Why spend a fortune on desserts when you can make 7 Easy & Delicious No Bake Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes right at home? These quick and delicious treats deliver rich, bakery-quality flavor with simple ingredients—grab some peanut butter and start mixing up something sweet today!
Why spend a fortune at the bakery when you can make easy, irresistible peanut butter desserts right at home—no oven required? This collection of 8 Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes is perfect for busy days, tight budgets, and anyone who loves rich, creamy peanut butter treats. Each recipe is simple to make, uses everyday ingredients, and delivers that indulgent, bakery-quality flavor without the hassle or high price tag.
Inside this post, you’ll find a mouthwatering mix of classics and crowd-pleasers, including homemade peanut butter cups, peanut butter balls, and a decadent No-Bake Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake that looks impressive but couldn’t be easier. Craving something quick? Try the 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge or 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Candy—perfect for last-minute desserts or sweet cravings. There’s also peanut butter cookie dough, a creamy no-bake peanut butter pie, and rich no-bake fudge cookies with peanut butter that come together in minutes.
Whether you’re making desserts for holidays, potlucks, or just a cozy night at home, these recipes prove that homemade can be easy, affordable, and incredibly delicious. Grab a jar of peanut butter and start mixing—your sweet tooth will thank you!
Easy recipes to use all of those Christmas leftovers and New Year’s recipes that your party guests will love! Make your holiday leftovers delicious!
Using Christmas Leftovers and New Year’s Party Recipes!
Here are some extra recipes to use those Christmas dinner leftovers and other holiday leftovers and also some dips to serve at your New Year’s get together.
Leftover and Holiday Party Tips:
This is an unexpected canape and a handy little finger food:
Roll about 1 teaspoon full your favorite cream cheese dip into a ball. Press it between two walnut halves. Lay on a platter to serve.
Save dry cereal odds and ends to add to your Chex mix when you make it.
Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting it in the fridge. It will keep much longer.
Recipes:
(For Using Leftover Ham)
(For Using Leftover Mashed Potatoes)
Here’s a recipe for you fruit lovers! It’s a great recipe to make to use all of those fruit plate Christmas leftovers!
Here’s an easy popcorn balls recipe you can dress up for just about any holiday! They’re inexpensive, delicious, and simple enough to make with kids — plus you can customize them with fun mix-ins to match the season.
Homemade Popcorn Balls Recipe
Everyone loves popcorn balls, especially the soft, chewy kind made with marshmallows. If you don’t feel like rolling them into balls, you can press the mixture into a pan (just like Rice Krispie treats) and cut it into squares instead — same great taste, less effort.
Popcorn balls aren’t just for Halloween! You can easily turn them into treats for Christmas, Easter, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, or even Thanksgiving by changing the colors or mix-ins. (See the variations below.)
Popcorn balls are great fun for birthday parties, hay rides, and snacks for the kids!
Popcorn balls are also a great way to use up leftover or clearance candy after Halloween and other holidays.
Easy Popcorn Ball Variations (Add-Ins)
Mix in any of these to match the holiday or occasion:
Red Hots – Valentine’s Day or the 4th of July
Spice drops – Christmas or winter parties
Crushed candy canes – Christmas
Jelly beans – Easter
Peanuts – especially good for caramel-style popcorn
Candy corn – Halloween
Sprinkles ( birthday parties or sprinkles that match the colors of the different holidays)
These are great things to WANT to do but I’m afraid that about 90% of us won’t keep these resolutions. Here are a couple of things to think about that will hopefully give you greater success in keeping your resolutions.
I can’t, in this one sitting, give you all the details about how to handle every situation but I can give you some things to think about that will help you in all of these areas. Then for more details check out LivingOnADime.com, or our e-books to help you in each specific area and to give you practical ways on how to accomplish what you want to do.
It helps to understand why we do the things we do. Most of us want to lose weight and eat healthy on New Year’s Day because we have just spent the past month gorging ourselves so that we now feel bloated and sick and can’t fit into our clothes anymore. Like a pendulum that swings from one extreme to another, we think that the answer is to eat carrot sticks for the rest of our lives. That usually lasts about 3 days and then we give up.
The same applies to the idea of getting out of debt. Most of us have just spent the past few weeks spending more money than we had planned and now we feel guilty. We’re determined that we are not going to spend a penny on anything. Then we will panic every time we have to buy something like food or gas because the price is so high.
Then there is the thought of getting organized. Right now you are probably surrounded by a Christmas tree and decorations that are starting to accumulate a thin layer of dust, which is giving a dingy look to everything. The once bright and cheery look of the Christmas lights have dulled. The candles on the mantle have burned down to nubs and look more like they belong in a haunted house or in a horror movie.
There is leftover wrapping paper strewn here and there. Piles of Christmas dinner platters and dishes sit on every counter. You close your eyes every time you open the fridge so you don’t have to look at the piles of leftovers inside it. Then there are all the mounds of new toys, clothes and gifts. How do you stuff them into the already full closet? No wonder you have the urge to clean and get organized. You wonder, “Where do I even start?” Getting organized is a way to give yourself a fresh start.
