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Big Family Food and Fun: August 6-12, 2023

August 13, 2023 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

It was our last week before school starts and we made the most of it!

It all began last Sunday

Getting everyone off to church (or anywhere) is quite a production. But the there’s this sweetness as we were brushing hair and putting on dresses…

We are so blessed to begin each week by hosting whoever God brings to our home for Sunday lunch. Now that we are more settled after our move, we are able to prepare a big meal and fill the house. There were 26 of us this particular Sunday. Our kitchen was full, our dining room spilled over into our living room, and I felt so cared for by God that He would give us this gift.

Big Family Food and Fun

I had made brunch foods for this Sunday Lunch: This Egg Casserole (multiplied to include 36 eggs and 3-pounds of sausage), Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins, Raspberry Oatmeal Bars (made with blueberry jelly instead because that’s what I had in the fridge), strawberries, grapes, and raw veggies.

Remember how I said that I’ve decided to save money by skipping the butter in my Stick of Butter Rice?? (<— it tastes the same with or without it, so…) Well, look how much butter it takes to make this small pan of Raspberry Oatmeal Bars. Hahaha, I will never skimp on the butter in this one, and it’s WORTH IT. These are incredible. Because of the butter. :)

So many dear friends joined us for our Sunday meal, and our friend Cindy brought her delicious Mac and Cheese and Cowboy Caviar (similar to this recipe) with chips to share with everyone.

 

 

We rested in the afternoon after our guests left, and for dinner that evening I made this Creamy Mac and Cheese. Then I warmed up leftover taco meat and opened a can of tuna. What??? Ah, but I had a method to my madness. Whoever wanted to add tuna to their mac and cheese turned their meal into Tuna Casserole. But whoever added taco meat to their mac and cheese turned their meal into Cheeseburger Mac. We ate this with buttered peas and watermelon.

That night the weather was beautiful so we headed out for a walk. We heard live music nearby so we decided to follow our ears to see where they took us!

How fun! There was a church nearby who was hosting a free event for the community. There was live music, a lady making balloon creations for the kids, and Kona Ice. We enjoyed the music and had fun with our balloon creations.

Monday morning I had to take two of our girls to an appointment so I threw bananas, yogurt tubes, and leftover bars onto the table for breakfast.

Late morning Elias made three frozen Costco pizzas and we loaded all the kids into the van to eat at the zoo. (Matt had gone to York for the day.)

We enjoyed our pizza along with peach cups and juice, then we let the kids play in a big play area next to the spider monkeys before heading home for naps.

That night we joined two of our neighbor families for a super fun meal of hotdogs and smores.

Ah, and water balloons!!

We are so very thankful that God provided us with such a wonderful neighborhood full of wonderful people to do life with. We all need this.

In York on Monday, Matt got 10 dozen eggs from our neighbors. It feels good to be stocked up again!

Tuesday morning I mixed up a double recipe of Bran Muffins. Plus I made a double batch of Applesauce Bread and “baked” them in my crock pots. It sort of worked. The outside became a bit overdone while we waited for the middle to finish baking. Then it fell apart as I was taking it out of the crocks. But it still tasted good!

I packed crumbly pieces into a container to take to the zoo for another picnic.

Malachi hadn’t been to the zoo with us yet since so much of the summer he had been away for work and camps. So we were all excited to show him all we’d discovered all summer. We decided that our extra zoo fun for today would be to feed the giraffes.

On our way to have lunch with the flamingos (we love flamingos, plus there’s a perfect picnic table right by them!), we stopped to show Malachi the penguins.

It was well past lunchtime by then and Acacia decided she couldn’t wait. Before I realized it, she had pulled out the Apple Bread – and spilled all of it onto the cement. Then of course all the little girls rushed over to eat off the ground. Yuck. I hated to waste it but we scooped it up into the trash and decided to make our way to the table to actually feed everyone finally.

Lunch that day was crackers with cheese, turkey, and ham plus applesauce or peach cups, dried blueberries, and juice. But no apple bread, ha.

For dinner that night, a new friend joined us and we ate Costco’s tortelloni with sauce and steamed broccoli.

