mamachallenge | Real Solutions for Real Parents | Dallas Blog

Real Solutions for Real Parents by Autumn Rose Reo

Valentine’s Day Inspired Treats

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As a periodic TV contributor, the folks at WFAA ABC-8 Good Morning Texas invite me on to highlight some of the best (and the worse) that Pinterest has to offer. This time we’re talking Valentine’s Day Inspired Treats!  

Affiliate links included in this post.

No matter the topic, whether’s it’s been Peppermint, Pumpkin or (melted) Margarita Pie, I have try to show viewers how they too can look like they spent four hours to whip up a delectable dessert or delicious dinner with no more than a couple of minutes, $5 dollars and a roll of twine (or maybe that was MacGyver.)

And while Pinterest has given many of us some amazing ideas, I’m sure we’ve all come across a few of those that didn’t quite work out like the picture says it will. That’s where I come in! I mean nobody’s got time for wasting time and money on a project that isn’t going to be nothing less than perfect!


With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it means mom’s arsenal of everything fun, adorable and cute and thoughtful better be stocked with good ideas that will get your points across the board. So I’ve selected some of the most creative ideas on Pinterest I thought were so cool, but didn’t know exactly if they would be fabulous or a total flop.

Heart-shaped Cinnamon Rolls 
Probably one of the easiest and quickest of my Pinterest finds were heart-shaped cinnamon rolls! Using your own recipe or my “homemade recipe” (read: Pillsbury), you can make a heartfelt sweet treat for breakfast in less than 15 minutes! 

Ingredients

Favorite Cinnamon Roll brand (just make sure your preference is in a spiral shape)

 
Directions
Just unroll the cinnamon roll into one long piece of dough and then begin rolling them back up on both ends. Then place them in a pan and pinch the center into a point to create a heart! Cook them as directed. Once they come out of the oven allow them to cool. Then add a little red food coloring to the icing to create the ultimate Valentine’s breakfast!

Mini-Apple Pies
My husband loves pie, but I don’t like to make a big pie as we will both end up eating on it all week, and I’ll gain three pounds from “tasting it.” So instead we prefer just a little pie so he gets all the best part of the pie without making enough to feed an army. When I found the cutest heart-shaped pie press online and came across the most amazing apple pie filling from Mr. Wittle’s Fine Foods, I knew there was a pie in the making! 

Ingredients

Directions
Unroll the pie dough and cut out two hearts of the same size with the cookie cutter. Fill one side of the heart with a little bit of filling without over-filling. Lay the other heart over the top and use a fork to pinch the two hearts together to form a crust. Lightly brush the egg wash on top of the crust. Place in the oven at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the crust is golden. 

To download this graphic, click here for the free downloadable PDF. 

And since I wanted to make him feel special, I even made a little Valentine’s Day card to go with it so he will always be the “apple to my pie.” (Now you can have pie and a Valentine’s card made in less than 25 minutes and a few ingredients. 

Bacon Roses
Roses may be the way to my heart, but if I ordered a dozen roses to his job on the Big V, I don’t think he’d be a happy camper. But bacon roses are a whole other ballgame!  I’d seen several photos for bacon roses, but they seemed so tedious. 

I was SO wrong. 

In less than an hour I had a beautiful dozen bacon roses for my honey and he (and the kids) loved them!

Ingredients

  • Package of Bacon (I got a large package for my project!) 
  • Mini-muffin pan (everyone should have at least one of these! So useful! for so many things!) 
  • 2-3 fake-flower bundles (Dollar stores or craft stores have these for around $1) 
  • Toothpicks
  • Vase
Directions
Roll bacon into a tight spiral like a rose and place into a mini-muffin pan fatty-side down.) 
Cook bacon for 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees in the oven. Half-way through cooking taking the pan out and drain the grease. When the bacon is cooked (nice and dark), allow it to cool so you can handle. 
 
