Natural Homemade Living

Marshmallow Pops I've been making these marshmallow pops for parties for years and I have figured out a couple of helpful hints to make it an easier process. I'm not a marshmallow fan but I think they look pretty in an arrangement. They are super cute for Valentine's Day and the kiddos say they are awesome! 💕 Ingredients : 1 bag Wilton Candy Melts (12 oz bag) 30 lollipop sticks 30 large marshmallows (I did not use the jumbo size) Sprinkles, coconut, chopped nuts, small candies Food coloring optional Directions: Melt the candy chips using a double boiler on the stove. Fill a medium size pan halfway with water and place a glass bowl on top. Heat over medium heat and make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl or it'll get too hot. You can also melt the chips in the microwave in 30 second increments. Once the chips are melted, dip an end of the lollipop stick into the chip mixture about 1/2 inch then push it into the end of a marshmallow, al...

  This recipe is everywhere and I finally gave in and made some! It was so simple to make and already popular in our family! Everyone likes the sweet with a little salty taste from the dry roasted peanuts. Check it out! 😊 Ingredients: 24 oz. white chocolate almond bark 12 oz. chocolate almond bark 12 oz. milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips 5 cups dry roasted peanuts Directions: I started layering the ingredients in the crockpot. Here's the order starting with the peanuts on the bottom, the almond bark (both flavors) and the chocolate chips. Cover and cook on low for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cover 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop candy out of crockpot and place on the baking sheets. Add some of your favorite sprinkles.  Once the candies have set, mine took about an hour, store them in an airtight container. I also made a batch without peanuts and used gluten-free mini pretzels. They turned out great! Enjoy! Love and peace, Tammi

My holiday baking marathon has begun! I decided to use a few recipes this year that I haven't made for years and this was the first one I found. I had forgotten about these yummy bars but back in the day, they were a favorite from our family friend Delores. She was our neighbor, an excellent baker and had a heart of gold. During the holiday season maybe take a little time to reminisce about those who are no longer with us. The happy memories are so heart warming and the kiddos love hearing the stories from the past. I smiled when I found this recipe that our Grandma had received from Delores dated 11/15/1978. 😇 The great thing is that you can make them with gluten-free cereal, which means everyone in our family can eat them! And we all like the part that they are easy to put together, no baking! Marshmallow Bars Ingredients: 1 bag milk chocolate chips (11.5 oz.) 1/2 bag butterscotch chips 1 stick butter (1/2 cup) 1 cup creamy peanut butter Melt these ingredients togethe...

I'm making my Christmas goodie list. One thing in my list are chocolate pretzel turtles. These are simple and quick to make. I learned two important lessons; make sure you use soft caramels and high quality chocolate. We really don't need to discuss the details - haha! You can also make them gluten free if you use gluten free pretzels. You can use any chocolate, I made milk chocolate and white chocolate. These are delicious! 😋 Ingredients: 36 pecan halves 36 pretzel twists, mini 36 soft caramels, I used Werther's soft caramels, 2 packages, unwrapped 1 bag chocolate chips, I used Ghirardelli white chocolate chips, melted Directions: Toast the pecans in a 325ºF oven for 5 minutes then set them aside to cool. Place pretzels on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Place one unwrapped caramel on each pretzel. Bake for 5 minutes in 325ºF oven. They should look shiny and soft but not melted. Remove from oven, keep them on...

Maybe you've seen the TikTok trend for frozen yogurts treats. They looked so good I had to make them! There are several variations but I used a couple of my favorite flavors for mine. They are a little messy to make but they are SO good and totally worth chocolate covered fingers! 😋 Ingredients 1 cup vanilla Greek Yogurt 2 cups strawberries, cut into small pieces 2 cups milk chocolate chips, melted 1 T coconut oil Directions Stir the yogurt and strawberries together in a medium bowl. I used a cookie scoop to place them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Freeze them for 1-2 hours. Before you take them out of the freezer, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave using 30 second increments until they chips are melted and smooth. Remove the clusters from the freezer and dip each cluster in the melted chocolate. Place each cluster back on the cookie sheet and freeze again for about an hour. Once mine were frozen, I put them in freezer bags until and returned th...

