Delicious (and Easy!) Cinnamon Roll Breakfasts

Breakfast time is hectic. People are running around all over the place, getting everything they need together for their day, screaming and fighting with each other and generally just not having enough time to sit down and enjoy a plate of food and you’re lucky if you can get up in the morning with enough time set aside to make that place of food in the first place. Here are some super easy breakfast recipes with one thing in common–they all rely on Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls. They are easy to make and take very little time to eat, making them pretty perfect breakfast options for the whole family.

Fresh Apple Sweet Rolls

Apples and cinnamon have long been a match made in heaven and both of these fabulous ingredients make a delightfully sweet, decadent and delicious apple sweet roll breakfast for two.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Makes: 2 servings

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened
• 1 tablespoon whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh apple
• 2 Pillsbury Grands! frozen cinnamon rolls with icing (from 17.5oz. bag)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 2 (6oz.) custard cups with cooking spray. In small bowl, mix butter, cream and brown sugar; spoon into custard cups. Top with chopped apple. Place 1 frozen cinnamon roll in each cup; place cups on cookie sheet.

2. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and rolls are no longer doughy. Immediately run sharp knife around edge of each cup; turn each upside down and onto serving plate. Slowly lift cup from biscuit, releasing biscuit onto plate. Spread any remaining apple mixture in cups over rolls. Divide 1 icing packet between hot rolls, drizzling evenly over rolls. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Taste-of-the-Islands Breakfast Rolls

These breakfast rolls are full of tropical flavors that will mentally transport anyone to a beach with an exotic drink in hand.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Makes: 5 rolls

You will need:

• 1 to 3 teaspoons CRISCO all-vegetable shortening
• 1 can (17.5oz.) Pillsbury Grands! Flaky Supreme refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing (5 rolls)
• 1/2 cup Smucker’s pineapple ice cream topping, drained
• 1/2 cup Fisher dry roasted macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheets with shortening.

2. Unroll cinnamon roll dough, cinnamon side up. Set icing aside. Spoon pineapple topping evenly over cinnamon rolls. Sprinkle nuts over pineapple topping.

3. Reroll dough into pinwheel shape; separate into 5 rolld. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

4. Bake 20 to 23 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Pour icing into small bowl; stir in rum. Spread icing on rolls; spinkle with coconut. Place on serving platter; garnish with pineapple rings and mint.

Blueberry-Banana-Granola French Toast

Granola bars add a unique crunch and texture to this anything-but-ordinary french toast.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Makes: 8 servings

You will need:

• 1 can (12.4oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
• 8 Nature Valley banana nut crunchy granola bars (4 pouches from 8.9oz. box), crushed (1 1/2 cups)
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup fat-free skim milk
• 1 can (14oz.) Eagle Brand fat free sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
• 3 medium bananas, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 bag (10oz.) Cascadian Farm organic frozen blueberries, thawed
• 1 aerosol can (7oz.) fat-free whipped cream topping

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. (325°F for dark pan). Spray 13×9-inch pan or 12×2-inch round cake pan with CRISCO butter flavor or original no-stick cooking spray. Separate dough into 8 rolls; set icing aside. Cut each roll into quarters; arrange evenly in pan. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the crushed granola bars evenly over dough pieces.

2. In large food processor or 5-cup blender, place eggs, milk and condensed milk; cover and process 1 minute. Add bananas; cover and process 1 minute. Pour egg mixture over dough in pan. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup crushed granola bars.

3. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and set in center. Spoon and spread reserved icing over warm rolls. Cool 15 minutes before serving.

4. To serve, spoon baked french toast into shallow bowls or cut into 8 servings. Top each serving with 3 tablespoons blueberries; garnish with 2 tablespoons whipped cream topping.

Orange-Coconut Breakfast Rolls

With just a few, simple ingredients added to Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls, you will flip over these orange-coconut breakfast rolls.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Makes: 8 rolls

You will need:

• 1 teaspoon CRISCO pure canola oil
• 3/4 to 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 can (12.4oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing (8 rolls)
• 8 tablespoons Smucker’s sweet orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup Fisher Chef’s Naturals natural sliced almonds
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400°F (375°F for dark pan). Grease 9-inch round cake pan with canola oil or spray with Crisco Original No-Stick cooking spray.

2. Place coconut in shallow dish. Separate dough into 8 rolls; set icing aside. Roll each cinnamon roll in coconut; press coconut onto all sides of roll to coat generously. Place rolls, cinnamon topping sides up, in pan.

3. Make well in each roll, using back of spoon. Fill each well with 1 tablespoon marmalade; sprinkle with almonds.

4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir almond extract into icing. Carefully spread icing on warm rolls. Serve warm.

Cinnamon French Toast Bake

This french toast bake looks so decadent and so delicious, I can barely stand it! Definitely a recipe with the makings of becoming a traditional family favorite.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 12 servings

You will need:
French Toast Bake:

• 1/4 cup Land O’Lakes butter, melted
• 2 cans (12.4oz. each) Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
• 6 Eggland’s Best eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup Fisher Chef’s Naturals chopped pecans
• 1 cup maple syrup

Garnish:

• icing from cinnamon rolls
• powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup, if desired

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Pour melted butter into ungreased 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; set icing aside. Cut each roll into 8 pieces; place pieces over butter in dish.

2. In medium bowl, beat eggs. Beat in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended; gently pour over roll pieces. Sprinkle with pecans; drizzle with 1 cup syrup.

3. Bake 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove covers from icing; microwave on medium (50%) 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle.

4. Drizzle icing over top; sprinkle with powdered sugar. If desired, spoon syrup from dish over individual servings. Serve with the additional 1/2 cup maple syrup.

Peanut Butter Banana Sweet Rolls

These may look like your ordinary, refrigerated cinnamon rolls, but the topping developed by television cooking host Sandra Lee, is absolutely exquisite.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 8 servings (1 roll and 2 tablespoons banana mixture each)

You will need:

• 1 can (12.4oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:
1. Bake cinnamon rolls as directed on package.

2. In medium bowl, mash banana with a fork. Stir in peanut butter and reserved icing until blended to create a peanut butter dipping sauce. If misture is too thick, stir in water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it reaches desired consistency. Spread on warm rolls.

Adorable, Delicious and Decadent Valentine’s Day Treats

While I firmly believe every day is a good day for cookies, here are some adorable, some decadent, and all delicious cookie recipes to whip up this Valentine’s Day.

Valentine Cookie Pops

Is it a cookie or is it a pop? It’s both! These Valentine Cookie Pops can’t get more adorable and they are also the perfect canvas to let kids explore their creative side on.

Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Makes: 20 cookie pops

You will need:

• 1 package (18oz) Pillsbury Ready To Bake! refrigerated sugar cookies
• 20 flat wooden sticks with round ends
• 1 1/4 cups vanilla creamy ready-to-spread frosting
• Assorted small candies, or candy decors or nonpareils (optional)
• 10 yards red curling ribbon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cookie dough pieces 2 inches apart. Into side of each piece of dough, insert wooden stick 1 inch, overlapping wooden sticks as necessary.

2. Bake 12 to 16 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.

3. Spread frosting on one side of each cookie; decorate with candies. Tie 18 inches of red ribbon into bow around each stick next to cookie.

Chocolate-Dipped Heart Cookies

You may have just had sugar cookies during the holiday season; in fact, you probably made too many and then received some as gifts from your friends and neighbors, so dress these Valentine’s Day sugar cookies up with a coat of delicious semisweet chocolate.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 2 dozen cookies

You will need:

• 1 roll (16.5oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• Colored sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Remove half of cookie dough from wrapper; refrigerate remaining dough until needed. Sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of the flour onto work surface; coat sides of half of dough with flour. With rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness, adding additional flour as needed to prevent sticking.

