Familiar.Easy.Loved

It's Saturday! I love to catch up on house chores and baking on the weekends. We don't have to have 10 ingredients, slave in the kitchen for hours for this traditional, been around forever, smile creating treat! I'm sure each and everyone of you knows this recipe....but I figured why not share it anyway!

Rice Krispie Bars

• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
• 6 cups Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal
  
  
  
  Directions: Melt butter and marshmallows. I use the microwave but the stove top works too. Be sure to stir often. I add a splash of vanilla flavoring to my gooey melted mixture. Stir in 6 cups of rice krispies. Today I used Kellogg's but the generic brands taste just as good.

Pat into a buttered 9x13 pan. Store covered so the bars keep their moisture. These bars can be easily decorated with colored sugars, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and so forth. Today I made the original recipe with no extras.

Although I have this recipe in my memory you can also find it on the cereal box! :-)

This is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. It is the nylon knife sold by Pampered Chef. At first I thought a plastic knife what good is this....I've realized it has done a lot of good. Not to mention it main purpose which protects all our new pans we got as wedding gifts from getting knife marks that eventually rust. If you don't already have one, I highly recommend it!

Best EVER Caramel Balls

No matter how careful I am to make sure there are no old maids in my popcorn balls, people always bite with caution! It's time to get rid of the yellow tape, and throw out the thought of getting popcorn stuck in your teeth by trying this 4 ingredient recipe. If you have ever ate puffed corn you already know just how "kid friendly" these little treats are.

Best EVER Caramel Balls

1 - stick real butter

1 -14 ounce bag Kraft caramels

1 -10 ounce bag marshmallows

1 -4.5 ounce bag butter flavor "puffed" corn

Melt first 3 ingredients very slowly in pot on stove. Pour over puffed corn in a very large bowl.

Mix well. Will be gooey. Don't get discouraged, it will take a minute or two to cool a bit and be easier to work with. Form into balls. Wrap each ball tightly with Press and Seal or plastic wrap!

  

I'm sure a lot of you are already familiar with Kraft's Caramel Bits! I wanted to note how much I love the convenience of not having to unwrap those little caramel squares anymore! I've seen amazing things made with these on FoodNetwork and will be posting them in the future. As for now everyone have a wonderful weekend. Those of you in the Dakota's try to stay cool, it's going to be a hot weekend.

Vegetable Dip

Nothing says summer like fresh garden veggies, this is an easy way to use some of them up. We always had a large garden growing up, Mom did a lot of canning and freezing but we always had fresh vegetables in the fridge with this awsome dip to snack on! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Vegetable Dip

24 oz container cottage cheese

1/2 cup Miracle Whip

2 small packets of Hidden Valley Ranch mix for Buttermilk

Mix all ingredients together and chill. Serve with fresh vegetables. This is also a great after school snack.

I always use Miracle Whip light in an attempt to cut some of the calories out of recipes. It tastes the same as normal Miracle Whip and no one ever notices! Not sure what Hidden Valley Ranch for Buttermilk Recipe is? See the picture below. It is found in the salad dressing aisle!

Enjoy!