cooking – Copper Acorn

by Alexis - November 4, 2011November 4, 2011

Happy National Peanut Butter Month! Peanut Butter Maple Bites

Did you know November is National Peanut butter month?! When a new month starts, my friend blogs about that months important dates to remember- and this one is a biggie! So, in honor of the very special nut…this post.

I found these on Pinterest. They taste fabulous! Like you’re sneaking a treat, but they’re not that bad for you! Score! So yes, try it, I know you will love them. Recipe at end.

I have fun ideas of putting in mint chips, M&M’s or no chocolate at all! Super yummy! I didn’t have honey, it’s a hot commodity in our home. So we used maple syrup instead so we call them ‘Peanut Butter Maple Bites.

Step one: mix all ingredients together

Step two: allow your kids to sneak bites of the ‘dough’ and make faces.

I absolutely LOVE having Emma in the kitchen with me. I want to instill a love of creating. However, she refuses to eat what she makes. Weird right? Fortunately, she’ll eat these.

Third: Roll into balls:

Refrigerate for about 1 hr., then tada!

They were Emma’s ‘treat’ if she ate her lunch today. She did. 🙂

Hope you have a great Friday!

Recipe: 1 cup oatmeal 1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter) 1/3 cup honey 1 cup coconut flakes 1/2 cup ground flaxseed 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips 1 tsp vanilla

by Alexis - December 4, 2009December 4, 2009

Chunky Lime Jello with Cheddar Cheese…

Yes, you read that right. You know when you marry into a family and you see quirks that are…way different from the family you grew up in? Yeah, well Travis’ family doesn’t have that many, except for a couple glaring ones. One in particular I tease him about a lot during the holiday season. What is it? Prepare yourself. His family makes green jello with fruit in it (normal so far right?) then adds a huge layer of whipped white cream and then tops it off with CHEDDAR CHEESE! The picture below isn’t a good example, but it’ll do. They went light on the cheese for some reason this year. When they brought it out Trav and I both smiled. For him, because he knew how much it sickens me to think of lumpychunky lime jello with shredded cheddar…Ugh. I smiled because I was so going to take a picture of it and blog about it.

They had 2 huge cake pans of it. It went fast.

Last time we visited, they had it in a bundt mold and added a heavy amount of cheese. My eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

I do have to confess that I did grow up in a wierd home. I never, and I mean never had green bean casserole with those crunchy onion things on top, never had nuts in desserts (even sundaes and brownies), never had cold macaroni salad (we were Germans and had cold cucumber salad and potato salad- but cold wet noodles?…yeah, not so much) and we never had jello with fruit in it. Now that I think about it…I don’t remember having jello much at all. I guess it would taste OK, but the whole idea of lumpy chunky jello doesn’t send my taste buds into a frenzy of delight.

Instead, I LOVE hot or cold sauerkraut and HOMEMADE potato dumplings. I think warm shredded red cabbage is to die for and lastly…I could live and I mean LIVE off creamed spinach. Yeah, I know- now you feel bad for Travis huh. 🙂 He sure had a lot of new flavors to try when he entered my mom and Oma’s kitchen. hehe Good thing they’re great cooks.

But never chunky lumpy jello with cheddar cheese.

by Alexis - October 6, 2009October 6, 2009

Onion Rings

I have noticed a trend in my making and baking…it all seems to be unhealthy. Unfortunately this post isn’t any better. Instead of being super sweet it’s super greasy. But it was really tasty! Yes, as you can tell from the title of this post, I made onion rings for dinner last night. (link is a similar recipe. I didn’t follow any but fooled around in the kitchen and made my own kinda) I was really nervous because I was making them with red onions. Would they turn out and taste as good as yellow onions? Yes! They didn’t look like a bloomin onion or anything, but they were great! And super fast and always a favorite with me. One red onion made about 15 onion rings. I apologize for the pictures- not my best or favorite. I am still learning how to take pictures at night and use all the different options my camera has. It doesn’t help that I’m not a fan of the flash either. Hope you can make them- kids would enjoy helping you.

Yesterday Emma and I went to the park to enjoy the falling leaves and cooler weather. It was nice to get out of the house and not have to drive anywhere. Below are also some photos of our time there. Enjoy!