Nutella Creations

Day 3 - Nutella week, I will show you all the healthy treats that I have made with Nutella, I have been wondering what does Nutella taste like, well today I finally realized, Ferrero Rocher Chocolates, something that I don't eat often, but every now and again, I get the 3 pack at the store, and that's heaven for me! 

Here we go with some of my tasty creations.

I hope you enjoyed Nutella week!

~Next week is BIRTHDAY week, each day I will feature birthday cupcakes that I have made.   June 5th mark your calenders, Pamela's Heavenly Treats will be having a BIG BASH BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY, In honor of my 37th birthday (I want to give to my wonderful blogger friends) we will have wonderful prizes from some awesome and creative ladies, and 1 winner will take all~

Almost Wordless Wednesday

What can I say I so LOVE my family, when I spend time with my kiddies outside I go picture crazy, they always say oh oh mama has the camera out and I just start clicking away. Monday, my big boys didn't have school so we hung out outside, they played, went in the sprinklers, the pool wasn't ready yet, hubbie was cleaning and getting it ready, he said it will be ready this weekend, so the kids were really excited about that. 

Then I had a little photo shoot, which was so special to me, I never am in front of the camera, so that was nice, now I have some pictures of myself now.  Josef is going to enter some of the pictures that he has taken into the 4H fair, so I might become a celebrity :-) Well here is my family!

~Hubbie / My 5 boys Jeremiah (red shirt) 14, Justin & Josef 12 (they are in most of pics) Jordon 8 (he is in most of the pics), Zachary 5 (he has on a yellow shirt) & Miss Jayda Grace (you know she is the star of the pictures)~

~Here is my handsome, love of my life, wonderful hubbie whom I have been married to for 15 awesome years!  He sacrifices so much for his family...Did I tell you how much I love this man~

~I hope you enjoyed Almost Wordless Wednesday!  Stay tuned tomorrow for more of Nutella week~

Nutella Brownie Bars (Whole Wheat)

~First let me start off by saying I had such a fun day with my family on yesterday, I took so many pictures, so for Wednesdays post it will be filled with pictures of our day.  I also had a photo shoot of my own by my son Josef (he is a twin, 12 years old) and he loves his mama; I felt so special, he took all these pictures of me, and it was so much fun.  So now I have some nice pictures of myself.  

 I promised that this will be a HEAVENLY week (and as my blogger friend Anne said "this is Heaven week for her" with Nutella treats) so I guess its true.  So without further adue.~

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(Photo taken by Josef)

Day 2 ~ Nutella Week, I actually made Nutella Brownie Bars (Whole Wheat) I made that name up, because they look like a brownie, but the texture is like cake, bar kind of treat to me.  I am not a brownie maker, every time I make any type of brownie they don't come out right.  But this time I out did myself, even my hubbie was impressed, and he doesn't eat treats to often.  My kids love brownies, but I don't make them to often so this was a real treat for them, and I got a thumbs up for this healthy treat YAY!  This goes really good with a nice cold glass of fat free milk, and in the words of my 5 year old these are absolutely DELICIOUS!  Go ahead give it a try! 

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
*1/6 cup splenda/sugar substitute
2 eggs

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/3 cup Nutella
*Peanut allergy you can omit

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 350

Mix together butter, brown sugar, nutella and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well.  Mix together whole wheat flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips if desired.  Grease bottom of 9 inch baking pan.  Spread batter evenly in  pan. 

Bake 20 to 25 minutes.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares.

*I was asked about sugar substitute for a recipe of mine, so I thought I would include this in my recipes now, so everyone can enjoy!

ENJOY!

You can find me linking up Here

Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies (Whole Wheat)

~Happy Memorial Day~

Just hanging with my wonderful family today, my hubbie is getting the pool together, cleaned out and all for the summer season. Later on we will be cooking on the grill, the first of the season, I so love grilled food, there is nothing like that grilled taste! Enjoy your family today!

