Peanut-butter Swirl Brownies

My four-year-old son is very bright and aware of the days of the week and what we do on each day - he keeps me on track!. For instance, Family Night, Bath Nights, Movie Nights, etc. The other day he asked me what we were having for Treat Night. When I asked him what nights those are, he said Sunday and Monday! :)

When I was growing up, it was not unusual to have our big Sunday meal at lunch time, and popcorn and a freshly-baked cookies or dessert for dinner. I guess I unknowingly have incorporated this into our family routine as well!

-Filling from Martha Stewart

Brownie recipe of choice - I just used a Betty Crocker brownie mix

Filling:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 tsp. salt (omit if using salted butter)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a glass 11x7 baking dish.

Make brownies according to recipe or directions on box. Prepare filling.

Pour 1/2 of batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Drop dollops of peanut butter filling (about 1 tablespoon each) on top of batter, spacing about 1 inch apart. Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan. Drop dollops of remaining filling on top. Gently swirl peanut butter filling into batter with a butter knife, running the knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 45 minutes.

Apple Studel Muffins

I love muffins for breakfast and for snacking! This muffin is great and perhaps nutritionally the apple offsets the sweet topping... :) I also saw a variation of this recipe here that uses food storage ingredients and looks a little healthier.

-Your Homebased Mom

2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (1/4 tsp)
1/2 C butter
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
3 apples, peeled (1-shredded and 2 chopped) - I used Granny Smith
1/2 C cinnamon chips

Topping
1/3 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pan. (15-16 muffins)

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In another bowl, beat the butter, sugars and eggs together until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Add in apples and cinnamon chips. Gradually add in the flour mixture. Note that this is a thick batter. Spoon the mixture into greased or lined muffin pan.

In another small bowl combine the topping ingredients: brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like course crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.

Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Crockpot Baked Potatoes

My mom made baked potatoes in the crockpot while we were visiting this summer - brilliant! No need to heat your oven for an hour. Now we can have crispy-skinned potatoes in the summer too and no more nuking!

Scrub and dry potatoes - wrap in foil. Place in crockpot and cook on low for 2 1/2 -3 hours, depending on your crockpot.

I removed the potatoes from the foil and returned them to the crockpot to keep them warm until I got the rest of the dinner ready. The skins were crispy and delicious!

Glow in the Dark Drinks

When I saw this post on Our Best Bites, I had to add glow-in-the-dark lemonade to our Halloween menu! The Tonic water contains quinine which glows under a black light - cool! It is a little bitter, so I added just enough to make the drinks glow. Brandon gets the credit for this photo!

-Our Best Bites

Country Time Lemonade Powder (enough for 2 quarts)

1 cup Tonic Water

Water

Monster Pudding Cups

My sister-in-law Kapri made these treats for Halloween many years ago - they are one of our Halloween favorites!

-Kraft

1 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 cups cold milk
6 drops green food coloring
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
8 OREO Cookies, crushed

Melt chocolate in microwave as directed on package. Use a clean small paint brush to paint a monster face on the inside of each of four clear 5-oz. plastic cups with the melted chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Add milk and food coloring to dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Immediately pour into prepared cups.

Top with the cookie crumbs. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Store any leftover desserts in refrigerator.

Monster Mouths

A fun Halloween snack!

Apples

Slivered almonds,

Peanut butter

Raisins

Cut apples into quarters and cut core out to form mouth - dip in lemon water to prevent browning. Insert almonds to make teeth and use peanut butter and raisins to make eyes.

Hot Dog Mummies

A Halloween Classic!

1 pkg hot dogs

1 can refrigerated breadsticks

Separate breadsticks and cut lengthwise into 3 pieces. Wrap hot dog to look like bandages - using 3 lengths per hot dog. Bake at 375 for about 16 minutes, or until breadsticks are lightly browned.