Cereal for Breakfast... and Dessert

I was surprised and excited to come home last week to find another box from General Mills on the porch!  They are launching a handful of new cereals this month and, seeing as cereal is how we start our day at least five days a week, we wasted no time digging right in.



While the littles have been gobbling up the Chocolate Toast Crunch and Dark Chocolate Crunch Cheerios like there is no tomorrow, Honey and I have both loved topping our plain non-fat greek yogurt with the Fiber One Protein (and a drizzle of Savannah Bee Company honey, dash of cinnamon and fresh berries).  I was skeptical at first, but BOTH the cranberry almond and maple brown sugar varieties are amazing!!  Truly!




I also gave their Individual Microwave Apple Crisps a whirl one night after supper since I had everything on hand.  They were pretty darn tasty - especially considering the whopping 10 minutes they took from start to mouth!

Individual Microwave Apple Crisps
Serves 2 (I doubled)

1 med apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 tsp butter, melted
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp flour
1/4 tsp apple pie spice (I didn't have any so I did a mix of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg.)
1/2 c Nature Valley cranberry almond protein granola
Vanilla greek yogurt and additional apple pie spice, if desired (I used plain greek yogurt)

1. In medium bowl, toss apple slices and butter.  Add sugar, flour and spices.  Toss to coat evenly.
2. Spray two 4-6oz ramekins with cooking spray.  Divide apple mixture between ramekins.  Microwave uncovered on high 1 1/2 - 2 minutes or until apples are softened.
3. Top each with 1/4 c granola and a dollop of yogurt and spices.  Serve immediately.


 
You can find the Hello, Cereal lovers website here and Facebook page here.

xoxo

PS. Check out Day 7 of Operation Organization at 11 Magnolia Lane today!!

Candy Cane Whoopie Pies

I just adore our little elf Scout.  I mean, how fantastic is it that we both love the exact same things!?!?  When he left the littles the fixins for Candy Cane Whoopie Pies we couldn’t wait to get started.



All you need is a box of Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Mix and a tub of vanilla icing. 
- Prepare and bake the cookie dough as directed.  As soon as they come out of the oven, top half of them with the candy cane pieces. 
- Once they are completely cooled, have your littles spread the plain half of the cookies with vanilla icing and then top with one of cookies decorated with candy canes. 
- Sprinkle more candy cane pieces around the edges and you’re done!



As much as I hated to part with them, we even bagged up a couple for sweet friend M as a pick-me-up when she had the PCP spend the night last weekend.



As an aside, it’s worth mentioning that I do kind of have a thing for chocolate peppermint desserts.  When I was pregnant with the baby, I guzzled down a Chick-fil-A Peppermint Chocolate Chip milkshake every.single.day during the holidays.  (Do you know how many calories are in one of those?  If not, DON’T LOOK.)  It was obscene.  So much so that I ordered TWO on Saturdays since they are closed on Sundays.  It’s no wonder that the baby was nine pounds and a whole week early.

xoxo

Sunday Supper {Cheeseburger Casserole}

I had a request to bring back Sunday Suppers here on the blog, and it wasn’t until then that I realized I hadn’t been writing about it much lately.  We try our best to sit down together to a home cooked meal and enjoy a long, relaxing dinner each and every Sunday.  We eat off of the fine china, practice our manners and take time to just be a family.  Now, this meal is not always (or ever) fancy but I do always try to make something that I know everyone will enjoy eating.  When I found the Cheeseburger Casserole recipe flipping through a magazine at the Costco checkout, I snapped a quick pic with my phone and couldn’t wait to make it for the littles.



Cheeseburger Casserole
2 lbs ground beef (I used lean.)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 bag (20oz-ish) frozen crinkle cut french fries (I used Alexia…love all of their taters.)
Toppings of choice – finely diced pickles, onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard

1. Brown ground beef and drain.  Spread in bottom of ungreased 3 qt casserole dish.
2. Mix two soups together in a bowl.  Spread over meat.  Top with bag of frozen fries.
3. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes (or until fries are done).  Garnish with toppings.


I must admit that I was skeptical at first.  But it was pretty good – everyone gobbled it up and it took no time at all to put together!

xoxo

Wookie Cookies {Free Printable}

When the kind folks at Big G sent me a full set of the Star Wars pens and a few boxes of cereal, I knew two things… 1) that the littles (and their daddy) would be over the moon excited and 2) that it was a perfect candidate for one of Scout’s daily treats!

