S'more Treats

 S'more Bars
1 package (10.75 oz.) miniature marshmallows - 6 cups, divided
1 box (13 oz.) Golden Grahams cereal - 8 cups
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a sauce pan melt the butter on medium-high heat.
3. Add about 4 cups of  marshmallows and the vanilla to the butter. Stirring constantly.
4. Once the marshmallows are almost all melted, mix in the milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
5. Pour the cereal into a large bowl. When the chocolate chips have all melted and your mixture is nice and smooth, pour over the Golden Grahams. Add in the rest of the marshmallows (about 2 cups).
6. Let it cool for a few hours before serving. Best if left at room temperature over night. Cut and ENJOY!!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yep, healthy and chocolate. Two very wonderful things make an even better combination. These are so delicious you can hardly tell how good they are for you! :)  I got the idea here. No flour, no fat, and low calorie!!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

1-3/4 cups oatmeal

1 Tbsp. flaxseed

3 egg whites

1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup hot water

1/2 cup Agave (or 3/4 cup sugar)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 muffin tins (12 muffins in each).

2. Put all of the ingredients in a blender (or food processor) - except for the chocolate chips, and blend until smooth. 

3. Fill muffin tins, each muffin about 3/4 full.

4. Bake muffins for 10 minutes.

5. After 10 minutes take the muffins out and place chocolate chips over top.

6. Put back in the oven for 2-5 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Enjoy!!

The Winner Is...

The winner for the free pair of Zoey boots is:

Makin' Memories of Us

The three other lucky people who get a 50% off coupon code are:

Janie

Rach

Melanie @ bear rabbit bear

Please email me so I can send you the details!

Thank you to everyone who entered! And thank you for all of your support, it's been fun! 

Brown Bag Apple Pie

So, first off, we call this "Brown Bag Apple Pie", because we used to bake it in a brown paper bag - BUT, there's been studies shown that since brown paper bags are made out of more recycled materials than they used to be, and so they now can release certain chemicals at a high heat. ANYWAY, needless to say we use oven bags (made for cooking a turkey in), and they work just as well. 

Secondly, why the bag in the first place? No one likes a dry pie. This helps keeps all the yummy moist goodness inside the pie. It's divine! 

And lastly, you don't need to roll out the crust! Yahoo!! You just pat it right in, and the top is just a crumble topping. Apple pie with no headaches, that's my kind of deliciousness. 

Brown Bag Apple Pie

Crust:

1-1/2 cup flour

1-1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. cold milk

Filling:

4 cups of sliced apples (Granny Smith's are the best cooking apple, but I actually used Fuji and it turned out great!)

1-1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 cup flour

6 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Combine the crust ingredients. Pat into a 9" greased pie plate.

3. Combing the dry ingredients in the filling. Toss in the apples. Stir until the apples are completely covered. 

4. Place the apples into the unbaked pie shell. 

5. Using a pastry cutter (or two knives), cut the topping ingredients together. Crumble the topping with your fingers and sprinkle over the top of the pie. 

6. Put a dash of flour in the oven bag to keep it from exploding. Place the pie plate inside and tie it shut. Poke about 6 holes in the top to let the bag breathe a little. 

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 80-90 minutes. Do NOT peak! I know you'll be excited but don't open the bag until the pie is a nice golden brown. Let it cool, and enjoy! 

200th Sale Give-a-way

Yesterday was a big day. I made my 200th sale!  200 pairs of boots, so technically 400 little boots, thousands of buttons, and many little white sent packages. I have loved making and selling these boots, and am gearing up for Swiss Days this August! To celebrate this exciting day I want to give these lovely boots away!! 

Even if you don't have a baby, please still enter the give-a-way! You could give them as a gift to a friend, a neighbor, a niece, a grandchild, or keep them for your future babies!! 

You can enter two different ways:

1. Go to my Etsy Shop and leave a comment here on my blog telling me which boots you like the most. 

2. Become a follower of my blog, and leave a comment telling me you're a follower. If you're already a follower this counts for any entry as well, just let me know you already follow me! 

3. Blog, facebook, or tweet about this give-a-way and leave a comment with the link. 

The give-a-way ends a week from today, Sunday, May 20th at 7:00 pm MST. 

The first place winner will win the boots pictured above - choose which size you'd like.

Then 3 other winners will get a 50% coupon code for a pair of boots. 

