yummy holiday treats

The whole point of Treat Week was to show you some cute, yet super simple, ideas for holiday gifts. My friend Lindsay, my mom and I made all of these treats last Sunday when we were assembling baskets for some of our clients at work. We figured the marshmallow pops, chai latte, pistachio & cranberry bark & christmas chow would please a variety of people and would also look pretty assembled into a gift basket.

On top of all those goodies, we made reindeer cookies! Want to make your own?

Reindeer Cookie Directions

Simply bake or buy sugar cookies (we bought pre-made dough) and decorate by piping antlers using melted chocolate. Use a little chocolate to secure an M&M nose and 2 mini chocolate chip eyes. You can't go wrong with sugar cookies and the extra decorations make them very festive.

Here is my largest basket with all of the goodies assembled. I threw in some napkins, a few other store bought & homemade treats and a granite cutting board with cheese knife (we are in the flooring & granite business) and my basket was complete.

What kind of goodies do you like to receive around the holidays? Will any of the goodies from Treat Week end up in your rotation of yummy gifts this year?

[p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]

christmas chow

This is probably my FAVORITE treat that I've shared so far for Treat Week... Christmas Chow! Yes, It is your standard and beloved Puppy Chow recipe (AKA Muddy Buddies) with a cute name spin for the holidays. This stuff is like crack. Seriously. Once you start eating it it's hard to stop. Chocolate...peanut butter...powdered sugar...yum!

Chex "Christmas Chow" Ingredients

9 cups rice chex cereal

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Measure out Chex cereal and put into large bowl. Set aside.

In microwave, melt together the chocolate chips, peanut butter & margarine until smooth and well combined (30 second increments). Stir in vanilla.

Pour chocolately peanut buttery mixture over cereal and coat well. Move Chex into a large ziplock bag. Add powdered sugar and shake until well coated and dispersed.  Spread on waxed paper to cool.

Now that your Christmas Chow is made, what are you going to put it in? I was giving this chow as a gift so I wrapped some left over Slim Fast containers I had saved with some Faux Bois wrapping paper that I've been hoarding. I also created this fun little printable! The printable is for the Avery 2.5" round labels.

Check out the original "Chex Muddy Buddies" recipe here.

Download my personalized printable here.

[p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]

white chocolate pistachio & dried cranberry bark

So far for Treat week, I've shared my Marshmallow pops & Homemade Chai Tea Mix. Treat week continues today with another fun & festive goodie... White Chocolate Pistachio & Dried Cranberry Bark! 

This delicious recipe was one that was recommended to me by my cousin Erin. She saw it last year around the holidays and thought it was so pretty. Neither one of us got around to make it last year so it was on my list of treats to make this year. The concept & ingredients are super simple.
Ingredients: 1 lb. of white chocolate 1/2 cup shelled pistachios 1/2 cup dried cranberries How to make: Over a double boiler, melt your chocolate until it is nice and smooth. Set a side for a few minutes to cool. Once slightly cooled, mix in the pistachios & cranberries. Spread chocolate mixture onto a pan prepared with parchment paper. Smooth chocolate mixture into a thin, even layer. The recipe I saw didn't call for this but I sprinkled a few extra pistachios & cranberries onto the top of my chocolate to add more color. Allow the bark to cool for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before breaking into pieces.

Another easy & pretty holiday treat completed! Are you getting into the Christmas spirit? [p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]

homemade chai mix

Treat Week continues with this sweet & spicy holiday "how to"... (if you missed yesterday's post, you can check it out here).

When the temperature drops and it begins to snow, I immediately turn to my hot tea. Chai tea to be exact. It makes me feel so warm and fuzzy on the inside. I love how it smells. When I stumbled across this recipe for homemade chai tea mix, I knew I had to try it!

To package the chai tea mix for gifts I simply bought a few ball jars at Target & printed out my own homemade labels using the 2.5" round Avery kraft paper labels. They are the best. 

As the label states, you add 3 tsp of mix into a mug of water. You can also add milk (to taste). These little jars of chai mix make the perfect gift for family, friends or coworkers. Enjoy!
If you'd like to make your own chai, you can find the recipe here. If you'd like to print out some of my labels, you can download the file here.

[p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]

marshmallow pops

I'm calling this TREAT WEEK! This is post 1 of 4 of delicious and easy holiday treats.

You know those holiday treats that look easier to make than they really are??? These are not one of those treats. These babies are super easy & fun to make - and bonus... they are adorable! 

The process is simple: Slip 2 or 3 marshmallows onto a lollipop stick. Dip 2/3 of the way into a melted crock pot of chocolate of your choice (I like dark chocolate best). Push the base of the stick into a piece of floral or craft foam so your marshmallow pops can dry upright. After about 30 seconds, sprinkle each pop with crushed candy canes. Allow to dry for about an hour before packaging. Simple, right? Enjoy! [p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]

happy 4th!

I didn't do a very good job of planning ahead this year...so I thought I'd share a few last minute easy 4th of July treats that you can make in a pinch for any kind of gathering. Here goes:

TRIX KRISPY TREATS

adapted from Cravings of a Lunatic

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What you'll need:

1 box of Trix cereal (about 13 cups)

2 bags of mini marshmallows

1/4 cup butter

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things to try

I'll be up front with you: this is a Pinterest based post. 

I thought it would be fun to recap some of the fun things I've seen and tried lately from Pinterest that I think are amazing. It might give you some fun ideas to do yourself (if the time presents itself).

Here are my top 5 recent Pinterest experiences:

Dana's Mexican Bean Wonton Cups

Dana from Lets Meet For Lunch posted this recipe a few months ago and I've had it on my list of "recipes to try" for a while. I followed her recipe almost exactly, except I added some ground beef (with hot & spicy meat seasoning - yum!). They were delicious and easy to make. Click here to find the recipe to try yourself! You won't be disappointed... 

Circle Zip Earbud Pouch

I made a handful of these for my mom. She gave them out to her "Slot Slut" friends - a group of ladies she goes to the casino with. They clip them on lanyards and keep their IDs and money in them. They turned out really cute and they're fun and easy to make. They don't require a whole lot of material so if you have scraps or even some fat quarters you'd be able to make a few of these. It's also a great project if you have a fear of zippers. Here is the tutorial that I followed. [FYI - I enlarged the pattern a little bit so that the pouches would fit IDs, credit cards, etc...]