Unforgettable Childhood

One of our favorite recipes during the holidays is Cookie Dough Truffles. (I know they are not very healthy) Because of the non-healthy factor I only make these at Christmastime and I limit the consumption. This recipe is super easy and yummy.

picture from Tasteofhome.com

Here is the recipe from Taste of Home. If you would like to print it out you can go here.

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 pounds semisweet candy coating, chopped

*the recipe also calls for 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, but we leave these out.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour, milk and vanilla; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chps and walnuts (optional). Shape into 1-in. balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating, stirring often until smooth. (I use a double-broiler on my stove to melt my chocolate) Dip balls in coating; place on waxed paper until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, remelt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies. Store in air tight container in the refrigerator. Yield: 5 1/2 dozen truffles.

October began with Monster Mania in our house. After school the two younger girls and I made Monster Cookies. These cookies are so big and the girls love the thought that they have peanut butter, chocolate chips and m&m’s in the dough.

They put on their aprons and we started baking.

Monster Cookie Recipe (The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook)
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups peanut butter
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups regular oats, uncooked
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup M&M’s
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Add peanut butter and next 3 ingredients; beat well. Add oats, soda and salt; stire well. Stir in chocolate pieces and chips. (Dough will be stiff.) Pack dough into a 1/4 cup measure. Drop dough 4 inches apart onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Lightly press each cookie with fingertips into a 3 1/2 inch circle. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes (centers of cookies will be soft). Cool slightly on cookie sheets; remove to wire racks to cool.

After we got the cookies done the girls got all snuggled in with their dad to watch one of his favorite kids’ movies Monsters, Inc.

We love our Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook. The girls love to flip through it and decide what they want to make next. Last night we decided to make a bedtime snack. I would love to be able to tell you that we eat all things healthy in this house. But that would be a lie. . .we love our sweets. And I think they are okay in moderation.

So the younger girls put on their aprons and helped me with this snack, Masterpiece Pizza.

Here is the recipe:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
3/4 cup tiny marshmallows
2/3 cup peanut (we left these out)
1/2 cup miniature candy-coated semisweet chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and peanut butter with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat until combined. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add flour, beat on low speed until combined.
Take about 1/2 cup dough and place near one corner off the cookie sheet. Use the table knife to spread dough into a 5 inch circle. Repeat with the remaining dough to make 4 circles. Bake pizzas for 15 minutes or until the edges are light brown.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the center of each cookie with semisweet chocolate pieces. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes until you can spread with a knife. Sprinkle each cookie with marshmallows, peanuts and mini m&ms.
Return cookie sheet to oven for 5 more minutes. Enjoy!


This recipe got two thumbs up.

A few weeks ago I participated in a Birthday Swap over at Seriously Shawn.

Yesterday I received my package in the mail from Bea. She sent the perfect gift. One of the most important things to me is to create an unforgettable childhood for my girls. I love to focus on the experiences we can have together. So she sent me this. . .

Three beautiful aprons for my girls created by Studio Eight. My girls absolutely loved them. In fact, they loved them so much that when I got home from the gym at 8:30 last night they surrounded me as I collapsed on the porch and begged to bake something.

Well they should have been getting ready for bed, but they were so excited about their new aprons that I knew that I couldn’t make them go to bed. Luckily I had a box of Pound Cake mix, so we whipped it up quick (and then had to wait 50 minutes for it to bake). They didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, but oh well. They created an awesome memory thanks to the beautiful aprons from Bea.



Thanks Shawn for the swap and thanks Bea for the perfect gift. Now I can’t wait for Kristen to receive her gift from me. . .

If you are a parent that is interested in reading one of the best books I have read as a mom. Click over to my other blog and enter to win a signed copy of the book Not So Fast by Ann Kroeker. It is a book I think every parent should read!

Last night before bed I mixed up some Bran Muffins. This morning I put a pan in the oven for a fresh yummy breakfast. I wanted to share the recipe with you. This is something I love to have in the fridge so that I can make them whenever we need something a little different for breakfast. The batter can be kept in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.

