Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter~melted~

• 1 cup peanut butter

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 12 graham crackers~crushed~

• 6 ounces of chocolate chips~melted~

Directions:

Mix together melted butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and graham crackers in a medium bowl. Spread into 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate chips and pour over the peanut butter cracker mixture(in pan). Refrigerate until hard then cut into bars. 


 We loved these and I think you will too!

Have a blessed day,
Lexie(Designer of Creative Essentials) 

Bible Verse of the day

Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 NLT

 






 

 

Banana Nut Muffins W/ Oatmeal Streusel

Ingredients

  Muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (about 2 1/2 ounces)
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
• 3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Streusel:

• 6 tablespoons regular oats
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces) (I used 3 tablespoons)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.
To prepare the muffins, lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine banana and next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a bowl; stir well. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened; fold in walnuts. Place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups.
To prepare streusel, combine oats and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Blend with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle streusel over batter. Bake at 375° for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 241
• Calories from fat: 30%
• Fat: 8.1g
• Saturated fat: 1.9g
• Monounsaturated fat: 3.1g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 2.5g
• Protein: 4.6g
• Carbohydrate: 38.9g
• Fiber: 2.1g
• Cholesterol: 23mg
• Iron: 1.8mg
• Sodium: 164mg
• Calcium: 89mg 

   

 Ready To Add Streusel Topping

 Ready To Go In The Oven

 Done!

 

This recipe from,Cooking Light, makes 12-15 muffins.These Banana Nut Muffins would go very good with coffee. We enjoyed the muffins and I hope you do too! :-) 

Did you try this? Comment, and share your recipes with us!

Today's Bible Verse: "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away." Psalm 37:1-2

 

Be Inspired. Create.
Lexie 

Happy July Fourth 2012- USA

The Declaration Of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, announcing our independence as a nation from Great Britain. The United States of America is celebrating 236 years of freedom.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.  ~Abraham Lincoln

America is a tune.  It must be sung together.  ~Gerald Stanley Lee, Crowds
  

And I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood 

Listen to "God Bless the U.S.A" by Lee Greenwood: http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9020JJNU.

Have an AWESOME fourth of July, and may God bless you! :)

Sincerely, 

Lexie

Southern Style Praline Pecans

Hey there y'all,
It's teacher appreciation week, are you excited!? Have you ever heard of Praline Pecans? Pralines can refer to confections made from nuts and sugar syrup, whether in whole pieces or a ground powder, or to any chocolate confection containing the ground powder or nuts. I used pecan halves. These were simple and very DELICIOUS! I definitely recommend them. When making these keep in mind they are rich and should be refrigerated. I toasted my pecan halves before I started the syrup-like mixture, because I was not sure if we could buy "toasted" pecans.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 5 cups toasted pecan halves

Preparation

1. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, 7 to 8 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 234°.
2. Remove from heat, and vigorously stir in pecans. Spoon pecan mixture onto wax paper, spreading in an even layer. Let stand 20 minutes or until firm. Break praline-coated pecans apart into pieces. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week. Freeze in an airtight container or zip-top plastic freezer bag up to 1 month. My family LOVED these! :) I think you will too!

 Syrup-like mixture boiling.

Toasted Pecans on cookie sheet.

 Pecans in syrup-like mixture.

 Cooling on wax covered cookie sheet.

Did you try this? I would LOVE to hear how you liked it! :) Please comment questions or concerns. 

Be inspired. Try new things.

Lexie

Homemade Frozen Yogurt Drops

Sorry, this is not the frozen yogurt that your thinking. It is literally "frozen yogurt". I found the idea here, on Happy Together. I loved how simple the "frozen yogurt drops" idea was from the start. When I finished reading the post I knew I had to try this! Simple, fast to prepare, and so good!

It's fast, so if you want a evening snack pull out some: yogurt, sandwich bags, a wax paper lined cookie sheet, and a cup or two. Put a sandwich bag into a cup, then the yogurt into the sandwich bag. Pull of the bag and carefully cut off the end(you don't want the yogurt to pour out) so you can "drop" the yogurt onto the cookie sheet. *Don't squeeze the bag or it will pour everywhere. Once you have little yogurt "drops" on the cookie sheet put it into your freezer. Let them freeze for about 45 minutes to an hour(the longer the better). Pull them out and they are ready to go!

 Supplies...

 "Dropping" yogurt from sandwich bag tip...

 All ready to go into the freezer...

 These are the Strawberry yogurt "drops"...

 A mix of Vanilla "drops" and Strawberry "drops" in freezer...

Close-up of the Strawberry "drops"...

When you are done eating them and if you have any left-put into freezer immediately. They start to melt if you have them out too long. Are you ready to try this yet? When you do try it feel free to email or comment any questions, and I will try to respond ASAP! :) Let me know how you liked them.

Be inspired to try something new,
Lexie

Picnik-It's Official

Well, it's official- Picnik is now unavailable. I loved Picnik, it was my "photo buddy" you could say. Remember in this post where I  said that I was going to need to find a new editing program? I found one! I am so excited! Ready to hear my newest "photo buddy"? It is "Pic Monkey"! I am super excited to see how much I can do with this new editor. It might take me a while to figure it out so when I upload a picture I know exactly what it needs. Head on over to "Pic Monkey" for the newest "Picnik".  Have a relaxing Saturday!

Pageview Goal-ACHIEVED

Well by looking at the post title you can pretty much get the idea, right?
Anyways, remember here when I said that my blog's next goal was to reach 2,300 pageviews by Easter? :)
We definitely have reached that goal! :) Okay, nows the time to set another goal. So, by Summer (official date-June 21st) I plan to have 3,500+ pageviews.
I just want to thank all of my followers and everyone who is involved in my blog! :) Thank you SO much!
Don't forget: SPREAD THE WORD!!!
*Haven't heard about my flower hair clips? Check it out TODAY! original flower hair clips
wild flower hair clips
flowerclip boquet display

Have a fantastic day and SMILE!! :)
Lexie

Tutorial: How to create your own printable using Picnik

Hey,
I have had some questions on how exactly I make my own printables to put on my blog.
P.S. this is for you Kimberley :)

1. Go to Picnik.com
2. Go to the Library tab
3. Click "Make A Collage" (don't import any pictures)
4. Select the "Done" tab in upper right-hand corner
5. Now you are pulled to Editing stage of what you would normally use to edit a picture
6.Under the "Effects" tab then go to "Doodle"
7. Select "brush color"
8. Paint your blank surface(this brush color will be your background color)
9. Add your text to the collage
10. Use stickers to decorate
11. Add fun, little decorations to complete collage(printable)

To add to blog:
1. Save the printable(collage on picnik)
to computer
2. Then import it onto a blog post or page(like you would with a picture)
3. NOW YOU HAVE A PRINTABLE!! :)

Thanx, 
Lexie(Designer of Creative Essentials)