These were SOOOO much fun!!! If you have something coming up this next week and need a really cute appetizer, you need to try the Grinch Kabobs!
I posted the instructions over on Eat This Up if you want to take a look!
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Extreme Couponing, Houston Frugal Living Blog
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These were SOOOO much fun!!! If you have something coming up this next week and need a really cute appetizer, you need to try the Grinch Kabobs!
I posted the instructions over on Eat This Up if you want to take a look!
By Tiffany Ivanovsky Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
Everyone will absolutely adore this cute Snowman Oreo Truffles Recipe. They are somewhere between a cake pop and a truffle, and sure to delight everyone who loves the classic cookies & cream flavors of the Oreo cookie. With upcoming holiday parties and events to attend, this is a great choice that kids and adults will all enjoy eating!
This recipe for Oreo cookie balls is simple to prepare. The most difficult part comes when you are decorating them to look like a snowman. I recommend setting these up on parchment paper and creating an assembly line method for decorating. You can even get the kids involved to help you by having each person do one thing in the decorations.
Ingredients:
1 15.5 oz package Oreo Cookies
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
Mini Oreo Bite Size Cookies (25-30)
16 oz. White Chocolate Chips or Almond Bark if preferred
Candy Corn (25-30 pieces)
16 oz. Mini chocolate chips
Blue gel icing
Your first real step in making these Oreo truffles is to grab your package of regular Oreo’s and blend them until they are just crumbs. You’ll want your mini Oreo cookies for decorating, so don’t include them in this step. You can use a food processor or even a high powered blender like a Ninja if you prefer. You just want the cookie crumbs to be fairly fine with minimal chunks.
Next you’ll want to combine those crumbs with your cream cheese. We use a stand mixer, but you can also do this by hand or with a high powered hand mixer.
The fun part comes with rolling the Oreo truffles. You want clean hands, and a parchment paper lined baking sheet handy. Roll the cookie mixture into 1-1 1/2″ balls. Place on the parchment paper and then freeze your Oreo truffles for at least 30 minutes. If you don’t freeze them before dipping into the white chocolate, you will find they melt and it becomes a big gooey mess. Delicious, but not what you are looking for.
While your Oreo truffles are freezing, you can cut apart your candy corn to make noses. You’ll remove the white and yellow part of the candy, then roll the orange into a longer nose shape. This is a fun project for the kids to help with.
Once they have frozen for a bit, you’ll melt your chocolate and get ready to dip them. You can do this by hand (the messy way), or use two forks to coat the truffles without making a mess. You will drop an Oreo truffle into the melted chocolate, then use your forks to roll it gently making sure it is completely coated. You’ll lift the truffle out of the chocolate tapping off any excess and then gently use the fork to lift and place onto the parchment paper.
Once the truffles chocolate coating has set, you can start decorating. You’ll use a bit of the remaining melted white chocolate to help you with this process. You’ll dip your mini Oreo cookies into the white chocolate just enough to get a bit on the bottom so they can then be added to the top of the truffle. You’ll then put a drop of melted white chocolate onto the mini chocolate chips to create a smile. Add your candy corn nose with another drop of melted white chocolate. The final step is to add two blue gel icing eyes.
These Snowman Oreo Truffles are a perfect choice for you and your family to make and share this holiday season. You can add these to a tray of treats for your kids class party, or serve them in holiday tins as part of a homemade gift for friends, family, and neighbors.
Check out some other great Oreo treats and other delicious desserts we love below!
Oreo Cookie Cupcake Recipe (with cookies & cream frosting recipe!)
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Popcorn is a classic holiday treat and this White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn Recipe is a fun and easy choice. Peppermint is always a nice pop of crisp flavor to holiday themed treats, and white chocolate balances it well with that creamy flavor you expect. This is such a fun treat to make with the kids anytime, but especially during the holidays!
I love a simple homemade popcorn recipe. The addition of white chocolate and peppermint to this gives it the fun holiday spin and gives me the chance to add a bit of color (pink or red) to the mix and make this treat pop with holiday color. To make any popcorn recipe, you will want air popped popcorn instead of microwave popcorn. I love the Presto PopLite Hot Air Popper. It’s affordable, works great and is fairly compact on your counter or in your cabinet. There are many popcorn makers out there, and tons of ways to make popcorn in a hot pan with a bit of oil, but this is by far the easiest method I have found.
Ingredients:
10 cups popped popcorn
12 oz white chocolate candy melts
1/2 cups peppermint baking bits
This is so super easy your kids can even help you make this. In fact, they will likely love helping you with this recipe. You will ned some white chocolate candy melts, the air popped popcorn and of course the peppermint. We used Andes Peppermint baking bits, but you can use any peppermint baking bits or even a peppermint white chocolate bar in this mix. You just want a hint of peppermint flavor.
