{ Strawberry Lemonade }

My kid is weird.

He can't tolerate certain (food) textures. There are many meats he won't eat.

He picks the strawberries out of his strawberry sundae. While he loves both sugar and marshmallow, he cannot eat Peeps. He doesn't like noodles (unless they are spaghetti).  And so on, and so on.

He's just weird. Weird, I tell you.

I mean, who picks strawberries out of a strawberry sundae? Who raised this kid?? Certainly not me.

It must have been

Yeah. 

Why do I tell you all of this totally arbitrary information about my child's eating habits?

To let you know that this Strawberry Lemonade is NOT Bean approved.

It.has.texture. Oh my.

(texture=seeds and tiny strawberry bits)

And while he likes the flavor, he cannot get over the texture.

So, if you are like him, this drink is NOT for you.

If you are like me, however, come along, and I'll show you how to make this delicious summer drink in less than 5 minutes.

Yes, less than 5 minutes, because you see, I'm a cheater.

By that I mean, this starts with powdered lemonade. Cause it's summer, why would we want to break a sweat juicing lemons. Srsly!

This is soooooooo simple, yet delicious.  

For 2 quarts of Strawberry Lemonade:

Prepare powdered lemonade mix according to package for 2 quarts

Wash and remove greens from 1 pint of strawberries

Place berries and 2 Tablespoons of sugar into a blender or food processor

blend until pureed 

Pour into prepared lemonade and stir

You'll want to stir just before pouring as well. 

Since this has fresh berries it in, it will only keep a couple days.

 When I stopped to think about it, I realized that the smoothies (like Strawberry Banana or Peach Banana) that I make for the Bean nearly every night have some lumps and bumps in them. This confused me. I asked him about it, and his reply,

"I don't like it in there either, but for smoothies, I'll suffer through".

Watta man.

(after mixing the Strawberry Lemonade together, you could actually strain it through cheesecloth if you wished)

Oh, and for more refreshment, check out the Frozen Strawberry Lemonade I made last year. If you want to shortcut that, start with powdered lemonade as well!

So, the Bean doesn't like it? That's cool...

Tina

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Michelle's Tasty Creations

{ Cookie Dough Bites }

Cookie Dough Bites? I'm not even joking right now!!

The Bean is a cookie dough freak. Freak, I'm tellin ya.

As I alluded to in this post, there would be more cookie dough goings on on this blog.

So, here it is.

The Cookie Dough Cupcakes are Bean's favorite favorite apparently.  

He begs lil a wee pup when I'm making cookies for a bite of dough. Or steals it when I'm not looking, the dirty rotten scoundrel!

So, when I found the cookie dough recipe for the cupcakes, and realized it was eggless, it seemed like the perfect fix for his obsession.

What you do, is make the exact recipe as in the cupcakes. 

Egg-less Cookie Dough

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
4 Tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup miniature chocolate chips

(original recipe by Recipe Girl) 

Beat the butter and the sugars together, add the salt, soda, and vanilla. Then add the flour. Add the milk and beat until well mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Roll into balls. Should make about 24.

I used the Pampered Chef small scoop. 

Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.

(I didn't use parchment here, and you don't HAVE to, but you'll have to pry the lil suckers off)

 After freezing, melt up some chocolate. A few at a time (placing the rest back in the fridge or freezer), dip in the chocolate. Fully coat. Using a fork, remove from chocolate and tap off excess. Place on foil/parchment to dry. 

If you wish, throw on a few sprinkles, or swirl on some white chocolate.

AS SOON AS THEY ARE DRIED, EAT THEM.

Go on, you know you want to! 

Kidding (sort of).

 Store in an air tight container in the fridge. Should stay fresh for about 3 days.

So, once again, I thought I invented something, and once again, I was SO wrong. 

After a little Google consultation, I came to find that many people have made these long before me.

One day I WILL invent something. Darn Googledwellers beating me to everything!

In the meantime, enjoy these!

Tina



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Six Sisters' Stuff
Crazy for Crust 
Simply Sweet Home 
Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch

{ "Ice Cream" Cupcakes }

 The Bean has 2 days of 9th grade left. TWO DAYS? Two days left as a High School Freshman.

That's just not right. Sophomore seems SO much older than a Freshman.

Plus I don't get to call him names like Freshy, Freshbait, and Freshmeat. 

Sophomore is just no fun.

At the end of the year, he likes to give his teachers a little gift. We've done Ice Cream Cone Cake Balls and Giant Cookies from this recipe (which we dipped 1/2 way in melted chocolate & covered in sprinkles). They are also quite fond of these Caramel Apples,that we gave them as Christmas gifts.

Now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

If you give an Elementary School Teacher a gift, they will be very appreciative and thankful. If you give a Jr. High/High School Teacher a gift, they will loose their minds.

See, something happens between Elementary School and Jr. High School. The gifts, they stop. I assume it's because, instead of 1 teacher, the kids have several, but I'm not sure. It's an interesting phenomenon. While an Elementary Teacher's desk at Christmas is loaded with gifts, a Jr High/High School Teacher's is empty.

Now, I totally understand, gifts are expensive, that is why we started making gifts from the oven.
They love it.

This year, we found this cool cupcake originally posted at Living Locurto by Kristan of Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.

Now, how dang cute are those?


Here's our take on them...

It's just a cupcake in an ice cream container (I got these at Bake it Pretty)  with a holy ton of icing.

Our icing was scooped with an actual ice cream scoop.

Top that with melted chocolate (chocolate bark), then sprinkles, and a red gumball, or, as we used, a red Peanut M&M (M side down, of course!).

You can also buy little domed lids for the containers, or you can package them as Kristan did.

