Oh. My. Goodness. I remember when we told our two oldest kids (12 and 7 at the time) that they could each choose one physical activity to do. We had decided to continue homeschooling and they needed some kind of organized physical fitness a few times a week. Each of them chose things that they not only came to love, but they came to be very dedicated to as well! Now we homeschool every week day, our oldest has classes 5-6 days a week with 3 private lessons on top of that, our tiny dancer has classes 5 days a week with 1-2 private lessons on top of that and we try to take a few afternoons a week for our littlest one to spend time with her buddies. Non stop action. This is why I stay up so late, so I can knit and talk to my husband and do nothing for a minute.

For now, though? For now, let’s forget about everything else and just make an Oreo pie.

I have made this entirely from scratch with homemade pudding and whipping cream and guess what? It doesn’t work! I KNOW!

via Kraft

1 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
6 tablespoons melted butter
2 pkgs instant vanilla pudding
2 1/2 cups milk
8 oz thawed whipped topping
10-15 Oreos, chopped up or broken

Super simple. Just mix the cookie crumbs and butter in your pie plate and, once combined, smoosh the crust into the pie plate. Make sure it’s all over the bottom and up the side to form a good looking crust.

Mix the milk with half of the whipped topping and then mix that with the pudding mixes. Fold in Oreo cookie chunks.

Pour the filling into the crust and top with the rest of the whipped topping. Sprinkle more Oreo cookie chunks and crumbs on top. Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Sometimes I come across a recipe that’s very vegany and it tastes like rocks and sticks and dirt. Usually, I’ll eat it anyway because I know it’s good for me and really, vegan kitchen fails can be pretty pricey!

This one though, it’s not at all like rocks or sticks or dirt! It’s actually sweet and sort of chocolatey! It’s also not pricey if you have most of these ingredients on hand and there are plenty of subs if you don’t. They’re also really, really, really easy to make. Just mix some stuff, then toss some stuff in the food processor, the combine both mixtures and shape into balls (or whatever).

Vegan Chocolate Bites
2 ripe bananas
4 tablespoons almond butter (any kind of nut butter will work really)
4 tablespoons agave (or sugar is fine too)
2 tablespoons wheat germ (or flax if you want)
1/2 cup raw oats
1 cup dates
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup raw cocoa

Mash the bananas and mix with the almond butter, agave, wheat germ and oats.

In the food processor, mix the rest of the ingredients until they’re all mashed together.

Now just shape into balls and leave in the fridge for a few hours to set up. Voila!

Yup, that’s right. Patriotic jello. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I do whatever I do with both feet. I’m either out or I’m all in. Sometimes this is not such a great trait to have, but in terms of moving stateside, I think it’s hilarious and super fun. This year for the 4th, I will wear my ridic American flag Abby Dawn heels (in red, duh), I will barbecue epic burgers, I will bake an apple pie and I will make this jello flag dessert. That’s what happened last year (aside from the shoes, those were bought for Memorial Day this year), and it’s what I intend to do every year that we are here. Thanks for having us, America. 😉

I’m sure a lot of my American friends grew up with a red, white and blue loving mother or grandmother that used to make this every year. I totally love it, it’s so so silly but not like when you make something silly that is borderline wasteful because it’s mostly decorative. It’s jello! And whipped cream! And blueberries! What’s not to like?!

It is a little labor intensive and it does require a special mold, but look at this thing, epic and totally appropriate for the 4th.

4 1/2 cups boiling water (total, not all at once)
2 packages berry blue jello (3 oz boxes)
2 packages any red jello (3 oz boxes) I used strawberry
3 1/2 cups cold water (total, not all at once)
2 packages plain gelatin
1/2 cup cool whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
homemade whipped cream (a carton of heavy cream, sugar and a mixer)
blueberries

You have to make this upside down, so even if your first inclination is to make the blue first, don’t! Prep the red jello first, I think it’s safe to assume you can handle that, but just in case you need a reminder it’s 1 1/2 cups of boiling water poured over the jello powder, then 1 1/2 cups cold water and mix till all the powder is dissolved. Pour this in the mold first and chill for about an hour.

Then make the white jello by mixing 1/2 cup of cool water and two packets of plain gelatin, let sit for about 5 minutes before adding 1/2 cup hot water and stir until the gelatin has dissolved. Then add the sweetened condensed milk and stir, pour this over the red jello layer. Chill this another hour or so.

Now make the blue jello (1 1/2 cups hot water plus the powder, plus 1 1/2 cups cold water, duh) and pour that over the red layer. Chill this another hour.

Fill a larger pan with hot water and set the mold in it to loosen it up, then say a little prayer and flip it over onto a flat board or cookie sheet or whatever.

Now, make some whipped cream (or use the rest of the cool whip), and wash some blueberries. Plunk the blueberries in place of stars and pipe the whipped cream for the stripes! Voila!!

Isn’t she beautiful?

I’m not going to lie to you here, these are going to take the better part of your afternoon to make – but not all at once. There’s a lot of chilling and rechilling and setting and chilling again. So make sure you make this for someone who will really appreciate it, or someone you’re really down with – or both! I made these for our friend Steve’s birthday this weekend. He’s got a bit of a serious sweet tooth. His cake was even more epic than these – more on that later this week. I’m happy to report he loved them, his girlfriend loved them and their guests loved them too! Winning all over the place.

So, they are labor intensive because they’re made in four separate steps and they need to completely set up and cool off before you pour the next layer on top or you’ll totally wreck it. No pressure though haha. Also, I should note that even if they set up properly, they’re a pain in the ass to cut free from the pan and this whole production might have gone a lot smoother (and prettier) if I had made them in chocolate bar molds. When I made Twix Bites a few months ago, I made a mess and then I used molds. I’m about 4200km (or 2609 miles) from all my cool kitchen gear so I had to make due, however I’m totally ordering chocolate bar molds like, right now.

