Easter Treats!

Hey y'all! I thought I would show you some ideas for treats I did for this Easter. I wanted to do them early enough so that you could get the ingredients and make them yourself without having a "moment." Us moms are ensured to have those every now and again, so I try to keep them at a minimum. Ha.

In this post I've got some White Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Red Velvet Bon Bons, and Marshmallow Goodies. Mmmmm.

First up, White Chocolate Covered Strawberries

These are pretty simple. I'm sure you've made them yourself once. If not, never fear!
Ingredients needed:

• Vanilla almond bark
• Food coloring
• 1 or 2 sandwich baggies 
• Strawberries
• Baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper

Steps:

1. Rinse strawberries in colander. Lay them out on a kitchen towel to dry.
2. Put 1/2 of the almond bark into a microwave-safe bowl and nuke them at 15 second intervals until the chocolate is melted. 
3. If you are using 2 colors in all then take a heaping spoonful of melted chocolate and put it into the other bowl. If you are using 3 colors in all repeat with another bowl as well.
4. Drop whatever color food coloring in each bowl you want to use into the chocolate. A little goes a long way. Only a drop or two will do. 
5. Dip dry strawberries into the first bowl, hold the green leaves, and twist each strawberry in the chocolate until it is mostly covered. 
6. Put onto baking sheet/ parchment paper. 
7. Continue until all strawberries are covered. If you need more chocolate then use another bowl to microwave it and pour into bowl/s that are running low. 
8. Take the other colors and put each into a sandwich baggy with a spoon. 
9. Cut the sandwich baggy at the tip where the chocolate will come out. The tinier the cut the smaller the string of chocolate. 
10. Once you are done decorating them time to put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes. 

Red Velvet Bon Bons

These take a little more effort, but are worth it all!

Ingredients needed:

• Red velvet cake mix (ingredients to make the box cake as well)
• Tub of cream cheese icing
• Small ice cream scooper or a tablespoon measure
• Chocolate almond bark
• Baking mat/ parchment paper on baking sheet
• Sprinkles

Steps: 

1. Bake the cake according to the directions.

      2. After cooking, put the cake into a big mixing bowl and break up the cake with a fork. Let cool.
      3. Spoon the cream cheese icing into the cake and stir until combined.

      

      4. Use the ice cream scooper or tablespoon measurer scoop out the cake mixture and roll it into a             ball. Put it on the baking sheet. This part was extremely messy. Melt 1/2 of the almond bark in             a microwave-safe bowl at 15 sec. increments until creamy. 

      5. Drop one cake ball in and use a fork to cover it with chocolate.
      6. Scoop up the cake ball with the fork and tap it against the side of the bowl. This will remove               excess chocolate.
      7. Use a toothpick to help guide the Bon Bon off of the fork and onto the baking sheet.
      8. After three are done I sprinkle them with different sprinkles. If you do too many before you                 sprinkle, the chocolate will be hardened. No bueno!
      9. After you have completed all Bon Bons they need to go in the refrigerator for at least 10                       minutes. They taste great then, but the longer they are in the fridge the better they are. Trust                 me! I am an official Bon Bon taster... 

Marshmallow Goodies

These are so stinkin easy! And they are pretty! My kids loved them. 

Ingredients needed:

• Medium sized marshallows
• Pastel colored glitter
• Chocolate almond bark
• Sandwich baggy

Steps:

1. Using a knife, cut the ends of the marshmallow.
2. Dip each end into sugar.
3. Melt 2 blocks of almond bark in a microwave-safe bowl at 15 sec. increments until melted.
4. Put chocolate into baggy and cut a tiny hole at the tip
5. Poke a toothpick into the end of the marshmallow.
6. While holding the toothpick, you can now pipe the chocolate on the the sides of the marshmallow. 
7. Put them into the fridge for just a minute to harden the chocolate.

These are all treats that are fun for the kids to help make. And eat! It is not just a moment that you are making something for a party or a special meal. You are making memories with your kids, and believe me they will remember!

Enjoy!

Dannielle

Taco Soup

Hubby and Aiden love soup. I mean love it. I am not as much of a fan as they are. When Hubby is home I try to make sure and make some soups to please his palate. Taco soup is one of them.

I received a taco soup recipe years ago from a coworker. I lost it somehow, but I remembered the gist of it. Now I've got it down. Besides gumbo (which I haven't perfected yet), taco soup is his favorite.

Ok, for some reason I had a brain fart and forgot to take pictures before this moment.

1.Turn the stove on medium to medium-high. 

2. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a dutch oven. 

3. Dice a whole onion and two cloves of garlic. Toss them into the pot and let them cook for a minute or two. Throw a pinch of salt and let the onions sweat. 

4. Season one pound of ground chuck with some salt and pepper. Put it in the pot as well. Get it all good and mixed. Let the garlic, onion, and ground beef get to know each other. 

5. Once you brown the beef, you will need to get most of the yucky fat out of that pot. I just used a ladle, but however you do it is fine. 

6. Drain and rinse the beans, and pour them in. Open up a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes and pour them in as well. 

7. Pour two cups of beef broth and three cups of water into the pot. You can adjust the amount of liquid, but I wanted it to be well... soupy. 

8. Now it's time to make it all taco-y! Add one teaspoon of cumin, chili powder, and black pepper. Add two teaspoons of salt. I season as I cook. Taste as you go so that you can get exactly what flavor you want. 

9. Get the soup up to a boil and then put it on low and let it simmer for about forty-five minutes. While the soup is simmering, grate up yo fave cheese. In this instance I used Monterrey Jack cheese. Cheddar would be super fabulous as well!  

10. After the forty-five minute mark add the drained corn. Let it sit about fifteen minutes or so.  Corn chips make this soup over-the-top!

You can customize this in so many ways. Adding a can of Rotel, or dicing up some jalapeno would be great. Just throw in what you like, or what you have on hand. I love versatile recipes!!

I hope y'all enjoy this as much as we do!

Here are the ingredients at a glance:

1 tblspn butter

1 whole onion diced

2 garlic cloves diced

1 lb ground chuck

Pinch or two of salt

28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

2 cans of black beans drained

1 can of corn drained

2 cups of beef broth

3 cups of  water

2 tspns of salt

1 tspn black pepper

1 tspn cumin

1 tspn chili powder

CHEESE!!

I have a confession...

I have a confession to make. I am quite sure a good bit of you suffer from the same affliction. I. Am. A. Food lover. Ok I said it. Whew! That felt good getting it off my chest. Actually, any of you who know me, know this fact well. I have recently become obsessed with trying new recipes, and then taking pictures of them. Being that I have mush for brains half of the time, I make the recipe, marvel at it, and then EAT it! After I am full as a tick on a hound's neck, I realize that I forgot to take the picture.

Homemade pancakes... I was feelin' the love that morning.

Omelet with onions and peppers topped with cheese and salsa. If you like it spicy add some sriracha. Yum!

Chicken n dumplings. 'Nuf said.

Beef enchilaaaaadas and mexican rice dude (in my Cheech Marin voice)!

These are the few recent recipes I have made AND took pictures, before I devoured them! More to come...