Copycat Dole Whip (just like at Disneyland)!

I'm back!  See - told you I am trying this time.  haha
Today, I'm sharing a Copycat Dole Whip recipe, similar to the famous Dole Whips at Disneyland!  It's actually more of a smoothie that soft serve, but tastes a lot like the real deal.  Also, it was super easy to make!

Baked Potato Soup - Recipe Review

It's officially Spring, but here in Southern California we've had Spring-like weather for most of Winter.  However, now that it's officially Spring, we're getting Winter-like weather.  Wait - huh?  Yep - we've had very little rain this Winter (we're in a drought), but over the last week, we've gotten some rain and more rain is in the forecast for this week.   Woo hoo!  So, I decided to try out Hi Sugarplum!'s Simple Crockpot Potato Soup recipe.  I've been on a quest to find the best potato soup crockpot recipe and I think I got pretty close on this one.

I won't go into details of the recipe since you can just click on the link and get it from Hi Sugarplum's blog, but this is what all the ingredients look like once you put them together in the crockpot.

And look at how it turned out!

What did I think?  It was good, but not great.  Although, it's the best creamy potato soup recipe I've found.  I think that one main thing prevented it from being great - the recipe said to put the hashbrown potatoes in frozen, but I really think they should be thawed out first.   After the recommended time of 5 hours plus the additional 30 minutes after adding the cream cheese, the potatoes weren't very soft.  And I like my potatoes soft.  So, I let it cook for an extra hour and the potatoes had softened a bit more, but not completely.  I think if they had been thawed out first, this would have come out perfectly!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

Macaroni Chicken Salad (With A Kick)

One of my co-workers often brings in a yummy dish when we have potlucks.  I seriously cannot get enough of it when she does bring it in.  It's a chicken & jalapeño macaroni salad.  And there's not much to it - doesn't get much easier than this.

Mickey Burgers

Hello all!  I hope you're enjoying the long Memorial Holiday weekend!  I've definitely been looking forward to this weekend.  Memorial weekend is not only the kick-off for summer, but it's also the first holiday I get off from work since New Year's (and if New Year's Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, we don't even get that off!).  So, that looooooooong 5+ month stretch with no holiday breaks is o-v-e-r!

This weekend, my nephew and I decided to try to make Mickey Mouse-shaped hamburgers on the BBQ.  I got the idea to make them when I chaperoned his school field to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago.

I decided to use the slider patties that they sell in the deli section of my grocery store - thought it might be easier that way since they are smaller.  I tried this two ways.

The 1st way (the burgers on the left, top & bottom):  I used 2 sliders per burger.  One slider was used for the main part of his head.  I then took the second slider and cut in half and put each half on the top to make each ear.  Now, the only downside to this is that the ears didn't stick onto the head very well.  I tried to really blend them into the main part of the head - I'm sure there was probably some other way that I could have tried, but I just kind of smushed it as much as I could.

The 2nd way (the burgers on the right, top & bottom):  I used 2 sliders per burger.  I ended up just smushing both sliders into a big ball (so, I really could have just used some regular ground meat instead of getting the sliders, but well, this was an experiment) and just formed the ball with my hands into the shape of Mickey's head.  

The 1st way:  the ears were hanging on by a wing & a prayer.

The 2nd way:  looks less like Mickey's head than the 1st way.

So, I threw them on the grill to see if the ears would stay on after cooking for awhile.

Um, nope.

The one on the top right & bottom left are the ones that I just attached the ears separately and 3 of the ears broke off.  Oops!  But, look how much better they look than the other 2 that I hand-formed!  

The nice thing about using the sliders is that they were the perfect size to still be able to use a regular hamburger bun.  

Again, so you can see the difference, the one on the left had the ear break off and the one on the right was hand-formed.  I just may have to try this again to see if I can perfect it.  It's a fun thing for the kiddos for sure.

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY
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Hashbrown Potato Casserole aka "Crack Potatoes"

I've been meaning to share this recipe for awhile - it's really good comfort food!  I've seen different versions of this online, but I got this recipe many, many years ago and why mess with a good thing?
Matryoshka seemed to think it's good!

As a side note, the Matryoshka is actually a set of nesting measuring cups.  Functional, space-saving, and cute!

Ingredients:
*Frozen hash brown cubed potatoes (1 2 lb bag)
*Sour cream (1 16 oz carton)
*Cream of chicken soup (1 10 3/4 oz can)
*Shredded cheese (2 cups - cheddar, sharp, or whatever you prefer)
*Corn flakes (2 cups)
*Butter, melted (1/4 cup)
*Chopped onions (1/2 cup) - optional (I skip the onions)

Supplies:
3 quart casserole dish or 9 x 13 glass pan

Prepare:
1)  Thaw potatoes - the recipe said you can use them while still frozen, but this has never worked for me.  I usually just put the bag of frozen potatoes in the refrigerator the night before I'm ready to make them.
2)  Preheat oven at 350 degrees
3)  Grease casserole dish

Directions:
1)  Combine sour cream, soup, cheese, (and onions if you choose to use them) in a large bowl.  Just stir it all together.

2)  Add potatoes to mixture and stir it up.

3)  Pour the entire mixture into your greased up casserole dish (or glass pan).

4)  In a separate bowl, melt butter.  I usually do about 10 or 15 seconds at a time until completely melted.

5)  Add corn flakes to the melted butter and mix it up to give the corn flakes a good coating of the melted butter.

6)  Sprinkle the corn flakes all over the top of the mixture in the pan.

7)  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit.  Then serve and enjoy.

I'm super hungry now just from looking at all these pictures.  Yum!

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

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Amazing Brownies!

Yes, I'm aware that I've been slacking on the blog posts.  I have a couple of posts in the pipeline that still need to be finished.  And I've been going back and forth between projects, so they're not ready for sharing yet.  All in due time...

