Snow on the Mountain Recipe – Lightened Up

Snow on the Mountain Recipe Lightened Up

This simple, budget-friendly recipe is a Midwest favorite that combines chicken and rice with fresh veggies and crunchy Chow Mein noodles.

I have to admit, versions of this recipe sat in my cookbook unused for years. This was one of my husband’s favorite meals growing up, and my mother-in-law had provided me all his favorites years ago. However I never made it, mostly because anything that uses coconut as a key ingredient is not edible, in my book.

Recently, however, I relented. We were in a meal rut, and I was looking for ways to lighten up some of my existing recipes. Plus, my mother-in-law  had never led me astray before! I’ve seen many versions of this recipe online, and I have to say her’s is the best I’ve found. However, I adjusted the recipe just a bit to suit our tastes and using what we had on hand.

So Fresh; So Clean: A Round-Up of Healthy Recipes my Kids Actually Like! | Five Marigolds

Continue reading

Apple Pie Bread

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is make sweet breads that we can snack on all week long. While they’re not always the healthiest recipes, I like that they’re homemade and a less processed than anything we’d pick up at the store. I always cook sweet breads in an 8×8 square pan. I find that the bread cooks more evenly and we avoid the crispy heels that none of us are a fan of. We pack them in lunch bags for dessert or for an after school snack.

Our favorite is banana bread, but it’s safe to say this Apple Pie Bread is now going into the rotation!

Apple Pie Bread | Five Marigolds

I got the recipe from Pip and Ebby and made a few small modifications:

Ingredients:

BREAD

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (you could also add 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, but I left this out)
  • 3 large apples, peeled, sliced and cut into small chunks (about the size of diced onions), I used HoneyCrisp and Opal Apples, because that’s what I had on hand.

TOPPING

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9×9-inch glass pan with olive oil spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is creamy. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add the flour mixture to the large bowl and mix until fully incorporated. Fold in the apples and pour into the oiled pan.
  3. To make the topping, combine 2 tablespoons of melted butter with 1/2 cup each of flour and brown sugar. Mix with a fork until crumbly and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter – I used only 1/2 of the mixture, just enough to cover the surface. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes, checking for doneness starting at 45 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the center of the bread.
  4. Cut into 16 squares and serve warm. Want to really go for the “wow” factor?  Drizzle just a little ice cream caramel over the top. Oh. Yes. I. Did.

Apple Pie Bread | Five Marigolds

Do you prep snacks and meals? I’d love to hear your tips, below!

 

Sweet Treat: Easy Homemade Candy Buttons

There’s just something about Candy Buttons. These nostalgic candies are surprisingly easy to make, and are perfect for birthdays, party favors, or just a fun sweet treat.

To make Candy Buttons, all you need to do is prepare a simple royal icing recipe. You can use the recipe listed on the can of Meringue Powder, but I used the following recipe, inspired by Sweet Sugarbelle:

What you’ll need:

  • 1 lb. confectioner’s sugar (4 3/4 cups)
  • Meringue powder (about 1/4 cup)
  • 1/3-1/2 cup water
  • 1-2 tablespoons flavored extract (I used almond extract because it’s what I had on hand, but there are tons of fruity flavors at the craft store that would be fun to try!)
  • Food coloring
  • Electric mixer
  • Freezer paper
  • Icing bag and small round tip (or a resealable bag with a tiny corner cut off would work in a pinch)supplies

To prepare:

  1. Whisk the dry ingredients together.
  2. In a separate measuring cup, mix the flavored extract into the water.
  3. Slowly begin pouring the liquid mixture into the powder mixture while it mixes.
  4. Mix the frosting on medium-high speed until the frosting forms stiff peaks (around 7 minutes)
  5. Add food coloring to achieve desired color. (I first made pink frosting, and later added a few drops of blue to make purple to get two colors out of one batch.)

Next, tear off a sheet of freezer paper – large enough that you can fit a large batch of buttons on (you won’t cut the paper until these are dry).

Fill your pastry bag (I used my Pampered Chef Decorator Bottle Set*) with frosting and twist the top, removing excess air. Now, simply pipe evenly sized dots across the paper. If possible, print a template in advance and place it below the freezer paper. Be sure that the design will fit into your final packaging. If you’re using pretzel bags for your packaging, your design will need to be approximately 2.15 x 5″ to fit the pretzel bags I would be placing them in.Candy Button Crown Template | Five Marigolds

Candy Button Heart Crown Party Favors _ Five Marigolds_45mLet the Buttons sit overnight to dry. Any excess frosting will keep in a resealable bag refrigerated for two weeks.