As I’ve said before, too much of even a good thing can make us sick and frustrated.
Here’s my point: You can get organized and do everything you resolve to do, but you need topace yourself. It’s like running a long distance marathon. You don’t just shoot out of the starting line going as fast and hard as you can. You will never make the distance that way, so you pace yourself. In the same way, pace yourself in everything and do a small amount at a time, breaking things into manageable pieces.
Have a plan, whether it is writing menus for good balanced meals for each week, making a budget or, even more important, being bold enough to write down and acknowledge what your debts are. Make a plan. Plan where to cut your spending or to start to get organized, try making a list of 1-2 areas of your home you are going to organize each day.
Next prepare. When you are preparing for a race, you would ask yourself, “Do I have the right shoes”, “Are there water stations?”, “Have I slowly worked my muscles into shape?”, “Am I prepared for some pain?” and “When it hits, will I not be afraid of it but keep going in spite of the discomfort?” In the same way, you may have to spend some time preparing things like planning good meals or making sure you have cleaning supplies and boxes for when you start to get organized.
Pace Yourself Plan Prepare
One thing you must remember – discouragement and a sense of being overwhelmed will hit most of us once we start. Pacing will help but it is especially important to have a plan and be prepared when discouragement sets in so you can overcome it and keep going. Here are some things to think about when you start feeling discouraged:
Have you ever looked up the definition of resolution? I did. It means to have firm determination, to be bold and steady and to reduce something to a simpler form. You need to be steady and pace yourself. Little by little and piece by piece, reduce your mess to something simpler and more manageable. You can’t accomplish any of it in a week or two. You took a long time to make the mess and you may have to take just as long to clean it up but like the tortoise in the tortoise and the hare, keep a slow but steady pace and you will win the race and succeed.
Lastly, get up and do it. Stop blaming everyone and making excuses. You won’t even get out of the starting gate if you spend all your time standing there telling everyone why you can’t run. Even if you have a real excuse for not running then at least start taking baby steps and walk. You’ll at least be getting somewhere but if you just stand bemoaning your lot in life and how miserable the world is in these hard economic times, you will get nowhere.You may fall (or eat that piece of chocolate cake, spend more than you should have or leave dirty dishes in the sink one day) but pick yourself up, brush yourself off and keep going. The only thing that will keep you from getting there is if you stop (quit and give up), so keep at it.
We will try to do the same and keep plugging along with ideas on how to accomplish all of the above. Now I must quit because I have a messy room that I really need to deal with today! : ) : )
Living with clutter can have serious financial and emotional costs many of us might not have considered. Here are some thoughts about the cost of clutter and ideas about how to get it under control.
How Much Is Clutter Costing You?
We live in a society of extremes. People seem to be extremely in debt, extremely overweight and extremely disorganized. People everywhere are trying to come up with newer and better solutions to solve these problems but not many of their ideas are working.
The solutions aren’t working because they are focusing on the wrong problem. For example, if your child comes to you and says “I have a drug problem.” You don’t sit them down and say, “Well let’s work on a way to get your grades up and then we’ll work on your drug problem.” How foolish that would be. The real problem is not the grades but the drugs. You take care of the drugs and the chances are pretty good that the grades will come up.
For some of us, instead of focusing on getting out of debt or losing weight, we need to first give more serious thought to becoming organized. Does that sound crazy, almost laughable? Before you start laughing too hard, look at these examples and see if you can relate.
How often do you go out to eat because your kitchen is a mess? If your kitchen is clean, chances are you would not only be more willing to fix dinner at home but in the morning you would fix breakfast and pack yourself a lunch, too.
Here are some benefits of getting your kitchen organized:
You will start losing weight because you are preparing regular well-balanced meals instead of eating fast food all the time. Besides the fact that homemade food generally has fewer calories than fast food, balanced meals create fewer cravings and this helps eliminate grazing.
Organizing can reduce your wardrobe and laundry costs.
Do you keep buying more clothes because you are gaining weight from fast food or from the stress of your clutter?
How big is your wardrobe?Do you or your children own 30 pairs of jeans at $60 a pop because you don’t keep up with the laundry or because your closet is so stuffed you can’t find anything? That adds up to $1,800 worth of jeans. If you cut it down to even 10 pairs you would save $1,200. How many tops do you own? How about those shoes? Before you say, “There is no way I have that many jeans, shoes, or tops!” go count you clothes. You may be surprised…
How often do you toss a suit jacket on the floor or on the furniture and then later have to have it dry-cleaned because it’s wrinkled? Just think about what you could save on your dry cleaning bill if you kept a little more organized.
Organizing can save you money in every aspect of your life.
Do you buy new items because you can’t find something? The cost of things like tools, glue, tape, ropes, garden tools, kitchen items, light bulbs, batteries, office supplies and other things really adds up.
When both spouses work out of the home, who takes care of the house? Frequently, there is a constant battle between them about whose job it is to take care of some element of the housework. After all, the husband has been out working all day, so he doesn’t feel like it. Oh, but the wife has been working, too, so why can’t she take a break?
