Fourth of July Recipes: Festive & Family-Friendly 4th of July Treats!

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fourth of july recipes

Independence Day will be here before we know it, and I’ve been on the lookout for Fourth of July recipes that my kids and my friends’ little ones will like. I want to make some simple red, white and blue treats to help my kids celebrate the 4th of July!

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Here are five kid-friendly Fourth of July recipes and treats that are as delicious as they are easy to prepare!

Fourth of July Recipes:

 

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Red, White & Blueberry Skewers

 

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Red, White & Blue Parfaits

 

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Pretzel Americana

 

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Fireworks Cookies

 

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Star-Spangled Stained Glass Jello

 

Not feeling like getting crafty in the kitchen on a holiday? You could always fill up an apothecary jar with red, white and blue gumballs and call it a day:

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Will you be making any fun, patriotic treats for the Fourth? I’d love to hear your Fourth of July recipes and ideas!

June 7, 2013 | Filed Under: recipes | Tagged With: , ,

How to Keep Fresh Berries from Getting Moldy

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I recently discovered a fantaastic discount grocery store in my neighborhood. One of the great bargains that I find nearly every time I visit the store is packages of fresh strawberries, blackberries, raspberries or blueberries for under a dollar (or sometimes even two for one!). That’s an incredible price, especially since Haiden can eat blackberries and blueberries by the handful!

Unfortunately, the berries are usually at the discount store because they’re close to expiration. I wasn’t about to buy an expensive fruit and vegetable wash, so I just made sure to buy only what we could eat within the same day or the next day. Then, a friend told me about this fantastic homemade fruit wash to keep fresh berries from getting moldy.

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Trust me, I’ve been using this method to prevent mold on berries for about 4 weeks, and it hasn’t failed me yet! Here’s what to do:

  1. Mix 2 tablespoons white vinegar and 2.5 cups of water in a medium bowl. Increase this to 1/4 cup vinegar and 5 cups water if you have a lot of berries.
  2. Drop the berries into the solution and gently agitate the mixture. Make sure all surfaces of the berries touch the vinegar solution!
  3. Pour the berries and vinegar through a colander. (I like a colander with bigger holes so it doesn’t take forever to drain all the water)
  4. Rinse with cold water.
  5. Gently shake berries dry. Store in a container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat. I’ve always been a fan of Tupperware Fridgesmart containers, but this $8 adjustable Berry Keeper looks great and has fantastic reviews!

Since using this vinegar solution I’ve had berries that have lasted nearly two weeks after I bought them at the grocery store! I can also assure you that the vinegar smell and taste is rinsed away during step 4. If there’s any residual vinegar, it evaporates within hours, and I promise you your berries will not smell or taste like vinegar :)

This homemade fruit and vegetable wash to keeping berries from getting moldy costs just pennies and has definitely saved me from wasting money on produce that spoiled before we ate it. I’m hoping it helps a few of you out, too!

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April 2, 2013 | Filed Under: recipes | Tagged With: ,

Top 10 Easy LEGO Birthday Cakes and Cupcakes

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It’s never too early to start planning a birthday party (or any other celebration)!

There’s always a lot interest in the LEGO birthday cake I shared last year, so I thought I’d share some inspiration for fun and easy LEGO birthday cakes!

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Easy LEGO Birthday Cakes

lego birthday cake ideas These LEGO birthday candles will create a festive LEGO-themed cake, even if you pop them into a bakery birthday cake!

You can bake your own cake or buy a frosted cake (I believe all SuperTarget bakeries have plain round and sheet cakes ready for purchase), then decorate with these fancy LEGO candles!

 

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Lego Building Blocks Birthday Cake  ::  Bake a cake in a standard 9×13 pan and follow the directions to make cake “bricks” with marshmallows.

 

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This LEGO minifigure head birthday cake would be easy enough to replicate.  Just use a LEGO head template to get the shape right and fill it in on a white cake!

 

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I love how dressed up these store-bought cupcakes are! Making multicolored edible LEGO minifigures is remarkably easy when you use this LEGO minifigure mold and various colors of Wilton candy melts!

 

baby deals Way easier than LEGO cake pops, these adorable LEGO pops are marshmallows topped with M&Ms, then dipped in bright yellow candy melts.

 

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I love the simplicity of these LEGO brownie bites! Bake perfect squares in this affordable 24-cavity brownie bites baking mold, frost and top with coordinating M&Ms.

 

baby deals This sweet LEGO birthday cake looks like a fantastically dressed-up sheet cake from Costco, and it’s definitely something I would try to do! The cake is embellished with super-fun Candy Blocks edible LEGO candy and the child’s name can be spelled out with the same LEGO candy!

 

baby deals Make your own edible chocolate LEGO bricks with this LEGO candy mold, then decorate any flavor and color of cupcakes and frosting!

 

baby deals I wouldn’t classify the actual base of this cake as “easy” but the decorations that top the cake are definitely doable and they have a huge “Wow!” factor even without the fondant-covered cake!

Those LEGO birthday candles are used again, but the real eye-catcher is the huge LEGO figure on top of the cake that can double as a birthday gift for your kiddo!  The one above is the LEGO lantern, but you can also consider using a LEGO Policeman Alarm Clock or a LEGO Brick Bank.

 

baby deals These LEGO cupcakes are topped with candy made with a LEGO candy mold, but I think the loose outside cupcake liners in primary colors really bump these treats up to the next level!

Your Turn: Which one of these LEGO birthday cake ideas is your favorite? 

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March 11, 2013 | Filed Under: recipes | Tagged With: , , , ,

Celebrating a Job Always Well Done with Chocolatey Red Velvet Cupcakes and #CoolWhipFrosting

Rich Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe with Cool Whip Frosting

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James (my husband) works really hard. He’s dedicated to providing for his family, and he knows that his job makes it possible for our little ones to stay home with me.

As a delivery driver, James starts working at either 3:30 or 4:30 am, and he often doesn’t get home until after 5 pm. He’s out in all types of weather, both driving and physically delivery hundreds, even thousands of pounds of food into food service businesses all across the Minneapolis, St. Paul area in a single day.

While I’m grateful that James has had the same good, steady job for nearly ten years, I’m more thankful for him. Not every husband is able to or is willing to work as hard as he does, and it’s easy to forget to show how much I appreciate what he does on a daily basis.

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right? I’m pretty sure I already have my husband’s heart, but a delicious treat seemed like a good way to celebrate my his hard work and say Thank You for doing everything he does.

Red Velvet cake is one of those desserts that just feels indulgent and decadent, and if it’s made well, it tastes like it took all day to make it. Fortunately  I have a secret recipe that takes a huge shortcut in the baking process but produces the most unbelievably rich, chocolatey red velvet cake I’ve ever had.

Since I knew our kiddos would be thrilled to share their dad’s treat, I decided to make Red Velvet cupcakes. They’re so much easier to share!

Insanely Rich and Chocolatey Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 18 ounce box of Butter Golden cake mix
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/3 cups buttermilk*
  • 1/4 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons red food coloring
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

*Buttermilk substitute: Pour 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon white vinegar in a 2 cup measuring cup, then add milk until your total volume is 1 1/3 cups.

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350. Prepare 24 muffin tins with paper cupcake liners or grease and flour each tin. 
  2. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on low speed for about a minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl down and increase the mixer to medium for 2 more minutes. Scrape down the bowl and stir for about 15 to 30 seconds to make sure everything is incorporated.
  3. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Unless your muffin cups are exceptionally big, you should have enough batter to fill up 24 cups. Because of the yogurt and buttermilk, these cupcakes won’t rise much, so don’t fill the cups almost full. They’ll just spill over the papers and flatten unattractively on the muffin pan. I did it. You’ll see some bad-looking cupcakes below where I’m frosting them!
  4. Bake at 350 for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in one cupcake comes out clean.
  5. Let cool on wire racks and frost with Cool Whip frosting or your favorite cream cheese frosting recipe.

cool whip frosting at walmartWhen I heard that the new Cool Whip Frosting came in a cream cheese flavor, I wanted to use it to frost my red velvet cupcakes.

Unfortunately, the Walmart store I shopped at didn’t even carry the Cream Cheese variety, so I opted for Cool Whip vanilla frosting instead. You can take a look at my Walmart shopping experience in this #CoolWhipFrosting Google+ story.

cool whip frosting vanillaI was a little disappointed that I couldn’t try the cream cheese Cool Whip frosting, but I’m happy that I got the vanilla. The vanilla frosting was so incredibly bright white that it looked amazing against the deep red of the cupcakes!

Let me tell you, the Cool Whip frosting was smooth. I scooped the entire tub into a zip-top bag, snipped off a corner and piped swirls of frosting onto each cupcake. The frosting was so creamy there wasn’t an air bubble to break up the smooth line of the swirl.

decorating red velvet cupcakes with cool whip frostingI loved that the frosting was smooth and creamy, but not too light. I honestly do prefer a heavy sugar frosting, or even a buttercream rather than a whipped frosting, but this had a medium consistency that I really enjoyed!

james eating red velvet cupcakes cool whip frostingAnd my husband…he was so surprised when I told him the cupcakes were made for him! When I told him that I just wanted to say Thank You for working so hard and that I appreciated his long hours and commitment to his job, he broke out into the biggest smile and told me that I didn’t have to do anything for him. Then he tried a cupcake and said that I could make them for him anytime!

cupcakes with cool whip frostingBy this time Haiden and Piper were practically jumping up and down with excitement over having a cupcake, so James gave them each their own. They were pretty crazy about them!

I love baking, and I loved making these Unbelievably Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cool Whip frosting. I adapted my recipe from The Best Red Velvet Cake, and I loved how it turned out!

cupcake dessert with cool whip frosting

Be sure to check out the Cool Whip Facebook page!

