I have been so busy with Christmas that it is hard to believe the New Year is right around the corner. If you are like me a New Year’s Eve party is probably the last thing you are thinking about. Time is running short, but you can still plan a fun New Year’s Eve party that will fit your budget. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Inviting Guests

If you want to keep your budget low then you will need to consider inviting only a few close friends or members of your family. Just make sure you have enough to do something fun together. At this last minute you may want to call friends and family to personally invite them or you could send an invitation in an e-mail. You could also use free programs like Envite or even make a Facebook event page. I like the Facebook event page because people can RSVP right on the page and you can get an idea of who is coming, but some people do not use Facebook so other options might work better for you. Any of these options would be quick and not break your budget.

Decorations and Party Favors

You could spend a lot of money on decorations if you are not careful. Do not waste your money on this category. Your money will be better spent in the food category. Use what you already have on hand at home. Leave your Christmas decorations up. For the most part, this will be plenty of decorations for the evening. I have found that my Dollar Tree has special New Year’s Eve party favors. These include hats and blowers. Buy a few of these for your party and you will be all set.

Food

I think this will probably be your biggest expense for the party. Do not plan to feed your guest a whole dinner. Just plan on serving a few snacks and drinks to your guest. You will want to buy some paper plates, cups, napkins and other paper goods. You can also find these items at the Dollar Stores that will not cost you much at all. I like to spend some money on these items because it will save me time on the cleanup later. We also do not drink alcohol at our house so that would make it a lot cheaper. If you have some time, here are a few quick recipes that you can make for your party.

Dill Dip (this is great with vegetables or chips and taste like ranch dip)

New Year’s Eve Punch  (I’ve also made this with Rainbow Sherbet)

Egg Salad Sandwiches (or any sandwiches, cut these in half)

Tortilla Chips and Salsa (I make my own salsa in the summer when tomatoes are ready)

Activities

You will need to plan some activities for your guest. Go search in your game closet and you will probably find board games or cards that would be fun for your guest. Be sure to plan a few things for the kids to do, if they will be at the party. You might even have an older child help with the children so you and your adult guest can do some fun things together without worrying about the kids. If you like music, you can go to Pandora and play a music list on your computer for your guest to listen to during the party or you can play CD’s you already own. You could also plan to watch a movie together and enjoy popcorn or caramel corn and soft drinks.

There are so many options for a fun filled New Year’s Eve party that won’t cost you a lot of money. Just take a few minutes and get a plan in action for a fabulous New Year’s Eve Party!

Many families are still struggling with the high cost of food.  Thanksgiving is one holiday that we spend more money on food than usual.  Being frugal does not mean we have to give up all that food we enjoy eating, it means that we just need to plan for this extra expense in our budget.  Here are a few ideas to make your Thanksgiving a little more budget friendly.

Plan Ahead

Planning ahead is one of the best pieces of advice you can get for planning a frugal Thanksgiving.  If you plan several weeks ahead, you will find that there are plenty of coupons and specials to help you get the most for your money.  Plan to spend a little each week on the extra items you will need and then you will not feel like you are spending so much money. You can also plan ahead by getting most of the food items cooked ahead of time.  This will allow you to spend more time with your family on the big day.  Here are a few recipes for you to try that you can make ahead of time.

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Make-Ahead Stuffing

Cranberry Sauce

Freezer Apple Pie

Shop for the Cheapest Turkey

During the holidays, many stores will mark down turkeys.  There are also great coupons on turkeys and other Thanksgiving foods during this time.  Right now you can get a coupon for $3 off a Butterball Turkey when you buy 4 other products like Stove Top Stuffing or Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.  This is a great deal because lots of these products are already marked down.  Many stores also offer deals like buying so much in groceries and then you get a free turkey or a greatly reduced one. This can be a good deal if you really need the other items you are buying to get the great turkey deal.  While turkeys are marked down so cheap, consider buying a second one to place in your freezer for a future dinner.  This will save you money later. 

Bake Your Own Pies

If you buy a pie from the store you can easily spend $10 for each pie.  Why not make your own pies for Thanksgiving.  You spend a lot less money and get more pies since most recipes will make more than one pie. Here is a basic pie crust recipe that includes a video.  With a little practice you can easily make your own pies and save money. 