In the meantime, remove all the petals from the rose bundles. Take a tooth pick and poke into the flower stem to create a pointed end for the bacon rose to be secured. When you’ve finished place a rose on each stem, place in a vase for giving! 

And don’t miss my favorite featured Pinterest challenge with the heart pound cake! 
 

And there’s so much more, so make sure you follow me on Pinterest for lots more Mama Challenge fun! 

 

Lasagna: The Perfect Recipe for New Moms {Recipe}

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Note: I received my own Lasagna kit from Red Gold and you can too, just keep reading to find out more.  

When I gave birth the first go-around, I remember a friend who was kind enough to bring me over a lasagna to help with dinner. I can still remember not only how delicious it was, but how it kept me fed for almost a week – especially late at night when my little one decided he needed to get us both up for a few hours. 


Now it’s my turn to bring a meal to one of my friends who just had a baby. However, it’s not just because lasagna is delicious and as Anelle would say “freezes beautifully,” but that this recips is full of several nutrient-rich foods that are needed for a new mom, especially when she has a little one that she’s feeding, too. 


According to WebMd, there are 12 Super-Foods for New Moms including: 

  1. Leafy greens like Spinach
  2. Low-fat Dairy: Cottage Cheese and Mozzarella Cheese
  3. Whole-Wheat Grains like Pasta
  4. Lean Protein like Turkey 

So my Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups are like the super food for new moms – and all in one dish! And did I mention there was less than 20 minutes required to whip these up?  Which makes it my go-to meal for taking over to friends along with a bag of salad, and a loaf of garlic bread!


SPINACH LASAGNA ROLL-UPS

Ingredients

1 (28 ounce) can Red Gold® Crushed Tomatoes, or 2 (15 ounce) cans
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Red Gold® Diced Tomatoes With Basil, Garlic & Oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt to taste
1 (16 ounce) box lasagna noodles, traditional, uncooked
1 (6 ounce) package fresh spinach, washed and patted dry
1 (15 ounce) carton low fat cottage cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions

  • Preheat over to 350o F. 
  • In a large bowl combine water, RED GOLD® CRUSHED TOMATOES, RED GOLD® DICED TOMATOES with BASIL, GARLIC & OREGANO and Italian seasoning.
  • Boil the lasagna noodles making sure they don’t stick. Once cooked, lay each noodle on a sheet of wax paper until ready to roll. 
  • Cover the bottom of a 9x13x2 inch baking pan with 1½ cups of sauce mixture. Take one noodle and then add a layer of cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and then a handful of spinach leaves.  Tightly roll up the noodle into a roll and place seem-side down. Continue until the dish is full. Then add the rest of the sauce. Next layer the top with mozzarrella cheese. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese.
  • Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 to 1½ hours; until noodles are cooked. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
  • The recipe makes 12 servings, but you could divide the recipe into two 9×9 inch baking dishes and freeze one! 



Red Gold Premium Tomatoes is having a Lasagna Party Sweepstakes on Facebook – until Wednesday, Feb. 5! You can win some great stuff including gift cards, lasagna kit, and other fun prizes! So check out http://www.facebook.com/RedGold.




#GoGoPlayfully with Go Go squeeZ Play Day, January 11 at 1:11 p.m.

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With just one week in the 2014 hopper, many of us are working to be: 

 Better at being active 
Better at healthy eating 
Better at quality time enjoying life – living playfully!


 This Saturday on January 11, Go Go squeeZ is launching its first GoGo Play Day to jumpstart the new year across the U.S. including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Aspen, Boston, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, San Francisco, DALLAS, and the Bay Area! We are celebrating with free products and exciting surprises at fun events of how people are choosing to live playfully and capture it with photos, videos, and storytelling. Plus, we’re calling 1:11 p.m., the official kick-off to a playful year. That’s when we’ll be unleashing coast-to-coast playful experiences showing the world what being playful really means.

As an ambassador for Go Go squeeZ, I’d love to invite you to celebrate with us! 