As expected, they were mad for the pens.  There are eight in the set and we did a “pen draft” to divide them up for the day.  (We also do “room drafts”, “car drafts”, “ball drafts”, etc. on a daily basis.) These fun collectible pens can be found in specially marked boxes of General Mills cereal through the end of the year. 

We decided over breakfast to make some sort of cereal treat to share with their little friends.  One quick internet search later and we were mixing up Six Sister’s Stuff Peanut Butter Puff Balls with the Reese’s Puffs Cereal!!  They are no bake, come together in a flash, and are perfect for cooking with helpers.

Reese's Peanut Butter Puff Balls
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
16 oz. jar creamy peanut butter
6 cups Reese's Puffs cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the whole container of peanut butter. Mix well.
Add cereal to a large bowl. Pour warm peanut butter mixture over cereal and mix well, making sure to coat all of the puffs.
Scoop out and form into 1-2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
Put the chocolate chips in a small bowl and melt in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds. Stir until smooth.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies.
 

 

The treats are brown and strangely shaped – both of which were oddly perfect for our “Wookie Cookies”.  I made tags with the littles’ input and we bagged them up to be delivered this morning!
 

Wookie Cookie Tag by Dixie Delights

Merry be with you,
xoxo

Big G Cereal Wars Tumblr  |  Cereal Wars Blog

4th Annual Snowflake Breakfast: Elf on the Shelf Birthday

“Dear John and Whit… I’m thrilled to be back. 

I’ve missed y’all SO much!  I can’t wait to play tricks and games and such. 

But first things first, let’s shout ‘Hip Hip Hooray’!  It’s time to wish John HaPpY 8tH bIrThDaY!!”

Boy oh boy were the littles thrilled to wake up to find our traditional birthday morning breakfast hosted by none other than SCOUT, our friendly Elf on the Shelf!!  For the fourth year in a row he arrived with a festive and elfin sized breakfast to kick off the holiday mischief and merriment.

 
Of course, making things even more fun than usual, Scout donned his birthday cupcake costume and brought his new Elf on the Shelf Birthday Tradition book!!!





Seeing as it’s a birthday, Scout fledged full force ahead with everything sweet and sugary.  Tiny pancakes with dollops of whipped cream and sprinkles, mini chocolate chip muffins and little bowls of Lucky Charms…



…petite 8 powdered donuts and 8 shaped bacon twists…



…wee cups of yogurt with sprinkles and clementines rounded out the fare.



The birthday boy’s place was set with our family birthday plate, a party hat and pin.



And the rest were quite festive as well!!






The trick sparkler candles were not a surprise, seeing as Scout loves nothing more than a wee bit of mischief!









Inside the cupcake was the first of three clues.  All Pokemon themed for the birthday boy!!



Along the way of his scavenger hunt, he found two packs of Pokemon cards…



…and…


… a lacrosse stick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Happy birthday, sweet boy, and WELCOME BACK Scout!  We’ve missed you so much, too!!
xoxo

3rd Annual Snowflake Breakfast

2nd Annual Snowflake Breakfast

It’s Great to be 8! {Free Printable}

Since the PCP will be living it up on Thanksgiving break for his actual birthday, we went ahead and carried in these darling little mini doughnuts for the class yesterday.



 
All you need to pull them together are lollipop sticks (Michael’s), ribbon or twine, the free printable tags, a hole puncher and the little doughnuts, of course!

Dixie Delights It's Great to be 8 Tag

It certainly is GREAT to {almost} be 8!
xoxo

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Back by popular demand (read: the insistence and excited anticipation of two littles you just might know), take a gander at hot chocolate station 2013. 



Much like last year, I expect this to get loads of use between the four of us and the crew of others we always seem to have coming and going.



It looks much the same as last year, but with the addition of much improved labels and some Pirouette swizzle sticks.  I purchased the jars with the darling chalk board labels last year at World Market.
 

I scared up some of my gold printed napkins with my Number Four Eleven monogram.  I can’t believe I forgot I had these pretties stashed away in my party closet!  We use gold coffee cups with lids from Party City for our hot chocolates when we have company.  Much more user friendly for the younger set.  (And the older set that tends to mix in a little Kahlua, Bailey’s or Peppermint Schanpps.)



Y’all come scoop, indulge (dark chocolate chips), float (mini marshmallows), garnish (peppermint puff) and swizzle (Pirouette) with us any time.



