Tasty Tuesday: Bacon Tomato Cups

This recipe was made by Melissa C. & was a huge hit!

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The Ingredients:

• 1 package of canned biscuits (make sure they are the "layered" biscuits, not croissant rolls)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 4-5 green onions, diced
• 5 slices bacon, cooked & chopped
• 12 oz shredded cheese (swiss is really good!)
• 3-4 tbsp mayonnaise

The Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray mini muffin or cupcake tin with cooking spray.

Combine tomato, onion, bacon & cheese in bowl. Add mayo until mixture is wet. Separate each layered biscuit into 3 pieces. Press each biscuit piece into a muffin/cupcake cup & fill with tomato mixture.

Bake until biscuits are golden & cheese is bubbly.

Tasty Tuesday: Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

 This deliciousness was shared by Alisha... yum!

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The Ingredients:

• 8 oz of cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 5-6 cups of fresh blueberries
• 1 pie shell (graham cracker crust is good!)

The Directions:

Bake pie shell according to package instructions. Allow to cool.

Mix the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon rind & juice, & milk. Cream until it's whipped cream consistency. Pour cheese mixture into pie shell. Cover cheese mixture with 2-3 cups of fresh blueberries.

Mash remaining berries (approx 3 cups) with remaining sugar (1 cup) & let stand for 30 mins. Mix with cornstarch & cook over medium heat until thick & syrupy. Let cool & pour over pie. Refrigerate before serving.

Tasty Tuesday: Jalapeno Poppers

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to repost some of the tastiness that shared at our annual MOPS recipe swap (tip to the wise: DO NOT, under any circumstances, miss the December MOPS meeting. The food is crazy-good).

First up, one of my personal favorite appetizer recipes... jalapeno poppers! I know you're thinking "um, I'm breast-feeding, I can't eat spicy" or "um, my kids don't like spicy" or "um, we don't do jalapenos around here." Well, no worries... the hotness level of these poppers is completely adjustable to your taste.

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The Ingredients:

• 1 can of crescent roll dough
• 4 oz of cream cheese, softened
• 2 fresh jalapenos
• 3-5 strips of bacon

The Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice open jalapenos & clean out seeds. (Tip: if possible, scrape the seeds out with a spoon to minimize contact with your hands. And wash your hands immediately afterward. And don't touch your eyes for the rest of the day.) Chop jalapenos.

Cook bacon until it's crispy, then break into small pieces.

Roll out crescent dough & cut each roll in half (this makes bite-size poppers. If you want big poppers, skip this step.) Each piece of dough should be vaguely triangle-shaped.

Place a dollop of cream cheese (approximately a smallish tbsp) in the center of each piece of dough. Press one or more pieces of jalapeno into the cream cheese, depending on how hot your want your poppers to be. Then place 1-2 small pieces of bacon on top of the jalapeno.

Fold the three corners of your dough up & pinch the top & sides together to prevent the cream cheese from leaking out.

Bake 10-15 mins or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Tasty Tuesday: Nutter Butter Banana Pudding

Banana pudding is a comfort food staple... it's simple, it's basic & everyone from age 2 to 92 loves it. This is a slightly different version & if your family loves Nutter Butters, then you definitely need to make this tasty treat!

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The Ingredients:

• frozen whipped topping (ie. Cool Whip), thawed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups milk
• 2 (3.4 oz) packages vanilla instant pudding
• 8 oz sour cream
• 5 medium-ripe bananas
• 1 (1 lb) package Nutter Butters (or the store-brand works just as well)

The Directions:

Place milk & vanilla extract in large bowl. Add 2 packages of vanilla instant pudding mix. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until thickened; let stand 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut bananas into 1/4-inch slices. Stir sour cream into the pudding mixture.

Pour half of pudding mixture into 3-qt serving bowl. Put 2-3 cookies aside to use as a garnish, then place a layer of cookies on top of the pudding mixture. Put a layer of bananas (using them all), then add another layer of cookies if you haven't used them all. Pour the remainder of the pudding mixture on top.

Top with thawed whipped topping. Cover & chill 2 to 24 hours. Garnish with the remaining cookies, then serve.

Tasty Tuesday: 4th of July edition!

Try a patriotic parfait... it's pretty, it's tasty & it's actually kinda good for you!

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The Ingredients:

• 8 oz vanilla low-fat yogurt
• 1/4 tsp almond extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 oz frozen light whipped topping, thawed
• 3 cups raspberries &/or cut-up strawberries
• 3 cups blueberries 

The Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together yogurt & extract. Fold in whipped topping. In six 12-oz glasses or dessert dishes, alternate layers of berries with yogurt mixture. Makes 6 servings.



There's just something summery & fun about kabobs... & you can arrange these

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fruit kabobs
on your platter to make an edible American flag!

The Ingredients:

• large marshmallows &/or
• bananas, cut into large slices
• strawberries, cut in half
• blueberries
• chocolate syrup

The Directions:

Assemble kabobs. Serve with chocolate syrup. YUM.


And finally, we have Strawberry Shortcake... fun, easy & you can stick some sparklers in it just to make things exciting!

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The Ingredients:

• 1 yellow or shortcake cake mix
• 8 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 pint blueberries
• 2 pints strawberries, quartered

The Directions:

Prepare cake according to package directions & bake in 9x13 pan. Cool completely.

Frost cake with whipped topping. Place blueberries in a square in the corner, & arrange slicked strawberries as stripes to make an American flag. Chill until ready to serve.

patriotic craftiness, anyone?

Just a few last-minute ideas for your 4th of July activities!

Need cute american flag shirts for your littles? Here are a couple of easy ideas that are very doable for a last-minute project this week. The middle rick-rack version is just rick-rack & a glue gun... no sewing necessary.

To see the tutorials, click here:
1. boy version  2. rick-rack version  3. girl version 


And I LOVE this idea from our own MOPS mamas, Becky. She used blue/red puff paint & a sponge brush. Easy-peasy & so cute!

Or check out these fun little patriotic paper fans... they take a few minutes to make & they'd be cute on your table, deck, mantel, anywhere. Click here for the tutorial.

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And finally, no holiday post is complete without a few free printables! There are tons of patriotic printables out there, but here are just a few that I kinda love...

To download these printables, click here:
1. My Country 'Tis of Thee  2. Life, Liberty  3. Oh Say Can You See