Corn Dog Muffins

I made the most delicious "Corn Bread Muffins" the other night. I saw a couple different versions of these and went with the muffins. I did however have an idea on how to make these another way. So I will share those next week sometime! I think you'll laugh, but love them. LOL

...What you will need for these...

Muffin Pans

Non-Stick Spray

Corn Bread Mix

Water

Mixing Bowl and Spoon (Spatula)

Hot Dogs

Cutting Board and Knife

Ketchup and Mustard to taste

First...Set oven to temp suggested on corn bread mix. Then begin mixing up your corn bread mix. I used Marie Calendars original mix. Yum. All you need is water and the mix. Very quick. Add them to your muffin pans filling them only half full. Don't forget to spray your pans with non-stick spray first.

Using your knife and cutting board, cut up your hot dogs and place as many as you like into the corn bread mix. I cut my dogs in half, then sliced each half into about 7-8 pieces. Perfect for bite size. You could also use lil smokies if you don't want to cut anything. Just as 2 or more smokies to the mix. I used one regular package of hot dogs for 18 muffins. I made some muffins without  hot dogs by request of the hubs. ;D

Place those in the oven and cook em up. Watch them as the ones without hot dogs (if you cook them together) may cook faster. As you cook the cornbread mix will rise a little above the hot dogs. You can also push the hot dogs down towards the bottom if you want to add even more hot dogs to your muffins.

Let them cook just a bit then serve hot with ketchup and mustard to taste. My son turned his nose up at first. He is very picky. I told him they tasted just like a corn dog. So he decided to try it. He said, "wow it does taste like a corn dog!" he ate 3. ;D He even had some the next day for lunch. So YES, picky kids will love them!

You also might want to add a little extra ketchup and mustard to your plate for dipping. I did!

Don't they look tasty!?! They are very Tasty!!!

These would even be good to serve at a kids birthday party!

Pretzel Treats

Have you seen these floating around Pinterest? I have seen a few different ones and they looked delicious. Well, we made some last week and they are very delicious!

What you will need to make these...Butter Snap Pretzels, hershey kisses, m&m's.

...How we made ours...

Start by setting your oven at 300 degrees. Place pretzels on baking sheet. Squeeze as many in as you can.

Next enlist some kiddos to help you peel off the wrappers of your kisses. ;D and place 1 kiss on each pretzel. We used Hugs and regular Milk Chocolate kisses.

Place in the oven for about 4-5 minutes or until the chocolate looks shiny. Watch them because every oven differs. Once they begin to look shiny, they are ready to take out.

Next, immediately after taking them out of the oven, add the m&m's. Place 1 m&m on each kiss, pressing it down into the chocolate. The hugs will be softer than the milk chocolate kisses, so be gentle. LOL Either that or do all the milk chocolates first, then go back to the hugs. ;D We used red, pink, dark pink and white m&m's on ours. Perfect for Valentines day or girls birthday parties.

You can place them in the fridge or freezer to help the hardening of the chocolate or just leave them out. We put ours in the fridge.

We also keep them in the fridge in a container. You don't have too, but they taste good cold. YUM!

I plan on making these for many future occasions. I saw today that they already have mint green out for St. Patricks day. Can't wait to tackle those.

Pinterest Challenge - Circus Snack Mix

It's time for another Pinterest Challenge Party?
Don't forget to grab a button HERE or below! Share the fun too! It would be great to see all those Pinterest inspired projects recreated. <center><a href="http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx169/trendytreehouse/Pinterest-Challenge-Party.gif"/></a></center>

Every Friday...stop by for the "Pinterest Party Challenge" 

You can link up posts related to a Pinterest inspired tutorial, recipes, projects, ect. Basically something you love, found on Pinterest that you want to make.

