Frugal Friday: Homemade Peanut Butter

I have a friend who has been making her peanut butter for a while now and keeps telling me about it. I however, have been very leary because peanut butter is on thing I am very brand specific with and really didn't think I would be able to come up with something better. Well, I did! You have got to try it, I think it is the most wonderful peanut butter I have actually had.

All you need is a jar/can of peanuts, honey, and oil. This recipe is another one that has reminded me how much I love my food processor.


You put 2 C. peanuts, 1 T. honey, and a dash of salt (I used lightly salted peanuts, so I didn't add any salt) into the food processor and turn on. While it is go slowly add a few T. of oil, I used 4 and think next time I will use a little less. But you need to find the right amount for how you like your peanut butter.

As you are processing your peanut butter it will first be chunky, then form a ball that will roll around your processor and keep going until you get a smooth nice looking peanut butter.

My final price was about $1.50, but I didn't really search for a good peanut deal. Really the cost of your peanut butter can be as low as you can get the cost of your peanuts. I will now start looking for some great deals on peanuts.

Since we made our peanut butter my daughter loves to have peanut butter dippers. I simply cut up fruits and vegetables and put them on a plate with a scoop of peanut butter and she dips everything in. It's her new favorite for breakfast, lunch, and snack. Life is fun with a toddler!

Fine more frugal Friday tips visit Life as Mom.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

I posted a link to the recipe for these muffins with my menu, but they were so GOOD I had to post it again. I actually made them as mini-muffins because I only have a small scoop that I use for cookies and they turned out perfect. I will be making these again for sure!

Thanks Peabody for this wonderful recipe!

Snow Ice Cream

The forecasters were wrong once again. We now have snow, yeah! I love snow, especially early spring snow when the temps are warm and the snow is usually very pretty. Due to the warmer temps, it also goes away quickly. Anyway, here is a super fun activity to do when you have snow. I actually remember making this as a kid myself.

You will need:

-1 C. Milk

-1/2 t. Vanilla

-1/2 C. Sugar

-Snow (only the white snow :O)

Whisk together the milk, vanilla, and sugar. Add in the snow until the desired consistency is reached. Eat as is or top with your favorite ice cream toppings. Enjoy!

Homemade Play Dough

I love making homemade play dough, but have gone through many recipes to find just the right one. Too many of them end up being very gritty from the salt and dry out extremely fast. This recipe is a keeper because it is smooth, moist, and even smells good. It uses all ingredients you probably already have in you kitchen and is quick to make.

2 1/2 Cups flour
1 Cup salt
2 packages unsweetened Kool-Aid
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Cups boiling water

Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Carefully knead until well mixed. (I usually let the kids help as soon as the dough is cool) Store in a zip lock bag or air tight container and it will last about 2 weeks.

K loves to play house right now, so we use our play dough to make cookies or pizza. She picks out two or three kitchen utensils to use when she plays play dough.

Other ideas for playing with play dough:

- Put marbles in the dough to help develop fine motor skills by having child remove all the marbles from the play dough.

- Make simple flash cards with shapes, letters, or numbers and have the child create the image using the play dough to help with early literacy skills.

- Make different colors and mix small balls of dough together to learn about mixing colors. The book Mouse Paint would be perfect to read to go with this activity.

- For older kids make up a list of words/phrases and play 'pictonary' using the dough to create the word/phrase for other people to guess.

- Just use your imagination and have fun!