Fast and Easy Pumpkin Bars with Nestle Toll House Rolled and Ready Cookie Dough

Thanks to Nestle Toll House for sponsoring today's discussion about easy cookies and holiday treats. All my opinions and experiences with the Nestle Toll House Rolled and Ready Cookie Dough Sheets are my own. #CookieDoughSheets #NestleTollHouse

My husband's favorite holiday treats are pumpkin rolls. Out of a desire to simplify things around this busy time of year, and my own unnatural fear of creating a perfect roll, I distracted him with the simpler pumpkin bar.

Luckily my powers of distraction worked. Now there is a standing order for making these sweet and creamy bars every year. But, this year, while browsing the refrigerated cookie dough aisle, I spotted a way to even make easy bars easier.

Nestle Toll House Rolled and Ready Cookie Dough, in Gingerbread sheets.

Nestle Toll House actually makes Sugar Cookie and Chocolate Cookie Dough Sheets as well. I haven't found those yet, but keep your eyes peeled for those in your own stores this season.

Now, you could take these straight from the package and let the kids go nuts with cookie cutters, but they make a brilliant cookie crust for bar cookies.

Each package contains 2 sheets of Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough ready to go. I dusted my work space with flour then rolled mine a little longer so it would fit in a 9" x 13" casserole dish.

I rolled it around my rolling pin to transfer it into the baking dish, and then pushed any cracks back together with my fingers.

This pumpkin filling recipe is a classic. It takes room temperature cream cheese, Libby's pumpkin as well as spices, sugar and eggs. I beat it till smooth and creamy in my stand mixer. Then poured it over the top of my cookie crust.

I let this bake for about 50 minutes, but while I waited I cut out some small gingerbread men to serve with my bars. I love that they baked up easily and the cookies didn't spread or distort at all.

This would be an easy and fast way to get kids into the kitchen to help cut-out and decorate cookies for the holidays without destroying a busy kitchen.

Once my bars had baked, I refrigerated them for an hour so they could set up. This makes slicing so easy. Then I topped with fresh whipped cream and one of those gingerbread men for serving.

Fast and Easy Pumpkin Bars

You Will Need:

• 1 sheet of Nestle Toll House Rolled and Ready Cookie Dough - Gingerbread
• 1 (8oz.) package of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 c. Libby's Pumpkin
• 1/3 c. plain greek yogurt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Whipping cream for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Start by rolling out the Nestle Toll House Rolled and Ready Gingerbread Cookie Dough to fit your 9" x 13" baking dish. Roll the dough sheet over the rolling pin to transfer it to the dish. Prebake the cookie crust for 5 minutes.

While the crust is baking, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Then add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions. Then beat in the pumpkin, Greek yogurt, spices and vanilla extract. Pour over the hot crust and smooth the top.

Turn down the oven to 325 degrees and bake the bars for 35 to 40 minutes. Cover the top loosely with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes if you notice they are becoming too brown. The center of the pan should be set and no longer jiggle. 

Remove from the oven and let cool for 1 hour. Then wrap and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve topped with fresh whipped cream and a cut-out gingerbread man... since you have an extra sheet of gingerbread cookie dough!

Enjoy!

You can find out how to get the most of your Holiday Baking with Nestle Toll House Rolled and Ready Cookie Dough with more great recipe ideas on the Nestle site.

Happy Baking!

Game Time Made Easy with DiGiorno + DIY Cheer Pom Craft

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. For Game Time we stocked up on DiGiorno pizza currently on rollback at Walmart. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #GameTimeGoodies

My 6-year old just had the chance to attend his first basketball game with his grandparents. We are college b-ball fans, bleeding green and yellow for Oregon, and his excitement about basketball has been infectuous. The cheering and electricity he experienced on the court has bled over to watching it on TV. So I decided to throw a little at-home viewing party that we could all enjoy together.

Cheering on our favorite sports teams builds up quite an appetite so I wanted to have plenty of crowd pleasing food favorites on hand. To me, game day means pizza day. I love my pizza to be fresh, cheesy and piled with toppings, so I knew it had to be DiGiorno!

To keep my team happy and be kind to my wallet, I headed into Walmart to pick up our pizzas, salad bar fixings and some supplies for making hand-held pom-poms to cheer on our team. I was really excited because Walmart is currently running a special $4.50 rollback price for DiGiorno pizza. That sounded like a slam dunk to me.

