Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

These jazzed up White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies taste like Christmas in every bite. Peppermint, chocolate chips and a drizzle of white chocolate make them so pretty for the holiday cookie trays.

*I am partnering with Challenge Dairy as a butter ambassador for the year creating delicious recipes.

These White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are loaded with chocolate chips and peppermint. White chocolate drizzles make them so festive!

Every Christmas we make a list of about 10 cookies and candies that we want to make for the holidays. This is something that we started as newly weds and have continued on with our kids.

After we make our list of must make cookies, we let the kids choose one cookie from the list that they want to make from start to finish. When they were younger this obviously was a lot messier and time consuming, but it was fun to watch them learn how to bake.

Now that they are older, they can pretty much do all the work alone on their cookie. Although, I do still have to watch for missing candy. Good thing I always buy plenty of extra to account for all the snacking that happens while kids bake.

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Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Cheese Ball

This Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Cheese Ball is just the appetizer you need for those holiday parties and events coming up. The cheese and veggies rolled in nuts is perfect for cracker and pretzel snacking.

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Most days my brain thinks in sugar non-stop. It starts first thing in the morning at the gym. Yes, I think about cookies and cake while doing bench presses and pull-ups. Today I couldn't stop thinking about an this easy candy bar cookie treat that I want to make. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Visions of cake and pie fill my head as I get ready for the day. As I do my work, I see more sugary goodness from my friends, and it gets me inspired to make something from my many lists of sugar coated sugar visions.

Then before I drift off to sleep at night, I start to day dream about brownies and chocolate peppermint fudge. Seriously, this is my life. Hello, my name is Jocelyn, and I'm a dessert freak. Please tell me I'm not alone in this sugar madness. Ok, maybe I am, but I'm cool with it. [Read more...]

Red Velvet Peppermint Cupcakes

I am so excited that it is time to share all the peppermint treats. Believe me, I have some delicious ones you need to make. First up are these Red Velvet Peppermint Cupcakes topped with marshmallow PEEPS®.

*I am partnering with PEEPS® this December as part of their "24 Days of Peepsonality" program.

Red Velvet Cupcakes topped with Peppermint frosting and a Red Velvet PEEPS® chick. Perfect holiday party treat!

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. We look forward to all the lights, smells, and sounds of the season. Every year we pull out our tree the day after Thanksgiving and put on our Santa hats, while we hang our ornaments on the tree.

I have to admit that I am a little picky about where some of those ornaments end up. (There have been a few that I may have moved the next day.)

As the kids are getting older, they are doing such a good job at spacing out the snowmen and snowflakes for me, so there aren't as many that needed "re-arranged" these days.

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Cheesy Italian Pasta

This Cheesy Italian Pasta is loaded with meat, tomatoes, and cheese. It is an easy pasta dinner to enjoy on busy nights.

*Thank you so much to Best Food Facts for putting together this trip to Chicago, IL to learn more about the food we eat. This trip was sponsored and paid by Best Food Facts, along with this post. This year I am partnering with them as a blogger for their Taste program.

Do you ever stop and wonder where your food came from or how it got to the grocery store? I grew up in the country, so I am just a little familiar with farming and farm life. Our family had a few horses, and we would bale our own hay each summer. Picking up and stacking hay bales is the extent of my farm experience though.

I know that our food comes from farms and that farmers live on the farm 24/7, but I didn't fully understand it until I had a chance to chat with a few farmer's wives this past year.

Last month I had the opportunity to head to Chicago, IL and reunite with the bloggers and farmers that are part of the Taste 15 blogger program through Best Food Facts. We started with an amazing dinner at The Girl and The Goat where we caught up with each other.

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Glazed Apple Cider Muffins

A batch of these Glazed Apple Cider Muffins baking in the oven will make your house smell delicious this fall.

Two times the apple cider makes these an awesome fall breakfast muffin.

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to head out to the apple orchards. There is something about eating a freshly picked apple out in the fields.

I also love making homemade apple pie filling when we get home. When our kids were younger they loved going with us to the orchard. We would fill a big basket with apples, then head to the stand that sold apple cider. Apple cider from the farm stands is so much better than that gallon jug at the store.

Now that our kids are older, they look at me funny when I mention doing trips like these. In fact, I didn't even mention it this year. Partly because things have been crazy busy here, and partly because I knew the family's answer.

