30 Colorful Desserts to Make For Spring.

My camera still isn't ready yet. I'm working hard on staying patient - but I think I am going to explode! I have so many ideas for projects and no camera to document the process. Super antsy right now. So instead I am going to share an awesome collection of colorful desserts to make throughout the Spring season. Or Summer. Or Fall. Or whenever else you may feel inspired to make beautiful food...because seriously, these desserts look so amazing, you aren't going to want to limit yourself to making them during one specific season!

Rainbow Vanilla Cheesecake Bars

Easter Candy Pizza

Pastel Mint Patties

Fruity Rainbow Crispy Treats

Rainbow Pinwheel Cookies

Easter Pretzel Bites

Trix Are For Treats

Skittles Rainbow Fudge

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

Rainbow Mini Mints

S'mores Bunny Graham Bars

Rainbow Pretzel Sticks

Easter Oreo Bark

Spring Krispy Cake with M&Ms and Candy Drizzle

Funfetti Gooey Bars

Healthier Peanut Butter Eggs

Funfetti Ooey Gooey Bars

Easter Candy Bars

Birthday Present Surprise Sugar Cookies

Jelly Bean Bark

Better Than Presents Rainbow Birthday Poke Cake 

Frozen Chocolate Dipped Banana Pops

Peeps Pudding Cups

Easter Marshmallow Oreo Truffles

Popcorn Cake 

Gumdrop Fudge

Rainbow Panna Cotta

White Chocolate Cake Batter Krispies

Rainbow Oreo Pops

Rainbow Buttermilk Lemon Cupcakes with Rainbow Cream Cheese Frosting

The real question is, which one do you want to make first??? 

Canadian Bacon and Egg Muffins Recipe

Recipe Alert! I have a good one for you guys today. In fact, the last time I made this everyone at the dinner table was completely silent - not because like my food poisoned them or anything, but because it was AWESOME. Oh, yes it was. All four of us were so consumed by the amazing flavor combinations of this dish, that nobody was willing to speak, not even for a moment (even Mac, which never happens, because he will do anything to get out of eating his food - usually by talking). None of us could bear the thought of sacrificing a even a moment for words. What is this recipe, you ask? Well, let me tell you, Canadian Bacon and Egg Muffins. Although, it's no much of a muffin, but maybe more like a cup. There is no bread in this recipe, we use hash browns instead...and they are awesome.

Are you ready to make it? Here's how I did it -

Ingredients:
- 5 cups country style hash browns, thawed
- 1 1/2 cups frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 2 Tbsp green onions, chopped
- 6 slices uncooked Canadian-style bacon, quartered
- 1 cup of 2% shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 sliced plum tomatoes, seeded

In a microwave safe bowl, combine thawed hash browns and green onions. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Put in colander to drain. While potatoes are cooking, squeeze spinach dry. In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese and eggs.

Spray a 12 muffin tin with cooking spray. Distribute potatoes evenly in the bottom of each tin (start with 1/4 cup per tin). Top with a quarter-slice of bacon, 1 heaping teaspoon of ricotta cheese mixture, 2 tablespoons of spinach, a table spoon of cheddar cheese, another bacon quarter, and another heaping teaspoon of ricotta mixture. Sprinkle tops with a few remaining shreds of cheese and 2 tablespoons of the seeded, sliced tomatoes.

Bake muffins until fully set and ricotta is cooked through, about 25-30 minutes. Cool in muffin tins for about 10 to 15 minutes before removing. Makes 12 muffins.

Serve, eat, and enjoy the silence while your family consumes this tasty meal.

Can't get enough hash browns? Try these Baked Hash Brown Patties too!

I came across this recipe at Shrinking on a Budget. If you haven't checked out this site, I highly recommend it.

Baked Hash Brown Patties

If I were to ask you what your favorite breakfast side is, would the answer be hash browns? Yes? I knew it! Hash browns are pretty high on my list of favorite breakfast sides...in fact, I'm pretty sure they ARE my favorite side to eat for breakfast. Yes, yes they are, and now I know that you like them, too. So, do you want to make some? (Pshhh...like I really have to ask! I KNOW you do.) I found an awesome upgraded recipe for hash browns to share with you. These aren't your typical hash browns. Instead of frying the life out of those grated potatoes (and adding waaay too much grease), we bake them! They're not as crispy as the fried version, but these hash browns are still firm, non-soggy, and extremely satisfying, you won't even miss the crispies.  They have several bonus ingredients in them: onions, garlic, cheddar cheese, and even eggs! What? Oh, yes they do. But wait, there's more - the coup d'etat of this dish is a hint of sour cream and bacon to top off these baked hash brown patties. What more could you ask for? Nothing, really.