Wednesday morning we ate more of the Bran Muffins, which I cut in half, buttered, and warmed in the air fryer. They are so good this way!

For lunch I made Hashbrown and Egg Nests with ham included. These went over very well!! I made extras on purpose so we could warm them up for quick breakfasts next week before school.

Matt was in York again that day, so Malachi went with me to the mall so the kids could run off some energy in the play area there before naptime.

Justus and Kelsey joined us for dinner that night. I smoked two pork loin, warmed up leftover green beans and broccoli, stir fried some squash and zucchini, and made several boxes of mac and cheese.

I had also baked a cake that afternoon – and of course I had snuck in a bunch of spinach. This was a fun treat for dessert!

Our dear friend Phyllis came to visit us Thursday morning. We showed her around the Castle, took her on a walk to show her the Sunken Gardens, then came home and made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

The way she pours love into our kid is priceless.

By the way, being able to make make grilled cheese or pancakes on this amazing griddle built into our stove is sooooo nice! Also, I used Havarti cheese slices from Costco. WOW. That cheese is a game changer for sandwiches.

Meanwhile, would you believe? Our friend Barbara had read in an email I sent out earlier in the week about our Great Apple Bread Spill at the zoo. She secretly made us a large loaf to replace what we lost and her hubby dropped it off that morning while we were gone. What precious friends. I told our kids: remember this, guys. We can offer special gifts of love to others too. :) :) :)

After we got the kids down for naps and rest time, I ran out the door to get groceries and a few last minute needed school clothes items. I got a lot of produce at Costco (plus jeans for the kids that I found marked down!).

Then I went to Aldi to get yogurt, milk, buns, and rolls.

When I got home, we worked together to unload groceries (which sounds much sweeter than it actually was – after I’ve been gone the kids usually go a little crazy when I get back, oy). Matt had baked frozen pizzas and I made smoothies to go with it so we could have a quick dinner (which sounds much sweeter than it was because the little girls spilled their smoothies and turned dinner into a huge mess, oy).

We cleaned up and rushed out the door for a Walk to School Night so the kids could meet their teachers and see their classrooms. It had been an extra crazy hour of putting away groceries and feeding everyone (and cleaning up smoothie spills) so we were VERY happy that right before we left, Kelsey texted to see if we wanted her help getting to the school that night. YES PLEASE.

Getting ready for company

Friday morning we enjoyed Barbara’s Apple Bread before getting our house ready for our first overnight guests at the Castle!

The family we were getting ready to host is a family of 8, so all of our meals were about to become extra large! I got out this huge bag of chicken thighs and dumped marinade right into the bag so I could smoke it that night for our dinner.

I also baked a double batch of Chocolate Chip Muffins for Saturday’s breakfast.

And made a huge pan of brownies. :)

When the kids started to get squirrely, we packed a picnic, put on their swimsuits, and headed to the splash park.

I had air fried a big box of Taquitos (from Sam’s) for our picnic that day. It worked great! We ate them with clementines, yogurt, and cookies.

During naptime, our friends arrived!!!!! This family is incredibly dear to us. Since the girls were napping, we wasted no time getting out cards to play our mutually favorite game of Nertz. I was ridiculously rusty as I haven’t played in years. So I got a terrible score but it sure was fun!

We smoked the marinated chicken at dinnertime, cut up watermelon and brownies…

….made steamed green beans, buttered corn, and oh yeah. I had washed and thrown a bunch of potatoes into a crock pot before leaving for the Splash Park so that they could bake and be ready for dinner.

Our table was full and it was perfect.

After dinner, we took our friends on a walk to the Sunken Gardens so they could enjoy the beauty with us.

We are a large parade when just our family goes, but adding the Brocks must have been quite a show as we walked from our house to the garden. There were 19 of us out with our strollers, wagon, and kids/adults on foot. :)

We had popsicles when we got back because we had earned them. :) Then we got all the kids showered and to bed, quite the ordeal!!

When I woke up the next morning I was planning in my head how I would take advantage of the extra hands available to give my kitchen floor a much-needed sweep and mop. But look what I woke up to!!!! A beautifully clean kitchen with scrubbed floors. SO SWEET. Thank you, Brocks!!

