It always amazes me how the simplest things can impress my family.

I have been making rice crispy treats for years. I think most of us grew up making and eating them.

I recently took the basic rice crispy recipe and used chocolate cereal, but instead of putting them in a pan, I made  balls out of them. It was so easy and yet impressed my whole family.

My husband told me they were really good and asked if they were a new recipe. My kids thought that they were lots of fun to eat and really enjoyed them.

These would be perfect to serve a group of kids or at a birthday party. You could make several different flavors using different cereals. They would make a fun presentation in a large bowl and be perfect for kids to just grab and go.

All I did for this was make the treats as usual, but I used me cookie scoop to form the balls. I dropped them onto cookie sheets until they cooled and then served them.

Simple, easy, and fun!

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This no bake dessert is one that I made recently and it is now a new favorite in our house. It is light and creamy and very good. We all loved it.

It only contains three ingredients and it goes together in no time. You really cannot get much simpler than this dessert.

Not only is this easy, this can be used in several different ways. You can freeze it and it is a wonderfully creamy frozen type dessert.  This is my husband’s favorite way to eat it.

You can also just refrigerate this and it is a lighter and creamier dessert, and if you place this in a graham cracker crust you will have a refreshing summertime pie.

Anyway you eat this I think you will enjoy it!

Orange Mousse

• 1 jar (7 ounce) marshmallow creme
• 1 cup orange juice ( if you are not freezing this use ¾ cup)
• 8 ounces cool whip

Beat marshmallow creme and orange juice together. Fold in cool whip. Place in a freezer safe bowl or container and freeze for 3-4 hours. Or place in the refrigerator for several hours or into a graham cracker pie crust.

This post linked to Foodie Friday.

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If you like chocolate as much as I do, than you will love this Frozen Chocolate Mousse. It is so creamy and good.

Not only is this dessert really good it is so easy to make. You really cannot get a summer dessert that goes together easier than this one does.

This is perfect for summertime, but really this will work anytime of year. I hope you enjoy!

Frozen Chocolate Mousse

• 12 oreo cookies, crushed ( I used gluten free chocolate cookies)
• ¼ cup Butter or margarine, melted
• 2  - 8 ounce packages cream cheese
• 1 can(14-ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 8 ounces cool whip
• garnish with chocolate if desired

1. Mix cookie crumbs and butter and press into a 9 inch pie pan. I used a cheesecake pan and it worked great. I would use a cheesecake pan if you have one.
2. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk.
3. Melt chocolate chips with teaspoons butter until smooth.
4. Add to cream cheese mixture.
5. Fold in whipped topping.
6. Carefully spoon over crust.
7. Freeze for 4- 6 hours.
8. Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving. Cut into squares.
9. Garnish with chocolate if desired.

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Recently I was wanting to make a cool and refreshing summertime pie. I did not have much fresh fruit on hand and I did not want to go to the store to buy any.

I did have a few limes that I thought would be perfect for a lime pie. I looked through a few cookbooks and decided to make the Key Lime Pie from the America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook. It was a very simple recipe that I knew I could put together quickly with the ingredients that I had.

I know this pie is not technically a key lime pie, because I used regular limes, but it still tasted great. I mean how can it be bad with egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk in it.

This pie was so rich and creamy. My whole family loved this and I will be making this again.

Key Lime Pie

• 4 large egg yolks
• ½ cup lime juice, 3 or 4 limes
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 Graham Cracker Crust ( I used a gluten free crust)

1. Whisk yolks in a medium bowl about 2 minutes.
2. Whisk in the condensed milk until smooth, then whisk in lime juice. Cover the mixture and set aside at room temperature until thickened, about 30 minutes.
3. Pour the thickened filling into  pie crust.
4. Bake pie at 325 for 15-18 minutes or until the center is firm, but still slightly jiggles when shaken.
5. Cool on a wire rack, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until the filling is chilled and set, about 3 hours.

The original recipe called for lime zest. I am not a big fan of lime zest in pies, so I skipped that step. If you want to add 4 teaspoons of lime zest when you whisk the eggs.

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Summertime is the perfect time for salads. We eat them as main dishes and side dishes. We enjoy vegetable salads and pasta salads.

Here are a few of our favorites.

Tomato Salad

Tomato Pasta Salad

Creamy Fruit Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

Here is a dessert salad for you. Snickers Apple Salad

( My kids are going to miss this one. I may have to find a nut free candy bar to use)

What is your favorite kind of salad?

This post linked to Tasty Tuesday and Ultimate Recipe Swap.

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A few weeks ago I made lunch for my husband’s staff. I do this every few months for them and everyone enjoys it. I enjoy cooking it, and they all enjoy a home cooked meal that they did not have to make.

When I do this I usually take the opportunity to try a new dessert recipe.

I have a lemon bar recipe that I love, but Martha Stewart has a recipe for Cream Lemon Squares that I have wanted to make for quite some time. I knew by looking at the recipe that it was a richer and fancier version than my regular recipe.

I decided our office lunch would be a perfect time to try it.

This recipe was so good. I actually made two pans, the regular version I am posting today, and a gluten free version, which I will post on my allergy site soon.

I sent these to the office along with the meal and everyone enjoyed them. If you enjoy lemon as much as I do, then this is a recipe that you need to try.

Creamy Lemon Squares

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• ½ cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 can (14-ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• ¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from 4 lemons)

1. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. This makes the bars come out of the pan easier, but it is not necessary.
2. Cream butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, and mix just until combined.
3. Press dough into the bottom and ½ inch up sides of prepared pan. Prick all over bottom with a fork. Bake until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Whisk together egg yolks, condensed milk, and lemon juice. Pour over hot crust and bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
5. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar for serving.
6. Enjoy!

This post linked to Foodie Friday.

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Did you know that the Dairy Queen Blizzard is 25 years old?! Now, that makes me feel a little old. I remember when they first came out and the commercials and ads were everywhere.

I love Blizzards and they were quite a treat when I was growing up. I grew up in a small logging town of less than 2,000 people in northwest Oregon. There is often not a lot of things to do in a small town so, driving the fifteen miles to the Dairy Queen out on the highway was an exciting outing as a kid.

We often got treats like the dilly bar or just a plain cone because they were the cheapest things to buy. However, we loved it when they had the blizzards on sale for 99 cents because then my dad would let us get one of those.

I now live where I do not have a Dairy Queen close to me, so I have had to be creative and find a way to enjoy a blizzard at home. I love to come up with make at home versions of our favorite things because they are usually easy and less expensive to make. In fact, Blizzards are one of the easiest at home things that I make.

What I love about these is that you can make them just the way you like them. You can use vanilla or chocolate ice cream. You can use what ever candy you like. M&M’s work, so do butterfingers, and Oreo cookies, Reese’s pieces, Heath Bars, there are so many versions that you can make.

The one in the pictures is a chocolate chip mint version.

These measurements are not really exact. You can vary the amounts according to how thick you like yours. The candy amounts vary depending on the candy. I usually use half a candy bar or half a package of M&M’s, but you can add more if you like more candy.

Homemade Blizzard

• 2 cups ice cream
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup milk
• about 1/2 of a candy bar (if using something like a heath or butterfinger chop it into several pieces)

Blend ice cream and 1/3 cup milk in a blender until smooth. Add more liquid if needed. Add candy bar and blend just until candy is chopped.

I know that many places sell their own version of these. In my area both Sonic and Braums have a version. They are all very similar though.

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My ten year old daughter has really taken an interest in cooking lately. She has asked several times recently if she could look through my cookbooks just to see what she could find. I think I may just have a fellow foodie in my daughter.

All too often though, I am in a hurry in the kitchen, and don’t take the time to let my kids cook with me as much as I should.

So, one of the things that I have been trying to do is to let them pick things that they want to cook. Instead of helping me cook something that I choose, I let them choose something that we can cook together.

My daughter recently came to me after looking through Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook for kids (which my girls love), and asked if she could make the yogurt pops that were in the book.

I looked at the recipe and knew this would be an easy and fun recipe for us to make. After thinking about it though I decided to let her tackle this one alone. She was thrilled to be able to cook something without me even being near the kitchen and I was thrilled to let her.

These really were easy and she did a great job on them. A child much younger could easily tackle these without much help.

These actually are great for anyone to make.  They are a quick, easy, frugal, and healthy snack for kids.

We did these in small paper cups and used popsicle sticks because my daughter wanted to follow the directions exactly, but if you have popsicle type molds those would also work well.

Yogurt Pops

• One 8-ounce carton of yogurt, any flavor ( we prefer vanilla)
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 Tablespoon honey

1. Into a  bowl, stir together the yogurt, orange juice, and honey. Pour the mixture into 3-ounce paper cups or popsicle mold.

2. Place in the freezer. If using small cups you may need to set the cups into a pan and you will need to check on the yogurt cups in about an hour. When they have begun to freeze, put the stick in the center of each one.

4. When they are solid and ready to eat, just peel the cup away or remove from popsicle container and enjoy.

5. You can also just freeze the yogurt in the cup with no stick and eat it with a spoon, like an Italian ice. Let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before you start eating so it’s not so hard.

Makes six pops.

This post linked to WFMW.

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Remember orange creamsicles from your childhood? Well I do, and I used to love them.

I love making homemade versions of my favorite foods because they are usually healthier and less expensive. I knew orange creamsicles would not be hard to create at home because they are basically just orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream.

I have seen quite a few different recipes for these, but I think this one is the easiest and closest to the real thing.

Well, okay these don’t look quite like the real thing, but they sure taste like them.

Here is what I did.

Homemade Orange Creamsicles

orange sherbet

vanilla ice cream

Let the ice cream and sherbet sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes. You want it slightly soften. Line a 9×13 pan with plastic wrap and scoop ice cream and sherbet into pan. I alternate the scoops and then swirl it together. Freeze in the pan for a few hours or until solid. Cut into bars and serve. (You could also make these in a loaf pan). Cut into bars and enjoy!

This post linked to I’m Lovin’ It and Frugal Fridays.

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I love these chocolate ice cream sodas. They are a perfect old fashioned summertime treat.

Not only that they are quick and easy to prepare and my kids love them.

Have you ever made Ice Cream Sodas?

Chocolate Ice Cream Soda

• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
• 1 cup ( or so) chocolate ice cream
• seltzer water

Place milk, chocolate syrup, and chocolate ice in a glass. Add seltzer water to fill up the glass. Be careful this will fizz and bubble over if you are not careful.

Serve and enjoy!

This post linked to Made By You Monday.

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