Candy Corn Inspired Dessert - Halloween Fun!

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays.  Unfortunately it's not one I have many family recipes to draw upon so I have gotten creative. 

This year I went down to our local Smart & Final (I always love going here when I'm creating a new recipe!).  The selection and sizes of cooking and baking items just can't be found at other stores.

Candy Corn is a favorite in our house so I got to work on creating a candy corn inspired dessert.  Being super easy, quick, and easy to do on a mass scale - it's the perfect dessert for that Halloween Party!

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of Vanilla Pudding (or any yellow colored custard)
• 1 Package of Orange Jello
• 1 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Tablespoon of Sugar

• 1 Package of Candy Corns (for decoration)
• 1 Package of cups (they should be whatever size you plan on serving in - First Street by Smart & Final has a great selection) 

Directions:

Cook the Jello according to the package (note this may need to be done the night before so that it is fully set prior to assembly). 

Cook the pudding according to the package.  Set aside and allow to cool completely.

In a mixer, add one cup of heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Mix until it has firm peaks. 

In the serving cups, layer in the vanilla pudding up about 1/4 of the cup. 

Next add small spoonfuls of the orange jello until the cup is about 3/4 full. 

Put the whip cream in a pastry bag with a large tip (you can also use a ziploc bag with a small opening cut at the corner). 

Top the whip cream (as you would top a cupcake) on the orange layer.  Add candy corns as garnish.  Serve and enjoy!

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Smart & Final #CBias #SocialFabric #ChooseSmart The recipe and opinions are as always 100% my own.

 

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Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes.  I bet I had you at chocolate.  I'm all about dessert.  I will happily spend an hour longer at the gym just so I can earn the extra calorie space to eat dessert.  (I've actually done this!!)

If you're all about desserts like me you'll be thrilled to hear that Renuzit has come out with a sinfully delicious new line of scents, sure to make your mouth water and inspire the inner pastry chef in you. 

Chocolate Covered Cherries  



Creme Brulee

And of course one of my favorite desserts of all time - Red Velvet Cake

The fragrance is as absolutely sinful as you can imagine, so of course I jumped at the chance to create a dessert inspired by them!  You can follow along on my shopping trip here through Google+.

We are huge dessert fans in our house and I'm all about cupcakes these days, so I got to work on creating a fun, delicious and tempting indulgence. 

Want to make the Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes?  Here's the recipe...


Ingredients

Cherry Preserve
1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice, let it sit a few minutes)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh coffee

Directions for cupcakes
Pre-heat oven to 325.  Prep cupcake liners in cupcake tins. 

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients (except for the coffee).  Add slowly the wet mixture to the dry ingredients.  Once mix thoroughly, add the coffee.  It will be very liquidy.  Don't worry! 

Add about 1/4 cup of the mixture to each cupcake tin.  Bake in oven for approximately 25 minutes.  You will know they are done once a tooth pick comes out dry.

Remove from oven and let completely cool.

Once they are cooled, core out a hole in the middle of each cupcake.  You can gently do this with a knife or use a fancy coring tool, either works the same.  Add a spoonful of the cherry preserves to each cored out cupcake. 

For butter cream topping
2 sticks of butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
Cherry Preserves

Frosting Directions
Mix all the above ingredients (except the cherry preserves) on high in mixer until it gets a fluffy consistency (it takes a few minutes to get to this point).  Once it is fluffy, gently mix in the cherry preserves.  You don't want to mix to much at this point because it looks great when it is barely mixed in.

Load in to pastry bag with a wide pastry tip.  Top each cupcake.  Set the topped cupcakes in the freezer or fridge while you prep the chocolate drizzle.

Decoration Ingredients
1 package of chocolate chips
2 tablespoons crisco
Maraschino cherries

Decoration Directions
Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments.  Check and mix.  Repeat until smooth, it will take about a minute and a half.  Mix in the crisco. 

Drizzle the mixture on the cupcakes and top with a maraschino cherry.

To find out more about the new line of air fresheners you can go to their website here or to the Renuzit Facebook page here.

Note:  I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Renuzit #CBias #SocialFabric  #TemptYourSenses

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American Flag TCBY Frozen Yogurt Dessert

Finding healthy desserts that will wow a crowd can be tough, especially when you have kids in the mix.  My kids are flavor snobs when it comes to dessert - they stick to their favorites.  I can't blame them as I'm a big fan of mint chip ice cream and cookies & cream ice cream too.

I recently had the chance to head down to my local Walmart and purchase TCBY frozen novelties treats.  Frozen yogurt has changed, it's no longer the bland, healthy option.  You can now find your favorite childhood favorites with a healthy twist!

I was floored by the choices and found myself wanting to buy one of everything!  You can follow along on the shopping trip with pictures here. 

I stocked up on frozen yogurt sandwiches (my husbands favorite), mint chocolate chip frozen yogurt, strawberry swirl and cookies & cream.  Being low in calories, low in fat and full of the probiotics that are so healthy in yogurt - it's a great way to get your dessert cravings in!

For the 4th of July we had a small barbecue celebration with family and friends.  The plan was to have a quiet evening by the fire pit, but instead we were pleasantly surprised to have a number of large firework displays we could see right from our backyard!

I have to admit I was most excited for my dessert creation.  It was super easy to make and was so delicious!  Everyone loved it!

It's super simple to create, here's how! 

American Flag Frozen Yogurt Dessert

Ingredients:

• TCBY frozen yogurt (most varieties work - it's a taste preference, I used cookies & cream)
• 9 frozen blueberries- thawed slightly
• cherry preserves (other red berry preserves work also)
• Gold edible stars

Directions:

Use nine frozen blueberries and line them up in three rows of three.  Carefully take three TCBY frozen yogurt scoops (I used cookies & cream) and line them up around the blueberries in an L shape.  Drizzle a red berry preserve (I used cherry preserves) in several lines over the frozen yogurt scoops to represent the lines on the flag.  Then sprinkle with edible gold stars (you can find these where cake supplies are sold).

Want to know to know more about the TCBY frozen novelty items?  You can go here, or Twitter here, Facebook here, on Pinterest here.   Don't miss a super fun Twitter chat ~> #TCBYGrocery Twitter Party on Thursday, July 26, 2012 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST (10 am Pacific) there will be fun discussions about TCBY and prizes!  

Note:  I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and TCBY #CBias #SocialFabric #TCBYGrocery as always, opinions are always 100% my own.

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Family Video Game Night with Spider Web Popcorn!

Family Video Game Night during the Summer is almost a weekly event in our house.  We love spending time together as a family and we treasure that time just hanging out.  The boys are at the perfect ages to get a great game going, get snacks, put on pajamas and just have fun playing all sorts of different games.


Being a mom of boys, it's mostly action, adventure or other simulation games that we play - so when I had the chance to review The Amazing Spiderman game for the XBox 360, I knew it was perfect for the family!  You can head over here to find my full review of the video game. 

I rented the game at a local Redbox kiosk at Walmart.  Wow!  I had no idea how easy that would be!  I went online to Redbox and reserved it to be sure they had the game we wanted, just in case it was busy (since it was Friday afternoon!).  It made it seamless and easy, I'll certainly be renting games through there again!  You can follow along on the rental and other details from the night on Google+ here.  For more information about Redbox, you can head to their website, find them on Twitter, or the Facebook page. 

Popcorn is always a must in our house for Video Game Night or Movie Night.  It's been a tradition in my house since I was a little girl to make popcorn at home using a hot oil popper.  To be honest, any other popcorn just doesn't take right to me!  Since we were playing The Amazing Spiderman on XBox 360, I decided it would be fun to theme it up a bit!  I grabbed blue and red bowls at Walmart to use for popcorn.  I also grabbed supplies to make Spider Web Popcorn.

We had a fantastic Family Video Game Night staring The Amazing Spiderman and look forward to more fun nights this Summer!


Spider Web Popcorn

Here's what you need:
1 handful of chocolate chips
1 handful of butterscotch chips
1 handful of white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon milk


Popped popcorn (you can use air popper, hot oil popper or even microwave works).  Plain works best, but buttered is ok.


Directions:

Put each of the handfuls of the chips in its own microwave safe bowl.  Heat in microwave for 30 seconds.  Take out and stir.  Then heat for another 30 seconds.  This part is super important that you heat/mix every 30 seconds or you can have a really big mess!  I find it only takes about a minute and a half to fully melt the chips. 

I had to add the tablespoon of milk to the butterscotch chips to get it smooth and liquid enough to drizzle.  I added it after it was melted.

Once you have all three melted, fill the bowls you are going to use with the plain popcorn.  Use a spoon to dip in the melted chips and drizzle over the popcorn.  I used the chocolate first to build the base web look, then added the rest for the messy web look.  But at this point it is just up to your creativity and personal taste preference!


If the bowls haven't already disappeared from wandering bands of thieves (or kids in this case), you can set the bowls in the fridge for a few minutes to set and harden the drizzles.  I didn't get to this stage because the kids snagged them too fast.  Enjoy!


Note:  I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric #CouchCritics  All opinions as always are 100% my own.

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Summer Grilling Made Easy and Delicious!

We moved in to our new house less than a year ago and just finished landscaping our backyard.  We knew it was the perfect time to invite the neighbors over and celebrate with a backyard barbecue!  I have to admit because it was a bit crazy last minute getting everything ready.  We decided to put up a gazebo, get new patio furniture and accessorize before the barbecue.  I felt like I was in the middle of Extreme Backyard Makeover - OCMomActivities style!  We got it all done before the party and are thrilled with the way it turned out, what do you think?  No, that isn't a picture out of a catalog, it's my actual backyard as it looks at sunset.

The scene was set for the BBQ!  I went to Smart & Final the morning of to shop for Cattleman's Finest beef (my neighbor has a secret recipe for smoking the meat) and the other yummy side dishes.  You can follow along with the Google+ story here to see exactly what I purchased.  I absolutely love doing party prep (and other shopping!) at Smart & Final because they sell larger sizes of products for right about what I seem to pay at other grocery stores.

I sat there stunned at the sizes of the meats.  And the prices?  Um, amazing.  I grabbed a Cattleman's Finest Beef Brisket for just under $2.50/pound!  I brought it home and my neighbor added his super top secret meat rub on the beef and smoked it for over 6 hours.   Want the super secret recipe?  Lol, so did I, so I strong armed him aka tricked him in to handing it over.  I have included it at the end of the post!  You're welcome!

With grilled corn on the cob brushed with garlic butter, pork and beans, jalapeno poppers, coleslaw and corn bread pancakes, the meal was ready to go!  My neighbor had the idea to make the corn bread pancakes and stack the meat, coleslaw and drizzle with BBQ sauce.  So delish!

We ended the night with roasting marshmallows on our new fire pit and the kids had such an amazing time while the adults reminisced about doing the same as kids!

The Summer season has officially begun in our house and I can't wait to fill the Summer with more barbecues in our new backyard!

Now as promised here is the...

Super Top Secret Meat Rub Recipe
for smoking the meat (don't tell my neighbor I've posted it on the web!)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup salt
onion powder, garlic powder, touch of chili pepper, touch of cumin, pepper and cayenne all to taste (depending on how spicy you like it). 

Mix then rub on to the meat.  Smoke over charcoal for at least 6 hours.

Super easy - super delish!

The corn bread pancake recipe is right on the back of the corn bread box.  And any coleslaw recipe will do!

Have you ever roasted corn on the bbq?  It's super easy, get corn in the husk and soak in water.  Then add to the grill.  Cook until the husks start to char, then add on your favorite toppings - we used garlic butter.

What are your favorite grilling recipes?

Want more?  Find Smart &Final on Facebook here, Twitter here.

Note:  I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™.   All opinions are completely my own.  #CBias #SocialFabric #SummerGrilling

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S'mores Cheesecake - June Dairy Month Fun!

Summer is full of fun times in our house!  Barbeques, picnics, campfires, swimming and all sorts of fun family activities.  One of my childhood favorites was roasting s'mores over the campfire.

I recently had the chance to participate in a shop at Safeway brand stores (my local store is Vons) to purchase $40 in participating dairy products to redeem a voucher for two free movie tickets to see Ice Age Continental Drift when it comes out in theaters.  (For more information about this campaign including participating brands and stres you can go here.)  I was super excited because I knew this would be the perfect time to make my S'mores Cheesecake recipe using products from the shop!

It was super easy to track down the items for the shop.  Note that you do not need to purchase all the items at one time like I did to receive the voucher, I just chose to get them all at one time and got some incredible deals!  If you don't get them all at once - be sure to use your Safeway Club card (it will keep track of your June dairy purchases) during the month of June and keep an eye on the Catalina coupons (the ones the checker hands you with your receipt).  It's a great time to stock up on dairy!  I easily saved 37% on my shop using the Vons Just 4 U program and a couple coupons.  Vons is great about labeling all the qualifying items to get the Ice Age movie voucher and also has many of them listed in in the store insert (extras available at the entrance to the store).

Now on to my recipe!

S'mores Cheesecake

 Ingredients
2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese Packages
1 Package Chocolate Chips
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Whipping Cream
3 Eggs
1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (I cheat because I'm not patient enough to make my own!)
1 Package Large Marshmallows (for topping)
You can also drizzle chocolate syrup over the melted marshmallows for added yumminess!


Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the cream cheese in a mixer bowl (I always use my large Kitchen Aid mixer).  Add in the 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/8 tsp of salt.  While this is mixing, I melt the chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave, stopping it every 30 seconds to give it a mix.  Add the chocolate in to the mixer once the cream cheese and sugar is smooth.  Then add in the 3/4 cup whipping cream.  Once that is mixed, add in the eggs one at a time.  Mix until smooth.

Then pour in the mix in to the pie crust and place on center rack in the oven.  Bake approximately 55 minutes or until center is set.

Let cool in refrigerator for a few hours. 

Add on a layer of the large marshmallows and put under broiler in oven until they puff up and brown.  For added yumminess, drizzle chocolate syrup over the cooled marshmallows!

Enjoy!


For more great recipes you can go here or the Facebook page here.

Note:  I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Safeway #CBias #SocialFabric  #JuneDairyMovies All opinions and above recipe are 100% my own.  :)

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Delicious Berry Muffins (Easy too!)

I feel like I'm always saying this, but life really has been crazy around our house recently. I'm finding myself looking for as many nutritional alternatives as possible to get us more healthy in the midst of what feels like chaos!

Snack type foods that aren't "junk" food is something I'm really focusing on these days.  With two growing boys (they are 10 and 8 now!), I'm noticing they are always wanting to graze on food.  If chips are around - they get inhaled.  So when I realized that they loved snacking on muffins I got to work on finding several easy go to recipes to have.  I use fresh berries, whole wheat flours and skim milks whenever possible.  Muffins freeze very easily, so every weekend I make a batch or two of whatever berry I pick up that week and they all seem to be gone by the next weekend!  And I'm totally ok with that since I know what has gone in to them.

My current favorite recipe is below.  I switch out the berries for whatever I have on hand (fresh strawberries work great in the recipe).  Cook up a batch and let me know what you think!

• 1 stick of butter
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup of milk
• Lemon juice - fresh squeezed and zested

• 3 cups of flour - whole wheat or unbleached
• 1 cup of sugar (switch with brown sugar 1:1 if making strawberry or peach muffins)
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 2 cups of frozen or fresh berries (blueberries or strawberries work great, I have also used peach fruit cups with this recipe and they were amazing!)

In a large glass measuring cup - melt the butter.  Add milk, eggs, lemon juice, zest.

In mixer bowl - add all the dry ingredients.  Mix.  Then slowly add in the wet ingredients from the glass measuring cup.  Mix thoroughly.  Then add in the fruit you are using.

With an ice cream scoop, add to paper muffin cups in muffin tin.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Makes about 20 regular sized muffins.

Then enjoy!  They never last long around our house... 

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