Chocolate M&M Pretzel Buttons

Luckily, I came across this recipe just in time for a bridal shower I was throwing and also right before I hosted Easter at my house. I tied a handful of them up in bags with a pretty ribbon for both events and everyone loved them. These pretzel buttons are very fun for kids to make and there's really no way they can make a mess with just 3 simple ingredients.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and arrange mini pretzels on a baking sheet.
Step 2: top each pretzel with any flavor of chocolate melting wafer (I used white vanilla, obviously). Place baking sheet in the oven for 2-3 minutes, just long enough for the chocolate to melt and stick to the pretzel, so you are able to stick the M&M into it.

Step 3: Take out of oven and place an M&M on top of each one. Put the tray in the fridge to set for a while and viola! You're done!!

Be careful...they're addicting!

Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm convinced any recipe sounds better when it includes the words "cream cheese." This frosting recipe is no exception! The cookies are equally amazing and are so soft and thick, you could eat them without any frosting and be happy. Thank you to my great friend Krista for sharing this recipe. I doubled both the cookie and frosting recipes and was able to cut out over 60 large heart cookies and have more than enough frosting for my Valentine's party. The cookies also freeze very well. I made mine 4 days ahead of time and pulled them out of the freezer a couple hours before the party and they tasted just as fresh as the day I made them.

Sugar Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 2 & 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 & 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup butter
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 4 & 1/2 cups flour
• 1 & 1/4 tsp. salt

Method:

• Cream sugar and butter.
• Add eggs, vanilla, and milk.
• Add flour and dry ingredients.
• Roll out and use cookie cutters to cut into shapes.
• Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. (I like to under cook my sugar cookies a little because if they cook too long, they become hard and crunchy).

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups powder sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 cup)butter
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons milk

Method:

• Cream powder sugar, butter, and cream cheese together.
• Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency you like.
• Keep frosting refrigerated. Before use, remove frosting from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for approx. 10 minutes so it's a spreadable consistency.

Sandra Lee's Sugar Cookies

I am a huge fan of Sandra Lee, as is my 3 year old, and the two of us discovered this fabulous sugar cookie recipe while watching her show together one morning. I'm in the process of tripling this recipe and making heart-shaped cookies with red and pink M&M's for the Valentine parties we have coming up this week. I got a little antsy and just had to post this recipe before I could snap a picture of the finished product, but these butterfly cookies that Sandra Lee made on her show were absolutely darling and would be perfect for Easter or any other spring party!Semi-Homemade Sugar Cookies:
Ingredients:

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 (17-ounce) bag sugar cookie mix
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon strawberry extract
• 1 (12-ounce) bag mini M&M's

Method:

• Heat cream cheese in a large microwave safe bowl for 1 minute on 80 percent power in microwave to soften. Add sugar cookie mix, 1/4 cup flour, egg and extract. Stir with wooden spoon until dough is well combined and forms a ball.
• Sprinkle a flat rolling surface with 1 tablespoon flour. Divide dough in half and roll out onto lightly floured surface using a rolling pin. Roll the rolling pin back and forth, turning the dough as needed so it does not stick. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Take cookie cutter and dip cutting edge into a shallow bowl of flour. Then press cookie cutter into rolled out dough. Begin cutting out shapes at the center of the dough and work your way towards the edge, cutting shapes as close together as possible. Once the entire slab of dough is cut, use a small spatula to remove cookies from rolling surface and place on un-greased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining half of dough.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Decorate each cookie by pressing mini candies into dough. Refrigerate cookies for 15 minutes to prevent spreading while baking.
• Using oven mitts, place cookies in oven on top rack. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven using mitts and let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before moving them to cooling rack.
  

Homemade Mac n' Cheese

If there's one food I can count on my kids gobbling up, it's macaroni and cheese. Their dad is to blame for this. When I have meetings on Sundays after church and leave him with the kids, he will always make them "Easy Mac" for lunch. I can't complain though because, hey, at least I don't have to come up with something! When I was cleaning out my pantry last week and saw that I had a large bag of elbow macaroni that expired in 2 days, I immediately thought to make a big pan of mac n' cheese. It was super quick to prepare, super tasty, and I felt much better about my family having something homemade on Sunday afternoon.Mom's Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) package macaroni
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
• 1 cup milk
• 1 pound shredded colby cheese

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Place macaroni in a 2 quart casserole dish. Stir in cheese soup and milk until well combined. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly.