Purple Cow Smoothie

My oldest graduated from High School on Sunday and on Monday had a morning appointment at the oral surgeon to have all of his wisdom teeth extracted.

When he thought about eating ice cream all day, I think it sounded appealing until about 3 PM.  He was tired of it.

We make smoothies around her, but they are like "kitchen sink smoothies" that we throw in whatever is laying around.  I haven't ever followed a recipe.

So I thought I would ask for inspiration.  

I got some yummy ideas... all of which I am sure we will try this week.

I was headed to the store and asked which one I should make first, and this was his first pick!

It was easy and I whipped it up right when I got home.

He slurped it down...sans the straw...no dry sockets please!!

Thank you to Ingrid Stephenson Rodgers for sending me the recipe!!

Purple Cow Smoothie

Ingrid Stephenson Rodgers

2 cups of grape juice

1 cup of blueberries (I used frozen ones)

2 cups of vanilla yogurt

I added about a cup of ice cubes

Blend and serve with a dollop of whipped cream and purple sprinkles!

When I handed it to him he said "OOOOooooo even whipped cream!"

He LOVED it!! 

Thanks, Ingrid!

Teacher Gift - "Welcome Summer -- Soak it Up!"

Last year for the kids' teachers and teacher aids I made super cute 

Boxes of Sunshine

I knew they would be hard to beat!

But I had this cute idea while I was out shopping one day.

When I think summertime I think of sitting by the water and sipping lemonade to keep cool.

thus, this idea was born!

Here they are, all lined up!

I bought each teacher a different beach towel, these large bottles of lemon and lime aids to match, 

and found these colorful flexible straws.

I made this up from a google image, and tweeked it in Microsoft Publisher.

I rolled the towels, looped some tulle through holes punched on either side of the car, and tied it all together.

Ta-Da!! Who couldn't use this??

Hope they enjoy them!!

Iced Snickerdoodle Bars

I did a trial run on these bars a couple of weeks before my son's graduation party.

My family loved them!!

I decided they would be gracing my dessert buffet for sure!

I thought and thought about what I wanted for desserts and I decided to do an assortment of cookie bars.

Here's the recipe for these.

Iced Snickerdoodle Bars

recipe from Betty Crocker

2 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon Filling

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon sugar

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 13x9 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

In your mixer combine butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until creamy.

Slowly add in dry ingredients until combined.

Spoon and spread half of the batter into the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Dollop the rest of batter evenly in teaspoon sized amounts over the top of the cinnamon sugar.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool for one hour.

Stir mixture for glaze and drizzle over the top of the bars.  

Cut into squares.

Makes 24 bars.

Chocolate Ganache

My son Spencer thinks I should pay him a dollar every time they say "chocolate ganache" 

on 

Cupcake Wars.

Ha!!

I would be BROKE!!

They use it A LOT!!

I have used it quite a few times myself, this is the basic recipe I use, with a couple of variations.

Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces of semi sweet chocolate

( I have used squares and chips)

1/2 cup of cream

Optionals:

1 teaspoon of instant coffee

or 

1 Tablespoon of rum

Melt chocolate and cream in a pan over low heat, stirring constantly.

When it is melted and glossy looking it's ready.

Pour over the top of dessert and place in the fridge for a bit for it to set.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

Tonight we celebrated my daughter's boyfriend, Austin's birthday.

Austin loves peanut butter... even more so when it's wrapped in chocolate!

His birthday cake was a no brainer!!

He loves the other ice cream cakes that I make:

Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Austin got a Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake.

The bottom is a peanut butter cookie.  The next layer is hot fudge.

Top it with Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Ice cream, 

More hot fudge and mini peanut butter cups!!

Happy Birthday, Austin!!

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

1 package of ready to mix peanut butter cookie mix

(I used Betty Crocker)

Or you can use your own recipe

1 jar of hot fudge ice cream topping

1 container of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Ice cream

1 package of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Minis

Line the bottom of a spring form pan with parchment paper,  

Mix cookie dough according to package instructions.

Press into the bottom of the pan, bake according to package directions.

Top with half of the hot fudge (warm in the microwave)

Scoop softened ice cream over the top.

Drizzle with remaining hot fudge and top with peanut butter cups.

Freeze for 24 hours.

Remove from pan and let sit for 15 minutes before cutting.

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

The other night my daughter, Josie and I were watching Cupcake Wars on TV.

She looked at me and said, I really want to bake cupcakes... I did too...something about that show makes me feel cupcake creative!!

So at 8 PM, we brought the mixer out and made chocolate cupcakes, using a box mix.

But we decided to try making coffee buttercream.  

I threw things together and it was AWESOME.

Do you like coffee ice cream?

This frosting tastes just like it!!

Coffee Buttercream

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

4 cups of powdered sugar

1/4 cup hot water

1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee

While your cupcakes are cooling, stir the instant coffee into hot water to dissolve.

Set aside.

Cream butter in mixer, slowly add powdered sugar and coffee, cream together.

Pipe on cupcakes.

Sprinkle with chocolate jimmies if desired.

Creamy Baked Chicken Pasta with Bacon

Don't cha just hate when you can't decide what to make for dinner??

Well, Spring can't decide if it's coming or going here in Nebraska, and it's COLD.

We have gone from 70's and sun, to severe thunderstorms, to hail...and blizzards.

The saying "If you don't like the weather in Nebraska, wait 5 minutes and it'll change" 

is SO TRUE!!

Needless to say, I have been sticking pretty close to home the last couple of days.

I didn't want to go anywhere to pick anything up, I just wanted to make something with what I had.

I told the kids I should name this "everything but the kitchen sink pasta."

Actually, some of my kids favorite meals are ones I make up.

This will be one of them.

hot out of the oven

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon

4-6 chicken breasts

1 pound pasta, cooked

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup garden vegetable cream cheese

2/3 cup real bacon pieces

4-6 slices of provolone cheese

1/2 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups water

olive oil

paprika

sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook your pasta.  I used penne but that is what I had on hand.  You can use what you choose.

In a large skillet pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and place chicken breasts, sprinkled with a little salt and paprika in to brown.  It took mine about 15 minutes.

Remove chicken, set aside.  

To dripping in the pan, add onion, garlic and bacon to the drippings, over medium heat saute until onions become fragrant and translucent.  About 5 minutes.

Add cream cheese, soup and water and stir until combined.

Place cooked pasta in the bottom of your baking dish,

Place chicken over the top of the pasta.

Place a slice of cheese over every piece of chicken, and pour sauce over the top.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes.