25 Books of Christmas

  

My Sister~in~Love came up with this awesome idea. She's the mommy to my favorite little 2 year old Kenlee. With Christmas season here she headed over to a bargain bookstore and picked up 25 childrens books. All of them Christmas related except for two extras she purchased if they wanted a little extra bedtime reading. Kenlee's been allowed to open one each night starting November 30th. When Kenlee came home to see the house fully decorated and presents under the tree she was extremely excited to know she could open a wrapped gift. She sat there with mommy reading her book before bed time. Of course she wanted to open more but this has been a great patience lesson for her. 

I helped with the wrapping and wrote the name of each book on the outside so that mommy could pick the book for that night. She wanted the books read closer to Christmas to have more to do with the story of Jesus than Santa Clause or Polar Bears. 

What a wonderful tradition she started. I think this is a great idea for any kid especially if you're wanting to introduce regular reading into their days. And this could easily be started December 1st if you wanted to do the unwrapping and reading in the mornings.

What traditions do you have for Christmas?

Happy December! 

~Rayah

Quick & Simple Dessert ~ Turtle Cheesecake Dip

Mmm I absolutely love deserts that aren't overly sweet. Earlier this week I was volunteered to bring something to our weekly bible study. I don't have much time the night before and only a short hour prior to our group so I didn't want to cook or bake anything. This sweet treat was perfect, it only took a few minutes to prepare and we were ready to enjoy! 

Ingredients ~ 

1/4 cup butter 

8 oz cream cheese 

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1-1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 package of dry vanilla instant pudding mix 

1/2 cup caramel topping plus little more for decoration

Choice of dippers - Nilla Wafers, Chocolate Graham Crackers, Ritz Crackers, Flat Baked Pretzels

( Pretzels were the biggest hit - a perfect combo of sweet and salty )

Directions ~ 

Cream together softened cream cheese and butter on # 1 or 2 mixer setting. 

(I use a handheld mixer ) 

Add caramel and beat on higher setting. 

Add brown and powder sugar, beat on higher setting. 

Next add vanilla extract and dry pudding mix, beat until creamy. 

Lastly, fold in chocolate chips and pecans. 

Pat into a ball or place in bowl and refrigerate for about an hour. Now that the ball is molded to be rounder place on a serving dish and decorate with extra caramel, pecans, or chocolate chips. Add a spoon or knife for serving plates or dippers for quick bites. 

I wish I would have thought to bring sliced apples, that would have been delicious! 

I also made a Dark Chocolate version of this. I simply substituted the vanilla pudding for dark chocolate dry pudding and chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. This was even a bigger hit! I should have know... what woman doesn't love chocolate??

Enjoy!

~ Rayah

Grilled Cheese Rollups & Homemade Croutons

I know I saw this somewhere on Pinterest but can't find the source anymore.

This is one of the easiest meals to make. It's hardly different from frying a normal grilled cheese sandwich only more fun. Perfect for those who don't like the edges on their sandwiches or don't mind cutting back on that 2nd slice of bread.

All that's needed is ~

Butter

Sliced bread

Sliced cheese

Instructions

Flatten bread with a rolling pin. Cut the edges off the bread but save the edges, we'll use them later. Place a slice of cheese on each piece of bread. Roll them up and warm the stove to medium heat with a little butter in the pan for flavor and browning. Place about 3 roll ups in the pan seam down (helps seal them shut, found that out the hard way). Fry until golden brown and DEVOUR!

I would love to know if anyone has tried any difference versions of this. 

I think adding different mustard's or cheeses would be delicious.

Now for the Croutons

You'll need ~

Sliced edges from rollups

Cooking oil

Seasoning

Cut the bread edges into 1/2 inch to 1 inch slices. Lightly cover them with oil and seasoning. Place evenly on cooking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

I paired with a delicious tomato florentine but these would go well with any soup.

My family and I loved these so much we added some to our salads the next day.

Hope you enjoy!

~ Rayah

Fluffy Nerds Cupcakes

mmm these were delicious. 

If you have a sweat tooth or like things on the tangy side this is perfect.

I had to wait to share this recipes because I served this at my husbands birthday party. He likes his dessert to be a surprise and has no problem with me being creative.

Now this isn't from scratch but I still believe it's blog worthy.

My husband's favorite cake is Funfetti but I like to change things up so I purchased a $0.98 white cake  mix and 2 boxes of nerds. Followed the directions on the package and they came out AMAZING!

     Here's what you need ~

1 box of your favorite cake mix

2 medium boxes of Nerds candy

4 fun colored frostings

4 egg whites

Coconut oil

Follow the directions on the box or your favorite recipe but add 1 box of Nerds to the mix right before you put it in the cake or cupcake pan. The 2nd box is for decorations later.

They wont need any additional cooking time and will come out super moist.

The nerds dissolve and all that's left is a pop of color when you bite in and this super tangy Nerds taste. I loved it!

Let them cool and decorate as desired.

Enjoy!

~Rayah