Homemade Cheese Crackers

I'm a sucker for homemade crackers.  Especially homemade crackers that involve cheese.  My kiddos also love cheese crackers.  So this recipe is great for the whole family.  I make them in place of Cheez-Its and Goldfish.  It's nice knowing what ingredients are in your kids' snack.  Homemade is always better and these crackers are a cinch to whip up.  Here's the DL...
Ingredients
1 cup flour
4 Tablespoons cold butter, cubed
1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-4 Tablespoons water
Directions

In a food processor combine flour, butter, cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper and pulse until crumbly, resembling cornmeal.

Add 1 tablespoon of water and pulse.  Continue adding water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough forms.

Place dough in gallon size Ziploc bag.  Using a rolling pin roll dough out.

Bag will crease up.

So every once in a while open up the bag and smooth out the wrinkles.  Then reseal the bag and continue rolling.

Roll dough out until it fills up the bag.  Place dough on a flat surface and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Carefully cut the edges of the plastic bag open to reveal dough, be careful not to touch the dough.

Cut dough into one inch squares (I like to use a ruler for this part, keeps my lines straight).  Or you can use a cookie cutter at this point if you want the crackers to be a certain shape.

Place dough squares on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Let cool completely and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 100 square crackers.

Fourth of July Treat

I saw this idea for a fun Fourth of July dessert and thought you should know about it.  Super easy and super cute!  I simply got a box of ice cream bars from the store.  Cut them in half and then let them sit at room temperature for a couple minutes.  Once the sides are a little soft (but not melting, don't let them sit out too long) insert a popsicle stick into the bottom end.  Then sprinkle the edges with your favorite festive sprinkles.  Return the ice cream bars to the freezer and allow to freeze completely again before serving.

Then eat them all up, yum.  Have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

Easter Nests

My daughter Maddie doesn't live by dates or months, but rather by holidays.  Here calendar year would look something like New Years, Valentines, Easter, her birthday, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  With such a holiday conscientious child I was reminded the other day how quickly Easter was approaching.  I thought I better get some recipes posted to celebrate this wonderful holiday.

These Easter treats are a great recipe to make with kids.  They are easy and look so cute.  And they make a great treat for your child's class or to decorate your Easter table.  Here's how...
Ingredients

1 cup milk chocolate chips

2 cups dry chow mein noodles

1/2 cup coconut

green food coloring

jelly beans or candy eggs

Directions

Line two cookie sheets with wax paper.  In a bow combine one drip green food coloring with coconut.  Stir until all the coconut is green.  

Using double boil method completely melt chocolate chips.  Stir in chow mein noodles & stir to coat.

Drop noodles by spoonfuls on wax paper, making an indentent in the middle with the back of the spoon.  While nests are still warm place a pinch of the coconut in the center.  Top with a couple of jelly beans, Robins Eggs, or even a Peep.  Allow to cool completely before serving.  Enjoy!


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Fluffy Sugar Cookies

Easter Deviled Eggs

Christmas Tree Roll-ups

This is a cute, healthy, & easy idea for a Christmas appetizer or snack.  We did this for one of my daughters class snack.  For the tree part I used spinach tortillas, spread cream cheese on them then added cheese, lettuce, & turkey.  Roll em up & cut them in 1 to 1 1/2 inch segments.  For the trunk I used a regular tortilla & omitted the lettuce & cheese.  Once we had organized the roll-ups in a tree shape we used sliced carrot & little tomatoes cut in half for the "ornaments".  You could also use red, yellow, & orange peppers & olives for decoration.  I didn't have a yellow pepper, but if I had I would have cut a star shape out & put it on top.  This is a great recipe to do with kiddos, & it's tasty!

Bagel Snowmen

I'm always searching for healthy, but fun kids treats.  This is a great one to make this time of year.  It's healthy, filling, tasty, & fun.  Kiddos have no problem gobbling up these cute snowmen.  This is a great snack to make with your child as well.  We made these for my daughters' class & my girls helped to assemble all 20 of them- & had a blast doing it.  Here's the how to...
Ingredients
mini bagels cut in half
cream cheese
small carrots cut in half crosswise
olives cut in half lengthwise
celery cut into thin strips
cherub or cherry tomatoes cut in half lengthwise
Directions
spread cream cheese on bagel halves until completely coated.  Place olives for the eyes.   Stick the carrot nose right in the hole/center of the bagel.  Use celery strips for the mouth & top of ear muffs.  Place tomatoes as the ear muffs.

This is how I cut the celery.  Really thin so it can be easily formed into the desired shape.  You could also use red or yellow peppers for this step.

Here is another option that is a bit easier.  This is what we did for my gilrs' class.  I got all the veggies ready & spread the cream cheese on the bagels.  My girls did all the decorating.  It was fun & their class was thrilled.  Plus they all got a healthy, hearty snack.