Holiday Recipes from our Treat Tray

Holiday recipes from our Treat Tray! This year we spent a night making a bunch of holiday treats together. We had never done this before and thought it was a great family activity! We then loaded some trays up with these yummy treats and took to friends and neighbors. It was a lot of fun! Here are the recipes from our Treat Tray so you can make them too!

Crab Cheese Ball

8 oz cream cheese, softened

8 oz cheddar cheese, grated

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup shredded crabmeat

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients (except cheese). Form into a ball. Roll in grated cheese. 

Chill several hours, serve with crackers.

Candy Cane Blossoms

1 bag Hersheys Kisses brand Candy Cane Kisses

1/2 cup butter,softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 TBSP milk

red and green colored sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove wrappers from candies.

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Shaped dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red or green sugar colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies are set. Remove from oven; cool 2 - 3 minutes. Press candy kiss into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool Completely. Yields 35 cookies.

Homemade Fudge

5 oz can evaporated milk
12 oz choc. chips
2 TBSP butter
1 3/4 cups real sugar
1 cup small marshmallows, heaping cup

Combine sugar, evaporated milk and butter in medium, heavy duty saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, stir constantly for 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add morsels and marshmallows all at once. Stir vigorously until morsels and marshmallows are melted.

Immediately pour the mixture into an 8 x 8 inch pan, smooth top. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

Cut into pieces and serve or cover and refrigerate.

*TIP* We added a few drops of an extract, such as: rootbeer, raspberry, mint, etc. to give it a unique flavor.

Rice Bag Gift

Last year I found a tutorial on how to make a rice bag. I had wanted to make a rice bag for my husband's birthday. I was looking for the PERFECT rice bag tutorial. There are many, many versions that just don't hold a candle to this one (in my opinion).

After I gave him the rice bag, other family requested I make one for them too. I have made quite a few this year. I made one for a friend, for the two ladies I visit teach, two for a trade gift for a christmas party and six for family. They are soo easy to make and I think its really fun!

I added my own twist to this tutorial though. I make a cover or a "sleeve" as I like to call it. It prevents the rice bag from becoming yucky in the microwave and you can wash the sleeve! Of course, if you don't want to, you don't have to make one for yours.

rice bag and sleeve

Here's the tutorial: http://www.thegreenwife.com/2010/04/02/heating-pad-tutorial/
                                                          Have at it!

To make the sleeve:
1. Cut one 17" x 14 1/2" piece of fabric.
2. Fold and pin the short sides under by approximately 1/4" and sew.
3. Take it and put right sides together (lengthwise) and pin and sew.
4. Iron seam flat and turn inside right. You're done!
5. Slide rice bag into sleeve.

Christmas Pecan Balls

                                                                                                 Christmas Pecan Balls

We made these Christmas cookies when my husband's family came over the other day. The recipe is my husband's grandma's recipe. I think they'd be great to make for neighbors, friends or family and they are very easy to make!

1 cup butter
4 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
2 cups finely chopped pecans
2 cups flour
powdered sugar

Mix butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Form into balls. Bake 15-20 mins at 375 degrees. Roll in powdered sugar - cool slightly and roll in powdered sugar again.

Felt Food

Last year for Christmas we got my daughter some plastic play food. It was a package of fruit pieces and a package of vegetables. Throughout this year, I've realized what a bad decision it was on my part. These are the problems I have with them:
1. She has no clue what to do with any of it because its just a bunch of fruit and vegetables and certainly nothing you could put together in a dish that would make any sense.

2. We had got her menus to go with it, but the menus have meal choices that she doesn't even have. So when you "order" a milkshake. She brings you a bowl that consists of a mushroom, a lemon and an eggplant. Yummy!

3. They're plastic! She has figured out that she likes to bend them in with her teeth and then brings them to us to fix them. Ha ha. Ya like thats going to happen.