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Pamela's Heavenly Treats had its first link party DESSERTS only, Heavenly Treats Sunday #1 Linky Party, add your scrumptious dessert.

~Week 3 of my New Beginnings, I have lost 6 lbs, my eating habits have changed and I exercise every night with my hubbie, it is a powerful workout, but I don't give up.  On the weekend when my hubbie is at work, I jump on the elliptical for 30 minutes and rest on Sunday, I am striving to lose 50 lbs, I know I can do it, I am so excited for this change in my life~

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Day 1 ~ Nutella Week, when I found out what Nutella was I was thinking how did I not know about this, to me it tastes like a little bit of heaven!  Today we have Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies / Sandwich Cookies, I am so glad I made these, another quick and easy recipe, the entire family loved them, they got a thumbs up, I also made these cookies for my monthly donation to Hospice in my town (they were a hit); the best part is you can eat them single or as a cookie sandwich, all you need is a glass of milk and you will really have a heavenly experience!  I saw this recipe over at Megan's Cookin and I just tweaked it to make it a little healthier.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup nutella

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup of chocolate chips

Directions

Set oven to 350

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer on high speed, scraping the sides of the bowl often.

Beat until light and fluffy.

With the mixer on low, add the egg and vanilla.

Add the Nutella and mix well.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated the dough is smooth.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop into balls and place on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes

Let cookies cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

You can leave the cookies singles, or spread about a teaspoon or so on the flat side of half the cookies, and top with another cookie to make a Nutella Cookie Sandwich.

ENJOY!

You can find me linking up Here

Heavenly Treats Sunday #1 Linky Party

Welcome to Pamela's Heavenly Treats Sunday #1 Linky Party!

I am so excited to have my first Linky Party, I am apart of many parties and have met so many people, so I thought let me start a party that is just for DESSERTS. 

Just a few rules:

Link directly to your post

No giveaways or shops

Grab my button or link back to my blog

<center><a href="http://www.pamelasheavenlytreats.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh550/Pamela1457/pamelas200x100.png"/></a>

Please make sure you visit and comment on other posts.

I would love it if you would become a follower of Pamela's Heavenly Treats

Please check back next week to see who is featured!

Remember DESSERTS only!
(All Kinds ~ Not Just Healthy Treats)

No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

~Please go over to I know the Plans I Have 4 You today for there 1 year Blog-A-Versary, wonderful prizes in the giveaway, including a prize from my Etsy Shop, winner takes all~

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Last Day!! Day 5 ~ Oatmeal Week, I have an oldie but goodie, a No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie.  My kids rave over this healthy snack, it is a nice and healthy cookie that you can just pop in your mouth. These cookies taste like homemade granola bars. Try these out for yourself, they are nice and easy, no sifting any flour, all you need is your stove top, fridge and a few ingredients, and these are the type of snacks that you can eat morning, noon or night!  How did you like oatmeal week?

Ingredients

1/4 cup fat free milk
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup of natural peanut butter
1/2 tsp of cocoa
1 1/2 cup of quick oats
1/2 tsp vanilla



Directions
In a saucepan bring to a boil milk, sugar, butter, cocoa and peanut butter. Stir in oatmeal and vanilla. Drop by spoonfuls (I rolled them up in little balls) on parchment paper baking sheet and cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes, take out and eat YUMMY!

ENJOY!!

Next week get ready for Nutella Week!

Oatmeal Banana Nut Cupcake (Whole Wheat)

Day 4 of Oatmeal Week, let's see what wonderful healthy treat I came up for today.  You know I had to make a cupcake at some point, not just any cupcake but an Oatmeal Banana Nut Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing, everyone in the house really loved these, especially because of the icing with the nuts on top.  This is also another treat that can be eaten morning, noon or night.  I made these without icing a while ago and they are good either way. 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped nuts (any kind)

2 bananas mashed (best to use really ripe soft bananas)

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp vinegar

Directions

Set oven to 350

In a bowl sift dry ingredients and set aside, Mix eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, vinegar, mashed bananas really well, and then add dry ingredients, stir in your chopped nuts.  Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full and bake for 18 minutes. You will get 24 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Icing 

8 oz low fat cream cheese (softened)

1 stick of unsalted butter (softened)

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp fat free milk

chopped nuts for garnish (if you like)

Mix cream cheese and butter together, add powdered sugar, milk.  Drizzle on top of cupcakes and add chopped nuts for garnish.

