recipes – The Bless Your Heart Blog

Pinterest Picks

Oh, Pinterest. I don’t spend as much time with you as I did in the beginning…and that’s more than fine with me…but you’ll always have a special place in my creative heart. You make organizing for the holidays a lot simpler, as I love having all of my PINspiration in one, easy-to-find place. I’ve jumped on a few times here lately and these are some of my favorites as of late! ***Beware – randomness ahead***

These little fellas look so divine…

One of the cutest mobiles I’ve seen (and simple, too!)…

This bunk bed will soon be built for a little cutie that resides in our home…

This lady has some great and EASY plans! We've made the seesaw - WIN. — This lady has some great and EASY plans! We’ve made the seesaw – WIN.

I ~~need~~ want this! Better buy some more glue…

Hysterical. You’re gonna have that song in your head all day now, huh?!

I would sip on this if it were in my hand…

Lovely. I think I’m heading to the chicken house again this afternoon…

How incredible is this double shower curtain concept…

Crocheters, Sawyer would DIE for this…

I mean c'mon - how adorable is that for the little chicken girl!? — I mean c’mon – how adorable is that for the little chicken girl!?

Great guestbook idea…

Who doesn't love celebrating birthdays?! — Who doesn’t love celebrating birthdays?!

Painted pinecones will be happening soon…

What are some of your favorites you’ve found lately?! Paste your Pinterest link in the comments so I can follow you!

DIY: Red Hot Applesauce Jello

In the midst of all this sickness, this yummy goodness sounded tasty to me yesterday so I ventured off the couch and made a quick batch.

The first time I ever had this was at Wrex’s family’s house for Christmas one year and I fell in LOVE. It’s like Christmas in a bowl! We have perfected the recipe and its consistency over the years so here is the official recipe.

Red Hot Applesauce Jello – Makes 12+ servings

2 cups water
1 cup Red Hots (you can use Cinnamon Imperials if you can’t find Red Hots. They work….they’re just sugarier, where as the Red Hots add some spice!)
1 packet Knox Gelatin
6 ounces Raspberry Jello
1 large jar of applesauce (5-6 cups)

1.) Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a large pot.

2.) Add in 1 cup of Red Hots and boil and stir until dissolved.

3.) Slowly add in 1 packet of Knox gelatin to dissolved Red Hot mixture. Make sure to remove any clumps that may not get dissolved well. They don’t taste good. 🙂

This will help the recipe not be so soupy.

4.) Mix in 6 ounce of raspberry Jello until dissolved.

Wrex’s mom says you can use any red Jello, but we prefer raspberry.

5.) Remove from heat and then add jar of applesauce and mix well.

You can use either original or unsweetened.

6.) Pour mixture into a serving bowl and place in freezer for about 2 hours. After 2 hours, place in refrigerator. Don’t forget about this lovely stuff in the freezer; if it does freeze, the ice crystals later melt and it gets soupy and not as good.

There's a LOT of volume here so it really needs freezer time to set it. — There’s a LOT of volume here so it really needs freezer time to set it.

7.) Try not to eat the whole bowl in one sitting.

Seriously, this stuff is delish. I have a certain pregnant bestie that loves this stuff. And? I love her so much that when she came to see Wryder the weekend after he was born AND told us she was pregnant herself, I made some in my 5 day postpartum stupor. She MUST be loved. Haha

Enjoy! Let me know how you change it up and what you thought!

DIY: Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins

Each week at Cubbies, one of the little cuties is responsible for bringing back the cookie bucket full of, well, cookies for snack time. This week was Sawyer’s week. (Don’t tell me you’re surprised that I signed up for a fun week…) You don’t have to bring cookies so we decided to make Rice Krispie treat pumpkins and they turned out really cute!

You’ll need:

3 Tablespoons butter
1 package of marshmallows
5 cups of Rice Krispie cereal
orange food coloring
15 mini Tootsie Rolls

1.) Melt down your butter and marshmallows over medium heat.

2.) Add in the food coloring and then coat your Krispies.

3.) While these cool, unwrap your Tootsie Rolls.

4.) Coat your hands in butter and shape your Krispies into a ball of sorts.

5.) Make a well and insert the Tootsie Roll in top. We curved ours for a little character.

These are super easy and super cute! Are you seeing a theme here regarding the kinds of projects I like? 🙂

Pancake Kind of Morning

When you’ve had a late night the evening prior and everyone wakes up a little bit later than normal…

When it’s 40 degrees outside, skies are overcast and the air is oh so fresh and crisp…

When daddy doesn’t have to leave to go to work until noon…

It’s DEFINITELY a pancake kind of morning!

I’ve tried and experimented and tossed out and tweaked a lot of different pancake recipes and this one is our fave, hands down! We’re not big fans of huge, thick pancakes that you have to drench in syrup and chew and chew and chew to get down, so these are a bit on the thinner side.

Buttermilk Pancakes – makes 24 CD sized pancakes

3 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

–

Heat griddle to 350. Mix all ingredients well, but avoid over-mixing. Let rest for a few minutes while the griddle gets hot.

Then, spoon onto hot griddle (I like to use a 1/4 cup measuring cup) and when half-cooked, flip ’em over! Serve with warm maple syrup…

Apparently, it's still too early... — Apparently, it’s still too early…

and eat them with a cute boy or girl!

Sawyer’s not a big sweet eater (what?! I know. Who in the heck are her real parents?!?) but she can put some pancakes away! So can her daddy. After I set these on the table, he said, “Where are the ones for you guys?”

Try ’em out and let me know what you think OR if you think we might like your recipe even better, share it in the comments section. Pretty sure Wrexy won’t mind a little taste testing…