Recipes

Elmo and Cookie Monster Cupcakes

(The picture is not the greatest because people started eating these cupcakes fast before I could get a good picture.)
This was a very easy recipe as well and my son Hunter loved them for his 2nd birthday party! 
Here is the recipe:

• Any cupcake or muffin mix
• Red and blue icing
• Oreo cookies (or something similar in colour and size to be more frugal)
• Mini marshmallows
• Chocolate chips
• Orange jelly beans
• Mini chocolate chip cookies

This was very simple and you don't even have to be very crafty to do these!

1. Bake the cupcakes/muffing in tins and let cool
2. Using a icing lid tool (wavy one very cheap at any grocery store) put icing in little squirts on cupcake
3. Shove a chocolate chip into small marshmallow for all eyes
4. Cut Oreo cookies in half and use  the dark part only for Elmo's mouth
5. Use jelly bean for Emos nose
6. For Cookie monsters mouth put mini chocolate chip cookie slightly sideways

So simple and easy to make and really inexpensive.  There are some other variations online for Oscar the grouch (use green icing and brown icing for the eyebrows) and some examples of Ernie and Bert but my son loves Elmo and Cookie Monster and luckily these are the two easiest to do!

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Chocolate Peppermint Marshmallow Sticks

This is one of the easiest and tastiest recipes I have ever done!  I made them the other night and we put one of the sticks in our hot chocolate for a treat and it was deliciously addictive!  This was also very inexpensive to make and would be a great little homemade holiday gift for someone.
Here is my recipe:

• 3 small marshmallows or 1 large marshmallow per stick
• milk or dark chocolate melted (amount depends on how many you want to make)
• candy canes
• stir sticks, candy sticks or large toothpicks

1.  Take the marshmallows and put them on the sticks
2. Melt chocolate in microwave until soft 
3. Put desired amount of candy canes in a ziplock baggie and break (I used a small hammer)
4. Dip the marshmallows in the chocolate then roll them in the candy canes
5. Cool in the fridge for a few minutes
6. Serve in hot chocolate!

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Saving money by making favorites at home

A great way to save money is by creating your favorite dishes from restaurants at home. My husband and i used to love going out to eat but now with 2 kids at home our budget and priorities have changed.  I love trying to replicate things that we have ordered in the past and I love coming up with new dishes.

I also have a hard time trying to find ways to feed my son vegetables without him know he is eating them.  I want my family to eat healthy things that taste delicious and and are easy and inexpensive to make. 

Coming soon will be easy inexpensive recipes for the whole family!  Stay tuned!!!...