Imagine if your boss at work decided to work a second full time job. How would this impact your workplace? Who would you ask if you couldn’t find products for your customers? What if there was no change because your boss was at his other job until after the bank closed? What if you needed help or advice from your boss, but he said, “Not now… I’m too tired from my other job?” How long would that company last? The same thing happens in many homes every day.
Try something different!
Would your family be better served if one spouse stayed home? Someone needs to be responsible for the bulk of the care and maintenance of the home and family. Ideally, everyone will share the work, but like in any other business, there has to be one person in charge. Otherwise, everyone will avoid the work and everything will descend into chaos.
If this sounds like your home, you might sit down with your spouse and seriously consider whether one of you might take off work to try to get your home in order. Instead of thinking of staying at home as a prison sentence, think of it as another job to help save you money, reduce family stress and add more family comfort.
Organization has nothing to do with what is politically correct or what the media or other people tell you you need to do. It is a practical choice that you can make. I am NOT saying that you can’t work doing something that you love. I am saying that regardless of how your family handles it, the work of keeping the home has to get done.
But we both want to work outside the home…
If you feel that you and your spouse have to or both want to work, then try to come up with other ideas.
Would spending your vacation organizing things and deep cleaning give you enough of a jump start to help keep things organized? Maybe once you organized everything you could consider hiring someone to clean your house once a week. Before you say you can’t afford it, think about this: Which would cost less? Paying someone $50 a week to clean your house or paying for all the things that cost you money because you are not organized?
Consider whether it would be worth one spouse working part time instead of full time.
Try one simple thing like hanging up your clothes so you don’t have a cleaner’s expense or getting the whole family to pitch in with cleaning the kitchen at the end of each meal.
What if you don’t know HOW To get organized?
Maybe you do have the time, but you just don’t know how to get organized. If that is the case, then learn. Check out books at the library or search for help on the Internet. Better yet, find someone you know who is organized and ask them to teach you. Don’t be embarrassed to do this. Most people are more than willing to show you how to do things. Remember, those older women (and men) that seem to have it all together now didn’t start out that way. They’ve had 20 years or more practice and they remember what it was like to not have a clue where to start. Just ask.
Instead of wasting your time and energy trying to bail the water out of your sinking boat by bailing faster or using a bigger bucket, fix the hole. CLEAN UP THE CLUTTER AND SAVE.
This homemade gluten free Chex mix recipe is super easy to make and great for holiday get togethers and our family and kids LOVE it! We love to make it at Christmas and Thanksgiving!
We LOVE Chex Mix at our house! We make several big batches of this Chex mix recipe at Christmas every year and each time it goes…quickly! We do leave out the nuts because no one in our family like nuts but mom and me.
This homemade Chex mix is best when it is baked in the oven. There is just something about baking that really brings out the flavor in our opinion.
If you use generic ingredients or a different brand than I’ve included, you should read the ingredients if you’re trying to keep it gluten free.
Chex Mix Tips:
This homemade Chex mix recipe is an easy make ahead recipe that can be stored 2-3 weeks. In our house, it doesn’t last that long but it can be done. :-)
Substitutions: You can mix and match to suit your taste—just use a total of 9 cups of cereal. Honey Nut Cheerios adds a touch of sweetness. You can add more pretzels or bagel chips and, of course, if you aren’t gluten free, use any “regular” items.
Other Add Ins For Homemade Chex Mix:
oyster crackers
cheese crackers (like Cheez-Its)
cashews
almonds
sunflower seeds
Ranch Seasoning Packet (instead of seasonings)
a couple of dashes hot sauce
or leave out the seasonings and add:
drizzled chocolate or caramel
cinnamon and sugar
drizzle buttercream frosting that has been thinned with some milk
This easy homemade gluten free Chex mix recipe is modified from the Chex mix recipe in volume 2 of our cookbook. We substituted the gluten ingredients for ones not containing gluten.
For more easy gluten free recipes, check out our gluten free dairy free cookbook:
What do you do with leftover eggnog?! Here are a bunch of leftover eggnog recipes and tips to help you find ways to use all that extra eggnog!
Eggnog is one of those tasty treats that many of us love to indulge in during the Christmas holidays but it’s easy to end up with a lot of it left when the party is over! The good news is that eggnog makes a tasty addition to a lot of other recipes! Here are 7 great ways to use leftover eggnog!
7 Ways to Use Leftover Eggnog
I started to post these tips after Christmas but I just realized there will be a lot of eggnog served at Christmas parties over the next week or two. Instead of saving these leftover eggnog tips until after Christmas, here are a couple more ways to use leftover eggnog now:
Use leftover eggnog in place of milk in your bread or rice pudding.
Use eggnog in your coffee to make an eggnog latte
Freeze any extra eggnog and make ice cream if you need more just add some more whole milk.
Pour leftover eggnog on hot cereal in place of milk.
Use eggnog in place of milk in your favorite pancake mix.
Use eggnog in place of milk in a yellow cake for a really nice rich cake.
Use in place of milk to make a yummy frosting on ginger cookies or gingersnaps
Use in smoothies
Use eggnog in place of milk in muffins especially good in spice or that type of muffin.
Use eggnog for French toast.
