Frances' Famous Spiced Tea

The past couple weeks have been rather brutal in the Colyar House. Between myself, the hubby, and the girlies; it seems like everybody has gotten sick. One of our favorite remedies is my mother-in-laws Spiced Tea Mix. It's sweet, it's tart, it's spicy, and it's packed with vitamin C. Plus it's waaaayyyy simple to make. I usually make a double batch and keep it in a large container so it's always on hand during the winter months. 

To start off you will need sugar, Tang, lemonade mix, instant tea powder, pumpkin pie spice, and a lidded container of some type (although even one of my beloved Ziploc bags will work in a pinch).

Now just start layering the ingredients in your container. 

 

Once everything is all layered, put the lid on your container (or close it in some way) and give it a good shake.

Keep shaking until everything is well blended. Although because of the nature of the mix, you will see the tea's striations throughout the mix.

To drink, mix 2-3 tablespoons mix to 8 ounces of water. (It's so pretty!)

 

I like mine with a little bit of honey, however the Hubby likes his with a little rum. (He's so handsome!!!!)

 

I hope you all love this recipe as much as we do!

Here's the actual recipe

Frances' Famous Spice Tea Mix

2 cups instant tea powder

 1 20 oz container orange-flavored drink mix (e.g. Tang)

1 20 oz container powdered lemonade mix

2 cups white sugar

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1   1.   In a large bowl, combine instant tea powder, orange drink mix, lemonade powder, sugar, pumpkin pie spice. Shake to xix thoroughly. Store in a sealed jar.

2  2.    To use, mix 3 to 4 tablespoons of mix with 1 cup hot or cold water. Adjust to taste.

Party Pops!!!! Yay!

Valentine's Day was last week, and for Gracie's class party I made these awesome rice krispy pops. They're easy to make and taste wonderful! Plus the kiddos love them.

For this recipe, you will need crisp rice cereal, marshmallow, margarine (or butter), vanilla, candy melts or almond bark, popsicle sticks, and sprinkles. (You've gotta have sprinkles!!!!)

You'll also need one to two bowls, foil, a 13x 9 pan, decorating bags (or ziploc bags) and a silicone or rubber spatula.

Line you pan with foil and spray with pan spray.

Next measure out 12 cups of rice cereal into a bowl.

Place your marshmallow and margarine in your other bowl and microwave until nice and melted. About 1 minutes)

  

Add a 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla, and stir until blended and the marshmallows are thoroughly melted.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into your rice cereal, and stir until everything is thouroughly mixed. Then pour into pan.

Press mixture into pan, pressing down and packing the treats tightly.

Then place in the fridge to chill for an hour or even overnight.

Once the rice treats are nice and stiff, lift them out of the pan by the foil and cut into squares. Shove a popsicle stick in each square.

Place the treats on a rack and melt the almond bark and candy melts in the microwave.

Pour the candy melts and almond bark into your decorating or ziploc bags, and cut off the corner or tip.

Now for the fun part, DECORATING!!!! Drizzle the candy melts and almond bark over the treat and douse them with sprinkles. You could also dip the treats in the candy melts and almond bark. Once dry, cover with a sandwich bag and tie with a piece of yarn or string.

These pops are incrediby versitile. You can change up the color by adding food coloring to the marshmallow mixture or by using a different color of candy melt. You can also change the sprinkles or flavoring. Add chocolate or butterscotch chips, or even use cocoa pebbles, cocoa krispes, or fruity pebbles. 

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the kiddos eating these, because they got to them before I could take pictures! But I'll make up for it next week! Enjoy!

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter or margarine (1 stick)

2 packages (10 oz., about 40) JET-PUFFED Marshmallows or

8 cups JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows (2 bags)

12 cups Crisp  Rice  cereal

Almond Bark

Candy Melts

Sprinkles

OR

Chocolate Chips

OR

Flaked coconut

Multi-colored sprinkles

Food coloring

Directions

11.    In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.

22.       Add to crisp rice cereal, and stir until well coated.

33.   Press mixture into pan and let cool 1 hour to overnight. Cut into squares, insert popsicle sticks, and decorate to your heart’s content.

Bethany's Best Pumpkin Muffins

As a mom I am constantly trying to find recipes that pack a nutritional punch and taste great. My girls are also HUGE pumpkin fans. So I was delighted when I found this recipe on the Libby website. Over time I've made a few tweaks to make it healthier, I've replaced half of the white flour with whole wheat flour and I've also replaced half of the sugar with Splenda. My family LOVES these, and so do my taste-testing coworkers. I hope you will too!

