Peep S'Mores

The Marshmallow Peeps are likely to be on sale tomorrow. Want to do something fun?

This might be the first thing I ever pinned & did from Pinterest - and we LOVED it last year, so we did it again this year. The original pin was from here (and her pictures are much better than mine!)

Get some chocolate bars (I use dark chocolate because it's yummy), graham crackers, and peeps of your choice. Put half a graham cracker on a plate (I make 4 at once), top it with a square of chocolate, and a peep.

Stick them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds. Your kids may want to watch...the peeps blow up really big (don't over cook, the graham crackers will scorch.)

Then you just plop the other half of the graham cracker on there, and enjoy.

You should do this, it's a fun Spring/Easter treat.

And if you do, then your kids too can get this messy: 

Unless of course, they're OCD like our youngest. In which case, they'll get marshmallow on their hands, freak out, and be so obsessed with getting it off they won't eat a bite.

PINNED IT AND DID IT: Pinterest Recipe Round Up

Not to many kids' crafts going on around here right now, with traveling and birthdays. But I'm definitely not neglecting Pinterest. Thought I'd share a few of the many Pinterest-inspired things I've done over the past few weeks... basically a listing of really awesome recipes. We've had some great luck, these are some of the best recipes I've ever tried. But it's not all recipes...

For starters, much of Tobin's Knights and Dragons birthday party was ideas I found or got instructions for through Pinterest.

And there's always this idea, which I can't even find the pin for anymore - but you should TOTALLY pin it, or at least remember it next time you're boiling:

Did you know that when you are boiling something - pasta, potatoes, etc. - if you put a wooden spoon over the pot, it won't boil over? I've been doing this for months, and I've only had a boil-over one time. In that case, I already knew I had way too much water in the pan (I was making noodles), and was in the process of grabbing a hot pad to pour some of the water out. So if you don't overfill your pot, it works like a charm. Amazing.

If you are facebook friends with me, you know I've been looking for kid-friendly fish recipes. I've been reading at Raising Healthy Eaters that most kids don't get nearly enough DHA, so I'd love to serve more fish. I pinned this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, The Frugal Girl, and it was the first fish recipe I introduced to the family.

This was a HIT. You should totally make this. It's actually a LOT like our favorite Asian dish, Taiwanese 3 Cup Chicken, so I think my boys were preloaded to like it. Tobin is not picky at all (he'll try anything) but hasn't ever liked fish. But he asked for seconds of this, and said, "I LOVE THIS MEAT!" I served it with brown rice, and doubled the sauce because I could tell from the recipe that the boys would love it.

Speaking of hits...

This little baby went viral on Pinterest a few months ago. I've made a few chicken enchilada recipes, and we haven't really loved any of them. But this:

...was INCREDIBLE. So very yummy. Matt ate the leftovers the next day and texted me: "Leftover chicken enchiladas tasted SO GOOD. Make a double batch next time please." I highly recommend this recipe!

I was a little sad I didn't try it earlier... Primarily because I've been limiting Micah's dairy intake. I'm not going totally dairy free, I just think it's hard on his system, so we're using alternative milk, yogurt, and cheese, and have cut out sour cream (wish I could find some non-dairy yogurt that wasn't fruit flavored, because I'm sure I could substitute that for sour cream. But so far, no luck.)

BUT...I was able to make this for Micah, and he liked it. I put 2 of the enchiladas in a smaller container, and instead of mixing grated cheese into the chicken as the recipe calls for, I used goat cheese.

The sauce started with a white sauce/roux, then you add in chicken broth, green chilis, and sour cream. After adding the broth, I separated out a fourth cup, added some green chilis, then melted another medallion of goat cheese in there. His sauce was a little thicker than ours, but he still gobbled his enchiladas up, both for dinner and then leftover for lunch the next day. WIN.

I did the same thing with another viral-on-Pinterest recipe, Baked Chicken Parmesan.

