Cheesy Pigs In a Blanket Recipe

This is a super easy recipe that you can have on the table in less than 30 minutes. I like that, especially when I really want to make something for my family, but I have procrastinated it all day.


Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket Recipe
2 cups flour
1 Tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBS butter cut into small pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk
8 hot dogs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Cut butter into mixture. Mix in cheese and buttermilk and knead to achieve smooth dough consistency. Roll dough out on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into approximately 6"x4" squares. Wrap each square of dough around a hot dog and place on well greased baking sheet with seam down. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown.


This is a real kid pleaser. And really, who doesn't love pigs in a blanket? This is a great, cheap way to make them without needing the overpriced and unhealthy canned biscuits.

Enjoy!

The 5 Minute Solution

Our home has changed! We have changed five minutes at a time. This is the greatest parenting discovery since 'Head to Toe Baby Wash.'

I got so frustrated with harping on my kids to clean their room. I nagged and bugged and usually ended up going in and doing the cleaning myself. My kids are all tidy children who enjoy an organized living environment, the problem was that by simply telling them to go clean their room they were extremely over-whelmed. They didn't have a clue about where to begin, they were also depressed about the prospect of spending a large chunk of time on the chore.

The Solution: Every morning and every evening I set a digital kitchen timer for 5 minutes. I tell the kids they have 5 minutes to clean their room. I loudly announce "On your marks, get set... GO!" and start the timer. They rush into their rooms and clean until they hear the timer go off. It is a small amount of time, over before they have a chance to get bored. I tell them that they must find something to clean. If their room is already tidy then they can straighten books on the shelves, clean out their sock drawer or organize their toys.

We have been setting the timer now for over a month. Their room looks fantastic ALL THE TIME! I am never worried when they ask if their friends can come in to play. When I go in, to clean their room, once a week, I need to do little more than dust and a quick vacuum. They have also not complained about cleaning time, ever! Can you believe that? Not one complaint in over a month! I love this system!

I also think that cleaning for 5 minutes, twice a day is establishing a great routine and habit for the rest of their lives.

If you are frustrated by kid clutter, try 5 minute cleaning intervals. It might take a few days to get the room as clean as you'd like, but it will happen. And best of all, it will stay clean!

Cool Like That...

Almost every one of my most favorite Bloggers has made one. I decided I needed to jump on the bandwagon and become a part of the cool club.

With a trip to the thrift store to get a candle stick, a wooden appetizer tray and a cake stand dome I was on my way.

I especially love that my tray is complete with a cool trivet so I can set my hot pots on it at dinner time.

Yeah, now I'm feeling cool!

How to dust a ceiling fan

After a long summer of hot weather and ceiling fans running non-stop, I was horrified when I finally gave them a rest last week. The amount of dust that had accumulated over the summer was embarrassing. I can't believe that dust bunnies hadn't begun to spontaneously fly around the room.

Time to get them clean!

For the first time this was a chore I didn't dread. The reason was, I have a new trick for dusting ceiling fans. I used an old pillowcase. I got it damp, wrung it out really well, and covered and wiped one blade at a time with the case.

All of the yucky dirt was trapped inside the pillow case and wasn't falling off in chunks in my face or landing on my white couch below. It worked like a charm and I had the fans cleaned in only a few minutes.

Oh, oh, oh... it's MAGIC!

You may have notice that when I gave you my list of recipes, the recipe for Yellow Squash Puree Mac n Cheese (which I got from Everyday Food Storage) includes an ingredient called Magic Mix. Oh, how I LOVE Magic Mix. It is probably the greatest thing to happen to my kitchen since peanut butter. I keep Magic Mix in my refrigerator at all times and use it in so many ways.


Magic Mix Recipe
2 1/3 cups powdered milk
1 cup white flour
1 cup butter at room temperature
Mix ingredients in food processor until they have the consistency of corn meal. Store in an air tight container in your refrigerator. ( I have stored mine for up to 3 months with absolutely no quality issues)

Besides using this in the mac n cheese recipe, Magic Mix is good for any white sauce you make. It is the only way I make sausage gravy for my fantastic biscuit recipe.

To make a white sauce simply mix 2/3 cup Magic Mix with 1 cup of water and stir constantly over medium heat until boiling. It will thicken nicely and your gravies will have absolutely NO lumps. You can add cheese to this, or sausage, or a little cream cheese for an Alfredo sauce. The possibilities are limitless. I also really like making Magic Mix Pudding.

Magic Mix Pudding Recipe
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup Magic Mix
2-3 Tbs Cocoa (optional)
2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla

Combine first 4 ingredients over medium heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat and beat in vanilla. Chill in refrigerator.

This is a yummy cooked pudding with a fantastic pudding skin on the top. Never fear, if you are one of those (and I just don't understand this) who don't like the skin, you can cover it with plastic wrap as it cools and there will be little to no pudding skin.

Check out this site for some additional Magic Mix ideas!