{lightened up} Strawberry Bread

Four years ago, I shared a recipe for strawberry bread that has become a family favorite in our house. It's something I look forward to baking when strawberry season begins here in Florida. Over the spring and summer months, I probably make it at least twice a month. It's just that good. 

Last month, our neighbors brought over these gorgeous strawberries that were freshly picked. I knew right away that I was going to make strawberry bread with them. Unfortunately, I was out of pretty much all my baking ingredients when I went to make it. So, I used what I had on hand and decided to attempt a lightened up version of our favorite bread. 

The result was amazing, just as good as the first recipe. Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or even an afternoon snack. Bake some and share it with neighbors. Whatever you do, just make this recipe...you won't regret it! 

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup white sugar

1 cup + 1 TBS brown sugar 4 eggs, beaten
 1 c. applesauce 

1/4 c. oil
2 cups fresh chopped strawberries
Optional- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
In large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients, except set aside the extra tablespoon of brown sugar. Add egg and oil; mix well.
Stir in berries until evenly distributed - batter will be
thick. Grease & flour two 9" loaf pans and divide batter evenly into
each. 

Topping: Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of brown sugar over the top of the bread before baking. This is also the time to add the chopped nuts if you desire as well. 

Bake at 350 approx. 1 hour. Cool in pans 10 min. Invert onto
wire rack to cool completely.

To make mini loaves, follow the same directions above and back for about 40 minutes or until the edges are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. 

Easter Snack Mix

Easter is around the corner and today I'm going to share an easy snack mix with you. 

This snack mix is perfect for Easter egg hunts, playdates or just for fun for the littles! 

Snack mixes are always something fun to make for the holidays. I love all of the Easter themed candy and snacks that are out, they make putting these snack mixes together much more fun and festive. I have one very picky eater in my house and what I love about snack mixes is that chances are she'll find something she will eat in the mix. 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups of Chex

1 1/2 cups of stick pretzels

1 cup of cheddar bunny crackers

1 cup of spring M&M's

1 cup of bunny animal cookies

1 cup yogurt raisins

Directions:

Mix ingredients in a bowl and serve!

This recipe makes a large bowl of snack mix. You can either serve it at a party or keep it in a sealed freezer bag and use it as needed. 

For more festive fun, check out our bunny breakfast! 

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner and I've been busy creating some fun EASY recipes for our celebration. I'm a huge fan of things that are semi-homemade. That is a big part of this blog. I don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen with two littles running circles around me but I do love baking and adding a special touch to easy recipes. Today, it only takes a bag of Andes mint chips and a few more whole Andes chocolates for decoration on the top to turn a boxed cupcake recipe into something amazing! 

Ingredients: 

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cupcakes, oil, eggs, water)

1 bag of Andes creme de menthe baking chips

1 container chocolate frosting 

24 Andes Mint Candies (unwrapped)

Directions: 

• 1. Heat oven to 350°F 
• 2.  Place paper baking cup in each of the 12 muffin cups.
• 3. Prepare cake mix as directed on the box with the water, oil and eggs. 
• 4. Stir in the entire 10 oz bag of creme de menthe baking chips. 
• 5. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 
• 6. Cool 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pans to cooling racks to cool completely. 
• 7. Repeat with remaining batter to make additional 12 cupcakes. 
• 8. Once cupcakes are completely cool, they're ready to be frosted. I use the Pampered Chef icing tool when frosting cupcakes. 
• 9. Stick an Andes Mint in the top and you're done! 

If you'd like to turn up the homemade notch on this recipe, here is a recipe for mint frosting! 

Easter Bunny Juice Boxes

Last weekend, we put up all of the Easter decoration in our house. At three years old, AG gets really excited about the holidays. Her excitement makes them just that much more fun. The one thing she doesn't quite understand yet is that they're just one day and they're gone as quickly as they're here. She still asks for Christmas decorations or Valentine's Day hearts. Thankfully, when one holiday passes, there is another around the corner. 

I thought it would be fun to kick off the Easter holiday with a little bunny breakfast to get AG excited about the upcoming holiday before we took out all of the decorations. One of the decorations I put together for the breakfast was little bunny juice boxes. They took less than 5 minutes to make and AG absolutely loved them. I think they're pretty cute too! Now, everyday she asks for a bunny juice box. 

