layered Jello

Has anyone ever tried to make the layered jello on the inside of the jello package only for it to never work??
I have, and I have found a easier way to get his awesome treat to work

You need 1 pack of jello ( I use 2 or 3, if you do the same make sure to double or triple your coolwhip)
Cool whip Thawed

Make the jello as the directions tell you. then divide in half (you'll have 2 cups of jello liquid) set 1 cup aside


Use the other 1 cup and pour into your containers. I like to use fancy glasses as the kids call them lol! I picked these up at the dollar store



Set them in the freezer - yes the freezer! it will take about 15 minutes for the tops to set firm enough for you to add the topping

Add a cup of thawed (cant stress this enough) cool whip to the cup of jello liquid you set aside, and mix with a whisk so there is no clumps left.

Take your jello out of the freeze, but becareful because only the top (very thin layer) will be set enough for the topping.

I tilt the cups to add the topping as to not mix it all together.

If you dont you'll end up with your jello looking like the one on the left. This isn't too bad its kinda like a mousses. But not what I was shooting for



After the jello is set add more whipped cream (if you want)

Hay Stacks - Easy No bake cookies

Hay stack cookies (easy no bake)

I love these cookies. They are so simple and easy to make anyone could do it!

I do 3 different kinds, the first recipe is the one I use the most for the basic fact that I can send these cookies to school with my kids (no nuts)

Recipe One -
1/2 - 3/4 cups of Margarine
2 cups of Sugar
1/2 cup of milk
4 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder
2 tsp of Vanilla extract
3 - 3 1/2 cups of Quick cooking oats

Recipe Two -
1/2 cup Margarine
1/2 cup Peanut butter
1/2 cup Milk
2 cups sugar
4 tbsp of cocao powder
2 tsp of Vanilla extract
3 - 3 1/2 cups of Quick cooking oats

Recipe Three and Four
Use the two recipes above and replace 1/2 cups of oats with 1/2 of shaved coconut. If you use the Coconut option Omit 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar from your recipe.



What next?
Combine everything but the oats ina a pot and melt the mixute down (on medium heat so nothing burns)



After its melted at your mixture to the oats
Coat oats well


Drop by the spoon full onto wax paper (or tin foil) let sit for a couple hours so they firm up.



Tada - super easy no bake cookies that taste delicious!

No bake play-dough

Easy Peasy Play dough

My oldest had a project that she needed to do and wanted to use clay or play-dough.
Well living in this tiny town they dont sell stuff like that here. We found a recipe online for it, but found it used wayyyy too much salt. The play-dough felt gritty, and you could definately tell there was salt in it.

So we "improved" on it

Play dough recipe

1/4 cup salt (instead of 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
food colouring (any color)
newspaper to cover the surface you're working on

It only takes about 10 minutes to make

mix the flour ans salt together
 

Mix the water and which ever food colouring you would like your play dough to be ( this is way easier then making the play dough and trying to colour it after)



Add your water colour mix to the flour and salt mixture (use your hands) just mix it up until its nice and pliable


This recipe lets my family finds is better then others for the fact that you can't smell the salt, its nice and soft like real play dough. Just remember after your done to put it in a ziplock bag so it doesn't dry out ;)

Marshmellow Peanut butter squares

I loved when my mom would make these for my sister and I when we were younger.



Easiest way to remember this recipe is 1, 1, 1, 1..
1 Cup Peanut butter
1 cup butter/margarine
1 Big bag marshmallows - multicoloured OR 2 small bags (250g)
1 bag of butterscotch chips
I used bigger pan, 9 x 11 I think. You can always open your marshmallows and dump them in the pan first to make sure its big enough :)

I used a little less in my recipes so its not so "coated" I can't stomach much peanut butter, but the kids love it.








I use slighly less pb (3/4 of a cup and 1/2 margarine) for mine as I dont like the marshmellows too coated

Open your marshmellows and put in your pan



Melt the butter scotch chips, Peanut butter, and margarine in a pot on medium heat. Do not try to do it on high, you'll most likely burn the mixture.



After its all melted I let it sit for about 2 - 5 minutes. If you add it to the marshmallows right after its done, you will melt the marshmallows

Mix everything up so all the marshmellows are covered, then let sit in the fridge for a couple hours..
Looking at the picture below it doesn't look very good but trust me its amazing after!

Frugal Christmas gifts

Does anyone else hate Christmas shopping? It can get super expencive real quick. Well I was at walmart last month and saw a ton, and I mean a ton of movies for super cheap!

Oh course I grabbed a few.. why not right?! I mean at $5 - $10 each thats not much at all.

When I came home that day I thought to mayself what in the world am I going to give besides just movies.. when it hit me. Why not a movie night basket!

For anyone who knows me, they know I coupon. And with the numours coupons for junk food and stuff out there it seemed perfect to me!

In total I paid just over $20 for everything in the basket.

Old Dutch chips were $2, I had a $2 coupon for each = free ($.48 after taxes)
Big bag of M&M's I had a coupon for them Free when you buy 4 bags of Old dutch ($.36 after taxes) 
Small bags of M&M's I got from face book from playing games = Free prroduct coupon ( $0 )
2 Movies on clearance at walmart $13.58 after taxes
Nestea Case was $3.33 ( 2 cans = $.30 each)
Small chocolate bars $1.98 for a sleeve x 2 =  $4.44
The basket I found at my local thrift store for $1
Popcorn was on sale for $2.19 I had a $2 coupon = $.19

Total =  $20.35

Not bad for 2 kids






I bought this for my neice and nephew, and I think I might do this for my 4 kids too. What little kid wouldn't love something like this. Come to think of it, I'm sure anyone would like a gift like this, I know I would!

Snowman ornaments

So my youngest daughter and I started making our Christmas crafts.
I love going on Pinterest to see what others have done, and to find "kid friendly" crafts.
While I was on there I came across this craft. We tried to do it like we saw it but no way was it turning out. So this is our version of the craft.

Find the original here


We had acrylic paints on hand so thats what we used. If you need to buy some just get them from your local dollar store. You really dont need anything fancy.



We got our friends to save bottle caps because we dont drink so it would have been impossible to do this without them :)

Anyways, We painted the tops white, and let dry, then used a small brush to do the noses. We did eyes a mouth on a few, but realized it was easier to start off witht he noses. then everything gets centerd and perportioned right



We used hot glue to glue ribbon to the back, but to make sure we didn't burn our fingers we used the tip of a small paint brush to push the ribbon into the glue *sorry forgot to take pictures while we were doing this* 

We made alot of these so I think we're going to give a few away with our christmas gifts :)