Ready to make them? Great! Let's get started:

Ingredients:
- 2 pre-cooked hickory-smoked bacon slices
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil, divided
- 3 cups of chopped frozen (thawed) onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced or put through a garlic press
- 1 1/2 pounds of shredded peeled baking potato (about 2 large ones)
- 1/3 (1 1/2 ounces) reduced fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- cooking spray
- 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Make it like this:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and grate potatoes. Then, put potatoes in a clean dish towel and gently squeeze out the excess moisture. (super important step to avoid soggy hash browns)

Heat olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet. Add onion and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow onion mixture to cool for 5 minutes. Combine onion mixture, grated potato, cheddar cheese, salt, black pepper, and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring well. Put pre-cooked bacon on a plate lined with paper towels and heat for 40 seconds or until crisp (assuming the bacon needs to be reheated). Set aside.

Divide the potato mixture into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into a 1/2 inch thick patty. Place the patties on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat tops of patties lightly with cooking spray. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Flip and cook another 10-15 minutes on the other side (or until patties are dark golden and set). Top with crumbled bacon and sour cream.

Eat and enjoy these baked hash brown patties and then repeat again the next day. :)

By the way, I found this recipe on the Shrinking On a Budget website.

Lasagne Roll Ups Recipe

I want to talk about Lasagne today. Do you like lasagne? I know you do. I like lasagne too. Lasagne was one of my favorite things to eat when I was growing up, but who doesn't like Lasagne?? That's right, nobody. Lasagne is terrific - giant noodles, cheese, marinara sauce..what's not to love? When I was growing up, my mom would make our favorite meal on our birthday. I chose lasagne several times.

So we've established that Lasagne is great, (but I really didn't need to convince you, because you already knew it was), but the real question is, "Can it get any better?" The answer is YES! It absolutely can be upgraded. How? Roll it up! What? People do that? Yes! And it's great! Here's why:
- It's kid friendly
- It's less messy and easier to serve than regular Lasagne.
- It's easier and quicker to prepare!!

How easy is it? Scroll down and find out.

Lasagne Roll Ups

Ingredients:
- 12 lasagne noodles (about 13 ounces)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced or fed through press)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 15 ounces of part skim ricotta
- 1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 10 ounces frozen (thawed) spinach
- 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
- non-stick cooking spray

Begin boiling water for the noddles. In the meantime, prepare the lasagna filling. In small skillet, heat the olive oil to medium. Saute garlic for 1 minute, stirring often. Set aside. Thaw and squeeze the spinach very dry. Combine the ricotta with the garlic and stir to combine. Then combine the "dry" spinach in a bowl with the egg, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.

When water reaches a heavy boil, add the noodles and boil according to directions for al dente. Occasionally stir noodles, very gently while they cook to prevent them from sticking to each other and the pot. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with non-sick cookies spray.

Once your noodles are cooked, drain them in colander, cool slightly (just enough to where you can handle them) and then lay them out on a cutting board or clean surface. Spread 4 tablespoons of filling over each noodle (filling should spread edge to edge). Roll from end to end (as pictured in photo below).

Spread 1/4 cup of marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish. Place rolled/filled noodles seam side down in dish. Pour the remaining marinara sauce over the tops of the lasange roll ups, taking care to fully cover the noodles. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

***A couple of tips to keep in mind***
- Cook a couple of extra noodles just in case some of them get torn. Torn noodles do not work well with this recipe
- It's best to cook the noodles to al dente due to the fact that the noodles continue to cook in the oven.
- Squeeze the spinach until its very dry.
- Be sure to cover with foil while baking to prevent the noodles form drying out.

I found this recipe on the Shrinking On a Budget website. If you haven't checked out this meal plan service, I highly recommend that you do. This meal plan service has made my life so much easier when it comes to meals. :)

Breakfast Pizza Recipe

Hey friends. It's been a while...ok actually about 2 weeks. I had plans to post some fun stuff last week...and then my kids decided to get me sick. I decided this would be a very appropriate time to take a break, especially since it was the Holidays and all. So basically I spent the Holidays sick. Good times. Or not. But there's always next year, right? So let's change the subject because I'm starting to feel sorry for myself...and that's never a good thing. ;) Let's talk about breakfast instead! Breakfast is really my thing. I know I've said it before, but I LOVE BREAKFAST. I don't know why, I just do. So I want to share this Breakfast Pizza Recipe that I came across on the Shrinking On A Budget Meal Plans a while back. We actually ate this for dinner, but this is totally appropriate for breakfast too. I will leave it up to you as to which meal you prefer to eat this at. Are you a breakfast fiend like I am? Yes? I also recommend Breakfast Cookies. You won't be disappointed.

