Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream Cones

I made these chocolate dipped cones for our play day, and said I would show you how to make them... so here we go!  I used the mini cones, but you can do the same with regular size cones.

First scoop vanilla ice cream into each cone.  I used my mini cookie scoop so that it make a perfect round top.  Then place the filled cones into the freezer and freeze for a few hours, or overnight. 

 then after they are really frozen, melt some chocolate & dip each cone into the chocolate, coating it well. Put nuts or sprinkles on before it dries, it will harden fast because the ice cream is cold.

 after the chocolate is hardened, roll each ice cream cone in a strip of tin foil ......

 and wrap them tight- place them back into the freezer until you are ready to serve them.

 When you are ready to eat them, unwrap and ENJOY!!!!

Summer FUN!! At Grandma's

It was play-day at Grandma's-- and we got out the big water slide!!!

when it's hot outside-- there's no better way to cool off

This water slide has lasted over 10 years, multiple parties and countless races with adults! This is a slide made by the same company because they don't sell ours anymore.

Of course there was a lot of FUN food-  these are our favorite treat, we LOVE them made with rolos- but you can make them up so many different ways = pretzel, chocolate melt, M & M's  like I said a rolo in place of the white chocolate melt is so good with a pecan on top.
Just put the pretzel and whatever you are going to melt on top- put them in the oven @200 for 3 minutes and then place the M & M on top after you take them out!!

then there was Taffy on a skewer-  I had seen them do this at a Baby Shower with Pink taffy, so I found some red, white & blue and thought that they would be fun.  Just poke them on the skewer and tie some curly ribbon in between for a really fun treat!

 and watermelon cut out with a star cookie cutter and put on a wooden stick always is a hit!!  Everything is better on a stick.  And they are so much easier to eat & less messy too.

 we love strawberries- so I just sliced these in an X on top and then stuck the tip of the canned whipping cream inside and filled them with whip cream... add a frozen blueberry and  you're in for a treat!!

 these were so fun to make-- I had bought some MINI cones awhile ago and wanted to use them somehow.. so I scooped ice cream with my mini scoop and filled the cones- then put them back in the freezer for a few hours- then I melted some chocolate and dipped them into the chocolate, put sprinkles on top, wrapped them in tin foil & placed them back in the freezer.   I will post a tutorial tomorrow on how to make them.

 and a couple of years ago in the Family Fun magazine they had the rocket dogs-- I changed them a little bit and added the cupcake liner for the bottom-- because I have a TON of cupcake liners...but they turned out cute & the little boys loved them.  Just put a hotdog on a skewer, wrap dough strips around them ( I used the canned rolls and flattened them out & cut them in 1/2 long ways so I had 2 pieces per roll) then bake them on a cookie sheet as the instructions on the can say.  Cut a piece of cheese for the top and slip a cupcake liner on the bottom-- very easy.  We used to make them look like mummies at Halloween doing the same thing with the dough.

 I rimmed the glasses with pop rocks.. so they had another surprise when they took a sip!!!  I find it is better to use Honey instead of just dipping the rim in water- to make them stick.  They are a little bit harder to get to stick, but you won't have a problem if yo use honey on the top.

Another FUN day with the little people I LOVE the most!!!!!

Easy Baked Chicken

I have been a rut lately with "what to fix for dinner"  so I decided to try this recipe that I had seen on Foodnetwork.com.  It wasn't called Easy Baked Chicken-- that's just what I call it, because it is so easy!!

I made a couple of adjustments- because I hadn't gone to the store since we had got back into town and I didn't have 1 whole cup of greek yogut or sour cream, so I used 1/2 cup of each and I had boneless skinless chicken thighs that needed cooked so I used them instead of chicken breasts... and it was really good.

Here's how to make it:   mix together the sour cream or yogurt, parmesan cheese, garlic salt & pepper-

spread it onto the chicken breasts and bake

It really was so easy and so good-- I will be making this one again....

here is the recipe card I made up.. if you would like me to email it to you so you can print it out as a 4x6 recipe card, just leave a comment with your email address. 

