Raisins are packed with vitamins and are especially rich in iron!

1 pkg refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough
1 pkg refrigerated sugar cookie dough
2 cups M&M’s Milk Chocolate Mini Baking Bits
1 cup Rice Crispies
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl, combine peanut butter dough and 1 cup of the M&M’s Mini Baking Bits and 1/2 of the cereal. Remove dough to a small bowl. Next, in a large bowl, combine sugar dough and cocoa powder until well blended. Stir in remaining cup of M&M’s and remaining 1/2 cup of cereal. Remove half the dough to a small bowl and set aside.

Combine half of the peanut butter dough with half of the chocolate dough by folding together just enough to marble. Shape marbled dough into 8×2 inch logs. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut dough into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet and remove and let cool on wire racks.

When making oatmeal cookies, be sure to use old fashioned rolled oats.  Do not use instant or quick cooking oatmeal.

A fluted pastry wheel or pizza cutter is a handy tool for cutting strips of dough for braided or lattice tops pie crusts.

When making cream puffs, make sure that your oven is 425 degrees for the first 20 minutes, so that steam can cause the “puffing” action.

When making cream puffs, use a heavy duty whisk when whisking the cream puff mixture.  The dough will become very thick.

You can use a microwave to melt chocolate if needed.  Place the pieces of chocolate in a microwave dish and heat on Medium for about one minute per ounce.  Don’t wait for them to look melted — they tend to hold their shape when melted.  Stir about half way through the melting time and stir again when you take them out of the microwave.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve done these, but it’s my goal to get this up and going again. So without further ado, here’s today’s tip of the day:

When making a souffle, do NOT open the oven until near the end of the baking time. Otherwise, it may fall.

If you want a great summer snack, I’d recommend getting your hands on some of these Skinny Cow sandwiches!

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 inch square glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

Brown the sausage and onion. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Heat to boiling and reduce heat. Cook 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add in cooked pasta. Stir and then pour into baking dish.

Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray and place sprayed side down on the baking dish. Bake 15 minutes.

Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered 5-10 minutes.