Choose Potluck

One great way to save money and have more time with the family is to have your guest bring dishes for the dinner.  Most family members will be more than happy to help you out.  This will also give you a good selection of different foods.

Use Leftovers

When planning your Thanksgiving meal, plan for leftover meals.  I can easily get two or more meals with my leftovers.  One casserole I love to make is the Thanksgiving Memories Casserole.  My kids love it and you can basically use what you have leftover.  This will also help to stretch your food budget and not make you feel like you are spending so much money on one meal.

Some families like to eat certain things on Halloween night. I have heard of spaghetti, chili, and soup to name a few. My family has always ordered out pizzas on Halloween. These make trick or treat night quick and easy for my family. This year ordering out really is not in our budget, So I will be making homemade pizzas for my family. Even the good frozen pizzas are more expensive than making it homemade. The way I have always made homemade pizza is not very quick since I make the dough in the bread machine. My community’s trick or treat night is on a Monday this year, so I have to get things done really quick since the kids are in schools all day and I will only have about one hour to get them ready and fed. Here are some ideas to making frugal homemade pizza quicker and easier.

Pizza Dough

The pizza dough will usually be the part that takes the longest because it will have to rise. There are several things you can do to make it quicker. First you can buy pizza crust mix in a bag at the store. These are usually around $1.00 or less and all you have to do is add water and let rise for five minutes. You can also have homemade crust quicker with a little pre-planning. You can make the dough in your bread machine and freeze it in a zip lock freezer bag. On the day you are ready to bake, take it out of the freezer and place in a large bowl and leave on the counter. It will defrost and rise during the day and be ready to bake that evening.

Another idea is to use a no rise pizza dough recipe. Here is one that I have used that I like. This recipe is made by hand but I mixed the ingredients and kneaded in my Kitchenaid mixer which made this super quick. If you want to make this taste more Italian, I recommend using the optional spices.

No Rise Pizza Crust

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast (I used quick rising yeast)

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 ½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon basil (optional)

1 teaspoon oregano (optional)

1 teaspoon minced onions (optional)

Dissolve yeast in water. Add rest of the ingredients in order listed in the recipe and mix until it forms into dough. Place dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Roll out and press down on a greased pizza pan (I like to use my stoneware for pizzas). Add toppings and bake at 350 degrees F 12-15 minutes.

Pizza Toppings

Choose pizza toppings your family will enjoy. I can find pepperoni for around $1.50. Other meats will probably cost you more. Use veggies like onions and green peppers (I chop mine up when they are on sale or from my garden and freeze them so I can use them on pizza later when green peppers are more expensive.) or canned mushrooms to cut down cost. Cheese can be an expensive topping so go light on it and that will cut back on calories as well. There are also lots of inexpensive pizza sauce recipes online, but I found that buying a large bottle of spaghetti  sauce is cheaper and quicker for me. You could also save money by only having cheese sticks.  Roll your dough into a rectangle and leave off the sauce and add pizza only.  Cut into sticks after cooking.  These are super easy and kids love them.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Halloween Pizza Ideas

As I was searching blogs and recipe sites for Halloween themed pizzas, I came upon this recipe for Spooky Spiderweb Pizza that is so cute. It would make your Halloween pizza more special. You could use some of the decorating ideas in that recipe and still use some of the quick frugal tips given in this article. You can also use cookie cutters to cut out spiders in cheese slices to decorate the top of your pizzas. Cut these before and store in the refrigerator to make decorating quicker.

Halloween is a fun time of year that kids enjoy dressing up and gathering way too much candy. It is also a fun time for kids to get together with their friends and have a party. Kids enjoy dressing up, eating fun Halloween themed foods, and playing exciting games.

Parties can really be expensive and sometimes people who are watching what they spend decide they can’t afford a party. If a party is what your kids want, you don’t have to deny them of it. You will just need to do a lot of planning before the party to make the expense a little easier for your family. Here are a few ideas to get your frugal Halloween party started.

Invitations

Invitations bought at stores can be way too expensive. There are several options to make the invitations fit into your budget. First, make your own. You can place spider or pumpkin cut outs on an index card and write your invitation right on it. If you don’t consider yourself crafty, you can even find these cut outs online or you can find places online to make invitations for free to print out. If you make your own invitations you will want to try to hand deliver them to save on postage. Many teachers will allow you to hand them out to your child’s friends at school. I have also seen lots of friends using Facebook to make an event page and inviting friends that way. The nice thing about event pages on Facebook is that you can have your friends RSVP right on the page. Another invite method that I just recently learned about is evite.com. This is a great way to make and send invitations to all your friends that you want to invite to your party, and the best part is that it’s free.

