Texas Road House Honey Butter

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup honey
2 tsp. cinnamon

Add everything in the order listed, whipping well. Oh Yum!

We know to use this on rolls and bread but it also tastes great on:

oatmeal
pancakes
French toast
hot rice cereal
pumpkin bread
zucchini bread

Photo By: Luke Gilliam

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Did you know you can make your own Chalkboard Paint?  I haven’t tried it yet but I’ve seen this recipe several places and it seems really easy.

My 8 year old wants a wall of chalkboard and I just might try this!  By the way, look in the marked down section at Lowe’s or Home Depot for broken open non-sanded tile grout packages. It would be cheaper than than buying a new package. You could also ask friend, family or in our case you might ask the builder in your subdivision if you can just have some if they are remodeling. 1 Tbsp. isn’t much so I’m sure they would just give it to you for asking.

Don’t forget, those acrylic craft paints come in thousands of colors so you could make some really cool and colorful chalkboards!! Isn’t the one above from BHG.com just too cool! Tawra

Homemade Chalkboard Paint

1 Cup of latex house paint or acrylic craft paint

1 Tbsp. of non-sanded tile grout

Mix paint and grout together making sure all lumps are out. The using a roller* or brush paint on wall or object where you want a chalkboard.  Paint 2 coats for best coverage. After it’s dry use a fine sandpaper and lightly sand to make smooth.

*A roller makes the paint go on smoother.

Photo by: foxtonge

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I think they are still playing football now. As you can tell I am not a big football fan, but I am a big food fan. I saw this recipe and thought it would be great for a get-together to watch the game or for an after school snack, sleep over, brunch or anything in between.

I thought this would be fun to serve either already prepared on a large platter or with different bowls of ingredients so that everyone can make his own plate.

Apple Nachos

1 apple per person
Nuts – pecans, almonds, walnuts
Peanut butter, warmed so you can drizzle it
coconut
chocolate chips

Slice the apples. Place them in a bowl of water with salt in it to keep them from turning brown. Use about 1/2 tsp. of salt per 4 cups of water. Spread apple slices on a platter and drizzle with peanut butter. Sprinkle with nuts, coconuts and chocolate chips and drizzle with more peanut butter.

You can use all kinds of other ingredients if you like. Drizzle with caramel or chocolate, sprinkle with other kinds of dried fruit or use butterscotch, peanut butter or white chocolate chips. You can try whatever sounds good to you.

Photo By: Daniel Novta

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It is always best to get as many gifts put together ahead of time as you can for the holidays. These "Tis the Season" Sachets would be fun for the kids to work on over Thanksgiving break. Place them in a sealed container or plastic bag after they are made to keep the scent fresh and then they will be ready to give to their teachers or to anyone for a wonderful little gift.

These are nice to tie to a package under the tree. They also add a nice touch if you place a few in a Christmas box you are sending in the mail to someone. The minute they open the box they get the smell of Christmas.

If you want to make them early, they would be good for little party favors to send home with your guests on Thanksgiving day or for any holiday party.

"Tis the Season" Sachets

1 qt. fir needles
2 cups coarse salt (not iodized)
2 – 4 bay leaves, coarsely crumbled
1 cup rosemary
1/2 cup basil
1 cup dried oranges, lemons, cranberries, thinly shredded (any combination)

Mix and pour into little fabric bags. Place wherever you’d like some scent. Makes 5 cups.

From Dining on a Dime

photo by:  three_french_hens

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Buy Pumpkins After Halloween

This is a tip one of our readers posted and I thought it was a really great idea! Of all the things I am busy buying on clearance after Halloween, pumpkins weren’t one of them. Duhh!! What was I "not" thinking? Thanks for the great idea!

      -Jill

Reader Tip:

I buy pumpkins the day after Halloween. Cut them in half and bake them in the oven at 375° until tender. Puree them and put them in quart sized freezer bags for pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Butternut squash is wonderful, too. Cut in half, scrape out seeds, put at little butter, honey, and cinnamon in the hole. Wrap in foil and put in the oven or in the south we put it on the Grill!!!!

photo by:  cindyfunk

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I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making homemade lip balm. I’ve made it for years and every fall I make a fresh batch just in time for winter!

Making homemade lip balm is such an easy thing to do that it makes a wonderful homemade Christmas present.

Try these homemade lip balm recipes from Dining On A Dime:

-Tawra

Lip Balm Basics

There are many ways to make lip balm. Basic lip balm contains oil, beeswax and flavoring (optional). I prefer a softer lip balm. If you want one that is a little more waxy, add an additional teaspoon of beeswax. Experiment to see which you like the best.

Use any of the following oils when making your homemade lip balm:

• coconut oil
• castor oil
• almond oil
• sunflower oil
• lanolin
• jojoba oil
• olive oil
• shea butter
• cocoa butter

Vitamin E is a preservative and is also thought to be healing for your skin.

Comfrey root and rosemary extracts may be used for their healing properties. If you wish to make your own extracts, you may boil comfrey and rosemary in sunflower oil for an hour or two. Strain oil before using in lip balms or creams.

To fill the containers, I use a small baby food spoon but you could also use a dropper or tiny funnel.

Lip Balm

1 tsp. beeswax beads
1 tsp. sunflower oil*
1 tsp. coconut oil*
1 tsp. (total) comfrey and/or rosemary extract (optional)
2-5 drops flavoring (optional)- peppermint, cherry, grape, vanilla, orange or anything you like.
1 capsule Vitamin E**

Heat oils and beeswax just until melted. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Use a dropper to place in tubes or small jars.

This is my favorite lip balm and I’m very picky about what kind I use.

* Note: Most days, I don’t have both sunflower oil and coconut oil on hand so I just use one or the other.

** Be sure to use the vitamin E. It’s a preservative and the lip balm will go rancid after a few months if you don’t use this. (Ask me how I know! )

Chocolate Lip Balm

1 tsp. beeswax
1 tsp. cocoa butter
1 tsp. sweet almond oil (or coconut or sunflower)
1 capsule Vitamin E
3-6 chocolate chips (optional for chocolate lip balm)

Heat oils and beeswax just until melted. Add Vitamin E and chocolate chips. Mix well. Use a dropper to place in tubes or small jars.

Honey Lip Balm

2 tsp. beeswax
7 tsp. sweet almond oil
1 tsp. honey
5 drops flavoring (optional)
1 capsule Vitamin E

Heat beeswax and oil just until melted. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Use a dropper to place in tubes or small jars.

Lip Gloss

3 Tbsp. petroleum jelly
1/4 tsp. lipstick*

Melt petroleum jelly and lipstick in the microwave just until melted. Mix well and place in a jar.

*Add more or less lipstick for desired shade. This is a great way to use up the last bit of lipstick in the tube.

Sparkling Lip Gloss

4 Tbsp. petroleum jelly
1-2 Tbsp. glitter or edible glitter*
1/2-1 tsp. lipstick
10 drops flavored oil

Melt petroleum jelly and lipstick. Add glitter and flavored oil. Omit lipstick for clear lip gloss.

* Edible glitter may be found at cake decorating stores. You could also use shimmery eye shadow instead.

Use a lip brush to get the last bits of lipstick out of the tube. Save old lipstick and lip balm containers and put your homemade lip balms in them.

Small mustard and jelly containers (the kind received in Christmas gift packs) are also great for storing lip balm.

Put on lip liner, then lip gloss or petroleum jelly. This gives your lips a shine and makes it look like you are wearing lipstick.

For more quick and easy recipes like this, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook!

photo by: enersauce

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Easy Pumpkin Recipes – Homemade Pumpkin Muffins and More!

For part 1 of this post, read How To Roast Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Recipes here!

Pumpkin Smoothies

1/2 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup milk or vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. brown sugar
4 ice cubes
whipped cream (optional)
sprinkles (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into 2-3 glasses. Serve with a small amount of whipped cream on top. You may also add orange sprinkles if you like. Serves 2-3.

Pumpkin Crunch

1 package yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) solid pack pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup nuts
1 cup butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture. Then sprinkle with nuts. Drizzle with butter. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool. Serve chilled with whipped topping.

Homemade Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

1 cake mix (any flavor works, but chocolate is our hands down favorite!)
1 can pumpkin or 2 cups mashed cooked pumpkin

Beat together with an electric mixer until smooth. (It will be really thick.) Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips and stir. Line muffin tins with paper muffin cups and spray with no-stick spray. Use an ice cream scoop to put batter into muffin cups (I can get 24 muffins from one box of mix). Bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes.

Cool and frost if desired. My family likes them just as they are when they are hot from the oven.

Spice cake mix is great – add white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips.