 We’d love you to be involved with our Play Day campaign!  We are looking for fun and unique events and activities going on Saturday, January 11.

  • Join us in participating in a Play Day event or host your own event – even if it’s your sports activity, playing at the park or just having fun with Go Go squeeZ
  • Play with us on January 11 at 1:11pm by sharing something fun 1-11 on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! with @Gogoplayfully @squeezsquad #Texas
  • Get your own Go Go squeeZ redeemable for discounted GoGosqueeZ redeemable on Jan. 11 only.
With Go Go squeeZ, there are 10 flavors to enjoy whenever and wherever you GoGo, including: AppleCinnamon, AppleStrawberry, ApplePear and AppleBerry and many more. Our innovative, re-sealable packaging allows kids, big and small, to snack spoon-free and get their play on. And every pouch is gluten, nut, and dairy-free!


Looking for some fun ideas to starting celebrating? 

 Here’s 7 Ways to Have the Most Playful Week Ever from Go Go squeeZ

 It might cold outside, so considering cooking up some Go Go squeeZ fun for a great way for the family to involved with delicious Apple Cinnamon Muffins from 7 on a Shoestring! 

Or see how to make some colorful Apple Cinnamon pancakes from ME, Mama Challenge, on Good Morning Texas! 

 


 Valentine’s Day is just around the corner? Get moving on those Valentines for the classroom with this BERRY adorable idea from A Nerd’s Wife!

So how do you #GoGoPlayfully? 
Let us know this Saturday at 1:11 p.m!

Organize and Digitize Handwritten Recipes to Your Own Online Cookbook

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Note: I was provided complimentary services for purposes of this review. 

Over the hustle and bustle of holiday cooking I became nostalgic for smells and tastes for Grandma’s banana bread and other recipes that made up my childhood. While I had written down many of them over the years, calling her at the last minute for her recipe for meatloaf or the special ingredient she put in her macaroni and cheese, I realized that most of her recipes as well as other handed-down family recipes, were all still captured in a small red metal box. 


When I had the chance to look in the box, I loved looking at the handwriting, the fragile personalized recipes cards women used before the days of home printers or even typewriters, and the other little notes on the recipes that reminded her of how grandpa liked it or that special touch that had made it her own. For a family engrained in food as much as ours, this little box was more like a piece of history over Christmases and family long gone than utility. 

As wonderful as the box was, I wanted to use recipes, too. But if I used these recipes while I cooked they would be covered in grease and flour in no time, so I needed to record them for my own use and protect their original source. And even more so, I wanted to be able to share them with the rest of my family. However, the time it would take to transcribe, input and format the recipes wasn’t something I had a lot of time for, much less where I would upload them and be searchable.



With Dish Dish, members can digitize their recipes in an online cookbook – easily accessible from any computer or mobile device (using their iPad/iPhone App – and Android app to follow soon). This allows you to store recipes, search, add photos, add notes, keep private when preferred or search other Dish Dish members’ recipes, make shopping lists, plan menus, print, share over social media or email, and access all of this while at home or on the go.


Dish Dish offers a free account that includes many great features. However, the Pro account for only $19/year includes access to the menu planner, special printing options, decorative printing templates, embedding videos with recipes (you can be your own Food Network star), adding multiple photos with recipes, and the opportunity to have 20 recipes transcribed/uploaded for the member by scanning, mailing, faxing or emailing. And Dish Dish is also including a free trial to the Dish Dish recipe importer tool so take the time out of uploading your own recipes! 

Take a look at my family cookbook here. I can’t wait to try the Greek Chicken with Pine Nut Dressing and the Bohemian Coffee Cake! I’m planning to make each of these dishes this year and upload a photo to accompany the recipe! 



What a great way to organize those recipes and then have the opportunity to share them with your family members as an online cookbook throughout the year! And even better, you could download your online cookbook as a PDF so you could print out the recipes once they’ve been uploaded for useful and thought cookbook gift for Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving or next Christmas. 

