Treat Tuesday!

Homemade Granola

We made homemade granola from a recipe my friend Connie gave me.  It only requires a few ingredients...

You combine 1 cup of honey with 3/4 cup of canola oil in a microwaveable bowl...

Heat until runny.  (I would heat for 20-30 seconds and stir; then repeat.)

Then you pour this honey/oil mixture over 7 cups of old fashioned oats, stirring and pouring, stirring and pouring until well coated.  (You can add nuts - I did not.)

Then spread the oats onto 2 cookie sheets.  Bake at 325 for 10 minutes and take out and stir around.  Do this again - bake 10 minutes and stir.

Then you take the cookie sheets out every 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, for a total of 10 more minutes (for a grand total bake time of 30 minutes).

Let it sit on the cookie sheets until cool and then enjoy!  We put some in our cereal and topped vanilla yogurt with it too. 

Store in an air tight container.

Thanks for sharing Connie! 

The kids LOVE it... me too.

Treat Tuesday!

Rainbow Cake & Cupcakes

We started our Treat Tuesday on Monday because there was a lot to do!  We were bringing dinner to Joel's brother (Nate) and wife on Tuesday night- and Nate just celebrated a birthday, so we wanted something fun for it.

After spotting this idea on other blogs before {HERE and HERE}, we finally had a good reason to make a RAINBOW cake.

You'll need this:

2 boxes of cake mix (make according to package, but cut down on bake time)

wilton decorating gel (bought at Walmart)

 

Instead of having 6 layers, we just made four and used the leftover cake batter to make rainbow cupcakes. 

Here are some pictures of our treat making process:

Uncle Nate was surprised to see the colorful layers when we cut him a slice.  :-) 

Here are what the cupcakes looked like...

For the frosting, I made a Cream Cheese Buttercream using a recipe I found online, but tweaking it just a bit.  Your kids will think this is the coolest cake ever... so give it a try!  :-)

I'm sure we'll try this again for a birthday or other special celebration and maybe even make 6 layers instead of 4!

Treat Tuesday!

It's time for another TREAT TUESDAY!  I must admit that we didn't make our treat until tonight tho.  Tuesday found us on our second day with no power due to 80 mph straight line winds and we were throwing treats out instead of making them.  We were out of power from Monday a.m. until Wednesday p.m.  Unfortunately, no power for us means no water since we have a well... so no flushing toilets or showers.  Thankfully we did have a place to stay on Tuesday night (thanks Dad and Mom!!!).  Anyhow, it could have been worse and we are very thankful to have our power back.

But, back to Treat Tuesday...

Tonight we made a raspberry treat that was delicious.  I got the "recipe" from my sister-in-law Rebecca.

It's very easy.  Here's what you need:

Simply mix the lemon yogurt and 8 oz of cool whip together.  Then stir in raspberries (or blueberries). 

Scoop the yummy mixture into small graham cracker pie crusts.

We put our treats into the freezer for 10 minutes before eating. 

Enjoy!

We will definately be making these again. 

In fact, I think I'll have one more tonight.  :-)

Treat Tuesday!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

{recipe from Nestle Toll house chocolate chip package}

This is our 2nd treat Tuesday!  On Tuesday, Izzy made chocolate chip cookies.  The main purpose of Treat Tuesday is to 1} possibly try something new AND 2} to let the kids do most of the baking or making.  I'm pleased to say I hardly helped Izzy make these cookies.  I was really proud of her and they were really yummy! 

While Eli did not want to help make the cookies, he did help lick the beaters.  :-)

Treat Tuesday!

So, this summer, we are starting a new tradition.  We are calling it "Treat Tuesday."  Each Tuesday, the kids and I are going to make a yummy treat, snack, or dessert together.  It will be a fun way to let them help me in the kitchen, giving them a more hands on experience. 

We started Treat Tuesday yesterday.  We made festive mini ice cream sandwiches. 

Here's what you need:

mini ice cream sandwiches

popsicle sticks

sprinkles

Here's what you do:

1.  Put a popsicle stick in each mini ice cream sandwich.

2.  Decorate with sprinkles.

3. Eat and get ice cream all over your face. 

Yummy!  It's easy and fun.  In fact, we made them again tonight!  :-)

*Idea found in the June/July 2011 Issue of Family Fun magazine.*

*Go HERE to check it out.*