Decorations

Whenever I want to have a party on a budget, I turn to the Dollar Stores. My favorite one is the Dollar Tree. They already have a lot of really neat Halloween decorations and they only cost $1 each. This makes planning a party a lot more reasonable for me. You can also use pumpkins that have been carved out already as decorations. Don’t forget to reuse carved pumpkins after the party. Here’s a great recipe for Jack-O-Lantern Pie. This way you can get the most out of it for your money. Check to see what kind of decorations you have left over from years past that could be used. It is a good idea to buy holiday decorations after the holiday. You will be able to find decorations for 50-75% off at that time. Just make sure to have a place to store them so you can find them the next year to use them. You can also buy orange and green light bulbs to replace bulbs in the house and create an eerie effect. Music can also be bought pretty reasonable and played at the party to create the mood.

Entertainment

There are a lot of fun things that you can do with kids at a Halloween party that will not cost you a lot of money. One activity I have seen kids do at a party was pumpkin decorating. The hostess asked the kids to bring a small pumpkin and then the kids decorated them at the party. The hostess provided paints and markers for the kids to decorate the pumpkins, and after they were all done they picked winners in several categories like cutest, scariest etc. Another fun activity is to play the Monster Mash song and let kids dance to it. Kids love to dance and with all the extra candy they get at Halloween the extra activity will be nice too. You can also ask kids to wear a costume. I think it would be fun to ask them to wear a handmade costume, put on some scary music and have a fashion show. Pick some winners and give out small prizes. You can also find a ton of great Halloween party games online or even in some books at your local library.

Food

The food will probably be the biggest expense of the party. Making items from scratch will save you money on the food for your party, so if you have time then plan to do this. Some items that are always a hit are cupcakes, cookies, and finger foods. If you are planning to serve a meal at the party plan on serving an item like hotdogs which can be bought in bulk and are easy to prepare. You can also plan Halloween themed food items. Most kids really enjoy eating an eyeball or seeing hands in the punch. Here are a few ideas for some food items that make great party foods.

Mummy Dogs

Halloween Cut Out Sugar Cookies (Here’s a perfect Halloween Cookie Cutter)

Cupcakes and icing with Halloween decoration like candy corn

Cheese-Finger Food

Severed Fingers Halloween Cookies

Grave Yard Cake

Nutter Butter Ghost Cookies

Caramel Apples

Candy Apples

Frankenstein Cupcakes

Black Frozen Hand Punch

Memorial Day is a day we celebrate and remember our deceased relatives and soldiers. For many people, it is also a time to welcome summer with a three day weekend of summer activities. In fact, many people pull out and fire up the grill and have a cookout. Cookouts do not have to be expensive or hard work.  Just make sure to plan ahead to make this a day of fun and relaxation. Take advantage of this holiday by looking for specials in the grocery store, there are usually lots of deals. Here are a few simple items you can make to save money and still have a yummy cookout and also a relaxing weekend.

Hot Dogs/Hamburgers and Buns

I like to stock up on hot dogs during this time because I can usually find hot dogs on sale for $0.5o a pack. I also like to get ground beef and make my own hamburger patties. This is so much cheaper than buying the frozen patties and I think they taste better too because I can add what I want to season up my burgers.  Another way to save money on hot dogs and hamburgers is to make your own buns. You will want to do this a couple days ahead because they do take a little work. This will also give you more time to enjoy your family on the actual cookout day. Here are the recipes I like to use.

Hot Dog Buns

Hamburger Buns

Potato Salad

I like to make potato salad with my cookouts. I really do not have a recipe. I just throw a bunch of stuff together. I boil the potatoes which I cut into smaller pieces before boiling, and then I add salad dressing, mustard, vinegar, sugar, and some small boiled egg pieces. I usually have everything on hand in my kitchen to make this salad too.

Baked Beans

Baked Beans are an easy addition to a holiday meal. You can just take them out of the can and put them in a casserole dish and heat them, if that’s all you want to do. I like to add a bit more to my baked beans, so I usually make it the night before and put it in my refrigerator and then heat it up the next day. I brown a pound of ground beef and then add that to the beans in a casserole dish and then add mustard and brown sugar. I just add enough mustard and brown sugar to get it to taste like I want, so add a small amount at first and then add more to taste to your desire. The next day I cook them at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Canned baked beans are also a summer item I find easily on sale during this time of year.

Vegetables

I like to add a vegetable of some sort to my cookout dinner. Corn on the Cob is so easy to cook right on the grill. You can cook the corn in the husk and I think they come out so much better when cooked that way. Here’s a recipe that I use when grilling corn on the cob.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Desserts

I have several money saving dessert ideas. My favorite idea is to buy a Watermelon. I seem to see these go down in price this time of year. They cut up easily so they do not require a lot of extra work. Another item I find on sale in the summer is strawberries. I like to buy a one step angel food cake mix, bake it and then top with strawberries and non dairy whipped topping. I cut up my strawberries and add sugar or Splenda to them and then use them on top the cake. My final idea for dessert is banana pudding. It is so easy to put together and people seem to really love it in the summer. Here is a recipe for banana pudding that I like to make.

Uncooked Banana Pudding

Leftovers

I love having a cookout because we always have leftovers that I can use for a lunch or sometimes even a dinner. This also saves me more money and time after the cookout. So, plan for leftovers.

Potlucks

Another great way to save money is ask the people coming to the cookout to bring something for the meal. This will save you money and give you a good variety of yummy food and make less work for you.  Make sure you plan by asking people what they plan to bring so you do not end up with all the same foods.

It’s getting close to the end of the school year for my kids. This is the time that parents are asked to donate cupcakes to sell in order to make money for field trips and end of the year activities. My kids have needed cupcakes once a week for over a month now, so I decided I wanted something a little different, something with a little more pizzazz. So instead of cupcakes, I made Egg Nest Treats in cupcake liners. They were really easy and quick to make and did not cost me a fortune to make. You might also want to make these for Easter parties at school and Easter dinners. I made a batch of these and they sold out fast.

Ingredients

¼ teaspoon water

3 drops of green food coloring

½ cup flaked coconut

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups miniature marshmallows

5 cups rice cereal

Speckled jelly beans (can also add chocolate eggs, colored marshmallows, or other jelly beans)

Stove Top Directions

In a small bowl, mix together water and green food coloring. Stir in coconut until coconut is tinted. Spread on a baking sheet to dry. Place 16 cupcake liners in muffin pans and set aside for later use. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and then add the vanilla and marshmallows. Stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and add rice cereal and stir until cereal is well coated. Spray hands with butter flavored non stick cooking spray. Place mixture into each cupcake liner and press down so as to leave a small recess in the middle, like a birds nest. Cool completely. Add the grass on top of the cupcake. Press in three different colored speckled jelly beans.

Microwave Directions

You can choose to make the mixture in the microwave if you desire. Instead of cooking on the stove top, place the butter, vanilla, and marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on HIGH for 3 minutes, but make sure to stir after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Continue following the stove top directions for placing the mixture in the cupcake liners and decorating after cooled.

Adapted from: Robin’s Egg Nest Treats

Yes, I’m usually ( highly) suggesting that we all color our plates at all meals but with February 14th quickly approaching, I get a little excited about having a very pinky, red whole food day! It all began many years ago when a neighbor invited us over for a Valentine’s day party. Although both kids and adults were invited, it was definitely geared for adults. The theme was food – red, hot flavored foods! I brought a pot of lover’s tea but the table was packed an eclectic array of all red foods you could imagine! Since that spicy evening, I decided to embrace this holiday and introduce my kids to some new ( and old) tasty foods.

Here are a few of my favorites this year!

The appetizer … Red tortilla chips and salsa

• Kids will love this pre meal appetizer and they will love it even more if you have them make the salsa! It’s quite easy. Mix together chopped tomatoes, cilantro, white onions, juice of a whole lime and a dash salt and pepper ( some jalapeno if you are up to it!) in a medium sized bowl.

The drink … Hibiscus herbal iced tea with blood orange

• Usually it’s water with our meals but I do have pitcher of herbal iced tea available for the kids in replacement of juice ( and they like it better too!). To add an extra surprise, I’m going to place slices of blood oranges in the pitcher. It will add to some great conversation … how did that orange become red?