First you’ve got the base chocolate layer, then the nougat, then caramel (I reeeeally recommend you make this from scratch) and then of course the top layer of chocolate. So let’s get to it!

Homemade Snickers Bars – via How Sweet it Is
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
             *
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
             *
Homemade caramel (or 1 14-ounce bag of caramels & 1/4 cup whipping cream)
             *
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter

So first, melt 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips with 1/4 cup peanut butter over medium low heat until creamy and then pour/spread into the bottom of a well greased 9 x 13 pan. You can use a smaller pan, up to about 9 x 9 (each layer will be thicker but there will be fewer pieces overall and it will take longer for each layer to set). Let this cool and then totally set in the fridge. Now, onto the nougat.
Melt the butter and the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in the evaporated milk.
Add the marshmallow fluff (sadly it has to be the crap from the store or it wont set right) and once that’s incorporated, the peanut butter.
Chop up the peanuts roughly so there are still some big chunks in there! Stir that into the saucepan.
Let this cool off a bit before you pour it over the bottom layer! The bottom layer will be cold and set in the fridge by now, but if you pour crazy hot nougat over it, you’ll melt it! I let it cool for about 10 minutes or so before I poured it over the chocolate. Pop this back in the fridge and set your sights on caramel!
I made Amish Caramel (the only real difference I found between Amish Caramel and the Microwave Caramel I made in February for the Twix Bites is that Amish Caramel takes longer and is a bit of a pain in the ass). I will explain Amish Caramel in a different post, so in the meantime, either use about 1 3/4 cups of the Microwave Caramel or melt a 14oz bag of caramels with 1/4 cup of whipping cream. Either way, let it cool off some before you pour it over the nougat! Put it back in the fridge while you prep the top layer of this ridiculously amazing treat. The top is the same as the bottom, so again melt 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup of peanut butter in a saucepan and pour it over the caramel layer.
Let these babies set up overnight in the fridge and they’re ready to be attacked the next day! You can probably get away with just a couple of hours in the fridge but they’re worth the wait! We dug into the tray while I was at their house, and hours after I left I was getting texts that they were still being devoured and loved. Best compliment ever.
This pic was taken the next day as they sat down with the tray – and a spoon. Love!!

I had been trying my hand at vegan baking for a few month when we made a friend with a pretty severe milk allergy. 2/5 of us are lactose intolerant so we are no really that big on milk anyway, but I have always left dairy in the recipes I use and it never seems to bother us the way a bowl of ice cream might. But even a cup of milk in a batch of muffins was too much for our new friend and I had made fudge for the kids that he had to miss out on.

Thankfully, I found this kick ass recipe on Averie Cooks and it was super simple to make and even more importantly, it’s delicious and free of chemicals and rando garbage store bought fudge is full of!

Vegan Fudge via Averie Cooks

1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons dairy free margarine
1/2 cup coconut milk not light
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the margarine and coconut milk over medium heat until blended. Remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, combine chocolate chips, sugar, and cocoa, then pour the hot melted butter and coconut milk over top.
Mix! Mix! Mix!
Pour into a brownie pan and pop in the fridge for about an hour or two to set up.

We make a lot of Rice Krispie treats around here. I don’t mean like, a few times a month a lot, or ever once a week a lot. I mean, like, a lot of Rice Krispie treats. My husband snarffles down a handful as a midnight snack, my oldest requests them in his lunch nearly everyday and the girls are all over them. Sometimes I add things like wheat germ or ground flax seeds to them and no one is ever the wiser, in this case however, I added more sugar to them via the addition of sugar cookie mix. I know, I know. A treat comprised mostly of marshmallows and I added more sugar? Blame Jaclyn over at Cooking Classy for this one. Aren’t her pictures so cute?! Don’t they make you want to run to your kitchen and whip up a batch? You’re a dirty liar, I know they do.

Ahem.

I had to run to the grocery store to pick up some cookie mix because DUH I don’t keep that shit in my house on the regular. Theeen, I ran to my kitchen and whipped up a batch – with my husband because he was intrigued. I was messing with one of his favorite snacks, so he wanted to know what was up.

After we made them, (sorta) let them cool and iced them, they were good but not so much better than regular Rice Krispie treats for me to add the cookie mix to them all the time. It did get me thinking though, if adding sugar cookie mix made them taste sort of like a sugar cookie, what about adding chocolate cookie mix? Is that even a thing? It must be. Or maybe the same amount of brownie mix? I will have to experiment!

As I mentioned above, the recipe was originally posted at Cooking Classy.

Rice Krispies: 1/3 cup butter 1/8 teaspoon salt 5 cups miniature marshmallows 1/2 cup sugar cookie mix 6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Frosting: 1/4 cup butter, softened 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla pinch salt 2 cups icing sugar

I trust that you know how to make Rice Krispie treats, but here’s the blow by blow anyway.

Melt the butter and the marshmallows together till it’s soupy.
Now add the sugar cookie mix and mix till it’s dissolved. Then add the Rice Krispies and stir until they are all coated with marshmallowy goodness. Press them into your pan/s and let them cool off a bit.
For the frosting, beat the butter, milk, vanilla, salt and icing sugar till it’s the consistency you’re going for. If you want thicker frosting, add more icing sugar. Spread it over the top of your cooled Rice Krispie treats and you’re done. Well, add some sprinkles or something to make them festive!

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desserts, no bake, rice krispie treats