I set out a breakfast buffet of sausage, bacon, muffins, bread, fruit, Cream Cheese Fruit Dip, and yogurt. It was simple and good.

After breakfast, we packed a sub sandwich lunch and headed out to the zoo for a few hours.

Here are 17 of us (Kelsey joined us too but was the one taking the picture). :)

We found our favorite picnic tables by the flamingos to enjoy our sandwiches, chips, fruit, juice, and brownies. We were our own zoo at the zoo, but it was so great to be together.

We made it home by 1:45 and got the four littlest down for naps. The rest of us cleaned up and got ready to go to a wedding – and from that point on, I got no pictures. Boo. The wedding was for our long-time friend Jacob and his bride Sarah, and it was beautiful.

TODAY is mine and Matt’s 29th anniversary. :) I love going to weddings as a reminder of where we came from, so the timing is perfect. Here’s to a brand new week and a Christ-focused new year of our marriage!

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Make-Ahead Recipes to Serve Holiday Guests

November 13, 2022 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

If you’re hosting guests for the holidays, I suggest making some of these Make-Ahead Recipes to make your time together more enjoyable!

Any time I’m hosting company for any occasion – but especially during holiday time – I like to have meals, snacks, and desserts prepared ahead of time if possible. This way I can enjoy visiting with our guests without spending much time in the kitchen. (I don’t do a great job of talking and cooking at the same time, oy!)

Here are some of my favorite recipes to make ahead and serve guests who are visiting:

Make-Ahead Recipes to Serve Holiday Guests

Main Dishes

  • 20-Minute Taco Soup
  • Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas (freezes well)
  • Chicken Salad (store in fridge and serve on rolls or croissants)
  • Chili (freezes well and can be served with fritos and cheese or with hotdogs for chili dogs)
  • Homemade Tomato Soup (a crowd favorite served with grilled cheese sandwiches)
  • Italian Pasta Bake (freezes well)
  • Potato Soup (doesn’t freeze well but can be made and stored for a few days in the fridge, then quickly rewarmed on the stove)
  • Simple Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick (freezes well)
  • Simple Pizza Chicken Bake (freezes well and is one of the easiest recipes you’ll ever enjoy!)
  • Whole Wheat Pizza Crust (freezes well and are great to have on hand to make quick pizzas)
  • Ham and Hashbrown Casserole (freezes well)
  • Spicy Ham and Potato Soup (doesn’t freeze well but is great make ahead and stored in the fridge for a few days before warming and serving)
  • Lasagna (my all-time favorite make-ahead meal!)

Desserts

  • Banana Cake (cool, frost, and cut into pieces – then transfer to a plate and cover and freeze)
  • Butterscotch Bars (freezes well – a crowd favorite)
  • Caramel Apple Dip (does not freeze, but wonderful to have in the fridge to pull out and serve with sliced apples)
  • Chocolate Cake (cool, frost, and cut into pieces – then transfer to a plate and cover and freeze)
  • Chocolate Chip Brownies (freezes well)
  • Chocolate Chip Cookies (freezes well)
  • Christmas Spice Cookies (freezes well)
  • Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (freezes well)
  • Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (freezes well)
  • Fruit Crisp (freezes well)
  • Hot Chocolate Mix (fun to have on hand for guests!)
  • Lemon Pound Cake (freeze sliced cake)
  • Monster Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (freezes well)
  • Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies (freezes well)
  • Pumpkin Pie (freezes well)

Snacks

  • Cranberry Nut Trail Mix (have a container on the counter for guests to enjoy)
  • Cream Cheese Salsa Dip (this is a perfect snack with tortilla chips if you’re playing games)
  • Easy Veggie Dip (in case you’re eating veggies with your chips and dip)
  • Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
  • Mudballs (great to have on hand for kids)
  • No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Bites (great to have on hand for kids)
  • No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites (great to have on hand for kids)
  • No-Bake Snickerdoodle Bites (great to have on hand for kids)
  • Spicy Avocado Dip (otherwise known as guacamole)
  • Whole Wheat Graham Crackers (cut them out with holiday shaped cookie cutters)

