Featured Archives - Inside BruCrew Life

Peppermint Kiss Popcorn Munch

December 21, 2012 14 Comments

Today I am joining a wonderful group of blog friends in Cookies & Crafts for Sandy Hook. (I know I’m stretching it slightly by calling this an edible craft:-) This past week I was reminded again of how fragile our life on Earth is. God has given us a precious gift in our children. We love and serve them every day without thinking. My heart breaks as I think of how much hurt those parents must be feeling right now. How can me posting a tribute help them? It can’t, but it can let them know we are in this together. We will continue to pray for them in the coming weeks. My prayer for the parents is that they rest in the faith that we have a great and loving God who wants us to lean on Him in times of hurt and despair. He is greater than any fear or hurt we can experience. His love covers all! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christmas, Featured, Rice Krispie Treats & Popcorn, seasonal Tagged With: chocolate covered popcorn, dessert recipes, hershey's candy cane kisses, peppermint M&M's, peppermint marshmallows, peppermint popcorn, sweet popcorn, sweet recipes

Marshmallow Frosty Hats and a Lisa Leonard necklace Giveaway

December 13, 2012 33 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I love to wear hats in the cold weather. Curly hair does limit what types of hats I can wear though. Most times I end up with bad hat hair for the rest of the day…but the cute hats are so worth it.

The other day I was looking at my snowman collection…it multiplies every winter. I have tall ones, fat ones, funny ones…you get the point. Anyway, they are all wearing some sort of hat. And because I love cute hats, I had the fun idea to create a cute winter hat snack for my kids to take to their Christmas parties next week. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christmas, Featured, Fudge and Candy, seasonal Tagged With: chocolate covered marshmallows, christmas recipes, dessert recipes, edible snowman hats, Jet puffed marshmallows, snowman hat recipes, sweet recipes, winter school snacks

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

November 30, 2012 90 Comments

Today is starting off a fun month of giveaways for you. I have some really fun products lined up for some lucky BruCrew readers. They range anywhere from $25 – $250.

Are you excited yet??? I sure hope so…because I am so excited to share them with you:-)

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Fudge and Candy Tagged With: caramel kiss bark, hershey's caramel kisses, holiday recipes, pretzel bark, salted caramel bark

Gingerbread Pudding Cookies

November 29, 2012 19 Comments

A few weeks ago I participated in a Cookie Week with Nikki from Chef in Training. These gingerbread cookies are what I brought to share on her blog. I had to share them with you here too. They were absolutely delicious and disappeared so fast from my cookie jar. You can see my original post here.

This time of year I like to bake lots and lots of cookies. Well, really I like to bake cookies anytime of the year. But at least during the holidays, people don’t look at you funny when you bake 12 different kinds in one month:-) [Read more...]

Filed Under: cookies, Cookies & Whoopie Pies, Featured Tagged With: cinnamon, cookies, gingerbread, Hershey's Cinnamon chips, Jello Gingerbread pudding, pudding, pudding cookies, white chocolate

Banana Crunch Popcorn – Baking with Nestle’s Holiday Candy

November 26, 2012 27 Comments

Can anyone else believe that Thanksgiving is over and the holidays are almost here? Christmas is the time of year when we love to make fun holiday food and give it away to our friends and family. Last year I started making different flavored chocolate covered popcorns and putting it in a cute tin to give away. Last week I headed to Walmart to buy some holiday candy to put in a new popcorn. Have you seen the Nestle holiday candy? They have the cutest chocolate bells that are great to eat or to bake with. [Read more...]

Filed Under: AF, Featured, popcorn, Rice Krispie Treats & Popcorn Tagged With: banana pudding, chocolate covered popcorn, christmas recipes, crunch jingles walmart, holiday, holiday candy walmart, holiday recipes, nestle crunch, nestle holiday candy, nestle walmart

Easy Crock Pot Black & White Turkey Chili

November 23, 2012

It’s Black Friday and I am snug as a bug in my warm house eating pie for breakfast. Are you one of the crazy ones who gets up at 2 am to go searching for a deal? I just like my warm bed way too much to be one of those shoppers. Now I will admit we have braved the crowds a few times on past Black Fridays…just never early in the morning!

We spent a fun day with family yesterday. Our bellies were stuffed to the limits with turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. And let’s not forget the desserts!!! We don’t mess around with desserts in our family…3 different pies, fudge, lemon bars, pumpkin dip and cookies, rice krispie treats, candy, and pumpkin rolls. It’s quite possible we had more dessert than food. Ok, maybe not…but we sure had our fill of the sweet stuff. I personally felt it was my duty to sample every dessert…and they were all fantastic!!!

Thank goodness for elastic pants and soup to the rescue on the day after Thanksgiving. Do you have leftover turkey or chicken in your fridge too? This easy soup is the answer to your tight pants. It is so easy to put together and even easier on your waist. I need a few of these kind of recipes after eating so much yesterday:-) [Read more...]

Filed Under: dinner, Featured Tagged With: beans, chicken broth, crock pot recipes, soup, turkey

Cinnabon Sugar Cookies

November 4, 2012 69 Comments

This week I had someone order 10 dozen sugar cookies for an open house at a local hospital. Ten dozen sugar cookies is a lot of cookies. Mixing and baking is actually the easy part. But after frosting 120 cookies, my hand was tired of holding that frosting bag. It is always a great feeling when I box up an order, and know that I am done. Then I can move on to making goodies for all of you:-)

There was half a batch of sugar dough leftover when I got done with my order. Now you would think that I wouldn’t want to see another sugar cookie for at least a week or two. But no, I have had this Cinnabon syrup and sugar topping just waiting for the right time to bust it out. These sugar cookies were the right time. I couldn’t wait to finish them up and taste them. They were everything I wanted them to be:-)

[Read more...]

