Easy Halloween Cupcakes

I bought this as a kit from Aldi's, but as you can see they would be pretty easy to recreate without the kit. You just need some food coloring, print off some clipart and instead of "bones" sprinkles you could use crushed oreos around the clip art limbs sticking out to make it look like the had just freshly emerged from the ground.

Lower Carb German Chocolate Coconut Icing

German Chocolate Coconut Icing
1/2 C butter
1 C heavy whipping cream
6 T coconut palm sugar
1/2 tsp stevia powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 C shredded unsweetened coconut
1 C chopped pecans

Directions:

Put butter in a sauce pan and let it melt.

Add whipping cream, stevia, palm sugar, vanilla and whisk in egg yolks.

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble and then cook for about nine (9) minutes stirring constantly.

Stir nuts and coconut together in a cooled (stick in freezer while you cook) metal bowl and then poor the hot mixture over them to help with cooling.

Pour over coconut and pecans and mix.

Enjoy!

Holiday Rice Krispie Treats

I am not sure if Aldis will sell these kits again this year but these are holiday Rice Krispie treats that I made with the kids last Christmas season.

The kits came with molds to make the trees and the snowman. So we will be able to make these again this year if we wanted to. It was a fun little project to do with them.

The pictures will help give you an idea of something that you could try to create on your phone even if you don't have the mold. I think these could easily be shaped by hand or with other cookie cutters.

Storm Trooper Cupcakes

Storm Trooper Cupcakes (aka Angry Melted Snowmen Cupcakes) were the request of my son for his 7th birthday party with his friends. I used Wilton black writing icing to draw faces on marshmallows and made butter cream frosting to top the cupcakes. The red "sticks" are supposed to be light sabers (even though I am fully aware the storm troopers do not use light sabers) and let my son put everything on his cupcakes the way he wanted. This meant you can't see the bottom of the light sabers because he wanted them sticking up, and well it looks like stick arms. LOL! It was his birthday and it made him happy.

Hot Apple Crisp

Chances are you are either going apple picking or happen to have access to apples in your own yard or from a friend, in which case this becoming a very frugal dessert that serves 8 people.

Hot Apple Crisp
6 C baking apples, peeled and sliced (I used MacIntosch)
1/3 C flour
1 C old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 C butter, melted

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Place apples in a buttered 9x9 baking dish
• Combine dry ingredients and stir together
• Add melted butter to dry ingredients and stir until crumbly
• Sprinkle crumbles on top of apples
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender
• If desired, serve with whipped cream or ice cream (serves 6-8)
• Enjoy!

Patriotic Pie

I didn't go quite the easy route on this desert like I did and some of the others I have shared with you the last 2 months but I did use canned pie filling. I made homemade pie crust because I think there is nothing better in the world than having a homemade pie crust made with butter. It is so buttery and Flaky and just tastes divine.

Typically 1 can of pie filling may fill up a fight in depending upon the size of your by 10. But for this one I wanted to have two colors underneath so I bought a can of both blueberry and Cherry Pie fillings. I filled in three quarters it with cherry pie filling and one quarter with blueberry pie filling.

I did make a double pie crust recipe but you could buy the ready-made pie crust that Pillsbury makes to use for the top stars and stripes and you could you use a frozen pie crust for the bottom.

If you have a small star cookie cutter that would work great to make the stars but I didn't have that so I did them free hand. It gives them a quirky look.

Patriotic Ice Cream Sandwiches

So I wanted to quick mention before you get too far into reading about this, I did not use ice cream in these sandwiches. They are made with Cool Whip.

With that said, I totally went the easy way when making these and thought sugar cookie log from the grocery store. But if you want to make homemade old fashioned sugar cookie dough check out my sugar cookie dough recipe.

Bake your cookies as directed and put sprinkles on the top of the dough before you bake them and allow to completely cool before using. Put your Cool Whip in the refrigerator to thaw out so that you can scoop it out. While those things are happening, line a baking sheet with wax paper. I actually used a covered cake pan so that I could keep them stored in it. And pour sprinkles in a bowl.

When you cookies are cooled and Cool Whip is thawed, it is time to begin assembly. Place a generous scoop of Cool Whip in between two cookies and lightly press together. Then roll the sides of the exposed Cool Whip in the sprinkles. Place on your waxed baking pan. Place in the freezer and allow a minimum of 3 hours to freeze.

Simple Red, White & Blue Jello Dessert

Seriously, you can't get any easier than this with a dessert. All you need is your favorite "red" flavor of jell-o. I usually pick raspberry or strawberry, some whip cream in a can (make it easy to top) and blueberries.