The entrée …. Whole roasted red potatoes, roasted red peppers, pink wild salmon

• I’m not one to spend too much time in the kitchen if not needed so I like to multi task! My kids really like roasted veggies so I have been doing that a lot lately. I will toss the veggie with olive oil, salt and pepper and then put in the oven. For this meal, I will poke the potatoes with a few holes and put them in the oven first, then the peppers and finally, the salmon. Simple, fast and nutritionally delicious.

The dessert … Red Pomegranate seeds

• Pomegranate seeds are a stunning bright red color, that gives a pack of nutrition and a healthy dose of fiber, so, sprinkle the seeds on top of some vanilla yogurt or ice cream!

PS In Italy, pomegranates were known as the, “royal fruit.” That may entice the kids to give it a try!

Next time you are at the market, spend a little more time seeking out red fruits and vegetables. The watermelon radish, beets (and I have even seen red carrots) are all great alternatives!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Dr. Heather

Dr. Heather Manley, who in 2001 received her medical degree from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine,is a practicing physician whose primary interest is preventative healthcare for families. She is the author of Human Body Detectives, her educational series of story-telling audiobooks and accompanying activity workbooks. www.drheathernd.com
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Image credit: Fuse

With all the shopping, decorating, baking, and cooking, it is always nice to have some recipes that just take minutes, but taste like you have spent hours in the kitchen. Since the oven is usually busy, I add in a few really quick, simple, and yummy cookies and candy to round out the traditional baked sweets. These cookies and candy recipes are great if you are giving cookies and candy to neighbors since you can make up a batch in no time.

Rocky Road Clusters

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Wax paper

Preparation
Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in large, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for two minutes.  Stir. If not smooth, microwave another 15-30 seconds and stir.
Add marshmallows, nuts and vanilla extract.
Drop by heaping teaspoon in mounds onto prepared baking sheets.  Refrigerate until firm.

Candied Pecans

Ingredients
1 pound pecan halves
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1.2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Aluminum foil
Oil spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Spray the aluminum foil with oil.
In a large mixing bowl or mixer, whip the egg white, vanilla, and water until frothy.
In a separate bowl, mix together sugars, salt, and cinnamon.
Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Stir while slowing adding the sugar mixture.
Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.  Separate with a fork.
Bake for 1 hour. Turn pecans over every 15 minutes.

Tip:
The nuts are great to eat as candy or add to your salads. I use them in a Gorgonzola and pear salad and in salads that are served with a balsamic dressing.

Chocolate Coconut Squares

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a 9 x 13 inch baking pan like a Pyrex Advantage 9 x 13 Inch Rectangular Baking Dish with Cover melt the butter. Remove from oven.
Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs over the melted butter. Mix together and press onto bottom of pan.
Layer coconut, nuts, chocolate chips and marshmallows over crust. Drizzle the condensed milk evenly over all.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven.
Melt the semisweet chocolate squares in the microwave. Be careful not to scorch the chocolate.
Drizzle the chocolate with a teaspoon over the squares.
When slightly cooled, cut into squares.

Enjoy!

One of the things I love about the holidays is the desserts, especially the pies.  As good as they are, though, they can be very expensive at the store.  You can, however,  make your own pies at home, have fun making them,  and save  of money at the same time.  I have found most stores pies to be anywhere from $6-$10, and most of the time they don’t taste nearly as good as homemade.  Pie crust really is not as hard to make as you may think.  One tip is to make sure everything you are going to use is chilled well before using, your pan, your pastry cutter, etc.  Here is an easy money saving recipe for the crust as well as a few pie recipes for you to enjoy this holiday season that should fit into just about any budget.

Homemade Pie Crust

2 cups flour, sifted ($0.34)

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter or shortening  ($1.10. ) ( I used butter)

5-7 tablespoons cold water

Put flour into mixing bowl with butter or shortening.  Using a pastry cutter, cut butter or shortening into the flour.   Add salt and water and mix until dough is formed.  Roll out on flat surface.  Place in pie pan and fluke the edges.  This is a great video to explain how to do the fluking. Bake at 375 degrees until brown or bake after adding filling.

Note: I made mine in my Kitchen Aid Mixer.