Check out http://dishdish.us to begin organizing and creating your online cookbook today! 

Bring Joy to the Holiday Table with Christmas Eve Lasagna {Recipe}

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This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Barilla, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #JoytotheTable  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.


During the holidays my family gets to do the HOLIDAY HOP – meaning we spend most of it traveling from one family’s home to another to celebrate Christmas. Since we are either in commute or opening gifts, there’s not a lot of spare time for me to cook up delicious favorites or even help create dinner with my family members at their homes. However, I don’t want to come empty handed, either. 

Easy to make, delicious to eat, there’s nothing better to freeze, quick to cook and good to travel than lasagna. Depending on my schedule I can plan to make it well in advance, freeze and then take out to bring where ever we are going so we are bringing some joy to the table! While you can enjoy Christmas Eve lasagna any day of the year, since the “main event” is normally on Christmas Day, we try to make things easy for everyone on Christmas Eve with a little taste of Italy. We serve lasagna, open up a bag of salad and throw a few loaves of garlic bread in the oven for a delicious meal that everyone loves. 

And of course, since it is Christmas, I couldn’t help but make it a true “Christmas Eve Lasagna” by adding a special kick with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes on the inside and a little holiday decoration on the top with pepperoni and fresh basil leaves from the back yard!) 


While I consider lasagna to be easy to make, depending on your number of savory ingredients like a red sauce, pasta and my favorite, cheese, can take some time. Everyone in my family has a different spin on what makes the perfect lasagna, so in this recipe, I put them all together to create our Christmas Eve Lasagna. Since it takes more than an hour to set the ingredients up for layering the lasagna, I take a shortcut with Barilla’s All-Natural Marinara sauce and Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne noodles (I get mine at Tom Thumb/Safeway stores). 

One of the best parts about lasagna is its versatility. You really can customize it with any ingredients you want to make it your own. And with the help of Barilla All-Natural Marinara sauce and Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne noodles to cut down on the time of preparation, you can personalize your lasagna to suit your family’s preferences and diet needs. Just check out Barilla’s “The Art of Lasagna” for more recipes to inspire you to create new and exciting ways to enjoy lasagna! 

And right now, you can get $1 off the purchase of ONE (1) box of Barilla® Lasagne and ONE (1) Barilla® Sauce at your local Tom Thumb/Safeway store!



To make my boys happy when I make Christmas Eve Lasagna, I actually use three different meats with Pepperoni, Italian Sausage and Turkey Meatballs.  


Next taking a hint from Christmas’ color scheme, I created a “pesto” with spinach and sun-tried tomatoes, which also adds a little helping of veggies to the dish.  Then to ensure that the lasagna doesn’t get dry from the freezer, the car, to the oven and to the table, I use cottage cheese (shhh!) in place of the ricotta!

CHRISTMAS EVE LASAGNA

Ingredients
1 box Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne
1 Jar Barilla Marinara Sauce (depending on your family’s preference use 2)
5 Italian sausage links (normally sold in a package)
1 package of Pepperoni (pre-sliced makes it easy and fun for the kids to help)
1 lb. Turkey Meat (85/20 works great, but any will do. Also, I used the Italian-seasoned meat to make it easier on me!)
1/2 onion, chopped
3-4 slices of bread (I used sandwich loaf) 
1/4 cup of milk
1 cup Parmesan Cheese (divided into 1/2 cup servings)
1/4 Italian bread crumbs
Italian seasonings (optional) 
1 bag of fresh Spinach 
7-8 Sun-dried Tomatoes (I used dried, but you could use store-bought in oil)
2-3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 container of Fat-Free Cottage Cheese
1 package of fresh Mozzarella Cheese, sliced
1 package of Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

Instructions

Make building your lasagna a snap but preparing all the layers in advance. 

1.  Meatballs (can be done ahead of time): 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl, tear bread into pieces and 1/4 cup of milk mixed together until it turns to a paste. Then add turkey meat, onions and seasonings and mix with your hands until it dry enough to form into 1/2 inch – 1 inch balls, but not so dry it doesn’t have any moisture. On a separate plate, roll each ball in parmesan cheese and bread crumb mixture.  