Now for the fun! Once the Buttons have set up overnight, you can begin cutting the freezer paper to your desired shapes.Candy Button Heart Crown Party Favors _ Five Marigolds_35m

Package your Candy Buttons for the occasion. I placed them in Wilton pretzel bags that I got at JoAnn’s for $1.37 using my 40% off coupon. Think of the possibilities! Birthday party favors, Valentines, and more!Candy Button Heart Crown Party Favors _ Five Marigolds_15m

Valentine's Candy Button Hearts _ Five Marigolds5m

Valentine Candy Buttons

 

In addition to being featured on the fab blogs listed on the right of this blog, this post was also featured on Huckleberry Love.


Homemade Malted Milk Ball Ice Cream

I just love the tasted of malted milk powder! As a kid, my mom would often top plain vanilla ice cream with sprinkling of this powder, and our favorite ice cream shop in town had a popular malt with 2x the malt powder. Yum!

I wanted to introduce my kids to the same flavor, so when we came up with the idea to create our own ice cream truck, I went on the search for a good Malted Milk Ball ice cream. Unfortunately every recipe I found included eggs, which I didn’t want to mess with. So, I came up with the following recipe using our Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker*.

What you’ll need:

  • 1/2 C. Malted Milk Powder (I used the chocolate flavor because it was all I could find at the grocery)
  • 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar
  • 1/8 C. Brown Sugar
  • 1 C. Whole Milk
  • 2 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 1 T. Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Cups Malted Milk Balls, chopped + more for garnishing, if desired

What to do:

  1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add the milk and use a mixer or whisk until the sugars are dissolved.
  3. Stir in the cream and vanilla.
  4. Set it in the fridge to cool at least 2 hours or overnight.
  5. Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream mixer* for 15-20 minutes or until it’s thickened.
  6. Slowly pour the desired amount of Milk Balls into the drum while the ice cream mixes, or fold it in at the end.
  7. Freeze in an airtight container for about 2 hours. Enjoy!

The result? Amaze-milkballs.  Ahem.

Homemade Malted Milk Ball Ice Cream | Five Marigolds

What do you think? Are you a fan of Malted Milk Ball ice cream? I’d love to hear your favorite ice cream flavor in the comments below.

*No ice cream maker? No problem. Once you’ve reached step five, simply put the container in the freezer for 2 hours or until it begins to freeze slightly. Stir in the malted milk balls and stir after another hour to evenly distribute, if necessary.  

Homemade Malted Milk Ball Ice Cream | Five Marigolds

Homemade Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt

Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt Recipe | Five MarigoldsDub has the heart of an entrepreneur. And marketer. He’s always saying things like, “I want to open a restaurant and name it ____,” or, “I wish I was old enough to start my own ______ business.” I love this quality about him, so this summer I wanted to show him that he can bring his ideas to life.

We chose to hone his kidpreneurial ambitions through his dream of owning an ice cream truck because, his mom really likes ice cream what better timing than summer? He immediately knew he would name it “The Scoop” and his pitch would be “Get a scoop, double scoop at The Scoop!” I encouraged him and Eve to brainstorm some ice cream flavors. They each came up with two ideas and we’ve been enthusiastically experimenting to finalize our menu.

Today we landed on our first unanimous winner.  It’s a frozen yogurt that’s just as tasty as ice cream, with a super-sweet cookie flavor blast for the tastebuds.

Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt Recipe | Five MarigoldsWhat you need:

  • 1/2 C. unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 C. packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 C. granulated sugar
  • 2 t. vanilla or almond extract (I’m a huge fan of the almond extract for this recipe!)
  • 1 C. flour
  • 1/4 t. baking soda
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1/2 C. mini chocolate chips
  • 1/2 C. crushed crunchy-style chocolate chip cookies (around 4 Chips Ahoy cookies)
  • 1 C. vanilla yogurt – I highly recommend Dannon Lite & Fit Vanilla yogurt for the best flavor

Directions:

  1. First, mix the butter and sugars with a mixer.
  2. Then, in a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add chocolate chips and crushed cookies.
  3. Gently fold the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until well combined, then thoroughly mix in the yogurt.
  4. I like to use my CuisinArt Ice Cream maker for this recipe. Make sure to freeze the vessel for at least 48 hours before churning. 
  5. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, freeze overnight in a sealed container, then fight the urge to eat it for breakfast.

Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt Recipe | Five Marigolds

That’s it! No fancy ice cream maker necessary. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt Recipe | Five Marigolds

For those of you who have asked where I got the ice cream container, I found it on a clearance shelf at TJ Maxx, but you can also buy it online in several colors on Amazon. I’m going to buy several so I can have several flavors sitting in my freezer at once 🙂