Leftover Eggnog Recipes
Here are some yummy recipes you can make with that leftover eggnog so you’ll get a yummy treat and keep from wasting all that eggnog that didn’t get used!
One great way to use leftover eggnog is to make this delicious eggnog pound cake recipe! It’s so good, you might even buy leftover eggnog on clearance just to make it! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Are you drowning in leftover candy canes? Did you find some at your after Christmas sales and, now that you’ve bought boxes and boxes of candy canes, you haven’t a clue about what to do with them? (Hint: if you wait until around Jan. 1 you can get them for about 10 cents a box! WhooHoo!) Here are 10 easy ways to use those leftover candy canes.
10 Ways To Use Leftover Candy Canes
It’s easy to end up with an overabundance of candy canes after the holidays, but they have a lot of tasty uses besides filling stockings and decorating trees! These ideas will help you make use of those tasty candy canes!
Grind them into peppermint sugar. Keep it in a handy container and then sprinkle in or on things like:
These easy make ahead breakfast recipes and Christmas breakfast ideas make it easy to get your holiday breakfast on the table with the least amount of work possible! These recipes are tasty and are sure to satisfy your family! (more…)
Here are 20 of the best easy pie recipes all in one place! They’re quick and easy and they’re all super delicious! Great for parties and get-togethers! The hardest part will be choosing which one to make first!
Easy Pie Recipes That Are Super Delicious!
In this post, you’ll find a bunch of super yummy and easy to make pies, along with easy tips to make sure you get the perfect pie! These pies are great for family desserts, holiday parties and all kinds of get-togethers! Browser through them all, choose one and get baking!
These homemade pie baking tips will help you make yummy pies just like Grandma’s with less difficulty, whether you’re a beginner or more experienced baker!
Pie Baking Tips For Easy Pies!
If you love baking homemade pies from scratch and have the time to do so, then go for it, but don’t feel guilty if you can’t. There are many ways to get that homemade taste without as much work. For example, say your family loves homemade pumpkin pie but every year you notice that they only eat the filling and leave most of the crust. Then, this year, don’t put your pumpkin pie filling in a crust. Just pour it into a well greased baking dish or pan to bake. This will save you time and calories.
If your family loves homemade apple pie but you don’t have time to make a pie crust then make an apple crisp instead.
For homemade cinnamon rolls: Use frozen dough — most people can’t tell the difference. I’ve told this story before but it is a perfect example of what I mean. My grandmother-in-law made the best “homemade” noodles that everyone fought over and raved about at every family get-together. No one made noodles like grandma’s. One day I decided to ask grandma what her secret was and she took me to her freezer and laughingly, pulled out a bag of frozen egg noodles. Everyone assumed that she had made them from scratch.
Make your life easy and take shortcuts when you can. It is much less expensive to use convenience foods sometimes than to go out to eat.
Here are some more homemade pie baking tips for experienced bakers and beginning bakers:
For something different, try serving your apple pie with butter pecan ice cream instead of the usual vanilla and/or top it with a little caramel ice cream topping.
Replace 1/4 of the white sugar in your apple pie recipe with brown sugar and/or replace your regular spices with pumpkin pie spice *(recipe below).
You can give canned apple pie filling more of a homemade flavor by adding apple pie or pumpkin pie spice* to it.
Lime juice works much better than lemon juice to prevent fruits like apples from turning brown.
When making fruit pies, microwave the filling for 5-7 minutes before pouring it into the crust. This prevents the crust from becoming overly brown before the filling is completely cooked. In the case of an apple pie, you won’t have to worry about partially cooked apples.
When making pumpkin pie: Before you pour in the filling, bake the crust for 2-3 minutes just until it starts puffing a little on the bottom. Watch it carefully because it only takes a minute and you don’t want to totally cook it. This really helps prevent those sometimes very soggy pie crusts.
If you like cheese with your apple pie, mix 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese into your pie crust and then layer the apple filling with another cup of grated cheese.
If your homemade pies are too runny, add 1 Tbsp. of tapioca to your filling.
When making pecan pie, melt the butter in a saucepan until it turns golden brown. Watch it so it doesn’t burn. This adds the most wonderful caramel like flavor to your pie. For my favorite pecan pie recipe, check out the one in volume 1 of our Dining On A Dime Cookbook. I received this recipe many years ago from my sister-in-law Mary and have yet to taste one that comes close to it for flavor.
When making a graham cracker crust, add a little cinnamon to the mix.
When you need to make a graham cracker crust, crush enough crumbs to fill a large container or coffee can. The next time you make a graham cracker crust, you can just scoop out the amount you need.
The Best Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
This homemade apple pie recipe has been in our family for 75 years or more and still takes the #1 spot at any meal when served. It is our family’s favorite of these easy pie recipes and we make it for Thanksgiving, Christmas and all of our biggest family gatherings!
My mom bakes unbelievably good pies. Even her crust is delicious and this is her apple pie recipe. I have made it for years and now Tawra makes it, too. I used to tease my daughter about her cooking at times, but she has certainly learned how to make a mean apple pie with this easy apple pie recipe!