So... when I had to come up with Christmas present ideas, different fake food was first on my list! I decided on making felt food. I'm also considering crocheted food, but I haven't messed with that yet. I have made quite a bit for her Christmas and am planning on adding to it for her birthday and making her new menus with what she will have. Here's what I have made:

pancakes, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins

Chips and chip bag with sandwhich bread, lettuce, cheese, bologna and tomato

oranges, apples, green beans, strawberries, popcorn, banana slices, crackers with cheese and PB and J sandwhich

chocolate cookies, chocolate pie, Neapolitan ice cream scoops, waffle cone, brownies, sugar cookies, donut

Anyways...
I'd like to share the tutorials that I used to make these awesome felt treats! Sometimes I didn't follow the tutorial completely and did my own thing from looking at pictures.

crackers
strawberries
pancakes, eggs, bacon, apples, oranges
cinnamon rolls
ice cream
 donut
brownie and cookies
popcornsandwich and chips with chip bag

15 Cache Valley Dates

1. Get dinner at La Tormenta Restaurant for dinner. They have good food that won't strain your wallet.
   
   
2. Hold hands as you walk through Willow Park Zoo and get a $1 sundae or parfait at McDonalds.
   
   
3. Go bowling at the Fun Park and play in the arcade, they also have a fun photo booth!
   
   
4. Go to a museum.
   For example:
   Utah State University – Special Collections (features historical documents, photographs, and the skull of the giant grizzly bear Old Ephraim. Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University, Logan (435) 797-2663 Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)

        Hyrum Museum – (features a variety of exhibits including the influence of early settlers and        cultural artifacts. 435-245-0208. Tuesday-Friday 2 pm-7 pm Saturday Noon-3 pm)

5. Catch a movie at the Cinefour Theatre
   
   
6. Get dinner at Big J's in Richmond and enjoy the car ride there. 
   
   
7. Go to the temple 
   
   
8. Get dinner at Fredrico's. Get the lunch special. You get an individual size pizza, a salad and garlic toast. Afterward, feed the ducks at first dam.
   
   
9. Get chinese from Rice Garden in Smith's. Their orange chicken is amazing!
   
   
10. Go to The Jump Zone trampoline park that is new in Logan and get your much needed exercise and time with your spouse!
    
    
11. If you can, stay at the Anniversary Inn and go somewhere you haven't been before for dinner that night.
    
    
12. Go to an antique store.
    For example:
    About Time Antique Mall – 538 South Main St. Logan
    (435) 752-9150
    
    
    Books of Yesterday – 87 North Main, Logan
    (435) 753-3838)
    Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 
    
    
    Hidden Treasures - 692 North 600 West, Logan
    (435) 755-6022
    Mon.-Sat. 7:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. 
    
    
13. Go get your picture taken as a couple and get ice cream at Charle's after. Pretend you're taking engagement pictures!
    
    
14. Have a picnic up Logan Canyon. Don't forget dessert!
    
    
15. Take a tour of the Logan tabernacle. (435) 755-5555

Home Management Binder

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Easy and Yummy Baked Potato Soup

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com. It has over 500 positive views. We had it for dinner the other night and it made a perfect amount for my family of three and we were able to make it with what we already had and it was sooo easy! We had it for dinner and then lunch the next day and it used it up, so its great if you don't want a lot of leftovers! I strongly suggest this recipe, its definitely a comfort food! Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-potato-soup-v/

Preserving and Managing Church Magazines

What happens to the church magazines that you receive every month after the month is over? Do they get stacked in the corner or just thrown away? Here's a few ideas on how to preserve and manage them.

A few years ago, I put these binders together. I kept anything that I thought was particularly useful or informative. One issue of the Ensign was all about Joseph Smith so I made sure to keep everything in that one. A lot of the articles I kept explained things out of the scriptures and ancient prophets.

