Recipes

Valentine’s Day Craft ideas, Recipe & More

by Ann-Marie on February 11, 2011

  • “Hand”made Valentine’s Card: “Hand”made by your kiddos, it’s super simple to make this sweet Valentine’s Day card for daddy or grandparents. Simply trace your child’s handprint, cut it out, and write a special saying like “You’re Handsome” or “Handing You My Love”. If you’re feeling really crafty, get out some red paint, dip your child’s thumb into it and stamp it on the paper at two angles to make a thumbprint heart. See more kid craft ideas for Valentine’s Day at Martha Stewart online.
  • No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie: If you’ve never had this simple-as-pie pie, you’re missing out!  Let your kids help on this one, it’s fun and minimal mess. Plan ahead, it needs 8 hours to chill, baby.

1 (15- or 18-oz) package chocolate chip cookies (approx. 26 cookies)
1 cup milk
1  (9 oz) graham cracker crust (extra serving size)
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
Dip 8 cookies in milk and place in a single layer in graham cracker crust. Top with 1/3 of whipped topping. Dip 8 more cookies in milk; place on top; spread with 1/3 of whipped topping. Repeat layers with 8 more cookies, milk, and remaining whipped topping. Crumble 2 chocolate chip cookies and sprinkle over pie. Cover and chill 8 hours before serving.

  • American Greetings Free 2-Week Trial Membership:  Send clever, cute and even cuddly American Greetings  e-cards  to your Valentine, and get a free 2-week trial membership. Check out the “Smooth Hamster Valentine”, my favorite!
  • Free Valentine’s Crafts for Children: Just another reminder to head over to Fave Crafts to get some fun Valentine craft ideas for the little ones in the form of a free downloadable ebook.
  • Classic Valentine’s Day Movies: Whether you’re sitting at home alone, with the kids, or snuggled next to your honey, here are a few of the top Valentine’s Day movies.
  1. When Harry Met Sally, 1989
  2. Pride & Prejudice, 2005; or mini-series version, 1995
  3. Pretty Woman, 1990
  4. While You Were Sleeping, 1995
  5. Sleepless In Seattle, 1993

You can see the full list to get more ideas for your Valentine’s movie night, here.

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Entertaining @ Home: Kickin’ Kickoff Party

by Ann-Marie on January 7, 2011

We have football on the brain in our house right now, and we’re looking forward to cheering on the Colts for their first playoff game of the season.  This Entertaining @ Home post is all about throwing a kickin’ kickoff party for your favorite team, all from the comfort of home.

First, you’ll want to prepare your menu & shopping list:  I am quite the list-maker. It helps for me to get the thoughts swimming around in my head down onto paper, and keeps me from babbling to myself and walking around in circles (sound like you?!).

If you’re having a few (or a lot of) friends over, you’ll need to plan a menu. For a football party, keep it simple with finger foods on heavy-duty disposable plates so guests can eat in front of the big screen without  needing table space and flatware. Remember this is a football game, not a bridal shower! Keep it simple and casual, so you’re not stuck in the kitchen with clean-up duty all night.

Ideas for the menu:

  • Hot Wings Serve with tall celery sticks in a pub glass, blue cheese dressing, and the must-have wet naps!
  • Nacho Dip You can do the easy-peasy RO*TEL Famous Queso with Velveeta, or Hormel Cheesy Chili Dip with cream cheese, or try this twist on a classic with my recipe for Italian Nacho Dip:  Brown & crumble 1# Italian sausage, drain and place in crock pot. Cube a block of Velveeta and place on top of sausage. Mix in 1 can evaporated milk, and 1 packet of dry Italian dressing mix (I use Good Seasons). Heat until cheese melts, stirring occasionally.
  • Buffalo Chicken Dip My friend brought this to a pitch-in one time, and I’ve been making it ever since. If you’re a fan of hot sauce, and if you’re a fan of chicken, and if you’re a fan of dips, this is the trifecta for you. Check out the recipe at FranksRedHot.com.
  • Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Chips I have not yet made this myself, however a neighbor brought it to book club one night and Oh. My. Word. was it delish!  Sweet, cinnamon-y and fruity, it was finger-lickin’ good. Literally … I licked my fingers!  She got the recipe from my FAVE-orite site for recipes, AllRecipes.com. Here ’tis … Annie’s Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips.
  • Don’t forget the bevs! Like that had to be mentioned?!  Pull out your favorite cooler and ice down the beer & sodas (remember this is simple & casual!). Or for a step up, try the Entertaining Bucket from Willow House, which includes a drip pan to catch condensation.