2. With floured 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out hearts. Gently brush excess flour from hearts; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining half of dough.

3. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

4. In 1-quart saucepan, heat chocolate chips and shortening over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate, allowing excess chocolate to drip off; place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar.

Chocolate Linzer Hearts

Just the appearance of these chocolate linzer heart cookies will impress any special valentine and with the incredible flavors of hazelnut, cinnamon, raspberry and chocolate, you’ll have them hooked on this treat for years to come.

Prep Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Makes: 3 dozen cookies

You will need:

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and ground
• 1/2 ounce semisweet baking chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam
• 1 ounce semisweet baking chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon. Beat in vanilla and eggs until smooth. Add remaining ingredients except jam and melted chocolate. Beat until well blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (dough will be sticky.)

2. Heat oven to 375°F. Roll one-fourth of dough at a time between pieces of waxed paper until 1/8 inch thick. (Keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll.) Cut with 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter. Cut small heart shape from center of half of the 2-inch hearts if desired.

3. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on bottom of whole heart cookies; top with cutout heart cookie. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is firm.

Heart Sandwich Cookies

You don’t have to wait until the sun goes down to spice up your Valentine’s Day. Try these delightful cookies with cinnamon candy filling.

Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Makes: 3 dozen sandwich cookies

You will Need:

For cookies:
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon red edible glitter

For cinnamon filling:
• 1/4 cup red cinnamon candies
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, granulated sugar and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Beat in milk and vanilla, scraping bowl frequently, until well mixed. On low speed, beat in flour and baking powder until well mixed, scraping bowl frequently.

2. Shape dough into 2 equal halves; wrap in plastic wrap. Flatted each to 1/2-inch thickness. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

3. Heat oven to 400°F. On generously floured surface, roll out 1 half of dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut with small (2-inch) heart-shaped cookie cutter. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cookies 1 inch apart. Sprinkle glitter on cookies. Bake 5 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Repeat with remaining half of dough, except do not sprinkle with glitter. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat candies and water to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until candies are melted. Remove from heat. Using wire whisk, stir in butter and powdered sugar, 1/3 cup at a time, until smooth.

5. Spread or pipe heaping teaspoon filling in center of flat side of each undecorated cookie. Press decorated cookie over filling; press firmly to secure.

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Yum! Yum!

The creamy peanut butter on celery is a long-time child favorite; I remember seeing variations of it years and years ago when I was a child, but it is so obvious that a snack like this is as timeless as mac and cheese. Peanut butter and celery is a great after-school or bed time snack and Kraft has put a great spin on it adding some Barnum’s animal crackers.

You will need:

• 3 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
• 3 celery stalks (6 inch)
• 12 Barnum’s animal crackers
• 1 Honey Maid honey graham cracker, crushed (about 1/4 cup crumbs)

1. Spread peanut butter evenly into hollow parts of celery stalks.

2. Stand 4 of the animal crackers in the peanut butter in each stalk.

3. Sprinkle evenly with graham crumbs to resemble dirt.

If your child has peanut allergies, substitute Philadelphia strawberry light cream cheese spread instead of peanut butter and there you have it, a healthy and fun snack.

Ultimate Chicken Fingers Recipe

It’s always hard to get children to eat healthy, but by using Bisquick Heart Smart mix, you can make a meal that would normally be greasy and fatty much lighter and a lot healthier. This recipe for Ultimate Chicken Fingers will go over splendidly!

You will need:

• 2/3 cup Bisquick Heart Smart mix
• 1/2 cup grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
• 1/4 cup fat-free egg product
• 3 tablespoons 40% vegetable oil spread, melted

1. Heat oven to 450°F. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray.

2. In 1-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag, stir together Bisquick® mix, cheese, salt and paprika. Dip half the chicken strips into egg product; place in bag of Bisquick mixture. Seal bag; shake to coat. Place chicken on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken. Drizzle vegetable oil spread over chicken.

3. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, turning after 6 minutes with pancake turner, until no longer pink in center.