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Caramel S'mores Fudge

This easy Caramel S'mores Fudge is loaded with marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. It makes a great treat to package up and gift to friends and family.

*This post was sponsored by the J.M. Smucker Company. I am partnering with them this fall as a brand ambassador creating recipes from products they send me.

Fall has officially made its way to the midwest. Wearing jeans and sweatshirts all the time has finally commenced. It has been cooler during the day and very chilly at night. We actually woke up to frost on the ground this morning.

It is the perfect weather for snuggling under a blanket with a hot cup of coffee. My favorite drink of the fall season is a salted caramel mocha latte. Now that I can recreate the coffee shop drink though, I try to drink them all year round, but for some reason they taste the best in the fall.

I think it is all mental. Chilly weather + sweatshirts = hot caramel coffee love. It's just how my brain works. [Read more...]

Butterfinger Reese's Fudge

Using different candies to jazz up an easy fudge is a great way to use up extra candy. This Butterfinger Reese's Fudge has two different candies in an easy white chocolate fudge. It's the perfect little treat to package up for friends and family for the holidays.

This easy white chocolate fudge is loaded with Butterfinger bars and Reese's Pieces. It's a great holiday treat!

For a while I had set out to make fudge every single month because fudge year round should really be a thing.

Have you noticed that fudge really is more popular in the holiday seasons? Why is that? I mean sweet little bites full of candy and cookies should not be limited. Am I right?

Of course when I was looking back, I realized that I haven't shared a fudge recipe here since this robin egg fudge at Easter. Obviously I'm slacking some this year. To make up for it, I have fudge today and more fudge next week. You need to make both. Trust me!

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Toffee Pretzel M&M's Popcorn

This Toffee Pretzel M&M's Popcorn is a great snack mix to add to a movie night. Adding toffee bits and M&M's give a fun candy twist to this white chocolate covered popcorn.

Toffee bits and pretzel M&M's give a fun candy twist to this white chocolate popcorn.

One thing that we try to do every weekend with our kids is have Friday night movie and pizza night.

Some nights we buy pizza, and other nights we make our own homemade pizza. The kids love knowing that we are going to do this all the time. Obviously there are some exceptions to this, but for the most part we stick to this fun tradition.

One thing that we usually make to go along with the pizza is a big bowl of popcorn. Most of the time they just add butter and salt. But I like to have a sweet popcorn to munch on, so every once in a while I cover it chocolate and then add gobs of candy. It's the best way to do popcorn, right?

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Cookies and Cream Fudge Tart

This Cookies and Cream Fudge Tart is loaded with a creamy cookie filling and decadent chocolate center.

Sometimes life is easy, and we know exactly what is going to happen and how that should go. It's easy to make plans and try to follow them.

Then there are times things happen unexpectedly, and we have no idea why something like that could happen. It's in those moments that we can rely on a wonderful Saviour, and know He has a plan for our lives. We may not understand that plan. It may not make any sense to us, but it all fits perfectly into God's plan. This doesn't always make it easier on us, but it will help us as we deal with the hurt and pain.

Today I am celebrating the life of a wonderful friend. Joan from Chocolate, Chocolate, and More was taken much too soon from this world last week. It was completely unexpected and rocked the food community. [Read more...]

Sausage Supreme Pasta Skillet

This easy Sausage Supreme Pasta Skillet is loaded with meat, cheese, and tomatoes. It is a great dinner that can be ready in under 30 minutes.

This easy pasta skillet dinner is loaded with cheese, tomatoes, and sausage and is ready in 30 minutes. Perfect comfort food for busy nights!

Yup, that is a plate of cheesy pasta staring back at you there. I have been on a mission to create a few more savory dishes around here, and so far I feel pretty good about getting one here and there to share with you.

The kids devoured this skillet dinner in a hurry. They really are my best taste testers because they will honestly tell me if they like, love, or hate a dish. Although I have gotten pretty good at making sure to put in the ingredients that they love.

Pizza is one food that we eat a lot of around here. Friday night pizza night happens on a very regular basis. This chicken supreme pasta bake has been so popular that I knew I wanted to create another easy skillet dish. This time I used a sausage supreme pizza as my inspiration. Although I did leave out the mushrooms because the taste testers here would have totally revolted if I had tried to hide them under the cheese.

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