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Cookie Cupcakes -- Quick, Easy, and SO Yummy!

You guys, I am so excited to share these treats....crispy, chewy, coconut sugar cookies, topped with a sweet cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with pretty coconut and sugar....and devoured!  Two words: "dangerously delicious"!  They are a great bite-size for the kiddos....and for you to have more than one and still enjoy yourself.  ;)

We had a last-minute get together for the 4th of July, and at first I was going to make our 4th of July fruit kabobs (....big hit with the kids, and a favorite on the blog!)....but then I realized we were out of blueberries and I couldn't find our wooden skewers, lol. 

I wanted a fun treat for the kids though, so with strawberries in hand, off to Pinterest I went!  I found this recipe for "Red, White, and Blue Sugar Cookie Cups" and it was perfect -- it's an easy one to make and easy to have all the ingredients on hand!

After baking the sugar cookie cups, I frosted them with cream cheese frosting - just put it in a Ziploc bag, snip off the corner and do a swirly-whirly on top for a pretty look.

I had red sugar that was clearanced after Christmas, and I dyed some coconut blue for the topping.  To make the blue coconut, I just tossed some shredded coconut and a couple drops of blue food coloring (I'd like to try a natural food coloring like this) in a Tupperware container - the kids liked helping with this!  Then we added some fresh strawberries...

The red, white and blue was perfect for a 4th of July or Memorial Day treat, but my mind was racing with other color possibilities -- birthday parties, sports teams, other holidays, pink and blue for baby showers or gender reveal parties...

I did leave some plain for those who don't love coconut - just as yummy to keep it really simple with just the colored sugar....

They were super delicious!!  Seriously, how can you go wrong with sugar cookies, cream cheese, fresh fruit, and anything in a mini muffin tin?? It was very similar in taste to a fruit pizza, but in a cute bite size.  (My mouth is watering just typing this up!)

Directions

For the Cookie Cupcakes:

• 1 (17.5 oz.) package Sugar Cookie Cookie Mix (I used Betty Crocker)
• ½ c. coconut oil
• 1 egg

1. Mix cookies according to package instructions, substituting coconut oil for butter.
2. Grease mini muffin tin (24 muffins) and divide dough evenly among tins.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
4. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• ½ c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 c. powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, & vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth & blended.
2. Add powdered sugar, mixing until smooth, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute to lighten the frosting.
3. Top cooled cookie cups with cream cheese frosting, using a plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe frosting (a smaller hole gives you more control). Top with blue coconut, red sugar, and strawberry piece (or whatever you'd like).

Optional Toppings:

• ½ c. sweetened, shredded coconut (dyed with a couple drops of food coloring)
• colored sugar
• fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries (if using large strawberries, divide into smaller segments)
• candies (nerds, gummies, etc)

DIY Homemade Dishwasher Detergent - Easy, Cheap, Works Great!

I was recently running out of dishwasher detergent and hadn't come across any great deals lately.  Not too long ago I made some more of our DIY laundry detergent (which I love!), so I thought I'd check out some recipes on Pinterest and see what I came up with for the dishwasher......and success!!

I've used it for about a month now to be sure it worked well before recommending it to you lovely readers, and I am loving it!!  It was so easy to make, and cheaper than store-bought detergent.  I got most of my inspiration from here and this is the recipe I used....

DIY Homemade Dishwashing Detergent

• 1 c. Borax
• 1 c. Washing Soda (or baking soda)
• 1/4 c. Citric Acid (often found with canning supplies)
• 1/4 c. kosher salt (I'm not sure if kosher vs. table makes a difference)

Simply mix these 4 ingredients and store in a container with a lid - done and done!  =)
To run a load, put 2 Tablespoons in the detergent compartment and add 3 drops of dish soap (like Dawn).

Also, add vinegar to your rinse agent/Jet-Dry dispenser.  *If you don't have a "rinse agent" compartment, you can just put about a 1/2 c. of vinegar into a small glass cup/bowl on your top shelf.

If you have hard water, you can double the citric acid.  The citric acid will sometimes cause it to clump, but I just left the container open and checked it every few days, breaking it up with a butter knife. After a week or so, it was fine and didn't clump anymore - YMMV.  I just give it a little shake now when I use it.

*I found the ingredients in Wal-Mart without a problem, but I included the links above to be able to buy them on Amazon in case you're not near a store, or just prefer it to show up on your doorstep.  =)

4th of July Fruit Kabobs Recipe! Fun, easy and healthy recipe for kids to help with!

Here's a really yummy way to celebrate the 4th of July (or Memorial Day) with a fun red, white, and blue treat!  Since it's Summer, many fruits are in season and this makes it a perfect frugal recipe/activity to make with the kids!  It's easy and healthy too!

I originally saw this recipe on Frugal Girls a couple years ago and when we had a family reunion over July 4th last year, I thought this would be perfect for both the oodles of little ones and the adults! They were a hit!