Book Review: Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

I must preface this by saying that I know very little when it comes to cooking, never mind French cooking. I know enough to prepare something with very simple instructions, but for the most part my partner does the majority of any cooking that involves more than boil water, add noodles, wait until noodles are tender and cover with sauce. In addition to my lack of culinary expertise, I also knew very little about Julia Child when starting this book, so one could assume that this would not be a book that I would be interested in, if not having to force myself through. However, I surprisingly took to this book very well because you don’t have to know pretty much anything about cooking, French cooking or Julia Child to enjoy the humor and biting cynicism of Julie Powell and her ability to bring you on the journey, the upheaval, the frustrations and the victories that became her life.

Julie Powell was just a temp secretary working at a government office full of Republicans in a post-9/11 era where, among other things like filing, she answered phone calls about people’s ideas for the September 11th memorial that had not yet been placed where the World Trade Center towers once stood. Living with her husband, three cats and what one could assume to be a minor drinking and chain-smoking problem, she worked a thankless job and lived a mundane life in a crappy apartment. She lived the life so many people are currently and will continue to live–getting by without doing much of significance.

But that’s where we get Julie Powell’s life all wrong. Of course she did not mean to do something of so much significance, but she did strive to do something. While being told she had a condition that would make it difficult to impossible to have a child after the age of thirty, and being twenty-nine, she set out on a mission to restore her ambition, change her life and save her soul… by cooking all 524 recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I.

As she details her way through dish after dish, through long and excruciatingly-detailed pages on the insides of marrow bones and how to really go about stealing the lives of lobsters before turning them into delectable French cuisine, Julie & Julia is the kind of book you pick up on a rainy day when you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning, so you don’t and allow yourself to relax the morning and early-afternoon away in bed with a good book.

A memoir was the perfect thing for Julie Powell to write, being an honest and often self-deprecating woman who bears it all and isn’t ashamed of it. However, on this same note she did write in the author’s note that throughout the book she did just make things up but of course, does not touch on what is made up and what is true-to-life. That did not necessarily have a negative impact on my overall enjoyment of this book because as I found myself laughing during certain passages and then wondering if that had really happened or not, I realized that if it had, well, that would have been hilarious and if not, then Julie Powell is equipped with a great and witty imagination–And she is.

Her blog that inspired the book, the Julie/Julia Project gained a great deal of media attention towards the ending months of her project. She prepared dinner for newspaper columnists she had admired and even missed the last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to do it. Her blog garnered a great deal of attention from people whom she called bleeders that cheered her on and also pleaded with her not to make aspic-and-anything ever again.

More-so than the art of French cooking, I was more intrigued by Julie Powell the woman. I enjoyed her anecdotes and expletive-filled tangents about her boring and thankless job, her varied and equally satisfying and satisfied friends and of course, a husband in which she portrays to be the textbook definition of perfect. While I had seen the trailer for the movie before picking up the book, I was actually quite thrilled to see that the real Julie Powell was not as wholesome as Amy Adams portrays on the silver screen.

Julie & Julia is a satisfying journey of discovery full of laugh-out-loud tales and lists of foods I am certain I will never let grace my dinner plate.

Rating:

The Wheat Process, Discovered

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Wheat Food Council. All opinions are 100% mine.

As very busy women are prone to do, myself included, going to the grocery store and sticking a bunch of items in your cart, dashing through the checkout and back home is a mundane and sometimes even tedious task. Very, very rarely do we think about the items we are throwing into our carts while checking our watches and making sure we’re out of the store in time to run the other errands we have on our lists. Where do these foods come from? How were the fruits, vegetables and wheat farmed? Where did our wheat come from, anyway? Well, thanks to a great new interactive, online multimedia program we can now not only find out where certain types of wheat come from and how they are planted, farmed and ultimately get to be served on our dinner tables, we can virtually see and even actively take part in the farm-to-fork process.

