{Treats} by Betsy

It’s so hard to believe that Treats is old enough to have a 2nd annual sale, but, alas, it’s true. I’m going to rerun the Valentine’s Day Specials that were so popular last year. Enjoy!

* Cookies by the Dozen: Buy 1, Get 1 Free
* Chocolate covered pretzels and cookies are half price
* Valentine’s Day Treat Bags are also available for $5 each or $20 for 5. These contain 1 dozen pink pressed or sugar cookies with sprinkles.

I’ll be running these specials throughout January and February.

I know it’s been a long time, but I promise I have not (completely) forgotten about Treats by Betsy.  I was thinking today about all the fun things that are happening and coming up and I got really excited! 

It is Treat Season, everyone!  

I love to do game day parties this time of year.  Nothing is more fun than getting together with friends over a great football game and great food.  My oldest son’s Rock Star birthday party is coming up in about a month. I’m thinking star shaped cake and guitar cookies… we’ll see!  Then there’s Halloween, my personal favorite!  I’m super excited about that because we are having a party in our neighborhood.  I’ve got a new cocktail recipe I can’t wait to try out and thanks to my Auntie Pat (www.mimisgourmetgifts.com) I have some awesome Halloween cookies cutters. Then Thanksgiving comes and I make pies!  I love to make pies!  I make them Old Fashioned way (or, as my Mom says “the long way”) from scratch.  They are beautiful and perfectly delicious.  Oh, and don’t even get me started on Christmas! 

Too much fun, too much to do!

Treats This Week:

October 2010 Specials

• Halloween Sugar Cookies are available beginning October 1st!  Iced, glazed, or sprinkled $5.50/dozen (you save up to $1.50/dozen!).  
• Save $1/dozen on all cookie orders over 2 dozen.  Check the Menus page for pricing.

Looking Forward:

• Pie Specials in the month of November
• Christmas Treat Bags and Gift Baskets  

In my short blogging career there have been very few things that have driven me to write a blog.  It isn’t very often that food irritates me to the point that I cannot take it anymore and I simply must tell everyone I know and even those few people I don’t know who actually read this blog.  People, today I’ve had it.  You must know how much I hate Hardee’s.  The top five reason why I hate Hardee’s, in no particular order, are:

1. Ranchero Burger= Half naked girl on mechanical bull
2. “Cheese Paper” You remember this, right?  The guys were slurping the cheese off the wrappers that their burger came in?  Dis-Gusting!
3. The Mini Burger commercial where the girls come running over to hang all over the guy and tell him how “cute” his burgers are.
4. Most recently the commercial where the stupid girls are eating the chicken strips and talking about how hard it is to bread chicken (come on!)
5. And finally the subject of this rant:  What they are portraying as a “man’s grilled cheese sandwich” which is actually… a burger.

I’m not quite sure why it bothers me so much.  Maybe it’s the fact that grilled cheese sandwiches are pure and should not be tainted.  They are the crispy, yet gooey bit of perfection that was the making of extra special dinners when you were sick, later matched with tomato soup after you played in the snow, and, if you were uber-lucky like my brother and I, was breakfast at Granny’s house.   Grilled cheese sandwich is a name that describes our childhoods.  It’s not the name of some new grotesque invention of a grotesque fast food chain.  It is not meant to have bacon and ground beef on it.  It is simple and perfect.  Two slices if bread, two Kraft Singles, with lots and lots of butter.  That’s is.  That’s a grilled cheese sandwich. 

Wow! Do I feel better!

Everyone is making these little bits of heaven and most are starting to claim them as their own, which I think is hilarious because we all know some bakery owner who is WAY smarter and more creative than any of us came up with these.  Anyway, they are called “Cake Balls,” “Cake Truffles,” “Cakelettes,” your choice.  I prefer Cake Truffles.  What are they?  Well, they are crumbled cake mixed with frosting and covered with chocolate or candy coating.  Could not be bad!

So, here goes:

First you need to bake a cake.  You can use a cake mix or, if you’re feeling industrious, make a cake from scratch.  I usually make homemade cake, I’m just like that.  Once your cake is baked and cooled, you want to crumble it in a big bowl.  

*If you make a 9×13 cake, you’ll have enough cake for 6 dozen truffles. If you don’t want 6 dozen, after your cake cools, cut it in half and freeze half of it for next time.

Now for the frosting part, I have not made this with store-bought frosting, but I assume you can do it.  I’ve made them with two different kinds of homemade frosting and it’s worked out great.  One batch of frosting mixes perfectly with half of a 9×13 cake.  So, you just mix the frosting and cake crumbles together until all the cake is coated with frosting. 

Next, use a cookie scoop (like a tiny ice cream scoop) to scoop out the cake/frosting mixture onto cookies sheets.  Once you have all the mixture scooped out, put them in the freezer for a couple of hours.  This makes the dipping step much, much easier.

