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No-Bake Eclairs | Recipe

November 9, 2010 By Laura 6 Comments

No-Bake Eclairs

No- Bake Eclairs

I’m going to be quite honest with you here:  This dessert of no-bake eclairs is quick, easy, and sooooo good.

I’m going to be even more honest than that:  It’s not quite like real eclairs.   It’s more of a…. fun spin-off, of real eclairs.  But you know, everyone is going to eat them all up, just like that, anyway.  So does it really matter?

I’m thinking, ‘not really’.  So here we go….
–

No-Bake Eclair(s)

002 Participating Ingredients:

  • *Graham Crackers

* The kind we actually prefer is the Nabisco  Grahams Original, in the red box.

  • 2 boxes Instant Vanilla Pudding
  • 8 oz. Cool Whip
  • 1 can Chocolate Frosting (Milk Chocolate of Chocolate Fudge), and 2 Tbs. Milk
  • 3 1/2 cups Milk
  • (tad of Butter, if making in cake pan)

 

Now there’s 2 ways you can make this no-bake eclairs dessert.  It’s all just layering of pudding mixture and cracker until the topping, either way.

  No- Bake Eclairs

The original recipe I got was made in a 9″ x 13″ cake pan.  This is the easiest and fastest way to make it.  If you make it this way, just coat pan with a rub of butter first.

But we had another idea that we are sharing with you here. It takes a bit more time, but we didn’t mind.

We wanted to make cute little individual servings, in the 4 oz hard plastic clear cups.

First step:  Mix all of the pudding and the milk with the blender in a good sized bowl, let it get thick.  Then add the container of Cool Whip in and mix.

 

003

Over a little bowl, break graham crackers into roundish pieces, to fit the bottom of about 11 4 oz cups.

004
They don’t have to be perfect.
–

As you do this, save the crumbs and little pieces you are breaking off. They will not go to waste!
(You need ’em….so don’t eat ’em!)

006 ….because you are going to put them on top of that cracker circle, like this.

Next, on top of the crumbled crackers in each cup, add a few plops of pudding/Cool Whip mixture to less than half way up the cup…

007

….and then add a good layer of just crumbled graham crackers.

Then more pudding/Cool Whip mixture.

008

For the top layers, you do want to use another circle of graham cracker fitting for the larger tops, and then just use up the crumbled cracker you have to put on top and fill in the sides, etc.

Now in a separate little bowl, add the chocolate frosting and 2 Tbs. of milk, mixing it all together to make it nice and creamy, and easily spreadable.

No- Bake Eclairs

Using a spoon, carefully put some on the tops of every cup, and spread it around a little.

Now if you wanted to make the cake pan version, it can be a lot easier and faster.  The layering is all the same, but any crumbling is really not necessary, since there is not a lot of custom fitting to do with the crackers!  So you just lay crackers in a single layer, all over to cover the bottom of the pan, and start your layers.

So whether the cups or the pan, the layers go as follows, with the 1st layer being at the bottom:

  • 6th layer – frosting (w/ 2 Tbs milk)  mixture
  • 5th layer – graham cracker
  • 4th layer – pudding / cool whip mixture (the rest of the mixture, for the pan)
  • 3rd layer – graham cracker (flat in pan, crumbles only in cups)
  • 2nd layer – pudding / cool whip mixture (about 1/2 the mixture, for the pan)
  • 1st layer – graham cracker (& crumbles in cups)

No- Bake Eclairs

The layers look really nice in the clear cups. When the cups are all filled, put them in the fridge to chill and set a little, until you are ready to serve them.

No- Bake Eclairs

They are ready to serve and enjoy!!

(Go ahead and lick the cup when you get to the bottom.  We won’t tell. ; )

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Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Treats Tagged With: cup-desserts, cup-treats, dessert recipes, dessert-ideas, Desserts, eclair-recipes, eclairs, no-bake-desserts, Treats

3 All-American Treats, for Your All-American Weekend | Red, White and Blue Recipes

May 27, 2010 By Laura 8 Comments

If you are looking for some all-American, red, white and blue food ideas, you’ve come to the right place!

With Memorial Day here, and the 4th of July not too far away either, I thought I would share 3 very easy red, white & blue treats, that are perfect ideas for your all-American weekend celebrations and gatherings.


BOWL OF STARS

This is more than an easy, refreshing, cool treat. It’s a decoration, and a festive item on the menu your family and/or guests will be impressed with!


All you do is cut the watermelon in 1/2 the long way, completely cut up one half into thin (about 3/8″) slices, and cut out stars with any star shaped cookie cutters!  I had stars in 3 sizes.   With the other 1/2 of the watermelon, scoop it out as much as a whole piece as you can.  You should then be able to cut that into a few more slices too, and get more stars out of it.

When the 2nd half is all scooped out, you use it as your bowl for all of the stars!