But today, I want to share the most amazing brownies I made the other day.  I got the recipe from my  friend, Brenda at Chatting Over Chocolate.

I took them to work to share with my co-workers and they were a big hit.  So, so yummy!  Pop on over to her blog to check out how to make them (and you'll see her version is much more chocolatey than mine - apparently I'm not good at drizzling chocolate so I gave up after the 3rd time getting chocolate on my shirt).  I think these will be my new go-to item for bringing to potlucks and parties.  :)  

Originally posted by Adventures in DIY

Jujubeez - No Bake Cookies

Hello there!  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  We actually had a lot of rain this weekend here in Southern California, which we really needed.  It's just funny because any kind of rain turns into "Stormwatch" on the news.  I actually enjoy the rain, so I quite enjoyed it  :)

Today, I have a very easy no-bake cookie recipe for you.  And it's super yummy too!  My friend at work shared this recipe with me several years ago and I've been making them ever since.  The cookie recipe doesn't have a name, so my other friend and I named them after our friend that shared the recipe - Jujubeez (obviously that's not her real name - it's her nickname).

Ingredients:
*Peanut Butter
*Ritz Crackers (I use the store brand)
*CandiQuik chocolate (you can probably use other melting chocolates, although I've never tried)

1)  Spread peanut butter on top of a Ritz cracker and then put another Ritz cracker on top to make little sandwiches.

2)  Once you've made all your little sandwiches, melt your chocolate according to the directions on the package of chocolate.

3)  With tongs, dip your sandwich into the chocolate and make sure it's completely covered.

4)  Lay the finished ones onto wax paper and let them cool.  You'll know when are "done" because the chocolate will have dried & hardened.

5)  Then, wah la!  You're done!  I made 32 with 2 rows of Ritz crackers and 1 package of chocolate.  I probably could have made more, but there were some broken crackers.

I was a bad blogger and didn't make a nice display for a pretty picture.  I was taking them to work the next day, so they just went straight into a big ziplock bag.  And a couple of them may or may not have been eaten before I even got to work.  :)

Originally posted by: Adventures of DIY

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Cookin For The Seven Dwarf's Sweet & Savoury Sundays

Mini Tacos

Hello!  I'm almost done with my current project, so I'll be able to share it very soon.  In the meantime, here's a little something I tried that I found via Pinterest:  Mini Tacos.  These were pretty simple to make and would make for great little appetizers.

Supplies needed:
*  Your choice of meat
*  Your choice of seasoning for meat
*  Wonton skins  
*  Cheese (grated)
*  Muffin tin
*  Pam (or something to grease the muffin tin)

***Preheat oven 350 degrees***

1)  First, cook your meat.  I used ground beef with taco seasoning.  But, you could make it with any seasoning you'd like.  You might be able to use other types of meat, but the ground beef is good for this because these are pretty small.

2)  Once the meat is cooked (or while you're cooking it), prepare your muffin tin.  Spray a bit of Pam and make sure the inside of the cups are greased completely.  Then, put a wonton skin in each cup.

3)   Fill the wonton skins with a bit of the meat.

4)  I added shredded cheese to half of mine to see if I would like it better with melted cheese or non-melted cheese.  It's up to you how you would like it (I preferred it with the cheese added afterwards).

5)   Put the muffin tin into the oven at 350 degrees for at least 10 minutes.

The directions I found on Pinterest stated to bake them for 8 minutes.  I felt that this was not enough time.  The 2nd batch I made, I put in for 10 minutes and it was much better.  I'm thinking to try 12 minutes to see if that will work even better.

Here is how they came out!

You can add anything else to it that you'd like.  I love hot sauce, but didn't have any and I think these would have tasted great with them.  Buona appetito!  

Posted by: http://adventuresindiy1759.blogspot.com/

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Well, well, well.   Lookie what we have here.  It's a first for Adventures in DIY.  A recipe!  I don't cook or bake much and that's not to say I don't know how or that I'm not good at either.  In fact, I'm actually pretty good at what I do cook & bake.  I just don't do much of it since there's not much of a need.  Anyhoo, this weekend I made some of these yummy Peanut Butter Blossom cookies and took them to a party.  They were a big hit - not one left!  (although, I probably should have made at least two batches since there were a ton of people at the party)  They are my favorite cookies and I thought that I would mix it up a bit and share the recipe that I always use (courtesy of Better Homes & Garden's website, www.bhg.com - sorry, but I don't have the exact link to the recipe for you).

List of Ingredients:
*  Shortening (1/2 cup)
*  Peanut Butter (1/2 cup)
*  Granulated Sugar (1/2 cup)
*  Brown Sugar (packed) (1/2 cup)
*  Baking Powder (1 teaspoon)
*  Baking Soda (1/8 teaspoon)
*  Egg (1)
*  Milk (2 tablespoons)
*  Vanilla (1 teaspoon)
*  Flour (1 3/4 cups)
*  Granulated Sugar (1/4 cup - optional)
*  Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses

1)  Pre-heat oven 350 degrees.

2)  In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.

3)  Add the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined.

4)   Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined.

5)  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

6)  Shape dough into 1-inch balls.   Roll balls in the 1/4 cup granulated sugar (this is optional - I always skip this part). Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

7)  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned.

8)  Immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie's center. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

***Makes 54 cookies.

These are really, really tasty and if you love peanut butter, you will love these.  The heat from the cookies even makes the Kisses soft and gooey - so yummy!  You can also use the many different types of Hershey's Kisses (the ones with almonds would be great!) and one of these days I was thinking to use the mini-Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on top.  My mouth is totally watering right now!  Go make these now!  They're good - really, really good!  Enjoy!

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Posted by http://adventuresindiy1759.blogspot.com/