Snapps Loaded Baked Potato (or any flavor) Stuffed Jalapenos

We can find Snapps appetizers in the frozen foods section of Dollar Tree and Walmart, and a new (to me) flavor caught my eye... I had these Snapps Loaded Baked Potato Stuffed Jalapenos for lunch over the weekend and it was a very nice lunch indeed. I let the potato sticks sit on the counter while I cleaned the jalapenos, then cut them in half and placed them on the peppers. You may want to add a little cheese to the pepper first to help the Snapps stick to the pepper. And a little extra cheese is never a bad thing:@) I put them in the air fryer at 375 for about 7 minutes. Every air fryer is different, you may need to check your timing or temperature. These were served with a drizzle of ranch dressing. Sour cream, or jalapeno ketchup would be nice too.

What I started with:

Enjoy a munchie and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Harry Potter Hat for Barbie -Recycled Candy Container

My favorite type of Barbie project is where we take something headed to the trash can and re-purpose it into a toy that sparks imagination and doll play. I knew these Hershey Kiss Harry Potter Hat topped candy containers would fit Barbie and Ken, and the plastic is nice and thin, so it's easy to cut too. Cute! I rummaged through my stash of doll glasses, and added a little black sharpie to the rims of this round purple pair. Used a food pick as a staff, and wa-la, a cute and easy start to a costume:@) 

Maybe make a felt cape here.

Or a red and gold felt tie here.

Or add a scarf.

I picked this doll up at the thrift store so I'd have a more mature looking person for dioramas... Ha, but this works:@) Prefer a witch hat? Paint it black...

What I started with, at Walmart and Target:

Simply cut cylinder piece off from inside hat rim.

Other recycled candy container crafts:

Jack-O-Lantern Tea Light

And Stretchy Pumpkin Head Costume:

📌DIY Barbie Pinterest Board HERE.

♻Recycle something just for fun, and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Slow Cooker Polish Sausage, Sauerkraut & Potatoes

As life gets back to the normal routine of fall and back to school, sometimes it's nice to toss everything into a slow cooker before we go about our day... This Polish Sausage, Sauerkraut and Potatoes was a hearty easy meal, and the caraway seeds added a great layer of flavor. The recipe is easily scaled down and I used a standard 2 quart Crock Pot. It took about 3 hours on high, and the sausage turned out as shown. I would suggest cutting the sausage into 3/4-1" thicker slices, mine were a little thin. Using the low setting might work out best too. Overall, this is a good recipe to tuck away for when we need it, after a batch or two to figure out the best cooking time:@) Slow Cooker liners help make clean-up a breeze, and can even be found at Dollar Tree.

Use Polish sausage, kielbasa, or smoked sausage of choice.

Slow Cooker Polish Sausage, Sauerkraut & Potatoes -from Cooktop Cove

1 package sausage, cut into 1/2-1" rounds

16 oz sauerkraut, drained

6 small potatoes, quartered

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 bay leaf

1/2 C chicken broth or vegetable broth

S&P to taste

1. Add sauerkraut, potatoes and sausage to sprayed 4-6 quart vessel (or use a liner).
2. Top with everything else.
3. Cover, cook on low 6-8 hours, high 3-4 hours. Mine went about 3 hours on high in a standard Crock Pot.
4. Stir and serve.

Eat well and Have a Happy Day:@)

Local Walmart Football Munchies and QVC Free Shipping...

Walmart is a regular part of my Saturday rounds and I thought I'd share some Football Theme'd snack items that caught my eye yesterday... Easy cute football cookies, the kids will love to help bake them:@)

Not sure, but I think(?) the football shaped gummies may be new this year...

Little Debbie Football Brownies:

And it's free shipping weekend on QVC,

Guys are hard to buy for folks...

How about something cool for his office or desk:

NFL hover helmet-

2 pack NFL branded t-shirts for about $21.50 a piece.

Gotta check for team availability.

🏈Let's start stocking up for parties and holidays...

And Have a Great Sunday:@)

Fall Planter & Seasonal Dollar Tree Fall Finds

I've been pulling plants out of the raised beds, only the jalapeno, parsley and one large marigold remain at this time. But I have still been watering the large planter, and it has some great fall color:@) This pic doesn't show just how huge the purple plant got... All I did was pick up a broken piece of stem that had about 4 leaves on it at the garden center. The poor thing had been stepped on and run over with carts. I rooted it in water then planted it outside. I am still tickled by the dollar store metal sunflowers, they add a little height, and the pumpkin is cute. This works for early fall until I add the Halloween Jack-O-Lantern:@)

Limited edition Pillsbury Perfectly Pumpkin Cookie Mix. These are flying off the DT shelves folks, don't hesitate or you'll miss them...