For the coating, you can use Almond Bark, Baker’s Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, pretty much anything like that.  Melt your coating in a nonstick pan over low heat.  It takes a little while over low heat, but you don’t want to burn it.

After your truffles have been in the freezer for a couple of hours, you’ll be able to pick them up and dip them in the melted coating.  Try to cover all sides of the truffle and place them back on the cookie sheets.  Once you’ve got them all coated, put them in the refridgerator to set.  This takes an hour or so.

Now you’ve got an awesome little desert that is sure to please!

There are about a million variations on this so experiment away.  I like chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate coating, but I’m a chocolate kind of girl!  I’ve had them with confetti cake and white frosting and coating.  Those are good too.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Much Love!

Betsy

I get more questions about this than anything else I do.  Moms and Dads are always looking for ways to save a little cash and those tiny jars of baby food are just so expensive.  So, I did some research when Drew was a baby and learned how to make my own baby food.  Turns out, it’s pretty easy and saves you a ton of money.  Here’s how you do it:

Start with fresh or frozen veggies and fruits.  Young babies like sweeter veggies like sweet potatoes and green peas.  You’ll want to start with mild fruits like apples and pears.  If you’re using fresh food, wash it really well, peal it and cut it into small chunks.  If you’re using frozen, these steps are already done for you.

Next, put about half an inch of water in a sauce pan with a lid.  Put the veggie or fruit chunks in a steamer basket and put the basket in the pan and put the lid on it.  Turn the stove on medium-high.  You’re looking to steam the food so you want the heat up high enough to really get that water boiling. 

This is important:  Stay close to the kitchen while the food is steaming.  If all the water boils out you scorch you pan and that is a pain to clean up.  It also stinks up your house something terrible.

Once the food is really, really soft, very carefully remove steamer basket from the pan.  It will, obviously, be very hot and you can be burned by the steam.  You’ll want to let the food cool for a few minutes.  I usually dump it in a bowl and start steaming the next batch of food.  When it’s cooled off a little, put the food in your blender or food processor with a little water.  If you have any water left in the bottom of the pan, use that.  It’s packed full of nutrients.  Puree the food until its the texture that your looking for.  Younger babies will need it to be really smooth.  That will take more time and more water.  As your baby gets older, you can make it a little chunkier.

When you got it pureed the way you want it, pour or scoop the puree into ice cube trays.  I was able to find some trays this time around that made smaller cubes and they work great.  Each cube is about 2 tablespoons which makes it easy to know how much your little one is eating.  Noah puts down about 5-6 cubes in a sitting at this point.  CRAZY!  Cover the trays with foil and write on the foil what’s in the tray.  Freeze them overnight and then you can pop the cubes out and put them in freezer bags.  Again, write on the bag what’s in it.  You would be surprised how many of these foods look the same when they’re pureed and frozen.

I like to just set aside a couple hours on a weekend and make enough for a week or two, so I don’t have to worry about it for a while.  If you choose to do that, make sure that you make a variety of foods, green and orange veggies, apples, peaches, pears.  It’s much healthier that way.   

That’s it. You’ve just fed your baby for pennies on the dollar!  Check out my menus page under Noah’s Treats for some ideas about what foods to make.  Let me know if you have any questions.

***The Disclaimer:  Always check with your baby’s doctor before you start solid foods. 

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, y’all!  The sun is shining, I have little sprouts in my garden, Noah’s down for his morning nap, and I’m sitting at my desk with the sun shining on my face, all is right with the world. 

Well, almost…

I’m still waiting to find out if I will become on of the one in ten people in America who are employed by the federal government.  The suspense, I fear, is literally killing me.  I’ve been sick to my stomach for two days!  I’m “should” to find out today, but I was assured they would know by yesterday.  Sigh.  God give me strength.

Anyhoo, onward to Treats talk.  I’m going to start making a transition in Treats.  I’m going to focus more of teaching you what I know about food, party planning, and gift giving.  I’m so excited to share with you all the ideas that fly around in this head of mine!  Y’all will not believe the things I come up with!  So, if there’s something you just have to know how to make or you need help planning you next shindig, just send me a message and I’ll be happy to assist.  In the mean time, keep your eyes peeled for Treats by You Tips! 

Oh, and you want to order you still can, of course.  I’m slimming down the menu, but I will be happy to discuss making items that are not on the menu, if your gathering requires.

Treats This Week: 

• I’m making cookies for Confirmation Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Bentonville.
• We’re planning a block party in my neighborhood.  It’s long over due and we’re all excited
• Noah’s First Birthday is coming up in July (CRAZY)!  It’s sure to be a blast!

I’m really going to try to stay on top of all the social media, so subscribe to the blog, follow me on Twitter (@treatsbybetsy), and “Like” me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Treats-by-betsy/286124204456).  It seems strange to ask people to “Like” me.  You like me right?

