Caramel Apple Snickers Salad

     I went with a friend and picked apples from an orchard.  I was lucky enough to get about 5 grocery bags of apples.  With these apples I made applesauce, apple pie filling, caramel apple snickers salad, and ate lots of fresh apples.  Caramel Apple Snickers Salad is the perfect summer or fall dessert. It is not only quick and easy, but so delicious. 

Ingredients:

* 3 apples

* 12 fun size Snickers or 6 full size Snickers 

* 1 cup milk

* 1 large package vanilla instant pudding (not made)

* 1 16 oz. Cool Whip (I like a little less cool whip in mine)

Directions:  

Mix milk and pudding in a large bowl.  Add cool whip.  Cut the Snickers and apples into small pieces and add to the mixture.  

This dessert is best if you make it close to when it is being served.  I wouldn't recommend making it the night before.  

Enjoy!  Don't feel bad if you go back for seconds.  It's just that good.  

3 Ingredient Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

      My friend hosted a Pinterest party.  For the party, everyone is suppose to make and bring a food item they found on Pinterest to share with everyone else.  I looked on my Halloween Pinterest board and I didn't find anything that I really wanted to make or had time for.  I remembered one of my favorite fall cookies and decided to make them instead.  I love these chocolate chip pumpkin cookies for many reasons.  

(1.) They are so simple 
(2.) They only take 3 ingredients 
(3.) They are the perfect Fall and Halloween treat
(4.)They taste delicious
(5.) They are so moist
I started these cookies an hour before the party and they were done before I had to leave!  

Ingredients:

15 oz. can of pumpkin puree

1 spice cake mix

1-2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (depends how much chocolate you like in your cookies)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix pumpkin puree and spice cake mix together.  Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Place spoonful of dough on  greased baking sheets. 

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and let cool.

Simple as that!

3-2-1 Cake in a Mug

A friend of mine made me this 3-2-1 cake and gave me the recipe.  I was impressed with how delicious and simple it was to make this cake.  IT'S AMAZING.  How often are you able to bake a warm cake in 1 minute?  Yes, you read that right and no, it wasn't a typo.  1 minute. 3-2-1 cake is wonderful because when I am craving a chocolate treat I always have the ingredients for a cake on hand.  I keep the dry cake mixture in my fridge.  This is also a great treat for people that live by themselves.

Steps to make the dry cake mixture

  Ingredients:

         1 Angel Food Cake Mix
         1 Fudge Cake Mix (or any other flavor you want)

 Directions:

         Mix both dry cake mixes together in a plastic bag
         Keep remainder in fridge

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Directions to make the cake in a mug:

Put into mug : 3 Tbsp dry cake mixture
                     2 Tbsp water
                         Mix together well
Place in microwave for 1 minute

Top with anything you would like: whipped cream, frosting, icecream or toppings

Just remember 3-2-1 (3 Tbsp cake mixture, 2 Tbsp water, 1 minute)
Sometimes when I want more cake I make it a 6-4-2 cake (6 Tbsp cake mixture, 4 Tbs. water, 2 minutes)

Dole Pineapple Whip- Disney Copycat Recipe

I love, love, love frozen treats.  I absolutely love smoothies and ice cream.  I've heard many people talk about the Dole Pineapple Whips at Disneyland.  I tried out this copycat Pineapple Whip and it didn't disappoint.   It is such a great creamy tropical treat.  A must try.  


Ingredients:

 2 20 ounce cans Dole crushed pineapple with juice 
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (whipped)


Directions: 

* Drain pineapple (save 2 tablespoons juice for later)
* Place pineapple, lemon juice, lime juice, sugar and saved pineapple juice in blender.
* Blend until smooth.
*  Pour into two 1-quart freezer bags
* Store bags flat in freezer.
* Freeze until slushy (about 2 hours)
* Whip whipping cream.
* Gently stir together the pineapple slush and the whipped cream in a large bowl.
* Place the mixture back into the freezer bags.Freeze until completely frozen (about 1 hour)

Enjoy!

Oreo kisses

Most people love Oreos.  Most people love Hershey's kisses.  Most people love personalized notes.   

So, MOST PEOPLE will love these Oreo truffle kisses,

To make these delicious treats you:

Need:

* 1 package oreo cookies (all but 7)

* 1 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

* Chocolate bark

* Foil 

* Paper and pen

Instructions:

* Finely crush a package of Oreo cookies (all but 7).  I used my Vitamix.  This was fast and easy.  

* Cream the crushed Oreos with one package of softened cream cheese.  

* Once the Oreos and cream cheese are well mixed put them in the fridge to harden a little (about 30 min.)

*  Roll into 1 inch balls.  Push them down to flatten the base and then mold to look like a kiss by pinching the tops.   