Place meatballs in a greased mini muffin pan for 30 minutes until browned. Once cooled, slice into halves. 

2. In a skillet, cook the Italian sausages (in their casings) until they are browned on all sizes. Allow them to cool and then slice them until into 1/4-1/2 inch circles. 

3.  To make the spinach pesto, combine a bag of fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in mixer until a fine paste. (If needed, add remaining olive oil to mixture if it seems to dry.) 

4. For cottage cheese layer, mix cottage cheese with parmesan cheese until a paste. 

[Now it’s time to build your lasagna!]

5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

6. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

7. For the bottom layer, pour 1/2 the sauce into the pan and spread evenly. 

8. Top sauce with 3 sheets of  Oven-Ready Lasagne. (It’s ok if it doesn’t cover the whole pan, it will expand while cooking.) Spread cottage cheese mixture on top of noodles. Add sliced Italian sausage. 

9. Cover with three more sheet of the Oven-Ready Lasagne. Spread Spinach pesto across the noodles. Now layer slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and cover with meatball halves (you will have some left over to nibble!) 

10. Cover layer with three more sheets of Oven-Ready Lasagne. Then add pepperoni slices on top until covered. Add remaining sauce and spread over pepperonis. 

11. Then add shredded mozzarella cheese until covered. (Optional: For fun, I added a basil leaf and pepperoni to make it festive.) 

12. Cover pan with foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes until gold and bubly. 

13. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving! 

###


 Barilla continues to bring joy to the table this month with their “30 Days of Joy” contest on Facebook. Each day you can discover tips, new recipes and have a chance to win amazing prizes like an espresso machine or a $1,500 gift card to Williams-Sonoma. You can enter everyday for the rest of the month, so make sure to set a reminder to head over to their Facebook daily. 

No matter what type of lasagna you make this Christmas or any day of the week, bring Joy to the Table with Barilla. 


Happy Holidays! 




Emeals Meal Planning Makes it Easy to Save Time and Money (Even at the Holidays) {Discount} {Recipe}

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Disclaimer: The post includes affiliate links. The opinions and comments here are all my own. I am acting in accordance with FTC guidelines. 

Unlike most moms I know, I actually LOVE to go to the grocery store. I like to peruse the aisle, dream of what meals to make and just get my hands on fresh vegetables, meats and just enjoy food at its best. Unfortunately, time doesn’t really allow for a two-hour trip for fun and certainly not the full list of necessary family things I have to buy before I enjoy my time. So I end up running in the store with 45 minutes to pick up $200 of groceries just to get home and not have anything to make for dinner. 


And at the holidays? I am that person running in the store at the nth hour throwing things in the cart and returning five more times before I get Thanksgiving on the table. At that point, I’m not so in love with the grocery store and I spent way more than the budget allows.  

 However, I just had found out there’s a better option for all this poor planning AND I can even save money in the long run with emeals. Recommended by budget guru Dave Ramsey, emeals sends you an email once a week a list of groceries and menus to make things easier (and cheaper) for you when you go to the grocery store. Basically, emeals takes all the work out of the work of going to the grocery store and allows me to enjoy it again. 

 Save 30% on all meal plans with code CYBER

 On a special diet or eating plan? No problem. They have choices based on your changing diet. From Paleo, Slow Cooker, or just Clean Eating – emeals has it covered. I appreciate having my time and money back by using emeals for all our meals – breakfast through dinner. And the holidays aren’t an exclusion either! Right now you can get a full holiday plan for free when you sign up with 15% discount to boot when you use this link. 


Can you imagine making Thankgsiving dinner easy and with one trip to the store? Or are you still trying to stay on a healthy plan without sacrificing Thanksgiving tradition? Just check out this recipe for clean eating Toasted Pecan Tart by emeals. (I can smell warm pecan pie baking as I think about it.) 


