Apricot fruit leather

My in laws have a couple of apricot trees in their yard.

While visiting them we helped picked apricots

and I learned how to make apricot leather.

Apricot Leather is basically a large fruit roll up.

1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cups pitted and diced fresh apricots
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees or the lowest setting you have.
Cut the apricots in half and take out the pits.
Combine lemon juice, apricots and sugar in blender. Blend
until mixture smoothed. Cover a cookie sheet with a
layer of plastic wrap (helpful tip is to tape the sides).
Pour the pureed fruit onto the plastic and spread evenly
to within 1 inch of the edge. Bake for 4 to 6 hours in
the preheated oven, until the puree has dried and is no
longer sticky. Once dry, you can cut it into strips
and wrap in wax paper. Store in an airtight container.

Smores on a stick

I got this cute idea from Whimsical Creations

My boys had a blast making these.

Ingredients:
large marshmallows
melting chocolate
graham crackers
sprinkles
lollipop sticks

Crush graham crackers and add sprinkles.
Put a lollipop stick in each marshmallow.
Melt chocolate and dip marshmallow in
the chocolate and roll in graham crackers.
Place on a cookie sheet and put in the fridge
for the chocolate to set up.

Chili in a Bag

1 can of favorite chili or homemade
Small 1 1/4 ounce bags of corn chips
lettuce
sour cream
cheese

Let guests serve themselves by opening 1 bag of corn chips.
Add about 1/3 cup chili, some cheese, lettuce and sour cream.
Mix and enjoy!

Salt Dough Ornaments

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 325*. Mix together flour and salt. Add water, and knead until smooth - about ten minutes. I had to add extra flour as I was kneading. Mold into desired shape, or use cookie cutters. Add flour as needed. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until dry. Mine only took about an hour, so I'd check on them. Let cool, and decorate as desired.

Kool-Aid Play Dough

I got this recipe from a friend of friends website.

1 pkg. dry kool-aid
1-1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. salt

Mix together in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in:
1 T. vegetable oil
1 c. boiling water
Knead well and let cool.

Enjoy!

Orange Ice Cream Pops

1 c Milk
1 pt Ice cream, vanilla
6 oz Orange juice; frozen concentrate partly thawed

Combine all ingredients in blender; cover and blend until smooth.
Pour into Popsicle molds or 8 (3-1/2 oz) paper cups. Place in
freezer. If using paper cups insert wooden stick in each when
partially frozen. Freeze until firm and enjoy!

Marshmallow/Gelatin Popcorn Balls

3 cups marshmallows
3 tablespoons margarine
3 tablespoons flavored gelatin (your choice)
3 quarts of popped corn

Melt marshmallows and margarine in the microwave until
margarine is melted and the mixture is gooey. Add
dry gelatin. Mix well and over over popcorn. Toss.
Wet hands with water and shape into balls.

Fruit Pizza

This is the best fruit pizza recipe!

1 (14-16 oz.) package sugar cookie mix and ingredients needed on package to prepare

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese(softened)

2 tbsp. sour cream

2 tbsp. powdered sugar

1 tsp. grated lemon rind

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 to 3 c. sliced fruit of your choice

Preheat oven to 350* F. Mix cookie dough according to package directions. Lightly grease a 12 " pizza pan(or rectangle sheet). Press cookie dough into pan, about 1/8" thick. Bake 9-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool.

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice and spread over the crust. Arrange fruit slices on top to create your own design-the possibilities are endless! Me and my girls made the flag pizza pictured above for the 4th of July.

Chex Muddy Buddies

9 cups Rice Chex cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Heat chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter over
low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Remove from
heat; stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate mixture over Rice
Chex. Make sure all cereal gets coated. Put powdered
sugar in a large paper bag (or Ziploc bag). Add the
cereal and shake until all the cereal is coated.
Pour in a bowl and enjoy!

Getting Kids involved in the kitchen....

My kids love to help me in the kitchen and I'm sure yours
do to. With summer approaching I wanted to find some fun
recipes I could do with my kids. Here are a few sites I found.....

Kids Central Kitchen

Kids Health Recipes

Family Fun Recipes

That's My Home

The Fun Place

What are some things you like to make with your kids??

Play Dough Cookies

I got this recipe from my blogging buddy Emily

3/4 C butter
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
2 and 3/4 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
assorted food coloring (gel or paste works best)

In a bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla. Beat until smooth. In a bowl combine flour,
baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed
mixture. Stir until soft dough forms. Divide dough into Fourths.
Tint each with a different food coloring. Wrap in plastic and
chill for two hours. Preheat oven to 350. Shape colors into
3/4 inch balls. For each cookie place one pink, one orange,
one green, and one blue ball together and roll to make
one giant ball. Roll into a 12 inch long snake, and then
starting at one end coil roll to make a cookie. Place cookies
2 to 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheet to allow for
spreading. Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly browned.
Enjoy!!