I made these at our cabin, so I didn't have a ton of dishes to choose from so I used our short juice cups.

Make jell-o as directed on the package. Allow to set completely before topping. Arrange blueberries around the perimeter and spray whip cream in a nice mound in the center.

Simple, tasty, and kids will love it.

Holidays don't have to be filled with complicated dishes. Just have fun!

Favorite Low-Carb Dessert Recipes

These really are as rich tasting as they look. The recipe from these Coconut Flour Cupcakes and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting can be found on the blog, All Day I Dream About Food. It is a great recipe for both if you are looking to enjoy Low Carb cupcakes and frosting.

Last week, I shared with you the recipe for Low Carb Ice Cream, and here I have it pictured with the coconut flour cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

This is another delightful recipe I found online. It uses Stevia to sweeten it. The Paleo Blueberry Lemon Poke Cake Recipe can be found on BeautyandtheFoodie.com.

This Coconut Flour Crust recipe of mine is great for any cheesecake and incorporates pecans in the crust.

Easy Low Carb "Ice Cream"

Easy Low Carb Ice Cream
1 Box Sugar-Free Pudding (whatever flavor you want)
16 oz Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions: Mix both ingredients in a free standing mixer until it is whipped and fluffy. Put in a sealed container and freeze for 4-6 hours. Serve as ice cream! Enjoy!

Clean Eating Coconut Apple Crisp

Clean Eating  CoconutApple Crisp
4-5 med-lg apples (I used Gala). peeled and sliced
1 T ground cinnamon
1 T coconut palm sugar

Topping
1 C old fashioned rolled oats
2 T coconut flour
1 T cinnamon
1/4 C coconut palm sugar
1/4 C unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 C coconut oil, melted

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix together apples, cinnamon & sugar, then pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, mix together oats, flour, cinnamon, sugar and coconut until evenly combined.
• Stir in melted coconut oil until evenly combined, then pour evenly over the top of the apple mixture.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. 
• Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!

Grain Free Paleo Peanut Butter Cookies

Grain Free Peanut Butter Cookies

1 egg
1 C peanut butter
1/3 C honey

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix together all ingredients
• Scoop out dough to make 1" balls
• Using a fork, press in the above pattern
• Bake for 8 minutes
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes
• Enjoy!
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Sweet Treats from Pinterest, Part 2

Some more recipes I found on pinterest and tried out for myself. All the pictures below are of the ones I made. 

I used the recipe from Food.com.

Kinda putzy, but Soooooo Good! The topping actually makes about double of what you need, so I used Ritz crackers on the bottom when I ran out of shortbread. My husband said they tasted good and you couldn't even taste the Ritz; that it was just a holder for the good stuff.

The picture of the plate was only about 1/3 of them. I had 20 shortbread and 20 Ritz crackers that I used.

Oh - I also used half the amount of coconut. 4 Cups seemed excessive and it really would have been. To toast the coconut, spread on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes, tossing and stirring every 5 minutes.

My son loved this idea for Vampire Donuts from Mommy Octopus, that we just had to do it for his birthday! He liked old fashioned donuts, so we used that instead of raised ones but we did have an issue of the donuts breaking apart, so I think raised would be better.


Ready for another chocolate and caramel recipe? They try out this Carmelitas recipe from Lulu the Baker. I pretty much love anything with caramel, but once you add chocolate it becomes even better. This is a pretty classic recipe and worth trying. I made these bars with a homemade caramel sauce, but she also tells you how to make them with caramel candies as well. Make sure you factor in cooling time before serving these delicious bars!

This recipe from Made to Be a Momma is super easy and super tasty. It is something festive and appealing to have on the breakfast table for Christmas. I had more icing than she did. Had I made the icing thicker it might have looked even prettier.

Brain Treats

This is super fun and simple to make. We made TWO big brains (as pictured with my kids holding them) from one Rice Krispies recipe. I used some pink marshmallows I found, but you could always add some red food coloring to make the pink color. Then I just used red icing to draw on the dendrites in the brain. I gave each of my kids half of the rice krispie treat mixture and allowed them to do the shaping on their own.

We did this fun treat project as part of a Plants vs,. Zombies theme week we did at home this summer, but I think this would be a fun treat to have out for a Halloween party.