Here are a couple of apple pie tips before you start:
No pie recipe is set in stone. You can make some modifications to the ingredients in this apple pie recipe to adjust to your tastes. For example, you might add more or less cinnamon or you might use all white sugar or less sugar. For your first try, though, I suggest that you make this apple pie recipe exactly as it is written and then adjust to your tastes the next time you make one. When people adjust things before making the apple pie recipe the way it is, I often hear, “My pie didn’t turn out well but I made it just like you said. I only changed this and this and this…” and by the time she has finished explaining, I discover that she has only used one of the original ingredients from my recipe. : )
What kind of apples do I use? Some people are dogmatic about what kind of apples they use and will only use baking apples for pies. I’m not so fussy and I use whatever apples are on sale or that I happen to have on hand. I personally don’t like the super tart taste from baking apples and I always needed to add more sugar when I used them. It also seems to take longer to bake using baking apples. My favorite thing to do with this homemade apple pie recipe is to use a couple of different kinds of apples. Don’t have a heart attack but, yes, I have used Delicious apples before.
One of the best things I have discovered after years of baking pies is to cook my fruit pie filling in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and then pour it into the crust. Two of my pet peeves about pies are soggy crusts and partially cooked apples in a pie. If you don’t partially cook the pie filling ahead of time, the crust will sometimes start turning too brown before the apples are done cooking. Pre-cooking the pie filling prevents overbrowning the crust.
Here is another post that can help you with your pie baking, along with a recipe for a delicious homemade pie crust: Homemade Pie Crust
Here is my best apple pie recipe and as a bonus, you’ll also find a recipe for an easy French apple pie topping. You use the French apple pie when you have only 1 crust for the bottom and need something to top it with. It is a cross between a pie and apple crisp.
How to make homemade apple pie filling
My mom makes the best apple pie. We have always loved it. I was talking to her and asked her how she makes it taste so good. She said “I used canned apples.” HA! All this time we thought it was some great secret and it was just canned apples!
If you are like me and have fresh apples piling up everywhere, here is a recipe I love that tastes amazing and freezes really well. I keep bags of it in the freezer to pop into a pie crust when I need it. Make this now and have it ready for those more hectic days during the holidays when you need a quick dessert or apple pie.
Part of the reason canned apples sometimes taste better is because the apples are fully cooked and nice and tender so make sure your apples are well cooked.
This apple pie filling recipe can be slow cooked in a crockpot on low until apples are tender or cooked as the recipe says in a Dutch oven.
If you are afraid of pie crusts, here is a way to get your homemade pecan pie without the regular pie crust. These pecan pie tarts are also nice because you don’t have the mess of cutting and serving, which makes them great for a large get-together. This means you get to spend time with your guests and not in the kitchen trying to cut and dig out a pecan pie from its pan.
Place these pecan tarts in a muffin paper to serve and save on a napkin or dirty dish.
This easy broccoli salad recipe is a tasty green salad that is perfect for Christmas or other holidays and is also great on warm summer days! This broccoli salad is one of my family’s favorite dishes at Christmas and Thanksgiving and it’s a great healthy side dish.
You can easily prepare this broccoli salad recipe ahead of time, so that you only have to add the avocado and the dressing at the last minute and serve. And you can also adjust the recipe to your own taste if you like.
Here are 7 of the BEST homemade hot chocolate recipes that’ll give you lots of yummy choices this time of year! Most of them also make easy gifts in a jar!
7 Of The BEST Hot Chocolate Recipes!
We absolutely love hot chocolate at our house! Nothing is as wonderful while sitting in front of a cozy fire as having a nice warm cup of rich hot chocolate!
It is also a fond family tradition of ours to have hot chocolate and maybe popcorn or a sweet treat while we watch our favorite family holiday movies together like Charlie Brown Thanksgiving or Christmas specials. (Our kids absolutely love Snoopy’s popcorn and toast Thanksgiving dinner after his fight with the lawn chair!)
I also usually have some prepared hot chocolate ready for my husband and the kids after they come in from an afternoon of sledding out in the cold. They are usually worn out and partially frozen, but between mom’s kisses and a nice cup of hot chocolate, they warm right up!
In this post, I’ll share my “standard” hot chocolate mix recipe, along with some other tasty variations like hot strawberry drink, red velvet hot chocolate, gingerbread hot chocolate and a variety of white chocolate hot drinks!
Whether you prefer regular hot chocolate or you’re feeling a little more adventurous, one of these tasty hot chocolate recipes will be sure to satisfy your sweet tooth!
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 if 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 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.
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
For a different twist on hot chocolate try pouring your hot chocolate over some peppermint ice cream.
Looking for a sweet treat that’s as budget-friendly as it is impressive? This easy cream cheese mints recipe creates soft, melt-in-your-mouth party mints perfect for weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, and any special occasion! These elegant little bites are sure to delight your guests without breaking the bank.
Not only are these mints quick and simple to make, but they’re also a great way to add a personal, homemade touch to your event. Plus, making them yourself is far more affordable than buying pre-made treats.