After you’ve figured out the vittles, next up is arranging the viewing party.

  • Comfy seats, plenty of ‘em: Since we’ve already established this isn’t a bridal shower, there’s no sense in pulling out your formal dining room chairs for everyone to have a stiff, upright seat and a sore tushie.  Bean bags, oversized pillows, even gaming chairs would make great seats for the game when you can’t fit everyone on the couch.
  • Throw a picnic-style checkered tablecloth on your coffee table, and set out bowls of peanuts, snack mix and leftover Christmas candy (who cares?!). The tablecloth eliminates the need for coasters (gasp!), crumbs are easily shaken outside, and it adds a tiny bit of casual flair.
  • Have a couple of kid-sized Nerf Footballs or inflatable footballs around for the guys (and gals!) to toss during time-outs. Yes even in your precious living room!  Adults shouldn’t get too carried away with a little toss & catch … let’s hope!
  • If your friends are up for a little friendly wagering, you can print free NFL football brackets at PrintYourBrackets.com. You can use inexpensive posterboard for the master bracket, and hang on your wall.

What’s most important is for your guests to feel welcomed, comfortable and to have fun. This isn’t the time to be pretentious and chase Uncle Eddie around with the Dustbuster.  If you make it easy on yourself as host and use disposable plates, finger foods without needing silverware, and recyclable beer bottles, then clean-up is a snap and you can actually, maybe, watch a little of the game yourself!  Have a great weekend!

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Brown Sugar Shortbread Recipe

by Ann-Marie on December 18, 2010

Brown Sugar Shortbread

I discovered this recipe in a Christmas with Southern Living cookbook, and it made a beautiful, simple gift for teachers. With just 3 main ingredients it’s easy to make, and if time were a concern then instead of cutting shapes with cookie cutters, you could just roll out the dough and cut into squares, then cut on a diagonal for a traditional shortbread look.

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • sparkling sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour, beating at low speed until smooth. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Roll dough to 1/4″ thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a 2″ tree-shaped cutter; place 1″ apart on lightly greased baking sheets (or use parchment paper). Sprinkle evenly with sparkling sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 min or until edges are golden. Cool on pans on wire rack 5 min. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Yield 1 1/2 dozen.

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Fruit Fiber Paste Recipe

by Ann-Marie on December 15, 2010

This is one of those “works-for-me-so-wanted-to-tell-everyone” kind of posts!

My youngest daughter Carlie (2) suffers from constipation. It could be a symptom of her low muscle tone, not sure, but it is just agonizing for the poor lil thing. I had been using Miralax mixed into her drink – which worked great, however I kind of had a gnawing feeling like it wasn’t best for her, even though I was assured from her pediatrician it was perfectly safe for her to have every day.

One of Carlie’s therapists recommended a recipe for Fruit Fiber Paste. Sounds appetizing, right?  It is actually just fruit, pure and simple, can’t get any more natural than that.

So if your little one has similar tummy troubles, give this a try for a couple weeks and see if it doesn’t do the trick. You may want to try only 1-2 tsp a day at first, you can then adjust up or down as needed. I have found 3 tsp at the same time each day does the trick for Carlie. If I even mess up 1 day, or give it to her late because I forget, it throws her off track.

The recipe follows, but here are the pics.


Yummy fruit cut into chunks (raisins and prunes are at the bottom). Juice is poured in last before blending.


Blending nicely … I told you it wouldn’t be pretty!

There we have it!  I promise you, it tastes much better than it looks.