1 cup Bran Buds
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp soda
2 cups Bran Flakes

Pour 1 cup boiling water over bran buds and set aside. Mix shortening and sugar. Mix in eggs then buttermilk. Add dry ingredients. Add Bran Buds and mix. Fold in Bran Flakes.

Bake muffins for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Enjoy!

We are leaving town again today and I can’t wait! My hubby has worked really long hours this week so I have hardly seen him. Luckily he comes home for supper, but the girls have a million things to tell him so I don’t get a lot of conversation in. It is always wonderful to get him out of town and away from work. I know, he still has his phone, but at least I can look at him while he is talking on it.

I will be away from the computer until Monday, (which is really hard for me), but I have a great new book to review for my Girlfriends Get Real blog so I am going to sit by the lake and read.

I wanted to leave you with an easy, easy weekend meal (that is probably not good for you, but it is yummy). I apologize in advance for my food photography skills, I am still learning and experimenting.

Grilled Pizza is a favorite in our house, on the grill or even better on the campfire. And, it is super easy to make.

First, take out a loaf or two of frozen bread dough and let it rise to bread baking size. (1 load makes two adult pizzas and three little girl pizzas)

Shape your dough into pizza forms. (Mine are never pretty)

Brush Olive Oil on both sides of the dough. (Wow this picture looks like I used a lot of Olive Oil)

Grill on one side for about 3-5 minutes. We really watch them, you want to take them off of the grill when they start getting brown and crispy. (warning, they can get black fast and then you will have little ones that say I don’t want to eat the black part)

Remove from the grill and top the grilled side with pizza sauce & alfredo sauce (from the jar), and all of your other fixings. This time we just used pepperoni and cheese. (I was trying to clean out my fridge without going to the store)

Grill for another 3 to 5 minutes until the bottom is crispy and brown.

Enjoy!

Yesterday I asked the girls to help me decide the menu for supper. They sat and flipped through the New Junior Cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens. Their decision was Chicken Fajitas and Gimme S’more (Please) Dessert.

They really didn’t care about the entree. In fact, they let me do all of the work for the actual meal. They were only interested in dessert. It isn’t easy for me to let them help in the kitchen, but I took a deep breath and we had a lot of fun. My middle child had a blast crushing the graham crackers with a meat mallet.

My youngest wasn’t a lot of help, but she managed to sneak a few chocolate chips and marshmallows.

My oldest was the most help. She read the recipe, helped measure out ingredients and made sure everyone got an equal amount of tasks in the preparation.

The result: Thumbs up from everyone except the youngest. She just wanted more plain marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Here is the recipe for dessert, it was really easy to make and it tasted really good.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter
18 graham cracker squares
1/3 cup sugar
1 12 oz jar fudge ice cream topping
2 cups tiny marshmallows
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 6 oz serving size pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
1 8 oz container frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed
1/4 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chip pieces
8X8X2 inch baking pan (just a note. . .we used a 9X13 pan, we missed that direction, oops)

1. Put butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover bowl with waxed paper. Place in microwave and cook 40 seconds or until melted. Cover with waxed paper before starting the microwave.
2. Put graham crackers in a plastic bag and crush into fine crumbs. Pour into baking pan. Add the sugar and melted butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. (Save out 1/3 of mixture to crumble on top) Put into freezer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove lid from fudge topping. Microwave 45 seconds (we found this wasn’t quite enough to have it really easy to pour. Pour over cooled crust. Sprinkle with 1 cup of marshmallows.
4. Pour milk into the large mixing bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Use a rubber scraper to gently stir in half of the whipped topping. (save the rest for a future use). Pour onto marshmallows. Spread evenly on pan.
5. Sprinkle with remaining marshmallows, the saved cracker mixture and the chocolate chips. Cover with foil and freeze for at least 1 hour.