Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

Apple Butter Oatmeal Bars

Change up your holiday desserts with these Apple Butter Oatmeal Bars. These sweet oatmeal bars will become one of your new favorite desserts.

A stack of cranberry oat bars topped with frosting.

The other day, my daughter and I went Christmas shopping for some of our nieces and nephews. Buying little clothes and toys is so much fun for those little kids! The only thing more fun would be if we could be there in person to watch them open them. But alas, this year, we are staying put on Christmas day. Last year, we were in the process of moving states, so the holidays were a blur of madness!

As we came out of the store, I had to stop and think about where I parked the car because these days, my short-term memory is not what it used to be. Seriously! It doesn't matter if I'm in the store for 5 minutes or 50 minutes because either way, I'm going to forget where the car is. Is this what it feels like to get older? My knees are already all creaky and sore in the morning. I don't know if I can handle the forgetfulness, too!

Our daughter just gave me that look. She has definitely perfected that teenage look over the past two years. It was kind of funny to see her look at me like I was crazy for losing the car. I'm cool with it, though. There are plenty of quirks that our kids give us grief for these days.

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Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups

Fluffy pink filling and a fun peppermint pretzel make these pretty Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups the star of every holiday party!

Chocolate cookies cups filled with pink fluff and topped with a white chocolate pretzel.

This past week, I had the opportunity to make desserts for our church youth group's Christmas party. Of course, any time I have to make desserts for real people, I tend to freak out a little because what if they hate them all? The struggle is real.

I wrote down a list of treats that I thought would be good teen food. M&M blonde brownies and peanut butter Rice Krispie treats were two easy and kid-approved treats that I knew would be good to serve. Cheesecake brownies and peppermint cookies and cream fudge were two more desserts that I thought would go over well because every time I make them, they disappear.

The dilemma I was facing was whether I would have enough. I was told to plan for 40 kids and parents, but there could be more. So, after doing all that, I started to question if I had enough dessert. Yes, I know they were having appetizers and dinner, but you have to have lots of desserts, right? The more options, the better, in my opinion.

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Chocolate Peppermint Layer Cake

The holidays call for lots of chocolate and peppermint, especially when it looks like this Chocolate Peppermint Cake. A homemade chocolate cake with a marshmallow frosting and candies will make the holidays sweeter.

I will never understand people in parking lots. The other day we were out shopping. The parking lots and stores were busy because everyone else was doing last minute Christmas shopping too.

We pulled into one aisle behind another vehicle, when suddenly she stopped to wait for someone putting bags in their car. They had just started to unload the cart, so it was going to be a while. This is the moment when you decide to keep looking for a spot. Or I don't know, maybe park in an open spot farther away.

Since she was still waiting, we went around her and found a spot at the end of another aisle. As we were walking into the store, we looked back. Sure enough, that vehicle was still sitting there waiting.

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Peppermint Brownie Truffles

A batch of these Peppermint Brownie Truffles will not last long at your holiday parties. Easy treats that look like they came from the store are perfect because they will impress everyone.

Most of the time I love to go all out and bake over the top desserts. It's so much fun coming up with new ideas and new ways to put together a sweet treat. Hiding candy bars inside cookies or truffles is one of my favorite things to do. These salted caramel brownie bites are one of my favorites.

But there are times when you just need an easy treat that has some pizzaz. That where brownie truffles come into play. This easy treat is seriously only 3 ingredients. Ok, technically it's more because you need to use oil and eggs to make the boxed brownie mix. (You can also double these homemade chocolate chip brownies and bake them in a 9x13 pan for 30 minutes if you prefer that method!)

Our kids devoured these little brownie bites in no time at all. When all three kids give something two thumbs up, I know I'm onto something good.

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Cookies and Cream Toffee Bark Recipe

You are only 5 ingredients and a few minutes away from having a batch of Cookies and Cream Toffee Bark in your life. This easy snack mix will be the first treat to go at all your holiday parties.

Cookies and Cream Toffee Bark - this easy 5 ingredients snack mix is loaded with chocolate and cookies! Great dessert recipe for holiday cookie trays!

This sweet snack single-handedly took me out this weekend. I had the idea to make this bark a few months, but I kept getting busy and forgetting to make it. That's probably a good thing now that I know how delicious and addicting this stuff is.

After one weekend of snacking on this sweet cookies and cream goodness, my jeans may not be fitting so well this week. I guess it is a sweats kind of day around here. I probably should add a few more things to our workout board each day to combat the amount of toffee bark I consumed.

