Fudge Babies

Oh my!  I have been introduced to this wonderful little sweet treat that also just happens to be healthy and paleo friendly.  It has no flour or sugar involved and it tastes just like a moist, delicious fudge candy.  You are just not going to believe it.  It is made with dates….yes, dates!  Does it taste like dates?  No, not at all!  It tastes like a wonderful chocolate treat that you can’t live without and like any chocolate treat it is highly addictive!  So you have been warned!

These fudge babies have just a few simple ingredients making them very easy to make and very, very, scrumptious!  I hope you enjoy!

Later friends!

FUDGE BABIES

1 cup walnuts

1 1/3 cup dates, pitted

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

3-4 tbsp. cocoa powder (or to your taste)

Place all ingredients in a food processor and run until well combined.  Form into balls or press into a baking dish and cut into squares.  Makes 14 balls.

Pink Velvet Cake Pops

What is it with me and the cake pops?  This is my second attempt at making these delicious little treats.  When it comes time to dip them in the candy coating things seem to go awry.  The cake breaks or completely comes off of the stick and the candy starts clumping.  I never have these gorgeously, smooth cake pops that I see all over the internet.  What gives?  I so desperately want pretty cake pops!

I have tried different techniques to attempt to accomplish this.  I have made smaller cake balls, I have used less frosting mixed in the cake, I have changed to a better quality candy coating, I have dipped and not dipped the stick in the candy coating before placing the cake ball……whew, so exhausting!  But here is the thing, if you can manage to keep the cake ball on the stick, (duh), which I did by not completely dipping it in the candy coating, then they will still taste very, very good!

Good luck and enjoy!

PINK VELVET CAKE POPS

1 strawberry cake mix

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 stick butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

16 oz white chocolate or almond bark

a piece of thick styrofoam

35 candy or lollipop sticks

Cook cake according to package directions.  Let cool.  Crumble cake into a large bowl.

To make the frosting, mix the cream cheese, sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth.  Using a half cup at a time, mix into the cake crumbs.  Use only enough frosting for the cake to stick together and form a ball.  Start forming cake balls, making them a little smaller than a golf ball.  Place on a cookie sheet and into the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt white chocolate or almond bark in a double boiler.  Set up an assembly line, candy sticks, cake balls, candy coating (removed from heat), and styrofoam.

Dip the end of the stick into the candy coating, then attach a cake ball, then dip cake ball into the candy coating and place into the stryrofoam block to hold steady until candy sets.  Enjoy!  This recipe makes 35 cake pops.

Homemade Pizza

I found this great little pizza over at www.korenainthekitchen.com.  Her pictures looked so delicious that I knew I just had to try it!  It is just as good as it looks in the pictures….maybe better.  I like that she drizzled a little heavy cream rather than traditional pizza sauce, so yummy!  I think we will start having pizza night at my house and experiment with all sorts of toppings.  What do you think?

Enjoy!

HOMEMADE PIZZA

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 can pizza dough ( I used 2 because I used a large pan)

2-3 Tbsp heavy cream

2 cups Italian cheeses (mozzarella, romano, parmesan)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 pkg mild Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1 jalapeno pepper, sliced and seeds removed for less heat

Preheat oven to 400F.  Drizzle a cookie sheet or a baking stone with olive oil.  Spread pizza dough over pan.  Drizzle with heavy cream and mix in minced garlic, lightly coat all of crust.  Sprinkle 1 cup cheese, then Italian sausage, tomatoes, jalapeno and lastly, the remaining cup of cheese.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Three Very Easy Pies For Easter

 

 

Hi friends!  These may not be the prettiest pies I have ever made, but they are most definetly the easiest.  You could make these much prettier by making your own pie crust and putting them in a beautiful pie plate.  I, however, did not do that…..that would take the easy out of these very easy pies!  I used a shortbread crust for two of these pies and a pastry pie crust for one of them.

Not only are they easy peasy, but they are also delicious and creamy.  I kind of experimented with each one, so I will share how I made them and what I would do differently.

