Chocolate Peppermint Chip Cookies

Peppermint is one of my favorite things and pair it with chocolate and I am all over it! I made this Chocolate Peppermint Chip cookies for my little Monkey's Cubbies class. I baked up a half a recipe of these guys and a recipe of these cuties, packaged them up in cute little bags that I stamped with a snowman and sealed with red washi tape and sent them to church with him. I hope the kids like them as much as we do. I can't keep my husband out of them. As I type this I have butter softening for a second batch. I may buy multiple bags of the Peppermint Chips to keep around the house so I can have Christmas in July with the babies.

 I scooped the remainder of the recipe into balls tossed them onto a cookie sheet and stuck them into the freezer just to firm up, then I moved them to a freezer bag so that I could pull them out of Christmas Eve and bake them up for family and possibly leave some for the big man in red, if they last that long, I can make no promises. ;-)

Chocolate Peppermint Chip Cookies
yields approximately 3 dozen if using a small cookie scoop
1 1/4 cups butter softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp peppermint extra
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
 3/4 cup peppermint chips

Place butter and sugar into the bowl for your stand mixer and beat on medium speed around 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Stop and scrap down the sides, add in the eggs and vanilla and beat another minutes longer. In a separate bowl combine flour, soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients and mix on medium until the dough comes together and flour is no longer visible. Stir in the chips. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F and top baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop cookies on keeping 2 inches apart. Bake 8-9 minutes, until edges have set. Allow to cool for around 5 minutes on cookie sheet before moving them to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely before putting hem in an airtight container. Cookies will keep for about a week, as long as they are kept in an airtight container.

Taco Seasoning {Homemade Christmas}

Taco Seasoning is a staple in our house. While, SO not authentic, nachos happen here often. Like, once a week often, so it makes sense to make my own taco seasoning. And, since we are doing our Homemade Christmas again, it makes a perfect gift. Along with tacos seasoning and grill seasoning (to come later) we are making our Apple Butter again, because most of our grandparents requested it and so did my husband. We are making ornaments again, I'll be sharing them as soon as I get the photos needed printed. I'll be posting about homemade extracts, although its too late to make them in time for Christmas. There will be other projects that I'll be rushing to finish, as usual. I'll do a round up with links for any tutorials or recipes that I use as soon as I get farther along making them. I hope to be a bit more organized next year, then again I said that last year too. Somethings never change.

To make these seasoning mixes, simply combine the ingredients in a large mason jar or a large container with an air tight lid. Give it a shake and store it up to six months.

Taco Seasoning
(yields 2 cups)
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup cumin
1/4 cup oregano
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup granulated garlic
1/4 cup granulated onion
2 tablespoons cilantro flakes
2 tablespoons salt
* I made double this, as you can tell by the photo but I'm making quite a few gifts this year.

Right before everything gets wrapped up I will measure out 1/2 cup portion and put into so cute little tin that I found on sale and tape a label on.

I made all my labels on PicMonkey. I used the Design option, cropped it to the size I wanted and added a background. Then I added the sticker and writing and called it a day. Right click and save as if you want to use them. You'll have to resize them according to what size your containers are.

Christmas Bucket List

I was inspired by this post. I love the idea of a Christmas Bucket List! The season always zooms by, and with a husband who works retail and is so busy this time of year, I feel like we miss out on some many opportunities for fun, memory making time. This is a great way I can do somethings with the boys and plan ahead so that the hubs can be there for the fun times. And this way, hopefully he can leave the rude customers, bad corporate decisions and decrees of extra tasks at work and just enjoy family and still enjoy the season instead of being filled with dread. Hopefully, our boys will look back on Christmas memories with fondness and love instead of remembering Daddy being exhausted and cranky. I am just like my Mom, we love, love, LOVE Christmas and that makes for an interesting combination this time of year but our boys bridge the gap for celebrating. For me its about love, spending time together and and intangible magic that happens but after a decade in retail he almost lost that. He changed his views when our oldest son was born and I work every year to make sure he doesn't become a Grinch. 