                                                              These amazing gooey little bars have been a family favorite for years. I usually have these ingredients on hand and they don't take long to put together.  Ingredients List for the Crispy Rice Layers (divide in half for each layer): 10 cups Crispy Rice cereal  (I use Malt O Meal Crispy Rice cereal because it's gluten free)  8 cups mini marshmallows 12 Tbsp butter Ingredients List for the Caramel Filling: 1 bag Kraft caramel bits (11 oz bag) or Kraft caramels, unwrapped 6 Tbsp butter 1 can sweetened condensed milk Instructions: Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with parchment paper or grease with butter. Start by making the caramel filling in the microwave.  Combine the caramel filling ingredients together in a large microwave safe bowl. (I use a 4-cup Pyrex m...

These delicious little treats are a perfect addition for your Easter tray of goodies! You only need a few ingredients and a little time to put these together. Recipe makes 20-25 treats. Ingredients : 2 cups flaked coconut 1 bag (11 oz) white chocolate chips (Ghirardelli is my favorite) 2 drops green food coloring Pastel color M&M candies or jelly beans to use for the eggs in the nest Melt the white chocolate chips for 2 minutes on 50% power in the microwave.  Stir the chips after they have melted and add 2 drops of green food coloring.  Add the coconut and stir until it's covered with chocolate.  Use a small cookie dough scoop to form a ball and place them on parchment paper. Use your thumb to flatten the middle of the nest.  Place your candies in the middle of each nest.  Store in a tightly sealed container or freeze them.  Love and peace, Simply Angie and Tammi

I mentioned a couple days ago about how I was going to try making my own marshmallows. I finally got around to it yesterday, and was so surprised that it didn't take long to do and they turned out great the first time-which is kind of a shocker. Usually my new recipes end up with me in tears and my kitchen looking like a natural disaster has taken place! The original recipe is from mybakingaddiction.com but after experimenting, I changed a few things when I made them. I originally made them for hot chocolate but we all like them so much we have been just eating them without the hot chocolate! Homemade Marshmallows Ingredients: 3/4 cup water, divided 3 (.25 ounce) packages unflavored gelatin 2/3 cup light corn syrup 2 cups white sugar 1 T vanilla extract 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar   Directions: 1. Line an 8x8 inch baking dish with plastic wrap. This will make it easier to take them out and cut them. You will need to spray your wrap with some type...

A blast from the past! If you celebrate Valentine's Day and need a quick idea, these Cherry Lollipops take about 20 minutes from start to finish, taste great-and look good too! Here's what you need: 3/4 c sugar 1/2 c light corn syrup 1/4 c butter 3oz box of cherry jello 15-20 lollipop sticks (you can find these at craft stores or Wal-Mart in the baking aisle)  Butter a cookie sheet or line with parchment  and lay out your sticks, make sure you leave room between them for the syrup to spread a little. Stir butter, sugar, and corn syrup over low heat in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved and candy thermometer reaches 275 degrees.Remove from heat and stir in cherry jello until smooth.  Use a metal tablespoon or  a small metal cookie scoop and spoon syrup over the end of each lollipop stick, cool and store... or share with your favorite Valentine! This recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com  ~Simply Angie Simply Cherry Lollipops

 Chocolate Indoor S'mores! I love camping season and everyone loves s'mores made over the open fire. But on rainy days and during the winter months, these fancy s'mores are fun to make and are so delicious! I make a variety of flavors including gluten free. I start with chocolate graham crackers, honey graham crackers, gluten free graham crackers, mint chips, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips (make sure you use a good brand). Small marshmallows or marshmallow fluff are required at my house. Don't forget your favorite toppings. The kids love the chocolate and mint chip combination, they think they taste like thin mint cookies but better!   We love the sprinkled s'mores! Gluten free s'mores  Directions: Break your graham crackers in half or quarters. The gluten free graham crackers I use are already in squares. Place marshmallows on crackers halves and broil them in the oven broiler until they are lightly browned, it takes about one minute....

