A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

My sweet girl cherub. Her birthday was a month ago. But we finally had time to celebrate with friends this month. Well, one month from the day, exactly! She's been a great sport about the delay. She created a plan and we were ready  . . . but then I broke my foot. Which changed the plan. Being her sweet self, she was happy with the change of plans. The girls learned to use almond bark to make different treats. Actually, I keep almond bark and simple ingredients on hand. It's super easy if you need to make something for kids coming over to the house. Or if you're having a quick gathering, and you want "a little something sweet." What about saying, "thank you" to someone who's been helpful to you? A treat bag of bark is an easy homemade gift that people love! The girls picked a partner and each "team" made a different bark. They all turned out great! The one I really wanted someone to try, didn't get ...

This is one of those desserts that honestly, I remember my mom making when I was a little kid. I also remember not being especially found of it. Not for any particular reason. But fast-forward a few years. . . ok, a lot . . . and now I like apple crisps. This dessert, though, often gets overlooked. I don't know if it is because it's too "simple." Too "homey." Doesn't "present well." And while all of those might be true, the truth is, apple crisp is a great option to offer your family and friends! Most of the time, you have the ingredients to make the dessert. It's easy enough you can throw it together, and what's even better . . .it's homemade! Like -- who doesn't like THAT! In a time when homemade is a forgotten language, this dessert is sure to please! You know me, what I love about this is the flexibility! Add in some pecans, if you wish. Or maybe some raisins or cranberries. Top...

We're going old school! Your mom might have called these magic cookie bars, or seven layer bars, or hello dolly bars. Regardless of what they were called, who doesn't remember these treats from your childhood? Honestly!  This was one thing my mom could . . .and would . . . whip up in a hurry! These treats are easy to make and even easier to eat! Originally, these were called magic cookie bars and the recipe was rolled out by the Eagle Brand Milk Company. Today, though, there are so many variations and possibilities, that it's crazy. But the basic of the recipe is still the starting point. And that's exactly where I started! But!  I didn't end up there, because I add a little treat of my own! While I was in the kitchen making this little dessert for dinner tonight, my girl cherub was doing school and she asked what I was making. I told her. "Have you ever made those before?" she asked. Yeah . . .but not in a long time. Like...

It's turned nice and fallish around here and we have enjoyed the perfect days! We have opened the windows. We have watched the deer come into the clearing on our land. We have started searching for our favorite fall recipes. My sweet girl cherub got the notion to make peanut butter bars. Since it was Halloween evening, and we needed a little treat, we grabbed the ingredients and made these delicious bars! These are great because they require no baking and they're quick! If you like Reese's, then you're going to love these!  I say, "so long" to buying those peanut butter cups; these are a classic snack treat! Peanut Butter Bars 1 /4 cup butter, melted 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) 1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar 4 full-size Hershey chocolate bars, melted (or 1 cup melted chocolate chips) To the melted butter, add the brown sugar and peanut butter and stir until well co...

While it may not feel like it outside, the calendar tells me that it is Fall. There are so many things about this season that I absolutely love! I like the falling leaves, and to watch the squirrels gather their food, and where we live, we have deer . . . so now I like to watch them too! I also love Fall food. One of my favorites are apples! I'm not really sure, but in the Fall, I love to nosh on apples. It's the strangest thing! Maybe it's because they are more crisp, or their color is more appealing. Whatever the reason, I'll go with it! Today, both of the cherubs were wanting an "after school snack." Looking at the apples on the counter, I offered apples and dip. Since I didn't have any dip, I made some! I took three things that my girl cherub really likes and I mixed them together. I just mixed; no measuring! If you like these ingredients, just mix yourself some dip and and enjoy an apple! Peanut Butter and Nut...