Breakfast Foods

  • Raspberry Oatmeal Bars (these are delicious to enjoy with guests along with a morning cup of coffee or tea)
  • Easy Breakfast Casserole (freezes well)
  • Poptarts (freeze well)
  • Quick Mix Pancakes (make the mix, then make pancakes quickly for guests)
  • Giant Breakfast Cookies (freeze well)
  • Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins (freeze well)
  • Banana Cheesecake Muffins (freeze well)
  • Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins (freeze well)
  • Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins (freeze well)
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins (freeze well)
  • Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins (freeze well)

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving or Christmas this year, here are recipes to make your entire traditional Holiday Dinner ahead of time. I do it this way every year:

  • Make-Ahead Turkey
  • Stuffing Muffins
  • Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
  • Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot
  • Oh Good Gravy
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • How to Make Frozen Pies
  • Simple Whipped Sweet Potatoes
  • How to make Whipped Cream
  • Whole Wheat Stir-and-Pour Dinner Rolls
  • Cranberry Sauce
  • Simple Cranberry Apple Cider

What do you like to make-ahead to serve to guests?

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Easy Homemade Chocolate Milk

May 30, 2021 by Laura 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

It really is easy to make Homemade Chocolate Milk! And it tastes better than any store-bought chocolate milk you can find. What a treat!

Recently, someone gave us 5 gallons of milk. FIVE! I mean, we have a big family, but it’s still hard to get through five gallons of milk before it goes bad.

I had fun figuring out ways to use up the milk. Pudding ranked high on the list:

  • Vanilla Pudding
  • Butterscotch Pudding
  • Tapioca Pudding
  • Peanut Butter Pudding
  • Chocolate Pudding

Mac and Cheese is also a great way to use up milk, especially this amazing recipe. And then, making Chocolate Milk as a special treat always makes my family happy!

I don’t love for us to drink much sugar. So I made this Easy Chocolate Milk to share with college students when they came over so that the gallon of fun could be spread throughout many of us, not just our family. :)

Ready for the recipe? Keep this one in your back pocket for a fun treat to serve guests on a hot day!

Easy Homemade Chocolate MilkYum

5.0 from 1 reviews
Easy Homemade Chocolate Milk
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 1 gallon +
Ingredients
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 gallon milk
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, mix together sugar, cocoa, and water.
  2. Cook on low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is well combined.
  3. Turn off the heat.
  4. Stir in the milk with a whisk until the chocolate is evening mixed throughout.
  5. Pour chocolate milk into a gallon-sized serving jar.
  6. Chill for at least two hours before serving.
3.5.3251

Try this and let me know what you think? Best Chocolate Milk you’ve ever had? That’s what many of our guests tell me when they try this. :)

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Decorate Your Own Cookies – a Fun Tradition We Enjoy With Guests!

April 1, 2020 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

We’ve started setting up a “Decorate Your Own Cookies” table when we host college kids or teens for youth events during any holiday season. It’s been a huge hit so I thought it was time I shared it with you!

Now, mind you, I throw (almost) all of my “food coloring is bad” knowledge out the window to make this fun tradition happen. Sometimes occasions just call for sprinkles, you know?

TIP: To add color to frosting without as much compromise, we’ve found this Natural Food Coloring to be wonderful! You can even get naturally dyed sprinkles!

How to Set up a “Decorate Your Own Cookies” Table for a Group:

1. Make cookies ahead of time according to the holiday. Christmas cookie cut-outs, heart-shaped cookies for Valentine’s Day, Easter egg or bunny-shaped eggs at Easter, etc. Here’s our favorite Cream Cheese Cut-Outs recipe!

2. Set out baked cookies along with a variety of fun frosting, sprinkles, and other decorating options for people to “play with.”


3. Be sure to set out knives, plates, napkins – an even toothpicks for the extra creative  in the group!

This simple idea has been so much fun when we have groups of kids or young adults over for meals. Not only that, I’ve found that it saves me time when preparing to host a large group. Instead of decorating a bunch of cookies to serve for dessert as we celebrate a special holiday, I just prepare the decorations and cookies and let everyone else do the decorating. It’s a win-win!

Don’t forget cupcakes!

