Yogurt Creme (Kathy Wilkins- Chelsea's mom)

Strain 1 quart of plain yogurt (I use a wire strainer lined with cheesecloth) for about 18-24 hours. You should strain out about 1/2 the volume...so you'll have about 2 cups of pretty firm yogurt cheese. Thin the yogurt cheese with milk (about 1/4 cup) a tablespoon or two at a time. It'll get nice and soft and fluffy. Then add about 1/4 of frozen OJ concentrate, vanilla to taste (I use a lot - about 2 tsp), and about 1 T honey (optional, to taste). You'll end up with about 2 1/2 cups of yogurt creme. My NOTE: I don't use milk to thin it, I use almond milk. You could use rice milk too. Then I get some blueberries and that pumpkin flax granola from Costco and layer it. YUMMY!

Cake Pops

CAKE POPS
1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.

You can get creative and use any combination of cake mix and frosting. I made mine with white cake mix, homemade cream cheese frosting, and white almond bark that was tinted pink. I then stuck sticks into the balls to make them look like suckers.

Microwave Caramels

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Place butter in a large bowl, microwave 1 minute on high. Stir. Add remaining ingredients. Stir. Cook on high for 7 minutes. Stir well. Cook for another 7 minutes, stir well. Pour into a buttered 9x13 pan. Cool. Cut into squares and wrap in wax paper. Adjust cooking time to your microwave.

Chocolate Pie

24 Marshmallows

1 giant Hershey Bar

1/2 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Graham Cracker Pie Shell

Melt marshmallows with Hershey bar over double boiler. Add milk. Cool. Fold in whipping cream. Pour into pie shell. Let stand until firm (about 2 hours). Cover with whipped cream.

Fruit Smoothies

1 Cup Fat Free Milk

1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt

1/4 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 1/2 Cups fresh or frozen strawberries

1/2 Cup canned unsweetened pineapple chunks

1/4 Cup nonfat dry milk powder

4 ice cubes

2 Tbsp. sugar

Directions:

In a blender combine all the ingredients. Cover and process for 30-45 seconds or until smooth. Stir if necessary. Pour into chilled glasses and serve.

Peanut Butter Popcorn

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter

Heat sugar and corn syrup to a full boil. Take off heat and add vanilla and peanut butter. Pour over 6 cups of popped popcorn and 1 cup peanuts (optional).