Great Play Dough Recipe

Homemade play dough is always fun to make.... It lasts longer and makes a ton!

Jamie's Play dough

2 cups flour

1 T. Alum

1 cup salt

2 cups boiling water

2 T. oil

Combine all. Mix well.

Add food coloring of your choice.

Let kiddos mix it up! *store in airtight containers or baggies

Honey Chip Muffins

Honey Chip Muffins*

1 pkg chocolate chip muffin mix

1 Tbsp cocoa

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1 egg

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I only had milk chocolate, but I think any kind of chip would be good, especially vanilla chip, or butterscotch)

In a large bowl, combine muffin mix and cocoa. In small bowl, combine honey and peanut butter; add the egg and water. Stir into muffin mix mixture with a spoon just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.

Fill paper lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees for 17-20 minutes.

The kiddos loved this muffin. A easy way to make a box muffin mix way better!

*From the Taste of Home, Almost Homemade cookbook.

Meatball Calzones

I got a new cookbook last week at Sam's Club and found a ton of recipes to try out.

This one was a hit with my family.

Everyone loved it (except me, I don't care for meatballs)

Soo very easy:

Meatball Calzones

Frozen bread dough (thawed)

Meatballs

(I used Sam's Club meatballs, but you can use homemade, which is what the recipe actually called for)

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 egg white

Italian seasoning

Marinara sauce

Set oven at 350 degrees.

I cooked my meatballs in the crockpot with water,

so they'd be ready when it came time to bake them.

Thaw your frozen bread dough on the counter for about 4 hours,

then,

flour the counter and roll out to about 18" by 12".

Down the center put your meatballs,

cover with Mozzarella cheese,

close up the dough and brush with egg white

Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

Let sit on the counter for 30 minutes.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Heat up Marinara sauce and pour on when slicing the Calzone.

We made 2 loaves and there were about 3 pieces left for Tom to take to work the next day. Excellent cookbook!

Cherry Angel Bread

For the feast of St Nicholas, we made this bread found in my Pillsbury Holiday magazine. Oops, as I am typing this, I realized we (I) forgot the drizzled frosting on the top! You will need: 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls 1/2 cup pineapple cream cheese spread (from 8 oz container) 2 Tbsp sugar 1 egg, separated 1/2 cup drained, chopped cherry pie filling 1 Tbsp water 1 tsp sugar Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray cookie sheet. Unroll dough onto cookie sheet forming 13x7 rectangle. Firmly press perforations to seal. In bowl, beat cream cheese and 2 Tbsp sugar with electric mixer on medium speed til well blended. Beat in egg yolk. With spoon, stir in cherries. Spoon mixture lengthwise down center of dough rectangle in 2 1/2 inch wide strip. With scissors, cut 1 inch wide strips on each side of cream cheese filling to within 1/2 inch of filling. Alternately cross strips over filling.

Beat egg white and water and brush over dough. (discard any extra) Sprinkle with teaspoon of sugar. Bake 17-22 minutes until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Glaze: (which I forgot to do) 13/ cup powdered sugar 1/4 tsp almond extract 1-2 tsp milk Drizzle over warm bread. Store in refrigerator, if any left! My kiddos all loved it! A great morning bread for the feast of St Nicholas or any special day around Christmas!

Crockpot Chicken

I know I found this recipe on this blog But I can't find this specific one....but here's the recipe! The meat just fell off the bone, I had a hard time getting it out of the crockpot! The meat had so much flavor and was very juicy! The whole family loved it, even our peanut butter girl! Crockpot Chicken 2 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp onion powder (I only had onion flakes, so I crushed them) 1/2 tsp thyme 1 tsp Italian season 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp black pepper 4 garlic cloves 1 chopped onion Clean chicken. I left the skin on and then took it off when I served it. Cook on high for 4-5 hours Or on low for 8 hours I also added a package of legs, and timed the recipe by 1 1/2

Sunshine Muffins

Sunshine Muffins

2 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup milk

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 pkg (9 oz) yellow cake mix (1/2 pack of regular cake mix)

1 pkg corn bread mix

Combine eggs, water, milk and oil. Stir in mixes and mix well. Fill paper lined or greased/floured muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 350 for 18-22 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins. My son will only eat cornbread if it is Sunshine muffins! They are delicious and the cake mix makes it moist and not as crumbly.

Recipe Swap Thursday

Therese hosts Recipe Swap Thursday and I'm going to try to join in when I can, so no promises of every week, but I thought I'd do it here on my abandoned cooking blog!! Tomatoes and Cucumbers Now this is probably a no-brainer, but when I think of my favorite summer recipe, it's these veggies! I make them a few different ways, together, apart, it doesn't matter!

1. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and add Balsamic vinegar, oil and salt and pepper
2. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and only add salt and pepper, the juices flow once you add that salt, I prefer course sea salt.
3. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and add mayo and salt and pepper
4. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and add Ranch dressing and salt and pepper
5. Cut up Cucumbers or zucchini and dip in your favorite veggie dip, we like to take this one on picnics!