ENJOY!

You can find me linking up Here

Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins (Whole Wheat)

 

Day 3 of Oatmeal Week, and we have Whole Wheat Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins, these can be good for breakfast, or an afternoon snack.  They were quite easy to make, and when they were baking, it smelled like oatmeal goodness!  I didn't make these until after lunch so the kids had this for an afternoon snack, and they really liked them. 

 

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup buttermilk *2tsp vinegar and fat free milk

1 egg

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

Set oven to 400

Combine the oatmeal and buttermilk, let it stand for a few minutes, for the oatmeal to absorb some of the buttermilk. Add the egg, brown sugar and applesauce. Beat very well,  add the flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Mix well, do not over beat. Grease muffin pan, or use muffin liners and fill 1/2 way.  *If you like, put some oatmeal right on top of the mixture so they have a crunchy top.  Bake for 20 minutes.

ENJOY!

You can find me linking up Here

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin (Whole Wheat)

~Make sure to go over to The Grant Life for a week worth of giveaways, for there 1 year Blog-A-Versary, Today I am giving away two items from my Etsy Shop, so make sure you stop by~
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Day 2 of Oatmeal Week, I have been in my kitchen trying some new recipes and tweaking some old ones.  I must say they all came out great.  I also am trying to get my photography much better, and I did really good today, I am very proud of myself. 

So today we have my famous Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!  These are the cookies that make some people in my house become cookie snatchers (and it's not my kiddies, it's my hubbie) he loves these cookies, when they are baking and he smells them, he says, "Are you making my cookies?" I start laughing, because he is not a snack eater, but he will sure enough eat these.  These cookies are so chewy and tasty you won't even believe that they are really a healthy treat. 

Ingredients

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

2 tsps ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsps vanilla

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup raisins

Directions

Heat oven to 350

Mix all ingredients except oats, flour and raisins in

large bowl with spoon. Stir in oats, flour and raisins.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto

parchment paper cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light brown.

Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

ENJOY!

You can find me linking up Here

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (Whole Wheat)

 Another week is upon us, last week it was all about Strawberries, this week it is all about Oatmeal; something that everyone has in there pantry, now can be made into a healthy cookie, bar or cupcake.
So let's see what I can make this week with our feature ingredient.

Today I am going to share with you another easy recipe, that is healthy and good for you.

What can I say about a cookie that is healthy, has peanut butter and oatmeal in it, Oh I know Absolutely Delicious!  This cookie had my kitchen smelling like a peanut farm, you gotta love that smell.  They are very chewy and just down right satisfying. 

My kiddies really loved these, I was watching them as they were eating them, it's like watching a movie for the first time, you are looking for facial expressions, and opinions to be voiced, as everyone knows, my 5 year old loves to eat, especially his mama's healthy treats, I asked him to rate this on a scale of 1-10, he said oh mama its a 10, I said there that good, he said no there more than good!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter ( I use natural)
*If you have peanut allergy you can use Nutella in its place

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup quick oats

Directions

Set oven to 350

Sift all dry ingredients set to the side, Mix together the wet ingredients until mixed all the way, add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Use a small scooper, and just drop the cookie dough on parchment paper covered baking sheets.  Cook for 10-15 minutes, and place on wire rack to cook.

ENJOY!

You can find me linking up Here

Easy No Cook Strawberry Jam

We are at the end of Strawberry week, and I looked for a no cook recipe, so I could attempt to make strawberry jam, and I found one; I did tweak it just a little, I think it came out good, being that it was my first attempt.  So here we go.

