St. Patrick's Day Recipes

With St. Patrick's Day only a week away, here are some quick and easy recipes to whip up for the kids, courtesy of Duncan Hines.

CLOVER PATCH BROWNIES

Bring a bit-o-luck to the kitchen by creating these shamrock-covered Clover Patch Brownies.

Ingredients:
1 pkg Duncan Hines Family Style Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix
1 pkg pre-made marzipan or fondant
green food coloring
green toothpicks

Baking Instructions:
1. Bake brownies according to instructions on box. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut brownies into squares.
2. Meanwhile, knead green food coloring into marzipan or fondant until desired shade of green is achieved.
3. Form small (1-inch) 3-leaf and 4-leaf clover shapes out of fondant or marzipan. Be realistic and make a lot more 3-leaf clovers than 4-leaf clovers.
4. Stick clover shapes on top of green toothpicks.
5. Insert little bunches of clovers onto each brownie.

Viv's take: My brownies usually end up tasting fine, but looking terrible, mostly because they stick to the pan (or each other) and fall apart when you take a bite. I used the Duncan Hines mix in this recipe on my last batch, opted for the cake-like variety, and received rave reviews. The kids couldn't eat them fast enough. Best of all, my brownies looked like they came from a bakery. Perfect little rectangles that didn't fall to pieces! The fondant clovers are optional for me in this recipe. They are cute as can be, but I'm thinking maybe some lucky charms marshmallow bits or green icing decorations would be even easier.

LEPRECHAUN KEY LIME CAKE
Ingredients:

Cake:
1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
1 (3.4 oz) pkg lemon instant pudding and pie filling
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1/4 cup Key lime juice

Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup Key lime juice
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Garnish:
Additional confectioners' sugar, lime slices and fresh strawberry slices.

Baking Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt or tube pan.
2. For cake, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup Key lime juice in large bowl. Beat at low speed with electric mixer until moistened. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes.
3. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Remove cake from pan onto cooling rack. Return cake to pan. Poke holes in top of warm cake with toothpick or long-tined fork.
4. For glaze, combine 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 1/3 cup Key lime juice, 2 tablespoons water and melted butter in medium bowl. Pour slowly over top of warm cake. Cool completely. Invert onto serving plate. Dust with additional confectioner's sugar. Garnish with lime slices and strawberry slices, if desired.

Viv's take: If you love Key lime, this cake is for you. I'm a FL girl, but I think this might be just a little TOO "lemon limey" for me. I think I'd change the pudding mix to something innocuous, like vanilla, and just add extra water instead of the Key lime juice, so my kids would enjoy it more. I do like the simple glaze, lime and strawberry slices for garnish.

I received a box each of the Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Lemon Supreme Cake Mix and Family Style Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix to try out for this post.

Holiday Recipe Idea: Strawberry Hills Banana Muffins Forever

Though I am cool, I am not too familiar with . Looking him up, I am most pleased to see that he is even older than I am.

However, I recently made one of Coolio's recipes, which I would like to share with you here, because it is just the perfect kind of easy, delicious food you want around for the holidays!

Strawberry Hills Banana Muffins Forever make for fruitful brunches, can be frozen and gifted at Christmas, and can be whipped up in no time. I discovered the recipe through gas.tron.o.my* while trying to decide what to do with some seriously mushy leftover bananas, and apparently it originates with the man himself, Coolio.

Strawberry Hills Banana Muffins Forever

• A few drops of olive oil**
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup chopped strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 banana, thinly sliced

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a few drops of olive oil to grease up a 12-cup muffin tin.**
2. Combine butter, milk, and egg in small bowl and beat lightly.
3. In a larger bowl, pour in your flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar and gently mix it.
4. Toss chopped strawberries and sliced banana together, then stir to coat with the flour mixture.
5. Pour in your milk mixture and stir it all up together.
6. Fill up the muffin cups with your batter, then place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

That's all there is to it! Super easy, and delicious.

*Warning: lots of language and sexually-themed humor in that link!