Alright, well, have a fantastic weekend and let me know how I can help you!

Much Love,

Betsy

As I sit here and wait and wait and wait and wait for my weekend to actually begin, I thought I would share some thoughts with my loyal blog readers (which I’m almost certain is really only only one reader, who is actually my brother… so, so sad).

I digress.

I’ve been thinking about how much food I actually pump into my system each day.  And I’m not too thrilled at the thought of it!  Today I ate one of those high fiber breakfast bars that supposed to keep you from getting hungry, but by 9:30 I thought I would die of starvation.  Guess fiber doesn’t do the trick for me.  At about 9:45 I ate (wait for it…) a piece of chocolate bundt cake.  I’m not proud of it and if any of you tells my son I had cake for breakfast we will not be friends anymore.  Next I had a huge cup of coffee with cream and sugar.  That lasted me until I walked into McFreakinDonald’s at about noon.  Double Cheeseburger and Fries, cue the Hallelujah Chorus.  I love it.  I know it’s horrible for you, but I L-O-V-E love McDonald’s.  There’s just something about those fries… I don’t know what they do to them, but they are amazing.  After the McD’s, I had a Diet Coke, but no more food, that I remember.  I eyed some cookies at work, but didn’t have any.  Score one for me!  I’m home now and haven’t eaten anything, but that’s probably because there’s nothing here to eat.

I say all of this to say this:  I’m going on a Plant Protein Detox next week.  For the next week, my husband and I will have a Plant Protein Smoothie for breakfast and lunch and lean protein and vegetable for lunch.  I’m not looking forward to it one tiny little bit.  I love food.  I love to eat.  Who drinks meals?  I’m confused by the whole thing, but I’m committed ($18 worth of plant protein powder committed, to be exact).  I could do anything for two weeks.  I lived through 14 years with Jay Thornton when we did NOT get along, to say the least.  I can do this.  I’ll keep you posted.

For those of you who are not drinking your meals for the next two weeks, I am still making Treats!  I will hate you a little, but I will still make them for you!

Much Love

Betsy

And no I didn’t hurt myself. 

When I started Treat a couple of months ago, I really wanted to be able to blog about the little things that I do that are easy and make my life easier.  Sadly, I have  a full-time job and a baby who won’t stop crying unless I’m holding him.  He’s crying right now, as a matter of fact.  Nevertheless, I wanted to take this moment to give you a few little tips, things I’ve been thinking about lately.

1. When you have  a friend who has a baby, give her a gift for her, not just for the baby.  It’s easy to forget about the new Mommy, so it will mean a lot to her if you get her something special.  (See Gift Guides for more info)
2. Throwing a kid’s party doesn’t have to be a huge production.  Most kids are creative and love art.  Make a bunch of plain sugar cookies and let the kids decorate them with icing and sprinkles.  You can cut the corners out of plastic baggies to make piping bags.  The best part is the kids get to eat their creations.  If you put newspaper on the table the kids are working on, you can just wad up the mess when it’s all over.  That’s the best part for you!
3. If you like to cook or do crafts, it’s a really good idea to invest in a rolling cart that has storage on the bottom and a work space on the top.  That way you have a place to store all of your supplies and a place to work, but you can just roll it all away when you’re done.  (This is an awesome tip from my friend, Shelley.  She’s a crafter and we are both working on getting one of these)
4. Individually wrapped cookies decorated with your wedding colors or your initial would make fantastic wedding favors.  This is a great alternative to the played out Jordan Almonds!

Well, I guess that’s all I’ve got for today.  I hope you all have a great week!

With Love,

Betsy

Today I was doing my hippie thing and making homemade baby food for my Little Mister and I got to thinking…

Homemade baby food is so awesome!  It’s easy to make, although a little time-consuming.  It made with fresh produce, no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors.  It’s way cheaper.  And, Noah Davis prefers it to the jarred kind.  Plus, it’s easy to mix different flavors together to make food that your baby will love.  For instance, I always mix the green stuff with the orange stuff for Noah.  He’s not a fan of the green stuff, but a little sweet potato or carrot in there and he eats it up.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  “Betsy, who makes homemade baby food?  That’s crazy!”  Well the answer is, of course, I do! (And I know it’s a little crazy, Ryann (my BFF) has told me over and over!)  And I’m making these wholesome homemade baby foods available to you!

“Noah’s Treats” are foods that I make from all-natural ingredients that your baby will love!  These single food purees and gourmet combinations are delivered to you in frozen cubes in a convenient 2 tablespoon portion.  You get 8 cubes per order and you can mix cubes within an order.  Each order is only $1.  That will save you up to $1.50!  Organics are also available at $1.75 per order.  

Coming Soon to {Treats} Menus:

• Noah’s Treats
• Low Fat/Fat Free
• Low Carb
• Low Sugar/Sugar Free