In this post, you’ll find our best homemade cinnamon rolls recipe along with our popular and delicious 90 minute cinnamon rolls recipe! You’ll also find tasty toppings for cream cheese frosting, caramel topping, sticky bun topping and lots of tips to make homemade cinnamon rolls easier and even more delicious!
Who doesn’t love cinnamon rolls? They are so sweet and delicious, but they cost a fortune at the local restaurant, bakery or grocery store! You can easily make several batches for the price of ONE restaurant or store bought cinnamon roll!
These cinnamon rolls are perfect to make and take to a potluck or holiday get-together! Everyone loves them and you probably won’t have any left to take home.
If you want to make homemade cinnamon rolls, but you don’t want to have the temptation to eat the entire batch yourself, you can easily freeze individual cinnamon rolls so you can only make the one or two you need for a particular meal. You can find easy ideas and tips for this and lots of other cinnamon roll ideas further down in this post! I hope you enjoy all of the sweet treats!
This easy buttercream frosting is perfect for both of the homemade cinnamon rolls recipes and for lots of other sweet treats like our banana cupcakes recipe!
Here’s a short video demonstrating how to make the best homemade cinnamon rolls recipe!
Both of these homemade cinnamon roll recipes are from volume 1 of our cookbook:
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Homemade Cinnamon Roll Recipe Tips:
Here are some easy ideas to make cinnamon rolls easier. These tips can be used to make your favorite cinnamon rolls recipe taste like the ones people pay big money for at the mall.
Add 1/2 pkg. of vanilla pudding to the dry ingredients of your homemade cinnamon rolls recipe for each 4 cups of flour you use.
Place a piece of greased waxed paper on the bottom of your baking pan so the cinnamon rolls don’t stick.
Don’t leave the cinnamon rolls in the pan after baking. As soon as you pull them out of the oven, flip them upside down on a plate, platter or cookie sheet. That way, all the gooey juicy filling that has run to the bottom of the pan while baking will seep back into the rolls.
Use one of those square metal pastry cutters to cut your cinnamon rolls. It slices through the dough perfectly with one quick slice. It works faster than a pizza cutter or dental floss.
The filling is normally a mixture of butter, cinnamon and sugar, but you can add other things like nuts, raisins and other dried fruit, and jelly or jam. Use raspberry, strawberry or any flavor of jelly or jam you like.
Freeze the homemade cinnamon rolls individually. After the dough is sliced into rolls, separate and lay the rolls on a greased cookie sheet. When frozen, place them in a plastic bag or container. Then you can take out as many as you want to use the night before and place them in the pan you will use to bake them. Then, in the morning, just pop them in the oven and bake at 350 – 375°. Don’t preheat the oven. This helps them rise perfectly.
Make a batch of the frosting for the homemade cinnamon rolls recipes and freeze in dollops on a cookie sheet. Then place them in a plastic bag. When you’re ready to use the frosting, place one piece on each cinnamon roll when it is warm from the oven.
Add 3 oz. of softened cream cheese to canned or homemade frosting for the taste of cinnamon rolls from the mall.
More tasty toppings for homemade cinnamon rolls!
The best homemade cinnamon rolls recipe calls for buttercream frosting and buttercream is also perfect for the 90 minute cinnamon rolls recipe, but if you’re looking for something different, here are some other tasty cinnamon roll frosting recipes!
All of these frosting recipes can also be used to amp up the store-bought kind and give them the taste of homemade cinnamon rolls! This cream cheese frosting is richer and more decadent than the buttercream frosting.
I love the caramel topping recipe above but I often don’t have heavy cream on hand. Heavy cream can also get expensive. Here is another recipe that also tastes great and you will probably have all of the ingredients on hand.
Different Twist on Cinnamon Rolls
Submitted by a reader, Sue:
Regarding your 90 minute cinnamon roll recipe made with the “Ninety Minute Rolls” dough – here’s a tip when you use the dough for cinnamon rolls:
Use peanut butter (smooth or chunky) instead of margarine to spread over the dough. Be generous! It makes a wonderful nutty flavor. If you make an icing from powdered sugar to drizzle over the top, use a drop of vanilla flavoring and a drop of almond flavoring in the icing. You will think these came from the gourmet bakery. Yum yum!
Ok, I’m not so sure about this one but it just sounded too interesting for me not to post it. :-) What can I say I’m pregnant! hehehe
(Note: We aren’t announcing anything. This cinnamon roll tip was originally posted in 2009.)
-Tawra
If you like these homemade cinnamon roll recipes:
These recipes, including our best homemade cinnamon rolls recipe and our easy 90 minute cinnamon rolls recipe are both in volume 1 of our cookbook! All of our cookbooks are packed with quick, easy and delicious recipes that will save you lots of money on your food bill!
Do you rack your brain trying to make lunches your kids will eat? These 15 cheap and easy school lunch ideas will save you lots of money and time while satisfying your picky eaters!