I grabbed both Three Meat and Supreme Rising Crust pizzas in the frozen aisle. I thought these would be perfectly matched with our salad bar and drinks. All of it is easy game food to feed a crowd and let me enjoy the game along with them.

Don't you just love how the cheese gets all crispy and golden around the edges of the pizza? I usually pick that off and eat it first. I am a crust-in sort of gal.

Weird, huh?

I have a 6 and 4-year old who don't mind salads, but it never fails to amaze me that when they get to choose the toppings, they say it tastes better. My son likes to pile it up higher than his pizza. I think balance is good.

Okay, the only thing that could make pizza and a great game better would be hand-held cheer poms to shake during free-throws or after after our team scores. Originally I was going to make big poms, but my kids wanted a bunch of them so we went pencil top size for convenience. I have to admit that it worked out even better than I planned.

Whip these up in your favorite teams colors and hand them out to guests at your next party for added spirit.

You Will Need:

• Tissue paper in your team's colors (2 - 3 peices for each pencil topper)
• scissors
• pencils
• clear heavy duty tape
• ruler* optional

Start by cutting each peice of tissue paper in half. Then stack the halves (4 - 6 peices) in a pile. You can experiement with alternating colors or block of colors, as you like. Fold the stack in half and then fold up the bottom fold twice, about 2 inches. This part will wrap around the pencil as in the picture above.

On the open side start cutting uniform strips down to the fold. My strips were less than 1/2" wide.

Then roll the pencil, tightly, in the bottom fold. Make sure to keep smoothing the strips down as you roll so they don't get tangled.

Then tape the tissue paper to the pencil. You can choose to wrap the entire pencil in tissue paper to match or leave it as is.

Once everything is secure, open and separate the strands of tissue paper. Be sure to concentrate on the base so the whole pom will take on a fuller appearance.

Then hand them off to your fans. No explanation needed.

My kids loved shaking them at the screen. The bonus was there wasn't nearly as much yelling during the game, just a little whoosh from the frantic shaking of pom-poms! Score one for Mommy.

She shoots, she scores for game time success! Good food, good friends and a great game of basketball on the television. Does it get much better than that?

Don't forget to stock your freezer now with that rollback pricing while it lasts.

What is your favorite DiGiorno pizza? Will it make an appearance in your house on game day?

A Romantic Meal for Two with Buitoni Sauces and Nestle Baking Kit

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. I paired Buitoni sauces with homemade ravioli and a Nestle's Tres Leches baking kit to create a romantic meal.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #Valentines4All

A few year's ago my husband and I had a Valentine's Night tradition, reservations at our favorite local Italian restaurant. A little house salad, pasta, a glass of wine and a shared dessert. It was the perfect romantic meal for two. Everything was so good and made from scratch.

Then our beloved little Valentine's ritual ended when the restaurant closed. Yeah, I was a little heartbroken.

Valentine's day is quickly approaching and though I don't have the time to create an entire romantic meal from scratch myself, I was able to create a delicious homemade meal for two with the help of Buitoni pasta sauces and Nestle's Tres Leches baking kit. Want to see how I pulled it off in a chaotic house of 5?

First I had to do a little shopping. Okay, with the three kids most of my shopping happens at Walmart. It is too hard to drag two young children and a baby in and out of the car for multiple stops. This dinner is supposed to be low-stress, right? So I found everything I needed for my little date night in at one store. 

I wanted to have fresh homemade sauce flavor without all the simmering, so I grabbed a few containers of Buitoni Sauce. The Marinara has big chunks of tomatoes and the Alfredo is cheesy and delicious. Then I just needed Phyllo Dough for my Parmesan Twists, and something for dessert...

Have you seen the Nestle kits? They are brand new and a great way to whip up dessert quick. I love having all the necessities in one box because I tend to forget one crucial ingredient while shopping. It usually happens when my kids start fighting in the store or whining, "Are you done, Mom?"

 I have made Tres Leches cake before from scratch, but this was much faster. 

The prep I had to do the night before. I baked the cakes in small heart pans. With a big BBQ skewer I relieved a little stress from my day by poking the living daylights out the my cakes. Then I whisked up the "3 Milk" mixture to drench the cake with. It needs to sit and soak overnight in the fridge to achieve it's proper consistency. Don't worry. It is worth it.