Melt your chocolate candy melts in 30 second intervals in your microwave stirring between until fully melted. You can also do this over a double boiler if you prefer. Once chocolate has melted, you will pour over popcorn and stir until well coated. Then mix in the peppermint baking bits until well distributed. Pour this onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and allow chocolate to set before serving.
Leftovers will need to be stored in an airtight container or bag to prevent the popcorn from becoming stale.
This delicious white chocolate peppermint popcorn recipe is a great fun treat to make with your kids this holiday season. You can enjoy in front of a classic holiday movie, or put into fun holiday tins and gift to friends and family!
Check out other favorite holiday treats we love below!
By Tiffany Ivanovsky Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
We love making this Christmas Snowflake Cookie Recipe! Of course, it could easily be a great cookie to make throughout the winter months, but typically it goes on our cookie exchange list, or just in our tins to give to friends and family. They are cute, simple and so yummy!
A basic sugar cookie recipe makes this Christmas Snowflake Cookie Recipe a favorite way to add a little fun to the season. Kids love helping you cut out the cookies, and of course decorating is always tons of fun. I like these because they are pretty without being complicated.
Cookie Ingredients:
3 cup Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Milk
White Pearl Candy Decorations
You start with a basic sugar cookie recipe that is easy to bring together in your stand mixer. You will start by creaming together your butter and sugar, then add in milk and egg to create your wet ingredients. You’ll then blend in the dry ingredients. For a lighter cookie, you may even want to sift the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients.
Once the dough forms a ball, you will want to divide this dough in half. Roll the first half out to around 1/4″ thick, and use your snowflake shaped cookie cutter to create cookies. Once you place those on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet, you can roll the leftover dough into the other half and begin cutting more cookies out as needed for the next batch. These cookies are thin so watch closely so they don’t burn. Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes then remove them from heat. Allow to cool for sevearl minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before icing.
Icing Ingredients:
3 Egg Whites
1 teaspoon Vanilla
4 cup Powdered Sugar
Once you have all of your cookies cooling, you can mix up this easy icing. A stand mixer or high powered hand mixer is a great choice for this icing. You’ll combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until they become bubbly. Mix in the powdered sugar gradually until incorporated. Continue beating this mixture until it forms stiff glossy peaks.
Put the icing in a pastry bag with a small tip on the end. Pipe a line of icing across the snowflake cookie in a simple pattern. You can add extra lines to accent if desired. Place a pearl candy bead at each end point for a shiny embellishment.
Check out our other favorite holiday baked treats below!
By Tiffany Ivanovsky By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
If you’re looking for some new cookies for the holidays or maybe some last minute cookies for Santa then make these great Reindeer Cookies with just a couple ingredients! These are so easy that the littles can help and even serve them on a super festive plate for the holiday parties.
This is all you will need:
For the Store bought cookie dough. I used peanut butter, but you can use sugar cookie if you don’t do peanut butter. You can also make your own cookie dough, this is just to save a little time using store bought.
Chocolate covered pretzels, which often go on sale for 10 for $10 at my local Kroger and M&M’s. Have the kids separate the red and browns out from a bag. (Occupy them with this task while you start separating the cookie dough into pieces)
Take about a tablespoon of dough and shape it into the shape above. Then bake… remove and add the toppings. That is it! EASY! One roll of cookie dough should make about 16 cookies total.
By Tiffany Ivanovsky 7 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
Who all plans on making food this week? I am sure that most of us do. I wanted to get a round up of some easy and good meal planning ideas that you can use to plan your menu. Personally I am using my crock pot big and bad this week. I have so much to do and don’t want to spend any extra money that I am tossing stuff in, early in the morning and heading out for the day or spending the day playing with the kids.
Anything that I can make ahead of time I am making. Such as snacks, appetizers and side dishes that can be frozen or site in the fridge for a few days. I want to spend as much time OUT of the kitchen as possible.
We make a LARGE Christmas morning breakfast and good size dinner later in the day. Usually it is Ham and sides with dessert. Smaller than Thanksgiving but still a nice meal. Here are some ideas:
::Breakfast::
Breakfast Casserole ( This can be made the night before, actually it NEEDS to be made the night before!)
Cinnamon Rolls ( I make these the night before, leave them in the fridge overnight to rise and put in oven in the morning. This is the Pioneer Woman’s recipe, I cut the butter in 1/2… and I like butter!)
Baked French Toast ( Make this the day before)
Monkey Bread (This is the recipe with the Rhodes Rolls and butterscotch pudding, make this the night before… AWESOME!)
Breakfast Tacos (We use Chorizo but you can use any pork sausage or bacon)
::SNACKS::
** All of these can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container until you are ready to eat them!
Ranch Oyster Crackers ( Soooo easy and my husbands favorite!)
Buckeye Balls (Oh my! These are amazing, make double you will need them!)
Easy Fudge (If you think you can’t make fudge, you can! This is the easiest fool proof recipe EVER! I make PANS of it every year and it keeps forever!)