I will post the winners names and you can email me so I can get your information. 

GOOD LUCK!!! And thank you for all of your support! 

Banana Oat Muffins

Ok, so I know this picture isn't the best, but these muffins are!! I took my muffins out a bit too early so that's why they sunk. Just look at the nice round one in the middle :) But they still are delicious!! This a perfect recipe for when you bananas start getting a little too brown. 

No Flour

No Fat

Banana Oat Muffins

2 -1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup plain fat free greek yogurt

2 eggs

1/2 cup Agave (or you could do 3/4 cup sugar)

1 Tbsp. honey

1 -1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon 

1 Tbsp. flax seed

2 ripe bananas 

The instructions are pretty easy.
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tin.
2. Put EVERYTHING in a blender or a food processor. Blend until it is completely smooth - oats and all.
3. Pour into muffin tins about 3/4 full.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes (they should be golden brown, and a toothpick should come out clean). They will still be very moist, so don't expect a super fluffy and airy muffin. They're so delicious. You neeeeeed to try them!!

Enjoy!

Camera Purse

I just bought a new D-SLR camera (Yay!). I didn't want to have to lug around a camera bag, and a purse. So I decided to make a cute purse into a camera bag! I found this purse at TJ Maxx:

My main criteria was that it needed to have a flat bottom (this happened to be 8" x 12"), it needed a long strap so I could have it over my shoulder, and it needed to zip closed.

Your measurements may differ depending on what camera you have and what size purse you choose to use. I have the Canon Rebel T2i, and two lenses. 

Supplies

Purse

3/4 of a yard of fabric

15" x 30" foam

1 foot of Velcro

1. I actually used 3 different fabrics (the coral color isn't pictured, it was an afterthought), each 1/4 of a yard.

2. Cut a piece of fabric 11" x 33"

3. Fold in half length-wise so it's now 5.5" x 33". Then sew along a short side and a long side, so there is one short side still open. Clip your corners and turn inside out. 

4. Cut 4 pieces of foam: (2) 6.5" x 5.5" - Piece A, (2) 8.5" x 5.5 - Piece B

5. Put Piece A in and all the way down to the sewn end. Sew right next to the foam so it's tightly enclosed in the fabric. Take Piece B, push it down all the way to the seam. And sew right next to that piece of foam so that it is tightly enclosed. Repeat with Piece A and then the other Piece B. 

 6. At the end of your foam-filled piece of fabric, sew the edges together. Sew the loops of the Velcro on the inside of one side. Then on the far side sew the hooks of the Velcro on the outside. So when you put them together it forms a little box.

 7. Cut 2 pieces of fabric: (1) 4" x 11", (1) 6.5" x 11"
8. Cut 2 pieces of foam: (1) 3.5" x 5" - Piece C, (1) 6" x 5" - Piece D
9. Take your smaller piece of fabric and fold in half (so it's 4 x 5.5), and sew the two long sides inside out. Clip corners and turn inside out. Put your smaller piece of foam inside. Sew last side together, then sew on a hoop of a Velcro piece.
10. Take the larger fabric piece and in half ( so now 6.5 x 5.5), and sew inside out along the two shorter sides, leaving one side open. Put your last piece of foam inside. Sew shut. In the middle of the piece sew on the hook side of the Velcro. The two pieces should then connect perpendicular.

11. Place your two little perpendicular pieces inside your little box. Just enough space for a camera and two lenses! 

I decided afterward to add an extra piece of foam on the bottom to add a bit more protection. Now I have just enough room for my camera, two lenses, my wallet, my phone, and keys! I am so happy with how it turned out! Now I won't feel like it's a hassle to lug around this camera. It's great!

 Email me if you have questions, I know my instructions might be a bit confusing :) 

Quinoa, Sweet Potatoes & Dried Cranberries

Quinoa, Sweet Potatoes & Dried Cranberries

1 cup of uncooked Quinoa

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 Tbsp. butter

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing:

1/4 cup balsamic dressing

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1-1/2 Tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peeled and cube the sweet potatoes. Place on a greased cooking sheet. Brush with melted butter. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Flip the potatoes over and brush with left over butter, sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar. Place back in oven for 5-10 minutes, until they are soft and cut easily with a knife. 

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Add in the sweet potatoes and dried cranberries.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and stir into the quinoa mixture. 

Enjoy!!!

*Served with salmon, asparagus and Parmesan bread.