 Total Cost of Crust: $1.44

Pinto Bean Pie

This pie may not sound very good, but it taste so much like pecan pie and you can make it for so much cheaper.  Consider serving this at your holiday dinners.  Some people love it. You might not want to tell them the name of this pie until after you serve it.

 Ingredients

1 cup pinto beans, drained and mashed ($0.59) (I mashed my beans in my food processor)

1 cup dark corn syrup  ($1.12) (I used light corn syrup)

1 cup white sugar ($0.15)

1 tablespoon cornstarch  ($0.05)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract ($0.05)

3 eggs, beaten ($0.30)

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust ($1.44)

 Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine beans, corn syrup , sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs and pour mixture into the pie crust.  Bake in the preheat oven for 25 minutes,  and then lower the oven to 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Note: I like to serve this with a dollop of whip topping.

Total Cost of Pinto Bean Pie : $3.70

Mock Apple Pie

This pie has no apples in it but taste just like an apple pie.  A lot of science classes use this recipe to understand the reaction that makes this have an apple like texture.

 Ingredients

Pie Filling

2 cups water

1 cup white sugar ($0.15)

2 teaspoons cream of tarter ($0.30)

30 buttery round crackers ($2.39 for a box and will be enough for topping too)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ($0.05)

1 tablespoon lemon juice ($.10)

 Topping

1 cup crushed buttery round crackers (see above)

½ cup packed brown sugar ($0.40)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ($0.05)

1/3 cup butter, melted ($0.55)

1 (9 inch) pie crust ($1.44)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a saucepan over medium high heat, combine the water, sugar, and cream of tarter; bring to a boil.  Drop in whole crackers and boil for 5 minutes.  Pour mixture into pie crust; sprinkle with cinnamon and lemon juice.  Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the filling.  Bake for 15 minutes and reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue to bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer. Serve warm.

 Total Cost of Mock Apple Pie: $5.43

Last Valentine’s Day, I was asked to bring cookies for my child’s Valentine’s Day party.   I went to the grocery store and found lots of pre-made cookies for $6- $10 for about a dozen cookies.  I just did not feel like I could pay that much, so I went searching online for a recipe.  The recipe I found was Charmie’s Soft Sugar Cookies and not only did they come out cheaper than those store bought ones but they included ingredients I hand in my pantry.  I adapted the recipe some because the cooking temperature is way too high and I thought they needed more flavoring.  I also had a cake decorating icing that I got from a cake decorating class that worked perfect with the cookies.  Every party I have taken them to, there is never any left.  This has become my standard holiday cookie recipe,  I just change my cookie cutter for the holiday.  So, if you are going to a Halloween party or any holiday party in the future and need some cookies that are cute and cost a whole lot less consider these.

Ingredients

¾ cup butter or margarine, softened ($1.20)

1 cup sugar ($0.15)

2 eggs ($0.20)

1 teaspoon vanilla ($0.05)

2 ½ cups flour ($0.75)

1 teaspoon baking powder ($0.05)

1 teaspoon salt

 Directions

Cream margarine or butter with sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.  Sift together dry ingredients and blend to butter/sugar mixture.  Chill at least 1-1/2 hours.  Roll on a floured board to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with desired cookies cutters.  Bake the cookies at 375 degrees F for 8—10 minutes or until slightly brown.  Cool cookies on a cooling rack.  Frost the cookies with your favorite icing. Makes about 3 dozen cookies depending on the size of cookie cutters you use.

 Cookie Cutters and Decorations

I have never paid more than $0.50 for cookie cutters.  I always buy them after the holiday when they mark stuff down and I have a large collection.  I used the Wilton Ghost Cookie Cutter for these, but you could also use the Wilton Pumpkin Cutter.  I also think these Tombstone Cookie Cutters would looke real cute.  I have found that the bigger and  sturdier Wilton cutters do better with these cookies.  So, look around and decide what you want to do.  For the ghost, I just used chocolate chips for the eyes.  You could tent your icing to make the pumpkin orange and the stem brown.  They also sell lots of decorating colored sugars and other decorating sprinkles you could use on them.  I also buy these after the holiday and have never paid more than $0.50 for them.  So, just get creative and decide what you want to use.  Don’t forget to include your children.  They love decorating cookies.

 Decorator Icing

½ cup solid shortening

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon clear flavoring, such as Almond

1 lb. powdered sugar.

Cream together shortening, water, and flavoring.  Add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.  Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.