Cookie Pops and Sugar Cookie Butter Dip

I made some Cookie Pops today and thought I would share this idea!

I love how these cookies turn out and how cute and fun it makes a sugar cookie!

Wilton has a pan that you can buy to make the shapes and put your sticks, but I just used cookie cutters and a regular cookie sheet!

These are simple and a fun treat to bring your neighbor!

I used the Sour Cream Sugar Cookie recipe on this site, they are my favorite. I also cheated a little and sprinkled sprinkles on them before I baked them!

What I did was rolled my dough out thin and put one cookie on the cookie sheet and then put the stick on top and then layered another cut out cookie on top! Then I just smush the sides together a little to make sure they don't separate!

Then you bake as directed and frost. I drizzled this Sugar Cookie Butter Dip my sister gave me and it is sooo good and you could even dip the whole cookie in it too!

Sugar Cookie Butter Dip

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp water

Melt butter with water and let stand for 5 minutes. Then add powdered sugar and mix well. Add food coloring here if you want a fun color!

Dip cooled cookie in the dip and then let dry on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet underneath to prevent drips all over your counter. Or I just drizzled the butter dip on the cookies with a spoon!

Fiber-Rich Foods

Since we are all trying to a little healthier these days, I thought I would share some info I found from one of my Taste of Home emails. It talked alot about adding fiber to our meals and easy ways we can add more fiber to our day.

Here is some helpful info on how much fiber we need in a day and how to get that fiber in our diet!

_____________________________

How Much Fiber You Need
Here are the daily recommendations for adults, from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine:

MEN

Age 50 and younger—38 grams
Age 51 and older—30 grams
WOMEN

Age 50 and younger—25 grams
Age 51 and older—21 grams


Some Fiber-Rich Foods
•1 cup black beans, cooked—15 grams
•1 cup kidney beans, cooked—13 grams
•1 medium artichoke, cooked—10 grams
•1 cup vegetarian baked beans, canned, cooked—10 grams
•3 ounces of peanuts—8 grams
•1/2 cup peas or lima beans—7-8 grams
•1 cup whole wheat spaghetti—6 grams
•3/4 cup bran flakes—5 grams
•1 cup carrot, cooked —5 grams
•1 medium pear—5 grams
•1 cup cooked broccoli —5 grams
•1 cup cole slaw—4 grams
•1 medium apple—4 grams
•1 ounce almonds—3.5 grams
•1 cup brown rice, cooked—3.5 grams
•1 medium banana—3 grams
•1 medium orange—3 grams
•1 slice whole wheat bread—2 grams
•2 tablespoons raisins—1 gram

Carmel Krispies

I was given this recipe a while ago, I think from Sharon. I haven't ever tried and decided to do it today! They are really good, but makes a slightly lower fat snack a lot fattier! But I will say they are super good! Next time I think I will half the carmel recipe and just put a little on top!
Carmel Krispies

Make Rice Krispy treats as normal

Carmel

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk (1/2 can or make your own from the powdered milk recipe)
• 4 tbsp corn syrup

Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat, boil for 3 minutes and pour over the top of the Krispies. ENJOY!!

Making Sweetened Condensed Milk from Powdered Milk

I bought Crystal Godfreys book I Can't Believe it's Food Storage and I love all her ideas and how she makes using your storage look so easy. She is also the person behind the site http://www.everydayfoodstorage.net/. You should check out her site and her book! Both are excellent! I made this sweetened condensed milk for about 75 cents (which is found in her book) and I know a can from the store is alot more than that!

So I share the recipe hoping to inspire all to use or rotate your storage!

Sweetened Condensed Milk

(from I Can't Believe its Food Storage book)

• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 cup non-instant dry powdered milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp butter

Combine ingredients and mix thoroughly in blender. Use immediately or store in refrigerator or freezer.

Stacked Tacos

I was desperate for a recipe to use hamburger and I stumbled upon this recipe. It is a new twist or spin on an old fav.~~TACOS! I really liked the crispy shells and stacking it together. I will say that next time I will only do 2 layers (3 were just too many to eat) for me and 1 layer for the kids instead of splitting one up! I also halved the recipe for me and still have leftovers!

Very easy and ingredients you have on hand. I didn't have tomato soup on hand and it seemed to turn out fine to me!

Stacked Tacos

(www.realmomkitchen.com)

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 (8 oz) cans of tomato sauce
• 2 (14.5 0z) cans of diced tomatoes
• 2 cups salsa
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning
• fajita sized flour tortillas
• grated cheddar cheese
• chopped lettuce
• sliced olives
• sour cream
• guacamole

Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain.

In a large soup pot, add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salsa, tomato soup, and taco seasoning. Stir well. Add ground beef, mix in, and allow mixture to simmer for 1 hour to blend flavors. (the mixture will be quite soupy)

Heat a small amount of cooking oil in a skillet. Pan fry each tortilla in hot oil until brown and crisp. Drain on paper towel.

To serve: Place a tortilla shell on each plate. Add 1/4 cup of saucy meat mixture on each tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese. Place another tortilla on top. Place 1/4 cup sauce and cheese on that tortilla. Repeat one more time. You should now have a stack of 3 layers. Then top with lettuce, olives and a dollop of sour cream. Makes 10 stacked tacos.

**The saucy meat mixture freezes well.

Delicious Baked Fudge

This is a Pioneer Woman favorite! I have been wanting to try this for a while, but with Easter and being gone I haven't been motivated to bake (maybe because of all the candy I have eaten lately!)!! But FHE came around and I was the treat, so we made these!

They were really good, especially with ice-cream! The other great thing was that it made 4 (I got 5) so there wasn't very many leftovers and I had promised the boys the leftover one!

Next time I will make sure to cook them a little longer, but other than that they were YUMMY!!

Delicious Baked Fudge

(from the pioneerwoman.com)

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 heaping tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 300-325 degrees.

Beat eggs until light in color. Beat in sugar until just combined. Add cocoa, flour, melted butter and vanilla extract. Mix gently until well combined.

Pour batter into 4 large ramekins (I used 5 because I wasn't sure if mine were large!) or one 8-inch square baking dish (It doesn't say to spray them, but I did grease mine). Set ramekins or pan into a larger pan halfway full of water.

Bake 40-50 minutes, or until upper crust is crispy and the rest of the batter is firm but not set. Toothpick should come out...not clean, but mixture should not be overly runny. If you pull it out of the oven and have second thoughts, stick it back in for ten more minutes.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!