Easy School Lunch Ideas
It’s that wonderful time of year that lightens your heart and fills your soul with peace & tranquility. No, I’m not talking about Christmas! I’m talking about school starting!! Yes! Yes! Yes! It’s a bitter-sweet time for most moms. Bitter because you’re back to hectic mornings, finding everyone’s books and papers and trying to get them out of the door on time… because you now have 180 lunches to make over the next nine months if you have one child and 720 if you have four — But hey, who’s counting?
It is sweet because the peaceful quiet that penetrates the house is like gentle music to your ears and you can take a lovely relaxing bubble bath without what sounds like the whole US army trying to break down the bathroom door. Well, now that I think about it, I haven’t known many moms that had the luxury of a bubble bath in the middle of the day but I can dream, can’t I?
I can’t help you find time for that bubble bath but maybe I can help you with those 720 lunches by sharing some healthy and easy school lunch ideas.
Here are some easy school lunch ideas and snack ideas that will satisfy all of your picky eaters:
School lunches don’t have to have exotic ingredients to be healthy, so don’t overthink it! A well balanced lunch including some protein, fruit and veggies and carbohydrates is healthy and kids need a lot of energy throughout the day.
To keep drinks cold in lunch boxes, pour a small amount in the bottom of the container (not glass) and then set the cap loosely on top. Put it in the freezer overnight. The next day fill with the rest of the drink. The ice should slowly melt all day long, keeping the beverage cool.
Have the kids pre-package chips and cookies in baggies on the weekends. Store in a basket. Grab one as needed for lunches. This is one of the school lunch ideas that will save you the most money.
Make a large batch of puddings and gelatins on the weekends. Pour into individual containers and refrigerate.
Save the ketchup and mustard packets and napkins you don’t use from the fast food restaurants. Use them in lunch boxes.
Puddings – sprinkle with marshmallows, coconut, nuts, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips (for chocolate pudding) or berries (in vanilla pudding)
If you like these easy school lunch ideas, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks, which are filled with quick and easy recipes to make your life easier!
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Save money on school lunches or any time the kids need to pack a lunch! Use these easy tips for preparing school lunches for the week in 30 minutes on the weekend.
Save $600 on school lunches this year!
These days in America, it seems that everyone is so busy that preparing school lunches is liable to push a typical mom right over the edge. When you have to choose between making school lunches or spending that extra 15 minutes in bed, it seems like buying ready-made school lunches at the store is a no-brainer, but your budget doesn’t agree.
The average mom packs $3.00 worth of pre-packaged goodies into each school lunch she sends to school with her kids. (That works out to $1080 for 2 kids.) What mother hasn’t wondered if those lunches are even getting eaten and if there’s an easier way to save money on school lunches?
Try these easy school lunch ideas and tips for things you can do in 30 minutes or less on the weekend to save money on school lunches and make preparation a snap!
Easy School Lunch Ideas To Save Money!
Those snack bags of munchies cost a lot! Make your own by pre-packaging chips, pretzels, animal crackers and other snack items into sandwich bags on the weekends. (Have the kids help!) Store them in a big container or basket and just throw them in the lunch box in the morning.
Let the kids create their own Pizza lunch kits- Toast bread and cut out little circles with a biscuit cutter. Add small containers of pizza sauce, cheese, and other toppings.
Make fruit gelatin and pudding and put in small plastic containers for the week. Make a large batch of granola bars, cookies, pumpkin bread, banana bread or muffins. Divide them into zip top sandwich bags and freeze so that you can grab one or two when needed.
Brownie bites are simple to make. Bake brownie mix in mini-muffin pans and put three “brownie bites” in a sandwich bag for each child’s lunch. They freeze well too!
Fill thermos (not glass) half full with juice the night before and freeze. In the morning, remove from freezer and fill the rest of the way. The juice will be cold when the kids are ready to drink it and it keeps their food cold too.
Clean vegetables, slice into pieces and bag. Preparing a weeks worth of veggies at a time for lunches and snacks saves money and time.
Purchase cheese in blocks, cut into pieces and put in sandwich bags.
Have you ever broken a favorite makeup, but hesitated to throw it away? Did you know you can fix broken makeup in 30 seconds? Here’s an easy way to fix it!
How To Fix Broken Makeup In 30 Seconds
About 15 years ago, I had a favorite eye shadow and it dropped on the floor and broke. The lid stayed on, so it didn’t go everywhere but it was just a bunch of little pieces.
At the time, we lived out in the middle of nowhere, so just running into town to get more makeup was not an option. My makeup was one that wasn’t even in stores anyway so I couldn’t just pick some up even if I could get to a store. As I was looking at it and lamenting the loss, I wondered if I could fix it.
I decided to give it a try and it worked PERFECTLY! Once it’s fixed, you never even know that it has been broken. I was able to fix my broken makeup and save myself several dollars and the hassle of trying to find some new makeup to replace it.
