Chocolate Covered Potato Chips.

We went to a friend's house for NYE and I wanted to bring a fun dessert. So, after looking through my Yum Yum & Fun pinterest board, I happened upon ..... chocolate covered potato chips.  And alas, my fun dessert was found.














Unfortunately, the link to the recipe didn't work, but the picture inspired me, so I decided to make up my own.  And away we go....

Ingredients:
12 oz bag Lays Lightly Salted Potato Chips

1 bag of Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Grinder of Coarse Sea Salt

Directions:
1. Pour entire bag of chocolate chips into double boiler over boiling water
2. Stir chips frequently with a spatula until completely melted
3. Dip approximately 1/3 of each potato chip into chocolate mix
4. Place chips onto wax paper and grind a pinch of sea salt onto each chip
5. Chill in refrigerator
6. Enjoy!!

Here's a look at the finished product. They were delicious!

Some Observations/Takeaways:
1. Must improve my double boiler/melting experience (had a few incidents of water bubbling over and it seemed to take a long time to really melt/get smooth) - any tips, reader friends? Advice, please!
2. Might try with Ruffles (or another thicker chip), just to see how that impacts the chocolate/chip ratio
3. Consider unsalted chips, or without sea salt (if looking to keep the sodium intake down)
4. Loved the semi-sweet chocolate, but want to try milk chocolate and dark chocolate for other variations

YUM. Highly recommend!

My little superhero, the cookie lover.

I haven't posted any Halloween pictures of my little Super Why yet, but here's a sneak peek of his costume.

Here's the little Superhero very much enjoying a delicious cookie that he decorated. We were at a fantastic Halloween event, Bubbleween

We had just decorated our cookies, and I turned around for a second, to turn back and see Buddy immediately and quickly devouring his treat.  I quickly followed with the cookie I had just decorated. He is definitely like his momma!

Super Cookie.

More Halloween pics to come soon!  

Linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Cupcakes: Crumbs vs. Sprinkles.

Ok, time to talk cupcakes. I love them. All kinds.  And there are so many cupcake shops, but let's go straight to the big three: Crumbs, Magnolia and Sprinkles.

Which is the best?

I unequivocally vote for Crumbs.  If you've been here before, you'll know that I have raved about the Ba Ba Booey Crumbs Cupcake. It is divine. DIVINE.

Others prefer Magnolia, which I am not a fan of - at all. And many people love Sprinkles, so the other night, I was nearby, and decided to give Sprinkles a whirl.  I knew that I've had Sprinkles in the past, but I honestly couldn't remember.

Not a great sign for a cupcake.

I ordered the Carrot Cupcake and it was good, no doubt about it.  But it's no Crumbs.

So, since it was so long ago that I had Magnolia, I'd like to knock them out of this conversation and talk a little more about Crumbs vs. Sprinkles and the reasons why Crumbs wins my cupcake war.

Summer treats.

Little boy at a big table.

Summer treats! Yum! That's the subject of this week's (week 28) p.52 photo challenge.

We were visiting my grandma last weekend and amazingly, at 99, she is still setting out snacks and serving them to us when we visit.  The snacks usually consist of (see inset image): a small bowl of bugles (LOVE), a small bowl of Chex snack mix and her delicious bagel cookies (subject of this post). Sometimes a plate of kiwi or a dish of chocolates are part of the spread as well.

She has a specialty known as "bagel cookies" -- not sure exactly why they are called "bagel cookies", but they are. They are braided and twisted sugar-esque cookies and I grew up loving them. When my grandma used to live in Florida and would come to visit us, she'd bring dozens of bagel cookies for each of her children and present each family with a giant tinfoil package of her delicious cookies.

And now, anytime we visit, out comes a little plate of bagel cookies.  So, it was really fun when the little guy reached the age where he could taste the bagel cookies. And he loved them immediately! (I know, I should not be giving him cookies. But I find it very hard to say no to him ... but that's another post!).

So, every time we go, he happily grabs a few cookies and noshes away.  Here he is, enjoying one of his Summer Treats, aka Bubi's Bagel Cookies.

Mmmmmm.....cookie!

Toddler meal idea: a smorgasboard.

I've been trying to come up with new meal ideas for Buddy and on Monday, I remembered something I had pinned to my "good ideas" Pinterest board a few months back.

Toddler Buffet

The creator called it a "toddler buffet".  The idea - quite simple and quite fun.

1. Search your kitchen for a variety of healthy, fun and colorful foods

2. Fill each tray with the different food items 
     -make sure everything is bite sized!
     -if you can't think of (or don't have 18 different items, feel free to repeat!