There are three ingredients that are used differently in each pie.  The ingredients are pie filling, yogurt and cool whip.  I used all three in the blueberry pie which I think is what gave it the best flavor.  I only used pie filling and cool whip in the strawberry pie and don’t get me wrong, although it is still very light and delicious, it did need something to break up the sweetness a little.  I used cool whip and yogurt only in the orange pie and it is very good but needed two containers of yogurt rather than one.  Also, I think I would use a graham cracker crust with all of them next time around!

So those are my recommendations and here are the three very easy pies….Enjoy!

 

STRAWBERRY MILE HIGH PIE

16 oz cool whip, thawed

1 can strawberry pie filling

1 shortbread pie crust

 

In a large bowl, add the cool whip.  Fold in strawberry pie filling until well combined.  Pour into pie shell and freeze.  Garnish with additional cool whip, strawberries and mint leaves if you like.  This filling can be divided to make two small pies.

 

 

FROSTY BLUEBERRY PIE

8 oz cool whip, thawed

1 can blueberry pie filling

1  8 oz container blueberry yogurt

1 pastry pie shell, prepared

 

In a large bowl, add the cool whip.  Fold in blueberry yogurt and blueberry pie filling until well combined.  Pour into pie shell and freeze.  Garnish with fresh blueberries.

 

 

ORANGE DREAMSICLE PIE

8 oz cool whip, thawed

1  8 oz container orange yogurt (2 recommended)

1 pie shell

 

In a large bowl, add the cool whip.  Fold in yogurt until well combined.  Pour into pie shell and freeze.  Garnish with orange slices.

 

I think these pastel colored pies are perfect for Easter!  You could also make a raspberry pie with a chocolate crust!  ENJOY!!

 

 

Squares For The Homeless

 

 

Hi everyone!  I was invited to join this group called “Squares For The Homeless”.  They crochet different granny squares of any color and then mail them to a location that take all these wonderful squares and create afghans for the homeless and battered women shelters.  What a brilliant idea, and I am just so honored to be a part of such a great group of people!

I just wanted to share a picture of a few of the squares that I just mailed off today.  Oh what fun!!!  And see the one with the raised 3-D flower, that pattern can be found over at www.zoomyummy.com.  Petra is a very talented girl!  I have enjoyed many of her crochet projects and scrumptious dishes that she creates!  Go check her out!

 

Lots of love,

Donns

Dr. Oz’s Green Drink and A New Juicer!

Hi friends!  I wanted to share this wonderful little drink with you today.  It is called Dr. Oz’s green drink.  Dr. Oz talks about his green drink often and all of it’s wonderful health benefits.  He recommends that we drink it daily and when you see what all is in it you will understand why.  It offers many antioxidant properties and even though it is green, I promise it really is fresh and sweet and just plain good!  As a matter of fact, Oprah calls it “fresh in a glass”!

I received this great little juicer from my sweet and dear sister Sherry…..she knew I was jealous of all her juicing she has been doing lately!  Thank you Sherry!  You are always so thoughtful and sweet!  Along with the juicer, she also shared a website that has many different juicing recipes.  You can find recipes for anything from weight loss to arthiritis to sinus congestion.  The latter is what I was searching for today when I woke up with a headache pain from my sinus congestion.  You can find this website here.

ENJOY!

DR. OZ’S GREEN DRINK

2 apples

3 stalks celery

1 cucumber

1/2 thumb ginger

1/2 lemon

1/2 lime

1 bunch parsley

2 cup spinach

Put all items in juicer and juice!  My particular juicer doesn’t allow the rind of the lemon and lime, although Dr. Oz’s recipe includes it.  I used a microplane and zested it into my drink to get some of the benefit of the rind.

Popcorn Cowl

 

Hi everyone and Happy Valentine’s Day!  I just wanted to share another creation of mine.  This is my popcorn cowl, it is called that because it is done with a stitch called a popcorn stitch, not real popcorn…..you can not eat this!  But, you can get the pattern if you are interested.  Just visit my shop for all of my patterns and crocheted items!

Thanks for all of your support!

Much love,

Donna