To fix broken makeup:
Crush the makeup with the back of a spoon until it’s a fine powder.
Drip a few drops of rubbing alcohol into the makeup and stir until thoroughly saturated.
Stir with a toothpick to make sure all the makeup is saturated.
Smooth the top with the back of the spoon.
Set the makeup on the counter with the lid open until it dries.
Use as normal!
Watch our video, “How To Fix Broken Makeup” Here:
That’s it!! It’s super easy! I have done this many times over the years and this has never failed. (I’m a huge clutz and I always seem to be dropping my makeup and breaking it!) It works for both blush and eye shadow. You can also use this same method and mix colors to get the color you want. I had 2 blushes that I didn’t like but when I mixed them together, the result was perfect!
Try this quick and easy potato pancake recipe. It’s a delicious way to use all those leftover potatoes! Our kids love them and the older ones often make this recipe themselves for a quick snack!
This easy potato pancake recipe makes a tasty side dish that works well in place of potatoes, rice or bread with chicken, beef or pork. This recipe is an easy option to use any leftover mashed potatoes you had from an earlier meal or a holiday buffet. We often make these potato pancakes with our leftover mashed potatoes after Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Potato pancakes are a great side dish, but you can also serve them for breakfast or as a tasty snack. Serve them with an egg and a side of bacon or sausage for an easy breakfast that’s fancier than cereal! They are so easy to make, our older kids make the potato pancakes for themselves.
These potato pancakes are delicious served with just salt, but you can also serve them with butter, sour cream, cheese green onions and more. You can also cook a little cheese or onion flecks into the potato pancakes if you like. If you’d like to make them look fancier, you can top with more cheese or sour cream and your choice of green onions, parsley or cilantro.
If you like you can top these potato pancake with mayonnaise or dip them in ketchup, ranch dressing, honey mustard dressing, fry sauce or anything else you might eat with French fries, hash browns or other potatoes. Arby’s Horsey sauce would also go well with them!
This easy potato pancake recipe is from Volume 1 of our cookbook:
Using this easy homemade flour tortillas recipe from Volume 1 of our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, it’s simple to make yummy homemade tortillas at home using ingredients you already have in your kitchen!
The homemade flour tortillas are so fresh and delicious! We love tearing them into pieces and eating them with homemade salsa from the garden!
There’s something incredibly satisfying about making your own homemade flour tortillas from scratch. Not only are they simple and budget-friendly, but the flavor and texture are far better than anything you can buy at the store. Once you try this easy recipe, you may never go back to packaged tortillas again!
This recipe uses basic ingredients you likely already have on hand—flour, salt, baking powder, shortening, and water. That means no last-minute trips to the store and no expensive specialty ingredients. It’s a perfect recipe when you have a little extra time and want something warm, fresh, and homemade on the table.
The process itself is straightforward and even a little therapeutic. Mixing the dough, kneading it until smooth, and rolling it out thin gives you a hands-on connection to your food that’s hard to beat. Don’t worry if your tortillas aren’t perfectly round—rustic shapes just add to their homemade charm!
Letting the dough rest is an important step you don’t want to skip. This allows the gluten to relax, making the tortillas easier to roll out nice and thin. The thinner you roll them, the softer and more flexible they’ll be once cooked.
Cooking the tortillas is quick and fun. A hot, dry skillet is all you need. Within seconds, you’ll see bubbles forming and light golden spots appearing—this is when you know they’re ready to flip. The smell alone is enough to make everyone wander into the kitchen asking what’s cooking!
These tortillas are incredibly versatile. Use them for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or even simple wraps with whatever leftovers you have in the fridge. You can also serve them warm with a little butter for a simple, comforting treat.
If you love fresh, homemade recipes that taste better than store bought, this homemade flour tortilla recipe is a must-try. It’s easy, affordable, and brings a little extra warmth and love to your kitchen.
This Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe is from Volume 1 of our cookbook:
This easy homemade eyeglass cleaner is super simple to make and saves a lot of money over buying the pre-made stuff at the store. Make it for pennies in under 2 minutes!
Have you seen how expensive eyeglass cleaner is at the store? Did you know that you can make your own homemade eyeglass cleaner for just pennies?
Save money making homemade eyeglass cleaner in just minutes with this easy and inexpensive recipe!
Here is the best recipe we have found – We use it on a daily basis! With four people wearing eyeglasses in our family you know we go through a lot of eyeglass cleaner!
This homemade eyeglass cleaner recipe is from volume 2 of our cookbook:
Who doesn’t love homemade scrambled eggs?!! This quick and easy scrambled eggs recipe should be a staple in every home! You can spice it up a bit if you want to add salsa, green peppers, onions, cheese anything you want! You can find this recipe for homemade scrambled eggs in our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, Volume 1.
Scrambled Eggs Are The Perfect Breakfast Food!
Scrambled eggs are a tasty breakfast food that goes great with virtually any other breakfast food item! If you don’t know how to make scrambled eggs, this easy scrambled eggs recipe will make it simple for you to learn.
