Rolled Rice Krispy Treats

Okay, I have to admit, I love my sweets! The past month, I haven't been baking much. I am eating healthier, and losing weight in the process.
I find if I bake, I eat! Dont get me wrong, I do splurge one day during the week, usually a Saturday.

I was watching Studio 5(Amy Richardson) a couple of months ago, and they featured this variation of a Rice Krispy Treat. My SIL came to me, and asked for a good treat to serve her Celiac co-workers. I tweaked the recipe a bit, and here it is.

Warning these are so addictive. I usually slice them up, and wrap induvidually in foil, and hide them in the freezer for later :)


5 tbsp butter
5 1/2 cups Gluten Free Rice Krispie Cereal
1-10oz package marshmallows
1/3 cup peanut butter (White Chocolate Wonderful, Peanut Butter & Co.)
1- 4oz bar of chocolate, melted (Hershey or other GF milk chocolate)
1- 4oz bar white chocolate, melted
3/4 cup coarsely chopped cashews(get these in the bulk isle, they are cheaper)
1/4 cup prepared, or homemade caramel(I like Mrs. Richardsons)


Method:

· Butter a small flat baking sheet(I used my broiler pan from my oven,remove the insert, of course)
set aside.

· In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat, add marshmallows and stir until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter.

· Fold in cereal.

· When evenly coated, pour into prepared pan. Press to flatten slightly.

· Sprinkle cereal mixture with half the nuts. Drizzle half of the chocolate, white chocolate and caramel over the nuts.

· Refrigerate for 5-7 minutes, or until chocolate is slightly set.

· From the small end of pan, lift cereal and roll, jelly roll style. Pressing lightly to compress. Smoothing edge to seal.

· With seam side down, drizzle remaining, chocolates, and caramel over the top of roll, finishing with remaining chopped nuts.

· Refrigerate until firm. Slice into rounds when ready to serve.

Makes 10 pieces

Dollar Store Craft

I am so into the Dollar Store. Some of it is total junk, but finding holiday decorations, is pretty easy. Sometimes you might have to modify, or give it a coat of paint, and if you mess up..hey it's only a dollar right?
I was looking for something cheap and creative to go on my mantel for Halloween, and happened upon this idea in Martha Stewart Living Magazine.
Of course they used real pumpkins, but I thought why not foam? You would be able to use them year after year. I spent 4$ total for this project.
(3 pumpkins+plastic ping pong eyes)

I began by painting the pumpkins in my desired colors. It took about three coats to cover.

I then took my trusty cake decorating tip(the largest one) and indented the circle into the foam. This gave me a guide to cut out the eye sockets. I used an exacto to cut out the circles, then used my bone folder to poke the excess foam out of the socket

.

I then touched up the eye area with more paint.(the interior foam was white)
Then I hot-glued the eyeballs into the sockets, and used a sharpie and white marker to draw on the mouths.

This was a really quick project that my kids even helped me with. Enjoy!