Werther's caramels in fall flavors:

And I'll be honest, not really sure of the connection between Barbie and these socks,  but... They are at Dollar Tree. They also have a ton of other name brand characters too, Halloween theme'd and for every day.

🎃Grab it when you see it, and

Have a Great Weekend:@)

Inspirational Friday

 

Yep, we're trying to ignore these 90-ish temperatures...

Have a great weekend:@)

Easy Canned Pear Cake with Pumpkin Spice

When it comes to fall flavors we mostly think of apples and pumpkin, but pears are a fall fruit too, and pear goes well with the warm spices of autumn... I whipped up this Easy Canned Pear Cake with Pumpkin Spice for Sunday dinner. It was the day we stacked fire wood, so I thought it best to treat the boys to something sweet after dinner:@) This batter will be very thick, that even worked well with the wetter canned fruit. And I thought the whole walnuts would be pretty, but do recommend using chopped nuts so you get some nut in every bite. This is a nice recipe to tuck away folks, easy enough to change up the fruit and spices as desired, or to use what's on-hand.

Nothing fancy,

but great with a nice cup of coffee or tea:@)

A busy day:@)

Canned Pear Cake with Pumpkin Spice-adapted from here

3/4 C sugar

2 eggs

1/3 C oil-I mixed half oil, half applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tblsp butter, melted

1 1/2 C A/P flour

pinch of salt

1 3/4-2 tsp pumpkin spice

15oz can pears, diced and drained well

1/2 C chopped walnuts or pecans

Powdered sugar for serving

1. I mixed first 7 ingredients by hand with sturdy spatula, mixture will be very thick.
2. Fold in the pears.
3. Pour into sprayed or buttered 8x8 baking dish. Even mixture out.
4. Top with nuts.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool, top with powdered sugar for serving.

Enjoy a piece of cake and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Barbie Backpack from Party Favor Mini Purse DIY

I found these little purses in the party section at Walmart and immediately saw a cute sparkly Backpack for Barbie. I think I've seen them at Party City too? At 50¢ a piece this would be a fun craft project for a girls birthday party, sleepover, or rainy afternoon. I'm sure they'd have a great time filling the backpack with all kinds of little goodies. The straps get hot glued on and could be made from hair bands, ribbon, elastic or even yarn. I cut two 4" long pieces of salvaged elastic that was about 1/4" wide and it laid nice and flat. Although I do suggest cutting the elastic about 4 1/2" long going forward.

The side view:

The backpacks are great whether going to school or headed to the game!

Crop top free pattern HERE.

The most time consuming part of this project is waiting for the hot glue gun to heat up.

The key is to glue the straps on at an angle (kind of meeting in the middle at the top) so they help hold the backpack up on Barbie's back without slipping back down her arms. I got sloppy with the glue... Here's hoping you or your girl can be a little neater. Just keeping it real folks😉

The purses I started with:

📌My DIY Barbie Pinterest Board here.

Make something just for fun and 

Have a Happy Day:@)

Dollar Store Salmon Chip Dip Recipe

You probably already know I'm not a big seafood person, but I do like tuna fish, and canned or pouched salmon is pretty darn close to tuna fish. And while I'm sure this dip would be ~amazing~ with some leftover grilled salmon from last night's dinner, in my world, I grabbed a pouch of Bumble Bee (or Chicken of the Sea, I forget which brand it was) at Dollar Tree to whip up this Salmon Chip Dip:@) It had lots of flavor and a little bite from onion, peppers and olives. And please be sure to serve this with the nice big potato chips that have the hearty ridges. Good stuff folks. If you mix it and decide you'd like it just a tad looser, add a few drops of lemon juice or maybe even hot sauce.

I'm calling this Dollar Store Salmon Chip Dip because I had the thought to make it when I saw the salmon at Dollar Tree. Of course these pouches can be found anywhere from Walmart to supermarkets.

Salmon Chip Dip

For each 2 1/2 to 3oz pouch of salmon squeezed dry (I just pull the top off, tap the fish back into the envelope, fold it in half lengthwise, squeeze the top tight and wring some of the liquid out):

1 1/2 Tblsp mayonnaise 

1 1/2 Tblsp sour cream

1 1/2 Tblsp finely diced onion of choice

1 1/2 Tblsp finely diced fresh peppers of choice, jalapeno is nice:@)

1 1/2 Tblsp finely diced olives

Few grates of fresh lemon zest if not using lemon pepper salmon

Couple shakes of your favorite seasoned salt

Couple shakes of garlic powder

Few hearty grinds of black pepper

pinch of diced fresh parsley if you have it

~Mix well, chill for at least 1/2 hour before serving with potato chips.

Enjoy a Snack and Have a Happy Day:@)