Home Made Chex Mix (So much better than store bought! Coupon HERE)
Holiday Pretzel Treats ( I made these the other day and it was so easy, plus you can make a TON of them at a time and they look really cute!)
Velveeta Sausage Dip ( This is nice because you can just toss it in the crock pot and eat all day)
Honey Glazed Chicken Bites (Again the theme is make ahead and pop in the oven when you want to eat them)
::DINNER::
Twice Baked Potatoes (These can be made ahead of time and frozen until you are ready to bake them)
Mashed Potatoes (This can also be made ahead and put in a crock pot)
Oven Roasted Red Potatoes and Asparagas
Acorn Squash and Bacon (Paul’s favorite side dish and my VERY first blog post ever!)
Bread Pudding (Always a crowd pleaser!)
Now, once you have an idea of the items you will be making, start thinking about the things that you can make ahead of time. The snacks can be made even today and kept in an airtight container until this weekend. Make the twice baked potatoes today and freeze them until the day you need them, pull them out and pop them into the oven and they taste just like you made them that day!
By Tiffany 1 Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
It’s officially December, which means there will be tons of holiday baking happening soon! Whether you are baking for a kids school party, a cookie exchange, for your family or to give as gifts – we have an awesome list cookies perfect to fit any occasion.
Enjoy our fun delicious series called 12 Days of Christmas Cookies – packed with 12 deliciously tested and approved mouth watering cookie recipes. We have cookies for every walk of life, from fun Reindeer cookies for the kids to sophisticated Chocolate Hazelnut Caramel Thumbprint cookies.
If you are planning on gifting your delicious baking creations make sure to grab these Holiday Tins! They make the perfect containers for keeping your cookies safe and sound, while sporting their adorable holiday looks!
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 1 – Candy Cane Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 2 – Cowboy Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 3 – Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 4 – Melting Snowmen Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 5 – Snowball Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 6 – Chocolate, Hazelnut, Caramel Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 7 – Red Velvet Whoopie Pies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 8 – Chewy M&M Sugar Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 9 – Grinch Crinkle Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 10 – Easy Reindeer Cookies Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 11 – Christmas Snowflake Cookie Recipe
12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 12 – Peanut Butter Ball Cookies Recipe
Do you have a favorite cookie recipe? Or a traditional recipe you bake every year? Please feel free to share your recipes and holiday traditions in the comments!
By Tiffany 2 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
I wanted to share again the Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe that the kids and I have made in the past. I made mine a skinnier version then theirs as they had ice cream and regular milk, it was more like a shake! Actually, who am I fooling, it was totally a shake!
But mine I tried to do a little more low calorie and it was still delicious!
In mine, I used light cream cheese, Agave Nectar, Vanilla Almond Milk, cinnamon, ice, and of course pumpkin.
Blended it all together until it was frothy and the ice was all blended up!
Instructions
Add it all into the blender, add about 1 cup ice, and blend like crazy until all mixed together. Take a little taste. If you need it a little sweeter add some more agave.
* My kids used regular milk and added ice cream! I was awesome!
By Tiffany 3 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
I have found with kids and adults alike that sometimes presentation is all that matters.
Last year I was playing around with some ideas of things I can do for the 4th of July fun we have every year. I made a few fancy punches and drinks to serve, and some nice brownies with 5 different steps. I had some mason jars sitting on my shelf and the kids were coming in from gymnastics, so I grabbed the Kool Aid from the fridge and served them a drink in a jar with some fruit.
YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THEY WON THE LOTTERY!!
In my head I was thinking, ” it is Kool Aid guys, I just bought it from Kroger for $.79 a container…” it is the extra little touches they don’t normally see from home that made it sooooo special to them.
The little paper straws came from Amazon, and I had them left over from a birthday party. I had the jars, and the fruit.
The kids felt like a million bucks sitting on the porch drinking their Kool Aid.
You have seen my posts on popcorn treats many times.
White Chocolate Popcorn ( my favorite )
It is super simple to make and you can add any candy, nuts, pretzels etc. that you might have around. There is no baking involved and both kids and adults love it.
Last year I made some white chocolate popcorn with M&M’s and added the 4th of July Twizzlers. I put it in the leftover lunch bags from the school year and again the kids thought they were rock stars.
It doesn’t have to be expensive to be fun and look good. It also doesn’t have to take you all day to make something really fancy for people to think you spent a lot of time. Keep it simple!
By Tiffany Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.
I love to put a little extra effort into making the 4th of July really special for our family. To add to the “special” feeling of the day – I always make some fun desserts. Here are some of our family’s favorites over the years!
You could easily layer in blueberries here!
It’s just Kool-Aid fancied up – but it is the extra little touches they don’t normally see from home that made it sooooo special to them.
Great to let the kids prep ahead of time – and then munch on during the fireworks watching!
To Red, White & Blue it up – make white chocolate popcorn and add M&M’s and 4th of July Twizzlers. Easy and fun!