Materials: 

1 white pom pom for the tail

1 colored pom pom for the nose

2 pipe cleaners

2 eyes

1 sheet of pink cardstock

1 sheet of white cardstock

juice box

black marker/ pen

Directions: 

1. Remove the straw from the back of the box. 

2. Measure the height of the juice box on the white paper. I measured each side of the juice box across the length of the paper and cut it out. You want it long enough to wrap around the entire box. 

3. I hot glued white paper with a thin line of glue around the juice box. Make sure there isn't excess paper at the bottom, or else the juice box won't stand up. 

4. Once the paper is on and the juice box in white, glue the white pom pom to the back to make a tail. 

5. Next, cut the pipe cleaners to make 6 pieces. You can make these as small or as big as you'd like. When glueing the pipe cleaners, I put a small dot in the center of the juice box and attached the pipe cleaners. Do this for all 6. 

6. Once pipe cleaners are attached, glue the colored pom pom on top to make the nose. 

7. Next, glue on the eyes. 

8. Now it's time to make the ears! I just winged it for these. I used the leftover white paper to make the ears. Once the outside of the ear was cut to the size that worked for the box, I did the same with the pink paper inside. 

9. I glued the pink paper to the white to make the ears. Next, I glued the bottom of the ears and attached them to the back of the juice box. 

That's it! You're kids will think you're the best once you whip these out! 

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

1. Pasta salad is a spring and summertime staple in our house. It's easy to make. There are endless varieties and it's a crowd pleaser. I first made this particular pasta salad recipe last year. It was for a summer BBQ birthday celebration. My brother was bring meat he smoked in his  new smoker and I was in charge of the sides. Of course, I waited until the last minute to figure out what I was making and ended up going into my pantry to see what I could come up with. After finding a packet of ranch dressing mix, I knew exactly what I would make. 
2. 
   
3.  If you've been following this blog for a while, you know I'm all about quick and easy recipes. I can't begin to tell you how easy this is to make. My entire family raved over it and my future SIL asked for the recipe the next day. This creamy flavorful pasta is perfect for tailgates, summer BBQ's and so much more. Enjoy! 
4. 

Ingredients: 

1. 1 box Cellentani Pasta 16 oz
2. 1/2 cup sour cream 
3. 1/2 cup mayonnaise with olive oil
4. 1 package dry ranch dressing mix 1 oz
5. 1/2 cup milk
6. 1 package bacon bits, 4 oz
7. 1 cup petite tomatoes, cut in half
8. 1 can sliced black olives, drained 4.25 oz
9. salt and pepper to taste
2. 
   
   Directions: 
3. 1. Boil pasta until cooked (8-10 minutes) and drain. 
4. 2. Cool pasta off by rinsing it with cold water. 
5. 3. In a large bowl, mix together sour cream, mayonnaise, milk and ranch mix. 
6. 4. Once above ingredients are completely mixed, add in cooked pasta. mix until the pasta is covered with ranch mixture. 
7. 5. Add olives, bacon and tomatoes to the pasta mixture. Mix lightly until all ingredients are combined. 
8. 6. Chill for 1-2 hours before serving. 

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Buffalo Ritz Chicken

Last week, I posted the honey mustard ritz chicken. When I was making that chicken, I thought about how good buffalo sauce would be with the recipe. I love all things buffalo flavored and knew this recipe would be perfect for football Sunday. So, we gave it a try this past weekend and I was right. Loved it. Hubs approved and it was just as good leftover. 

Next time, I'll be coating the chicken with crushed cornflakes instead of ritz crackers. 

The possibilities are endless! 

Ingredients: 

1 lb chicken tenderloins

1/4 cup buffalo sauce 

1/4 cup ranch dressing  more if needed

1 sleeve crushed ritz cracker

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine the buffalo sauce and ranch dressing, mix well. 
3. Spray a cooking sheet with cooking spray. I've baked the chicken on a baking mat and have also baked it on a greased cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Chicken came out pretty much the same each time. 
4. Have two empty low bowls or dishes ready. In one, place the mixture of buffalo sauce and ranch dressing.  in the second, place the crushed Ritz crackers.
5. Cut the chicken into strips if you don't already have tenderloins. 
6. Season the chicken with salt and pepper
7. Dip the chicken pieces one by one into the buffalo mixture first, followed by the ritz crackers.
8. Make sure the chicken is covered with crackers.
9. After the chicken is coated in the buffalo mix and crackers, place on a baking sheet.
10. When all of the chicken is coated and on the baking sheet, bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
11. Enjoy!