Eggs are packed with protein and are much healthier than many other breakfast options. They go great with simple breakfasts like eggs and toast or with more elaborate breakfasts like pancake, bacon, eggs fruit and more!
Once you learn how to make scrambled eggs, you will be amazed how versatile they are for any breakfast, but don’t think they are just for breakfast! Just like some other breakfast foods, you can make scrambled eggs as part of a quick lunch or dinner meal as well.
How To Make Scrambled Eggs
Scrambled eggs are easy to make, which is probably one of the reasons they are so popular as a breakfast food. To make them, you start with the eggs and other ingredients in a bowl and whisk it until it is lightly blended.
You will need to use grease to prevent the eggs from sticking to the pan. You can use butter, margarine or bacon grease, but I prefer bacon grease because it gives the eggs a more delicious flavor. Butter should be fine, but if you cook the eggs too hot, the butter could burn. Margarine and cooking oil are stable oils that won’t burn or change the flavor of the eggs.
This scrambled eggs recipe calls for 8 eggs because it makes 4 typical servings, but you can easily make a smaller batch. If I’m cooking for one, I will often use just 2 eggs and mix the eggs and other ingredients in a measuring cup to make it even easier to pour. We use specific measurements in our easy scrambled eggs recipe below, but you can feel free to add the salt and pepper without measuring if you like.
To cook the eggs, heat a skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is warm, add the butter, margarine or bacon grease and then pour the scrambled egg mixture into the pan.
After a minute or so, you will notice the eggs turning a lighter color in the pan as they cook. At first they will turn lighter in the bottom and still look runny on top. As soon as you see them starting to cook, stir and keep stirring until they are done, about 4 minutes.
This scrambled eggs recipe is difficult to mess up, so don’t be afraid to try it. The main thing is not to let the egg mixture sit too long without stirring or the eggs might burn. You can stir a little and then let the eggs cook a little and it will be fine.
Once you notice the eggs starting to clump into firmer but still fluffy pieces, and no longer looking runny, they are done. If you prefer them a little more cooked, you can let them cook a little longer. If they start browning on the edges, they are definitely done and you should take them out of the pan.
Other Breakfast Items To Serve With This Easy Scrambled Eggs Recipe
If you make scrambled eggs along with other breakfast items, you might want to save the eggs for last in the cooking order so they’re hot and fresh when you serve them. If you cook the eggs too soon and then you’re waiting on the pancakes or oatmeal to finish cooking the eggs will get cold.
This Easy Scrambled Eggs Recipe Is From Our Cookbook:
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If you like this easy scrambled eggs recipe, you might like these other easy ways to cook eggs!
This easy Southern butter pecan pound cake recipe has only 5 ingredients, doesn’t need frosting and is super delicious! Pecans and coconut- Does it get any better than that? Try this super easy cake recipe!
This easy butter pecan pound cake recipe is a perfect mix of butter pecan flavor with a tasty coconut pecan frosting baked right into the cake! It tastes like a classic butter pecan cake but with a lot less work! It takes just 5 minutes of prep time and then bake it! Super easy and delicious, you’re sure to love it!
Here’s an easy how-to tip to save money growing your own green onions in the house. It’s easy to plant and grow fresh green onions and they make a great topping for many kinds of foods!
Plant And Grow Green Onions To Use In The House
We love green onions around here and I’ve often grown them in the garden! Even though we are moving, I decided to throw some green onion sets in a pot and save some money. A bag of green onion sets cost $1.49 for 80. A bunch of green onions in the store costs over $1.00. Once they start growing you can harvest several batches of green onions and save a lot of money!
Just put a few onion sets one inch apart in the bottom of your pot.
Cover with soil, water and set in a sunny window. In a week you will have a great bunch of green onions to start enjoying! -Tawra
Here are some easy strawberry recipes that are perfect for when you find a good sale or are just overwhelmed with strawberries! There are lots of tasty ways to use strawberries including strawberry jam, strawberry sauce, strawberry desserts, popsicles and more!
How To Use Strawberries
Ah June! –In the spring we think of a mouth-watering strawberry patch. Now it has turned into a forest with enough strawberries to feed most of the U.S. Undaunted by the mounds of berries in our kitchen, we have visions of row after row of beautiful jars of strawberry jam on our shelves.
Then it happens! The first pot boils over leaving a red mess all over the stove, up on the walls and on the counters and floor. Hours later after the kitchen looks like World War III was fought in it we stand in our kitchen and proudly display our 2 pints of strawberry jam.
Don’t despair. Canning isn’t the only way to use excess strawberries. In addition to the strawberry recipes below, here are some other suggestions to help you use strawberries:
Think small. Don’t plant too many plants in your garden. Plant just enough for what you need.
File all your recipes for fruits and veggies in order by the name of the fruit. Then when you need to find recipes for all the extra produce you can easily find several recipes.