If you need a gift idea or just want to make something for a yummy treat you should try our Caramel Corn Crunch, it’s perfect! I made this for my daughter’s dance class. I doubled the recipe and got about 25 cups. Here's what you need: 1 c butter  2 c packed brown sugar  1/2 c light corn syrup 1/2 tsp salt-I omitted because I used salted butter 1 t. baking soda Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil over medium heat in large sauce pan. Boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Mix well, it will foam up-this is why you need a large pan. Pour over 8 quarts of popcorn and stir to coat evenly. Bake for 1 hour at 200° stirring every 15 minutes. Then pour onto foil or wax paper and spread out to cool. I melted both chocolate and white chips and  drizzled over cooled mixture. You can add nuts, m&m's (or anything else you like) to the mixture. This makes about 10 cups. Enjoy! ~Simply Angie

I recently made this recipe for my son's Confirmation. It has been used for multiple occasions and celebrations in our family. Everyone loves them and we've had several requests for the recipe.  These can be made ahead of time because they freeze well. You will need to use silicone or rubber molds. (They are not the same as the plastic molds for the candy melts). These are usually found at a kitchen or candy  supply store or they can be ordered online.  You might want to call in your "helpers" with these little sweeties, they are fun to make but they do take some time. Here's the recipe: 1  3 oz. package cream cheese 2 1/2 c powdered sugar 1/8 - 1/4 tsp flavoring (depending on how strong you want it, if you make the whole thing one flavor it is closer to 1/4 tsp but I usually split the dough into 3 and use about 1/8 tsp for each section) If you use oil, such as peppermint, you only need a few drops. Food coloring - a few drops (I split the dough into 3 par...

I'm starting to try some new recipes for an upcoming graduation party. I started with truffles. The first round of taste testing went well so decided to share my recipe.  1 cup white chocolate chips (I used Nestles) 4 T butter 3 T heavy cream 5 T dry cake mix, I used Duncan Hines Butter Golden flavor Melt the white chocolate chips, butter and cream. (I did this in the microwave for 50 seconds at 60% power). When melted, whisk this mixture until smooth then add the cake mix. Whisk again until smooth. Press cling wrap over the mixture and put in refrigerator for about 2 hours. Once they are cooled, remove from the refrigerator and use a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon to form 1 inch balls. Place in refrigerator again until your chocolate dip is ready. The next step is to melt your chocolate dip to cover the outside of your truffles. I used white chocolate but you could use semi-sweet or milk chocolate if you want. Place 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips in a bo...

A blast from the past! If you celebrate Valentine's Day and need a quick idea, these Cherry Lollipops take about 20 minutes from start to finish, taste great-and look good too! Here's what you need: 3/4 c sugar 1/2 c light corn syrup 1/4 c butter 3oz box of cherry jello 15-20 lollipop sticks (you can find these at craft stores or Wal-Mart in the baking aisle) Butter a cookie sheet or line with parchment  and lay out your sticks, make sure you leave room between them for the syrup to spread a little. Stir butter, sugar, and corn syrup over low heat in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved and candy thermometer reaches 275 degrees.Remove from heat and stir in cherry jello until smooth.  Use a metal tablespoon or  a small metal cookie scoop and spoon syrup over the end of each lollipop stick, cool and store... or share with your favorite Valentine! This recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com  Angie Cherry Lollipops  

Gummys If you haven't figured it out yet by my posts, I have a sweet tooth...marshmallows, hot chocolate, cookies..yep those are mine.  I also like gummy bears, worms, whatever, so after looking at tons of recipes for gummy candy, to my kitchen I went to give it a whirl.  There were several variations.  These don't taste exactly like the real gummy candies but they are pretty close and they are easy and much cheaper.  I got my molds at the dollar store, but you can find them in the candy making aisle at your craft store too, they will just cost more than a dollar.  You could also use ice cube trays or whatever you have. Mine were the silicone trays and were a little too deep but I didn't fill them up all the way. 1 small pkg jello, whatever flavor you like 3 pkgs (they come 4 to a box of the Knox), or whatever brand you use, unflavored gelatin 1/3 c of water Put all the ingredients in a pan on the stove and heat on medium until they are mixed and the ...