I'm not really a fan of Chicken Parmesan - I don't like how the breading on the chicken gets all soggy in the sauce. But I liked this. I didn't love it (not like the enchiladas, at least), but the rest of the family did (which is what I expected.) And I'm likely to make this again, whereas I'm not ever going to go to all the work of making Chicken Parmesan the normal way, because I don't care for it.

 I did the same thing for Micah with this one... I made a smaller portion with one chicken breast for him. I crumbled up the goat cheese instead of all the shredded cheese in the original recipe. I only used one medallion, but if I made it again, I would use two - I think it could use more cheese. This one wasn't quite as easy to adapt as the enchiladas, but yet again: Micah was perfectly happy.

 Next up... Cookie Dough Dip. We have a meeting of our college leaders every few months, and they've come to expect queso & chips and M&Ms. For our last meeting, we were in the mood for something different. So I made my friend Emily's AWESOME buffalo chicken dip (which has become MY buffalo chicken dip), and this yummy dip, which I'd noticed in my friend Sally's instagram feed.

 It was delish, although a little sweet for me. I think when I make it again (because I WILL make it again) I'll leave out the heath bits the recipe uses, I think I'd like a more pure cookie-dough flavor. But that didn't stop me from finishing off the leftovers the day after the meeting, so....

Lastly, two Pinterest standbys. I make these oven fries once a month, maybe?

But the broccoli? Every week...every time I buy broccoli, I make it this way. IT IS SO YUMMY. I wish I'd had some to make for dinner tonight.

Seriously. The best broccoli ever. Make it now.

Easy Peasy Kid Treat: Waffle Sandwiches!

OK. This is a super fun kid treat. Not healthy at all, but a fun treat when you're looking for something special or just different.

Tobin recently found a Pampered Chef kids' cookbook that we received as a wedding gift. He's been begging me to make some of the recipes for him. We had all of the ingredients for this one, and it was one of his top requests - so I told him we could make it.

And then he asked me every day for a week or more, and I kept putting him off - our mornings didn't lend themselves to having this for breakfast. Finally last weekend we decided to get creative with our lunch.


All you need is:
2 Frozen waffles (the recipe calls for mini waffles, but I had chocolate chip Eggo ones)
Peanut butter
Jelly
Banana

(See? If you're like me and keep frozen waffles around for an occasional easy breakfast, you probably have all of these things on hand today.)

Toast your waffles, and cut them in fourths. Spread 4 fourths with peanut butter, and 4 fourths with jelly. Place banana slices on each peanut butter fourth, and cover with the jelly fourth.

Set them before your 4 year old and have him jump up, throw his arms around your waist and say, "I WUV YOU MOM!"

** Sorry about the see-food. He was pretty excited. :)

If your kids are a little older, they could totally make this with you or by themselves. But my two + peanut butter always results in a mess. And Luke thinks waffles and bananas are gross. So I did the assembly myself.

Peanut Butter Cup...Cupcakes

Y'all. These were so delicious. I have to share.

They were inspired by a recipe I pinned from an awesome feature on Babble, "15 Dessert Recipes in a Jar" (serious yumminess.) I really wanted to do a dessert in a jar, so I picked several of these for Luke to choose from for his birthday dinner. It was no contest: Peanut Butter filled, chocolate covered cupcakes? Sold. Here's the original recipe:

 However... After my Nutella banana bread disappointment, I was nervous. These were for company, and I didn't want an untested cake recipe. Also...the recipe makes 12, and I needed 15.

So... I went with a tried and true, family favorite recipe for Chocolate Bundt cake as the base (thinking this would also increase the amount, since the Bundt cake is bigger than a normal cake).

Then I used the concept of the cake in a jar, and the peanut butter/powdered sugar mixture for the filling, and the chocolate topping from the recipe above. And I got magic.

Here's the recipe I used:

1 Chocolate cake mix (I used Ducan Hines Devil's Food)
1 package instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1/2 c oil
1/2c water
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

For the peanut butter filling:
1c peanut butter
1 1/2c powdered sugar

8-10oz dark chocolate (you need 1/2 oz for each jar)

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, and water. Fold in sour cream & vanilla.