 3. Present delightful meal to your child!

So, I thought I'd give it a try.  I named mine the "Smorgasboard".  Take a look:

My Smorgasboard

And here's a list of the items I included (I repeated some items a few times, as I could not come up with 18 bite sized items that are toddler friendly).

1. goldfish crackers
2. raspberries
3. blackberries
4. Joes O's from Trader Joe's
5. cheddar cheese
6. peas
7. tomatoes
Buddy liked it (see pic below)!

Buddy with his Smorgasboard

It was fun for both of us - a bit of a scavenger hunt for me to find food to fill the tray and fun for Buddy. 

(But I must be honest; he only ate three of the items - the raspberries, blackberries and tomatoes. But he's eaten and likes all of the items in there. Maybe he was just in the mood for fruit (tomato is technically a fruit I believe).

I definitely recommend this as a great option when you're out of options! Or just looking for a fun meal.

Pear & Feta Salad and Trader Joe's Cornbread. Yum.

We had a great BBQ this past weekend.  And I'm very excited because I contributed to the menu.  Since most of you don't know me, you would not know that I don't really cook. I would like to, and the few times I have, I've enjoyed it and felt great satisfaction when my items have turned out and tasted good!  I guess I think either it's overwhelming to cook or I don't feel like I have time.

So, I didn't exactly "cook" for the BBQ but I made two delicious items - salad and cornbread. And both were big hits! Very exciting for me.  Let's start with the salad.

I knew I wanted a salad with feta, and thought the addition of a fruit and nuts would make for a nice light salad.  After considering green apples, strawberries, mandarin oranges and pears, I opted for pears.  Feta and candied walnuts seemed like a nice fit with the pear, and my new signature dish was created.

Pear & Feta Salad

Ingredients:
One pear
Feta Cheese
Candied Walnuts
Mixed Greens
Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients in large bowl
2. Add dressing & toss
3. Serve

And here is a look at the finished product:

Yum. I love the mix of sweet & salty. And the feta and candied walnuts offset the pear and balsamic so nicely.  And for someone who doesn't cook much, you can imagine how thrilled I was when both of my sister-in-laws asked me for seconds - and declared it delicious!  So proud, the next day I recreated the salad for our sitter, and she too asked for seconds! 

And now, on to the cornbread.

Trader Joe's Cornbread

Ingredients:

Cornbread mix

One egg

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Beat egg, milk and oil together.

What kind of oil? What kind of milk? Good questions. I used whole milk and olive oil.

2. Add cornbread mix and .... mix!

3. Pour into desired pan/tin and cook for 35-40 minutes

I used a muffin tin.

4. Take out, cool and serve

And here is  look at the finished product:

Tasty Cornbread!

   

I really want to commit to "cooking" more. Whether it's preparing from a mix, making a salad, baking or serving up a dish uniquely -- I want to do it more.  So if you have any great recipes, or easy to make (or prepare) dishes, I'd love to hear about them!

In sum, I really recommend making (& eating) the pear & feta salad. It really was so delicious.  I think you'll love it.  And go to Trader Joe's for the cornbread mix too!

Enjoy.

P.52 photo challenge: week 12.

Hunger is this week's p.52 theme.  I decided to show the little guy eating, since he loves food and is a hungry little fella.

Buddy loves the whole dining experience and will pretty much eat everything. Definitely not picky. In fact, his favorite foods are fruits and vegetables.

While i was trying to pick a photo to use, I noticed I had an awful lot of pics of buddy eating. So instead of choosing just one, I decided to go with a whole montage of buddy eating pics.

Hope you enjoy them as much as he is enjoying himself!

waffles

puffs

raspberries

applesauce

ice cream

his hand

Simple pleasure: Ben & Jerry's 'What a Cluster'.

Trust me when I tell you this flavor is A-mazing.  It's A-mazing.  Ben & Jerry's 'What a Cluster' is anything but.

What it is -- pure bliss.  It was previously known as Clusterfluff, is basically impossible to stop eating and is just as tasty as it comes.

Here's the scoop :) on what makes up "What a Cluster":

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Caramel Cluster Pieces

Marshmallow Swirls

Peanut Buttery Swirls

Try it. You will like.

A good time to try it is on Tuesday, April 3rd -- because it's Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's! If you live near a Ben & Jerry's, that's free ice cream for you!! Enjoy.

Cookie starts with C. And J is for Joe-Joe's.

Have you ever had them? They are amazing cookies from Trader Joe's.  And they are delicious.  Capital D.  And so addicting.

When they are in my house, after every meal, I find myself thinking about them. Seriously.  After every single meal, I just think - mmmmm, Joe Joe's.  Kinda like cookie monster.

I feel like this:

Me Want Cookies!