Favorites from Pinterest

I've been loving the recipes I find on Pinterest and decided to share a few with you that I made this weekend. They were THAT good.

Coconut Chicken Salad with Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing - To. Die. For. I didn't have dijon mustard because I don't love it, so I added regular mustard and plain Greek yogurt instead. It was heavenly! Also, I used two medium-size chicken breasts and cut them into long strips before dredging them in the egg mixture.

Homemade Taco Seasoning - This would make a GREAT gift if you double or triple the recipe and put it in a cute little mason jar! I didn't add the red pepper flakes because I don't enjoy spicy foods all that much. The mild sauce at Taco Bell is "spicy" enough for me!

Taco Bake - Scrumptious! I had to improvise on this one, too, because I didn't have the queso salsa that she lists, so I used regular salsa and some nacho cheese sauce to make my own salsa queso. Also, I didn't like how chunky my ground beef turned out, so I put it through my mini food processor for a quick few seconds with the salsa and cheese to make the meat a bit finer. Turns out, doing so makes the meat mixture stretch! I love a good bang for my buck! (Used the taco seasoning I made from scratch!)

Cinnamon Roll Cake - Heaven on a plate! True to form, I chose to switch this up a tad, too. LOL. I made a cream cheese frosting instead of the glaze she recommends. Yum!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - My new favorite recipe for the basic chocolate chip cookie!

Homemade FREEZER Spaghetti Sauce - I have the nicest neighbors and friends who gave me GOBS of tomatoes, so I decided to give this homemade spaghetti sauce recipe a whirl. It did not disappoint! It calls for 5 onions, but I just had 3 and it turned out really well! Also, I didn't peel my tomatoes, and you can't even tell. So, don't waste your time doing so. I just used my food processor to "chop" my onions and tomatoes instead of chopping them by hand. And, after it was in the crockpot simmering away for a few hours, I took my immersion blender to it to make it a little bit smoother. But, if you like chunky sauce, you don't need to do this step that I added.

30-Minute Dinner Rolls - My friend, Jessica, actually gave me this EXACT recipe that her grandma uses, but I found it on Pinterest, too, and decided to post the link instead of typing out ALL of the instructions. They aren't that hard, but I took the easy road. lol. Anyway, these rolls take 30 minutes to PREPARE and then another 15 or so to bake, so really they should be called 45-minute rolls.

What recipes on Pinterest would you recommend?

Peanut Butter Glaze

(As I write this, I have a smile plastered across my face!)

So, tonight I made a strawberry apple cinnamon roll cake based on this recipe. It originally calls for a 15 oz. can of pumpkin but I didn't have one. (Thought I did, but didn't.) Instead, I used 8 oz. of homemade strawberry jam and 7 oz. of applesauce to make 15 oz. of deliciousness.

I was worried that it may not turn out since I had to substitute an ingredient with two, but I was totally wrong. It is the bomb dot com. (If I do say so myself. lol)

Well, the recipe also called for a regular glaze of powdered sugar and heavy cream. I made it, but as I sat there waiting for the cake to be finished baking, I kept thinking I wanted something more than a regular glaze.

And then I had a light bulb moment. What if I add peanut butter? That'd be like it was a pb & j sammie, but all ooey and gooey like a cinnamon roll. I was worried that it would be disgusting, but again I was wrong. (See, I can admit when I'm wrong. lol)

Here is what you need:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 - 3/4 cups heavy cream or half & half
• 1 cup peanut butter

Here is what you do:

• Mix powdered sugar and cream until well blended
• Add in half of the peanut butter at a time and whisk until smooth
• If the mixture is difficult to whisk, that means it is too thick. Just add a TINY bit more cream, like 1 tsp at a time, until it is like a thick drizzle (think good quality honey consistency)
• Spread over the warm cake

This peanut butter glaze will change your life!

Cake Bites...

...are not as easy as they seem, but they are lots of fun to make! Your kids will love it, too!

Last weekend I took a stab at making a batch of these little bites, and it took much longer than I thought it would, but it WAS a lot of fun making them and decorating them!

Here is what you need:

• 1 box cake mix
• 1 can frosting
• Toothpicks or popsicle sticks
• Patience
• Lots of time
• Chocolate bark
• Decorations like sprinkles, crushed cookies, coconut, chopped pecans, etc

Here is what you do...in a pictorial:

Make your cake like it says to on the box. Cool completely.

Crumble cake in a large bowl then mix with half the can of frosting. You want your cake and frosting to be similar colors. I used yellow cake mix and cream cheese frosting. This picture shows the end of the batch. (I forgot to take a pic at the beginning of the process.) (This is the part your kids will love to help with...just make sure they wash their hands REALLY REALLY REALLY well before they dive in. lol)

The cake mix should be a mold-able consistency. Roll small amounts of the mix into small little balls, about the size of a nickel in diameter. Any larger and its just too much to handle in one bite. Plus, they are way too rich.

Place one toothpick or popsicle stick in each cake ball and place them in the freezer (covered) overnight. This is crucial! (Thanks for the tip, C!) I only let them set in the fridge for an hour and 15 minutes and it wasn't enough time. I struggled when it came time to cover them in chocolate and decorations.

The next day when you're ready to finish the process, get all of your decorations in one place and prepare your chocolate for melting. (The toothpicks are in this pic because I put them in the cake balls when I took them out of the fridge. But, you'll want to do this step the night before when you put them in the freezer.)

Cover each cake ball in chocolate and then put them back in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to set a little bit...but not too much! You want it to be just long enough that you can handle them without the chocolate falling off the cake part but you want them still soft enough that your decorations will stay in place. (And, a good thing about adding decorations: if your chocolate isn't "pretty" then the decorations will cover any imperfections!)

**The chocolate didn't work out for me...couldn't get it smooth enough. So, instead, I used the other half of the can of frosting mixed with a little milk (about 1/3 cup) and powdered sugar (about 1 cup) to make a glaze. I had to put them in the fridge for a long time so it would set up.**

When you're finished decorating them, put them back in the fridge until you're ready to serve them.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes & Poppers

Tonight I wanted to make something from my cupboards that also screams autumn, so I pulled out an old fall faithful: pumpkin!!! I love it! It is one of the key ingredients for fall, in my opinion. And, it made this recipe ultra moist. YUM!

Aren't they cute!?

Here is what you need for the batter:

• 1 box spice cake mix
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water

Here is what you need for the icing drizzle:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbs milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Here is what you do for the batter:

• First of all, don't use the mixing instructions or ingredients needed listed on the box. Use the list above instead.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine box mix, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, and water.
• Fill each cupcake tin half way with batter. If you want to, use a cupcake liner.
• For the regular cupcakes, bake them for 17 minutes, if you're at a high altitude over 4,000 feet.
• For the little poppers, bake them for 7 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Drizzle icing over cupcakes.
• Share and enjoy!

Here is what you do for the icing drizzle:

• Sift powdered sugar.
• Combine all three ingredients.
• It hardens after a while, so be sure to drizzle as soon as you make the icing.

You'll love how easy they are to make, how yummy they taste, and your kids will love drizzling the icing! And, the cakes not only work as a dessert, they work great as a surprise breakfast choice. I saved some without icing so that I could eat them in the morning. Hooray!

Cocoa Peanut Butter Delight

Do you feel like there is a potluck dinner or church activity to attend practically every month? (It’s fun, though, right? … Yep!) Well, what do you usually bring? Crock pot meal? Potato dish? Side salad? Brownies?

Here is a dish you can take to your next potluck that will have everyone talking. But beware—you may be asked to bring this dessert to every potluck in the future.

Here is what you need:

• 1/2 bag marshmallows
• 1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups Cocoa Pebbles cereal
• 1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy (for topping)
• 1/2 container whipped cream cheese frosting (for topping)
• Chopped pecans, as desired (for topping)
• Wax paper
• Butter flavor cooking spray

Here is what you do:

1. Line baking dish with wax paper so the wax paper hangs over the edge on two sides. These edges will be used as handles to easily remove the treat from the baking dish.
2. Spray wax paper with cooking spray.
3. Melt marshmallows, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and vanilla until smooth.
4. Toss cereal in melted mixture then pour into baking dish.
5. Mix remaining 1/2 cup of peanut butter and whipped frosting until well combined.
6. Spread frosting mixture over cereal then sprinkle with chopped pecans, or any other chopped nut.
7. Cool for 10 minutes. Cut into 2” squares.
8. Makes about 9 servings.

You won’t have any leftovers, so if you need some to cure your own sweet tooth, you should probably make two batches.

Coconut Chocolate Crunch

Around this time of year the Girl Scouts are out in full force selling their much-anticipated Girl Scout cookies. Its difficult keeping the huge grin off your face when you see them all over town and in your neighborhood because you know you will get to order your stash of cookies!

We all have our favorite flavor, but it seems that one of the most popular flavors is Samoas. They have a vanilla cookie base with caramel, toasted coconut, and chocolate. YUM-O! Well, if you didn’t get your cookies on the spot, what do you do as you anxiously wait the 4 to 6 weeks before they arrive?

You make this easy dessert. It’s practically as good as the real thing.

Here is what you need:

• 1/2 bag marshmallows
• 1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 squares chocolate bark
• 3 cups Cap’n Crunch cereal
• 1/2 cup toasted coconut
• Wax paper
• Butter flavor cooking spray

Here is what you do:

1. Line baking dish with wax paper so the wax paper hangs over the edge on two sides. These edges will be used as handles to easily remove the treat from the baking dish.
2. Spray wax paper with cooking spray.
3. Melt marshmallows, peanut butter, and vanilla until smooth.
4. Toss cereal in melted mixture then pour into baking dish.
5. Melt chocolate.
6. While chocolate melts, toast coconut.
7. Spread chocolate over cereal then sprinkle with coconut.
8. Cool for 10 minutes. Cut into 2” squares.
9. Makes about 9 servings.

To melt chocolate:

1. Fill small pot with water. 
2. Place a glass, heat resistant bowl inside pot without letting bottom of bowl touch the water. 
3. Place chocolate squares in bowl.
4. Bring water to light boil and chocolate will begin to melt. 
5. Stir chocolate occasionally until smooth.

To toast coconut:

1. Place coconut in skillet over low-medium heat. Stir occasionally. 
2. Coconut will begin to brown and you will start to smell the toasty aroma. When this happens, stay near the pan and stir frequently. 
3. Remove from heat. 
4. Not all pieces will be brown, and that is normal. 

Betcha can't eat just one square!