Chocolate Dipped Treats

A favorite in our house is to get Bakers Dipping Chocolate (see pics below) we love to dip *Strawberries, *Marshmallows, *Bananas *Apple Pieces, and what ever else we have floating around! To spice it up you can add coconut flakes or mini m&m's. The chocolate cost between $2-$3 depending on sales, if you buy strawberries in the right season expect to pay around $2.50, so you can make over dozen strawberries for around $5, way less than any place will charge you, and they taste just as great!

Sample of Huggies

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent.aspx?id=99795

samples don't last forever so hurry over to request yours!

A jack of all trades...Vinegar

White distilled vinegar can be used in almost anything! I don't have a dishwasher, so all my dishes are washed by hand, clorox is so strong and turns my hans red, so I add vinegar into my dish water. Also I add in 1/2 cup vinegar to every wash, it helps brighten the colors, prevent color bleeding and removes stains. Have hard water deposits? Clean with vinegar and watch them dissapear.

*Enchilada Soup*

*6 boneless chicken breast

*6 cups water

*6 chicken bullion cubes

*1 tsp cumin

*2 tsp fresh minced garlic

*1 large can green enchilada sauce

*1 large can diced tomatoes

*2 small cans tomato sauce NOT paste

*1 can black beans

*1 1/2 lbs shredded colby jack cheese

**Boil chicken until cooked, then shred (hardest part I promise). Add shredded chicken, water, bullion, cumin, and garlic. Cook over medium-low heat until bullion is disolved. Add in enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and beans. Do not add cheese in the pot, it will stick to the sides and spoon, and does not make for easy clean up, instead add cheese in individual bowls. We love to top with cilantro but that is your preference. We dip tortilla chips in ours!

***Feeling really domesticate? Then make soup the night before, sitting all night enchances the flavor!

This is also a great soup to freeze, so if you have plenty of leftovers like we do, then freeze it for a later date, makes for a super easy dinner!

Mini M&M Pancakes

Everyone has heard of chocolate chip pancakes but what about mini M&M's? Its a kid favorite, with the bright colors and sweet taste it's sure to please, and so easy to make! The trick is when pouring the batter on the griddle to push the m&m's in the batter pour a little more batter on top to make sure they are covered, if you don't they will burn when you flip the pancake. Make it more fun by adding food coloring in the batter.

*Feeling really domesticated, then make your own batter: *2 cups flour *1 1/2 tsp of baking powder *1/2 tsp salt *1/4 cup oil *2 cups milk *2 eggs. Mix all dry ingredients first side aside, then mix milk eggs and oil, add in dry indgredients. (Original receipe calls for 1 tsp of sugar, I grew up with it never being added in and have never added it in mine, so it's your call)

The simple things

I like things simple, for the most part, so this blog is just that, simple cleaning, cooking, beatuy and keeping kids happy tips! If you would like to add in you own tips please email me at beludwig@live.com and I will post it with your name! Enjoy...