Smore Brownie Balls

Ingredients:
Your favorite brownie mix ( I used Betty Crocker Triple Chunk)
1/4-1/2 cup hershey's syrup
1 pkg Candy Melts in the color of your choice or almond bark (I used red because I forgot to buy chocolate almond bark)
4 graham crackers (smashed up into crumbs)
1 cup mini marshmallows (two for each ball)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I used some leftover easter candy...fyi)

Cook brownies according to the package.

Once cool, crumble up into a bowl and add 1/4-1/2 cup hershey's syrup and stir until mixture can be rolled into balls easily.

Start with a small amount in your hand and roll into a ball.

Press mixture into a "nest" and add two marshmallows.

Fold the "nest" in on itself and pinch to close. Add more mixture if needed.

Roll into a ball and make sure marshmallows aren't sticking out.

Stick balls into the freezer for about 15 minutes. While your balls are hardening, melt your chocolate or candy melts in a double broiler. Keep on low-medium heat to keep it from over heating.

Put your graham crackers into a bag and crush into crumbs.

Take your brownie balls out of the freezer. Doing one ball at a time, drop into the melted candy coating. With a spoon, roll the ball around until covered.

Once covered, use a fork and carefully tap the excess coating off the ball. Once it's no longer dripping, place the ball on a parchment lined plate.

While still hot, sprinkle the brownie balls with graham cracker crumbs.

Repeat the process until all balls are done. In a small cup, Melt the milk chocolate. Once melted, place into a bag and drizzle the balls with chocolate. BE CAREFUL! The bag will be very hot. Do not use a thin sandwich bag for this, but instead use a thicker quart bag. If you don't have a bag, just dip a fork into the chocolate and drizzle on.

Place in the fridge until the coating hardens. Then serve!

Yummy Beans

So, one night I made some beans for one of our potluck meals at work and snuck in some ground pork and didn't tell anyone cause I thought they'd be grossed out. As it turned out, everyone loved the beans and I've made this recipe tons of times before and it never tasted this good, so pork has to be the secret. Anyhow, I thought I'd put the recipe up so that I wouldn't forget it and be able to share it with others. Trust me, you'll love it and it's so simple. This would be a great crock pot recipe if you wanted to do dry beans instead of canned ones. :) Enjoy.

You will need:
2 cans Bush's pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 pkt ranch seasoning ( I buy it in bulk, so just measure accordingly....don't worry, if you add too much, it will only add to the flavor)
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 32 ounce low sodium chicken broth
2 cups seasoning blend (or 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion, bell pepper, and cellery)
1 lb ground pork
1/2 tsp Slap ya Mama seasoning (I really think this is one of the things that made the flavor so good too because a friend left it out and it didn't taste as good...I found mine at Super 1 Foods)
Salt/Pepper/Garlic Seasoning to taste

*see below for crock pot version

Begin by scrambling the ground pork and seasoning blend on hi heat. Cook until done. Drain if you want, but I like to keep my grease to add to the flavoring. Actually there wasn't that much grease believe it or not.  Add in the packet of Ranch once it's all cooked and stir. Lower your heat to medium.

The mixture will kinda get a thickness to it...thisis normal. (It's just the ranch thickening the juices up).

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and simmer on medium to low heat for 10-15 minutes.

Cook some corn muffins up and serve! The juice in this picture looks a little odd, but believe me, it's the most awesome juice ever.

*Crock Pot Version of Yummy Beans

For the crock pot version, I'd use 1 lb pinto beans and 1/2 pound kidney beans. Sort and clean the beans and throw in crock pot with the rest of the ingredients. I might add 2 cups of water or 2 cups chicken broth to compensate for the beans soaking up the juice. Cook on low for 6-8 hours until tender.

If you want to use can beans but put it all on the crock pot, cook on low for 4 hours.

Flying Kites

I've been down since I've had two teeth pulled and had to miss some school and work. I believe I have a dry socket, but won't get any relief until Monday when I have an appt. Anyhow, I woke up and had to go to school for a mock practical for A and P. After I got out, I realized what a wonderful day it was so I stopped by Walmart to buy some kites for the kids. When I got home we took them to the marina and flew kites...or shall I say Dustin and I flew kites. It was great. The kids ran around trying to catch the kites and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunatly the wind quit, but we decided to take a walk.

 It was great until we walked up the dam wall and I panicked. I have a problem with heights I've realized. I can go up, but I can't go back down. So Dustin helped me up onto the road and away from the scary dam hill. What a man! I got a great pic of Noah and Livi holding hands. Oh how I love my family. Even though I was hurting really bad, seeing my family have fun made my day. :)

Oatmeal Breakfast Hearts

I thought I'd make the kids some oatmeal bars and they came out great. I altered the recipe and made two kinds. These were very easy and very healthy!

Here's the recipe for version one of Oatmeal Breakfast Hearts:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups oats
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
3 ripened bannanas (not in picture...sorry!)
1/2 cup dried cherries (or you can use rasins, cranberries, etc)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Add all ingredients and stir until mixed very well.

On a nonstick pan, place a cookie cutter (I choose hearts because they're so cute!) and filled it up to the top with the mixture. Smoosh it flat and then lift it slowly up.

Repeat until you fill up the cookie pan.

Bake on 450 degrees for about thirty minutes. They'll be golden brown and not sticky. Once cooled, you can either eat it like it is or add a little sweetness to it by making frosting...

Frosting:

Mix together 1/4 cup powdered sugar and about 2-3 teaspoons milk until you have a thick frosting consistancy. I actually used evaporated milk since it's all that I had and it came out really good. Since I used bannanas, I added a few drops of bannana extract to the frosting mixture.

Pour mixture into a bottle or use a ziplock bag and snip one of the corners. Go diagnally across each heart to make a design. The less you use the better since this is technically a healthy snack. :) Once frosting sets, simply wrap each one and store in a cool dry place for up to a week. Hope you enjoy!

For version two, I did the same thing except I used 2 cups of peach flavored applesauce and 2 diced peach cups (instead of bannanas). Follow the exact same directions otherwise.