Week 7 - Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts

In honor of Valentine's Day, I made my husband a homemade treat of Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts found on....Pinterest, of course! :)  The pin led me to the blog Hungry Happenings (http://www.hungryhappenings.com/). 

My husband is a HUGE fan of Reese's Peanut Butter cups, so instead of buying him some from the store, I decided to try this recipe that I found.  While mine didn't end up quite as pretty as the ones on the blog, they were still cute and very tasty!!

I started out making the peanut butter concoction first.  I poured the bag of white chips (I used Hershey's Premium White) and the Reese's Peanut Butter chips into a large microwaveable bowl and heated per directions.  (45 seconds - stir, 30 seconds - stir, 25 seconds - let sit for 2 minutes then stir).  Mine required another 10 seconds after that to fully melt all the chips.  I stirred in the salt then the 2 cups of peanut butter.  I used crunchy peanut butter for two reasons - 1) My husband prefers crunchy peanut butter over creamy and 2) I forgot to get creamy at the store and all we had was crunchy in the house. :)  I was not running back to the store in the middle of making this, so crunchy peanut butter it was!  It actually turned out great!!

I laid out a layer of foil on a large cookie sheet then put some heart shaped cookie cutters on top.  Using a ladle I poured the peanut butter mixture into the cookie cutters.  I filled them about 3/4 full, maybe a little more.  I then put them in the freezer for a couple hours so I could run out to my son's school Valentine's Day party and pick up my daughter from preschool. 

When I got back, the hearts were frozen through and popped out of the cookie cutters easily.  I then made the chocolate ganache (yummy!) by heating up the heavy whipping cream (1 cup) until almost boiling then stirring it into the bowl where I had poured the bag semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I whisked this until smooth then used another ladle to pour and smooth the chocolate over the hearts.  I returned them to the freezer to harden up the chocolate before dinner. 

My husband loved his surprise, and I took one of the larger hearts of the freezer, so it could thaw while we ate dinner.  We shared a portion for dessert, and it was delicious!  Today I had one of the smaller hearts just out of the freezer, and that was pretty yummy too!  It had a little more crispness, where last night, being thawed, it was more gooey.  Might just have to keep some in the freezer and some in the fridge!

One of the bonuses was there was enough chocolate ganache left over for the kids to dip strawberries for their dessert that night!

I would definitely recommend this one to try.  It's neat that you can make it for whatever, holiday, or just because! :)

Week 6 - Crockpot Soup

Well, this would have to count as my first not so successful post.  I made a crockpot soup from pinterest that I thought would be really yummy and easy.  It does not link back to the original post, but here is the picture and recipe.

Super easy super yummy crock pot soup: can of rotel, can of corn, can of black beans (drained & rinsed), 2 frozen chicken breasts, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 packet dry ranch dressing, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder. Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook 6-8 hours. Shred chicken, and enjoy!

I followed the directions, but mine didn't quite look this great.  You have to come and and stir the soup from time to time  to break up the cream cheese.  Mine still ended up pretty thick and a little burned on the sides.  The kids liked it, but it was far too rich my my hubby and I.  I think we have gotten used to lighter and healthier eating recently, so it didn't quite hit the spot.  We didn't even save the leftovers, which I usually love to do.   

I am not even sure what I would to this soup that might make it more our taste.  I guess I will settle to the fact that I have others that we like instead. :)

Oh well!

Week 5 - Part 2 Homemade Sugar Scrub

I am becoming a fan of DIY gifts.  Not only are they more cost effective, it also gives the kids a chance to help make gifts for their teachers.  We decided to make homemade sugar scrub for their teacher's for Valentine's Day.  I found this idea on pinterest which linked me to the blog, Under the Table and Dreaming (http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/05/lemon-sugar-hand-scrub-for-mom.html). 

We got out our ingredients and got ready.

I got my jars from our local Sprouts.  I liked the smooth sides for this gift, instead of the ones with imprints on the jar.  It was relatively cheap, about $1.  We combined the olive oil, sugar, and lemon juice as directed into a big mixing bowl (2 and 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup olive oil, and 4 tablespoons lemon juice).  I let the kids help measure, pour, and stir.  We were able to fill two small jars (one for each teacher) instead of just doing one 12 oz. jar. 

I used a ladle to pour the scrub into the jars for less mess.  I made another batch for me and my mom to test out before I gave these out to make sure it wasn't a flop! :)  I did end up pouring some of the olive oil that settled at the top of the teacher's jars, as my mom and I discovered that there was almost too much in our batch.  I also tried to add in more lemon juice for scent, but the olive oil scent seems to drown it out.  I didn't mind though, as it left a neutral scent allowing me to use whatever lotion I wanted afterwards without a scent clash.  If I were to do a scented one again, I would add less olive oil and more juice or just use essential oils instead.

I out some ribbon on to attach a spoon and added a label to spiff it up.  We included the directions on the back just in case. :)

All in all, I think it made a cute gift that the teachers will enjoy.  It does work well to moisturize the hands, and my skin felt so soft!  I would just tweak a few things for next time.  Feel free to add comments if you have tried something similar that worked!

Week 5 Part 1 - Making Colored Noodles and Rice

This week I decided that I wanted to be ambitious again and try out two different things.  One for the kids, and one for Valentine's gifts.  I started the week with a link that I found to make colored noodles and rice.  On the success of last week's cloud dough, I thought having some multi-colored rice buckets would be fun for the kids.  This pin on pinterest came from The Daily Buzz (http://www.thedailybuzz.com.au/2011/11/make-your-own_homemade_crayons_play-doh_chalk_fingerpaint/).  They had all kinds of great ideas for things to do with the kids.

I stopped by the store to get some rubbing alcohol, rice, and noodles.  My daughter and I found a bag that had three different kinds of noodles (shells, penne, and spirals).  I liked this b/c I can have her sort out the pasta by color then by shape.  It's two for one!  We set off home to dye our pasta. 

I was a little disappointed in myself not thinking to buy more food coloring when I discovered the only colors we had at home were yellow, red, and green.  We made due with what we had and started to mix the rubbing alcohol and food coloring (1 tsp. alcohol to how ever many drops of food coloring you want.)  I did this in a big measuring cup, so I could then just pour the rice or noodles on top of the food coloring mix up to the one cup line and stir.  It was a little harder than I anticipated to get all the mix throughout the rice and noodles and stirring took a little while.  I would let me daughter stir the first couple times, then I would take over to get it evenly distributed. 

 I did not have wax paper as the website suggested to let it dry, so I did foil instead.  We did this on the afternoon, and I let it dry overnight.  Some of the noodles were even a little tacky in the morning, so I let them sit a little longer. 

When my son got out from school, we broke out the rice and split it between two small buckets, so each kid could have their own.  They loved it once again!  I gave them some paper cups, measuring cups and spoons to play with.  They had a blast scoop, filling, and pouring the rice.  My son even put two cups together full of rice, tapped it on the side of the bucket then poured the rice out, saying he was pretending he was cracking an egg.  I loved it!!

The mess factor was bigger in the making of the rice and noodles (My daughter ended up with a stained elbow on her shirt from dipping it in red food coloring).  The mess factor from playing with the rice was minimal.  We kept it at the kitchen table, so it was easy to wipe off.  This was a great activity start to finish, and I like that I can put the rice in a plastic bag and save it for another time too!