Marshmellow Pops

The hubby was out of town for Valentine's Day so I got to spend a weekend with my girls and my sisters. It was lots of fun and for our special love day we made these cute little treats!

So simple and easy - I can't tell if my two year old had more fun making them or eating them (and still continues to sneak into the fridge to eat what's left of them!)

Ingredients:
- 1 bag of large marshmallows
- 1 lb melting chocolate (we used 1/2 white and 1/2 semi sweet)
- stuff to dip in (sprinkles, mini chips, coconut, etc.)
- lollipop sticks

Directions:
1. Take lollipop stick and push marshmallow onto the top of it.
2. Dip in melted chocolate.
3. Roll in toppings.

So fun and oh so cute! These would be fun treats to take to school, give as thank yous, favors for parties, etc. Top off with a small treat bag and ribbon and there are endless possibilities!

Enjoy!

Valentine's Breakfast

After seeing this post at Brown Paper Packages I decided my little kiddo would love doing some Valentine baking with the cookie cutters.


We didn't do anything too exciting just took some red and purple pancakes and made some hearts and whatnot.

Obviously they were a big hit...

Heart Suckers

After seeing these cute little suckers over here at The Idea Room we decided to make them for the kid's at our most recent church activity.

After a little trial and error my friend (from over here) and I ended up with quite a cute batch of little suckers.

Here's what to do and a little advice after attempting it:

- put two little candy canes together to make a heart
- put it on PARCHMENT paper (not wax paper)
- bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 2 minutes
- pull them out even if they look hard - they're really soft
- place the lollipop stick in between and squeeze together
- finish off with a wrapper and bow

Valentine's Heart Brownies

Justin came home today and told me they were having a treat exchange at work for Valentine's Day. I had been wanting to make these cute little heart brownies that I saw here at Little Birdie Secrets but certainly didn't want them sitting around the house for me to eat - so this was perfect! (Except there sure were a lot of scraps that made it into my belly!!!)


At the request of one of his friends from work I made this recipe from SweetPea Recipes. They turned out oh so cute and definitely yummy!

Ingredients:
Brownie mix
1/4 cup Hershey's syrup
Bag of peanut butter chips
1 can of vanilla frosting
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:
1. Take a brownie mix and make it according to the box - but substitute Hershey's syrup for the water - and add a bag of peanut butter chips. it as directed on the box.
2. Stir 1/4 c. peanut butter into a can of vanilla frosting and ice the brownies after they are cooled.

Homemade Rolls

Homemade Rolls

Someone delivered a plate of these to us when we first moved here and as soon as I tried them I knew I had to have the recipe. They were the best rolls ever. When she told me they were from the ward cookbook I quickly found someone who had the cookbook and have made these ever since!

These are definitely one of my 'trigger foods' and when they're around I just want to eat ALL of them up! So now I bake a batch or two and then freeze them. Then when I want yummy homemade rolls with our dinner I can just pull out a few, let them thaw, and the warm them up in the microwave - they taste just like they came out of the oven - and even better there's only 1 for me to eat because the other hundred are rock solid frozen in the freezer!

Sister Lori Jones

(from our ward cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. yeast

1 Tbs. sugar

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

¾ tsp. salt

3 eggs

4 - 4 ½ cups flour

Directions:

1. Mix 1 Tbs. yeast and 1 Tbs. sugar in ½ cup of warm water. Set aside.

2. Melt ½ cup butter with 1 cup milk. Let cool.

3. Mix ½ cup sugar with ¾ tsp. salt and 3 eggs.

4. Mix everything together.

5. Add 4 - 4 ½ cups flour.

6. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

7. Flour and knead and then divide into 2 portions.

8. Roll out and cut like pizza slices. Roll into crescents (between 8-16 for each portion of dough).

9. Let rise 30 minutes.

Cooking Time:

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Poppyseed Cake

One of my favorite aunts gave me this recipe and it is by far one of the hubby's favorites. It's simple, not too sweet, but oh so yummy!

I follow the recipe, cut it into around 22 slices, and it's about 5 Weight Watcher Points.

Ingredients:

1 yellow cake mix (I like to use lemon)

1 package of instant vanilla pudding

¾ cup oil

1 cup water

4 eggs

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

2 Tbs. poppy seeds

Directions:

1. Mix all together.

2. Pour in desired pan.

Cooking Time:

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!

Chicken Gyros

One of my new favorite sites is Your Homebased Mom. She's got lots of great stuff and this is the latest thing I've tried from her recipes. The hubby and I LOVE lamb gyros but have never attempted making them. So when I saw a recipe for chicken gyros I thought I'd go for it.

The recipe makes enough for 4-6 gyros. She said she cut the sauce recipe in half, I didn't, but I now know why she did - there was a ton of it!

With 2 oz. of chicken, the 1 point Weight Watcher pita, plus a nice serving of sauce, this entire gyro was only 4 points! WAY better health wise than any I would get at a restaurant :)

Ingredients:

Sauce:

16 oz. plain yogurt - I used greek so I wouldn't have to strain it

1 regular cucumber - I peeled it, seeded it, and then shredded it
2-3 cloves garlic - I use the kind that's already minced in the jar
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice - I use the kind from the jug (between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon)
Extra virgin olive oil - I used 1 teaspoon

Chicken:

4 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 6 - 2oz. tenders)

-Pita bread or soft wrap bread (She has a recipe on her site for the bread - it looks amazing but I just used Weight Watchers 100% whole wheat pita bread that is only 1 point)
-Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
-Red onion, sliced thin

Directions:

1. Shred the cucumber. Wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible.

2. Mix together the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. I refrigerated mine overnight. Let it sit at least 30 minutes to make it all yummy and tasty.

3. To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour (I did mine overnight).

4. Cook the chicken as desired, either in the skillet, broiler or on the grill. (I cooked mine in a pan on the stove with some non-stick cooking spray). Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes and then cube.

5. Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, diced tomatoes and sliced onions. Serve immediately.

This recipe was super fast and easy and very healthy and filling. Go over and check her site out - there are many more delicious recipes I can't wait to try!!!