To freeze berries: Throw extras into a bag and freeze. Don’t waste time freezing them on a tray, they do just as well thrown in a bag. These are great to use later for virtually any strawberry recipes!
Use strawberries to top cereal or oatmeal; add milk for a strawberries and cream flavor.
Easy Strawberry Recipes!
If you need strawberry recipes for something a little more complicated than a bowl of strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar, the following strawberry recipes should give you a great variety of tasty options you can use all year!
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Kiwi Lime Strawberry Dessert
This is one of those easy strawberry recipes that makes a very versatile dessert. It is great for this time of year when we want lighter and easy desserts. The green and red color, along with the ease of preparing it make it great for Christmas too so you might want to file it with your Christmas dessert recipes, too.
This recipe calls for frozen strawberries but if you want to use fresh strawberries just chop the fresh strawberries and sprinkle with a little sugar. Let them set overnight for a few hours and they will produce the juice that you need in the recipe.
The strawberry juice can be used to make strawberry sauce anytime for strawberry recipes like strawberry shortcake. Making it this way is much cheaper than buying the sauce in the packets and it tastes so much better. You can make any kind of berry sauce you want using the strawberry sauce recipe below. It requires no baking and it’s quick. Does it get any better than that?
Strawberry Recipes For Cool Summer Treats!
If you’re looking for great strawberry recipes for summer treats, this easy strawberries and cream popsicles recipe makes a wonderful treat that the kids are sure to love! They’re much tastier and a lot cheaper than the store bought fruit popsicles. And if you have extra strawberries from your garden or find them on sale, this is a great recipe to use them!
This strawberry banana popsicles recipe is one of our favorite easy strawberry recipes for a cool summer treat! It makes a tasty snack and works out to be much less expensive than buying fruit popsicles at the store!
This homemade fruit popsicles recipe is another of our easy strawberry recipes that’s great for summer! It’s very versatile and you can use your favorite fruit! Virtually any fruit will work, so don’t be afraid to experiment!
This strawberry mousse is an easy strawberry recipe that makes a quick and easy strawberry dessert your kids are sure to love!
This Berries on a Cloud Dessert Recipe makes a delicious light and fluffy dessert resembling meringue. It’s soft and sweet with a yummy strawberry flavor!
This strawberry dessert recipe is probably one of my favorite desserts, partly because it is not too rich. It is a very light dessert. It is an especially good one to keep made up in the freezer for when unexpected company comes by.
I like to use it not only for graduation parties, but also for baby showers or any other get-together because I can make it a week ahead of time and that means one less thing to have to deal with the day of the special event!
For more recipes like these easy strawberry recipes, check out our cookbooks:
This easy homemade 3 ingredient barbecue sauce recipe makes a quick and easy barbecue sauce you can make in a pinch when you’re out of barbecue sauce or just if you want to save money. I know the ingredients sound totally crazy but it really is great tasting!
This easy barbecue sauce recipe tastes just as good or better than the barbecue sauces in the store! The ingredients might sound unconventional, but the taste will definitely have you convinced!
It is a super tasty sauce that is amazingly versatile! Serve it with barbecue beef sandwiches, pulled pork, slow cooked roast, ribs, chicken and more! Everyone loves this sauce so don’t be afraid to try it the next time you serve any kind of barbecue! It can even give a western type flavor to hamburgers!
If you discover that you have run out of barbecue sauce, you can easily whip up this recipe in under a minute with ingredients you probably already have at home.
This easy homemade barbecue sauce recipe is also a great way to save money since the ingredients are so cheap and store bought barbecue sauce can be so expensive.
Recipes that go well with this homemade barbecue sauce recipe:
Did you just learn you’re about to have unexpected company? These easy tips will help you clean your house in 15 minutes or less!
Do ypu need to clean your house fast? Here are some simple cleaning tricks that you might be interested in. These work well whether you are showing your house to move or you have someone call saying, “We are 5 minutes away and coming for a visit.”
Sweep your front porch. It is the first thing people see when coming to your home and the only thing many people see of you and your home. People used to sweep their porches every day, mostly because they didn’t have “yards” with grass so the porches could get messy quickly. They also spent more time out on their porches. A porch was like another room of the house so people kept them clean. If you can’t sweep it every day, do it at least once a week.
Tawra cleaned the bathroom with some nasty smelling stuff just a few minutes before the people were supposed to arrive. It was awful and the smell wouldn’t go away. I sprayed some Pledge on the wooden door of the bathroom. It really helped. It was the first thing they would smell when entering the bathroom. Now we use our homemade all purpose cleaner which doesn’t have a smell.
Certain smells make a house smell like it has been cleaned. Furniture polish is one of those smells. I always spray some on the piece of furniture right by the front door. This also makes people think you were just cleaning.