You can use this same idea with cupcakes, which is even easier than cookies. Bake cupcakes and let everyone frost and decorate their own!

I certainly hope you enjoyed this sugar-filled, sprinkle-topped, food-colored post. Eeeeek. But hey, it’s all about hospitality, loving your guests, and having fun together!

Rest assured, I will still never encourage you to buy margarine. Okeedokee then. :)

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Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread

November 10, 2019 by Laura 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread is a huge hit!

One of my favorite things to do is to text my college-age son and tell him to invite friends to eat lunch with us on Sunday after church. So here’s how this works:

  1. Justus texts friends to invite them for lunch, then he tells his friends to invite friends too.
  2. His friends invite friends, and they are welcome to invite others too.
  3. We never know who is going to show up for lunch, and it is always a blast!

Often I’ll be in the kitchen putting the final touches on the meal while college kids pour into the living room. I walk out to greet them and get to be surprised every time by who was able to come!

I am often asked, “But how do you know how much food to make?”

Well, I don’t. ;) But God does. There’s always plenty, and I can always pull more from the pantry or freezer to stretch out each meal. In addition, if I’ve made lots and lots of food and not many are able to come for the day, that means we have extra food to share with sick or struggling friends throughout the week.

What does all this have to do with Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread?

I recently served this fun bread on a Sunday afternoon to our college guests along with Taco Soup and a buffet full of sides. This bread was gone within minutes! The chocolate chips are the main attraction, but if you ask me, the cream cheese is the most valuable player in this recipe. You’ve got to try it!

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip BreadYum

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 1 large loaf
Ingredients
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • ½ cup sucanat or raw sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 cups whole grain flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl or in a powerful blender (like a Blendtec), whip together butter, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and milk.
  2. Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips.
  4. Pour batter into a well-buttered 9" loaf pan.
  5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
3.5.3229

Tip: How about making batches of this bread to give as gifts this holiday season?

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Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake

December 18, 2018 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I shared this Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake with you many years ago! Christmas is the perfect time to bring it back, don’t you think?

This recipe looks rather involved, but would I be sharing it if it was difficult? Of course not. :) Putting this together is very simple, and worth every bit of your (small amount of) effort!

Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake

Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 Tablespoons melted butter (or coconut oil)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup natural peanut butter
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • TOPPING:
  • 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ½ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • 1½ cups boiling water
Instructions
  1. Combine flour, cocoa, sucanat, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
  2. Make a well in the center and add milk, butter, and vanilla.
  3. Stir well, until batter is smooth.
  4. Stir in peanut butter (heat if needed, to thin).
  5. Stir in chocolate chips.
  6. Spread the batter evenly into a well greased slow cooker.
  7. Make the topping:
  8. Mix cocoa and sucanat, whisk in boiling water until smooth.
  9. Gently pour over batter in crock pot, but don’t stir.
  10. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, about 2- 2¼ hours.
  11. Turn off crock pot and let stand, covered for at least 30 minutes.
  12. Serve the cake (which is now on top) with ice cream or whipped cream and drizzle the fudgy pudding from the bottom over both.
3.5.3229
Top this awesome cake with freshly whipped cream!

How to Make Fresh Whipped Cream

Want to go a little chocolate and peanut butter CrAzY? Try this on top of your cake:

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream

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A Practical but Fun Way to Bless People in Need

December 2, 2018 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I originally shared this idea back in 2015, but as God continues to show us more about loving others, I wanted to bring back the idea again this year. Truly this is a very practical but fun way to bless people in need this winter!

Here’s my original post from 2015:

I picked up several pairs of fun Christmas socks before Thanksgiving, so as expected, I bought some toothpaste and pencils to go with them. This is the obvious action to take when gifting Christmas socks. Everything I do is normal.

What actually happened is that I bought the fun Christmas socks with our adopted college students in mind. I figured I would package them up with some other goodies and put them in their campus mail. But then I came across the fun idea on Pinterest to fill the socks with treats and little gifts, and before I knew it (which really translates to several days and hours later) – I had six sets of these:

Christmas Sock Gift

These gifts were terrifically fun to put together! I went with basic wool socks for our three male adopted students, as you’ll see below. Since I’d gotten so many pairs of fun girly Christmas socks on sale, I decided to mix theirs up a bit. While it looks like they’re receiving mis-matched pairs, I actually rolled up the second sock of each pair and stuck it down inside the toes. So the girls are getting two pairs of cute socks. Sorry boys – yours are much more practical!

