Cake pops for the 4th of July

Get started on your baking for this weekend and Wednesday a little bit early!
Cake balls are still popular, and since they're bite sized, they're perfect for your 4th of July activities.

Bring em to a bbq, carry a container to munch on during the fireworks, or put them on sticks for real "pops"!

Cake pops from MyJuiceCup

I can't bake. Yeah, I just can't do it. I'm terrible at it. If it involves flour, theres a 95% chance I WILL mess it up. This may mean there is a shortage of treats in our house. That's probably good, right? The less in the house, the less you eat, and the fatter you don't get? hahahah. Well, since I can't bake, I won't be making these. I will gladly accept gifts though. They look delicious. ;-)

Add a little Whiskey to your Life

 

(found via pinterest with no link. aweee.)

Cherry Apple Whiskey Sour Popsicles

3 cups cherries

1 large green apple

1 lime 

1 cup whiskey

1/2 cup sweet and sour mix

Pit cherries, set aside. Peel away apple and lime skin and cut fruit into quarters. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until it is pureed. Mixture will be thick. Pour mixture into popsicle forms and freeze for about 2 hours or until mixture starts to solidify enough to hold a popsicle stick upright. Insert popsicle sticks and finish freezing popsicles overnight. To release popsicles, run hot water on outside of the mold for about 2-3 seconds.

 

Via BoysandAarows 

 

SweetPeach shows some great DIY-able JD options

 

Flask by TrixieandMilo

 

Top by Punkalife

Enchilada Stuffed Mushrooms

 

Last week I turned these lovely baby bella mushrooms into a tex mex meatless treat.

Enchilada stuffed mushrooms.

I found the recipe on another website and went at making it myself.

 I will link to the original recipe at the bottom. I will also note that there aren't any 'real' amounts here because I tend to do everything in the kitchen by sight. That makes for some scary results sometimes, but this one worked out well. I'd say you can use less or more of certain ingredients to adjust this to your tastes. 

I used:
Mushrooms

Cream Cheese

Shredded cheese (parmesan and 'taco mix')

taco seasoning, paprika, pepper

green onion

enchilada sauce

If you like them spicy, add extra taco seasoning, and some extra peppers or spice.

Play with the cheese mixture.

I'm sure there are other add-ins that would be great too! 

I made mine twice. Once to bring to work, and again the next night for dinner. 

Mix, fill mushrooms, top with enchilada sauce, and bake.

The ones I did for work, I baked in the morning and then transferred them to a slow cooker and kept it on low heat throughout the day. They were still great 8 hours later!

Oh, and I had none left. Near the end of the day, a few people ran to grab whatever what left. :-)

Before the enchilada sauce.

I didn't get a photo after they came out, but they looked pretty similar to these ones.

Get the FULL recipe here, at Laurens Latest.

Valentines Day: Red Velvet Hot Chocolate

A Beautiful Mess has an amazing set of recipes up on how to make 

Red Velvet Hot Chocolate.

Want two servings? 

4-5 cups milk

1 cup dark chocolate chips

2-3 drops red food coloring

Add strawberry syrup and white chocolate chips for a pink chocolate version! 

Many more photos and recipes over here.

Cupcakes in a Jar

Ever want to know how to make a cupcake in a jar without having to stick the jar itself in the oven? Here's a great post on how to do it. I recently purchased one of these lovelies from someone online. Through my experience with it, I recommend going a little lighter on the frosting, or doing multiple layers. Perhaps make the frosting "airy" and don't pack it, there is nothing worse then a mouth full of thick frosting with no cake in it!

Check out the recipe here, at Mycakies

Once you have the idea down, play around with it and try a recipe that is a little more healthy! The one above uses Paula Deans.

Here's one from Eating Well