Ingredients:

- 1 (8 ounce) can reduced-fat refrigerated crescent dinner roll dough

- cooking spray

- 12 ounces turkey breakfast sausage

- 1 cup frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed

- 1 1/2 cup (5 ounces) shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese

- 1/4 cup 1% milk

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

- (8 ounce) carton egg substitute

To make this awesome pizza:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Cook sausage in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain

Separate dough into triangles. Arrange triangles to form a single round crust on a cookie sheet (arrange into circle). Press triangles together. The crescent crust will go all the way to the sides on the narrow ends of the cookie sheet. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch high rim (this will hold in eggs). Top prepared dough with sausage, potatoes, and cheese. Combine milk, salt, pepper, and egg substitute, stirring with a whisk. Carefully pour milk mixture over sausage mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until crust is browned.

Pumpkin Oat Pancakes Recipe

Have you had your fill of pumpkin yet? No? Guess what? You're in luck! I have an awesome recipe to share with you guys today. Pumpkin Oat Pancakes. Wait - what? Pumpkin flavored pancakes? That's a thing? Yes! Yes it is. Pumpkin. I adore this flavor. In fact, I keep a can of pumpkin and bottle of pumpkin spice in my cupboard all year round. I always look forward to the Fall season because of the pumpkin recipes that surface. I highly recommend serving these pancakes for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning.

I came across this recipe at Shrinking On A Budget. I've found a decent variety of pancake recipes on this site over the past couple of months. Apparently I have a thing for pancakes. A while back, I shared a recipe for Blueberry Protein Pancakes. I found that recipe on SOAB, too. Good stuff, people, good stuff.

Here's how to make them:

Ingredients:

1 cup regular old fashioned oats

8 egg whites

1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese

1/2 cup pure canned pumpkin

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice

3 tsp sugar

Combine oats, egg whites, cottage cheese, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, and sugar in a blender and pulse until somewhat smooth (about 10 pulses). 

Spray a non-stick pan with non-stick spray and heat to medium-low. Pour into pan using 1/3 cup

of batter per pancake. Cook on first side until edges look done and a few air bubbles stay at the surface. Flip and cook until the desired color is reached. Top each serving with one sliced banana just before serving.

Pumpkin Oat Pancakes. AH-mazing. Enjoy.

10 Fall Themed Activities for Kids

Fall is a great time of year. It seems that so many people find creative inspiration from the rustic colors, the cooler weather, and even the flavors that make an appearance during this season. Let's take this inspiration and pass it on to our kids. Last week, we made Eyeball Candle Holder Jars for the Fall season. This week, I've compiled a list of 10 fun Fall activities that you can do with them to encourage their creativity.

Fall Leaf Lantern  - When I first saw this, I was like, "This is so awesome! Why didn't I think to do this?" Then, I was like, "Oh yeah. We live in the desert. We don't have leaves like that near us...and they haven't changed colors yet." But seriously, this project is so cute. I think that Mac and I are going to have to go on a leaf hunt in a week or so when more of the trees begin to change colors.

Apple Volcanoes - I think I need to go and dig those old apples out of the trash that I tossed this morning. Both of my boys would love to do this. Volcanoes from apples? How fun is that?

Shaving Cream Painted Fall Leaves - Shaving cream is one of the coolest things to play with. We've used it to paint in the bathtub before and Mac had a blast. Using shaving cream and paint is another creative way to play.

Pumpkin Moon Sand  - It's like playing with sand and play-doh at the same time! When you add food coloring and pumpkin spice, this moon sand becomes even cooler. I think the biggest issue you may have is convincing your little ones that they can't eat it!

Crispy Rice Candy Corn Treats - Do your kids like to help when you cook and bake? Mac does. He loves to measure and dump the ingredients. This is a terrific recipe to do with kids.  Also, it has candy corn - that wonderfully sweet & addictive Fall candy that you can't seem to stop eating until you feel sick. Ha!
 

Watercolor and ink-blown Shadow trees - What a fun idea! You know how we always forbid our children from blowing bubbles in their milk with a straw? Here's a great alternative that should satisfy their straw-blowing desires. Painting with straws!!!

Apple Smiles - Ever since I made Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Hot Cocoa, Mac has been requesting marshmallows at snack time on a daily basis. Here's a better alternative that will satisfy your kids' marshmallow cravings as well as give them a bit of nutrition. The real question is whether Mac will enjoy making this more than eating it...

Pin & Pound Pumpkins - This is an activity both of my kids would love to do (ages 1 & 4). I think there is something about pounding things that kids find irresistible (the floor, their toys, the couch, each other). I'm pretty sure this is a better alternative than what I just listed...and a quieter alternative. ;)

Wax Paper and Crayon Fall Leaves - I have yet to come across a kid who doesn't like to melt stuff. Melting crayons onto wax paper is cool, and I'm pretty sure all kids believe this. Plus, the added bonus is the fact you have super cute fall decorations to display in your home.

Leaf Picture Shirts - This is such a fun idea. Kids love creating their own shirts to wear and this is fun way for them to display their creativity. It involves a little more parental involvement and planning, but the results will be well worth it.

I'm super excited to try these activities with my kids! What kind of Fall activities do you do with your kids? Let me know how your projects go!