Here is our bucket list:

1. Watch Elf as a family while we drink hot chocolate and eat cookies
2. Make Chocolate Chip Cookies for Santa
3. Help the boys make cards for friends and family
4. Watch Love Actually with the Mr. on date night
5. Put up 3 trees
6. Coordinate my gift wrap
7. Everyone gets new pjs on Christmas Eve
8. Make treats for my co-workers and the hubby's employees
9. Make treats for Caleb's Cubbies class
10. Make homemade fudge and caramels
11. Make hot chocolate on a stick for friends and family
12. Give myself a festive pedicure
13. Make and hang paper snowflakes with the boys
14. Make salt dough ornaments
15. Donate toys, clothes and food to charity
16. Hang light in the dining room and the boys bedroom
17. Drive around with hot chocolate and coffee looking for Christmas lights
18. Do portraits with Santa
19. Watch at least one other random cheesy Christmas movie
20. Make 1 gift for each kid
21. Make most of the gifts for our extended family
22. Make a Nativity with the boys
23. Make ornaments out of the boys art
24. Listen to Christmas music on the daily
25. Visit Rock City

What are your plans this season? Care to join in? I'll be sporadically posting about these actives and Instagraming them as well. 

Homemade Christmas Part 2

So I'm a little late here. I feel like a major slacker but the last two weeks before Christmas included sick kids, exhausted husband and kinks getting thrown my way. The last 4 days before Christmas I came down with the plague. I almost cancelled Christmas morning brunch at my house but I just kept trucking along and made it through. I made it until December 26th and then I deflated like a popped balloon! So my head is all swimmy and things that are stationary seems to be moving, in fact the computer seems to be giving motion sickness. I felt worse this time last year but I had come down with morning sickness that time. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that is not this case this time! Wow! this year has been CRAZY!!!! Anywhoooo, I'm rambling, maybe its the cold medicine  These are a few of the handmade gifts we made but I plan to show you more. While wrapping the gifts at 2:00 AM Christmas morning I realized I never did take proper pictures of my work. So I'll have to borrow a couple of things back to take some shots and remake some of the food items.

Christmas Morning with my men!!!!

Apple Butter

This is seriously one of the easiest things I've ever made. Luckily I have a Pampered Chef apple slicer so the hardest work was the clean up. I started it at 1:30 am, went to bed got up at 8:00 am stirred it a few times and it was done by 11:30 am I blended it and it was ready to can. I have a timer on my slow cooker so I didn't have to worry about checking it. I may have stopped around eight hours but I wanted the flavors to be a deep and rich as possible.

What it should look like at each stage

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

7-8 lbs of apple (I used Gala and Red Delicious but a tart apple would be good also)

1 1/4 cups raw sugar (adjust according to the sweetness of you apples)

3 TBSP molasses

1-2 TBSP cinnamon (I like mine with alot)

*optional*

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

(I didn't use them this time)

Peel, slice and core your apples. Place them into your crock along with the remaining ingredients cook on low for 8-10 hours. Stir occasionally. Once they are done either mash with potato masher or use an immersion blender to smooth. (If you like it with more of a chunky texture use the potato masher) You can either can or freeze. It will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Bacon Bark

This may be the ugliest thing I've ever made but it may also get me a "BEST BIG SISTER IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE" award. My little brother may just be obsessed with bacon. So I remixed peppermint bark, tossed out the normal ingredients and Davidified it. 

Peanut Butter Bacon Bark

1 pack of bacon

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cinnamon

12 oz Reese's peanut butter chips

6 oz white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F. Start by layering bacon onto a broiler pan. In a small bowl combine sugar, cinnamon and chili powder. Top the bacon with sugar mixture and pat down so that all the bacon is covered. Bake 15-20 minutes. Watch carefully the sugar will burn easily. Pull out and let cool. Once bacon has come to room temperature, chop bacon into fairly small pieces. Cover a baking sheet with wither wax paper. Pour peanut butter chips into a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until chips are melted. (My microwave takes 1:00 to 1:30 minutes) Pour melted peanut butter chips onto wax paper smooth out into a flat rectangle shape. Top with your chopped bacon. While that cools melt your white chocolate chips in the same manner as peanut butter chips. Drizzle melted white chocolate over and let cool. Refrigerate until cool and hardened. Once hardened break into bite sized pieces. 