**I chose to go with holiday-themed cupcake liners instead of the olive oil because I planned to freeze some muffins to give away during the holidays.

Psst...Holiday Hassles? We have the cure!

The Cool Moms Rule Holiday Handbook begins tomorrow!

With recipes, giveaways, shipping deadlines, decorating ideas and tips to survive all your holiday hassles, it's so much MORE than just a gift guide (but it's that, too!).

Bakerella's Sesame Street Party: Cake Pops!

I saw these adorable cake pops via @Bakerella over on Twitter, and just had to share her creations with you. What's really cool is that she explains, step by step, how to make your favorite Sesame Street characters into yummy cake pops, and the instructions sound like something even I could handle!

Check out the recipe and more here. (Oh, and follow the link in the post to find her basic, easy-peasy cake pop recipe, too!).

Red, White and Blueberry!

This Fourth of July, declare your independence by having some breakfast for dinner! pull out your griddle and give your meal some festive red, white and blue. Below is a festive, firecracker recipe for you all to try. It’s easy enough for the kids to help, but the presentation will impress even your toughest critic. (via Hungry Jack pancake mixes)


Stars-n-Stripes Breakfast Parfait


Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
1 cup Hungry Jack® Buttermilk Complete Pancake & Waffle Mix (Just Add Water)
3/4 cup water
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped
2 tsps Hungry Jack ® Microwave Ready Regular Syrup
1 1/4 cups frozen nondairy whipped topping, thawed
Dash cinnamon
Flag and fireworks party picks
2-1/4-inch star aluminum cookie cutter, optional
2-inch pieces red string licorice, optional

1. HEAT skillet over medium-high heat or electric griddle to 375 F. Spray with no-stick spray.

2. COMBINE pancake mix and water in medium bowl stirring just until large lumps disappear. Spoon 1 teaspoon batter onto hot griddle, cooking 1 minute on each side or until golden brown. Make 24 mini-pancakes. Spray inside of star cookie cutter with no-stick spray. Place on hot skillet. Fill with 1 tablespoon batter cooking for 2-1/2 minutes. Carefully remove cookie cutter; it will be hot. Turn star pancake. Cook until golden brown. Make 4 stars.

3. MIX blueberries with 1 teaspoon maple flavored syrup in a small bowl. Repeat with strawberries in a separate bowl. Whisk cinnamon into whipped topping. Place into corner of a resealable bag. Cut off small corner from bag. Layer 3 mini-pancakes in base of each parfait glass, layer with 1/4 cup of a fruit and whipped cream. Repeat. Decorate each parfait as you desire. Serve immediately.

4. FIRECRACKER PARFAIT: Top off parfait with whipped topping and place a 2-inch piece of red string licorice in center.

©/™/® The J.M. Smucker Company

Free Sample of Hamburger Helper!

Betty Crocker and Dinner Made Easy are providing free samples to a limited number of Moms! Just click on the link in this post to get yours (until supplies run out)!

Free Hamburger Helper Sample

You can also save over $7 with these coupons for popular Betty Crocker items!

Don't forget to vote on the Rhino's story, "The Dragon's Claw", on the sidebar!>>>

Happy Easter!

It's been such a busy weekend here, I didn't post my favorite Easter recipe! Still, just in case there are other procrastinating Moms out there (like me!), I'll give it to you now. It's really so easy, you can make it any time, not just for special occasions, and it comes out perfect every time as long as you slow cook it long enough!

Viv's Favorite Pot Roast Recipe

Ingredients:
2-3 lb top round roast (for a family of 4, I use a 2.5lb cut)
Lipton's Onion Soup dry package (the "recipe secrets" one)
2 cans Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup

Prep:
Put roast in the fridge overnight if it has been frozen.

Cook:
Plunk roast in a large crockpot with a cover that will fit in your oven.
Sprinkle one packet of the dry onion soup mix around and on top of roast.
Spoon out two cans of golden mushroom soup around roast (do not add water! The roast makes it's own gravy with the soup and the juices from the roast).
Cook on low heat (325º) for about 4 hours, turning the roast over halfway through cooking time.