We love pizza. When we were thrown into gluten free eating, we had trouble finding good gluten free pizza out in restaurants. Which leads to me to ask the question, "Why is pizza so crazy expensive?" I honestly don't understand! While we do like "calling in a pizza," we also really like making them at home more! We all hang around and prepare different ingredients for the pizza bar. Some of us like pineapple. Some like garlic. Some like black olives. Some want meat, while others don't. That's why make-your-own-pizza night is fun! It gets you in the kitchen together, talking, laughing, and making fun of your family members! The other night, we were going to make pizzas but I had no pizza sauce. Stop there. I really don't like buying pizza sauce. I actually don't really like the way it tastes and since we don't use it all at one time, there are left-overs. I don't like using the left-over sauce. ...

I'd call this Six Can Soup, really. Doesn't that sound more fun? I think so! My friend, Kim, is a great cook! I always love to have dinner with her for two reasons. She makes it look "souper" easy (a little funny since she gave me the soup recipe!) It always tastes amazing. Nothing, absolutely nothing , bothers her! Well, I know that's not exactly true, because then she'd be a Saint. She is a Saint, but not that kind of Saint! But when things do bother her, she doesn't show it like I do! She's raising three great boys and a husband and they have a dog named Chief. "Chief!"  That tells you Chief isn't a tea cup poodle -- Chief is big enough to count as one of the boys. But I didn't include him! Why did I tell you all of this? Because when Kim cooks, it has to please! She gave me this recipe almost a year ago. Or at least when the weather was cooler and we were freezing together at the baseball fi...

Image from Betty Crocker This recipe is from a librarian friend of mine.  I've not made these cookies yet, but I may  just make them today! I'm posting this because: I trust her; she says they're yummy! The recipe is easy!  You don't have to measure anything! These are easy, on-hand ingredients You can make these cookies cheaper than you can buy some from the store With the Summer here, and kids home, and company coming, and vacations, this recipe should be an easy, go-to cookie with little effort and great results! Speaking of vacation, if you pack a goodie basket to carry in the car with you, then you could bake up these treats and store them in a clean, but empty Pringles container as you travel!  Isn't that a novel idea?  They'll be keep safe, won't break, and when you're done, you can toss the can in the nearest trash bin! If you really want to be creative, you can decorate the outside of the Pringles can with a decoupage road map,...

It's a 4th of July Celebration! My girl cherub has been making plans for a week now of things to make; both food and decorations! She's made the spread sheet, gathered ingredients, secured craft supplies and borrowed some much needed accessories and décor from a friend of hers. That would be a grown up friend of hers who knows how to throw a party! Last night, it was like a party company delivery at our house! The patriotic bunting, baskets, and other goodies were dropped off to help my cherub achieve the best 4th of July party ever! My cherub found a sweet snack treat on the internet and used the recipe as a guide for her own snack mix.  The jar she is serving it in is one of her entertaining creations too; thank goodness for google!  It's an endless supply of ideas!  She modified that too, and it's worked well! For the jar, that she's using to serve a patriotic drink in, she dipped the rim in white dipping chocolate then rolled it in red and bl...

I can't take credit for this recipe or the picture! Nope! Pillsbury and my son! I get e-mails from Pillsbury. Like almost every day -- it's c.r.a.z.y! But one day, my cherub was breathing down my neck reading over my shoulder and saw the picture of this recipe. "Oh momma, that'd be good!" And being a good momma, I said, "Sure thing!  Whatever you want!" (Because that's what I say most of the time to him . . .NOT!) We read the recipe; decided the changes we would make to it and then we got the ingredients the next time we went grocery shopping. This recipe calls for pre-made meatballs. Which I really don't like. For many reasons. One being texture. The others -- you don't want to know. Because truthfully, you probably didn't even care about the first reason! But what we did is make our own little meatballs.  Here's the link for that! http://www.karen-proverbs31.blogspot.com/2011/06/spaghetti-and-mea...

