Cheesecake Wontons

I couldn't decide what I wanted to bring to a recent potluck. I was really craving something sweet, but I wasn't sure what to make. So, I went rogue and made something up! Luckily, it turned out really yummy.

Without further ado, meet my cheesecake wontons:

It was super easy to make, and was a healthier version than it could have been.

8oz reduced fat brick of cream cheese
1 cup Splenda 
wonton wrappers
Sugar Free Strawberry Jam
Reduced Sugar Grape Jelly
Cup of water
Lemon Grapeseed Oil
Powdered Sugar

Mix the cream cheese and Splenda in a blender.
Pipe the mix into the wrappers.
Add the jam/jelly to the wrappers
Dip a finger in the water and seal the wrappers
Fry in oil for 4 minutes
Cool & sprinkle with powdered sugar

I tried some in different folds. The envelope worked best because each bite had some filling. 

They were a hit and have been added to my recipe rotation!

Cheap & Easy Teacher Gifts - Holiday Scent Stew

I wanted to make something special for all of the ladies at daycare. There are at least 10 people who interact with both kiddos on a daily basis, so it needed to be something economical.

I decided to make some Holiday Scent Stew for them!

The ingredients are cheap and easy. Each bag contains:

• 3 Cinnamon sticks
• 1 tbsp of Whole Cloves
• 1 Orange (large or small)
• 1 Cup Cranberries
• 1 Bag

You can get as creative as you want - with cellophane bags and raffia ribbon. I went with the pre-decorated Ziploc bags on sale at Target! I would recommend putting them in something you can see the components in - it's as beautiful as it is yummy-smelling.

It took only about 10 minutes to assemble 16 bags. I took them all to daycare to share with any admin/teachers I had overlooked. I would recommend placing sticking labels on bags before filling them - they adhere better on a flat surface. 

If you use large oranges, I would suggest cutting them into 1/4 sections instead of half. 

I made a page full of labels on stickers (again - get as fancy/basic as you want). You could do printed tags and cut scalloped edges and attach them with ribbons.

I gave the gift to our teachers as a Thanksgiving/Christmas present so they could enjoy it the whole holiday season. There's definitely a scent to this time of year.  The mix can last up to two weeks once they add water, so it will fill their house with the most delicious smell for a while.  

One of my fondest holiday memories as a child was sticking whole cloves into oranges - something about cloves/oranges just triggers happy Christmas memories!

I've already heard from four of the teachers that they made and LOVED them! One of the ladies even said she made a batch for her relatives to give as gifts.

What are you doing for teacher gifts this year?

It's a Pumpkin time of Year

It seems everyone goes pumpkin crazy mid-October. I can't complain, because I love pumpkin!

If you haven't seen John Oliver's rant on Pumpkin Spice, you'll get a good laugh:

Every autumn, my first 'to do' is to create pumpkin muffins. They are one of the easiest recipes you'll ever come across and are delicious!

Ready? You don't even need a pencil!! 

1 box cake mix (any kind!)
1 can pumpkin
1 can water
bake per box directions

That's right. 1 box 1 can (emptied of pumpkin and filled with water) and that's it!! No eggs, no oil, nothing else needed.

My favorite is using carrot cake or spice cake, but you can do chocolate or yellow cake too.

The muffins are a bit more dense than normal. If you want more 'fluffy' muffins with a cake consistency, add 5-7 minutes to the cook time. 

If you want to get fancy you can make mini-pumpkin loafs and make a quick royal icing to top them with!

Adding Bling to the Beast

It arrived!! I've been waiting for my iPhone 6+ for almost a month now. With all of the pictures I keep on my phone, I ordered the 64gb version, and neither the Apple Store nor Best Buy carried them in stock.

I knew my very first priority was to get a case. Unfortunately, the options are limited. There was this super cute striped Kate Spade version, but I needed something more rugged and toddler-proof.

So, $40 later I ended up with this boring fella: 

It has giant bumpers for drop protection, and a hard exterior shell to avoid 'bend-gate'!

I had planned to just live with it until Lifeproof came out with their waterproof case… but then I got an email… 40% off entire purchase at Michaels.

As I looked at the email on my boring phone… an idea hit me: bling this beast out!!

So, off to Michaels to buy a sheet of rhinestones ($3.99 - but 40% off!):

I decided on a whole sheet for two reasons: 1) easier to apply and 2) so the individual stones wouldn't fall off (and be eaten by small children)

I lined the sheet up to the phone so I would know where to make my cuts. This is what I ended up with:

To prep the phone surface, I wiped it down with nail polish remover and let it dry for a few seconds.

I peeled the back off the rhinestones, stuck it to the phone, and voila: 

For $2.50 I can now find my phone in my purse!!! I could have gone crazy and made designs, or cut out my initial in the center, but this was just a quick fix to get me going.

It reminds me when I painted my flip phone with shiny nail polish when I was in the 9th grade… I'm SO much more grown up now ;)

Watermelon Jigglers - Vodka optional

This yummy recipe kept showing up online, so I decided to make it for our block party as an 'adult' treat. You can certainly make the recipe kid-friendly by leaving out the booze. 

Ingredients:

1 Melon

4 3oz boxes of flavored jello

2 1oz boxes of plain gelatin 

4 cups boiling water

1 cup fresh juice

4.5 cups booze

Here's my take on things:

I cut a gorgeous watermelon in half with the flattest side down (where it grew on the ground) and then melon-balled out layers to have useable melon for a side dish.

 I used a spoon to scrape out most of the inside (be sure to get all seeds). You want to be sure to leave some of the flesh and be sure not to poke through the rind. 

Unfortunately, it seems everyone was in the mood for watermelon jello… 3 stores I visited were out of watermelon jello. So, I kept it red and mixed up some options so there wasn't the mental confusion of biting into a cherry watermelon! The only melon flavoring was some water infusion, so I gave a few squirts of that in hopes for a melon essence. 

I boiled my water and mixed in all of the jello powders and whisked until everything was dissolved. Then, I added 1 cup of juice from my melon castoffs and 4.5 cups of vodka (mix up the ratio to make weaker/stronger slices, but you'll want at least 3 cups of water for them to harden).

Here is the mixture pored back into the melons (note: if there isn't a really good flat side, you'll want to prop them into bowls to set).

I left the melons in the fridge overnight - it should take about 4 or 5 hours to set up. Then, I sliced those puppies!

Each slice was then cut into 3 smaller slices (and I trimmed off the edges).

On the second half I found it easier to cut from the bottom.

The jello sticks to the remaining red flesh left - another reason you don't scrape too much out of the inside.

This made a TON of slices. In hindsight, I would have made 1/2 kid friendly by just leaving out the vodka (substituting more juice or water). The kiddos were certainly intrigued by them. I made little label cards that said 'Adults only - 21+' so even if I wasn't watching the dish, parents would know.

I've seen it made with oranges/lemons - but that's a lot of work for each small fruit. I like how quickly and easily a giant melon came together. 

The guys over at QITC made a variation they posted to Facebook using cantaloupe, lime jello and tequila to make 'margarita wedges'! There are endless possibilities!!