I'll Be Home for Christmas!

We're just a few short days away from Christmas and I am so excited! Having two small children, it truly is the most magical time of the year! From riding the Polar Express trolley and singing at church, to making our Christmas goodies and watching Christmas movies, it is all so full of magic!

One of my favorite things to do is make Christmas goodies! As you probably know, I LOVE to cook! The holidays give me time to try new things and my boys love taste testing them, especially when it involves sweets!

GRINCH TRIFLE

This Grinch themed trifle is sure to be a huge hit with both kids, and kids at heart. It is super easy and makes two trifle dishes worth for big groups! You can make this as homemade or as semi-homemade as you want to! Below is how to do it the semi-homemade!

*1 box of red velvet cake mix

*1 box of white cake mix (or, step it up and make it key lime for a twist in taste).

*1 lime green gel food coloring

*2 cream cheese blocks

*2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

*Sprinkles

*2 - 8 ounce tubs of cool whip

*Cook both cake mix boxes according to the directions and then let cool. You should have four cakes total. *REMEMBER* for the white cake to put your food coloring gel in the mix BEFORE you cook it! I will admit, I made this cake the first time and realized AFTER I pulled the cooked cakes out that I forgot the dye! :) If you do, you can change it from Grinch to Candy Cane or you can do what I did below and make a fun cake for your kiddos - No judgements here!

This is my "boo boo" cake. I got store bought icing and threw on lots of sprinkles and everyone was happy for the extra treat! LOL.

ICING

*Take 1 block of cream cheese, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, and 1- 8 ounce tub of cool whip and blend together for your icing.

*Begin assembling the trifle. Break up red velvet for the bottom layer, icing and sprinkles, green cake, then more icing and sprinkles. Repeat until your trifle dish is full. End with icing and lots of sprinkles!

You can serve directly out of the trifle dish or you can stage them as I did above. You can get fancy and make your own cookies, or if you are low on time, add in a cute button cookie or a gingerbread man and you are good to go!

Quick and easy!

A few other fun options are making rolos melted on pretzels or between two ritz crackers! Simple but delicious when you get that sweet and salty taste combination!

* Preheat your oven to 325. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and fill it up with a layer or Ritz crackers face down. Put one rolo on each cracker and pop in the oven for 3-5 minutes or until the rolos look to be sweating. Pull out and immediately put the top cracker on the rolo and gently press down.

*For the pretzel version, place the rolo on a thin pretzel and when you pull them out, gently push down a pecan or red/green plain M&M on top.

*Lastly, homemade Rice Krispy treats are easy and quick! All you need is a bag of marshmallows, a box of Rice Krispy's and butter. Melt 40 marshmallows with 3 tablespoons of butter. Add in 6 cups of cereal, then smash into a greased pan! FYI, this is also on the side of the cereal box!

Sugar, Sugar!

One more recipe I want to share with you is a sugar cookie recipe! They are the classic that you can't get enough of and you can make them your own with the cookie cutters, frosting, sprinkles, candies, and marshmallows!

These cookies are so special to me because my MeMe always made sugar cookies. Now, I get to share this with my kiddos and my Mama, aka, Lollie, always comes to help! You can either make them more sugar or more butter. This is the difference between sugar cookies and butter cookies. Some people may also call them tea cakes! Either way, they are delicious and a staple for the holiday!

What you need:

*2 sticks of chilled, unsalted butter

*3 cups all purpose flour

*2 tsp baking powder

*1/4 tsp almond extract

*1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*1 cup of granulated sugar

*2 Eggs

*1/2 tsp salt

*Cookie cutters

*Rolling pin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use a mixer (stand or hand) and beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add in eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract until combined well.

Next, add in sifted flour, salt, and baking powder.

Roll out dough on a well floured surface (I use my counter top for plenty of room) to about 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure your dough is the same thickness throughout so they cook evenly. If it's flaky, put some water on your hands. If it's sticky, add some flour as you knead it. Use cookie cutters to make your favorite shapes and place on a well sprayed pan.

Freeze for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to hot oven. Cook for 7-8 minutes or until the cookies are starting to get golden on the edges. Let cool then decorate to your liking or just eat them plain because they will be delicious either way!

I wish each and every one of you a joyous and Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Enjoy!