NEW...I opened an ongoing party for you to join too. I made a board on Pinterest strictly for my Top To Do Projects. It's called My Pinterest Bucket List. I even included an image for you to download and use. Read more about it HERE or find it in my Top Bar below the header on the right. There only one rule. ;-) Please leave a comment below the party so I know there is a new bucket list to check out!

| Linky Party Rules |

• Follow Trendy Treehouse via Google Friend Connect
• Link up only posts related to this challenge. Not your home page
• VERY IMPORTANT...Include a link to the original PIN. (where you got your inspiration) They deserve credit for their hard work too!
• Please DO NOT link up none Pinterest related posts, shops or giveaways.
• Share the i took the {PINTEREST} challenge button somewhere on your blog or in your post.
• Visit at least 3 other link ups and leave meaningful comments.
• Come back next week to see if your link has been featured and to share another fun Pin Inspired Project

Check out my Tutorial Below the Linky Party

I made a Circus Snack Mix. It is a little different than the one I found, but pretty similar and so good!

Circus Snack Mix

Remember I got my {PIN}spiration HERE.This mix will be great for parties, school functions and to give as a gift. A new twist on snack mix. Love it!
...What you will need...Circus Cookies

Fruit Loops

Popcorn

Marshmallows

Bugles

M&M's

Mix all the ingredients together and you have your mix. I didn't put amounts because I like to add more of my favorites. LOL So just add in what you like until you get your desired amount. TIP...use one bag of microwave popcorn and add to that. That will give you an idea of how much to make. I used air pop popcorn for mine and made a large batch. I gave some to friends and the kids have been taking it in their lunch to school a couple days this week. ;DDoesn't that look yummy!?!I am keeping this on my must list for all parties.

Peanut Butter Cracker Treats

Today I am sharing some delicious treats! At Christmas time, a friend of ours sent some goodies. Amongst the goodies was chocolate covered ritz crackers with peanut butter inside. They were amazing. I knew I would be making them in the near future. Yum!

So I went to the grocery store and was about to buy all the ingredients when I found fudge covered ritz crackers. Perfect! So I bought up all they had. I wanted to keep some in my pantry for later use. Well with Valentines this week, I decided to make some for the kids classes....They were a hit!

...What you will need...

Fudge Covered Ritz Crackers

or (ritz crackers and meltable bark or chocolate)

Peanut Butter

Sprinkles or other edible decor

These are really easy to make. 

Spread the peanut butter on one side of the cracker.

Place another cracker on top of the peanut butter.

Squeeze the crackers so a little peanut butter comes out the sides. Roll in sprinkles.

TIP...to help the peanut butter set, place in fridge for a little while. I found out the hard way. When I stacked them to take to the school, the peanut butter squished out. My friend told me that she put hers in the fridge first. AWESOME! So now you know.

That's it. Very quick. Ready to serve at parties, school functions or to give out at the holidays!

Let me know if you try them and if they were good! They are very rich, but so worth it!

Easy Baked Apples - A Guest Post

Hello, Trendy Treehouse readers!

My name is Rebekah, and I'm  from Potholes and Pantyhose.  I am so honored that Tara asked me to be a guest here today. She's pretty awesome, but I realize you guys know that already.

On my blog Potholes and Pantyhose, I share and photograph detailed tutorials of my DIY Projects, Recipes, Photography Tips and Remodeling Endeavors.

And today, I wanted to offer a yummy dessert-Easy Baked Apples-that can be made at the last minute and with ingredients you probably already have on hand.

These Easy Baked Apples are one of my favorite go-to's when last minute guests arrive. To really go over the top, add a little french vanilla ice cream and be crowned dessert queen of the year.

Here's what you'll need to make these Easy Baked Apples:

4-6 Jonathan Apples

6 TBS butter-room temperature

1/4 C Raisins

1/4 C finely chopped Walnuts or Pecans

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Lemon juice (only needed if you are making these ahead and cooking them later, as I did)

1 TBS sugar (if desired to make the dessert a little sweeter, but can be left out)

By using either an apple corer or a paring knife, remove the center of the apple, including all seeds.

Take a moment to make a face with your cored apples.

Place your apples in a sprayed/greased microwavable baking dish.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the 6 TBS room temperature butter to the 1/4 C of raisins.

Add the 1/4 Walnuts or Pecans.

Next, add the 1/4 tsp of Nutmeg.

And then add the 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon.

If you are making this dessert hours ahead of when you might want to actually consume it, add the 1 tsp of lemon juice. The lemon juice allows the apples to maintain their color and crispness, but gives you the option of cooking the apples several hours or even a day later.