If you’re planning a wedding or special event, be sure to explore our Cheap Wedding Ideas series, where we share practical tips to cut costs while creating a memorable day. From DIY décor to budget-savvy catering ideas, you’ll find plenty of inspiration to help you save money without sacrificing style.
This cream cheese mints recipe, known as “Molded Mints” in our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, Volume 1, is just one of the many easy, delicious, and affordable recipes included in the book. With step-by-step instructions, you’ll be whipping up these crowd-pleasing mints in no time!
Whether you’re hosting a wedding, celebrating the holidays, or throwing a party “just because,” this easy cream cheese mints recipe is the perfect addition to your menu. Give it a try, and watch your guests come back for seconds (and maybe even thirds)!
This Cream Cheese Mints Recipe is called Molded Mints in our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, Volume 1.
[dining]
From A Reader:
Kristina Writes: I wanted to add a tip to your cream cheese mints recipe. If you don’t have candy molds for your mints, you can roll them into balls and use an initial imprint stamp with the first initial of the bride and groom’s last name. Just push the stamp down in the center of the mint and use even pressure. They look like designer mints. If you powder the mints with more sugar, do so before you stamp the mint. Thanks for letting me put in my two cents!
This homemade Red Jello Salad recipe is easy to make and is very popular with the kids and our entire family. It is one of the recipes we almost always prepare for major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. We hope you enjoy it!
This homemade peppermint patties recipe makes delicious homemade party mints that taste just like York peppermint Patties! These are a favorite at our home!
This is the most requested candy at Christmas in the Cooper and Kellam households. We always have to make at least 3 batches!!
Here are some easy homemade chicken and turkey soup recipes. These soups are super yummy for cold weather days and great comfort foods when you’re sick!
Homemade Chicken and Turkey Soup Recipes
With the onset of cooler weather, one of the best things to learn to make from scratch is a basic homemade chicken soup stock or soup base. Soup base is so easy to make and can be used for many different dishes. We’ll make the basic homemade chicken broth today. Once you have it made, you can mix and match and put your favorite things into it. You can add rice for chicken and rice soup, barley for barley soup, use it to boil noodles for chicken and noodles or make simple Bisquick dumplings for chicken and dumplings. I also like to use it to cook rice in place of water.
It is also helpful to keep some frozen soup base that you can quickly grab and use when you need it for things like broccoli soup or egg flower soup.
Easy Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
This first version, which is similar to what many people use, is in the Dining on a Dime Cookbook, Volume 1. The second recipe is my own quicker version which I like just as well. It is a little easier and much faster. You choose which you have time for. They are both good.
You can make turkey soup the same way. To me, turkey soup is one soup where less is best. The less of the seasonings you use, the more you can get the yummy flavor of the turkey.
Here is one last turkey soup recipe, which is a big help if you want to cook your soup right after Thanksgiving because it helps you use many leftovers besides just the turkey.
This collection of sugar-free candy recipes is packed with rich chocolates, creamy fudge, crunchy toffee, and festive treats that taste just like the classics—without the sugar. Whether you’re making holiday goodies, giftable sweets, or everyday treats, these easy recipes prove you don’t have to give up candy to eat sugar free.
If you love candy but don’t love the sugar crash that comes with it, you’re going to love these sugar free candy recipes! Going sugar free doesn’t mean giving up the treats you enjoy—it just means getting a little creative in the kitchen. From rich chocolatey favorites to cool minty bites and classic candy-shop textures, sugar-free candy can be just as satisfying as the originals when it’s made with the right ingredients and simple techniques.
This post is packed with easy sugar-free candy recipes that are perfect for holidays, gift trays, special occasions, or those moments when a sweet craving hits out of nowhere. You’ll find creamy fudge, crisp peppermint bark, buttery toffee with that classic snap, peanut butter cups, mint chocolate truffles, and more. Every recipe is designed to be approachable, using common low-sugar ingredients and straightforward steps—no candy thermometer or complicated methods required.
Whether you’re cutting back on sugar for health reasons, managing blood sugar, or simply looking for better-for-you dessert options, these recipes make it easy to enjoy something sweet without the guilt. Keep a batch in the fridge for when cravings strike, package them up for friends and family, or add them to your holiday spread without worrying about overloading on sugar.
If you’ve been missing candy since going sugar free, consider this your permission slip to indulge again—just smarter. Grab a mixing bowl, pick a recipe, and get ready to enjoy candy that truly doesn’t feel like a compromise.
Things can be very busy around the holidays and it can create a lot of chaos. Here are some helpful holiday cooking tips to make holiday cooking easier!
10 Cooking Tips To Save The Holidays!
Clean your pantry, freezer and refrigerator.
Get your refrigerator, freezer and pantry cleaned and ready to stock up on the food you will need for your holiday cooking as soon as it comes on sale. Then they’ll be ready for the store bought items and the things you will be cooking.
Fill Canisters
I use canisters to store my flour, sugar and other staple items because the canisters help keep out bugs and humidity and it is less messy to scoop things like flour or sugar out of a large canister than a bag. Get the canisters filled up and ready for your upcoming cooking and baking marathons.
I also fill up my spice containers at this time. I usually buy my spices in bulk and some of the containers they come in are large and are not easy to measure from. I keep smaller spice containers and then just fill them from the bulk packages.