We added a note, taped a spoon to the top, and bam, done.

The Bean made the icing, did the sprinkles, and added the cherry. He wanted me to spoon the chocolate on, however.

 I'm clearly more gifted in chocolate plopping.

It's a life skill.

How great would these be for a birthday party? 

Great for a summertime party too!

And yes, as always, the teachers were thrilled.

2 more days. I can't believe my lil Bean is nearly a Sophomoron.

Ok, that's a little mean, but I've got a few months to work on it.

Happy Summer!!

Tina

{ Rainbow Slush }

Tonight is the Bean's 15th birthday party. If you keep up, you'll know his birthday was actually over a month ago.

However, this is Ohio, and outside birthday parties in April are iffy at best!

For the last few years we've had in in May. The weather today is 82 and sunny!

YUS!!

I showed you pics of our backyard fire pit, well, that is where approximately 20 teenagers (I just typed teenangers. Freudian slip?) will gather tonight for 4 hours.

Am I crazy? Probably.

Here's what it looks like after my lovely hubster added the lighting though

We'll have hot dogs, chips, Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores, S'mores, and this...

Rainbow Slush

I'm pretty dang sure this will be a huge hit with the kids.

I found this on the Ramblings From the Sunshine State blog.

It's so so so so easy.

 Now, go check out how to make it on Ramblings From the Sunshine State! 

I gotta go, I've got SO much to do in the next few hours, yet here I sit.

Internets are evil.

Have a great day!

Tina

{ Strawberry Pie }

The husband loves strawberry pie.

Like, super duper loves.

Specifically, his Grammy's strawberry pie.

I love his Grammy's strawberry pie too, ya know why?

Because it's quick. It's easy. It's inexpensive.

What could be better?

Here's whatcha need:

Grammy's Strawberry Pie

1 Baked Pie Shell (store bought, or this is a great recipe)

1 Container of Strawberries, washed and fully dry *

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Water

3 Tablespoons Corn Starch

3 Tablespoons Strawberry Jello (powder)**

*you can use more berries, if you like. For this pie, I used 2 containers.

**store the rest in a ziploc baggie for making this again! 

On the stovetop, add all ingredients into a heavy saucepan. Stir together. Heat over medium heat. 

It will be kind of a milky red

Allow to boil and thicken, stirring constantly. As it begins to thicken, it will turn a clear, bright red.

When thickened, remove from heat.

Thicken. There, I felt the need to say it four times in a row.

I feel better now.

Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes.

While cooling, assemble your berries in your baked crust.
You may choose to cut them, or use them whole.

I like using whole berries.

Pour the gel over your berries.

(You can see the consistency of the gel in this photo)

Then, put into refrigerator until set. This will take several hours.

This is the hardest part of the whole recipe.

The waiting.

Oh my gersh, it's so dang prettttttttttttty!

And tasty too!

When set, cut, add whipped topping and... devour!

 

This is SO much better than the red, gooshy bagged stuff you find in the store.

If given the chance, my hubster would eat a whole recipe of this.

WITHOUT berries.

This is the same gel I used here, in Aunt Rosie's Strawberry Delight.

You should totally make that too.

Man, I LOVE strawberry season!

Tina

I’m partying at the Pi Day Pie Party at Crazy for Crust today. Come party with us!



shared at:
Michelle's Tasty Creations
Something Swanky

{ Mozzy Cheese Sticks }

As I hinted at in this post, the Bean is a cheese stick fiend.

He squishy heart loves the fried gooey goodness that is THE CHEESE STICK.

Last week, after his orthodontist appointment, we stopped for lunch at a chain restaurant. He spied cheese sticks on the menu and wanted them UNTIL he noticed the price. $7.95. 

He thought that was far too high, and people, he's 15, and spending his parent's money.

Maybe there's hope for this one's spending habits after all, eh?

I told him we'd pop over to the grocery and grab up the ingredients and make them ourselves, and so we did.

Here's what you need:

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Mozzarella String Cheese (or block, cut into fat strips)

Italian Bread Crumbs

Flour

Eggs

Spices
 (garlic, Lawry's Season Salt, dried parsley, other spices if you wish)

Oil for frying

We only did 4 cheese sticks, so we used:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg (well beaten)

1 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon garlic

1/2 teaspoon Lawry's
(use seasonings to your personal liking)

First, season your crumbs & mix well

Then cut your cheese (refraining from immature joke here)

Then we do a basic coating, what I do when I fry anything, eggs and flour. 
In this case, we do it a  wee differently. First flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs.

Confused? Just watch as the Bean demonstrates.

Roll in flour to coat all sides (including ends!)

Dip in egg

Then roll in breadcrumbs (I just realized I don't have a photo of this step. omgosh, I'm a failure ;)

Then repeat the egg & breadcrumb process.


WARNING: your fingers will get gloppily coated in this stuff. Kinda weird. Kinda gross.)

As you finish, place them on a cookie sheet. When you are done coating, put them into the freezer for about 30 minutes. 

This step keeps the cheese from exploding out when we fry.

After the 30 mins, heat your oil to about 350. This will cook them a BIT more slowly, but it will still only take 2 minutes MAX to finish.

Place them into the oil 2-3 at a time. Cook until golden on one side, then CAREFULLY flip them and cook the other side til golden.

WATCH CLOSELY! 
they will burn quickly.

Remove to paper towels to soak up the oil.

If you are making a large batch you can put them into a 200 degree F oven to keep them warm and gooey until you finish.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (you know the shaky container kind), and serve with marinara sauce.

Dive in!

Delicious.

Cheap.

Easy.

The End.

Tina 


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Michelle's Tasty Creations