I have made pumpkin muffins with white cake mix and yellow cake mix, too. They have around 120 calories apiece with the mini chocolate chips and are virtually fat free. If you are on weight watchers, they only count as 1 point.

This is a fabulous way to sneak some vitamin A rich vegetables in on the kids. Just don’t let them see you put the pumpkin into the muffins and they will never know it is there. These are more moist than very expensive name brand double chocolate chip muffins.

In case you missed it, read How To Roast Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Recipes here!

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Roasting Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Recipes

Peter Piper Picked a Profoundly Plump Pumpkin — Now What does he do with it?

Every fall I get many questions about what to do with pumpkins. Many people find curious fascination in imagining what it would be like to grow these versatile little gems, as if growing something that produces a large fruit is somehow more respectable than growing, say, a Serrano pepper. Many people eventually venture into pumpkin experimentation. Some succeed and many fail. Much like a dog that chases a car, many people never give thought to what they would do if they actually succeeded in successfully raising a patch of these fall favorites.

Whether you have found yourself with more pumpkins than you know what to do with or you are one of the people who had to buy pumpkins and duct tape them to the vine, these tips for roasting and using pumpkins are sure to help you make the most out of them (no matter how you acquired them)!

How To Roast A Pumpkin

You can only do this with a freshly carved pumpkin! Do not use on a pumpkin that has been carved and sitting out for several days.

To bake a fresh 6 to 7 pound pumpkin, halve the pumpkin crosswise and scoop out the seeds and strings. Place halves, hollow side down, in a large baking pan covered with aluminum foil and add a little water. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until fork-tender. Remove. When cool, scrape pulp from shells and puree, a little at time, in food processor or blender. Mix with a little salt.

To freeze pumpkin puree. Put 1-2 cups in freezer bags along with spices and use in pies.

To use pumpkin puree for recipes: Line a strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth or a flour sack dish towel and let the pumpkin sit to drain out the extra moisture BEFORE cooking with it. Pumpkin is very moist, so in order for your recipe to come out correctly, you MUST strain it.

A 5 lb pumpkin makes about 4 1/2 cups of mashed (pureed) pumpkin.
a 15-16 oz can of pumpkin equals about 2 cups of mashed pumpkin.
So if the recipe calls for a 15-16 oz can of pumpkin use 2 cups.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Boil seeds in water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Sprinkle with salt or seasoned salt. Place a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 250 degrees. Stir after 30 minutes. Bake 1/2-1 hour more or until crunchy.

*Squash seeds may also be used.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional)

Combine ingredients. Stir just until moistened; batter may be lumpy. Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle; cook until bubbles begin to burst. Turn and continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with Pumpkin Maple Sauce and nuts.

Pumpkin Maple Sauce

1 cup maple syrup
1 1/4 cups pumpkin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Mix everything together until well blended.

For even more great pumpkin recipes including an easy homemade pumpkin muffin recipe, check out part 2, Easy Pumpkin Recipes – Muffins and More!

Photo By: John Leach

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We are going to start a series on homemade Christmas gift ideas. This first one is one of our most popular recipes from our Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Here is our recipe for Homemade Vanilla Extract:

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2 vanilla beans cut lengthwise (but not in half)
3/4 cup vodka

Combine the ingredients in a 1 cup jar, set aside and let steep at least 3-4 weeks — the longer the better. As the vanilla is used, you can add more vodka. You can get 4-5 large bottles of vanilla out of 2 beans.

Check Amazon.com for inexpensive vanilla beans.

I found this great how to make your own vanilla here with some really cute bottles to bottle it.

Tawra

For lots more easy scratch recipes like this, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

photo by: jenniferworthen

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Here are some of our homemade seasoning recipes from the Dining on a Dime Cookbook:

Seasoned Salt

8 Tbsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. onion powder
3 Tbsp. pepper
1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. paprika

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Store in an airtight container.

Taco Seasoning

6 tsp. chili powder
3 tsp. onion powder
4 1/2 tsp. cumin
2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
5 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. oregano

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. One teaspoon of homemade taco seasoning equals 2 teaspoons of the store-bought seasoning.

Italian Seasoning

1/4 cup dried basil
2 Tbsp. dried thyme
2 Tbsp. dried marjoram
2 Tbsp. dried rosemary
2 Tbsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. dried coriander
1 tsp. sugar

Combine all the ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool dark place for up to 3 months.

Photo By: Mr. T in DC

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