Valentines

I was so excited to put together Valentines for Brody's Kindergarten class. I wanted to do something other than candy so of course I turned to Pinterest. Here is what I did.

I took red paper and cut it into small cards 

 Then I simply wrote a silly Valentine "You're all that and a bag of chips!" 

 

 Staple it to a bag of chips and BAM you got yourself a  Valentine. 

 

Brody was NOT happy about this being his Valentine to give to the class. He wanted to give candy. I assured him that this was a great gift. I tried to explain to him why the card was funny but he didn't understand. His older friend Emilee explained to him "Brody this is really funny! Last year, a kid gave us toothbrushes, you DONT want to be that guy. You're the chip guy! That's awesome!" He still wasnt convinced. Then when he handed them out in class a few kids told him it was cool so he was finally happy about it.

Taco Bites

I made these yesterday on Super Bowl Sunday. However, I did not make them for the big game but for later that night. We needed a post game snack. We were so worked up and hungry after the team named after and animal won the big sportsing game. 

Here is what you'll need:

1 pound of ground turkey or beef

one packet of taco seasoning 

tomato chopped

onion chopped

cilantro

sour cream

black or pinto beans

won ton wrappers

grated cheese 

 Brown the meat, drain the fat, add taco season, add 1/2 cup water and then let it cook for a few min. 

 Preheat oven to 350.

 Place won ton wrapper in a mini cupcake tin like so

I like to do them every other so they have some space. Place a "dollop"of beans on the bottom, followed by your ground meat. Add a little but of grated cheese to the top and bake at 350 for 7-8 min. 

Add all your favorite toppings: tomato, onion, cilantro, sour cream.... you can even add the evil olive if you want.

So yummy and so easy to make. 

Chocolate Almond Granola Bars

Oh my goodness these are so YUM! I was worried I would ruin them but I think it would be pretty hard to do that. 

My family goes thru A LOT of granola bars. It can be pretty expensive! And then I worry about all the junk that are in the ones that I buy at the market. I wanted to make my own to save money (not really sure if I actually ended up saving money. I'm bad at math so if any of you know a mathematician, let me know so they can do the math for me) and also because they are healthier. 

Here is what you will need:

2 1/2 c. Rice Krispies 

1 3/4 c. quick oats 

1 c. chopped almonds 

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 c. peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. mini chocolate chips plus additional 1/2 c. of mini chocolate chips

Combine rice krispies, quick oats, and chopped almonds in a large bowl. 

In a sauce pan, mix honey, sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Over medium/low heat, stir until mixture comes to a complete boil for 30-60 seconds. 

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth

add 1/2 c. of chocolate chips to peanut butter mixture. Mix until melted. 

Immediately pour over dry ingredients and mix well

(If you wait and the peanut butter mix cools, it will be hard to mix with the dry ingredients, Then when you go to cut out a bar, some of it will crumble. How do I know this? Cause its what I did. WINNER!) 

Press mixture into a greased 9x13 pan.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes before adding the additional 1/2 c. of chocolate chips to the top.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well these turned out. My kids loved them (however, my one year old will eat anything). I'm for sure making these from now on instead of buying them. 

BBQ Pineapple Meatballs

This year for Christmas Eve I was put in charge of meatballs for the family gathering. BIG responsibility. If the meatballs aren't perfect, Christmas is ruined. OK, not really, but the Seitz family loves their balls.

I'm not a big fan of Swedish meatballs, which I think is what is normally made for our Christmas Eve gathering. I figured, its 78 degrees outside, lets get tropical, yo. Here is what you will need for your "Tropical Christmas Eve" meatballs:

WOW! Only 3 ingredients!? Its a Christmas miracle! 

I was able to fit 1 1/2 bags of meatballs in my crock pot. I used a whole bottle of bbq sauce and a can of pineapple chunks. I cut the pineapple chunks a little smaller.