I put a few stars on bamboo forks, to stand up.  You can also use skewers, if you lop off the very sharp end, and cut them to a good size. I stuck some stars on sticks, into the bowl edge/rind, and even stuck in other pieces in the bowl.  Kids love them on a stick!  I had some on a stick too.

So put some star-spangle in your summer!

………………..


Red, White & Blue Fruit Parfait

Here’s another fresh idea, I pulled from our archives.

It couldn’t be any simpler to make:

1) Rinse some strawberries and blueberries in the sink.

Last year, since our strawberry bed was new, we had to use store bought berries. But this year, with our strawberries established, we’ll be getting them from our garden!

2) De-stem and slice the strawberries.



3)  Go through the blueberries real quick , just to make sure there are no smooshy ones, : ) , and also take off any tiny stems still on.

4)  Get out your can of Redi-Whip.

5) In clear cups, layer strawberries, whip cream, blueberries, and more whip cream on the top.

It’s perfect ‘light-little-something’ to hold every one over until dinner.  Or have it breakfast!  Or dessert!

Sprinkle some Grape-Nuts cereal, or granola, on the top, for some crunch!

Simple. Pretty. Tasty.

And simply pretty tasty.

………………….


American Sparkle Cone

This one is an ordinary treat, with a couple special twists.

Scoop some vanilla or chocolate chip ice cream, onto a sugar cone.  Sprinkle on some red and blue sugar crystals.


What kid…..errrr, ….person….doesn’t love ice cream?  Nothing creates quiet, like ice cream cones,….on a warm day.  Know what I’m saying?  Silence I tell you. ; )   Just a whole lot of rapid licking going on!

I’m full of tricks.   And I’m not afraid to use them!

Here was a surprise, no one was expecting….

I put an upside down Hershey Kiss, in the bottom of the cone.   Because I’m the coolest mom on earth. ; P

(Not counting yourself, of course.)

As they were out on the deck, licking up a storm, Michael was peeking out the window at them. I said, “What are you doing?”  He answered….”I don’t want to miss it when they get the Hershey Kiss in the bottom.”  I said…”Are you kidding?  We’ll HEAR it, when they find the Hershey Kiss.”

Sure enough, the whole dang neighborhood heard their cheers!

I hope these ideas add a little eatin’ fun to your weekend!  I know when I think of long summer-like weekends, I think of FOOD.  Ohhh….just add some protein and veggies here and there, and you’ll be all set too!

Have a safe, fun, relaxing, TASTY All-American long weekend, Everyone!

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Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Treats Tagged With: 4th-of-July-recipes, all-american-food-ideas, Memorial-Day-recipes, red-white-blue-recipes

The Triplets’ Birthday Cake Choices

September 8, 2009 By Laura 3 Comments

After 7 years, it finally happened! The triplets wanted different kinds of birthday cake.

As I’ve mentioned before, we all choose what we want for our birthday cakes in our family.  Up until this year, we’ve really lucked out in that, {J, O & S} have always just agreed on the same kind of cake.  So this year was a ‘first’.  They had all spent their own bouts of time flipping through their big sister’s cook books, and it seems 2 of them had seen something they wanted, and they knew exactly on which page, in which book, it was.

So this post isn’t directional recipes, per say, but a few cute ideas you may like to use for your kids, or yourself, sometime!  Good news: Birthdays are not a requirement!  An ordinary Sunday, the kickoff of a school vacation, or house cleaning being all done, are all good enough reasons for a treat!  Feel free to come up with your own reasons.  It’s really not hard to do when you’re in the mood for a treat!

triplets' birthday cakes

Look how happy they are! This makes the extra hours in the kitchen, worth it.

tripets' birthday cake

{J} chose to have a ‘Mice Cream’.

In a graham cracker mini-pie crust, add a big scoop of your favorite ice cream.  (In other words, choose your mouse color. : )

Eyes & Nose =  Chocolate Chips

Whiskers = Large sprinkles

Ears = Keebler Grasshopper Cookies

Tail = We wanted red licorice string rope. But we could not find any. So, we picked up some of this Extreme Sweetly-Sour Belts, that we cut for a thin tail.  It was wicked gross, and we threw it out as soon as the tail served it’s purpose. : )

Cute, huh?

~~~

triplets' birthday cake

{O} chose a Cupcake Cone

With some yellow cake batter from {S}’s, we filled the cone up more than 2/3 full, and baked in 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes. Cool, frost, sprinkle, eat. : )  We made 7.

~~~

triplets' birthday cake

{S} wanted a 7 Cake!

Oh yeah, he’s sharin’!

We just baked an ordinary marble cake in a square cake pan, and cool.  Remove from the pan, cut into a 7, frost and sprinkle.

We used to rarely have sweets around here.  But since {A} loves baking so much, and with so many birthdays, holidays and blessings, we’re finding more reasons to celebrate with a treat than we used to!  Thankfully, they are generously spaced with many healthy balanced diet meals around the table together.