Luckily, we had a Christmas party to go to, so I was able to share some of this goodness with others. But when the party was over, there was still some cookies and cream bark in the bag.

Part of me was NOT happy about taking it home because I knew I would eat it all. The other part of me was SO happy I got to take some home because I couldn't wait to eat more. There was quite the dilemma going on in my mind as we walked to the car.

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Salted Caramel Coffee Floats

Add these easy Salted Caramel Coffee Floats to your next date night. Snuggling on the couch with a mug of goodness and your sweetie is perfection!

This time of year tends to get busier and busier as we get closer to the holidays. There are Christmas parties to attend, gifts to buy, cookies to make, fudge to eat, lights to hang, and the list goes on and on.

We are still trying to get all our decorations out. This year it has been a slower process than previous years. Usually, I have everything out the weekend after Thanksgiving. There are still half empty boxes of decorations sitting in our living room. I keep saying I will get it finished...tomorrow.

Yesterday I had it settled in my mind that the rest of the decorations were going out that night because I was tired of walking around boxes to get to the dinner table. Well, that was until my husband suggested we go out to dinner, so that we could talk about what gifts we would be getting our three kids.

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No Yeast Apple Rolls

These easy no yeast Apple Rolls can be made and baked in 30 minutes. A warm, gooey cinnamon roll stuffed with apple goodness is a great way to start any morning.

*This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hungry Jack®. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

The one thing that our kids ask for every week are pancakes. The problem is that I'm not a morning person; so making pancakes in the early morning can be dangerous. First, there is a chance that something strange might end up in the batter since my eyes are just waking up.

I might grab something like powdered sugar from the shelf instead of the pancake mix. Okay, so that has never happened, but it probably would if I tried to make breakfast before 10 a.m.

Finally, I have a habit of burning things since I am still sleeping while standing in the kitchen that early. The other day my daughter asked for eggs in a basket. If you turn up the heat to get the egg to cook faster, the buttered toast in the pan will burn.

She wasn't too happy that I burned the one side of her breakfast. I tried to hide the burned side by giving it to her with the burned side turned down. My thinking was that maybe she wouldn't notice. Yeah, she is smarter than me that early in the morning. [Read more...]

White Chocolate Caramel Mousse Brownie Cake

This White Chocolate Caramel Mousse Brownie Cake has two layers of creamy no bake mousse on a fudgy brownie bottom. Easy, but impressive dessert for dinner parties.

Does anyone else feel like people are constantly tied to their phones or computers? With three teenagers in the house, it seems like someone is always on an electronic device at any given moment. Games, texts, YouTube, Pinterest...the list of things to "check" goes on and on.

And since my job requires me to be active on social media, I am guilty of checking my phone way too often as well.

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White Chocolate Blueberry Mousse Cheesecakes

These easy White Chocolate Blueberry Mousse Cheesecakes have three layers of no bake goodness in each one. Cookies, white chocolate, and blueberry pie filling create an incredible sweet treat in minutes.

CLICK HERE TO PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER!

*I am partnering with Lucky Leaf this year as a blog ambassador bringing you delicious recipes using pie filling.

On the weekends my husband and I like to catch up on different shows on Netflix. Of course, that means we have to binge watch for a few hours on that one night. We will try to stay up as late as we can since each episode drags you in more and more. Each one ends and you have to watch another one because you have to know what happens next. Before we know it it's 2 am, and I can't remember what happened in the last episode because I am falling asleep.

The latest show we have finished is Fringe. I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi type shows, but we really got into the story line of that one. Now that it is over, we have been looking for a new series that we can start on. Does anyone have any suggestions for shows they liked?

Until then, we are trying to catch up on last season's Once Upon a Time. Our daughter couldn't wait any longer for us, so she already started on this season. The bad thing is that she keeps trying to tell us what happens next, and we have to shush her. Ain't nobody got time for spoilers! [Read more...]

Mini Chocolate Chai Cheesecakes Recipe

A cookie crust, chocolate cheesecake, and spice topping make these Chocolate Chai Cheesecakes a delicious treat for fall dessert tables. The three flavors blend together so well to create a show stopping cheesecake cupcake.

Can you believe we are getting ready to dive into the busiest season of the year? Our calendar is already filling up quickly with programs, games, school & work parties, dinners, family events, and traditions.

It is easy to become so busy that we forget to stop and remember the things that we are thankful for. Even amidst the busy times, I want to be able to pause and be content with where we are in life.

It's not always sprinkles and roses and happy times. We all have our moments of bad or negative things that happen.

It's how we respond and act on these things that matter the most because it shapes who we become. [Read more...]

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