I placed the meatballs in the crock pot, covered them with the sauce, then added the pineapple. I mixed it to make sure the meatballs were completely covered. 

There you go, rocket science. 

I cooked them on low for 4 hours. 

I got a million compliments on my meatballs. Literally. Like to the point where it was like, "OK, people, I get it."

Super easy. Super yummy. Super super.

Avocado Cream Cheese Won Tons

Since I just posted my Sun dried Avocado Egg Rolls, I thought I would post these yummy won tons that I love to make. 

Here is what you will need:

Avocado

Cream Cheese 

Chives 

Won Ton wrappers

Before you start preparing, heat one inch of oil in a skillet on medium. 

Now start chopping those onions! 

Chop the avocado into chunks 

Now take a wrapper and lay it flat. Add a "dollop" of cream cheese. Then add the avocado and chives. 

Now for the folding. There are many ways to fold a won ton. You don't need to be fancy, you just need to make sure it is sealed so nothing comes out when you fry it. You will need a small dish of water for folding. Here is how I do it. Fold it into a triangle and wet the edges so it sticks together.

Fold the left side up and use water to seal it

Fold the right side up and use water to seal it

Perfect! Now its time to fry these babies! "Gently" put won tons in the pan. You don't want to splash yourself.... it hurts! I let them fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side or until golden brown.

Yum! When they are done frying put them on a paper towel for a min or two. This gets any extra oil off and allows them to cool. Trust me, you don't want to bite into a hot won ton unless you want blisters on the roof of your mouth. I know this all too well! 

I like my won tons with sweet and sour sauce and the sauce I use for my egg rolls. You'll just have to read my blog about my egg rolls to see what sauce that is ;)

Sun Dried Tomato Avocado Egg rolls

These are soooo YUM! I was trying to copy the egg rolls at The Cheesecake Factory and came up with these. Really simple to make, doesn't take too long, and no calories or fat!..... ok, that last part isn't true.

Here is what you will need:

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

sun dried tomatoes 

egg roll wraps 

chives

avocado (each avocado makes 4 egg rolls)

Before you start preparing anything, heat about 1 inch of oil in a skillet on medium.

 Cut onions. We LOVE onions in our house so I added a lot to our egg rolls.

I sliced my avocado long ways while it was still in the peel.... skin... whatever that part of the avocado is called... then i scooped it out with a spoon. I then cut it again. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lay egg roll wrapper flat and add avocado

 

 Then add the chives 

 Lastly, add the sun dried tomatoes, as many as you like.

 Now its time to fold the egg roll. I'm not fancy so here is how I do it:

Fold the right side over

 Fold bottom over

Fold left side over 

Then roll it all the way. To get the end to stick and close shut you have to wet the very end of the wrapper with just a small amount of water all the way across. I didn't take a picture of this step (I know, I fail) but I promise you its not hard. 

Your skillet should be more than ready now. Be careful not to splash oil on yourself when putting the egg rolls in the pan. 

Cook on both sides for about two minutes or until golden brown. 

Be careful when taking them out. They are extremely hot!

I cut them in half to help them cool down faster. 

This is the sauce I use 

Its technically a salad dressing but can be used as a dipping sauce and oh my goodness its amazing! 

Here is the finished product 

Beautiful, eh?

Vanilla Olive Oil Sugar Scrub

I made this today to give as Christmas gifts. It was super easy. Took me about 10 min. 

Here is what you will need: 

1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 cups sugar in the raw
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Vanilla extract (or your favorite essential oil)

Cute jars to put scrub in

Here's what to do: 

Combine the two sugars in a bowl and mix. 

Add olive oil and stir

 Mix in the honey and vanilla.

Stir! 

Store in an airtight jar and enjoy!

See, that was easy!

 This is a very coarse scrub. If you would like a more gentle scrub you can substitute brown sugar for the sugar in the raw. Oil will settle in the jar so stir before using. I do not recommend using this scrub on your face. It is intended for use on the body only.

This recipe filled 3 8oz jars