Chocolate-dipped Strawberry "Carrots"

Let this day be known in history, as the day I got my 3 year old to eat a vegetable.

It was actually like a month ago, but we can still celebrate right?

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Candy Corn Krispy Treat Bites

The Christmas music is playing at my house today and the 4 boxes of Christmas decor are all hanging out in the laundry room waiting for that pesky Thanksgiving holiday to be over.

 (kidding.  but not entirely.)  

Christmas is great.  People are nice and I get to buy lots of things and travel and husband gets to take off work.  I am religious so more than anything I love that most of the Christian world focuses on the Savior at this time.   What's not to love about it?

That said, I'm obviously having a panic attack about all these Halloween treats that I made last month that I REALLY want to share with you.  ((But that I also REALLY want to get out of the way so holiday baking can begin.)

 Get ready for a posting marathon my friends!

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Chewy Cinnamon Bear Popcorn

Pink snacks make me happy.  Happiness in an edible form is necessary when you become the mom of the kid who brings politics to preschool. 

Seriously.  That just happened. 

Note to self: Do not let your preschooler watch Super Tuesday ever again.

After today I need a whole crackload of this pseudo happiness.



This is great right after it's made (warm, gooey, and delicious), or several hours later (chewier and clumped together but still delicious).  I think it is best within a day or so, so eat it up quick.

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Cookies 'n' Cream Popcorn

Last week I decided to start playing with popcorn again.  I am still partial to Thin Mint and Samoa but my husband went nuts for this Cookies 'n' Cream.  Maybe it is a guy thing?

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Chocolate-Dipped Clementines

You thought I was kidding when I said we were going to dip everything in chocolate this week, didn't you? Mmmmm, nope, pretty much not kidding at all.

The smell of clementines will always remind me of Christmas.  Growing up in Europe, we spent almost every Christmas in a different country.  I will have to dig up the picture of me riding a bobsled down the Olympic track in Norway so you guys can see my big dorky owl glasses and huge sweater.  I told you I was super cool.  The one thing that was pretty much always consistent was clementines. No matter where we were, we had clementines.

Also, when we moved back to the US, one Christmas my sister and I polished off an entire bag of oranges in one sitting.  (Not clementines my friends... Oranges... Probably like 10 pounds worth.  I'm pretty sure I must've had a vitamin deficiency at that point, because who does that?) 

So anyways, I think these dipped-clementines are not only super Christmasy, but also classy and delicious.  I highly recommend these for Christmas Eve festivities.


PS- If you love clementines, I wonder if you've made this soda yet?  Delish!

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Chocolate-Covered Gingerbread Chex Mix

First of all, you should know that this Chex mix is not covered in chocolate.  It's just supposed to *taste* like a chocolate-covered gingerbread man.  The chocolate part comes in from the M&M candies.  Just wanted to make that clear.

Now that my butt is covered,

I was dying to make something else cute with my gingerbread men marshmallows.  So really this was just an excuse to throw in some of them.  Excuses are ok in our house as long as they're edible.

I had to play around with this a few times to find the right spice blend but I think I finally got it.  If you can't find the marshmallows you could chop up gingerbread men and throw those in.  Or look for the little bite-sized gingerbread men.  You could also totally drizzle this in chocolate if you're feeling completely betrayed by my title.  Just drizzle it while on the wax paper, and wait for it to harden completely.  Then break into pieces.

Since this was 98% for my kids, you can probably imagine why I chose not to drizzle it in chocolate. You can really do whatever you want.  I'm not going to stalk you and find out if you made my recipe wrong. 

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Cake Batter Birthday Buddies

This idea has been floating around in the back of my brain for awhile now.  Muddy buddies... why not birthday buddies.  I think this would be such a cute party favor for kids- packaged up in a little clear cellophane baggie with a ribbon.

My husband thinks these taste like those pink and white frosted Mother's animal crackers  (and he's kind of right).  Does anyone else remember when they went out of business for awhile a few years back?  I think I lost a few years off my life from that experience.

If you're making this for a whole class, you will want to double the recipe as it doesn't make very much. 

Enjoy!

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Caramel Cinnamon Fruit Dip with Bone dippers

Oh look.  Another belated Halloween recipe.  Don't hate me.

This dip is insane.  It looks like it doesn't make a lot.  But it is RICH and it is SWEET.   You'll probably want to throw a few apples in with the bones to dip just so you don't go into sugar shock.  But this is fan. tastic.  Truly.  I like to pretend think I am a pretty disciplined person but I can't stay away from this.

The original recipe calls for Heath bar/toffee add-ins.  I know this sounds delicious but I just couldn't dig it.  The texture without it is wonderful, and the nuttiness it adds just doesn't work. That being said... you can try it if you want.

Enjoy!

PS- You can really eat this any time of year.  You might just have a hard time explaining to guests why you're serving them bone-shaped snacks.

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Eyeball Pretzel Bites

Mmmkay, let's not even talk about how belated this post is.  I had really hoped to have this up in time for Halloween, because it's such a fun, easy, treat for kids to make.  (People always say that, but really, truly, your two year old can help you make these. Without you screaming and lunging across the room every 2 seconds to keep him from diving into a hot oven).

I fell ill with the plague of death (aka a cold) and whined and moaned for about 2 weeks (mostly about how you should be able to buy prescriptions through WebMD since you've al-READY diagnosed yourself.  Psshhhhh. By the way, does anyone else end up with cancer every time they use that thing?  I think there's a slight possibility I'm becoming a cyberchondriac.)

And then I got over it and decided you probably still need this anti-recipe, even though it's late.  You can use it next year.  Or you can find some other excuse to make eyeball snacks with your kids.  I'm pretty sure you probably have a myriad of those.

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Garlic Artichoke Dip

Lest you think all I eat is sugar...

I'm pretty sure I had this for lunch the other day.

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Thin Mint Popcorn

I know you probably think all my family ever eats is popcorn and popsicles.  Just to reinforce that idea I thought I better post my latest popcorn creation.  Cinnabon might still be my favorite, but my husband (who is a chocolate-mint hater) went crazy over this! Also there is a leafy green in my picture so the road to healthier family eating is being paved already.  Seriously, this is a big step for me guys.

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Cinnabon Popcorn

I kinda grew up in Europe. Where Reese's peanut butter cups are non-existent, root beer extract is used only in cough medicine, and people are far too refined to consider eating anything resembling Poptarts, Toaster strudels, or Rice Krispie treat cereal.  I'm totally not complaining. Google images of "Gaufre avec chocolat" and I think you'll see why I was very happy there.

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Samoa Popcorn

In case you have been living under a rock or something (or just have a life, whichever) last night was the Season Finale of The Biggest Loser. Please tell me you watch that show. Usually reality TV bores me (I get tired of rolling my eyes at all the drama and bad acting) but for some reason I have this strange addiction to Biggest Loser. I think it's kind of amazing how someone can look like an entirely different person in just a few months, by losing 50, 75, 100+ pounds. In honor of the finale I decided to whip up some fresh-squeezed lemonade, and this Samoa Popcorn for us to snack on.

Recipe slightly adapted from: Cookies & Cups

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