Candy Corn Mousse Cups
Halloween is only a couple of days away! You can make some super fun desserts to give out to the kids’ friends or just as a dessert for the next few days. You can use them for Thanksgiving, too! Here’s how to make your own Candy Corn Mousse Cups:
INGREDIENTS
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small container (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
orange and yellow food color
candy corn
DIRECTIONS
Beat cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until fully smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, add milk and then vanilla. Continue mixing about 1 minute on medium speed. Fold cool whip into cream cheese mixture; stir until fully combined. Scoop about 1/3 of the cheesecake mousse into a bowl; mix with orange food coloring. Color another third of the mixture yellow. Leave the remaining third white. Beginning with the yellow mousse, pipe or spoon the mixture into each glass. Repeat with the orange and white. Garnish with candy corn. Then ENJOY!
Yield: 8 mini servings. We halved the recipe and were able to fill 4 shot glasses.
DIY Window Cleaner Tutorial
You don’t have to buy window cleaner from the store for $4 or more and have it filled with a bunch of chemicals you’ve never heard of. You can make your own, super effective window cleaner for just pennies!
What You’ll Need:
- 2 cups of water
- 3 tablespoons of vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon of laundry detergent
- A spray bottle
Directions:
Simply combine all the ingredients into the spray bottle. Shake gently to mix so to not create too many bubbles. You’re ready to clean your glass and windows!
DIY Scented Bath Bombs
Women are super in love with bath bombs (or bath fizzies) right now. I have a lot of friends that buy them at LUSH and they’re $5 EACH. So, they’re paying $5 every time they take a bath. That’s crazy to me. Here is a really simple, natural way to make your own bath bombs from Vitacost at home in minutes and for literally a few cents each bomb!
What You’ll Need:
- ½ cup of citric acid
- 1 cup of baking soda
- 3 oz. witch hazel
- Small spray bottle
- Rubber ice cube trays or molds
- Essential oil of your choice (lavender works really well)
- ½ cup of Epsom salt or sea salt
- Cocoa butter
Directions:
- Stir together the citric acid, Epsom or sea salt, and the baking soda until very well blended. Make sure all of your dry ingredients are well combined, or your bomb may turn into more of a dud.
- Fill the spray bottle with the witch hazel and a small amount of cocoa butter. This will help bind the bomb together, and also help with moisture.
- Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
- Spray the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring well, until it starts to clump. When the mixture holds shape, quickly transfer it to your mold.
- Let your bombs dry for a short time (about 10 to 15 minutes), then remove them from the mold. Try lightly tapping the underside if they don’t come out easily.
- Let bombs dry overnight before use.
- Then just plop your bomb into the bathtub and be whisked away to a land of bliss!
Recipe: Cinnamon-Masarpone Pudding
Pudding is all grown up! No longer do we adults need to suffer will the peel off lids! With this recipe from PureWow, we can devour a grown-up version of a kids’ favorite. Recipe makes 6-8 servings.
Ingredients:
Pudding –
- ½ cup sugar
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus extra for garnish
- 2 cups mascarpone cheese
Topping –
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup fresh berries (like blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
Directions:
Place 6 to 8 small bowls onto a baking sheet. In a small mixing bowl, whisk sugar with the cornstarch to combine.
In a medium pot, combine milk with the sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
While the milk is heating up, whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. When the milk has reached a simmer, slowly pour it over the eggs, whisking constantly. Continue whisking for a few moments after all the milk has been added, then return the mixture to the pot.
Cook the pudding over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble from the very center of the pot. This will be at least 1 to 2 minutes more.
Remove the pot from the heat and add in the vanilla, cinnamon and mascarpone cheese. Mix until completely smooth.
Pour the pudding into the prepared vessels. Cover the tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool (at least 30 minutes).
When ready to serve, whip the heavy cream with the sugar to medium peaks. Place 1 tablespoon whipped cream on top of each pudding and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon and some fresh berries.
Recipe: Nutella Banana Bread
Nutella added INTO banana bread? Yes! It’s a simple recipe to make such delicious bread that you’ll never go back to “regular” banana bread again. Thanks to Chef In Training for the yummy recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3/4 heaping cup Nutella
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup softened butter
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8×4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl.
- Beat sugar and butter in another large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until fully blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Add banana, milk and vanilla, then beat until blended. Add the flour mixture from the other bowl and beat at low speed just until flour is mixed in, but not too blended.
- Put the Nutella into a small dish and warm in the microwave for 15 seconds. Add 1 cup of the banana bread batter to the Nutella in the bowl and stir them together until well blended.
- Add this newly made Nutella batter, then the plain banana bread batter in alternating layers into the bread pan. Lightly swirl the two types of batter with a knife.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. The bread will seem a little underbaked, but that’s what makes it so good and moist! Let the bread cool for at least 15 minutes in the pan before taking it out of the pan to cool completely.