Christmas Sock Gifts

Speaking of practical – I included a few other practical items inside the guy’s socks. What college student wants to actually spend money on toothpaste and soap? Not to worry, I’m here to help. Their socks included soap, toothpaste, pens, candy cane chapstick, a small flashlight, gum, and candy (because not everything must be practical and at least I included toothpaste to brush away the sugar).

The girl’s socks were a little more on the fru-fru side because my inner girl rarely gets to come out in this household of men and all that I’d been holding back exploded in the dazzling Christmas aisles at Walmart. I got the girls sparkly lip balm and glittery nail polish, Christmas nail files, snowman pencils, face scrub, gum, and candy.

Our family then worked together to come up with a punny gift tag idea to attach to our socks. Our gift tag creativity hadn’t woken up yet that morning, however, so all we came up with was “Hope your Christmas doesn’t sock.” (Get it? Don’t try too hard.) Since that idea didn’t come close to making the cut, I searched online and came up with this:

mistle toes4

Yes. That’s better.

I then created a generic tag for all of you in case you’d like to steal this idea.

Mistle Toe Socks Gift Tag

Download FREE Mistle Toes Gift Cards

A great way to bless people in need!

Beyond using this idea as a fun gift option, consider using this idea to gift those around you who are less fortunate. Filling wool socks with practical items and turning them into fun gifts like this would surely be a blessing to recipients going through a tough time. In my town, we don’t have many homeless, but we do have many low-income individuals and families. I’m working on putting together packages for several people we’ve met and become friends with this year while volunteering at our local mission. I’ll write more about this experience sometime. :)

This time of year is so much fun!

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Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

October 28, 2018 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie is basically one giant cookie baked in a pie pan. So say my children who would love to eat the entire thing saying, “What? I only ate one cookie…”

What is it about using a normal recipe but baking it in a new way that suddenly makes it taste better? This is the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe I’ve been using since I was a 3rd grader (with the exception that I now use real butter and freshly ground whole wheat flour). I have always baked them as regular cookies or in a pan to make bar cookies.

But recently I decided to half the recipe, press the dough into a pie pan, and bake it as a thick cookie pie. The household was excited. My 16-year old drove to the store to buy ice cream to top it. (Hmm, I wonder if he would have run so eagerly to the store to buy mixed greens or broccoli had that been my request? Ha!)

This Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, fresh out of the oven and topped with vanilla ice cream is a huge hit and a fun variation to boring ol’ cookies. As if there’s anything boring about homemade cookies.

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • ½ cup melted or softened butter (1 stick)
  • ½ cup brown sugar or sucanat
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1¼ cups whole grain flour (more or less to create desired dough consistency; I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Cream together butter and sugar.
  2. Add baking soda, salt, vanilla, and eggs and mix well.
  3. Stir in flour until well combined.
  4. Fold in chocolate chips.
  5. Spread mixture into a 9 inch pie plate.
  6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
3.5.3229


I would imagine this Cookie Pie idea would work great with just about any cookie recipe. Hmmm, challenge accepted.

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The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

September 23, 2018 by Laura Leave a Comment

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In case you are wondering, these Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups truly are the best. I didn’t just make that up. It’s a proven fact.

Who am I kidding? I rarely eat sugar so I only see and smell these gems when I make them for my family or for guests. But I remember the deliciousness and therefore, I taste them in my mind. (For the record, when I smell something wonderful I feel as though I’ve tasted it. Am I the only weird one? Who can relate?)

Ultimately, you can take any of your favorite cookie recipes and bake them in a muffin cup for a fun cookie twist. But my family has declared THIS Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to be the best, and who am I to argue?

Scoop your cookie dough (with a large scoop like this one) into a prepared muffin cup. Bake and be happy. Eat and be happier. (Or just smell them and be happy. That works too.)