The Roast is done when it pulls apart easily with a serving fork.

This recipe is practically foolproof, and the gravy it makes is delicious. I usually serve it with some mashed potatoes on the side to take advantage of the tasty gravy!

Put A Little Irish On It

So, with St. Patrick's Day coming up this weekend, you'll be wantin' some ideas, I'm thinking. And you'll need time to get it all together. So I have been wracking my brain and scouring the web just for you, dear readers (really, 'tweren't no trouble 'tall).

I'm a big fan of the traditional, "Wear green or you will be pinched" way of celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Although some ideas make me shudder--green beer?! Ugh!--in general, I am all for a little more green in my life! :)

And I know you Moms out there want your kids to eat healthy, and you are always looking for new and creative ways to accomplish that goal. If you can find a naturally healthy Innovative Recipe My Kid Will Actually Try, it's a win-win situation. So, rather than skipping right down to the delicious desserts I have for you, I'm giving you an entire meal's worth of ideas for St. Pat's.

Appetizers

First off, consider the simple bell pepper. It's practically perfect for the day, already a naturally beautiful green. You can cut the bell pepper in half across the widest part (NOT from stem to stern), and the shapes resemble three-leaf clovers. Stick a toothpick through them (preferably a green sparkly one) and serve with Ranch dressing for a healthy starter. Cool green cucumber slices are another good accompaniment to the dressing.

Salads

You can also create a truly green "green salad" with your clover bell pepper shapes and any (or all) of the following:

Romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, spinach, endive, green olives, cucumber slices, sugar snap peas, raw broccoli florets.

Or go for a sweet fruity green salad, mixing up green apple slices, kiwi slices and cubes of honeydew melon.

Main Course

Of course, you didn't use any cabbage in your green salad! No, you saved it for the delicious traditional Irish cabbage and corned beef dinner, right? Each of us has our own special way of serving this, whether it simmers in the stove or in the slow-cooker crockpot.

Desserts

Sweet Shamrocks

Here's a tasty new twist on the traditional St. Patrick's Day shamrock -- sweet green pretzels fashioned from canned refrigerated bread stick dough and coated with a sprinkling of colored sugar and cinnamon.



Canned refrigerated bread stick dough (we used Pillsbury Original Breadsticks)
Colored sugar
Cinnamon

Step 1
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat it with cooking spray.

Step 2
To create the clover shape, mold 3 sections of bread sticks into hearts and press them together as shown. Attach a small stem, decorate, bake according to the package directions, and serve them up to your lucky guests.

Clover Cupcakes

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
	Cupcake batter
	Cupcake tins and liners
	Aluminum foil
	White frosting
	Green food coloring
	Toothpick
	Green licorice (we used Twizzlers Rainbow Twists sold in a pack with other colors)

1. Place paper liners in 32 standard muffin cups, then fill each halfway with the batter.
2. For each cupcake, roll three balls of foil (ours were 2/3 inch in diameter) and insert them evenly around the perimeter between the liner and the tin, as shown.
3. Bake the cupcakes for a few minutes less than the package suggests (because there's less batter per cup than usual), or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Allow the cupcakes to cool, then remove them from the tin.
5. Cover each with green frosting (our ratio was 1 teaspoon of green food coloring to one 16-ounce can of white frosting).
6. Use a toothpick to draw leaf veins, and insert a 2-inch-long piece of green licorice for a stem. (see Finished project in the top image, above)

(Recipes, images from FamilyFun.com)

I Can Stand the Heat

So I haven't posted yet today because I have been cooking. I'm making one of the Engineers favorite dinners, and it takes a lot of simmering and adding this and that and generally keeps me busy for a few hours. Next time I will probably try something easier, that still tastes homemade. Saw this recipe for zesty minestrone on the Kraft Foods site (check the "health and home" resources). Looks like after a lot of chopping with the food processor, I could just turn on the slow cooker and go out shopping!