A blog I found has many ideas on managing church magazines. My favorite idea is similar to mine but is more organized and she has found more specific uses for them. For instance:
this example is of a binder she put together of all the articles she kept that is about the pioneers and she uses it on Pioneer Day. She also has put one together on Easter and General Conference. Fabulous idea! Check out this great idea on her blog and other great ideas by going to:
http://www.jonlund.com/blog/Lunds/Jens_Blog/Entries/2012/1/15_Managing_Magazines_-_Part_2.html

Preparing for General Conference

 

I am so excited that General Conference is coming up and was looking for fun ideas. Sugardoodle.net has a HUGE list of links to fun ideas for children and adults! Here's the link: http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8786

I think I'll put something together for the ladies I visit teach to encourage and get them excited about conference


I'm working on a kit of my own to give to the ladies I visit teach. It's going to have:

* the adult G.C. packet
* a pen/pencil
*bottled water
*a small package of kleenexs
*hot cocoa packet
*granola bar


give or take a few things.... I haven't completely figured it out yet. : ) Feel free to share your ideas!
I could use 'em! LOL

Oreo Mummy Pops

These are Oreo mummy pops! These are soo cute! Perfect for visiting teaching gift, halloween treat for  a halloween party or just for FUN! For instructions and more information click on the folllowing link: Oreo Mummy Pops

Recycled Bread Tag Monsters

 
 Recycled Bread Tag Monsters

They are so cute and you can reuse them on bagged homemade gifts for halloween. Thanks to Crafts by Amanda for this awesome idea and tutorial! She also has done gingerbread boy and snowman Bread Tags for Christmas! Check it out by clicking this link: http://craftsbyamanda.com/2010/09/recycled-bread-tag-monsters.html

New Etsy Shop

I just opened a NEW Etsy shop that is called My Scrapbook Obsession. If you enjoy traditional scrapbooking, you'll love the die cuts and embellishments that this shop offers. Check it out! : )

Here's the link:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/MyScrapbookObsession?ref=si_shop

MyView website

MyView is a website that awards you for doing surveys. My husband and I have been doing surveys and receiving awards for a few years now. You earn points and they have a great list of rewards with your choice of gift cards. My husband prefers getting Amazon gift cards for the points that he has earned. I usually get the VISA debit cards that are pre-loaded with a certain amount of money that you can use anywhere. The points they award for surveys are very reasonable and they even award you for the surveys that you end up disqualifying for so your time is never wasted. I strongly recommend this website and it is a great way to spend your time to earn extra spending money.

El Sol Chips and Salsa - Good Deal!

My husband surprised me with chips and salsa from El Sol in Logan, UT one day. It was awesome! The bag of chips and container of salsa are large. My husband said it cost less than $5 for both of them. In the grocery store you would get less salsa and less chips for more money! It's a great deal!

NEW Etsy Shop

After much prodding, begging and offers, I have opened an Etsy shop called Tidy Tots Boutique to make the waterproof bibs I had designed for my daughter available to purchase. These bibs are a new and improved design of the bibs that I made for my daughter. They have a better pocket design and more shoulder coverage than the original design. These waterproof bibs are machine washable and also easily wipes clean. The high quality waterproof fabric that I use is very durable and will outlast store-bought bibs with normal wear/use.

They feature:

* A large POCKET to catch crumbs.

* A BUTTON closure prevents your child from taking off the bib before their finished eating.

* A FLAP to tuck into their shirt to protect their collar.

* Great shoulder coverage

* An adorable label for decoration

If you are a friend or family member I will give you 20% off. Just contact me and I can give you a coupon code for Etsy or you can purchase them from me personally.

Cute Child's Bank

This is my daughter's bank that we made. Its made out of a hawaiin punch container. We washed it out, removed the label, made a new label and cut a slit in the top. My daughter loves it! It's a great way to recycle too!


You'll need something strong to cut the slit in the top. I used my husband!  : )

How to Keep Cool This Summer

The fan, the air conditioner and the swamp cooler are the most common ways to deal with the high summer temperatures...