  This is one of the easiest desserts you'll ever make . . . and you'll be surprised at how well people like it! Personally, I'm not an apple pie lover, but these little desserts, I like. Maybe it's because the fruit to dough ratio can be a little skewed. Maybe I can add as much cinnamon/sugar as I want. Maybe I'm just weird and there's really no difference between the two! This recipe is great because you can let little hands help you!  Matter of fact, the little hands can do the whole thing and you can just supervise!  Also, this recipe is easily halved . . .which is what I do a majority of the time! I like to serve this with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of warmed caramel sauce (actually, I prefer the buttermilk syrup . . . www.karen-proverbs31.blogspot.com/pure-sin ) Easy Apple Crescents 2 whole Granny Smith Apples 2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls 2 sticks Butter 1-1/2 cup Sugar 2-4 tsp...

A recipe this easy shouldn't be allowed. This is ridiculous! If you like peanut butter, then you're in business. There will never be the excuse of: I don't have the ingredients. I don't have time. It takes too much stuff for the recipe. Or whatever other reason . . . This kind of recipe makes you look like one fantastical amazing person! This cookie recipe only has 3 ingredients!  . . . and the result is one big taste! If you want to be a fancy-pants, just drizzle the cooled cookies with chocolate; either melted chocolate almond bark or chocolate chips melted in a baggie. 3 Peanut Butter Cookies 1 egg 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a mixer, combine all ingredients until well blended. Drop by whatever cookie size you want. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size and desired doneness. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Pretzels are a great snack to have. They're so user friendly:  you can eat them plain, dip them, or transform them! I've given you a recipe for a spicy pretzel but here's a treat for a sweet pretzel. It's easy as can be and even your kids can help you make this snack. I have seen variations of this recipe in Midwest Living , Taste of Home , and other easy-to-do recipe books. Sweet and Crunchy Pretzels 1 (16 oz) bag pretzels (twists, butter squares, nuggets, sticks . . .whatever you prefer!) ⅔ cup vegetable oil ½ cup sugar 2 tsp cinnamon Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pour pretzels into a roasting pan. In a medium sized bowl mix together vegetable oil, cinnamon and sugar. Pour over pretzels and stir to coat. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, removing twice to stir. Allow to cool before serving (although, the warm sugary pretzel sure is tasty -- wink, wink!) Store in a ziplock bag. **Once you've finished your bag of pretzels, any ...

Image used from Betty Crocker.com Not all recipes are new to us. Some are a flash-back to the past; something we had a long time ago. Something that we ate for the first time, maybe even lived on it for awhile, But now we never make anymore. Matter of fact, some recipes that we share start a story with, "I remember . . . " This little treat is one of those "I remember . . . " recipes. I was in college when I first ate it with some friends. One of those friends is now my Mr.! How 'bout that! Now that I'm trying to cook ourselves gluten-free, it has me looking back through recipes. Which caused me to find this!  Which will be my girl cherub's birthday treat at school on Tuesday! Yeah, Me! Puppy Chow 4 cups corn chex 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/4 cup peanut butter 2 TBSP butter 3/4 cup powdered sugar Place corn chex in a large bowl, maybe even one that is fitted with a lid. (Makes clean up that much easier!). Place choc...

I love caramel apples. The big, gourmet ones! The ones that sit on display, begging you to indulge! When we're on vacation, that's a temptation I'll succumb too! There's a little shop in Santa Fe that have the best gourmet caramel apples. But I don't live in Santa Fe! Making my own is my task today! Because Fall is coming . . . it's been here once or twice, already . . . and gone . . . and now it's coming again! In honor of Fall, I whipped up one, lonely, delicious, caramel apple treat! I'm kind of picky when it comes to caramel apples. I like real caramel apples. Where the caramel is thick and sticks to the apple . . .and my teeth, occasionally! I like the apples with a little extra splash of chocolate and rolled in something delicious and sprinkled with something fun and drizzled with a bit more goodness! So tonight, I didn't do all of that -- it's just me, after all!  And you too, but you won't know about...

