Sweeten Up Summer Celebrations with Cake Ideas from Betty Crocker

May 25, 2013 by 12 Comments
Betty Crocker Ice Cream Cone Cakes

 

Summer is here and along with long, lazy days of summer vacation come summer celebrations!  My birthday falls right smack dab in the middle of July with my husband’s coming two weeks later.  Whether you’re celebrating summer birthdays, or another event like a family reunion, anniversary party, bon voyage or “just because”, Betty Crocker has lots of fun summer cake ideas to get your creativity flowing.

Ice Cream Cone Cakes – Kids of all ages will love personalizing these single-serving cakes! And this infographic shows easy step-by-step directions to make these unique cakes that are both adorable AND delicious!  (Keep reading below to find more fun cake ideas!)

 
·Flip-Flops Cake – Personalize these edible summer wardrobe favorites with candies and fruit snacks – transforming a sheet cake into footwear that looks (and is) good enough to eat.
·Watermelon Cake – Your family’s favorite fruit is about to get even more popular. This melt-in-your-mouth cake offers a surprise in every bite, with chocolate chip “seeds” and a green jelly bean “rind.”
·Cookies n Cream Cupcakes – Perfect for family picnics, these cupcakes taste like your favorite ice cream without all the mess!
·Butterfly Cake – This beautiful, and fun, cake transforms a traditional birthday cake into a beautiful butterfly perfect for outdoor summer parties.
Which cake idea looks the most fun to you?

 

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post.  Any opinions are my own.

 

Filed Under: Dessert

Creamy Avocado Dip Recipe

May 18, 2013 by 39 Comments

This cool and creamy avocado dip recipe is perfect in a dish for dunking tortilla chips or veggies.  It’s also delicious with quesadillas, spicy chicken or any other Tex-Mex inspired creation.
 

Creamy Avocado Dip Recipe

 

2 avocados
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt to make it more healthy!)

Remove avocados from skin and chop in chunks.  Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Transfer to serving bowl.

Check out our recipe for Homemade Tortilla Chips in the Microwave to go with your dip!

Screen Shot 2014-02-01 at 9.02.08 PM


This cool and creamy avocado dip recipe is perfect in a dish for dunking tortilla chips or veggies.  It's also delicious with quesadillas, spicy chicken or any other Tex-Mex inspired creation.

Filed Under: Appetizers, Dips

Easy Pull-Apart Cake – A Great Alternative to Cupcakes!

April 14, 2013 by 11 Comments

This is an easy way to make a cake that requires NO slicing and is much easier than making and frosting a cake that is made up of a bunch of individual cupcakes stacked together.  Ours was designed to look like a snowball, but that “snowy” look is totally optional!

NOTE:  This actually makes TWO cakes!

Prepare white cake mix according to package directions.
Using two 9″ round pie plates, nestle 12 cupcake papers into each.
Fill the wrappers half-way with batter:

Bake according to box directions for a layer cake.  Once they start to barely brown, stick a toothpick in the center to see if it comes out clean – if so, they’re done! (I cooked these just a bit too long.)

Let the cake cool thoroughly, and then transfer to a serving plate.  It’s ok if the pieces come apart while you’re doing this – it’s easy to fit them back together like a puzzle.  Frost with your favorite frosting.

Filed Under: Dessert

Chocolate Mint Grasshopper Brownie Bites

March 17, 2013 by

Grasshopper Brownie Bites Recipe

Chocolate and mint…   a classic, all time favorite of mine.  And of many others,  I am certain of it! I have made grasshopper cookie sandwiches quite a few times in the past, but this time I decided to try something different. Although they aren’t totally different,  it still was something new and besides, I was being lazy and did not feel like whipping up the batch of homemade cookies.  Instead I spruced up a boxed brownie!

You can get away with using boxed mixes if you create at least one element homemade, no one will ever know! Shhhh.  Try them out, Let us know what you think !

Chocolate Mint Grasshopper Brownie Bites

Ingredients
  1. 1 Box Brownie Mix, prepared
  2. 1/3 cup flour
  3. 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
For the frosting
  1. 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
  2. 1 tablespoons butter
  3. 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350
  2. Mix the flour into the prepared brownie batter, this will thicken it up making it easy to spoon onto cookie sheets.
  3. Drop spoonfuls, about 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes
  4. Allow to cool completely.
Mix the frosting
  1. Cream the butter (using a hand mixer) until smooth, add the peppermint extract and fold in the powdered sugar.
  2. Use the hand mixer to whip until all the powdered sugar is incorporated.
  3. Spread a small amount of frosting on the the brownies and sandwich them together.
  4. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to set up.
Notes
  1. These freeze really well, make them ahead of time or make a double batch and freeze!

grasshopper brownies

 

 

 

Filed Under: Dessert Tagged With: , , ,

Homemade Healthy Potato Chips in Your Microwave

February 4, 2013 by 3 Comments

These chips are delicious as a snack and also make a great side with lunch or dinner.  They are best eaten right after cooking, but they are so easy you can make them any time.  Make them with plain salt or use your imagination and try garlic salt, seasoning salt, pepper, parmesan cheese….you name it!