The picture on the right is our new portable swamp cooler. We got it on Amazon. It's great! It has wheels on the bottom that make it easy to move to another room if needed and has an alarm when it runs out of water. One con to this option is that it only cools the room its in.


Here are some not so common ways to keep cool this summer:

 Open the windows that can be opened and have screens on them. Once we opened the windows in all the rooms, it wasn't stuffy or as hot.

Try to watch tv less and keep other electronics off during the summer. They put off a lot of heat and contribute to the high temperatures within your house.

Use a crockpot to cook instead of the oven. The oven heats up the house and its very difficult to cool it back down afterwards. A lot of recipes that you bake in the oven can be cooked in a crock pot.

Keep the lights off as much as you can during the day and have the blinds open to let the light in. Lights put off a lot of heat. If possible switch all light bulbs out to energy savers, they put off a lot less heat and keep your utilities lower.

If you have your washer and dryer in a laundry room, keep the door closed while the dryer is going. It puts off a tremendous amount of heat.

Portioning

Have you ever thought about how much of something you're using and if you're using too much or going through something too quickly? Maybe you need to portion things so you are only using what you need. Portioning saves you money because you have to buy it less often and none of it goes to waste.

Take this dishwasher detergent for example. Its package design causes you too accidentally use too much and waste some of it because of the pour spout feature. Do you even know how much your dishwasher needs? I used to just fill up the soap cup and close the door with no thought of whether or not it actually needed that much. When we moved to this apartment, our dishwasher always left a lot of residue on the dishes. We decided it may help if we used less. We filled them according to the fill lines and it solved our residue problem.  But... we still had the problem with the dishwasher detergent package...oops! I spilled! We decided to put it in a container and figure out the amount we were to use in order to just reach the fill line. It ended up being only 1 Tablespoon. That's it! One stinkin Tablespoon! Now we keep a tablespoon scoop in the container and none gets spilled and none goes to waste.

Here are some other examples of portioning:

Ovaltine, we figured out that we use 2 Tablespoons in our cup, so we keep a 2 Tablespoon scoop in it now.

Laundry detergent. We decided one day that we're probably using too much in every load and should portion it too. If you look at the fill lines for Tide. It says for Medium loads, fill to the line 1, for Large loads, fill to line 2. We usually only need to wash Large loads. It turned out to measure out to be 1/3 cup.

                                                           

My two year old and I use the same body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Of course, I just bought them and used them in their original containers. The original containers had lids that you had to use all your strength to open and you tipped it upside down to get some in your hand to use. Of course, when you dump liquid into your hand, sometimes it pours out too quickly and you end up with too much. Then you waste time trying to get the excess liquid back into the opening and of course... that doesn't work.  So today, I went to Walmart and got these little beauties. They cost me $1.88 each. I like that they are clear so I can tell how low they are getting without hopping into the shower and discovering that and having-to hop out and hunt down a new one from the closet. I never end up with too much in my hand and I don't have to hurt my hand and waste all my strength on a lid. Genius!

What other ways do you portion?

Pepperidge Farm Thrift Store

We went to Pepperidge Farm Thrift Store yesterday and found soup for about $10 and it feeds approximately 12-15 people with large servings. The package has two separate sections so you can freeze one section of it and just use the one. They have several different kinds of soup. We purchased two different kinds: Cheddar Cheese, Ham and Bacon soup (also known as Wisconsin Cheddar soup) and Mexican Tortilla soup. We also bought goldfish crackers for $1 and a package of three loaves of french bread for $1.50.

We had family over last night and had the Cheddar Cheese, Ham and Bacon soup and the french bread with goldfish crackers. It fed the whole family and we still had leftovers. Everyone had large servings and loved the soup and french bread. The goldfish crackers are great for soup because they don't go soggy quickly. This is a really cheap meal with great leftovers and feeds a lot of people in case you have family over.