Chocolate Covered Popcorn

I LOVE chocolate covered popcorn--- this is a fast, easy and delightful way to make it.  We do this for weddings all the time & everyone wants to know how to do it-- my family loves it, so I try to only make it when we are having a party (which seems like every week)  because then I know I won't eat it all!!

You only need 2 ingredients- and some colored chocolate to drizzle with- First pop 3 bags of butter flavor microwave popcorn, then melt one package of almond bark according to the package directions.

You can pop your own popcorn in the air popper- or in a brown paper sack in the microwave like I've posted before.  But it tastes so much better with butter and all those x-tra calories!!

then sort all the un-popped kernals out and pour the popcorn in a bowl- add the melted almond bark on top and stir well, making sure that you coat it really good.- Pour the mixture onto your kitchen counter and spread out in a thin layer.  You can add sprinkles or small pieces of candy if you want and then drizzle it with colored chocolate.  I used purple & blue because this is the kind I made for our Father's Day Dinner. 

let it cool and then break into smaller pieces, put it in a bowl and watch it dissapear!  It is so yummy good, I promise you can't eat just a handful!.     ENJOY!!!!

4th of July Jars--

You all know how I have this problem with JARS.... well I went & picked up some "stuff" to fill them for the month of July... winco had some bulk candy that I thought would be fun-- so here is what I came up with.  I decided to put them on my entry way table instead of in the family room.  Maybe  I won't have to fill them 5 times if the little boys ( and the big boys) can't see them. Haha   But I was going to let you in on a little secret... I had seen on pinterest around christmas time, they had done this with ornaments in a jar- so I thought I'd try it with candy.   It can get expensive if you have to fill a lot of them so here is how to use less.....

take a toilet paper roll and place it in the jar.... I have done this with small glass jars like a baby food jar and then you cant see it in larger jars- but for this one I used the TP roll.   I filled the center of the roll with tissue paper so the candy wouldn't go down inside the hole.  Then just pour your candy into the jar..... you will use less candy because the roll takes up some of the room  

when you get it done, it will look like this and no one will ever know.... until they lift the lid to take some!! :) so that is your tip for today!   

Last Years July 4th B-B-Q

I have been gone for a week... a little R & R with the family!! Loved it but now......

It's time to start planning for the 4th of July!!  It will be here before we know it.  While I was trying to get a plan put together I came across these pictures from last year... it was nothing big, just a little get together- but I thought I would share some pictures... I don't know where I found the printables, so if you know where they came from let me know so I can give them credit!...

 Chocolate dipped marshmallows with sprinkles are always a hit... the little boys love them, stick them in a glass jar of anything Red- White- or Blue and they will be adorable.....

the jell-o cups are fun to make with the knox blox squares-- just add an envelope of the knox mix to each lrg.. package of jell-o and pour into a jelly roll pan. Place them in the fridge-  When they are set up, cut them into bite size squares and layer them into clear plastic cups with whipping cream in between the layers!

 the white chocolate dipped strawberries are really good-- I found these blue sprinkles that taste like blue raspberry-- oh my they were good, now if I can just find them again... has anyone seen them?  If so PLEASE tell me where you got them... they were so good everyone loved them.

Red, White, & Blue swirl cupcakes with sprinkles of course!!!  See I told you it was an easy BBQ... the best kind to have on a fun filled BUSY day!!!