In a separate bowl, blend peanut butter & powdered sugar. (I had to add some extra peanut butter - I added by the tablespoon until it wasn't crumbly, and I could roll it into balls.) Form into balls - as many as you need for the number of jars you're making (I'd recommend 12.)

 Spray your mason jars. Put 1/4c of cake batter in each jar. Then push a peanut butter ball into each jar. Cover with batter - because I was stretching my batter, I used my 1/8c measure, and I had to really scrape to get all of the balls covered. I think I'd like these even better if they were in 12 jars and the jars were a little more full.

Bake @ 350 for 25 minutes and then check, and continue to bake for 5 minute increments until the tops spring back when you touch them. I ended up baking mine for 35 minutes. I found that it was easiest to bake them on a baking sheet, so it was easier to take them in and out of the oven.

Once they are done, remove from oven. Place 1/2 oz dark chocolate on top of each cake. I used this:

If you're OCD like me, and you bought chocolate that has a seal or imprint, put that face down. Otherwise you'll obsess that it's not disappearing as the chocolate melts.

The original recipe says to place the chocolate on and then seal with the lid and ring (holding the jars with a towel, because they'll be hot). I don't know why you have to seal the jars, but it is fun to hear them pop and seal.

As the chocolate melts, swirl the jars around (using a towel again) so that the entire top of the cake is covered. I had to kind of shake and jiggle, but the chocolate did eventually melt and cover the entire top of most of the cakes.

You can store these in your fridge for up to a week. I made them the day before. Then stuck a candle in for our birthday boy and dug in!

I am in love with this dessert. The creamy peanut butter filling in the dense, moist chocolate cake, with that hard layer of dark chocolate on top? Delicious. If you don't like really rich, chocolatey desserts, then this is not the dessert for you. As an added bonus: Mason Jars. Love.

** I checked my pudding box, and it doesn't say anything about wheat or gluten. Assuming that's gluten free, using a gluten free cake mix as the base makes this recipe golden for my GF friends.

PINNED IT & DID IT: Nutella Banana Bread

Don't get excited, it didn't come out that great (user error??)

I've had this pinned for a while, and I was super excited to try it because it involves nutella. I love nutella

(** Pinterest question: Has anyone tried to make the homemade nutella that was pinned by every person in the world 6 months ago? My SIL pinned it and tagged me. And then zillions of people repinned it without removing the tag, so I got zillions of notices. And then I learned how to turn off email notifications, because who has time for that?)

Anyhow... Here's mine:

It looks lovely, doesn't it? And it really is too bad the iPhone hasn't developed smello-vision technology, because it smelled WONDERFUL.  But... it wasn't that great.

Basically it's a standard banana bread recipe. You remove about a third of the batter and mix nutella into it. then you layer them in the pan and swirl. I don't know if I just didn't split the batter into thirds accurately, or if I didn't swirl it enough.

But the Nutella-less part was over cooked and super dry (the top got very brown, almost burned.) The part with Nutella was an ooey gooey mess. A delicious ooey gooey mess, but it was liquid. Luke refused to eat it (he thinks undercooked banana bread has the consistency of bananas. And he thinks the consistency of bananas is disgusting.)

Next week I'm going to try again (assuming we have some soft bananas around to use - I used the last ones from the freezer in this, and our family EATS BANANAS now. By the bushel it seems. Blame it on Africa.) I'm pretty picky about banana bread recipes, and have a favorite (I think a lot of recipes come out too dry.) I'm going to use my standard recipe, and try to swirl the Nutella part in more thoroughly. I'll probably also separate out more of the batter so the Nutella part isn't quite as nutella-full.

Next on my pinterest to-do list is this:

I picked out a couple of desserts in a jar as options for Luke's family birthday party on Sunday, kind of hoping that he'd pick the molten lava cake option. But you can't compete with peanut butter & chocolate in this family. This was the winner hands down.