Dinner day I started off by making my ravioli filling. I had this great vision of perfect little heart-shaped pasta. I even ordered a special ravioli press for just that. Of course the weather and shipping had other other plans and I had to improvise. 

Luckily a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter and a rotary cutter worked just fine. Don't be afraid to use what you already have in your kitchen.

I made a kale, pancetta and cheese filling for my little pastas. I wanted every bite to be a savory little burst of garden goodness wrapped in cheesy indulgence.

I nailed it.

Then I rolled out my pasta dough. Don't be intimidated by fresh pasta. The recipe is simple, just 2 cups flour (semolina, durum or all-purpose), 2 eggs and enough water to just bring the dough together. I like to make mine in a food processor. That way I can see the pasta dough ball form.

After resting for a half an hour I rolled out my dough. Little golf ball sized lumps of dough go through the pasta press. A wheel on the side lets me make the gauge thinner with each pass of the dough until it is thin enough for my pasta. I go for a slightly thicker dough for filled pastas.

Then I stamped and cut around each little heart shape. Viola! Heart-shaped kale and pancetta ravioli. 

Kale and Pancetta Ravioli Filling
You Will Need:

• 1 bag of frozen kale, thawed, chopped and thick stems discarded
• 2 oz Pancetta, cubed
• 8 oz. Ricotta cheese
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. garlic salt

Drain the kale well, squeezing out an excess moisture. Set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, heat the Pancetta till golden brown and crispy. Strain out the Pancetta and set aside to cool. Reserve the oil to warm the kale through. Let both cool completely.

In a medium bowl, combine the cool filling ingredients. Add a heaping teaspoon of filling to sheets of fresh pasta depending on the size you want to make.

Some ravioli tips: Make sure your filling is dry. If there is too much moisture in your kale, the ravioli will break open while cooking. Lay finished pasta out on a floured surface and use immediately or cover and refrigerate to use within a day. Also remember fresh pasta cooks quickly. Don't overcrowd the pan and wait till your little raviolis float up to the top of the pan when done.

Enjoy!

Now pasta needs a good sauce to go with it. I chose the Buitoni sauces to save me some time. I still put together a great homemade meal, but the All Natural sauces are close to what I would need a whole day to create. This left me time to work on my tablescape.

I rarely decorate the table beyond our daily placements, so when I started putting my burlap, red and white table together my kids were 'oo-ing' and 'ahh-ing' at it. I kept it simple, but used our dessert for a center piece and surrounded it with snapshots of my husband and I over the past 13 years. I had a long burlap table runner and since it was longer than I needed, I cut smaller pieces off for our place settings. You will have to wait for the end of the post to see the finished table.

When my husband was almost home I boiled up our ravioli. I can't stress enough how fast fresh pasta cooks. Again, since I rolled my pasta dough a little thicker, it took about 5 minutes to boil. then I drizzled the Alfredo sauce over the top and garnished with a pinch of parsley.

Instead of the usual heavier bread sticks, I made these Phyllo Dough Parmesan Straws. They were so easy! With one or two sheets of phyllo I brushed it with butter and then sprinkled it with a Parmesan cheese and herb blend of my liking (garlic and basil!), folded, sliced, twisted and then I baked them at 350 for about 8 minutes till golden brown.

I put a big scoop of Marinara sauce in a small ramekin for easy dipping. Yum! They were so crunchy and light.

With a little salad on the place for contrast, here is our dinner plate. Doesn't that look yummy?

I know the hustle and bustle of a noisy and crowded restaurant has nothing on this meal. I was even able to bribe my kiddos to play upstairs, and the baby slept while we enjoyed our meal for two.

And dessert?

Here are my finished Tres Leches cakes. The cakes are so moist and sweet, they don't need much other than a topping of whipped cream and possibly fruit. I used some edible red and heart glitter to adorn ours.

And my finished table, right before we sat down to eat. It was simple, romantic and easy enough to whip up for Valentine's Day or any other night we might want to celebrate. The food was delicious, the company was perfect and the photos I laid out gave us something to reminisce about. It might not have all been made from scratch, but it was all homemade with love.

So, what are your Valentine's plans? Going out? Or staying in this year?

Striving for a Balanced Lifestyle in 2014 - 5 Rules To Live By

These tasty ideas for starting the year right are part of the Nestle Back on Track, #WowThatsGood Campaign. I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Happy New Year!