It's the perfect way to warm up after playing outside in the mounds (and mounds upon mounds) of leaves in the yard!





xoxo

Boo Breakfast Fondue

I had all the best intentions to make the Back to School Breakfast Fondue recipe that was included in my General Mills Hey, Cereal Lovers box back in September.  Well, back to school turned to fall and fall turned to Halloween and our “Halloween Witch” finally pulled it off… but in the form of BOO! Breakfast Fondue!!
 





It was such a fun spin on the usual fondue suspects.  We had cinnamon roll bites, granola bar pieces, apples and oranges…



… along with Count Chocula and Franken Berry cereals for dipping. 

 
The littles found it to be GREAT fun.  I mean, what’s not to love about dipping and mixing all sorts of breakfast creations?!?





BOO! Breakfast Fondue
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min

Ingredients:
1 tube Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls with Cinnabon icing
2 packages (4 bars total) Nature Valley Oats n Honey Granola Bars
1 sliced green apple
2 sliced orange
1/2 cup each Count Chocula and Franken Berry cereals
Vanilla yogurt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice each cinnamon roll round into 4 pieces.  Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes or just until golden brown.  Ice.
2. Set out prepared dippers (cinnamon rolls, granola bars, fruit) and several small bowls of yogurt and cereals.  Serve with skewers.  Invite dipping and mixing!


We are getting SO excited for Halloween around here!!  I'm planning a week's worth of fun and spooky meals for the littles now that baseball is nearly over for the season.

xoxo

Hello, Cereal Lovers

I was *delighted* when the kind people at General Mills reached out and said they wanted to send little ol me a package with a selection of their cereals, favorite recipes to fuel learners throughout the day, and other essentials in a fun lunch box!!  The baby helped me tear into the package the minute it arrived (any time the door bell rings is cause for excitement around here).



He scurried off with the lunch box, glitter gel pens and stickers (I was able to get the darling notebook paper treat bags from his clutches) and I excitedly looked through the recipe cards.





The timing could not have been more perfect and I’ve already got a fun fall treat planned with one of the recipes and some of the cereals (I’ll share in the next couple of weeks)!!  And I hope to make some of the other things (can you say Breakfast Fondue?!?!) between now and then.

You can find the Hello, Cereal lovers website here and Facebook page here.

Thanks for thinking of me “Big G”!!
xoxo

Football Treat Tags {Free Printable}

Now I know I’ve expressed my lack of football prowess, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to pull together a cute game day snack. 



We love to spoil our teachers with little treats throughout the year, so the littles helped me make these in the colors of their teachers’ favorite teams!  Kentucky for the PCP’s current teacher, Alabama for his beloved first grade teacher, GT for us (of course), and the Saints for the baby’s teacher (somehow I failed to get a picture of it?!?! Maybe it was the monkey trying to down the pretzels as soon as he saw I was preoccupied.)   John asked for the Falcons (gotta represent) and, as much as it pained me, I made one for the Dawgs (THWG!). 







You can download the lot of tags by clicking on the link below.

You'll find a page with four tags for each of these TWENTY-FIVE teams:

• Georgia Tech
• University of Georgia (THWG)
• Auburn
• Alabama
• Clemson
• Texas A&M
• University of Kentucky
• University of South Carolina
• University of Florida
• Florida State
• Mississippi State
• Notre Dame
• University of Louisville
• Appalachian State
• University of North Carolina
• Louisiana State University
• Rice
• Texas Christian University
• Ole Miss
• University of Arkansas
• University of Miami
• Syracuse University
• Tennessee
• Atlanta Falcons
• New Orleans Saints

Football Treat Tags - 24 TEAMS!

The salty sweet pretzel treats are SO easy to make!  Here’s how:
1. Line a pan with foil and spread butter snaps (square pretzels) in a single layer.
2. Unwrap a hershey kiss and place one in the center of each pretzel.
3. Bake in the oven at 170 for about 8 minutes.  Start checking after 5 minutes as you want them to be easy to push down with an m&m, but not running all over the pan.
4. Remove from oven and press a m&m down in the center of each kiss.  Put in the fridge to let harden back up.

NOTE: Bestie S had the stellar idea of making these using the football shaped pretzels and has reported that they can be found at Wal Mart and World Market!!!

I found all of the colors I needed in a regular bag of m&m’s, with the exception of white that I had left over from another project.  I did these with candy corn a couple of years back and they were super cute too!

Kickoff the celebration, y’all!
xoxo

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