ILP Week 3

This week I got to do my independent learning project over my favorite holiday- the Fourth of July, Independence Day!! I love the 4th for so many reasons: warm temperatures, you can wear shorts and flip-flops, parades, candy, FIREWORKS, and, of course, wonderful food!

Over the previous few weeks, I “researched” what to serve my guests. Pinterest gave me some great ideas!

Flavored Ice Cubes These were a HUGE hit! I thought they would be cute, but I didn’t realize they would be a crowd favorite! Almost every single person that came over tried it and then drank them the rest of the day! 

Stained Glass Jello I couldn’t believe how easy this was to make and how adorable it was. (Also, very delicious!) I was worried about how the white part would taste or feel, but it was good too! 

Monster Cookies These Monster Cookies have been my “secret recipe” for a year or two now and are a hit every single time I serve them! I even took them to some of my classes this year as surprise rewards and the students LOVED them! They are so soft and delicious! Only 4 were left when everyone went home! 

Apple Snicker Salad I was also surprised by how much everyone loved this! Somehow my mother-in-law heard about it and asked for some to be brought to her!  I changed mine slightly from the recipe- I put in one less apple and I left off the caramel sauce.  I love caramel, but I didn’t want it to be overpoweringly sweet! Apparently it worked! 😉 My Hubby was quite disappointed that it was all gone that night. (Sorry, no picture available! It was eaten too quickly!)

Fruit Salad This was self-explanatory and I just used the fruits that I liked and bought last week! It included watermelon, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries.  I liked being able to offer a healthy treat to anyone that wanted it! 

With the left over blackberries and strawberries, I made Hubby and I smoothies last night.  It’s a slightly less guilty treat for us!

Helpful Hint: After I made the jello, I realized I should wipe out the microwave.  It was SO easy to clean! Apparently getting some water to boil creates a lovely steam that then eases sticked on food! It all wiped right out! So next time you need to clean your microwave, make yourself a jello treat first! 😉

When I was on Facebook, I saw this amazing video! #goals! I’m hoping to do a cake in the next couple of weeks to try out my skills!

I hope you all had a wonderful, save 4th! 🙂