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marshmallow eggs.

I have many fond memories of Easter traditions at our house growing up, but probably my favorite was when my mom would make marshmallow Easter eggs.

Soft squishy, chocolaty coated marshmallows in a variety of flavors. (raspberry was my favorite)

This was the first year I decided to make them with my kids. Although they didn’t turn out perfectly, they still tasted exactly how I remembered them. Delicious!

I snapped a few pictures as I went, and I’ll post the full recipe at the bottom of this post.

Grab some eggs and pans full of flour.

Next using the egg press down about halfway into the flour to create egg shaped molds.

Whip up the marshmallow mixture.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into your eggs molds and lightly cover the top of them with flour.

Let them sit for about an hour or until set.

Take out of the flour, brush off the excess and pop in your mouth. Pure bliss!

We like to dip ours in chocolate, but I got really lazy with my pictures, so you’re going to have to imagine chocolaty covered goodness.

Marshmallow Eggs

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

1 package of flavored Jell-O

1 package of Knox gelatin

3/4 cup water

In a mixing bowl add Jell-O, Knox and 3/4 cup of water. Let it sit about 1/2 hour. (You can prepare the flour bowls and get everything ready while this is sitting)

Next in a saucepan bring the sugar and 3/4 cup of water to a boil. Once boiling, clip your candy thermometer to the side of the pan and heat to soft candy stage (approx.. 240) Washing down the sides of the pan as it cooks.

Once it hits 240, remove from heat and bring it to the bowl with the gelatin mixture. Slowly start pouring it into the bowl while mixing at a low speed. Once it’s all incorporated, bring the speed up and whip for 6-8 minutes or until thick and foamy. Pour into flour molds.

Let sit until firmed up about an hour. Drizzle or dip in chocolate.

jelly bean bark.

Want to know how to become the coolest Mom? And only using 2 ingredients and approximately 3 minutes of your time? Then today is your lucky day.

With all these Easter treats floating around the stores, it’s hard to wait for the Easter Bunny to come. So start stretching your stomachs now folks, with this yummy chocolate treat. (and your kids will think your pretty cool too!)

Grab some chocolate wafer candy’s, they come in a multitude of colors, and some great pastels color choices for Easter. I chose boring white.

Melt them down in the microwave, in 30 second intervals.

Then take a cookie sheet with some wax paper on it, and pour the melted chocolate into the center.

Spread the chocolate out to about a 1/4 inch thickness.

Sprinkle with jelly beans. These are like the Jelly Belly kind, but a knock-off, cause I’m cheap and my kids don’t mind imitation.

Pop it in the freezer until set.  Break into pieces and you’re done.

Jelly Bean Bark, just in time for Easter.

Double thumbs up if your kids say you’re cooler than the Easter Bunny. ;)

peanut butter bonbons.

Since I’m pretty sure Darren thinks I sit on the couch all day, stuffing my face with bonbons, I figured I should actually make some, and then my reality dream could come true. I found a simple recipe online and about an hour later I really was stuffing my face with sweet peanut buttery goodness.

Start by making your center. These ones have butter, peanut butter, icing sugar, crushed pretzels and toffee bits. Scoop small balls onto parchment paper and pop them in the freezer for 15 minutes or until firm.

I didn’t bother to make them into a round ball, since the bottoms always get flat anyways. I used my tiny Pampered Chef scoop. These are about an inch big.

Next get your double boiler ready to go. I don’t actually own one, so I use my poor man’s pot with a glass bowl sitting over hot water.

My chocolate of choice… cheap Easter bunny’s from Wal-Mart. Okay, not necessarily my favorite, or my choice, but can you beat a pound of chocolate for a dollar? I didn’t think so.

Dip your peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate and top with more toffee bits, or crushed pretzels.

Repeat a gazillion times. (I halved the recipe and still got 40 balls)

I put them back into the freezer to set the chocolate better, and then realized I like them frozen better anyways. Yummy!

You can find the full recipe and instructions at Mel’s Kitchen Café. She’s got some great recipes if you get the chance to check her out.

quick halloween treats.

A couple of really quick and easy Halloween snacks for those hungry little monsters in your life.

If you remember last year, Hunter’s school class had a healthy Halloween party, and I made these.

Well Ava has the same teacher this year, so she got an updated version of the apple snack.

Apple slices with marshmallow teeth. Use a light spread of peanut butter on the apples to hold it all together.

A little tray of chattering teeth, all ready to go. I also thought these would be so cute if you were doing the Tooth Fairy for a movie night. But all I could think of when I was making these was my Brother in Law, who’s a dentist, I think he would like them. ☺

Next, I thought they would be a little gross to eat, but once you get past the idea of what they are, they’re pretty yummy.

Start with some lollipop sticks and marshmallows.

Melt some butterscotch chips. (or peanut butter chips would work too)

And assemble to make some seriously gross Q-tips complete with ear wax.

 

I did add a little butter and corn syrup to my chips afterwards to make it a bit more smooth consistency, but just the melted chips worked okay too.

