Bunny Munch

This week I was challenged to find a good and inexpensive treat to take to my daughter's preschool bake sale. I had all kinds of fun ideas, but the need to wrap something up is a particular challenge for bake sales! I ran across this recipe on Pinterest, and while I'm not much of a white chocolate OR popcorn fan, I thought it fit the cheap, easy and cute criteria. I was so surprised by how good it is that I had to share the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 packages of microwave popcorn

12 oz. (1 package) of Wilton's Candy Melts

1 bag of Easter M&Ms

Easter or pastel candy sprinkles

4 oz. Pink (or other pastel)Wilton's Candy Melts

(Side note, I was really on the fence about using buttered popcorn or plain salted. I used Orville Redenbaccher's lower fat butter, and it was PERFECT. I also used Wilton's white melting chocolate, and they were very easy to use. The flavor was pretty good too!)

After I popped the popcorn, I had my little people transfer all of the popped kernels to a new bowl, which left the unpopped kernels in the bottom of the first bowl. Then, I melted the Wilton's chocolates in a bowl in the microwave on half power in 30 second intervals. (This is Ina Garten's tempering method, and I find it to work really well.) Once your chocolate is melted, stir it in to the popcorn. Once your popcorn is pretty well coated, add sprinkles and M&Ms and fold them in. I let my popcorn cool overnight on a sheet of wax paper, and we finished packing the popcorn up in cellophane bags for the bake sale this morning. We packed a dozen bags, and priced them at $2 a bag. This if for sure a great and easy winning bake sale recipe!

For more recipes see www.beautyandbedlam.com and www.lifeasmom.com.

My Kid's Favorite Turkey and Veggie Roll Ups

I've been feeling a little bit uninspired (and out of time) in terms of actually cooking "real" meals lately. However, now that I have 3 growing kids, and we are ALWAYS on the go, I'm always looking for a quick idea to keep us from having to grab something to eat while we're out. A quick drive thru for a meal or an "emergency" snack is just NOT in our budget these days, but it can be SO hard to squeeze in a real meal to our crazy schedule! Lately, I've discovered that my kids really like these turkey roll up, and they are so fast and easy! Here's how I make them,

Ingredients-

1 burrito sized tortilla
1 tablespoon of cream cheese
2 slices of turkey
1/3 cup of salad mix with veggies (You know, the kind with radishes, carrots, snap peas, cabbage, etc.This is the huge time saving factor!)

Instructions -

Spread 1 tablespoon of softened cream cheese over entire tortilla. Lay 2 slices of turkey out flat. Cover turkey with a thin layer of salad mix. Roll and enjoy!

The key here is not over stuffing these. (Think a Taco Bell cheese roll up with stuff that is actually good for you!) These were easy enough for my kids to grab and eat in the car without making a mess, which is the kind of quick meals we need all too frequently around here!

Weeknight Chicken Noodle Soup

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I can't believe I've never shared my recipe for chicken noodle soup! My husband asks to have it for dinner about once a week. I don't mind making it at all because it's so fast, easy and cheap! My kids love the veggies too, which makes any dish a winner in my book!

Now, I suppose my recipe is not all that different than most people's recipe, but I've started making it by cooking the chicken ahead of time, which makes it really fast. Here is how I do it!

Ingredients -

3 chicken breasts
1 lb of carrots, chopped
1 lb of celery, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 tsps of garlic
2 cartons of stock (I use bullion and water.)
1 package of frozen noodles
Black pepper to taste

Pre-cook your chicken in the crockpot. I just place mine in the crockpot on high for three hours or so, but my crockpot cooks SUPER hot. If you're going to be gone all day, try it on low instead. Once your chicken is ready to go, place your diced celery, carrots and onions in a large stock pot and saute until the onions are translucent. Then, add your chopped garlic and black pepper and stir. Next, add your chicken stock and bring to a boil. While you're stock is warming up, chop your chicken in to bite sized pieces. As soon as your stock is boiling, add your frozen noodles and boil as directed. Once the noodles are done, stir in your chicken. Next, eat and put your feet up because you just made the world's easiest and fastest chicken noodle soup!