I have a feeling that 2014 is going to be a great one. Don't get me wrong, last year was a big one for me. My son Elliott was born, my oldest started Kindergarten and I turned 35. The last one was probably the hardest for me, but I have achieved a level of comfort in my own skin that my 20-year old self would envy.

Of course, that doesn't mean I don't want to improve on a good thing...

I am not big on creating New Year's Resolutions. I have a rather bad track record for completing them, but I do enjoy goals. Sometimes it is nice to have a game plan for achieving a balanced lifestyle. My plans include some simple switches, tricks and products like Lean Cuisine, Skinny Cow and Coffee-mate to help achieve my goals for the year.

So on our weekly trip into Walmart I picked up a few extra items in addition to our household staples to get  ready for the first day of the year and beyond.

I am not worried about a quick fix. Yes, I have baby weight to lose and could eat healthier this year, but I am not interested in eating bland tasteless meals or trying out a fad diet. Instead I am looking for ways to be healthier and happier long term. So my first rule of 2014 centers around starting each day right.

1. Fuel up with Breakfast
The most important meal of the day? For this busy Mom, it is often the hardest to fit in. Up with the alarm, going non-stop till my son is safely on the bus, wears me out. Then my attention turns to the baby and getting my daughter going, chores and obligations fill up every other available moment.

Too many mornings I haven't gotten around to feeding myself. Now, my head knows I can't make it through a busy day without eating, but my schedule doesn't always leave me time. At Walmart I grabbed the LEAN CUISINE® Morning Collection™, Turkey Sausage English Muffin so I would have no excuses.

This is the perfect grab and go option. I started yesterday by defrosting and heating my sandwich in the microwave. It was delicious, filling and I didn't have to prepare each piece separately or leave my house to enjoy it.

Okay, so breakfast?

Check.

2. Move More
This one should be easy with small kids, right? Well, all those short bursts are great, but I would like to carve out more time to elevate my heart rate, 30 minutes or more. So with new shoes and some new tunes on my iPhone, I am going to lace up each morning when I take my son to the bus stop. I have a good stroller and shoes for my daughter. Since I have to leave the house anyway, this is the perfect time to fit exercise in.

Okay, movement?

Check.

3. Cut Back on Sugar
I have a sweet tooth the size of New Jersey! I do enjoy baking (you may have noticed this with my frequent dessert posts) and don't plan to give it up anytime soon, but I can cut back on sugar in other places. My morning coffee is one.

The first thing I do when I head downstairs is make a fresh cup of coffee. Coffee creamer has been my weakness since the baby was born. I look forward to it in the morning. A simple switch of the Sugar-Free French Vanilla Coffee-mate and I am only adding 15 extra calories per serving to my cup of coffee, no extra sugar, but loads of vanilla flavor.

Now, that is a reason to get out of bed in the morning!

Less sugar?

Check.

4. Plan Ahead to Eat Right
Okay, now that I started my day right, I still need to keep the momentum going. Life always has unexpected surprises in store for me. I don't always make the best food choices if I don't have easy and fast options on hand. Again, I was able to find more Lean Cuisine options to help with this.

I love simple and fast foods. These LEAN CUISINE® Stuffed Pretzels in Three Cheese & Spinach appealed to my ooey gooey love of pretzels and cheese. These are easy to heat and take with me or eat one-handed while feeding the baby.

The outer savory pretzel crust was great with the cheesy, rich filling. The perfect finger food.

Then there are veggie days. Some days I really just want to chow down on a big salad or a big wrap bursting with veggies. The LEAN CUISINE® Wrap ADDITIONS™ in Creamy Balsamic Chicken was perfect for lunch yesterday. With a microwavable steamer bag filled with broccoli, peppers, asparagus, and chicken, the package also contains a pouch of tangy balsamic spread. All I have to do is supply was the wrap and lunch is served.

This would also be perfect for a whole wheat pita, flat bread pizza or even lettuce wraps. I didn't want to waste a drop of the spread. I think they should market it on it's own. It would make a killer veggie dip.

And the last selection I chose was the LEAN CUISINE® Sesame Chicken. Again, It was delicious, easy and fast to make. No excuse left for me to grab fast food or skip a meal.

With so many tasty options, which would you grab for a fast lunch? I am not sure I could choose just one. I love variety in my food though, so having a wide selection ready in my freezer will keep me looking forward to lunch time.

Delicious, portioned food, fast?

Check.