How many things can you sit around and think about? Seriously? My cherub talked me into buying the new "flat" marshmallows for a project she wants to make. Great!  I'll make a project too! Inside-Out S'mores! Kind of a hassle, but fun to give to friends, or pack in a lunch box, or just say you made it! Inside-Out S'mores Graham crackers "Stacker Mallows" (flat marshmallows) from Jet-Puff white or chocolate almond bark sprinkles Break a graham cracker in half.  Melt one or two "cubes" of the almond bark. Take 2 stacker mallows and dab a bit of almond bark on each one and lay them side by side on 1/2 of a graham cracker.  Smear a bit more almond bark on the top of the marshmallows and place the other 1/2 of the cracker on top.  Allow the chocolate to set before dipping. Melt the remaining almond bark in a bowl.  You want to be able to dip the crackers in and submerge and turn them to get them evenly coated. Lay...

Today, I share my page with my first guest post!  The Mr.  begs   tries to be a "guest post" on my blog -but not until now have I thought something could be so worthy! You'll be amazed at the one-of-a-kind recipe that was created! Today, my youngest cherub shares her favorite recipe that she created! "This is great!  I hope y'all like it!  It's great for any meal or snack.  You'll need: a tortilla 1/2 an apple chocolate chips peanut butter marshmallow cream OR mini marshmallows Today, I am home sick.  I tried this recipe on a crepe that my mom made.  It was SOOOOOOOOOO delicious on a crepe! On your tortilla, spread on a WHOLE LOTTA peanut butter! Then, depending on what you use, put on your marshmallows.  I like the cream AND the marshmallows -- hey!  Maybe I should put BOTH on my tortilla! Next, sprinkle on some diced up apples. After that, let it rain down chocolate chip...

17 years ago we got an "old fashioned" popcorn popper for a wedding gift. It used to be our tradition . .  .before kids . . .that we ate popcorn every Sunday night. It was delicious! The popcorn popper came with a popcorn recipe book! We'd get so excited -- we'd thumb through the small book and find a new popcorn seasoning to make! Doesn't that sound so fun!??! It's been a couple of years since we've even used the popcorn popper, but the other day we decided we'd get it out and have some fun! And fun we had! First, we had to go to 3 stores to even find popcorn -- like the kernel kind!  You know, the kind that can't go in the microwave! The cherubs have had more fun standing at the stove and cranking the handle and waiting to hear the pop! We've made: B.B.Q flavored Italian flavored Sweet and Crunch (like Kettle corn) and just plain buttered Now, we have the popcorn maker at the front of ...

I remember making a S'more treat a long time ago. I can't find the recipe anywhere. I remember that when I made this treat, I gave the recipe to my friends. I remember e-mailing them a couple of years ago to get my recipe back. I can't remember where I put that recipe! I was cleaning out the office today and guess what I found! The recipe that I had made, that I lost, that I got back, that I lost again, and found again! I'm putting it here -- so hopefully I'll remember next time I want to make this S'more treat! S'more Bars 3 cups graham cracker crumbs 3/4 cup melted butter 1/3 cup sugar 3 cups mini marshmallows 2 cups chocolate chips Melt butter, add sugar and graham cracker crumbs; mix well. Press 1/2 of the crumb mixture into a greased 9 X 13 pan.  Sprinkle the marshmallows and chocolate chips on top of crust.  Sprinkle remaining cracker mixture on top; trying to cover the best you can. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remo...

Did you ever have one of these when you were a little kid? I did -- I remember it well. I remember the delicious cakes! Some things have changed for the Easy-Bake Oven . . . like they're plastic now! But the Easy-Bake mixes are just about the same!  Wink, Wink! My sweet little cherub (all decked out in her Summer look!) has had an Easy-Bake Oven for a long time. We did the pre-package "convenience" mixes 1 time. And 1 time only! If she was going to bake and I was going to have to eat it . . . I wasn't eating that stuff! Plus, those mixes aren't necessarily cheap! So, this momma figured out how to use my recipe mixes in my cherub's Easy-Bake Oven! That's right -- real cake and cookie mixes that actually taste good after they've been cooked with a light bulb! Here's what we do! First, she begs me to get her Easy-Bake Oven down off of the shelf and asks me if I have any number of mixes ready. Usua...