So now to get planning for this year..... good-luck!! let me know if you are doing something REALLY fun.. I would love to see.. and yes we did have yummy food too-- I didn't come across any pictures of the REAL food!! haha

I found where I had gotten the printables and wanted to give credit to Tweedledeedesigns.blogspot.com

Hardwood Floor Cleaner

I have been playing around trying to find a cleaner that I liked for my hardwood floor, and I have tried a couple different things-- this is the one that I  made this last week- I have only used it 2 times, but I really like the way it cleans.  I was just getting so tired of buying things that I didn't LOVE.  So this is what I came up with it's only 5 ingredients and you will have most of them on hand.  You might have to go out and buy some castille soap-- I buy Dr. Bronners. the label is a little crazy-- you'll understand if you read it.  But I LOVE this stuff it's a great cleaner, it's good for yor hands, body, scalp too. It's made from all natural oils, and has no foaming agents... anyway I typed the recipe up for you on a card below

 try it and see what you think--- and as always if you want the file so you can print the card as a 4x6 photo just leave me a comment with your email address & I will send it to you!!! Happy Cleaning! :)

BLT Pasta Salad

Amy made one of our favorite salads for our Father's Day Party so I thought you might like to have the recipe --- try it for your next summer party, you're going to love it.

You can use any kind of pasta you want to, I like to use the cherry tomatoes also and slice them in half.  You can cook some bacon-- or use the already cooked & crumbled kind.  ENJOY

 here is a recipe card I made up -- it can be printed out as a 4x6 photo.  If you would like to have the file to print it out like that, leave me a comment with you're email address & I will sent it to you. 

Make your own microwave popcorn

My tip today is something I have done since my boys were very young-- they are now 25, 29 & 31.  So I've been doing it a long time, but I thought I would share it just in case some you didn't know you can make your own microwave popcorn--- and  it's really easy.  When the boys got married Amy & Jamie their wife's had never seen it done before-- so if you haven't either, let me show you how.

  

First you need a plain brown paper sack-- the kind you put a lunch in works great. And a 1/2 cup of raw popcorn-- open the sack so that it will stand up, and pour the popcorn into the sack.  Fold the top down on the sack and put the sack in the microwave standing up straight.  Cook for 2 minutes- just like you do the store bought packages.    

after it has popped, you can eat it plain- or add any topping you like.  You can buy these shaker top flavorings at the store, I think I found mine at Bed Bath & Beyond.   Or just use butter & salt, cinnamon & sugar or a cheese powder. There are lots of different ways you can flavor it-- and I promise you won't be able to tell the difference between this & the store bought packages.  It's a lot cheaper too- so that is always a plus!!

Fathers Day

I hope you all had a GREAT Father's Day with your favorite Dad's yesterday!! We did, it is always a treat to get the whole family together.  Here are a few pictures of our day... I used the Father's Day printables that Jamie posted here a few days ago... they were a hit - the little boys loved them!

of course there is always food involved at our get togethers-- this was a yummy layered jell-o salad..

one of our favorite salads is the BLT salad... I will post the recipe for this one later this week- so it can become one of your favorites too

and  yes this was really someones SUPER DUPER Hamburger!!!  I counted 10 layers on that baby.....good thing Father's Day comes once a year haha.  It was a very good day at our house!!   We LOVE our Dads

Bowtie Pasta Chicken Salad

Last weekend we had a ward & neighborhood picnic at the park.  I was asked to bring this Pasta salad, so I thought I would share the recipe with you.  It calls for Chicken- but I have made it without and it is still wonderful.  This is one on my favorite quick salads to make.

So here is a picture and a recipe card too!  ENJOY!!!  

Water Sponge Balls

I made these water sponge balls for our play day yesterday- and said I would post how to do them, so here we go:

You will need some sponges, the ones I had were a couple of different lengths.  I think the longer ones work better, but they turned out okay with both sizes- so take your sponge and cut it in half like this

 then cut each half into thirds and you will have six pieces of sponge- it's more fun if you use different colors. I used 9-10 pieces of sponge strips per ball
  

after you have all your sponges cut, grab a handful together and squeeze them tight in the middle --

take a pice of dental floss and wrap it around them as tight as you can and tie it in a knot- clip the excess floss

 fluff them up by twisting them around...I made a couple of them with less sponges for the little guys to be able to hold onto better.  You can make them as big as you want.  Then soak them in water and throw them--- you'll have a water fight on your hands.