Baskets – We couldn’t clean without them. The kids normally have a cabinet to put their shoes and backpacks by the front door, but right now these items are just lined up by the door. So we have a laundry basket there and when we’re getting the house ready to show, we toss everything within a 6-foot area of the door into that basket. Not only does it help for quick clean up but when the people have left we know where to find everything that was in that area.
Speaking of finding things. When we first started cleaning to show houses, we would toss things into any little hole we could find. Now we try to “hide” things close to where they are used. Previously, I would get calls for hours after we showed the house from someone asking if I knew where this or that item had been stashed. The cat and dog eat by a dresser, so I just slip their bowls and food into one of the dresser drawers. The toaster and other odds and ends on the kitchen counter get tossed into the dish drainer and are carried to the garage, where they are neatly covered with a towel or blanket.
Surface clean only the rooms the company will be seeing. Quickly gather up things like dirty socks, last night’s ice cream bowl and anything else that looks really bad.
If you don’t have time to pick up all the kids’ toys or magazines, that’s okay. These items are “everyday living” messes that are to be expected in most homes. It’s the pile of cat barf or teenage son’s stinky socks you will want to remove. Even though those are normal everyday things for some people, it isn’t the type of thing guests like to see.
In the bathroom, simply run a rag over the sink and counter, shut the shower curtain or door and straighten the towels and rugs. Voila! You should be good to go. If you have clutter all the time like on the counter by the sink and you often expect company, you might consider keeping an empty basket under the sink to dump things into to hide.
The kitchen can be a challenge, but just fill the kitchen sink with hot soapy water and place all the dishes into it. Don’t worry about carefully rinsing and scrubbing. This is just to sort of “hide” them. This is sometimes faster than trying to put them in a dishwasher. (This is not a good idea for showing the house! ;-)
Wipe off the counter and stove and call it good. People will think they just caught you in the middle of doing the dishes.
Last, but not least- when all else fails… I read a joke many years ago where a woman’s house was a mess and she saw their pastor walking up the sidewalk. She ran to the closet, pulled out her vacuum and placed it in the middle of the floor. Quickly, she tied on an apron and a scarf around her hair and answered the door. When the pastor walked in, he thought he had caught her in the middle of spring cleaning and that was why the place was such a mess. : ) : )
In this post, you’ll find great ideas and easy instructions for decorating Easter eggs including the traditional method, natural Easter egg dyes and other creative decorating suggestions.(more…)
Some of the easiest ways to save money on groceries don’t even require going to the store! Use these tips to reduce your grocery budget and save money!(more…)
Make a sweet treat on a snow day with our homemade snow ice cream recipe! Snow ice cream is a wonderful treat for the kids and mom and this recipe and video make it easy!
With snow in most of the country I thought I would post these recipes and tips for a fun frugal snow day, including our homemade snow ice cream recipe!
There are lots of great ways to enjoy snow days or make them better for the kids. We have a family tradition of making snow ice cream every year with the kids and they look forward to the first snowfall with enough snow to make homemade snow ice cream. We have one child who doesn’t like milk or ice cream, so we make snow cones for him and I am including our easy snow cone recipe here, too!
Sometimes, people get a little weird about using snow on the ground, but never fear! We have been making snow ice cream for years and nobody has died. Of course, you want to use fresh snow that has recently fallen and not dirty snow or, even worse, yellow snow! haha!
After the recipes, I included some pictures of some of our snow adventures, including sledding, snow surfing when you don’t have hills and igloo building, which we did for quite a few years when the kids were younger!
I put some pictures of our place too! Enjoy!
Tawra
Watch our “How To Make Snow Ice Cream” videos below!
Our kids love it when it snows because they love making and, more importantly, eating homemade snow ice cream!
Genuine Kansas Weather Gnome
The directions say, “If it’s covered in snow, it’s snowing!”
First, a stay dry tip: Slip plastic sacks over the kids feet to keep them dry. Put them on over the socks and the put on their shoes. Tie the handles around their legs.
If you don’t have a 4-wheeler get out the lawn mower!
Baby Jack’s First Sledding!
Snow Surfing In Kansas. This is how you have fun in the snow with no hills!
From our snow storm 2 weeks ago
Jack’s first time in the snow (with mom not feeling so great :-)
Elly and BJ collecting snow to make igloo bricks. They used a plastic tub to make the snow bricks.
Try these super simple 2 ingredient recipes to save money and time making yummy treats. These quick and easy recipes include tasty desserts, pizza dough, chicken and more!
Insanely Simple 2 Ingredient Recipes
In this post, you’ll discover a collection of brilliantly simple two‑ingredient recipes that turn pantry staples into delicious dinners and desserts—perfect for busy nights, tight budgets, or just when you’re short on time. From fluffy pizza dough made with yogurt and flour, to crunchy Magic Shell topping, coconut macaroons, Nutella brownies, fudgy bars, banana‑oat cookies, and more—each recipe proves that fewer ingredients doesn’t mean dull taste.