With all these options, emeals is a great choice for moms and dads looking to save time and money so they can spend it in the places it really counts. Unless you enjoy spending hours couponing and recipe planning, then emeals is definitely worth considering when you are looking to solve one of mama’s biggest challenges. 

Make it the BEST SATURDAY Ever with Superhero Saturday Cartoons {Printables} {Recipe}

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When I was growing up, waking up on Saturday morning was like practice for Christmas. 


 Going to sleep the night before you knew once you saw the crack of dawn the next morning, your favorite cartoons were all waiting for you to tune in to your heart’s delight – or at least until noon when they all called it quits until next weekend. 


Unfortunately, on-demand cartoons have changed that. Now kids are used to having cartoons whenever and wherever they like. While as a parent it makes things convenient, I do feel like something special about my childhood has been robbed from my children.

 However, this last Saturday, we created our own Saturday morning tradition with a “Super-Hero Saturday” watching Vortexx on The CW. 

 Super heroes like Flash, Superman, Spiderman, and The Green Lantern reign supreme when you have a five-year-old, so the Saban Brand’s Vortexx lineup with Justice League Unlimited and The Spectacular Spider-Man made for a perfect backdrop for our fun. But we decided to go to the next level!


 We made an occasion for the whole family! With a Super-hero breakfast party complete with crafts, costumes and a special super-hero themed menu! 

Download this template and many more!

As Justice League came on, my son sported his Batman pajamas while he created a matching mask (template attached) and arm shields (made with toilet paper rolls)! Meanwhile, I made breakfast – a “Green Lantern” cinnamon roll made with green sprinkles and a Flash Juice (see the recipe below.) 

Flash Juice

Ingredients
8 oz. Pomegranate or Cranberry Juice
1 oz. Ginger Ale
Whole Lemon

Instructions
Pour the juice and ginger ale over crushed ice. 
Then slowly remove the lemon peel until a large patch of peel is free from the fruit (at least a 1×1 inch swatch. Using a knife, cut the lemon peel like a lighting bolt and lay flat on top of the drink. 

Just hanging out with him for an hour, watching cartoons and making it an interactive experience was almost as much fun for me as it was for him. And he even thinks I’m a pretty super mama, too. 

Vortexx on The CW airs every Saturday morning from 7:00 a.m. to Noon Current programs on Vortexx include The Adventures of Chuck and Friends, Rescue Heroes, Sonic X, Bolts & Blip, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Justice League Unlimited, Dragon Ball Z Kai, B-Daman Crossfire, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. Fans of Vortexx on The CW don’t have to wait for Saturday mornings to unleash the fun of Vortexx. MyVortexx.com keeps kids entertained 24/7/365 with fun activities, games and full episodes. Vortexx also has a branded Video on Demand Channel by Kabillion. 
Follow the fun on social media with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 
Make Your Next Saturday Super!





Halloween Celebration Play Date Fun: Boo Bark, Spooky S’mores & Poison Punch {Recipes}

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As part of a sponsored campaign for Collective Bias®, I was inspired to create some fun and quick recipes for a Halloween play date using our favorite Mars candies, 7 UP and Hawaiian Punch. 
As I’ve been sharing on mamachallenge, I simply love Halloween. 

The decor, the fun and the candy make it a perfect opportunity to get together with family friends to catch up before the Christmas holidays. So we invited over a few of the neighbors for a little play date with a spooky celebration theme! 

 
The kids wanted to help with the party preparation fun, so we put on our aprons and began the creation fun! My little mad scientist (my 5 year-old) came up with the idea of Boo Bark; an inspiration from his recipe of Easter Day Bark. Using all his favorite Mars candies like Twix, Snickers, and M&Ms, he whipped together a delicious candy-coated treat, with a little help from mom (melting the chocolate.) 