Filed Under: cookies, Cookies & Whoopie Pies, Featured Tagged With: butter cream, cinnabon, cookies, sugar cookies

Peanut Butter Blasted Oreo Popcorn Munch

October 31, 2012 41 Comments

Happy Halloween! The one day a year we let our kids take candy from strangers…in fact, we even let them knock on the strangers doors begging for the candy. Does anyone else find the irony in this holiday? That being said…my kids are going out with us right behind them, watching every move everyone makes. This year we attempted to create their costumes using only what we had on hand. For some reason they are obsessed with the show “My Babysitter is a Vampire”, so vampires all around. I’m just glad my son gave up the werewolf costume…I couldn’t find anything here in the house to recreate that. Vampires are so much easier to come up with.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, popcorn, Rice Krispie Treats & Popcorn Tagged With: marshmallow, oreo, peanut butter, popcorn

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

October 18, 2012 46 Comments

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Dear News Crew,

Thank you so much for deciding to visit my house for an interview on neighborhood crime today. I am so glad that I did not shower, was sporting a pony tail and decided to wear barely any makeup. That should be a pretty sight on the evening news tonight. At least I wasn’t in pajamas or sweats:-)

Love,

The Vain Lady Who Hopes No One Recognizes Her

Dear Ankle,
It’s time you suck it up and stop hurting. I have given you 4 weeks of rest. In return, you have allowed the brownies and cupcakes to take up residence in places I don’t like. I have decided to make you go back to the gym, so don’t even try to start hurting again because I’m not listening.

Love,
The Exercise Deprived Lady with Cupcake Buns

Dear Elliptical,
Why do you always cause me to think about cookies and cupcakes when I visit you? Next time I am there, please make sure to fill my head with visions of salad instead. Thank you for helping me out with this weakness of mine.

Love,
The Lady with Cupcake Visions

[Read more...]

Filed Under: cheesecake, Featured Tagged With: chocolate, cinnamon, pumpkin

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownie Pie

October 12, 2012 64 Comments

Why is it that you get so nervous when you realize a police car is right behind you?

The other day I was driving along and I happened to look in my rear view mirror,

and there was a police car following right behind me.

Every single time that happens, my heart drops into my stomach,
and I instantly look at my speedometer to make sure I’m not speeding.

I hadn’t gone through a red light…that day,
and I wasn’t trying to text and drive.
So why do I get so jumpy?

I did the same thing another day when we went past the park,
and sure enough in the turn around was a cop car.
My eyes dropped right to my speed.
This time I was going about 10 over…
I thought for sure I was going to be busted.
My stomach was full of butterflies and I felt all jittery!
And of course the kids were in the van with me.

Thank goodness, no red lights and sirens came after me.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Brownies & Bars, cheesecake, Featured Tagged With: brownie, brownies, cheesecake, cool whip, pie, pumpkin

Pumpkin Caramel Latte Donuts

September 15, 2011 36 Comments

10 Happy Things About Fall

The weather is slowly getting cooler here and the days are getting shorter.
I know the calendar doesn’t say it is fall yet,
but it is starting to feel like it around here.

Fall is my absolute favorite season,
so even though I hate to say goodbye to summer,
it is refreshing to say Hello to Fall and some of my favorites again.
Here are just a few I came up with…

1. The fashion aspect. Gotta love layering scarves, boots, jacket,
cardigans all with your favorite pair of jeans.
2. Bonfire season. We loving hanging out with our friends
and roasting smores.
3. Changing leaves. Who can resist the charm of a brilliantly colored tree?
Can we say photo opps???
4. Leaf jumping. It’s all about the photos people:-)
5. Apple Picking and Cold Apple Cider. There is something about eating a fresh
picked apple on a crisp autumn day. And yes, I like my cider freezing cold…non of that
warm stuff for me.
6. Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks. They know how to get me every year.
7. Crisp Mornings. Even better when you can stay snuggled under
the warm covers for just a little bit longer.
8. Fall Festivals. Love hanging with the family while shopping for knick knacks.
9. Hay rides out to the pumpkin patch. I love doing this each year, even if
my kids think they are getting too big to do it.
10. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin donuts…
pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin.

Once the calendar turns to September,
I go a little bit crazy with the pumpkin baking.
I don’t know why…
but I never bake pumpkin stuff any other time of year.
So I try to get as much in before fall leaves.

Last week we had pumpkin donuts for breakfast.
And now you can too:-)

**I bought my large Wilton donut pan from Michaels. You can also buy one HERE.

Happy Fall!

What are you looking forward to most???

Pumpkin Caramel Latte Donuts

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Pumpkin Caramel Latte Donuts

Pumpkin Latte Caramel donuts are perfect for the mornings you need a pick me up.

Ingredients

1/2 c. butter

1 egg

2/3 c. brown sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 tbsp. milk

2/3 c. sour cream

1 tsp. instant coffee

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. flour

1/2 c. caramel baking bits

2 c. powdered sugar

4 tbsp. cooled coffee

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325*. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and instant coffee together. Set aside. In another bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg, milk, pumpkin and sour cream and mix until creamy. Slowly add the flour mixture until all combined. Stir in the caramel bits by hand.
Spray donut pan with nonstick baking spray. Fill the donut cavities just over halfway. I found this much easier to put the batter in a piping bag (or a plastic bag with a big corner cut off). Bake 9 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan for 4 minutes. Carefully loosen the edges of the donuts with a knife. Don't wait too long because the caramel will start to stick to the pan. Cool on a wire rack.
Stir together the powdered sugar and cooled coffee. Dip the top of the donuts in the glaze. Set on wire rack over wax paper until set. (Do not store completely covered, or the donuts will soak up the glaze.)

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