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix
(I made a double recipe which makes between 14-16 cups)

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix
5 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons salt
26 oz box of powdered milk
32 oz powdered creamer
2 cups cocoa
16 oz instant chocolate pudding
2 cups brown sugar
12 oz semisweet morsels
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. In a large heavy bottom skillet heat sugar over medium heat stirring often. Cook until sugar has liquefied and turned a dark amber. Pour onto baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and let cool and set until hardened. Once hard break into chunks and place into a food processor. Pulse into a powder. (I had to do it in batches) Combine all ingredients in a huge bowl and process in food processor in batches until all ingredients are combined and a fine powder. ( I used a medium plastic box with a lid to hold it all until ready to bottle) I poured mine into 16 oz powdered creamer containers that had been washed and cleaned with the label removed.


I also made this Praline Sauce, Coconut Lime Sugar Scrub and these Oatmeal Fudge Bars I did change a couple of things for the recipient, I added chopped macadamia nuts to the crust and swapped white chocolate for the dark. I have made the bars a couple of time by the recipe and I love, love, love them! 

Christmas Morning Muffins!!!!

We are hosting out Christmas Morning Brunch again this year and I plan on scaling back the food... well I planned on it but it doesn't seem to be happening... Last year I made this granola and laid everything out for granola parfaits and they were DELICIOUS!!!! However, I wanted to change it up this year. My Mom and I have a tried and true muffin recipe so I'm remixing it with these two lovely flavors and a third yet to be determined flavor. I know you're all like Strawberry Pina Colada at Christmas!?!?! Well, that is how I roll, stank you very much. I like to mix it up and get CRAZYYYYYYY y'all!  Okay, maybe I'm just sleep deprived. I probably shouldn't write these when I haven't been sleeping often or while I'm listening to a playlist made of mostly Prince, Michael Buble and Outkast. Whatevs. 

For Basic Muffins:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
Raw sugar for topping*

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease and flour muffin cups or toss in liners if you too cool to bother with all of that nonsense. (As you can see I am!) Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine  Make a well in center and set aside. In another bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Add all of the liquid to dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened and still lumpy. Add mix ins making sure not to over work. Spoon into cups approx 2/3 way full. Top with raw sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes.
* Optional but needed

For White Chocolate Pomegranate:
Prepare as above except
omit oil
add
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup white chocolate
seeds from one pomegranate

For Strawberry Pina Colada:
Prepare as above except
omit oil
swap milk for coconut milk
add
1/4 cup diced strawberry (if using frozen no need to thaw mix in still frozen)
1/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup shredded coconut

You can see my sous chef admiring his work ready to dig in. 

and in other cuteness....

♥♥♥♥ Liam's new happy spot is staring up at the tree. ♥♥♥♥

Homemade Chirstmas

This year for various reasons we are making all of our Christmas gifts, with the exception of some of the boys gifts. The first one I've made is for our parents aka the grandparents. Therefore if you are one of said grandparents

 DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!!

You will need:

Our first project was a hand print ornament. I used clear glass ball ornaments that I purchased at a craft store. I also bought a red paint pen and red glitter embossing powder. (If you don't own a heat gun you could use either paint or regular ink) For my oldest I used the largest ball I could find for the baby I used a regular sized smaller ball. The larger size comes in a 4 pack the smaller in a 12 pack. I used clear embossing ink and printed the boys hands, stamped on to the copy paper and sprinkled it with the powder. I used the heat gun to emboss the powder. I let it cool, cut out the shape of the hand. I took the top of the ornament off, rolled up the paper and slid it into the top of the ornament, replacing the cap afterwards. I used the red paint pen to write their name and the year. I finished it off with a red ribbon on the top. They don't photograph very well but they are adorable in person. To add contrast you can use either a different color paint pen or embossing powder but I liked the monochromatic color scheme.