Pi Day Pie

Pi Day <3

I like to pretend I can cook, but I'm not very good at it. So, I came up with this super simple, but totally impressive, pie that anyone can make to celebrate everyone's favorite number.

You'll need one and a half cups of crushed graham crackers, one fourth cup of sugars, five tablespoons of butter, a package of your favorite pudding, milk, and some sprinkles.

Start by mixing the sugar and crushed crackers together. Stir in the butter.

The mixture will be kind of dry. Pat it into a glass pie pan.

Let it chill in the fridge for about an hour. Once the hour is up, prepare the pudding as the package says to. If it calls for two cups of milk, I suggest using only one and three fourths so the pudding is a little thicker.

Pour the pudding in the crust and stick back in the refrigerator for about an hour.

I created a stencil by printing and cutting out this image [Link] on card stock. When you lay the stencil over the pie, be careful not to push it into the pudding.

*Carefully* remove the stencil and you're done! Easy as pie! =p

Hearthstone Cookies

Find your way home with these Hearthstone sugar cookies!

My ex-boyfriend and I are quite close friends. With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought it'd be rude to ignore the day, but we're not together anymore, so it's not meant to be a big deal. He and I are hanging out this weekend, so I decided I'd make him some "Hearthstone" cookies. Here's my test-run of the recipe- I'll make his actual batch on Saturday. I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog (I'd be shocked if he does!) so I thought it'd be okay if I went ahead and posted this.

The original recipe is from The Food Network. It can be found here.

Ingredients:

2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup softened butter
1 and 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Blue Sugar Sprinkles

Combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set it aside for later.

In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla.

Blend in the dry ingredients. Add milk so the dough is soft, but not sticky or wet.

Now comes the experimentation part. It took me a couple times to get the sizing right for the cookies. I accidentally made a couple of huge cookies. And the swirls on some of them look like squirrels made them.

Basically, I scooped the dough on the cookie sheet and mushed it into a circle with my hand. Then, I used my stencil-template-thingy to make the swirl with sprinkles.

Bake them for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

They turned out pretty good! A lot better than the Spock cookies! XD

The Best Macaroni and Cheese Ever.

Those of you who know me, know that I am not exactly "skilled" in the culinary arts. This is a super easy recipe for some awesome macaroni and cheese. I made it last night and I ate a ton of it well I played Warcraft.

Ingredients:

4 ounces of Velveeta Cheese

4 ounces of Colby-Jack Cheese

½ Teaspoon of Onion Powder

½ Teaspoon of Salt

¼ Teaspoon of Pepper

2 Cups of Noodles

1 and 1/3 Cups of Milk

¼ Cups of Flour

¼ Cup of Butter

1. Get some water boiling and make the noodles by following the directions on the package.

2. Melt butter in microwave. Stir in onion powder, salt, pepper, and flour.

3. Heat the milk up in the microwave, not so it boils, but just so it’s not cold. Milk that is too cold with cause the butter to stiffen.

4. Stir the milk in, and stick the mixture in the microwave for one minute. Take it out, stir it, and stick it back in the microwave for a minute.

5. Repeat until it begins to thicken.

6.Then add the cheese. Microwave for a minute or until melted.

7. Stir in the noodles.

8. If you want, you can eat it like this. Or, I like to put it in a glass pan and stick it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I think the recipe original came from a Betty Crocker cookbook. It’s one of my favorite meals! XD

Spock Cookie Fail

My best friend and my ex-boyfriend are coming over tomorrow to play Dungeons and Dragons. (Interesting combination, right?) I decided to make some Spock cookies for them. They look good, huh? Wrong! I tried a new recipe, and they turned out AWFUL.

I was going to blog about how to make them, but considering how disgusting they turned out, there is no way I could pass along the recipe!

I know... I am a failure as a baker. I know.

"Bento" Snack Containers

Wow- it’s been a while since I posted. Sorry about that! Life kind of caught up with me. It was a busy week, but I really didn’t do much. Just a lot of practicing music!

Today, I thought we'd take a look at a recycling project.

Milk Jug Containers!

When I first saw these, I knew I had to make one because they remind me of bento boxes.

(Photo Credit to Adventures in Bento Making- it's a great site, check it out! Link)

Basically, a bento box is a Japanese lunch box. To make our “mock” bento box, you’ll need a cleaned milk jug, Velcro, hot glue gun, scissors, and a permanent marker. You may also want paper towel and bug spray.

Using the permanent marker and the pictures as a guide, mark where you will cut on the milk jug. The milk jug has four seams along the edges, and one seam along the bottom. It helps to use those seams as a guide for cutting.

Carefully cut along the lines. It helps to cut the handle off first.

If there is any permanent marker left- a paper towel, some bug spray, and a little bit of elbow grease will take it right off.

Glue on Velcro to hold the lid shut. Make sure to firmly hold the Velcro while the hot glue is drying, so the hot glue will better adhere to the jug.

Then, decorate the lid any way you want! I’ll do a little tutorial on how I did my design another day!

Fill with food and enjoy!

No, a traditional Japanese boxed lunch does not include Captain Crunch, but that’s all we had in the kitchen. XD

This is another idea from FamilyFun magazine. Link