#shop

 

Once in the Halloween spirit, he couldn’t stop himself! My little chef, wanted to have one more dessert for his party. Since he loves s’mores, he decided to make a Halloween S’mores using pumpkin marshmallows, Snickers miniatures and cinnamon-flavored graham crackers. I was surprised at how good they were and tasted just like Halloween! 

#shop

 

To wash it all down, we made up our own brew of “Poison Punch” with Hawaiian Punch, 7 UP and a little dab of sherbet for effect. We also used some other Halloween fun using juice ice cubes and gummi body parts to add a little more fun to the bow. Using a decorative cauldron and a fun little toy we found at the Halloween store, we were able to add a little spooky effect with fog. While you could opt to use dry ice instead of the vaporizer, we were able to find ANY anywhere, so this little device made it easy for us to use and could be used over and over. 

#shop

 

See? Having a little spooky celebration get-together can come together with little work or effort with just a few favorite ingredients! And best of all, after Halloween, what an easy way to use your leftover candy and create a treat perfect for giving in November (just change out your M&Ms for yellow, orange and brown.) 

 
Mars Variety Packs make getting ready for Trick or Treaters easy with Miniatures available in 230 pieces & Fun Size packs in 55 pieces.

 

#shop

 

Boo Bark

 Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 cups chocolate chips
16-20 Twix miniatures
15 Snickers miniatures, chopped 
20 bags M&Ms, separated into green, orange, brown 

Instructions
Line a cookie sheet with foil. Then spray the foil with cooking spray. 
Lay unwrapped Twix on the bottom of sheet spacing them out around 1-2 inches a part. 
Next either melt chocolate chips in the microwave or over the stove with a double boiler, until the chocolate has melted and pulls away from the pot. 
Pour chocolate over Twix bars on sheet. 
Place M&Ms over the top of chocolate bark. 
Then sprinkle Snickers over the top. 
Place chocolate pan in frigerator or freezer until firm. 
Break apart into pieces. 
Serve immediately or store in fridge until ready to gift. 
 
 
#shop

Poison Punch

 Ingredients
2 quarts Hawaiian Punch
2 cups 7 UP
1 cup sherbet (any flavor)
Gummi body parts

 Instructions
Refrigerate Hawaiian Punch and & 7 UP until ready to serve. 
Add to Hawaiian Punch and gummi body parts to a large bowl. 
Then add sherbet. 
Slowly add 7 UP to the bowl. 
Serve punch in a cauldron or other fun serving container! 

 

#shop
 

 

Celebrate Halloween & Dia de los Muertos with NEW SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts Cookbook {Recipe}

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I love Halloween. 

 However, with two little ones in a bilingual school, the shift of candy, horror films and slimy gore has turned into understanding the culture and history of Dia de los Muertos or “Day of the Dead.” 
In Latin America, on Dia de los Muertos, Nov. 1, the lives of the deceased are celebrated with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life.  The most familiar symbol of Dia de los Muertos are the calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls), that are often seen symbolizing the holiday. 

 Not always able to find ways to help my kids learn about Dia de los Muertos, I was excited to find this recipe in a new organic cookbook SPOOKtacular Gluten-Free Halloween Desserts.  A marriage made in heaven, this cookbook by Kanta and Vitura Barrios, also celebrates both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos through food with an added healthy bonus of gluten-free and dairy-free cooking. 


So I’m sharing the recipe the Barrios family has given my permission to share in hopes you too will appreciate and enjoy just one part of a beautiful, cultural event, Dia de los Muertos. 