If you enjoy sweeter desserts, add 1 TBS sugar to the bowl. I opted not to do this, allowing the ice cream to sweeten the deal.

Mix everything together using a fork.

Using a baby spoon or a knife, fill the apples completely full and a little overflowing with the mixture.

Tightly saran wrap the top of your baking dish. (If cooking the apples later, place them in the fridge until you are ready.)

Microwave for about 6 minutes, or until the apple skin is pliable and easily cut with a butter knife.

Let the apples cool slightly for 1-2 minutes, leaving the saran wrap on the baking dish.

Transfer to your serving plate and liberally spoon the excess juices over the apples (and over the ice cream, if desired). Serve the apples whole or sliced up for easy eating.

Enjoy!

Stop by Potholes and Pantyhose for other recipe, craft, and remodeling ideas. I am so looking forward to meeting you all. And, thanks again, Tara for letting me be a guest here today. It's been a real hoot!

Love-Rebekah

Cone Cakes

My youngest daughter just turned 7. And we wanted to make her something special for her birthday. So I grabbed some supplies and we headed to my parents. We were going there so my hubby could move trees and I needed to get these done for the party. ;-) Luckily I had my moms help to make them. If you want to check out her blog, visit HERE! You'll love it!

Anyway...they turned out so cute! Don't you think?!?

Here is what you will need...

Your favorite cake mix, including the ingredients needed on the box

Ice Cream Cones

Sprinkles (Optional)

Foil (Cut in Squares)

Cupcake Pans

Vanilla flavored candies (Melting Chocolates)

Lolli Pops (we got the flower ones at Michaels)

First, set your oven to 350º. Then, start by mixing up your cake mix. We used Vanilla. I took the birthday girl down the cake isle and said pick your cake. Her eyes lit up when she saw one box had two box tops on it. Not one. (Her school is collecting them this year) She picked that box just because of the two box tops. CUTE! It happened to be one of her favorites. Plain White Cake. Once the cake mix was done, the kids added sprinkles. They wanted to make it confetti cake.

Once your cake mix is all set, you'll want to scoop it into the ice cream cones. You want to fill them about 1/4 of the way full. Just enough for the cakes to puff over the top of the cone. Take your foil and cup them around the base of the cone and place into the cupcake pan. The foil helps keep the cones standing up while baking and also keep the cones from scorching. Place in oven and cook at 350º for 8-12 minutes. More if needed. We used a convection oven, so they cooked nice and fast.

Look at how great these look.

Here is what they look like inside. YUM! My kiddos and hubby like them just like this too! They are about to get sweeter. Keep reading...

Now it's time to melt down those Vanilla Candies. We chose pink of course. After your cakes are completely cool, dip the bottom of the cones in the vanilla candy. Turn over and place in the cup cake pans to harden. It won't take too long.

While those set, you can make your frosting.

Homemade Buttercream Frosting

2 lb. Powdered Sugar Sifted

8 Table Spoons of Butter

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Vanilla

1 Cup of Milk

(more or less milk will make the frosting thicker or thinner)

Pinch of Salt

Cream together the butter, vanilla, milk and salt. Slowly mix in the sifted powdered sugar. Add more or less milk as needed. If you end up adding too much milk, you can always mix in more powdered sugar.

We added in Violet Wilton Food Coloring for our Princess!

Your cakes should be ready for frosting. You can just spread it on with a knife or pipe it on like I did. Place them back in the foil cup cake pans for travel, if you're taking them somewhere.

Add in the cute lolli pops and they are ready to serve. YUM! The girls are going to love them and they are so easy to serve. Oh and very, very cute for pictures. ;0) ;0)

I had some left over batter and one of my kiddos doesn't like cones, so I made cupcakes.

We used a apple corer to hollow out the centers of the cupcakes. I added some of the vanilla candy to the center. A little candy surprise inside.

Pipe on some frosting and these are ready to serve too!

And finally, here's my cute birthday girl enjoying the beater of frosting.

Let me know if you make them! I'd love to see what you come up with for yours!