{And, no Mom, I didn’t make the hair band (but I wish I did, it is so cute!!) So the good thing about Lily being in every other day Kindergarten… Ava got to wear the hair band for her Halloween Party today.}

I feel like we should have a People Magazine article of who wore it better. ;)

bloody pops.

I had a couple different ideas for these rolling around in my head, but I just couldn’t find the time to do them all, so I settled for quick and simple bloody lollipops.

Now, I will start by prefacing, that these are simple to make but sooo messy. I don’t know that the mess is equal to the taste, but they look super cool, and Lily ate hers up, so they can’t taste that bad.

Start by adding 1 cup of sugar, 2/3 cup corn syrup and 2 tablespoons of water to your pot.

Stir on high heat just until the sugar melts, then stop stirring.

Pop in your candy thermometer and just let it boil until it reaches about 250-275 degrees. Or if you don’t have one, about 5-7 minutes of boiling should do it.

Pour the hot sugar onto a silpat mat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Working very quickly here, pop a lollipop stick into each blob of sugar.

Still working VERY quickly, using red food coloring start adding your blood. Now I used the gel colors (cause that’s all I have) but it is quite concentrated, and I had to use a toothpick to swirl and dot until I got the right look I wanted.

Let sit about 5-10 minutes and you can just peel them off the mat. And there you go, bloody pops!

 

 

My two cents… I would definitely use liquid food coloring, my red tongue thinks it’s better than the concentrated gel I used. And don’t let your sugar go too long, or else your pops won’t be a nice clear color, they will be more of an amber shade. Wash your pot quickly, because the left over sugar… a PAIN to clean, just saying, not that I know or anything.

Enjoy!

countdown to halloween.

You didn’t think I would leave you without at least one or two Halloween posts now did you? There’s no way I could resist my favorite holiday of the whole year!! So of course with only one week left until Halloween, I have a whole week full of super cool and creepy ideas to share with you.

I was asked to teach a class on gifts in a jar for our Ward’s Super Saturday. I was kind of disappointed, because I feel like that’s been done a hundred times before. But thanks to the good old internet and some extra creativity this is what I came up with, and I’m pretty sure it was a hit!

Halloween S’mores in a Jar.

These were so easy to make and without having to go camping to enjoy a delicious S’more bar is even better in my books.

You start by layering graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of a 1 quart jar. Line with seasonal Halloween Peeps. (they come in ghosts and pumpkins) Topped up with extra marshmallows, chocolate chips and brown sugar. Yummy! (recipe at bottom)

I topped my jar with some sheer spider web fabric and tied it with some twine.

Add a cute little tag with the directions and you’re done!

(The S’more stamp and bat punch is from Stampin’ Up, call me if you want to order ☺)

The sad news about these is that you can’t get peeps in Canada. (I’m so sorry…) But if you have someone who loves you very much, I’m sure they would be willing to express post you some ASAP! ♥

S’mores in a Jar

· 1 sleeve graham crackers (about 1 1/2 cups crushed crackers)

· 1 package of seasonal peeps brand marshmallow candies

· 1/3 cup white mini marshmallows

· 1/3 cup brown sugar; packed

· 1 cup milk chocolate chips or Halloween m&m candies

Directions

1. Layer ingredients in a wide mouth 1 quart canning jar. Crush graham crackers into crumbs using a rolling pin, layer onto bottom of the jar.

2. Using the seasonal peeps, line the inside of the jar, so peeps are facing out. Fill center of peeps with mini marshmallows.

3. Layer remaining ingredients. Milk chocolate chips, then brown sugar on the top.

4. Instructions to attach to jar; 1. Pour contents of jar into a bowl. Using scissors cut the peeps into small pieces. Return the cut up peeps to the mixture. Mix well. 2. Melt 1/2 cup butter; then add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Place into a greased 8" or 9" square pan, pat it downs gently. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

chocolate crunch.

Lately I’ve been trying to be a bit more conscious about what food I buy and what I’m feeding my children. Eventually I would like to try and eliminate high fructose corn syrup from their diets completely, but that will be a big and difficult change, and I’m not sure I want to take on that task for the summer (when freezies taste SO darn good…)

Anyways, with that in mind we’ve been making our own yogurt around here (yummy!) and everybody knows a good creamy yogurt needs a crunchy granola to go with it, and I found a delicious recipe.

Chocolate Crunch Granola.

*I did tweak it just a little to my liking my changes are in brackets*

3 cups regular oats

1 cup Rice Krispies (I used vanilla flavored RK’s)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup honey

2 Tbsp canola oil (I cut down to 1 tbsp)

1 tsp vanilla

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used milk chocolate chips)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (I omitted)

 

Preheat oven to 300F.

Cover a jelly-roll pan with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper with cooking spray.

Combine oats, rice cereal, brown sugar, chopped pecans, salt, and ground cinnamon in a large bowl.

Combine honey and canola oil in a small saucepan over low heat; cook 2 minutes or until warm. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over oat mixture. Lightly coat hands with cooking spray. Gently mix chocolate mixture and oat mixture until combined. Spread oat mixture onto prepared jelly-roll pan. Bake at 300° for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Cool completely on pan; stir in cranberries.

 

It is SO, SO good! Trust me. The kids all love it. The first time I made this, we ate almost all of it right off the pan, warm out of the oven. It’s very filling too. I can have a bowl of granola and milk and feel full until lunch time, (a bonus when you’re pregnant and hungry all the time)

Even Grey when I taking pictures of it, kept grabbing the jar and running away, trying to open it so he could eat some.

On a completely unrelated note, I’m making something new… and it is so funky!!! Can’t wait to show you the finished project.

 

If you’re looking for some last minute Canada Day shirt ideas, here’s a few of mine from the last couple of years.

2008 -shirts

2009- shirts

I’m sorry I would show this years, but true to how I roll… they’re not done yet. Sigh. Another late night for Amy.

pink cupcakes.

Before you know it, Valentines day will be here, and I'll take any excuse to bake, decorate, and breathe the color pink. So this year I'm getting started early, and trying some new recipes. And let me tell you, these are not just any ordinary pink cupcakes...

they are pink lemonade cupcakes.

The perfect balance between sweet and tart. (and they are pretty darn delicious if you ask me)

PINK LEMONADE CUPCAKES

• 1 pkg white cake mix without pudding in the mix
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup thawed frozen pink lemonade concentrate; thawed
• 2 TBSP oil
• pink food coloring (optional)

frosting

• 4 cups icing sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup pink lemonade concentrate

1. Beat cake mix, water, egg whites, 1/3 cup lemon concentrate, oil and food coloring. Medium speed for 2 minutes. Spoon batter into lined muffin cups.

2. Bake 18-22 mins. Cool completely before frosting.

3. Beat icing sugar, butter and 1/4 cup lemonade concentrate, until well blended. (Add more concentrate to thin frosting if necessary.) Add pink coloring to desired color.

*Just a note, I added almost 1/2 cup of concentrate to my frosting because I found it quite thick and I really wanted it tart. I would keep adding and tasting until you like it.

They bake up so lovely and even. And flavor aside, they were honestly the most moist and delicious cupcake I have ever had.

Frost and add a straw for garnish. 

 
 
 Pretty easy huh. Let me know if you try them, I'd love to hear what you thought.

On a side note, I have found my blogging mojo (that didn't last long, haha) Now, if only I could find some time. I've been watching a little boy since just before Christmas, and it looks like my temporary job turned into a full time one. So 2 little babies are keeping me on my toes, and I'm lucky if I can find the time to unload the dishwasher, let alone update my blog. Anyways, thought I'd let you know.

Have a great night!

day 1.

Today has been so busy, I don't even know where to start. haha!

So, I apologize, but you're getting a repeat recipe from last year. We made pumpkin cheese balls. And they were SO yummy! (this is half the recipe)

Pumpkin Cheese Balls

• 1 brick cream cheese; softened
• 1/2 package of ranch dressing mix
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1/2 cup crushed cheese crackers
• green pepper and green onion for garnish
• crackers, veggies etc. to dip

Blend together cream cheese, ranch dressing and cheese. Crush the cheese crackers. Roll scooped balls of the cream cheese mixture into the crushed crumbs. Garnish with pepper and onion. Use crackers etc to dip. YUMMY!!

We're off to our Ward Trunk 'or' Treat tonight. And tomorrow I get to do pictures of the kids in their costumes!! I can't wait. Just because today was a bust for a new Halloween idea, I'll give you this, as a consolation prize.

Now, wasn't that worth it?

Have a great night!

Also, if you're interested this is the link to my Halloween party for the kids last year, which has these pumpkin balls. Halloween Party 08.

And if you thought I was a Halloween creative genius, check out what my sister did for her kids last year. It's is beyond adorable! Nicola's Halloween Pizza's.
 
 
 
 

day 4.

So has anybody tried anything yet? Or are you like me, I just like seeing what there is out there that is Halloween related. It's just so much fun.

Anyways, this next one, is my most favorite one yet. When I saw it in Rachel Ray's magazine, I almost died from sheer delight. Of course, I don't have a whole team of people out there hunting down the perfect props to use, and in my search, I only had limited stores to find the perfect ones... and well, they're okay, but I think next year I will start my search early.

Alright, lets just get on with it shall we, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Start by making a chocolate muffin. I used her recipe:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 egg

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients together. And then add:

1 cup mini chocolate chips (I only had regular, so I chopped them up a bit)

1/2 cup pecans

Mix and bake at 350 for 20 minutes for regular sized muffins, or 10 minutes for mini muffins.

 
 
 (I sprinkled my pecans on top of some muffins, since my kids are not nut lovers like I am.

If you are lucky enough to find a store that carry's doll parts, pick up a bag of doll arms. And poke one into the center of each muffin.

 
And there you have it folks, buried alive muffins.

Aren't they cute!

I just wish I had been able to find larger, more detailed arms, so I could have made bigger muffins. Anyways, I love the idea of being able to poke all sorts of doll parts into muffins. Think about maybe disassembling a barbie and poking all her limbs from a cake or cupcake. bwahhhh!!!

Also, as a side note to yesterday's post. If you're in a nut free school, try using yogurt covered raisins (original recipe idea) or marshmallows. Good luck!