Ladybugs on a Log

Heard of the fun snack: "Ants on a Log"?  Well, it's back and better than ever.  Instead of raisins, the celery and peanut butter is now topped with dried cranberries.  Now you've got: Ladybugs on a Log!


Ingredients:
Celery
Peanut butter
Craisins (Dried Cranberries)

Cut celery.  Spread on peanut butter (or almond butter).  Top with craisins.  Easy and delicious!

Mmm, Meatballs!

Meatballs are a quick, easy, and delicious meal when you're in a crunch for time!


1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup of Egg Beaters (or 1 egg)
2 slices of bread
Salt and pepper to taste
Barbeque sauce to coat
Teriyaki sauce to coat


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a food processor, pulse the bread.  Combine the ground beef, Egg Beaters, bread, salt, and pepper.  Roll meat into ping-pong sized balls.  Spray a skillet thoroughly with Pam and cook the meatballs until browned; about 5 minutes.  On an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, evenly space the meatballs.  Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Remove the meatballs from the oven and coat with your choice of sauce.

Cinni Minis

For the Cinnamon Rolls
1 10-count package refrigerated biscuit dough
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
5 teaspoons cinnamon




For the icing
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
Dash vanilla extract


To make the cinnamon rolls: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.


Flatten each biscuit gently with your fingers and spread each one with a little butter, about 1/2 teaspoon each. Press about a teaspoon of brown sugar onto each biscuit, then sprinkle each one with about a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and roll the biscuits up. Pinch the ends a bit to help seal them closed, then cut each one in half. Place the rolls in a cluster, cut side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Allow to cool for two minutes on the sheet, then immediately remove them from the pan and place them on a wire cooling rack set over parchment paper. Allow to cool for another 5 minutes or so before icing.


To make the icing: Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and whisk in 2 tablespoons of milk until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract, then add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. The icing should be thin enough to drizzle over the rolls, but not so thin that it is runny. Drizzle the rolls generously with the icing.




Makes 20

Pepper Steak

Pepper Steak


1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 pound very thin sliced top round roast
1/2 of a sweet onion, sliced in rings
1 can of sliced water chestnuts
1 can of beef consume
1 beef bouillon cube
2 t sugar
2 t corn starch (mixed with beef consume)
Black pepper, red pepper, and soy sauce to taste
Cooked rice


Spray frying pan with Pam.  Brown the meat.  Add the onions, pour in 3/4 cup water, add the bouillon cube, add the water chestnuts, cook 10 minutes.  Mix cornstarch with consume at room temperature and add to the pan.  Add the sugar, black pepper, red pepper, and soy sauce.  Add red and yellow peppers right before serving so that they stay crunchy.  Serve over hot rice.

Watermelon Sorbet

I love watermelon.  Actually, it's more of an obsession.  So with the heat and humidity of a North Carolina summer lingering around the corner, I decided to whip out my frozen yogurt maker and make some watermelon sorbet.  One word:  DELICIOUS!

~Watermelon Sorbet
3 C water
1 C sugar
4 C cold diced watermelon
1/4 C lemon juice


Create a simple syrup by boiling the water and the sugar and allow the mixture to cool.  Puree the simple syrup, the watermelon, and lemon juice.  Freeze in your frozen yogurt maker.  Allow to chill in the freezer for 45 minutes and then serve.  Enjoy!

Hydrangea Cupcakes

These cupcakes incorporate four of my favorite things: hydrangeas, ladybugs, cake, and M and Ms!

We just made cupcakes out of a box and buttercream icing.  

The lady bugs are made with black icing, red M and Ms, and a super-small icing tip.  Your hands can get a workout from making these little suckers.

The hydrangeas are made with a Wilton 2D tip, using a twisting motion.  You can get the double colors by making two separate batches of icing and sliding one color down the side of the bag and the other color down the opposite side.  If the colors slightly mix, that's okay!  It will make you cupcakes look even more unique!