Fruit Bouquet

What's a birthday without a cake?!  Since I have this love of making fun cakes, I usually do whatever my family wants for their birthdays. Like a castle for my daughter's 3rd, or even an ugly, not creative what-so-ever German Chocolate cake for my husband.

This year my husband has changed what he eats and therefore didn't want a cake at all.  Unheard of.  So I thought he still needed something and surely I could think of something healthy.

That's when I remembered those awesome yummy looking fruit bouquets.  Perfect.

I bought a bunch of fruit: strawberries, apples, kiwis, grapes, a pineapple, & a cantaloupe.  I threw in some marshmallows and chocolate chips just in case someone wanted a little something sweet i.e. the kids or me.
You'll also need skewers, leafy lettuce, stirofoam, and vase/pot/bowl or something to hold it all in.

It was fairly simple.

The cantaloupe:
I sliced this in longer pieces to go vertical on the skewers.  I also cut out little half circles for the center of the pineapple flowers.

The pineapple:
I cut it in slices.  Be careful not to make them too thick, about as thick as the cookie cutter you want to use.  Center your cookie cutter on one of the slices and press firmly.  Stick the skewer straight in the middle of the flower with a little poking out the other side to put the circle of cantaloupe on it, but don't let it stick out of the cantaloupe.  Other shapes like hearts or stars are cute too.

The strawberries:
I dipped some of them in chocolate and others I left plain.  Put them on the end of a skewer.

The grapes:
Slide about 5 grapes on a skewer.  Don't slide the skewer all the way through the last grape, to hide the the point.

I used a big soup bowl I already had to hold it all.  I put a block of stirofoam wrapped in seran wrap in the bottom and laid in the lettuce.  Then I just started sticking the skewers in at different angles.

I ended up not using apples or kiwis.  I thought I had enough for my bouquet without them.

If I do this again, I'll make a more compact bouquet and make sure you can't see the skewers at all.  I think that's what the "professionals" do different than what I did.   They also make the bouquet not quite as tall.

Pretty healthy and very yummy.

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

My kids love cinnamon rolls and we have them almost every weekend at some time...probably should ease up on 'em a little and do every other week?  Naaaa.

I love homemade cinnamon rolls but they take foooorrrrever.  I wanted something quick (again), so I tried using the canned biscuits.  They turned out great so I've been doing it ever since.

This is how I make them.

Ingredients:

3 cans of cheapo biscuits (10 count) or I'm sure they work with Pillsbury or whatever you want to use.

butter or margarine

cinnamon and sugar mixture - a good ratio is 1/2 cup sugar to 1-2 tsp. cinnamon

powdered sugar

milk

I lay all of my biscuits out overlapping a little.  Using a rolling pin I roll it into about a 11"x14" rectangle.

 I don't measure my butter.  Just spread some all over the biscuits.  Then take your sugar & cinnamon mixture and sprinkle it on top.

Next you will roll it up lengthwise.  After you have it rolled, pinch it closed so it doesn't unroll.

 Get a sharp knife (or you can also use unflavored dental floss) and cut the log into 1 inch rolls.

Make sure to grease your pan first. Then put all of the rolls in touching. 

I bake them at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  These look more done than what they really were.

To make your icing, put a couple of tablespoons of butter in a bowl and melt it.  Then add a couple tablespoons of milk.  Add powdered sugar and stir until it becomes the consistency you like.  If you need more, just add more milk and then more powdered sugar.

Pour on top of your warm cinnamon rolls and dig in.

*Sidenote: Once I used the flaky Pillsbury biscuits because that's all we had...don't do it!  They turned out pretty bad.

"Better Than Those Other" Granola Bars

For the past week I've been trying to find a good granola bar recipe.  There are a bunch of veeeery yummy recipes out there.

But I wanted one that didn't have butter, salt, condensed milk or other not-so-healthy things.  I also wanted one that had ingredients that my girls and I like, was quick to throw together, and that actually stuck together.

So here is my recipe for granola bars.

 

Better Granola Bars

1/2 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup honey

2 cups oats

1/4 cup almonds

1/2 cup peanuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Microwave the peanut butter and honey for 30-40 seconds and mix well.  Pour in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Press into an 8x8 foil lined pan.  Refrigerate until cool.  Flip out of pan and

cut to desired size.

 Most recipes I saw said to melt things on the stove, but this is much faster and you don't have to heat it so much that the chocolate chips melt.  Of course if you like the chocolate more dispersed just heat the peanut butter and honey a little longer.

To make this healthier you can use organic peanut butter, dark chocolate chips, local honey, and peanuts that you shell yourself.  It makes me feel better at least. :)
You could also add non-sweetened coconut or other nuts.

I store mine in the fridge in a sealed tupperware container.  It seems like the warmer they get the more likely they are to fall apart or be super sticky.

After giving one to my 4 year old she said, "These are better than those other ones."  I thought she meant they were better than the ones I had been experimenting with, but she said they were better than the ones in the packages....hence the name "Better Granola Bars."   Yea for homemade! 

Hope you enjoy!

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

Now that EVERYONE is addicted to Pinterest...I have to share some more fun things I've actually done since pinning crafty ideas.  I got the rainbow rice from someone on there too.

I made this great Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring the other morning.  So simple and the family loved it.

Here's the recipe I started with:

2 tubes (10 count each - I even used the generic brand) refrigerator buttermilk biscuits

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1/2 C. syrup

1/3 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. chopped pecans, opt.

Spray a bunt pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired).

Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.

Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring. 
Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Now, the things I did differently.
I used 3 tubes of the biscuits because 2 just didn't seem to fill up the ring very much.  Not thinking, I should of increased the other ingredients, but didn't.
Next time I will double the syrup and sugar mixtures.  I will also pour the syrup mixture in every so often as I lay in my biscuits to get it good and in there.  I also didn't have pecans on hand, but will absolutely use them next time.
Lastly, this took 25 minutes to cook instead of 15.

It was really great this first go around, but next time they'll be even better since I've tried them out.

This is where I got the original recipe...http://all-things-delicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/sticky-bun-breakfast-ring.html.
Enjoy!

*Update: A friend tried doubling the syrup and sugar mixtures and said she ended up with it pouring into the floor.  Guess it was a little TOO much (so sorry!).  So instead of completely doubling those mixtures, just use about 1 1/2 times the recipe if using 3 cans of biscuits.  Which actually makes sense, right? 

Baked French Toast

Breakfast for dinner tonight! Can't wait!

I really don't know who to give credit to for this recipe, but it is simply wonderful. I got it from my friend who got it from a friend who's grandma used to make this. So, a big thanks to that grandma...they do always have the best recipes.

Baked French Toast

8 X 8
1 baguette
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup light cream or half and half
4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Walnuts optional

or for 9 X 13
1 1/2 baguettes
9 large eggs
2 1/4 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups light cream or half and half
6 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Cut bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Butter your pan. Arrange bread in pan and fill completely. In a bowl combine eggs, both milks, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well. Pour over bread cubes. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

(this is before it's cooked)

Next day:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl mix softenend butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts if desired. Spread evenly over bread mixture. Bake about 1 hour or until puffed and golden brown. Serve with buttermilk syrup.

Buttermilk Syrup
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 TBS corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla

In a medium sized pot, mix sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda. Bring to a boil. Cook for 7 minutes. DO NOT BURN. (Mixture will foam up to 2-3 times in volume. Make sure your pot is large enough.)
Remove from heat.
Stir in vanilla.

It takes a little doing, but well worth it. Enjoy!