Ingredients

4 cups whole fresh strawberries (when mashed you will have 2 cups)

2 cups sugar (you may use more, but I didn't want mine to sugary)

1 pouch Pectin

2 tbsp lemon juice

 

Directions 

 

Combine strawberries and sugar, let stand for 10 minutes. Add pectin and lemon juice, stir for about 3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Pour into clean mason jars, or plastic containers, cover tightly. Leave at room temp for 24 hours or until it is set. You can freeze up to 1 year or refrigerate up to 3 weeks.

 

ENJOY!

 

You can find me linking up Here

A New Me / Healthy Eating / Exercising

Source

~This morning I am busy making a couple batches of healthy cookies for my donation to Hospice today~

So my journey begins ~ I started my business because everywhere I went you rarely see healthy treats (cupcakes and cookies), everything is so sweet and just not good for you. Since my blog is about healthy treats, and my name is behind my business, I have to start with me first, so Tuesday - May 15th was the first day to a new Pamela.  I am aiming to lose 60+ pounds, by exercising and following a 1600 calorie meal plan.  You might be thinking she doesn't look overweight, I hear that all the time, but according to my doctor and the scale I most certainly am, and I need a complete change.  My husband has lost so much weight over the course of the years and now he is using a exercise plan to tone his body up and its working wonderfully :-) It seems so easy for men!   

Now this is my year to take care of my body and lose all of this; what I call baby fat, even though my oldest baby is 14 and the youngest baby is 2.  I will blog about my weight loss every other week. This will be new to me because I don't want anyone to know what I am doing, but I think if I put it out here on my blog then I will get alot of love from my readers, and be a testimony for others.

I will be 37 on June 5th, we are done having babies, and I am ready to take my body back.  From this week forward I plan to lose 2 lbs+ each week, through Beach body Insanity Exercise with Shawn T, please pray that I will still be alive after I attempt to do these exercises :-)

Thank you for following me on this journey!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

~Please join me over at Cups by Kim where I am presenting a guest post on a good and heathy treat  (Whole Wheat Chocolate Nutella Cookies)~

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~Strawberry Week here at Pamela's Heavenly Treats~

Let's see I made Home-Made Strawberry Ice Cream, Whole Wheat Strawberry Cookies, and today we have Whole Wheat Vanilla StrawberryCupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Icing and Fresh Picked Strawberries for garnish, and the cupcake liners are from Valentine's Day matches very nicely, with my theme this week.  Thanks for always leaving such nice comments!

Home Made Strawberry Ice Cream

Whole Wheat Strawberry Cookies

Whole Wheat Vanilla Strawberry Cupcakes

ENJOY!

Whole Wheat Strawberry Cookies

This week is strawberry week, let's see how many healthy treats I can make.  I told my kiddies this week every treat I make is going to have strawberries in it, the big boys said that's cool, and the little boys said it's going to be delicious!  They all crack me up with there funny phrases.

Today we have a Whole Wheat Strawberry Cookie, nice and simple, tastes really good.  I know alot of recipes for strawberry cookies are made the easy way with a box of strawberry cake mix, but not here, we make everything from scratch, and with fresh ingredients.  This cookie goes well with a cup of hot tea.  So it's a good cookie to have at a tea brunch.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp buttermilk (homemade)

1 tsp vanilla

10 fresh strawberries, (chopped)

Directions

Set oven to 350

Mix wet ingredients together until combined, add in sifted dry ingredients.  Fold in fresh chopped strawberries.  Using a small scooper, drop cookie dough onto parchment paper cookie sheet, don't make them to big because they will spread. Bake for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack.

ENJOY!

You can find me linking up Here

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

As many of you know, it's the kiddies and I on the weekends, hubbie leaves for work on Friday night and comes back Monday morning.  So this past weekend it was such a nice day, I planned a trip to a fellow homeschool mom's family farm  (Godfrey's Farm) to pick strawberries.  This was Jayda's 2nd year going, last year she didn't really know what was going on, but this year she got down and started picking and eating :-)  They were so SWEET and delicious, as you can imagine the kiddies did more eating than adding to the bucket, I had to keep saying, put it in your bucket, and not in your mouth, but we had a good time, and it was nice for me to have my mama time with them.  I have so many pictures to show you.  Our treat is a little different today its not a healthy cupcake or cookie, but it would go good with a healthy treat, and I did make it with fat free milk :-) oh I forget to say it was GOOD.