How Wheat Works is educating the masses on where wheat starts and where it ends up in four phases–growth, harvest, milling/baking and your local grocery store. This is all made possible by the Wheat Foods Council who are striving to shed new light on wheat education and its nutritional properties and will ultimately result in informed food choices for families everywhere.

When I first saw the website and started going through the process, I immediately thought, “This is awesome, I get to play a game!”, which is when you know a company is doing something right when it comes to educating people on making more informed choices on pretty much anything. Adults are a lot like children in that respect, because even as we have gotten older, we’re still willing to do just about anything if it means having a little fun in the process–and I am no exception.

But while there is a definite fun factor in addition to learning a lot more on where the most popular grain comes from and how it winds up on your kitchen table, the Wheat Foods Council is also giving back in a very positive way with this initiative. For each participant who signs up at How Wheat Works and plants their virtual wheat field, the Council will donate two pounds of flour, up to 90,000 pounds to Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization providing assistance to US troops and their families who are in need. That is a lot of flour and it will undoubtedly make a great difference in the lives of those who need it.

The Wheat Foods Council is also extending this program to reach the youth population with their additional website, wheatfoods.org, which is chock full of great resources about wheat, fiber and grains, Just for Kids education about wheat and even recipes and photos, a great deal of which look absolutely amazing and I know I’ll have to try!

I learned a great deal from How Wheat Works, including where certain types of wheat are grown and that my state of Pennsylvania only grows one type of wheat and my state had one, very small and lonely dot indicating wheat was grown here at all. So go check out the website, plant a virtual wheat field and above all, make a difference by getting the Wheat Food Council up to 90,000 pounds of flour donated to Operation Homefront.

Healthy Three-Pepper Pasta Topping

Bell peppers are great for you, yet not so many people eat them as much as they should. They contain high levels of vitamin C which can act as an anti-inflammatory to decrease symptoms of arthritis. They also contain carotenoid compounds, which may enhance vision and decrease the risk of cataracts.

So here is a recipe for a delicious pasta topping using three peppers to help your health.

You will need:

• one yellow, red and green bell peppers
• extra-virgin olive oil
• whole wheat pasta

Directions:
1. Cut yellow, red and green bell peppers into thin strips.
2. Saute 1 cup of peppers in 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
3. Toss peppers with cooked whole-wheat pasta (2 ounces dry).

Extra-virgin olive oil is rich in polyphenol compounds, which help increase good HDL-cholesterol levels and decrease bad LDL levels.

Get in the Mood for Fall with Pumpkin Butter

The chilly nights and mornings are here and with that, we’re noticing the climate change as it becomes Fall here. Fall is my favorite season; the leaves change and everything is just beautiful and I tend to get in the mood for fall a lot sooner than I should. I’m already thinking of pumpkins, pumpkin patches, and children trick or treating. It’s just a beautiful time and the weather is perfect. So while I’ve been ready for fall since August, it is finally time to really get in that spirit and it’s time to mix things up a little bit and get your taste buds in the mood too!

Here is a fabulous recipe for pumpkin butter; perhaps a recipe to save for after Halloween and you have all of those extra pumpkins laying around. Don’t throw them away, use them in your cooking!

You will need:

• 2 pounds peeled, seeded, and diced sugar pie pumpkin (substitute canned if needed)
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Pinch of salt

1. In a stainless steel pot, combine pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, and salt; bring to a simmer. (If using fresh pumpkin, stir until it’s tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.)

2. Continue simmering until the mixture starts to thicken, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a blender; blend until smooth. Return mixture to pot and heat for 10 minutes on low until it reaches desired thickness. Remove, cool, and serve.

And that’s it! You can do a few things with this butter and probably a lot more if you start to think out of the box a little. Of course it can be used on top of breads and toast and also on top of bagels, muffins or even in muffins or in between layers of a vanilla cake; just cut the pastry in half, layer pumpkin butter on the bottom and put the top back on! Have fun!