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Kraft Cool Whip. #CoolWhipFrosting #cbias #SocialFabric

January 28, 2013 | Filed Under: Cbias, recipes | Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pedialyte Recipe: How to Make Homemade Pedialyte

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Homemade Pedialyte. Who knew there were so many people out there wondering how to make Pedialyte at home? I had no idea when I shared my post for How to Make Homemade Pedialyte last year.

Since I wrote that post, I’ve received tons of emails from a variety of people sharing their own Pedialyte recipes. Most were pretty similar to those that I listed, but there were a few new concoctions that I wanted to share.

There were a few comments in the other post about real Pedialyte having vitamins that these recipes don’t offer. According to the corporate website, Pedialyte does not contain vitamins.

Keep in mind that the primary purpose of Pedialyte, similar beverages like the ones below and other electrolyte-replacement beverages is to prevent dehydration, rehydrate, and/or replenish vital minerals and nutrients lost during diarrhea and vomiting.

Of course, if you have any medical concerns about your little one, please don’t hesitate to seek the advice of a medical professional.

Here are more homemade Pedialyte recipes:

How to Make Homemade Pedialyte

Pedialyte recipe #1:

  • 2 cups water
  • Juice from 1-2 fresh lemons or 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar (or honey if your child is at least 1 year old)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Pour the hot water, salt and sugar into a pitcher and stir until dissolved. Stir in the cold water and lemon juice. Serve in small amounts. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Pedialyte recipe #2

  • 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup juice, any kind
  • 1 liter water (1 liter = just over 1 quart)

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Serve in small amounts. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Pedialyte recipe #3:

  • 3 cups hot water
  • 1 tablespoon clear light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • pinch of baking soda
  • pinch of salt.

Combine all ingredients and stir until it’s thoroughly mixed. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

See the original list of homemade Pedialyte recipes!

Have you had experience making your own homemade Pedialyte? Share your recipe in the comments!

January 21, 2013 | Filed Under: recipes | Tagged With: , , , , ,

Recipe: How to Make Homemade Organic Hair Gel for Under $0.02 Ounce!

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I’m kind of a closet curly girl. It’s not that I don’t embrace my naturally curly hair, it’s just that I often prefer a ponytail rather than experiment with a variety of products, methods, weather and days of the week that may or may not result in my hair curling “right” and looking decent enough to go out in public.

If you don’t have curly hair, or unmanageable hair, or hair that frustrates you in its unwillingness to just do what you want it to do, you may not need this hair gel recipe, because you probably haven’t spent most of your teenage-to-adult life searching for that holy grail hair product that will make your hairstyling process flawless every time you use it.

I’m not saying that this homemade organic hair gel is that magic hair product for myself and other curly-haired women. After all, I’ve approached nearly everyone I’ve ever seen with amazingly-styled curly hair and asked excitedly, “What products do you use?” With that tiny hope that whatever product they use will magically make my hair look just like theirs. (note: it rarely does, and it never lasts.)

Instead of making promises I can’t keep, I’d rather tell you that anyone with a saucepan, a stove and a handful of flaxseeds can make this hair gel in minutes and it will literally cost just pennies for your efforts. Further, it can easily be organic, and the only ingredients are flaxseeds and water. From what I understand, neither of those things will do any type of damage to your hair and the proteins in the flax may actually condition it and make it healthier than ever!

Let me sum this up for you: It will cost you about $0.28 to make it, it will take about 15 minutes to make about two cups (that’s a lot of gel!), it might make your hair healthier and it could possibly be the magic potion of a curly-hair gel that you’ve been waiting your entire life to find. Why not order some flax seeds or run to the drugstore to get some and get ready to make some gel?

Homemade Organic Flaxseed Hair Gel Recipe:

Ingredients:

Directions
  1. Combine water and flaxseeds in a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
  2. Stirring often with a wooden spoon, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken.
  3. Leave the pan on the burner but turn the heat off. Stir occasionally as the solution begins to cool. As it cools it will continue to thicken. When it resembles the consistency of egg whites take it off the burner and let it cool completely.
  4. After it cools, strain the mixture through a cheesecloth. I actually used a section  from a new pair of (cheap) pantyhose because I never have cheesecloth!
  5. Stir in a few drops of essential oil if you want to scent your homemade hair gel
  6. Store your gel in a covered jar in the refrigerator.

Use your homemade hair gel as you would usually use any other gel with “hold” properties in your hair. I applied it to wet hair, then scrunched my hair and let it air dry. Here’s what it looked like once it was dry:

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After that I scrunched the “crispiness” out of the curls and my curls remained curly all day!

With whole flaxseeds priced as low as $0.15 per ounce* your hair gel will end up costing you just $0.01 per liquid ounce. That two cup batch in the recipe above costs all of $0.15 to make!

*Although it costs more per ounce you might be better off buying a single pound of flaxseeds rather than the large quantity of flaxseeds if you’re buying them for the first time!

Have you ever made your own hair gel before? Leave a comment sharing your recipe!

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January 7, 2013 | Filed Under: recipes | Tagged With: , , ,
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