Fiber Paste:

  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • 6 pitted prunes
  • 1/2 unpeeled apple
  • 1/2 peeled orange
  • 2T prune juice
  • 2T orange juice

Put all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth. Offer 1 tsp daily at first, then slowly work up to 3 tsp (=1T) per day. Can be spread on crackers or toast, or mix into yogurt, applesauce, or eaten alone.

Couple of my personal tips:

  • Because this works so well for us, I double it and freeze half, so I don’t have to pull out the blender quite as often.
  • The last little bit that’s left in the blender – I put about 6-8 oz of water and a couple of ice cubes into the blender, blend it, then pour it into a cup for Carlie to have as her juice for the day.

BIG OL’ DISCLAIMER:  I am certainly NOT a doctor and this post is not meant to be medical advice. This is merely a fruit recipe that works for many children suffering from constipation. If your child has medical concerns, see your pediatrician.

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Candy Bar Brownies

by Ann-Marie on November 1, 2010

Now that trick-or-treating is over, and you’ve pulled out your favorites from your children’s lo0t, pull out a few extra Snickers or Milky Way and try this recipe from AllRecipes.com:

Candy Bar Brownies

- 1 (18.25 oz) package German Chocolate Cake Mix
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 4 (2.16 oz) candy bars (Snickers works great, also try Milky Way, Rolo or Heath)

Mix cake mix with melted butter and condensed milk. Spread out 1/2 of the mixture into a 9″ x 13″ pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Slice candy bars into little slices. Lay these on top of the baked crust. With the remaining batter-crumble it on top of the candy bars. It will have a crumbly texture. No need to spread it on top to make it smooth. Put it back into the oven and bake it for another 20 minutes. Resist the temptation to overbake – these will set up nicely and be perfectly gooey!

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Halloween Tips & Treats

by Ann-Marie on October 23, 2010

Halloween puns are a-plenty around my house. After taking my kids through a lights-on haunted house, my 6-year-old daughter left saying “I had a SPOOKtacular good time, Mom!”.

Here are a few tricks and treats your Mummy would be proud of!

  • Vampire-Inspired Decorating Ideas: Let’s face it, the cobwebs on my front porch were up waaaaay before Halloween. In spite of that, you can decorate for Halloween without losing an arm and a leg. Here are some vampire-inspired decorating ideas from Celebrations.com, a new interactive community from 1-800-Flowers. You’ll find expert advice and planning tools for any party with any theme.  Their family of brands include The Popcorn Factory, Fannie May, Harry & London and more.
  • Treats for Grown-ups only: After moving into our new neighborhood 2 years ago, I quickly learned whose houses to be sure to hit on Halloween night. Sure the kids score big with their candy loot, but grown-ups scored too with a few houses offering adult beverages to keep you a little toasted – er, I mean toasty.

If you’d like to join in on the fun with your neighbors, here’s a quick & easy recipe for Jell-o Shots:

Boil 1 cup water, then add 1 (3-oz) package Berry Blue Jell-o and stir until dissolved. Add 1 cup raspberry vodka and stir. Pour into 2-oz plastic shot glasses. Chill until set.

Other variations:  Strawberry Jell-o with Malibu Rum, Pineapple Jell-o with Malibu Rum. Also experiment with reducing boiled water to ½ cup, then add in ½ cup Sprite to alcohol.

  • Save those Costumes: The fun of costumes doesn’t have to end after Halloween! Hit the Halloween aisles of Target, Walmart and other retailers the day after Halloween to purchase costumes on clearance and use for your kids to play dress-up all throughout the year!  Consignment stores and Goodwill or other thrift stores are also great resources for Halloween costumes.

While you’re stocking your kids’ dress-up bins, buy a few duplicate costumes and pretend play accessories to put together as a “Dress-up Basket” in your favorite charity’s silent auction.

  • Halloween Leftovers: If you have leftover candy bars after Halloween, put them in a freezer storage bag and pop them in the freezer. Next week I’ll share a recipe using your candy bars that will both satisfy your chocolate fix and save you from buying them at full price!

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