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups fat free milk

2 tbsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

10 strawberries cut up

a couple for garnish

Directions

In a bowl or your mixer, cream eggs and sugar, then add vanilla, heavy cream, milk and strawberries.  Mix on medium speed until well incorporated.  Get your ice cream maker together, and pour your mixture in and follow your icecream maker directions, but for the Kitchenaid ice cream maker attachment, put it on 6 and let it mix for 20-30 minutes you will have delicious homemade ice cream.

~This week is strawberry week, so be on the lookout for all my healthy strawberry treats~

Enjoy!

You can find me linking up Here

Happy Mother's Day

Have a blessed Mother's Day, a friend of mine sent these to me, and I wanted to share!!
~I will be back tomorrow with wonderful pictures of our strawberry picking trip and a special treat~

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Guest Post / Trading Blogs Day

Hi! I am Pam from Pams Party and Practical Tips.   I am Trading Blogs with Pamela today in a fun blog swap hosted by Serendipity and Spice.   When Pamela and I found out we  would be trading partners it was actually kind of  funny.  We were paired up randomly,  but we already knew each other.  We also share the same first name, and have similar types of blogs.    It was meant to be.


 Since I have a blog that is based on planning parties and practical tips, I thought I would share some of my best budget party planning tips.

When throwing a party on a budget, planning ahead can really save a lot of money.  Once you pick a theme, the best place to start is the dollar store.   They have many party supplies at the fraction of the cost of the party store.  Last year I threw a  "big number" birthday for a friend using only supplies from the dollar store and items I made. I  was way under my given budget.

You can make great goody bags buying items at the dollar store and on clearance.  For my daughter's beach party I bought the bag, flip flops and frisbee for $1 each, the visors for .67 (JoAnns), and the bubbles for only .33.  The girls left with a full reusable  bag of  useful items that were only a total of $4.

Some of the items did double duty.  We decorated the flip flops as our craft, wore our visors while playing in the sun, and used the frisbees as paper plate holders.

Another fun thing for  me is to make as much as I can using items I already have at home.  I make my own pinatas,

party props,

and decorations whenever possible.

Another personal touch is making your own invitations.  If you prefer not to make your own, there are many free printables online, and several nice choices at the dollar store.

 At our parties we always play some sort of pin the tail game.  I make the game out of poster board according to the party theme. This is always a lot of fun. 

I plan my menu as early as I can, so I can start shopping for what I need with coupons.  Food doesn't have to be expensive to be fun.   We often have simple foods like personal pizzas, chips and juice boxes.  You can give them different names to match your theme.    

A big trend right now is the dessert table.  The dollar store has a large variety of candy, candy jars, and display bowls. I made the cupcake stand by gluing together a few dollar store platters and candlesticks.  

Don't compare your budget  party to the fancy, stylized parties online. They are beautiful to look at, but most kids don't care about  fancy.    I know from the almost 30 parties that I have given over the years, kid don't really  pay attention to  all the  details.  They overlook imperfections, so do not stress if things are not perfect.  As long as they have a fun afternoon with their friends, they don't mind if you spent only $50 instead of $500.    

Some of my other must have party tips 

When opening presents, sit the birthday child in a  high seat, and have the others sit on the floor where everyone can see.  

Draw names when giving presents to the birthday child.  This eliminates crying and hurt feelings. 

Have the present-giver pose with the birthday child when opening gifts, and take a photo.  Not only will you have a memento to give away  later, you will have a record of who gave what.  

My biggest tip of all..  Enjoy the Party! 

If you want to see more of these parties and many others, you can find them on my party theme link. 

Thank you so much Pamela for trading blogs with me. It was a lot of fun, and I would love to do it again sometime soon.