5. Treat Yourself
And after a long day of being a Mom, I like to have a simple treat. You know that moment when the house goes still and everyone else is finally asleep? That is my time. Time for a cup of herbal tea and a little chocolate treat.

I don't do well when I try to deprive myself.

I found this Skinny Cow Divine Candy and it was the perfect evening sweet for me. 3 chocolates per package with caramel centers for just 130 calories a pouch. Did I mention I love caramel? Now, that I can work into my 2014 plan.

A treat for me?

Triple check.

And if you still aren't sure that these Lean Cuisine meals taste as amazing as I hope they look, Lean Cuisine currently has a Try It Money Back Guarantee at Walmart. Purchase 10 Lean Cuisine entrees between 1/1/14 and 2/15/14 and see the difference. Here are the details:

LEAN CUISINE Feel Great Money Back Guarantee (“MBG”) available to residents of the 50 U.S. and D.C. only and only valid at Walmart. One MBG per household/address. Cash register receipt(s) and UPC codes required; no copies accepted. Register receipt(s) must be dated no later than 2/15/14, nor be postmarked later than 2/28/14. MBG covers Walmart price of 10 LEAN CUISINE entrées and any tax thereon; postage required to mail in MBG request not included. Official MBG Form (required), and full terms can be found at Walmart.com/nestle. Offer ends 2/15/14.

Do you make resolutions? 

How will you achieve your goals in 2014?

Last Minute Ordinary to Family Size Extraordinary!

#ad - I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. I stocked my freezer with Nestle party size entrees and seasonal ice cream to prepare for unexpected situations. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client. #PlanAhead

Bring on the holidays. This year I am determined to be ready.

My daughter and I have already started decorating the house while my son is at school. I love adding a little fun to our dinner table with Fall colored leaves, pumpkins, decorative corn and gourds. She loves helping me and it has created some fun mother/daughter moments to remember. I like making the house more inviting as we all look forward to the holidays.

Another part of my plan in preparing for the holidays is having food stashed in the freezer for life's unexpected moments. Ever have one of those?

For the past two years my kids have unexpectedly gotten sick around the holidays. Last year my daughter got sick right as we were packing up the car. With elderly Great Grandparents attending, we just couldn't expose them to our germs. Disappointed, we had to change gears and stay home. I was faced with having nothing ready for dinner. I don't even think there was much in the fridge to work with. All I had was the homemade cranberry sauce I was planning to take to the family meal.

I don't remember what we scrounged up, but I am sure it was pancakes or waffles, something easy.

This year I promised myself I would not be caught unprepared again.

This year whether we get sick again (I sure hope not!), have unexpected guests drop by, or my turkey gets devoured by the dog (any Christmas Story fans out there?), I have a back-up in our deep freeze.

Nestle frozen foods make several options for stocking my freezer. Our first choice is always Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese. Don't let the simplicity fool you, it is easy to dress it up and please any dinner guest. Here are my suggestions:

Macaroni and cheese with smoked salmon? How about bacon and broccoli mixed in? I like to top our macaroni and cheese with breadcrumbs for crunch during the final 10 minutes of baking time and then I top mine with a little of everything and finish it off with a squeeze of sriracha sauce for heat.

Oh, so good! This family size entree is plenty for my family and any other hungry dinner guests I have. With a nice side salad or warm loaf of bread it will stretch even farther and feed a few more.

Another crowd-pleasing trick up my sleeve is Digiorno Rising Crust Pizza. I like to get it simple, either plain cheese or pepperoni so I can dress it up with additional toppings for adults, or leave it as is if I need to feed a bunch of kids. I like to add any veggies I have on hand like bell peppers, mushrooms or sun dried tomatoes.

Another favorite I have stashed away is Stouffer's Party Size lasagna. Served with a side of steamed vegetables or garlic bread, it warms us up on cold evenings.

So many choices, so many options for those last minute meals.

But, if you really want to be a hero this holiday season, stock up on a few seasonal treats like Dreyer's Slow Churned Light Ice Cream Limited Edition: Peppermint Wonderland. I wait all year for the seasonal flavors to come out. Another one I am looking forward to is Dreyer’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream Limited Edition: A Very Merry Eggnog which should be on shelves today, November 1st.

Warm food and cold ice cream stocked up for whatever life throws my way, that is my secret for planning ahead this year.

Connect with Nestle on their Facebook page or @Nestle on Twitter.

How do you plan ahead for the holiday season?