Whether you’re feeding family on a budget, looking for quick crowd‑pleasers, or just want fun treats with minimal cleanup, these two‑ingredient recipes are guaranteed to become staples in your kitchen!
Home organization and cleaning are not really difficult if you have a plan and break the job into smaller tasks. Try these tips and see how easy it can be!(more…)
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Hot chocolate is a yummy drink to warm you on a cold day, especially during the holidays! Here’s an easy jar mix recipe for hot chocolate or hot strawberry!
There is nothing to warm you on a cold day like the old stand-by, hot chocolate! If you like to try something new every once in a while or of you have family or friends who don’t like chocolate (Is there such a person? : ) ) on your gift list, here is something different– Strawberry hot chocolate. Try dipping the rim of the glass in in some melted white chocolate chips for a more festive look.
Take your favorite hot chocolate mix or use the one I have included below and replace the chocolate Nestle Quik with Strawberry Quik and the chocolate pudding with vanilla pudding. Serve hot with whipped cream or marshmallows, topping it all with red sugar or sprinkles for a really festive look.
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Here are 16 easy 3 ingredient Christmas candy recipes that make it easy for you to make rich and delicious Christmas candies, most with about 5 minutes’ work! Try making these homemade Christmas candy recipes and you won’t want to go back to store-bought! These recipes are perfect for parties and family get-togethers! Everyone raves about how wonderful they taste!
Easy 3 Ingredient Christmas Candy Recipes You Can Make At Home
I love to make homemade Christmas candy! My 25 of the Best Easy Christmas Candy Recipes post has been so popular, I thought I’d share 16 easy 3 ingredient Christmas candy recipes you can make at home with just a few minutes’ work!
The Christmas candy recipes in this post are not necessarily cheaper to make than store bought, but I love the super fresh taste and quality of homemade Christmas candy.
It’s easy to add personal touches to your homemade Christmas candy by adding cute decorations or personalized variations, so these Christmas candy recipes make great homemade Christmas gifts! Package them in plastic in a cute basket or gift box and use your imagination when decorating!
I’ve also included some candy making tips from our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, Volume 1. Making Christmas candy might seem complicated but it really is super simple and these 3 ingredient Christmas candy recipes are a great way to start!
Christmas Candy Tips
Be sure to only melt chocolate in 30 second increments. If you go longer without stirring, you can burn your chocolate.
DON’T get water in your chocolate. Make sure EVERYTHING that touches the chocolate is super dry or you chocolate will turn grainy or lumpy.
If you do get a bit of water in your chocolate, add 1-2 tablespoons shortening to the chocolate and stir until it is smooth again.
Save your leftover chocolate. Spread it on a silpat and smooth it out. Let it harden then break into pieces and store until you need to melt it again.
Here Are The Easy 3 Ingredient Christmas Candy Recipes!
This 3 ingredient mint fudge recipe is one of our most popular Christmas candy recipes! It includes tiny pieces of Andes mint candy, which makes a perfect fudge Christmas candy! If you love decadent chocolate fudge with a distinctly minty flavor, this Andes Mint Fudge is for you!
This 3 ingredient dark chocolate toffee bars recipe makes a luscious crunchy Christmas candy that tastes like Almond Roca. With dark chocolate and almonds, how can you go wrong? Oh YUM!
Dark Chocolate Toffee Bark Recipe
3 cups dark chocolate chips 3/4 cup almonds or other nuts 3/4 cup toffee bits
Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Microwave the chocolate chips in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth and melted. Mix in nuts and toffee bits. Spread on the cookie sheet and let harden. When hardened, break into pieces.
This easy 3 ingredient Oreo truffles recipe is a tasty Christmas candy with the taste of Oreos that are heavy on the cream! If you like white Christmas candy recipes, you will probably like this one!
3 Ingredient Oreo Truffles Recipe
36 Oreos (original, not doublestuf), plus 3 more, crushed, for topping if desired 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 1 lb. white almond bark or candy melts
Crush Oreos in a food processor or in a plastic bag smash with a rolling pin. In a bowl mix crushed oreos and cream cheese. With a teaspoon make small balls and place on lined cookie sheet. Freeze for 15 minutes. Melt almond bark in the microwave stirring every 30 seconds. Dip oreo balls in melted white chocolate and place back on lined cookie sheet. Place back in the freezer to harden for 15 -20 minutes.
This easy 3 ingredient rocky road candy recipe makes decadent Christmas candy with the perfect combination of chocolate, marshmallows and almonds! This easy Christmas candy is sure to satisfy the most die hard chocolate lover!
3 Ingredient Rocky Road Christmas Candy Recipe
1 lb. chocolate almond bark or candy melts 1 cup almonds, chopped 2 cups mini marshmallows
Melt almond bark in the microwave stirring every 30 seconds. When melted, add almonds and marshmallows and stir until well combined. Place on a link cookie sheet and spread out to desired thickness. Let harden and break into pieces.
