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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Happy Saturday and some yummy cookies

Ok those that have been interested in my once a month cooking.  I have now added some new arsenal to my stock.  Pre-packaged cookies. 

You know those days or night when you want a fresh homemade cookie but don't want to go through the whole deal of making them?  Well here's a simple and inexpensive way to go about that urge.






I found the recipe for this oatmeal with chocolate chips (instead of raisins) here at Fake it Frugal and thought I would try some out.

I set up a bunch of quart size bags and set up adding all the ingredients assembly line fashion.  Then put them in a storage box for use later.

Wouldn't you know it though, about an hour after putting them safely away for another day, the men of the house decided they wanted a cookie.

So not only did I get to see how easy it was to set up a few months supply of cookie mixes today, we are also going to be able to tell you first hand..............are they really any good?  Are they really easy to whip up a batch on a moments notice?

Here's the answer to that first question




Yes they ARE THAT GOOD, my whole house smells like cinnamon and warm cookies and they taste as good as if I had taken an hour to make them.

Easy?  It couldn't get much easier than this (well it could if you had paid for the package at the store) but I have to tell you, these cookies taste FRESH HOMEMADE, those mixes always leave a little after taste in my mouth.  They do in a pinch but they are NOT homemade, however, these mixes here that you make yourself....................NOTHING BUT HOMEMADE GOODNESS.

And I have to tell you they are so easy to make and quick that Craig who likes to take cookies to work for his morning break even said he could do a batch while he was having his morning coffee before he went to work.  I think that's a wonderful idea, all his friends would think he has an awesome wife at home that gets up at 4am to make him fresh cookies LOL

Monday, March 26, 2012

Monday and time to try a new snack

I have seen several posts for homemade mozzarella cheesesticks using string cheese.  Well sometimes that hot yummy gooey stringy goodness is too hot and hard for little ones to handle.

Plus we all know buying block cheese is always cheaper right?  So I decided to try to make some little cheese bites the boys and I could enjoy for an afternoon snack.

Ingredients I used:

Some mozzarella cheese (diced into small cubes)
1/8 c plain bread crumbs
1/8 c panko crumbs
1 egg
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
flour for dredging
1/2 cup Ragu spaghetti sauce
a pinch of dried oregano

other items:

toothpicks
non stick foil

Slice cheese about 1/2 thick, then cube,  dredge in flour and place in egg bath (I did use a slotted spoon to help with this part since they were so small and I didn't want my fingers in there getting all eggy and slimy) , then transfer to the bread crumbs and cheese mix.  Place on non-stick foil lined pan and bake on 350 degrees, turning once with tongs if you want the pretty golden brown color (original recipes called for spraying foil with cooking spray and I think this would help even more with the browning but I was trying to keep it as healthy as I could for the boys)  Bake about a total of 7 minutes

Enjoy, just like the "big" ones, without the hot stringy cheese burning little chins.  And they loved using the toothpicks like a fancy dinner party, plus, boys being boys - under close supervision we got to have a mini sword fight when we were done.





Everything needed to make the cheese cubes




about 1/2 inch in size cubed




using a slotted spoon helps keep the fingers cleaner




Ready for baking


All done in just 7 minutes





Ready for our afternoon, grown up snack

 


Yummy

Friday, March 9, 2012

Opened for business ........... soon

So I had to hide the blog for a little while due to the safety of the family regarding the adoption.  I feel that at this point I can start using it again.

How I am going to use it, I am still trying to decide.  I am thinking of dividing it up, have some crafting, some food stuff, some home tips and maybe some general life.  Still thinking and hope to have a plan by the start of the week.

I will say right now you will likely see most craft products now done with the Cameo (yay).

Hope to see you soon.