DIY Kind Bars

So I pretty much discovered that I love Kind Bars after we ran our first Color Run 5k. They are quite tasty but can be pricy ($1.25 per bar) and I am not a pricy gal lol. So I wanted to make my own...I did bunches of research and merged recipes and ended up with a new favorite recipe :) here is what I did

DIY Kind Bar
Ingredients:
2 cups rice crispys
2 cups rough chopped natural almonds
2 cups chopped cashews
8oz honey
2tbsp butter (i used real)
1tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Chop and mix nuts, set aside
In a sauce pan melt butter, vanilla and honey together let simmer for 1 minute
Pour honey mix over nuts and mix until well coated
Pour nut mix into a parchment lined baking dish (parchment paper will make life much easier trust me)
Bake for 20-25 minutes
Let bars cool (cut before cold, if too hot they will fall apart but to cold they will crumble)
Wrap individually(I used snack size Ziploc)
Enjoy
**I plan on trying other nut and fruit combinations...yum

Flip Belt

Ok so this is probably strange to most but I am in love with this new little thing. I have been trying to run more often and train for the Color Run 5k. The hard part is that I often run late in the evening and need to take my phone with me so I have something incase anything happens. I found this running belt online…I think it was on pintrest. But really did not want to pay $25+shipping for it, so I examined it and decide I could make it. It appeared to be made of out the stretchy material that you would use for yoga or other fitness wear. So I headed to my local Goodwill to see what I could find to use as the material…yoga pants worked great and were super cheap at $2 per pair (each pair made 2 belts) and after an hour or so I had 5 wonderful flip belts to share with my friends they work great!! You slip on the belt (pockets out) put in your phone or whatever you want to hold, flip it and go!

-the pics are not the best but help you understand the idea.

Super Easy Butterfingers!

It is Candy Corn Season so here his a yummy and super easy treat!!


1 lb. candy corn
16oz jar peanut butter (I used reduced fat)
16oz pkg. chocolate or white chocolate candy coating 








Melt candy corn in microwave on high 1 minute.

Stir and continue cooking in 15-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval.

Stir in peanut butter.

(no actual picture, will update)

Spread mixture in a 9x13 pan (really any size liked the larger pan it makes them a little thinner) lined with parchment or wax paper

Cool completely. Cut into squares. (or other shapes)

Melt candy chocolate in microwave on high 1 minute.

Stir and continue cooking in 15-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval.

 

Dip in melted chocolate candy coating. Lay on waxed paper to set

 

Enjoy!

Wedding Cake Time

Today is the day that I get to truly experiment with the 3-tier Rice Crispy Wedding Cake. I have made a few large cakes to get a feel for what I was doing, and since there was no good tutorials online I took lots of pictures and will post my own ‘how to’ here.

First I found 3 boxes of the desired size (I went with a 12x12, 10x10 and 6x6) I would of preferred a 9x9 but I could not find a good one. (Shipping boxes worked really well, I tried to find pretty sturdy ones.)

Then I disassembled the boxes and wrapped with Wax Paper then folded them back up.

Then made multiple batches of Rice Crispy Treats. (I caluclated based on sq in of the cake the number of batches-

Example: 1 standard batch fills a 9x13x2 pan, so that is 234 sq in. ) 

I cut the boxes off of the each cake and removed the wax paper. 

 Inserted 2 skewers so they would stay put when I put them together.

 All three cakes :)

 Then Assembled the cake placing one on top of the other

 Tada...

 Then decorated it(we buttered the ribbon to avoid grease marks).

Finished Product...Love it!!

 Best part might of been the cake cutting lol Chad got a workout.

Baby Bow Ties!

Made these for the baby shower I attend this week so cute and pretty simple!!

Start with any fun fabric.
Cut a 9inx4in rectangle of fabric
and a 4inx2in rectangle of fabric
Fold in half (finished sides facing eachother)
Sew
Filp inside right
Iron and Fold in the edges

Pinch in the center and add a few stiches

Don't worry if it is not perfect it will be covered

Now iron out the shorter peice

Measure it you may need to cut off a little of the excess (depends on how you sewed and pinched the frist peice)

Wrap and sew the cover like such

Tada!

Attach snaps or velcro to onesies and the bows for a super cute baby!

GF Options!!

Cream-of-Whatever Soup Substitute

Base (thick):

• 3 Tablespoons butter or oil
• 3 Tablespoons flour or corn starch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash of pepper
• 1-1/4 cup liquid, milk or stock

Melt butter or oil in saucepan. Stir in flour and seasonings. Cook over medium heat until bubbly. Add liquid slowly, stirring with wire whisk to prevent lumps. Cook until thick. Makes 1 cup or 1 can of condensed soup.
Tomato Soup: Use tomato juice for the liquid. Add dashes of garlic, onion powder, basil and oregano.
Chicken Soup: Use chicken broth for half the liquid. Add 1/4 t. poultry seasoning or sage.
Mushroom/celery/chive soup: Saute 1/4 C chopped mushrooms, celery or chives and 1 T minced onion in butter before adding flour.

Allergy Suggestion:  If you use a gluten-free flour (rice, tapioca, etc.) or cornstarch, you can make the soup gluten-free.  And if you use a stock rather than milk, you can make it milk-free, too.

Posted from: http://afrugalsimplelife.com/2011/09/07/cream-of-whatever-soup-substitute/ 

Cinnamon Face Mask

Today was Cinnamon Face Mask Day :) I used a recipe I found online (Allspice, Cinnamon and Honey)  It was a little harsh on my eyes but over all it was kinda nice.

Dairy, sugar and egg free brownies

Really a great Recipe:
Whitney’s Birthday is this week (May 23) and she is doing a Dairy Free and low sugar diet to help with the Baby.
So Megan and I made some really yummy dairy, sugar and egg free brownies…so good

Ingredients

2 c. Flour
2 c. Sugar or Sugar Substitute (I only used about ½ c.)
¾ c. Cocoa Powder
1 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Salt
1 c. Water
1 c. Vegetable Oil
1 t. Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1.       Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F.
2.       In a large bowl, stir flour, sugar, cocoa, powder and salt. Pour in the water, vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix until well blended
3.       Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.
4.       Bake 25-30 minutes.(or until the top is no longer shiny) Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting. (very important or they will completely crumble…trust me)