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Filed Under: Baking, Celebrations, Desserts, Recipes, The Big Picture, Traditions, Treats Tagged With: birthday-number-cake, Catholic-family-blogs, kids-birthday-cake-ideas, mice cream, triplet-birthday-cakes, triplets

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker – Kid Recipe

June 29, 2009 By Laura 1 Comment

The other day, {A-11} asked me if she could make some homemade chocolate ice cream.  “Ice cream?” I asked, puzzled.  “Yeah, Mama. Ice cream.  I’ve made it before and it’s really good!”  “Uh huh” I answered. But I was thinking, ‘Without an ice cream maker?‘

So got out all of the stuff, and I started taking photos.  You know, just in case this one turned out ok. Maybe I could use it for the blog.  Even if it was less  for Vittles (as in, edible), and more for a kid science experiment in the Home Schooling section!  So, I found my purpose in sticking around for a bit, and kept shooting.

She got out all she said she needed:

homemade ice cream

Participating Ingredients:  milk, cream, sugar, cold coffee, and cocoa baking powder.
–

homemade ice cream

*In a small bowl, 1/3 C of baking cocoa powder.
–

homemade-ice-cream-without-maker_70

*1/2 C cream
–

homemade ice cream

*1/2 C sugar.
–

homemade ice cream

 Start mixing.

Ever tried mixing cocoa powder into a wet ingredient?  I was starting to wonder if we were on candid camera. You can mix and mix and mix….and the powder just doesn’t seem to get wet.  For people like me, it’s a small exercise in patience and faith.

homemade ice cream
But eventually, it actually does start becoming a unified wet substance.
I think using the back of the spoon, and pressing out any powder pockets you can, is a good idea.
–

homemade ice cream
*Add 5-6 teaspoons of cold coffee.
–

homemade ice cream
*Measure out 3/4 C of milk…
–

homemade ice cream

…and pour it in.

Then mix some more.

Now, to be honest, at this point, I still had my doubts.  So I walked away to get back to work at my computer.  But she poured the contents of this bowl into a clean and flexible container with a cover, and put it in the freezer, overnight.

The next it we took it out, and it still looked………questionable, to me. Just a tad.

But then we scooped some out, put it in a bowl and stuck a spoon in it.

homemade ice cream

Well, if I wasn’t a blue-nosed gopher.

Ice Cream.

And it even tasted good!

* The amounts of this recipe only make a small batch of ice cream.  Maybe 2 servings. Or 1, if you really like ice cream.

So multiply amounts as you wish.

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Filed Under: Desserts, Elementary Homeschooling, Elementary Homeschooling SCIENCE, Homeschooling, Recipes, Treats Tagged With: chocolate-ice-cream-recipe, homemade-chocolate-ice-cream-without-maker, kids-recipes, treats-kids-can-make

Photos of Our Easter Day Details – 2009 – Simple Easter Ideas

April 17, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

Just another short post, with lots of photos, from our blessed Easter Sunday. We hope they are simple Easter ideas, to share with you.

The kids woke up to these surprises on Easter morning.  They were thrilled!

non-candy-easter-gift-ideas-for-kids_2

non-candy-easter-gift-ideas-for-kids

The kids, looking all dapper, just before heading out to a beautiful Easter morning Mass.  {A} altar served, as usual.  The kids were surprised with some gifts from friends at church, too. People can be so kind and thoughtful.

easter-kids-2009

When we got home, we had our simple Easter dinner.

This is my plate, below.  As you can see, I despise carrots, and I love asparagus. : )

I also forgot to put some potato salad on my plate before I took this photo, which  I worked so hard on. lol

simple-easter-dinner

The Easter cookies {A} baked, and us parents helped decorate. It was tooooo FUN!

easter-cookies

Chocolate Coconut Jelly Bean Cake, which was also more fun, to take photos of.

jellybean-easter-cake

jelly-bean-easter-cake-1

jelly-bean-easter-cake-2

I took  some individual shots of the kids too.

easter-kids-2009_1

Easter is one of my very  favorite holidays to take photos on. The spring-ish atmosphere, all of the colors around, and the sheer joy in the air, as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, after a long and soul-searching Lenten season.  But the truth is, I just always have my camera in hand, taking photos, because I love to, and I can. 🙂  I like to think this is a great place to share them, with you all,  as they all are the details of our days, our life, and our joys.  Just so you know…This blog will always have more photos, than wise words spoken. Because I definitely always have more way photos. lol

colored-easter-eggshells

Our Giveaway winner, Regan, had received her home-made gifts.  So would anyone like to see photos of what she received?  I took lots of those along the way for that, too.  Of course. It’s coming up!

Our family hopes your Easter was all kinds of Blessed and joyful, too!

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Filed Under: Baking, Celebrations, Desserts, Faith, Faith/ Catholic, Holidays, Kids, Photography & Lettering, Recipes, The Big Picture, Traditions Tagged With: Catholic, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Easter-ideas, jellybean-Easter-cake, non-candy-Easter-gift-ideas-for-kids, simple-Easter-ideas

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