I started by assembling my ingredients:

• Skewers
• Star Shaped Marshmallows (I've seen them at Walmart and Meijer.  You could also use regular marshmallows too)
• Red and Blue fruit (I used strawberries, blueberries, and red grapes)

{^ that's almost exactly what my ingredients looked like, but I couldn't take a good picture with the cell phone - thanks Frugal Girls!}

Then I stuck the fruit and marshmallows on the skewers in fun patterns.  Done!
{I apologize for the poor quality pictures, I misplaced the camera - then found it about 30 minutes after these were gobbled up, lol.  So, cell phone pics will have to do}  =)

The skewers are sharp, so be careful!  But kids can help by:

• picking which fruits to buy/use
• washing fruits
• handing you fruits and marshmallows
• assembling the patterns of how they want them on the kabob (ie: 2 blueberries, 1 white marshmallow, 3 blueberries, 1 blue marshmallow....etc.)
• older kiddles could thread the ingredients onto the skewer

Other red, white, and blue ingredients you could use....
Red:

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Cherries
• Grapes
• Watermelon chunks/balls
• Red grapefruit
• Red Pears

White:

• Marshmallows (mini, large, stars...)
• Pound cake cut into chunks or shapes with a cookie cutter
• Dragonfruit (white and black inside)
• Banana (tossed with lemon juice to keep from browning)
• White nectarines or peaches
• Pears (peeled - and again, tossed with lemon juice)
• Pineapple (white-ish)  =)
• Angel food cake

Blue:

• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Raisins

{Here's a great flag version Brianna made that I found on Pinterest!}

I think these would be really fun for other occasions too!  Rainbow colored for a birthday party - or use the colors of a favorite sports team for a game day party.  What do you think?  Any other ideas?

Linking up to.....

Father's Day FREEBIES and Cheap DIY Gift Ideas! Great for last minute!

If you're still looking for gift ideas for Dad, remember to check the ones I've already posted that are still available...

• Free TCBY treat
• Free Walgreens 8x10 collage print from Walgreens
• Living Social Deals for Dad

Freebie Finding Mom has put together a GREAT list with lots more Freebies for Father's Day - including freebies for restaurants, events to do for or with dad, photo gifts, and printables!  Check it out here!

Also, Amy at Living Locurto has a super list of FREE printables!!   Like these funzies:

Also, check out some fun Father's Day recipe ideas here!

(photo credit)

DIY: Homemade Foaming Hand Soap

Do you have the same problem we do with hand soap?  Our littles love to use gobs and gobs of it and it seems that as soon as you put a new bottle out, it's gone again! 

Last year I was able to stop by a Bath and Body Works outlet store and found a great deal on some foaming hand soaps.  I noticed that the kids used it like normal, but it didn't seem to run out nearly as fast.  I looked up a few "recipes" online and decided to try making it ourselves.  This can be a great easy way to stretch your soap and save your money, even if you don't have little ones racing through it!

Since I have a plethora of free dishsoap from all the recent deals (*see below), I decided to use that for my soap.  I've also used a hand soap and it works great.

I got out the supplies: 

• Gain dish soap
• empty foaming dispenser

{I think you could use any soap you'd like - but do avoid the ones with 'beads' in it so it won't clog the pump}

Then poured just about 1/2 inch of soap into the bottle.
{I read that many people like anywhere from a 1:4 ratio to a 1:10 ratio - just play with it to see what you prefer}

Next, I slowly added hot water to the soap until it was about half full.  I ran it down the side of the bottle so it wouldn't foam up.  I gently swirled it to mix the soap and water.  Then slowly filled it the rest of the way up, making sure to leave enough room for the bottom of the pump to fit, and put the lid back on.

{Don't shake or swirl too much, or you may have a foam overload!  You could put the water in first, then the soap, which may help it not suds up, but I thought this was easier to be able to see how much soap was going in.  Just be gentle with it and you shouldn't have a problem.}

*At this point you can add essential oils if you want a particular scent, or tea tree oil to make it naturally anti-bacterial (some people have a problem with mildew growing in the bottle and tea tree oil will stop that -- I'm guessing that it's from the bottle not being completely clean, or maybe grubbies in the water).

Then we tested it out.  My girls helped with this part.  =)

Now our crazy stockpile of soap will last even longer!   ;)
{and before anybody starts "turning me in" to the "Extreme Couponing" show on TLC, know that I do share with friends and family, ha ha!  AND we have a family of 7, so that means a lot of dirty dishes!}

I love how quick and easy it was to whip up, and overall I'm quite happy with the results.  The foam is a little more watery than I'd like this time, but I might add more soap and see it that helps to make it a little "firmer".  Even adding more soap, it's still saving a lot of soap and money - and makes use of the soap I have on hand and I'm able to reuse the dispenser without paying for the expensive refills!

**Edit: Now I do add a bit more soap and it's been working great for months - it's a Super Savings!  ;)   It also works great with hand soap, body wash, shampoo, baby wash.....etc.  I used this method to refill a baby wash foaming pump with Johnson's Head to Toe and it's been working perfectly!


Have you tried this?  How did it turn out?  How do you save money with kids, or health and beauty items?