MEXICAN CATRINAS & CALAVERAS (PECAN COOKIES)
(4 or 5 Catrinas and 6 Calaveras) 
INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup raw coconut oil or butter, softened
3/4 cup raw sugar (coconut or demerara sugar), pulverized
1 large egg
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 ½ cups quinoa flour (plus extra flour for rolling the dough)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
3/4 cup finely ground pecans (pecan meal)
Skull Template and Catrina Template and a gingerbread lady cookie cutter of a similar size
(for decorating)
2 batches Royal Icing (see page 6)
Food coloring in white, red, orange
Green, yellow, and black edible ink pen
Icing piping bags with #2 and #3 tips, 1 for white and another for the other colors
Edible orange sugar sparkles (plus any other color you like) a steady hand
ROYAL ICING (covers 6 – 8 cookies)
1 large egg white (could be pasteurized)
1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • Using an electric mixer, beat the egg white for a few seconds before adding the sugar and half of the lemon juice.
  • The icing’s consistency should be smooth and heavy cream-like.
  • Add the remaining lemon juice (and more if you feel it’s needed) one drop at a time. You may also add more sugar to suit your liking.
  • Just a few drops of liquid, more or less, will alter the icing’s consistency. 
  • We recommend a thicker icing for outlining the cookie, and thinner icing for filling out the inside.
  • Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla until the mixture is a creamy consistency.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and ground pecans.
  • Add the dry mixture to the oil mixture and beat well.
  • Transfer the mixture to a board, and knead it just enough to make it a dough. 
  • Sprinkle some flour on the counter, and roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness. If you are making skulls, cut out the shape using the template provided.
  • For the Catrinas, follow the template provided or find a gingerbread lady cookie cutter of a similar size.
  • Place the cookies on the lined baking tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. 
  • Let the cookies cool completely before icing and decorating.


 To Decorate

For the Catrinas, divide 1 batch of Royal Icing, and color it white, red, green, yellow, and black. 
You decide how much of each color you want to have. You have a couple of options for decorating this cookie. The first involves using the Catrina stencil and the writing pen. In the final Catrina, the background behind the skeleton will be the cookie itself. 

  • Start by drawing the outline of the Catrina with her skirt, hat, bones, and head straight onto the cookie.
  • Pick a color for the Royal Icing (red, green, or yellow) and use that color icing in a piping bag with a #3 tip to outline the skirt and hat. Once the icing sets, fill in the skirt and hat with the same color. Let the icing set. 
  • Using white icing in the piping bag with a #3 tip, outline the skull, vertebrae, ribs, bone arms, and fingers.
  • Fill the eyes, nose, and mouth with the black icing, using a #2 tip.
  • Finish with design details on the skirt, hat, and earrings using another color or colors and the #2 tip.
If you are looking for further materials and ways to teach your kids about Dia de los Muertos, check out this site at National Geographic! 



Fresh Produce Free? Get Yours to Make This Roasted Parmesan Potatoes & Asparagus {Recipe}

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Disclaimer: I enjoyed complimentary produce from Klondike brands to create delicious recipes for my family. 

The other day I had the biggest craving for asparagus. It’s one of my favorite vegetables and with very little preparation and time, you’ve got a delicious side that they whole family can enjoy. While I can eat it many ways, I wanted to try something new, so I found this great recipe for roasted Klondike Rose potatoes and asparagus. Seemed like the best of two worlds for the ultimate side item for steak, chicken and my favorite pairings, salmon. 

Did I mention this recipe also has parmesan cheese and fresh basil?  
Best of all, right now when you buy one 5 lb. bag of Green Giant Fresh Klondike Rose Potatoes, you get one 8 oz. bag of Green Giant Fresh Asparagus FREE at TARGET

Roasted Parmesan Potatoes and Asparagus
Recipe Provided by Klondike Brands
Recipe Link

Ingredients:
12 oz. Green Giant® Fresh Asparagus, trimmed and chopped
6 Klondike Rose potatoes, chopped
1 Green Giant® Fresh yellow onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup fresh parmesan, grated
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:
In a shallow baking pan, toss together the potatoes, asparagus, onion, basil and oil, spreading evenly. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast in a 450˚ F oven for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Sprinkle with fresh parmesan and roast until cheese is melted and golden, about 3 minutes. Serve.

 Use this locator to find our where you can find Klondike Rose potatoes and get your free 8 oz bag of Green Giant Fresh Asparagus!







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