* Place the molded kisses onto parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet.  

* Place in freezer or fridge until they are hard. 

* Melt chocolate bark.  I always struggle with melting chocolate so check out my tips here!

* Dip chilled Oreo truffle kisses into melted chocolate.  Cover the truffle completely.  Take out with a spoon and have truffle slide off spoon onto parchment/wax paper.

* Let the chocolate harden on the truffles. 

* Refrigerate. 

  You can stop at this step if you are just wanting a tasteful treat.  But I would recommend to keep going to add the cuteness factor!

* Cut foil into little squares (about 2 in. x 2 in.)  You want the foil to barely be able to wrap around the kiss.

* Cut strips of paper and write special messages to your loved ones. 

* Wrap the foil around the truffle and special message. 

     

I am sure you think it is weird that you use all but 7 Oreo cookies for this recipe.  It's okay. I think it is weird too.  You really could use the entire package if you would like.  However, I think the true reason you are suppose to leave out 7 Oreos  is because.....

I left out 7 Oreos.  I gave one to my husband and left the 6 others sealed in the package.  In the morning the Oreos were gone.  Any guesses?  My dear husband decided he wanted them.  

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!)

  

Fall Pinterest Party

I went to a Fall Pinterest party at my friend Stacie Skinner-Hoxie's house.  For those who have never been to a Pinterest party, you are missing out!  Everyone brings a food item that they made from Pinterest and a craft for everyone to make.  You can also bring things to show off that you have made too.
We had a great time chatting, eating, and crafting it up. Here are a few things we made and did.

Chocolate bats and ghosts 

Here are details on how to make these chocolate bar covers.

Candy Corn Fruit Treat

Layer fresh pineapple, mandarin oranges, and top with whipping cream.
A lot of Halloween treats are so sugary. This is a nice change up.

              

Sticky Note Clipboard

Materials:

* coaster

* mod podge

* paper

* sticky notes

* paper clamp

* cute tape (I am not sure what you call the stuff)

* flower (optional)

* hot glue gun

Clipboard

* Use a coaster from a restaurant or you can buy them at a craft store.

* Trace paper around the coaster.

* Mod podge paper onto coaster

* Mod podge on top of paper

* Let dry

*Stick sticky notes on top of coaster

Clamp

*Put tape on paper clamp

* Put the clamp on the board/sticky note

* Hot glue a flower on top

Surprise Gift Pouches

Have you ever had a Kinder Surprise?  They are so fun!  Inside the chocolate egg you will find a surprise toy.    

Kinder Surprises can be a little pricey and difficult to get your hands on.  Surprise gift pouches are similar to the Kinder Surprise because you never know what's in the pouch until you open it up.  This is a great way to give gifts/surprises for any occasion!  You can give them as a party favor, stocking stuffer, thank you card, gift, and the list goes on and on.  I made a variety of surprise gift pouches to send to my brother.

Instructions: 

1. ) Put two pieces of paper together and cut out a shape.  You can use a paper grocery bag, decorative paper, or wrapping paper.  

 2. Sew around the edge of the paper.

 3. Leave space!  When sewing, stop before you get to the end so you are able to put your candy or item into the pouch and then finish sewing.

Be creative with your pouches!

* Make a variety of shapes:
           -hearts, stars, triangles, rectangles, Christmas tree, stocking, pumpkin, clover, balloon.
* Use bright colors of thread
* Use fun sissors

Below are a variety of ways to make surprise gift pouches:

Thank you card

Sew a smaller piece of paper onto a larger piece of paper and fill it with candy.  

Then write a thank you note on the back.  

Envelope Pouch

Sew an envelope so that it is easier to open up.

  

Three surprises in one!

 

Who wouldn't love to get a surprise like this?

Grapesicles

We had a bunch of grapes in our fridge so I thought I would try something new-- grapesicles. I have tried freezing grapes before, just in a bowl. This time I put the grapes on a skewer. It's a great treat for a hot summer day.

Garrett is so nice to pose for me :)

Halloween Rice Krispy Treats

I wanted to make a treat so I decided to spice up rice krispy treats. After making a normal batch of rice krispy treats I cut them into rectangles. I dipped them into melted white chocolate and sprinkled them with Halloween sprinkles. We gave them to the families Garrett home teaches (people from church) so we only got to eat one each. But what we did eat tasted delicious.

Oreo Truffles

I discovered a new recipe as I was exploring fun blogs. It looked so delicious that I couldn't pass it up. They are oreo truffles and are pretty simple to make, except for the dipping part. Check out Bakerella's blog and she has the instructions on how to make the truffles. I was unable to make my truffles as pretty as hers so I crunched up and shifted oreo "dust" over my dipped oreo truffles to hide the flaws.

Sorry about the quality of the photograph. They look much better in person!