Irresistible Shot Glass Sundaes

In the land of calorie counting, watching your figure and the latest diet trends, indulging your sweet tooth can prove to be an impossible challenge. Luckily, there is a way for you to let yourself indulge a little bit and not have to worry about a thing.

You will need:

• 1 pint vanilla, peach, and/or mango ice cream
• 24 1-oz. disposable plastic shot glasses

1. Line 15×10x1-inch baking pan with waxed paper. With miniature ice cream scoop, scoop ice cream and place in prepared pan (you should have 24 small scoops). Cover loosely; freeze at least 2 hours. Prepare desired combinations below. Serve at once. Makes 8 servings (3 treats per serving)

• Peach: Peel, pit and coarsely chop 2 small peaches; toss with 1 tablespoon sugar. Divide mixture among 8 plastic shot glasses. Top with scoops of vanilla ice cream and toasted coconut chips*.

• Popcorn: Divide 1/2 cup popped popcorn among 8 plastic shot glasses. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons purchased caramel ice cream topping. Top with peach or mango ice cream and additional popcorn.

• Pear Ginger: Divide 3/4 cup coarsely crushed sugar cookies among 8 plastic shot glasses. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger. Top with vanilla ice cream and slivers of fresh pear.

You can make these mini treats with any combination you desire, whether it be a brownie, chocolate ice cream and chocolate fudge or vanilla ice cream, sugar cookies and caramel sauce. Let your imagination run wild.

These treats can be made for entertaining guests at a summer luncheon, a chance to make delicious treats that the kids can help with and enjoy, or any other event you have in mind. Enjoy!

Carnival of the Recipes

I am very honored to be hosting the Carnival of the Recipes and would like to thank everyone for submitting their posts. Enjoy the recipes and also don’t forget to take a look around the sites themselves.

Batya presents Happy Birthday To Me — KCC #30 posted at me-ander, saying:

“Lots of recipes for your cooking pleasure.”

Bill presents Loaded Baked Potato Salad posted at Food and Cooking Blog.

Bill presents Chocolate Caramel Pie posted at World Famous Recipes.

Bonnie presents Football Appetizer – Party cheese straws posted at Phoenix Arizona East Valley Living Blog.

Diabetic Recipes presents Apple-Cheddar Popovers posted at Diabetic Recipes – Diabetic Meals.

Elisson presents Le Gateau en Rose posted at Blog d’Elisson.

Eric Koshinsky presents Dry Rub for Ribs posted at Meat Smoking.

Famous Recipes presents Yogurt Chicken Curry posted at Famous Recipes.

Karen Weideman presents Thrifty Chicken Tex Mex Taco Recipe posted at Thrifty Mommy, saying:

“With the rising price of groceries, we all could use some inexpensive recipes for our families. This is a slow-cooker recipe and it is great because it is easy, tasty, healthy, and inexpensive! Score!”

Kathee presents Turkey Stuffed Peppers Recipe posted at Famous Recipe Blog.

Kerry presents Seasonal cooking: Spring – Bok Choy posted at A Ten O’Clock Scholar, saying:

“In the garden now: Bok Choy – A few recipes.”

Marsha Hudnall presents Healthy Recipe: Cherry Quinoa posted at A Weight Lifted.

Matthew Stevenson presents Slow roasted gammon, with port & garlic sauce posted at The Chef’s Day Off.

Shawn presents Indoor S’mores posted at Everything And Nothing.

Slow Cooker Recipes presents Crockpot Recipes: Savory CrockPot Roast Recipes posted at Crockpot Recipes.

Stephanie presents Crockpot Mexican Lasagna posted at Stop the Ride!.

Thelly presents Chicken Salad Casserole posted at Chicken Recipes.

Thelly also presents Thai Ginger Chicken posted at Recipes for Chicken.

World Famous Recipes presents Microwave Marmalade Drumsticks posted at World Famous Recipes.

World Famous Recipes also presents Zucchini Bread posted at World Famous Recipes.

That’s it for this edition of the Carnival of the Recipes. To submit your recipes for the next edition, go here.

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