roll and cut ¼ inch
    5.  Bake 350 degrees, 8 minutes

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter (softened)
6-8 cups powdered sugar
½ cup milk
2 tsp vanilla 
¾ tsp almond extract

* Mix well and frost

(I halved the frosting and it still made a ton!)