Keep A Trash Can Handy
When doing a lot of baking or cooking be sure to keep the trash can or a brown paper sack near you so it’s easy to throw away trash. I often make 5-6 trips to the trash can so this simplifies the process. It also motivates you to clean as you go along. You might also keep a large bowl on the counter to dump your trash into as you work. Then, when you are done, you can take it all at once to the trash.
Graham Cracker Crumbs
It seems like half the desserts I find call for graham crackers of some sort. To make things easier, crush a whole box or more of graham crackers and store them in an airtight container. Keep a measuring scoop in the container and the next time you have a recipe that calls for graham cracker crumbs, you’ll have no mess or fuss and one less step to do.
Twisted oatmeal cookies
Use pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice in place of cinnamon in your oatmeal cookies.
Sliding cutting board
You will probably have that cutting board out all the time during the holiday cooking. To help keep it from sliding around, glue a small piece of waffle rubber shelf liner to the corners.
Butter, Margarine, Or Vegetable Shortening???
Sometimes it gets confusing trying to decide what kind of oil to use in baking – butter, margarine, or shortening?
Butter can give a richer flavor, but will burn more easily. If you’re making cookies or something similar, butter can easily burn so you will want to watch it more closely.
If you use margarine, always use margarine that has at least 80% fat. If you don’t, your baked goods can stick badly to the pan or spread too much and they often turn out too dry. Oils to stay away from in baking (unless otherwise stated in the recipe) are vegetable oil, low fat margarine and tub margarine.
If a recipe calls for vegetable shortening, the shortening serves the purpose of the oil, but also tends to make baking more fluffy. For example, fluffy cookies will usually call for shortening. If you substitute butter for shortening, the fluffy cookies will turn out more flat and crunchy.
Easy Pancakes for a crowd
With out of town guests coming or when you’re preparing holiday brunches, it can mean you’ll be making lots of pancakes. To make things go faster, using about 3 cups of pancake mix to make your batter. Pour the pancake batter into a greased 15×10 inch jelly roll pan and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until puffy and brown. Then just cut the “pancakes” into squares with a pizza cutter.
Holiday Banana Nut Bread
Give your regular banana nut bread recipe a holiday flair by adding chocolate chips and maraschino cherries to it.
Ham Juices
Many of you will be baking hams for holiday dinners or parties. Often, we just throw away the ham juice but this year save it. Skim off the fat and then pour the juices into ice cube trays or small containers. The next time you make green beans, pea soup, boiled potatoes or green bean casserole, use a cube for flavoring.
It doesn’t get much better than walking in the door to the smell of gingerbread! This gingerbread cookies recipe tastes great any time of year but these cookies can really start getting you in the mood for the holidays now!
This gingerbread cookies recipe is great if you have a hurried schedule and have to get things done with just a few moments here and there. If you need to, you can make the dough ahead of time and let it set in the fridge for a few days before baking. You could also mix the batter in the morning and then bake a few cookies when the kids are arriving home from school.
If you don’t have white chocolate chips on hand, make some vanilla frosting or open a can of vanilla frosting to use on these instead. These cookies are fun to serve at a tea too with a dollop of whipped topping like a small tea cake or just sit down and eat some at the end of a long cold day with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
These easy homemade sugar scrub recipes can be made with ingredients you already have at home! They make great gifts and are nice for a luxurious break!
Homemade Sugar Scrub Recipes
If you have problems with dry hands, you have to try these homemade sugar scrub recipes! These are so simple to make and works wonderfully to relieve dry hands in the winter. They also make a great way to relax after a hectic day!
When you make these recipes, you can use salt in place of sugar if you prefer.
Cinnamon Vanilla Sugar Scrub Recipe
1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. vanilla
Mix and add to sugar/oil mixture.
Pumpkin Pie
2 tsp. each cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves
Mix and add to sugar/oil mixture.
Peppermint Foot Scrub
1 tsp. peppermint extract or essential oil
Mix in with oil and add to sugar.
Mocha Spice
1 Tbsp. ground coffee 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder 1 tsp. cinnamon pinch each nutmeg and ginger
Mix the above ingredients in with the sugar in the basic recipe and then add the oil.
Lemon
1 tsp. lemon extract OR lemon essential oil OR 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
This is the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe!! These cookies are easy to make and they’re so good, they’re always gone in about 30 minutes around our house!
The BEST Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Looking for a quick and easy way to make delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with ingredients you probably already have? Look no further than this recipe! With just 5 minutes of prep time, you can have a batch ready to go in no time. And once your family tastes these mouth-watering cookies, they’ll be asking for more!
The best part of this recipe is you can make any variation of these cookies that you want. You can leave out the chocolate chips and make them oatmeal raisin cookies instead. You can add coconut, nuts, cranberries, dark and white chocolate or any combination of these that you like. This is a great basic recipe to mix up and then include any add ins that you want!
People always ask if they can use butter instead of shortening. You can but make sure you know the difference in how each cooks and how it will affect your cookies before changing it.
Butter makes the cookies very tasty, but they are flat and crisp.
Shortening makes fluffy cookies but it doesn’t give them as much flavor.
To get the best of both worlds, you can combine both shortening and butter to get a nice fluffy cookie with flavor.
Here are 8 Of The BEST Homemade Gingerbread Recipes all in one place! Gingerbread is a yummy treat for all occasions, but especially for holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving!
Your family and friends will love these easy gingerbread recipes! Whether you’re craving gingerbread cookies, gingerbread cake or a sumptuous gingerbread hot chocolate, you’ll find it here!
8 Of The BEST Homemade Gingerbread Recipes
This basic homemade gingerbread recipe is in Volume 1 of our Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Gingerbread is one of my favorite fall desserts! Nothing says fall like pumpkin and gingerbread and this is a long time family favorite!
If you don’t have whipped topping for your gingerbread, you can use some vanilla frosting on it.
This gingerbread recipe can be made ahead of time and frozen after it is baked.
Indulge in a warm and cozy cup of hot chocolate with a delightful twist of gingerbread. These Gingerbread Hot Chocolate and White Chocolate recipes are not only incredibly delicious, but they’re also perfect for cold winter days and holiday gatherings. With a blend of rich cocoa, fragrant spices, and creamy white chocolate, you’ll surely fall in love with this festive treat. Give it a try and let your taste buds take a ride to a winter wonderland!
White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
It doesn’t get much better than walking in the door to the smell of gingerbread! This gingerbread cookies recipe tastes great any time of year but these cookies can really start getting you in the mood for the holidays now!
This gingerbread cookies recipe is great if you have a hurried schedule and have to get things done with just a few moments here and there. If you need to, you can make the dough ahead of time and let it set in the fridge for a few days before baking. You could also mix the batter in the morning and then bake a few cookies when the kids are arriving home from school.
If you don’t have white chocolate chips on hand, make some vanilla frosting or open a can of vanilla frosting to use on these instead. These cookies are fun to serve at a tea too with a dollop of whipped topping like a small tea cake or just sit down and eat some at the end of a long cold day with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
White Gingerbread Cake
Our readers are such great cooks and give us some of the best recipes. Here is a white gingerbread cake recipe from Bea that sounded different and interesting. If you don’t like the molasses flavor in regular gingerbread, this recipe may be for you because it has no molasses. It is like a spice cake.
I think it would be delicious for breakfast, dessert or snack and might be good drizzled with a little vanilla or caramel frosting.
Mom’s Homemade Gingerbread Men! Or Cookie Men as the kids call them!
For the last 25 years mom has made these cute gingerbread men for Christmas. She just sells them to friends and family but has made up to 500 dozen of the little ones (yes, that 5,000-7,000 gingerbread men) in November and December. She packages them by the dozen in cellophane bags tied with a piece of red curly ribbon.
A few years ago she came up with the big ones (at the top). They are about 12 inches tall and the kids just loved them. She gives one to each of the grandkids each Thanksgiving and most of it’s gone by the next morning! LOL
The best part is that they taste even better than they look! She found a great recipe years ago in an old cookbook and has used it ever since. (Sorry, we can’t give it out. When we are done with the book business we will go into the gingerbread men business. 🙂
I thought I would share a picture since everyone is always asking about them.
This easy roast sticky chicken recipe is a great way to roast a large chicken! It is very easy to make and makes a great deli style chicken. The meat comes out very moist and flavorful. This is the only way I will roast chicken now! It also makes wonderful leftovers!
I absolutely love this roast sticky chicken recipe. It is savory and delicious, juicy in the middle with a tasty seasoned skin.
You can easily make this roast sticky chicken with a whole chicken, but you can also make it with chicken pieces or a turkey. For years, I was always finding great prices on chicken leg quarters and, even though they’re not as popular as chicken breasts, leg quarters have a wonderful yummy taste and even more so when they’re roasted using this recipe.
This roast sticky chicken recipe is super versatile and and easy main dish to plan a family dinner around. I would make this and then serve it with rice, pan fried potatoes or baked potatoes and an easy vegetable. My family always liked broccoli best as a side, but it would also be great with green beans (we like the French cut kind), mixed vegetables or a squash medley.
Sometimes if I was in a big hurry, especially when the kids were small and wore me out faster, I’d throw this in the oven along with some frozen tater tots and serve it with canned pears, peaches or fruit salad. This roast sticky chicken recipe really is a very versatile recipe!
Notes about this sticky chicken recipe:
Double the spices if you’re using them on a turkey.
You can put the spice rub on the chicken and place the onions inside and freeze until you cook it. You could prepare several chickens at once and then you can just throw it in the oven when you want to cook it. Cook an additional hour or two if you’re putting a frozen chicken in the oven.
It’s NOT recommended to make this in the crockpot, but you can. If you make it in the crockpot, you will not have the wonderful crisp skin.
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Here are some of our readers’ other favorite chicken recipes!
This 3 Ingredient Easy Cheese Ball Recipe makes a tasty cheese dip and is our family’s favorite dip for the holidays! This is a Christmas favorite of my son’s but it can be served at New Year’s or any time you want a quick and easy dip.
