Archive for Recipes

Costumes are not just for Halloween!

My best friend had a birthday party for her six year old son recently and she made it into a costume party!  I have to admit, it was kinda cute watching all these kids parade around in their costumes when it was not Halloween; and my son LOVED getting to dress up as Buzz Lightyear again!

So this got me to thinking.  Why do costumes have to be for only one day of the  year?  If my baby boy wants to run around as Buzz Lightyear just because he is in the mood to be an action figure or super hero, why not?  Plus it makes me feel better about spending money on a kid’s Halloween costume if I know it is going to be used more than once.

The next time you are throwing a party, consider making it a costume party.  This is a great way to stretch your dollar further when you are thinking about buying costumes because you know you will have another use for it down the road.  Plus it’s especially great for a kid’s birthday party.  I’m sure the kids will love getting dressed up, and you can even make a theme out of it.  You could do fun superhero desserts, or an animal themed party with “dirt dessert” (I will have to make this some time and post some pictures for you, it is truly awesome for kids parties!).  If you have some recipes or game ideas for a costume party of your own please share them with us in the comments.  In the meantime enjoy the superhero recipe listed below!

 

Here is a fun ‘Avengers’ superhero recipe courtesy of Disney that would work at any awesome costume party!

1.    Whip up a batch of your favorite sugar cookie recipe and use a cookie cutter to make character cookies.  They make Superhero cookie cutters in the shape of many Avengers heroes.  You can also use any oval shaped cookie cutter and instead fill in the details with your decorating.  Once your cookies are baked and cooled, you are ready to begin decorating.

2.    You can make your own royal icing (See:  How to Make Your Own Royal Icing included below) or use store-bought.  Color with food coloring to achieve the various colors you want for decorating.  We recommend green (for the Hulk), yellow, blue, black, white, and brown.  Place each color in a piping bag.

3.    Begin by outlining the cookie in your base color.  (If you were starting with The Hulk, outline the entire shape in green.  Color in your outline with green icing and cover the entire cookie.  (You can actually use a paintbrush to “paint” your cookie.)  Give the base a few minutes to dry and choose your next color.  For The Hulk’s hair, outline his hairline in black and proceed to fill in with black icing.  You can continue to draw features in and watch your character come to life.

How to Make Your Own Royal Icing

  • 3 egg whites, at room temperature.  We prefer dehydrated egg whites, available at most supermarkets.
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • food coloring (optional)

Mix above ingredients with a little warm water until smooth.  Add food coloring.

 

 

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post in which The Mommy Bunch received compensation, however all opinions are strictly our own!  Avengers recipe and pictures provided courtesy of Disney.

 

 

Magic Bars Recipe

Recently I threw a surprise birthday party for my husband.  He was turning 30 and since I had so many other things to do I wanted an easy treat I could whip up in a snap.  These Magic Bars turned out great and everyone gobbled them down in no time!  Oh, and my husband was completely surprised by the party and we had a ton of fun catching up with old friends!  If you want a super simple and fast treat that tastes great, try these Magic Bars!

Magic Bars Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 1/3 cup coconut
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and butter together and pat into bottom of a 9×11 pan. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the graham cracker layer. Sprinkle the coconut, chocolate chips, and nuts evenly over the milk and graham cracker layers. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brown.

 

This post was originally published at MomItForward.com on 05/08/2012.
http://momitforward.com/magic-bars-recipe

Bananas & Cream Bundt Cake!

I have been meaning to post all the fun recipes I have tried, or want to try for that matter, but it just seems like there are just not enough hours in the day for me to whip up some culinary masterpieces, take pictures, feed the kids, and then post about it!  However, my mother, who is always trying new recipes, has graciously agreed to help me out!  She is constantly telling me about the new things she is trying out, like her homemade shake n bake burgers she made the other day.  I asked her, “did you take any pictures?”  Of course she didn’t; I am still working on her about what I need for a post so I can share it with you, hey she’s new to this, so I guess we can cut her some slack, lol.

She did manage to take some pictures of this Bananas & Cream Bundt Cake recipe she tried out.  When I asked her how it was, she said it was very good and if you like banana bread then you will like this.

Here is are a couple of pictures of her finished product, along with the recipe:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1/3 Cup Shortening
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
confectioners’ sugar

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in vanilla.  Add bananas and mix well.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, stirring just until combined.  Stir in walnuts.  Pour into a greased and floured 10in fluted tube pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes or until cake tests done.  Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

 

Rootbeer Cupcakes {and Frosting}

The thing I like about creating recipes is that often you don’t measure when you create them.  I suppose it would be wise if we wrote down what we used as we went along, but how can you create a masterpiece that way?

Enjoy these delicious looking cupcakes, a recipe by guest SENSIBLYSARA.

I have been playing with all kinds of cupcake recipes.  Last weekend I made Mountain Dew Cupcakes and Cherry Crush Cupcakes.  James has requested Rootbeer Cupcakes for his party in a few weeks, so I thought today would be the perfect day to play with that recipe since I can take the test product to his karate party!

WARNING:  I rarely measure things when I am coming up with a recipe … so I will do my best to provide measurements.

Cupcakes:

1 box White Cake Mix

1 box Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding Mix

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups Barq’s Rootbeer (or whatever brand you like)

Mix the cake mix, pudding and eggs on low.  Add in Rootbeer.  Mix for about 2-3 minutes, or until well blended.

Bake at 350* for 18 minutes.

Frosting:

Barq’s Rootbeer – maybe 1/4 cup

Vanilla – about 1 1/2 teaspoons

Rootbeer Flavoring – about 2 teaspoons

1/3 c. Whipping Cream

1 c. Sugar

1/2 c. Crisco

1/2 c. Butter

Powdered Sugar – about 1 cup

Brown Sugar – about 3-4 Tablespooons

Cream the rootbeer, vanilla, rootbeer flavoring, sugar, butter and crisco.  Add in whipping rream and mix until it’s combined.  Throw in the powdered and brown sugars and mix.  I think I blended it on 3 (my favorite Kenmore speed) for about 3 minutes.

The icing looked like this   when I was done creating!

The finished product:

ENJOY!  Please let me know if you have any questions – I’d be happy to try to help – or feed back!!

 

The original post can be found at sensiblysara.  Reposted with permission.

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