This easy 3 ingredient cranberry bark candy recipe includes a surprising combination of cranberries and pumpkin seeds for a unique and tasty sweet and sour Christmas flavor.
1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa – additional for rolling
Instructions
Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a medium mixing bowl.
Sift the cocoa powder into the sweetened condensed milk to remove any lumps.
Stir until the mixture is completely smooth and well blended.
Cover and refrigerate for 1–2 hours, or until the mixture is very firm.
When firm, place some extra cocoa powder in a small bowl for rolling.
Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a 1-inch ball.
Roll each ball in the cocoa powder until evenly coated.
Place truffles on a plate and serve, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
This easy chocolate truffles recipe is super delicious and has a wonderful soft chocolate texture. The basic chocolate truffles are rolled in cocoa powder or nuts, but you can make many tasty variations, including coconut, colored sprinkles, powdered sugar and more!
Easy Chocolate Truffles Christmas Candy Recipe
1 can sweetened condensed milk 2 Tbsp. butter 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder – additional for rolling
Melt the butter and condensed milk in a pot on medium heat. Stir in the cocoa powder and continue to stir for 10-15 minutes until the mixture begins to pull away from the edge of the pot.
It’s done when you run the spoon through the center of the mixture and it takes a few seconds to combine again. Spread the mixture onto a buttered plate and refrigerate for 2 hours.
When set, roll the mixture into small balls and coat in additional cocoa powder.
Mike loves jelly candies and this jelly candy recipe has been another of his favorite Christmas candy recipes! You can experiment with different flavors of gelatin and different fruit purees to see which one your jelly candy lover likes best!
1 cup applesauce* 1 cup sugar 1 sm. pkg. fruit gelatin (3 oz.) extra sugar for coating
Combine applesauce and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes. Dissolve the gelatin in the applesauce mixture. Pour into an 8×8 inch pan. After 24 hours, cut into 1 inch squares and roll in sugar. Roll in the sugar a second time 24 hours later. Makes 64 pieces.
*Puree fruit cocktail, peaches or pears instead of applesauce
This 3 ingredient chocolate nut clusters recipe makes the perfect combination of nuts and chocolate for a salty chocolatey Christmas candy treat!
Chocolate Nut Clusters Recipe
1 cup chocolate chips or candy melts 1 cup combination of peanuts, walnuts or almonds 1/2 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit
Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking, until melted. Stir in the nuts or dried fruit (or a combination of both). Drop the mixture by the teaspoonful onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until firm. Store at a cool room temperature. Makes 15 candies.
If you’re looking for something a little different than the chocolate or fruit flavored Christmas candy recipes, this easy spiced nuts recipe might be just the thing! Glazed with sugar and tasty Christmas spices, you will find them addicting! We like them best with walnuts, pecans and almonds!
1 egg white, lightly beaten 1 tablespoon water 3 cups walnuts, pecan halves, almonds (alone or mixed) 1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar or (1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon) 1/2 teaspoon salt
In a small bowl, beat the egg white with the water. Stir in nuts, mixing until well blended. In a another small bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar and salt. Sprinkle over the moistened nuts. Spread nuts on a pan lined with foil or silicone baking mat. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Do not burn the nuts.
This homemade caramel candy recipe makes decadent chewy homemade caramels, perfect as-is but also tasty dipped in chocolate! This recipe and the pecan turtles below are great Christmas candy recipes for the caramel lovers in your family.
3 Ingredient Homemade Caramels Recipe
2 cups white chocolate chips 14 oz. can dulce de leche 1 tsp. vanilla coarse salt (optional)
Grease an 8×8 baking dish. In a microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate chips and dulce de leche for 1 minute. Stir and microwave in 10 second increments until melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour into greased baking dish. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Refrigerate until firm and cut into pieces.
This chocolate caramel pecan turtles recipe is another one of our more popular Christmas candy recipes, perfect for the caramel pecan lover in your family! I absolutely love them!
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil, shiny side up, and grease. For each candy, place 3 pecan halves into a “Y” shape on the foil. Place 1 caramel on the center of each “Y”. Bake just until the candy is melted. If they looked deformed after baking, reshape while the caramel is warm. Heat chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, just until melted. Spoon mixture over candies, leaving the ends uncovered. Refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes). Makes about 24 turtles.
These 3 ingredient Almond Joy haystacks are a super yummy variation on my husband Mike’s favorite Christmas candy, coconut haystacks! They’re super easy and quick to make and this version tastes like an Almond Joy candy bar!
3 Ingredient Almond Joy Haystacks Recipe
12 oz. chocolate chips 3-4 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
Melt chocolate. Add coconut and almonds. Place by spoonfuls on waxed paper or silpat on a cookie sheet. Place in the fridge to harden.
Christmas Candy Recipes And More!
Some of these easy Christmas candy recipes come from volume 1 of our cookbook. If you would like to save money and time making food faster and more easily than eating out and if you’d like to keep more of your money, check it out:
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