Let's Go On A Date

This idea from shannonbrown.typepad.com is called "let's go on a date." This is her description:

      "This basket holds 12 envelopes.  Each labeled with a month of the year.  And each envelope contains a pre-planned, (mostly) pre-paid date just for us.  Some of the dates will take place at home, some are planned for the local area, and some will take us into town.  All 12 dates are different.  Several, actually nearly all of the dates are things we have never done before.
The plan is to open the envelope together at the beginning of the month, look at the calendar and decide on a date.  So right from the beginning of the month, we'll have a fun date on the calendar to look forward to."

I thought this was a great idea if you could afford to pre-pay for an entire year's worth (1 each month) of dates. Click on the following link to view her full blog and examples. http://shannonbrown.typepad.com/life_in_general/2011/01/lets-go-on-a-date-january.html

Homemade Potato Chips in THE MICROWAVE?

Homemade Potato Chips in THE MICROWAVE?

That's right! And you don't even need some special tray or dish. Here's how:

1. Clean potato really well. Leave skin on but cut out bad parts.
2. Slice potato into 1/16" thick slices.
3. Dry each slice with a paper towel.
4. Toss in olive oil.
5. Place each slice on a piece of paper towel. (we doubled up the paper towel)
6. Coat with favorite seasoning on one side. (we tried salt at first and they were really good!)
7. Microwave for 2 minutes.
8. Turn over each slice.
9. Microwave for 1-3 minutes. (or until desired brown...ness)
10. Place potato chips on a piece of aluminum foil to cool.
11. Potato chips will crisp as they cool.

Tip: They will turn out better and will cook more evenly if placed on a flat surface type dish in the microwave.

My husband and I made many batches of these late at night, giggling to ourselves and trying to think of what other seasonings we could try.

Betty Crocker Loaded Smashed Potatoes

Mmmm...can you smell the melted cheese and bacon? This Betty Crocker Loaded Smashed potatoes package is $3.98 at Walmart. With a side, it fed our family of three. It takes ten minutes in the microwave and it tastes just like you made it homemade. And the best part.... you didn't heat up the house cooking it! They also have an augratin potatoes package that I haven't tried yet that's probably the same price.

Crafty with Cereal Boxes!

This Cereal Box Paper Sorter is a great way to reuse cereal boxes and to save space for those things that really need to go in the recycle bin. Tutorial by starsandsunshine.com.

 Here's a Cereal Box Organizer that is useful for scrapbookers with lots of stickers! Tutorial by breezypinkdaisies.blogspot.com.






             

You have probably seen a magazine holder out a cereal box before, but in case you haven't or want to know how to make one, this one from Or So She Says.. has a great tutorial

.

   


When you look at cereal boxes, you probably don't think, "Ooo, I could mail that to someone!" But it's true! With this tutorial by the Crafty Crow, you can make and mail Postcards made out of cereal boxes.

   

Also, from The Crafty Crow you can learn how to use them as drawer organizers. Just click on the Postcard tutorial link.


These cute bookmarks by Plum Pudding are fun and easy to make.









          









Cereal boxes and other cardboard can make really cute homemade notebooks. This tutorial by Infarrantly Creative shows how.    

Who ever thought you could make a wallet out of a cereal box? Replayground.com has! This tutorial is all you need!

 


Have you always wanted to keep a journal? Now you can! The Long Thread shows how to make a journal out of an old cereal box!

 

Mummies! Then She Made has a tutorial on how to make adorable mummies out of cereal boxes!


  

What can you do with an old cereal box? Make music! These guitars made by The Frakers Acres are a perfect and cheap toy for kids.


 

Cereal box puzzles can be a fun, cheap and a great use of junk! Tutorial by centersandcircletime.blogspot.com.

 

Taste With the Eyes has a tutorial on how to make wall art and other great eco-friendly ideas.



This tutorial to make a halloween decoration is actually in Spanish but you get the general idea from the pictures. It is so cute!