Recipe

Caramel Frappe Recipe

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I love frappes! I don’t love the price…nor do I love that the past couple times I’ve tried to get one, the milk shake machine is down. Really?! What is it with milk shake machines? Why is it so hard to keep them running? My kids were bummed that they weren’t going to get their promised vanilla milk shakes (for being good in Target…bribery at it’s best!). So, I bought some vanilla ice cream to make them milk shakes and then thought, why couldn’t I make my own caramel frappe? Some vanilla ice cream, some milk, some caramel, and a bit of instant coffee. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out…it was delicious!!! Plus, it was so easy and so much cheaper! It’s probably a bit healthier too.

Caramel Frappe Ingredients

I used three scoops of ice cream and about a cup of milk along with a teaspoon of my favorite instant coffee (decaf because it’s late in the day) and a couple squirts of caramel. Blend them together – an Immersion Blender works great for this. Pour into a glass and add some whipped cream. Drizzle caramel over the top. Enjoy!

Caramel Frappe Ready to Drink

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Homemade Pumpkin Puree

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Did you know you can cook a whole pumpkin and then turn it into pumpkin puree? I didn’t. I mean, I guess I did, but it just never occurred to me that it could be that easy. Then I read this post…several years ago. I forgot about it…until the day after Halloween when my supposed-to-be-a-jack-o-lantern was still just a pumpkin. I wondered if I could cook up my big ol’ pumpkin? I decided to give it a try and since I’m telling you about it, that means it worked.

I washed it and put it on a cookie sheet. I also had to take out one oven tray so it would fit. I stabbed it a few times – don’t want any exploding pumpkins! I will say that stabbing it was kinda fun! Then I cooked it at 350 for almost 2 hours. It probably could’ve cooked a little longer, but I had places to go and couldn’t wait any longer.

After it cooled for an hour or so (maybe longer), I cut it open. It was so easy! I separated the seeds and saved them for roasting. The stringy stuff went into the compost container. I cut the skin off the rest (the skin went into the compost too) and chunked the fruit.
I used my immersion blender to mix it up. It really didn’t take that long. I ened up with about 5 cups of pumpkin puree. I’m sure I would’ve had more, but I wasn’t real careful when I cut the pumpkin up and I’m sure there was a lot of good stuff left on the skin.

I froze three one cup baggies and made the other two into pumpkin roll. It was delicious!

Of course the seeds had to be roasted! I spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, give them a generous sprinkle of salt and bake them at 350 for 10 minutes or until they are golden brown. They are extra good when eaten still warm!

Have you ever cooked a whole pumpkin?

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Using Applesauce for Eggs plus M&M Cookie Recipe

I recently bought four bags of M&Ms because there was a free movie ticket rebate…which I think I mailed in too late. *sigh* Anyway, I figured I should use them before we just munch through all of them! I wanted to make M&M cookies, but my recipe called for two eggs…and I only had three – two of which I needed for breakfast the next day and I did NOT want to run to the store for just eggs! So, I decided to improvise. I had some plain applesauce that needed to be used up and I’ve used it making other things (meatloaf, for instance) and the flavor didn’t come through, so I tried it….they were really good! So good that I decided to make another batch. I didn’t tell anyone about the applesauce either! If you’re like me and taste the cookie dough as you mix, it will taste a little applesaucey, but after the cookies bake, you’ll never know.

1/2 C Butter
1/4 C Oil
1 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C White Sugar
2 Eggs (or 1/3 C Applesauce)
2 1/4 C Flour
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Salt
1 1/2 C M&M’s (or a whole bag)

Blend butter/oil and sugars. Add vanilla & eggsÂ (or applesauce) and mix. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in 1 cup M&Ms. Drop by teaspoon to ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate top with remaining M&Ms. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy! And don’t mention the applesauce! 😉

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

I’ve been wanting to try making dishwasher soap for a while and finally got around to buying the necessary ingredients. There are a lot of recipes out there, but I went with simple – Borax, washing soda, coarse salt, and citric acid. All items that can be found at your local store. I paid about $9 for everything but the Borax (which I already had). Borax is around $4 for a box.

The citric acid came in a 7.5 oz container which is almost one cup. So, I doubled the recipe (the original used 1/2 cup citric acid) because why just make a little bit when you’re testing something, right? Since I doubled it, it didn’t fit in my handy peanut butter jar. So, I had to rummage for another container. This one doesn’t seal very well so as soon as I use some up, I’m going to transfer it. If there’s a next time, I’ll only make a single batch.

It was really quite easy! Just dump all the ingredients together, stir them a bit, and it’s ready to use.

1/2 C Citric Acid

1/2 C Coarse Salt

1 C Washing Soda

1 C Borax

Use 1 T per load.

When I figure out how much it cost to make it, I get about $2.45 for a single batch or about $.05/T. I’m not sure it’s any cheaper than the Palmolive Eco gel I normally buy.

What about you – do you make your own or buy it? Why?

Update – I didn’t like this as much as I wanted. It may be that because it wasn’t in an airtight container, it clumped up and made it hard to use. It wasn’t really any cheaper than my normal detergent so I never made it again.

Super Easy Fruit Dip

I don’t remember where my mom found this recipe, but it is so easy and so delicious!!

Remember fluffernutters? Well, the first ingredient is Fluff. Don’t go for cheap and buy marshmallow creme – it isn’t the same!

The other ingredient is cream cheese. Don’t try to be healthy and buy the no fat stuff. Bleh! Low fat is OK, but the best is real full fat cream cheese. Blend the whole container of Fluff and one block (8 oz) of cream cheese. Put over your favorite fruit and enjoy!

Did you eat fluffernutters? Do you know what they are?

What is your favorite fruit dip?