Easy Soft Pretzels

For an after school snack last week, I tried these Easy Soft Pretzels and they are delicious! They do take a little time to prepare, but nowhere near as long as homemade soft pretzels(those are sooo good, but this is a simple alternative.) Our whole family loved the pretzels and asked to have them again real soon!! I'll have to make sure I have Pillsbury breadsticks on hand because that's really all you need to make these........and an egg white. The egg white brushed on top before they bake really gives them that shiny crust on top! We made a traditional salted pretzel and also cinnamon sugar.The step by step recipe is below.


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take one can of Pillsbury bread sticks and separate dough into twelve pieces. Roll one piece of dough into a 22 inch long rope. (Yes. I did actually get out the tape measure for the first one, but after that I just eyeballed it.)


2. Twist each rope of dough into a pretzel shape. Place dough on a baking stone or a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Beat one egg white and brush on tops of pretzel dough. Bake for about 12-18 minutes or until golden brown.


3. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter and brush butter over pretzels. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, dip into cinnamon sugar, or make whatever variety of pretzel you like. Yield: 12 pretzels

Happy Birthday!!!

On Saturday, we celebrated our son's 12th birthday!!! --Wow! Still can't believe he is 12 yrs. old! That means he will be a teenager next year!-- He celebrated at home with family and some of his friends from church and school. They all had a fun time playing Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures, visiting, and eating grilled hotdogs,chips, cake and ice cream!

This year I made Trent a three layer Funfetti cake with homemade buttercream icing! He really liked it and we are still enjoying the leftovers! It was a great day for Trent! Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!

Blowing out 12 candles!


Opening his presents!

Second Day of School 2011

I've taken a little break from blog land, but today I'm back with the kids.....umm....second day of school picture. In all the excitement of the first day of school, I forgot to take their picture yesterday. That's okay! The "newness" of the new school year hasn't worn off just yet!

Both of them reported great first days back! Laci enjoyed her new teacher in 3rd grade and Trent had a good day in 7th grade with all six of his classes! I'm looking forward to a productive school year in 2011-2012!

This is the "new shoe shot." Laci REALLY wanted me to take this. I guess so she could show off her new Nikes for school and her brother could flash his new Jordans. I sure hope these last the whole school year!

Vacation....... I Need Another One.

Back in June, our family spent a week in Panama City Beach, Florida and we had a lot of fun! We shopped, swam, boogie boarded(well, the kids did. Not me.), played at the arcade, ate and ate some more! Now, I feel the need for another vacation..........just for me. Maybe that sounds bad, but sometimes you just gotta get away by yourself. Luckily for me I get to do that next week with my mom, sister and grandmother. The mountains are calling my name. In the meantime, her are a few pics from the beach!

Trent and Laci boogie boarding.

Laci, Trent and their Uncle doing a little dance in the condo.

Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies

Can you believe it? I am actually posting today! These summer days are keeping me busy so I haven't blogged much lately. However, yesterday I made these Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies and wanted to share them with you. I don't know what's up with the pictures, though. The color just looks off. I did take them with the camera on my phone so maybe that's the problem.

This is a recipe I got a couple years ago from My Kitchen Cafe blog,which is now Mel's Kitchen Cafe, but haven't ever gotten around to sharing it on here. These little cookies taste like a magic cookie bar to me. Those are the bars with a layer of graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, nuts and coconut. Then you pour sweetened condensed milk over them and bake! These babies have all of that just in cookie form! Recipe is at end of post.


Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies
From: Mel's Kitchen Cafe
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs (about 25-30 squares)
1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/3 c. coconut
2 c. (1 pkg.) chocolate chips
1 c. walnuts or pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk and butter until smooth. Add graham cracker crumb mixture;mix well. Stir in coconut, chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Mouth Watering Strawberry Pie

I made this Mouth Watering Strawberry Pie, Monday for our Independence Day dessert. I thought it was fitting with the red and white. My daughter told me that we should have sprinkled some blueberries on it to add the blue. Good idea, but we didn't have any blueberries.

This is a dessert that I got with my electric bill. Every month with our bills, the power company includes a recipe. Hmmmm, is that to lessen the sting of it a little? I have to say that I do actually look forward to opening my electric bill........just to see what the recipe is! This is one I saved because it sounded so good! I do think the name of this dessert is a little misleading because this is not a typical strawberry pie. It's more of a cream cheese, strawberry dessert. The dessert as a whole is very tasty, but my favorite part is the crust! Pecans and brown sugar ! Very tasty! Get the recipe below!

Check out Miz Helen's Country Cottage and This Chick Cooks, where I'm sharing this yummy recipe today!



Mouth Watering Strawberry Pie
CRUST:
1 c. self-rising flour(I used all-purpose)
1 stick butter, melted
1 c. pecans, finely chopped
1/2 c. brown sugar
Mix all ingredients and spread in a 9X13 dish. Bake for 15 minutes at 300. Cool completely.

FILLING:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
12 oz. whipped topping
1 c. sugar
Mix with electric mixer until smooth. Pour and spread on top of crust.

TOPPING:
1 container strawberry glaze
1 lb. fresh strawberries, cut into bite size pieces
Mix strawberries and glaze and spread over filling.

Patriotic Cookie Pops (a little late)

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day!! By the way, I tried to get this post up at least three times yesterday with no success. Our internet was in and out all day. Anyways, we had a laid back day of fun at home, grilling burgers and watching our town's fireworks show last night.A fun day to remember our great country, the freedoms we enjoy and those who defend it!

Even though it's a little late to make these cookies for your July 4th celebration, I thought I would post them anyway. You can adapt them for any occasion and they are super easy to make! They would also make a really cute cookie bouquet.

HERE'S HOW I MADE THEM:
I simply used a sugar cookie mix that I had in my pantry(homemade is even better). I mixed that up, rolled the dough into walnut sized balls, then rolled the dough into red, white and blue sprinkles. Place the dough onto your baking sheet and stick a lollipop stick into the dough. Bake according to pkg. directions or your recipe. Cuteness!