You're going to need all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, Splenda, canned pumpkin, vanilla, salt, baking soda, canola oil, pumpkin pie spice, eggs, salt and turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw is great!)

You'll also need two bowls, measuring cups, a wisk, a silicone spatula or spoon, measuring spoons, a can opener, a ziplock bag, muffin tins, and cupcake liners.

First mix the dry ingredients. The flours, the salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice using your whisk.

 

 

Next mix the wet ingredients in your other bowl. The pumpkin, eggs, water, vanilla, sugar, Splenda, and oil.

 

Now add your dry ingredients to the wet and mix until thoroughly combined.  

Pour your mixture into a ziplock bag. 

Line your muffin cups with liners or spray with pan spray. 

 

Squeeze your batter into your cups until 2/3 to 3/4 full.

 

Sprinkle the tops with your turbinado sugar. 

 

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes if using regular sized muffin cups or 15-17 minutes if using mini cups.  

Take of the oven and let cool. 

And enjoy! These are the perfect addition to breakfast, mid morning snack, or even lunchbox treat! 

Here's the recipe!

Bethany's Best Pumpkin Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ cups Splenda

1 can (15 ounces) Pumpkin

4 large eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Paper-line or grease 30 muffin cups.

COMBINE flours, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, Splenda, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir just until moistened. Put batter into Ziploc bag and squeeze into muffin cups OR spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Sprinkle tops with sugar.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes if using regular sized muffin cups or 15-17 minutes if using mini cups. Or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store muffins in covered container or Ziploc bags.

Makes 30 regular sized muffins, or 72 mini muffins, or 24 regular muffins and 30 mini muffins. 

It's Biscuits and Gravy, Ya'll!

I have a confession to make...I have a love affair with biscuits and gravy. It started when I was a young child as a fling; but as I've grown, it has deepened into a deep passionate desire to eat them any chance I get. Fortunately I married a man who shares this same love and doesn't judge me. So he was quite pleased when I made Biscuits and Gravy Casserole for dinner this week.  

This recipe is pretty easy to make and relies on a few shortcuts. First and foremost, gravy mix and biscuits in a tube. 

Walmart has Morrisons Peppered gravy mix in the bulk section and it only costs $3.50 for 24 ounces!

You're going to need 2-3 tubes of biscuits depending on the size of your pan. My family really loves biscuits and gravy, so I made this casserole in a roasting pan lined with foil. You'll also need 1 pound of your favorite sausage, gravy mix, and canola oil spray. 

 Brown your sausage in a large skillet.

Use a potato masher to break apart the sausage into small pieces. This will help it cook evenly and make the sausage blend into the gravy easier. 

Line your pan with foil and spray with Canola Oil Spray. 

Keep cooking the sausage until it gets nice and browned. 

Once the sausage is thoroughly cooked, take it off the heat, drain, and spread the sausage in your pan. 

Now make the gravy according to the package directions using the package directions for a small batch.

 

Once the gravy gets nice and thick pour it into the pan mixing the sausage in the gravy. Spread the gravy in the pan evenly. 

Now cut the biscuits into quarters. 

Place the biscuits on top of the gravy and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Or until the biscuits are golden brown. 

Plate and enjoy. This casserole is great when served with scrambled eggs, but it is soooo good on its own. The leftovers are also supper yummy and reheat beautifully. Gracie was licking her plate! We will definitely be making this again.

Here is the recipe so you can try it!

Biscuits and Gravy Casserole

Ingredients

1 ½ cups Morrisons Country Style Peppered Gravy Mix

4 cups Water

1-pound pork sausage

2 tubes of buttermilk biscuits

Directions

1.   Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray with pan spray.

2.   Cook the sausage in a large skillet until thoroughly cooked and browned. Breaking up          clumps with a potato masher as needed.

3.   Drain sausage and pour into pan, spreading the sausage evenly in the pan.

4.   Prepare gravy according to package directions.

5.  Pour gravy over sausage and mix.

6.  Spread mixture evenly in pan.

7.  Cut biscuits into quarters and sprinkle evenly over gravy mixture.

8.  Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

9.   Let cool until it is safe to eat, and enjoy!