Ingredients:
potatoes
olive oil
salt or other seasoning
(cooking spray optional)

Scrub potatoes well. I leave the skin on, but you can peel the potatoes if you like.

Slice as thinly as possible. If you have a mandoline or other slicer, use it to make the slices more even (but a knife works just fine).

Place potato slices in a bowl and mix with a small amount of olive oil to coat.

Spray a microwave safe dinner plate with cooking spray (if you used a lot of olive oil you can skip the spray, but I like to use less oil). Spread the slices in a single layer. If you have any thicker slices, put them on the outer edges.

Sprinkle with salt or other seasoning.

Microwave 3-4 minutes (depending on the power of your microwave) until slices begin to look a like they are cooking. Flip the slices over – CAUTION they will be very hot! Cook another 4 to 5 minutes or until just slightly golden. The chips will continue to crisp up after you take them out of the microwave.

Enjoy!

Disclosure:  This post may contain affiliate links.  See our complete disclosure policy here.

Filed Under: Potatoes, Snacks

Easy No-Boil Baked Ziti Recipe – Vegetarian

January 22, 2013 by 7 Comments

This is a very popular recipe in our family and I make it a lot.  It’s one of those dishes that taste even better as leftovers.  And since it cooks up a nice, big batch its perfect for a family get-together or to bring for a potluck. 

Easy No-Boil Baked Ziti Recipe

2 jars of pasta sauce
15 oz container of ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella
16 oz box of ziti

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix everything EXCEPT half the mozzarella cheese in a large casserole dish.
Add in one jar of water* and stir well.
Cover the casserole and bake for approximately an hour and 15 minutes. Remove cover and top with remaining mozzarella. Return to oven and baked uncovered for 15 minutes or until cheese is nice and bubbly.

I like to serve it with a salad and Garlic Cheese Crescent Rolls.

*To make sure I don’t miss a single drop of sauce, I fill one of the empty jars 2/3 full with water, put on the lid and shake it really well. I then pour that water into the other jar. I then put on the lid and shake that one. I fill the 2nd jar the rest of the way to the top and then add it to the rest of the mixture.

Filed Under: Main Dish

4 Fantastic Vegetarian Pasta Recipes

January 14, 2013 by
vegetarian pasta dishes

 

4 Fantastic Vegetarian Pasta Recipes 

Cashew Fettuccine

Pasta with a crunch! 

 

Easy Vegetable Lo Mein

Forget the take out! 

 

Lemony Fiddlehead and Mushroom Linguine

Fiddleheads,  A Maine staple! 

 

Easy Peanut Noodles

Time for Thai! 

veg pasta pin small

Filed Under: Main Dishes Tagged With: , , ,

It’s the Making Dollar$ Out of Change Blog Carnival! Enter to Win a Coach Purse

January 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Here at Thrifty Recipes we try to always share recipes that will help you stretch your dollars and make good food that fits your budget.  This year our goal is to post even more recipes!  (If you are here visiting us for the first time, be sure to browse around and see what you can find!)

While thrifty recipes are one way to save a heap of money, there are lots of other ways too. To offer you some ideas, we have joined together with a bunch of other great bloggers to give you some money-saving ideas and you also have a chance to win a great prize just for reading tips and leaving some comments!

The prize is fabulous – an AUTHENTIC COACH ROSE GOLD METAL FRAME LEATHER HANDBAG COACH MODEL MSRP $398.00!  Just find the articles for the carnival at the bottom of this post and continue reading here for the rules.

Rules:

1) Read an Article like Madame Deal’s Make Your Own Duvet Cover article #1
2) Comment on the Article and share your own tip or lets us know if you enjoyed the article
3) In the comment collection box below, find the number of the blog article and place it in the box (If you’re on Madame Deals.com and reading her, “Make Your Own Duvet Cover” article, you would put commented on article #1 in the comment box)
4) You can enter as many times as you want by going to each blog on the linky and repeating the above. The more blogs you visit the greater your chance to WIN the purse.

 BLOGGER RULES for Linking up


COACH CONTEST!
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Filed Under: Uncategorized

Easy Corned Beef Party Appetizer Dip Recipe

December 26, 2012 by 3 Comments

This recipe is a perfect appetizer for a St. Patrick’s Day party. It is also a good way to use up any extra corned beef left after the big day.  It could be called “almost a reuben” dip.
16 oz can sauerkraut, drained
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
3 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 pound thin chopped corned beef

Mix all ingredients together and heat in a medium saucepan over medium low heat until heated through. Serve on rye bread rounds or wheat crackers.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Chocolate Rocky Road Brownies Recipe

December 2, 2012 by 5 Comments

These yummy brownies are a classic mixture of chocolate, marshmallows and nuts. If you want to take a shortcut, you can always put the topping mixture on a boxed brownie mix. 

toasted marshmallow topping

 

Chocolate Rocky Road Brownies Recipe

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Spread into a greased 9-inch square baking pan.  Bake for 22 minutes.  Sprinkle top with marshmallows, chocolate chips and walnuts.  Return to oven for 5 minutes or until marshmallows start to puff up and brown.  Let cool completely before slicing into squares.

Filed Under: Dessert
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