Valentine's Snack Mix

Now that we're into the new year, I've already started thinking about Valentine's Day. This year I'm planning on hosting a Valentine's Day playdate for a few of AG's friends.  When hosting playdates, I always make a snack mix for the kids. 

Snack mixes are usually a big hit at our playdates.  Chances are there is usually a few things in the mix that all of the kids will eat, no matter how picky. Kids can also help to make the mix, which makes things even more fun (and messy!)  I make sure to have little cups or even the small waffle ice cream cones make things fun for serving and even more fun for the kids to eat!

If you're looking for little Valentine's Day gifts, you can also package the snack mix in a cute jar with a tag and you're good to gift. Lots of possibilities, just a few ingredients and some happy littles. Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

Berry Kix

Stick Pretzels

Strawberry Goldfish

M&M's

Mini Marshmallows

Vanilla Chex Mix

Directions: 

Mix ingredients in a bowl and serve! 

Cranberry Crockpot Meatballs

For the past 20 years, my parents have hosted an open house on Christmas Eve. It's a day I always look forward to. Every single year, my mom makes crockpot meatballs. She usually uses grape jelly with cranberry sauce, but this year I wanted to change things up a bit. I wanted to make the recipe a little more festive, so instead of using grape jelly, we used cranberry sauce. As always, the meatballs were a hit at the party and gone by the end of the night. 

Did I mention that these take no time to make. They're a simple appetizer, which makes them a must for holiday parties.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

1 26 oz bag of frozen meatballs (fully cooked)

1 jar of chili sauce (14 oz) 

1 can of jellied cranberry sauce (12 oz) 

Directions: 

Pour meatballs into the crockpot. 

In a large bowl mix together cranberry sauce and chili sauce. 

Pour sauce mixture over meatballs in the crock pot. 

Cook on low for 4 hours. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cake Mix Cookies

Looking for an easy cookie recipe that is sure to please? 

Do you love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? 

If so, than you will love this recipe! 

With just 5 ingredients, the mix is ready in no time. Add in a quick baking time and you have fresh cookies that taste like candy in less than a half hour. Your friends and family will love you for sharing these this holiday season! 

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix (18.75oz)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350. 

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

3. Mix together cake mix, oil and eggs. 

4. Once combined, add in peanut butter and chocolate chips. 

5. Mix well. 

6. Scoop tablespoon sized balls onto the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. 

7. Bake 8-9 minutes. 

8. Move to cooling rack within 5 minutes of taking them out of the oven. 

Enjoy! 

Chicken with Honey- Roasted Tomatoes

With the new year quickly approaching, I've already started to plan clean eating meals for the year. When I was going through my recipes, I realized I never shared this one with you all. This recipe is done in about 20 minutes. It has just the right amount of flavor and pairs with just about anything. I served it with brown rice and green beans. If you're looking to meal prep for the week, I recommend doubling this recipe and saving some for lunch over the week. Serve it on a ned of spinach and you have a delicious salad! 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon + 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 tsp)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F. 

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. 

Season chicken with salt and pepper. 

Brown chicken in hot oil 2 to 3 minutes per side. 

Combine tomatoes, honey, 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar, garlic and oregano.

Pour tomato mixture around chicken 

Move skillet to oven and back for 10 to 12 minutes or until chicken is done and tomatoes are tender.

Drizzle the remaining balsamic vinegar over the chicken and serve. 

                                                      This recipe was adapted from eMeals. 

Mini Mushroom Meatloaves

Cooking dinner these days has been a bit of a challenge. When it comes time for dinner, I can usually be found running between feeding the baby, trying to keep him from throwing all of the food on the floor and pleading with my toddler to eat what I made her for dinner. By the time my husband walks through the door, both kids are almost done and I'm ready for a breather. Nine times out of ten, we have about 30 minutes to cook and eat dinner before bedtime routine starts.

So, I've been looking for recipes I can either prep beforehand with little cook time or one pot meals. The recipe below is about a 35 minute meal. With 5 minutes of prep time and 30 minutes of cook time. The meatloaves were moist with a slight crisp around the edges, just how I like them. What I love about making meatloaf in the muffin tin is that it's a great way to portion control and they are easy to take for lunch the next day! Enjoy.




Ingredients: 

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 (12-oz) pkg sliced fresh mushrooms, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbsp tomato paste

3⁄4 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

11⁄2 lb ground round or ground turkey

 Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. 

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; add mushrooms and garlic. 

3. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender; transfer to a large bowl. 

4. Stir in tomato paste, breadcrumbs,seasoning, salt, pepper and eggs; add ground round, and gently combine. 

5. Divide mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups in a greased muffin pan. 

6. Bake 20 minutes or until done.

Recipe adapted from Emeals. 

Funfetti Cake Mix Donuts

It's been too long since I've posted a recipe here on SMWL. Earlier this year, I went through rebranding with my personal blog and launched a website for my shop. That plus two little ones under three makes for busy days and not a lot of time for this recipe blog. 

Anyhow, today I'm sharing a quick and easy donut recipe. They're perfect for spring and are ready in under a half hour. Perfect for Sunday morning and sure to be enjoyed by the whole family! 

Ingredients

• 1 box cake mix I used funfetti spring 
• 1/4  cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray donut pan with non stick cooking spray. Make sure to spray it well. 
2. Mix the water, oil and egg together. 
3. Add the dry cake mix to the water, egg and oil mixture. Stir well or use a mixer to combine. 
4. Pour into donut pan. I found the best way it to scoop the mix into a gallon ziplock bag, cut a corner off and pipe it into the pan.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow them to cool for a minute before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing. 
6. For the glaze, I've used melted frosting before as well as a simple confectioner sugar/water mixture. For these donuts, I used sugar and milk. Just mix until you get the consistency you want. I use 1 TBS milk for every 3/4 cup sugar. I used a thin glaze for this donut. For a thicker white glaze, add less milk. 
7. After donuts were glazed, I added spring sprinkles to top them off! 
8. I hope you enjoy these funfetti cake mix donuts!

   
   

   

   Click HERE for the printable recipe! 

{Clean Eating} Pecan Crusted Chicken

Happy New Year! This blog of mine has definitely been neglected over the past year.
 I have close to 50 recipes to share with you and am determined to make that happen. 

Today, I'm sharing something I recently cooked for dinner. One thing I have accomplished this year is cooking more clean eating recipes. Last week I spent a good amount of time planning out a months worth of clean dinners, all of which require less than a half hour in the kitchen. Below, you'll find the recipe for pecan crusted chicken. It was a recipe delivered through my eMeals clean eating subscription. The meal took less than a half hour. The chicken had the right amount of flavor and I enjoyed the texture of the pecans with the panko crumbs. I paired it with steamed broccoli and brown rice. Enjoy! 

Pecan Crusted Chicken 

an eMeals recipe

Ingredients: 

3⁄4 cup pecan pieces (to get fine piece, I put the pieces in a bag and used the bottom of a cup to smash them, your could also use a food processor)
1⁄2 cup whole-wheat Panko breadcrumbs
1⁄4 tsp cayenne pepper
11⁄2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in
half lengthwise
3⁄4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites
3 Tbsp olive oil

Directions: 
1. Combine pecans, Panko crumbs and pepper in a bow. I used a lot bowl that would be good for dipping the chicken 
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt
3. Beat egg whites until foamy. 
4. Dip chicken in egg whites then cover with pecan mixture. 
5. Heat half of the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook 3 chicken breasts for 2-3 minutes per side or until done. Repeat with remaining oil and chicken. 

Almond Cherry Double Chip Cookies

Christmas time is here and I can be found n the kitchen baking away. This year I had a few new cookie creations on my list of things to bake. First up were these almond cherry double chip cookies. If you're a fan of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream, you must make these cookies. The flavor is similar with the mixture of the cherries and the chocolate.  These cookies have a little crisp on the outside and a sweet, soft center. They will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth and will be the perfect addition to your holiday cookie platters. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS: 

1 cup butter, softened 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 package vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 ounces)

2 lg. eggs

1/2 tablespoon almond extract

2 1/4 cups flour (all purpose)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup white chocolate chips 

1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

1  cup dried cherries, chopped

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda, then set aside. 

2. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Next, mix in pudding mix. 

3. Then add in the eggs, and almond extract. Mix well. 

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until dough is formed

5. Stir in the dried cherries, white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

6. Using a medium cookie scoop, drop dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. Remove cookies from oven. Let them cool on baking sheet for one minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely and store in an air tight container. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brookies

Brookies. Have you heard of them before?  A brownie and a cookie mixed together. Yup. It's as amazing as it sounds. 

This past Thursday, I realized I hadn't crossed off many things from my fall baking list. Yes, I made a list of things I wanted to make. I do this a lot. It's the only way I get things done. I also realized that I had yet to send a fresh baked treat to work with hubs this fall. Since Halloween was the following day, I decided it was the perfect time to send some treats in with him. 

I used a boxed brownie mix for the brownie part of this deliciousness. I had a box in the pantry and went the easy route. If I had cookie dough in the fridge for the cookie part, I would have used that too. Unfortunately, I didn't. So I used the recipe below for the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie portion. 

Overall, it took me a little less than a half hour (with a little at my foot and one in the solly baby wrap on my chest.) Cook time was a half hour. Worth every minute. These babies were my kind of dessert. The best of both worlds all in one little square. I ate three right away and had to package the rest before I ate the entire pan. These are sure to be a hit at any gathering this season! 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brookies

Adapted from Something Swanky 

Ingredients

Brownie Mix with ingredients for brownies: eggs, oil water 

For the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie layer:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree 
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups flour 
• 1/2 cup pumpkin spice baking chips
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
2. Prepare brownie mix as directed on the package. Set aside. 


3. In a separate bowl, mix the butter, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla.
4. In another bowl, mix together the salt, baking soda, and flour. Add it to the butter/ sugar mixture little by little until the dough is formed. 
5. Fold in the pumpkin and chocolate chips. 
6. Pour half of the brownie mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Just enough to cover the bottom of the dish in a thin layer. 
7. Next, drop tablespoon sized balls of dough on top of the brownie layer. I used a medium cookie scoop to do this. I tried to evenly place them on top of the batter. Spread lightly with a knife or spatula. 
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

You'll have half of the brownie mixture left over. You can make another batch of the brookies or make some brownies. I decided to make 24 mini brownies using a mini muffin pan with the leftover batter. I baked them for 10 minutes at 350.