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups
 
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Author: Laura
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 1 cup melted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1½ cups brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2¼ cups whole grain flour, more or less as needed (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together butter and brown sugar.
  2. Add eggs, baking soda, salt, and vanilla.
  3. Stir in flour until well combined (tweaking the amount as needed depending on the flour you are using)
  4. Fold in chocolate chips.
  5. Use a large cookie scoop to add dough to 24 prepared muffin tins.
  6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until cookie cups are golden brown.
3.5.3229

There’s something about baking these cookies into a muffin cup that makes them extra chewy and good. These Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups are awesome for packing in a lunch box or taking on the road! Make these ahead and freeze them for easy access to a great dessert when you need one.

While this recipe is made with real butter (yay!) and whole grain (hooray!), it isn’t low in sugar, so don’t go too crazy. These Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups were meant to be shared!

Want to really have fun (while you’re sharing, that is)? Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of these cookie cups when they first come out of the oven. Of course then the high sugar dessert becomes an even higher sugar dessert. But wow, so good.

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Simple Cream Cheese Corn (4 Ingredients!)

June 21, 2018 by Laura 8 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I just realized I’ve never shared my Simple Cream Cheese Corn recipe here. As such, I’m terribly afraid that you’ll try this recipe and wag your finger at me. “Laura!!” you’ll exclaim. “This corn is incredible! Where has this recipe been my whole life? Why have you not shared it with us before today? You’ve been blogging and sharing recipes for years and years!! And you wait until today to finally disclose this?”

I hang my head in shame. I have no excuses. There are no words I can say to explain this away. I have withheld one of the best recipes in the world, and if I could go back in time and erase this mistake, I most certainly would.

Please forgive me and know that I’ll never do it again. All of my tried and true, very best recipes are yours to be had. I’ll never not share one again. Except for when I do. After all, how am I to know what I am forgetting to remember?

Rest assured, as soon as I remember what I have forgotten, you’ll be the first to know.

This Simple Cream Cheese Corn is my go-to recipe to serve when hosting guests. Why? Because it makes a “fancy” dish without any effort. Steam your corn, add the beautiful cream cheese and butter, serve it to your guests, watch them pass out.

Oh, did I forget to tell you that part? (Seems I’m extra forgetful these days.) Your guests might pass out when they eat this. It can’t be helped. The corn tastes too amazing. The creaminess and the buttery goodness mixed with the sweetness of the corn is just too much for most people to handle. They cry tears of joy while eating it. They think you’re a rock star for cooking it. They go back for seconds and thirds. You’ve changed their lives.

All this, and somehow I forgot to share the recipe until now. I have nothing to say for myself.

Simple Cream Cheese Corn

You’re about to be shocked over how ridiculously easy this is to make.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Simple Cream Cheese Corn (4 Ingredients!)
 
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Author: Laura
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 16-ounces frozen corn
  • 4-ounces cream cheese
  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • Sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Steam corn in a small amount of water until tender and hot (about five minutes).
  2. Drain excess water.
  3. Stir in cream cheese and butter until melted.
  4. Salt to taste.
  5. Serve.
3.5.3229

I wasn’t kidding when I said it was easy.

Here are 20 great main dish recipes that are simple and fun to serve with this Simple Cream Cheese Corn:

  • Simple Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Legs
  • Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken
  • Simple Italian Beef and Broccoli Skillet
  • Simple Bacon Ranch Chicken
  • Simple Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick
  • Simple Crock Pot BBQ Spareribs
  • Simple Pizza Chicken Bake
  • Simple Parmesan Broiled Fish
  • Simple Overnight Saucy Crock Pot Chicken
  • Simple Overnight Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast
  • Simple Oven Fried Chicken
  • Simple Honey Mustard Chicken Legs
  • Simple Garlic Butter Shrimp
  • Simple Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips
  • Simple Barbecue Beef Roast
  • Simple Roasted Rotiserie Chicken
  • Simple Grilled Chicken
  • Simple Hawaiian Beef Roast
  • Simple Garlic Parmesan Chicken Legs
  • Simple Crock Pot Applesauce BBQ Chicken

Want more recipes that only include five or fewer ingredients? You’ll love this!

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