Patriotic Popsicles

As promised, I'm here to share the best homemade popsicle I've made to date.  Growing up, I loved eating Bomb Pops on the 4th of July, it's part of the holiday for me. Recently, I've found myself obsessed with my blender. I knew I wanted to make a healthier version of my favorite popsicle to share with Cole, but I was a little stumped on what to do for "white." I settled on using applesauce, and it worked out really well!

Ingredients:
Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Applesauce
Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Apple juice

Blend together blueberries with juice, until smooth. Pour into your molds and wipe the inside if any of the mixture hits the sides. Add the applesauce, and again wipe down the sides. Blend the strawberries and juice, just like the blueberries and top off your mold. Add in your sticks and freeze. So simple and so delish!

You can see by the look on Cole's face, he's ready for my to stop taking pictures, and start nomming on his popsicle! 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Once a month I receive $10 from the W.I.C. Overseas Program for fresh produce. I like using that check to try new recipes. I figure if it doesn't go well, I'm not out any money! I was flipping through an old Food Network Magazine, and saw a recipe for baked sweet potato fries by Paula Deen. I've never tried them, so why not give it a shot. They were better than I could've dreamed. If you haven't tried them, you really need to, you won't regret it!

If you want a lot of fries then I'd recommend following Paula Deen's recipe, but if you only plan to make it for yourself I'd scale it back to just one good sized sweet potato. I decided to get a little creative and substituted cumin for the garlic powder in Paula's house seasoning. 

Ingredients:
At least one sweet potato per person
2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil
Flour to coat (optional)
Salt & pepper 
Cumin, garlic powder, paprika, curry powder (really whatever you like to give the fries a little extra zip)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°. Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them up into fry-shaped pieces. Try and make them roughly the same size, they'll cook more evenly that way. If you've never sliced up a sweet potato, have patience. This was my first time doing anything with sweet potatoes and patience was something I was running short on. Those suckers can be tough to cut!

After you've got them cut up throw them in a zip-lock bag, add the olive oil, and spices give it a good shake.   

Once you've got a good coating on them, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Arrange them so there's only a single layer (they'll crisp up much better).

Bake for 15-20 minutes, flip the fries, continue to bake another 15-20 minutes or until crispy. 

Let cool a moment and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce! Enjoy! 

It's the first day of Autumn!!!

The first day of fall is always a happy day at our house. This past week has been marked with the appearance of socks for the first time in months because our hardwood floors were giving my feet an ice cream headache. I never fully appreciated the first cozy sock day before because I've always lived in homes that were carpeted. I will never make that mistake again.

Since it's officially fall, I can dive right into my apple obsession. I don't like eating apples any other time of the year, they don't taste right so I don't waste my time with them. In celebration of the Autumnal Equinox, I made some apple chips. They came out pretty good for a first try and no mandoline.

 Ingredients:
2 apples, cored (I used Honey Crisp and Granny Smith)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
canola oil spray

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. 
• Thinly slice your apples* (if you have a mandoline, save yourself some time and use it) and arrange slices on two parchment lined cookie sheets. Spray with canola oil.
• Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over apples (I had a little left over).
• Bake for roughly 2-2 1/2 hours or until apples are crisp (mine took a little longer because I was only able to use one cookie sheet thanks to the crazy German oven I have). Let cool and enjoy a little taste of fall!

 *I found that the easiest way to slice the apples is to slowly turn the apple as I sliced, it also helped keep the slices more even.

Dunkaroo Dip

Remember back in the day when you had the tough choice of hot or cold lunch? I usually brought my own lunch, and the best part would be when I'd get to dessert. If I was really lucky, I'd get this happy little snack. Just thinking about it makes me excited about my lunch menu for the next week!

 

I'll save you the boredom of an entire blog dedicated to my new mason jar mugs (even though it's pretty danged exciting), I am already 100% glad I got them! They make every meal or snack seem extra special. Who doesn't love a little shabby chic with their meal? Root beer floats are a must with these jars! Love. Them.

Onto the dip, this snack is so easy and only requires 3 ingredients. Can it get much simpler than that?! All you need is Funfetti cake mix, plain yogurt, and Cool Whip. When I made it, I didn't happen to have Funfetti in my cupboard so I used white cake mix and added sprinkles.  I liked adding my own sprinkles, but I may have been a little overzealous. That would definitely explain the pinkish tint to my dip. Oh well, it just makes it unique!

Ingredients:
1 box Funfetti cake mix
2 cups plain yogurt (I used fat-free, organic)
1 cup Cool Whip

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix all 3 ingredients until completely combined. Chill over night, or at least an hour. Serve with teddy grahams or animal crackers. Enjoy!

Puppy Chow

Do you remember making this at Girl Scouts?! Ahh the memories...camping in cabin/tents, selling cookies This snack has everything; chocolate, peanut butter, and no baking, making it perfect for these German summers with no air conditioning. What's really neat about this recipe is everyone has there own spin on it! So feel free to use this one or jazz it up on your own!

Ingredients:
9 cups Chex cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Measure out cereal in a large bowl, set aside. In a gallon size zip lock bag, add 1 cup of powdered sugar.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Microwave in 60 second intervals stirring in between until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
3. Slowly pour on cereal, gently mixing until evenly coated. Let cool completely.
4. Pour cereal mixture into bag, seal and shake. Add last cup of sugar and continue to shake.

That's it! I've read on a few different recipes that freezing the Puppy Chow before serving makes it less messy, worth a try, especially if you're making it for your kiddos! Enjoy!

Bobby LaWayne's Fruit Salad

Every time my mom's side of the family gets together for a holiday it's pretty much common knowledge my Uncle Junior will be bringing his fruit salad. I love this fruit salad because it's different. It's not a common fruit salad, it's memorable.

Since Josh and I are doing centering for our baby appointments (you know the group appointments we do instead of individual appointments) we all decided to sign up to bring a snack for a specific week. This week's appointment was our snack week and I immediately thought of this fruit salad! The best part about the whole thing is it's super easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen sliced strawberries-thawed
3 cans fruit cocktail
1-2 boxes of instant french vanilla pudding
2-3 sliced bananas

Directions:

1. Place the thawed strawberries into a large bowl, do not drain the juice from the strawberries
2. Drain 3/4 of the juice from each can of fruit cocktail before adding it to the strawberries
3. In a separate bowl, mix the pudding (this specific time, I used a large box of regular vanilla pudding), after it's set add it to the strawberries and fruit cocktail
4. Let it set all night
5. Before serving, slice up and add bananas, mix and enjoy!

I'm so glad I made this, it was like having a little slice of home when I'm so far away. Thanks Uncle Jr., you're the best!

Ranch Oyster Crackers

Do you ever find yourself looking for a snack and nothing looks good? That happens to me all the time. Today, for example, I was searching for something to munch on when I saw a bag of unopened oyster crackers and thought I haven't had Ranch Oyster Crackers in a long time, and as fate would have it, I found a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch! This. Is. Perfect. 

What I like about this recipe is that there are so many different ways to take it. You can bake it (I did this specific time), or not; add more seasoning such as dried dill weed and lemon pepper, or not. Be as creative as you want, it's your snack!

Ingredients:

1 bag of oyster crackers

1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil

Dash of garlic powder 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl or gallon-size bag mix ingredients

Spread evenly on lightly greased pan 

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp 

Let cool and enjoy!!!