Clean Eating Strawberry-Watermelon Sorbet

Summer is upon us and I have been making efforts the last 2 weeks of school to have snacks and treats on hand that my kids will enjoy but contain no added sugars and are not fried. I have continued this through out the summer ( know summer is almost over by the time I am sharing this.) I have made potato chips (just potatoes & salt) and my dehydrator has been working non stop making fruit leathers, banana chips, pineapple "candy" and \jerky. I do plan to make some apple chips soon too, as well as granola bars and chocolate almond date protein balls. Of course we do have packaged snacks around, but I am trying to depend upon them less and less. My family does seem to gravitate towards anything homemade. When I made this sorbet recipe (I used to make this all the time when I ran a bed and breakfast and people LOVED it!!) I doubled the recipe so that I have a lot of this frozen treat in the freezer for us, plus I had half a watermelon to use up.


Clean Eating Strawberry-Watermelon Sorbet
6 C fresh watermelon
2 C fresh  (or thawed) strawberries
1/2 C water
1 tsp. stevia
2 T lemon juice

Directions:
Puree all ingredients in a food processor and place in an airtight container. Allow 24 hours to freezer before serving. Scoop out of container and enjoy. Or if you want to "fluff" it you can break it up with a fork, or "smooth" it by placing the frozen mixture in a food processor before serving.

Clean Eating Pina Colada Popsicles

My children have been gobbling these up this summer and I am happy to let them. There is no added sugar and they are getting some nutrients and protein from these popsicles compares to the ones I could buy in the store.


Pina Colada Popsicles
1 C pineapple juice
1 C pineapple
6 oz. plain greek yogurt
1 C coconut milk
1 T unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until mostly smooth, the coconut will still have some texture in the mixture.
• Pour in to your popsicle molds
• Freeze solid
• Enjoy!

Easy Mexican Brownies

These are oddly addicting.You are first going to taste the gooey chocolate and cinnamon but then get a follow up hit of spice from the cayenne pepper. Don't worry, it's not too spicy, it has just enough kick. And remember that milk will lessen any spice, plus tastes great with a brownie.


Easy Mexican Brownies
1 box 13x9 pan brownie mix (make as directed, adding ingredients as listed on the box)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
Powder Dusting
1 T powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
up to 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (add according to taste)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Make box brownie mix as directed, adding to it the vanilla, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon
• Bake as directed on the box (usually about 25 minutes)
• Allow to cool completely
• In a small dish, whisk together all powder dusting ingredients
• Sift ingredients over the cooled brownies and serve.
• Enjoy!

Rhubarb Crisp Recipe

Rhubarb Crisp Recipe
4 C rhubarb, chopped
1 box of "red" gelatin (raspberry, cherry, or strawberry)
1/2 granulated sugar
1 C brown sugar, packed
1 C flour
3/4 C old fashioned oats
1/2 butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine chopped rhubarb, gelatin, and white sugar in a bowl and toss to coat.
• Combine in a separate bowl, the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
• In a greased 8x8 baking dish, scoop in half of the oats mixture and press in to the bottom of the dish.
• Spread rhubarb mixture evenly over the crust.
• Crumb remaining oats mixture over the top of the rhubarb.
• Bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

These are so quick and easy and chances are you may have all the ingredients in your pantry already because it is only 5 simple ingredients.I only have natural peanut butter in the house, so even though it is creamy it does have a little texture to it because it is JUST PEANUTS compared to the other peanut butters that have oils and sugars added to them. Read your label, you might be surprised at what is in your peanut butter. Even ones that say "Natural" might have other ingredients other than peanuts. Peanut butter only needs to be peanuts.

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

1 C butter, melted
2 C graham cracker crumbs
2 C powdered sugar
1 C creamy peanut butter

3 T creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Melt your butter and turn you graham crackers in to crumbs
• Mix together butter, graham crackers, sugar and peanut butter
• Press in to the bottom of a 13x9 pan
• Melt peanut butter and chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave - if using the microwave put it in for 30 seconds and remove and stir and keep adding another 30 seconds and stirring until it is melted and smooth, mine was in there for a total of 1 1/2 minutes
• Spread chocolate over the crust
• Place in the refrigerator to cool and set for at least an hour
• Enjoy!

Easy Mini Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Easy Mini Cheesecake Swirl Brownies  - makes 4 dozen 

Brownies
1 Family-Size Brownie mix (makes 13x9 pan size)
Look at your brownie mix box for ingredients, but mine were:
2 eggs
1/4 C water
2/3 C oil

Cheesecake Swirl
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 C sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg

(optional) mini-chocolate chips

Directions:

• Make brownie mix according to instructions in one bowl.
• In another bowl, beat together cheesecake ingredients.
• Place mini muffin cups in mini muffin tins.
• Scoop about 1 T of brownie mix in each muffin cup.
• Scoop about 1 tsp. of cheesecake mix on top of the brownie mix.
• Cut in cheesecake mix to the brownie mix with a butter knife.
• Top with mini chocolate chips, if desired.
• Enjoy!
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