Chocolate-Coconut Mousse









The highlight of our Valentines Day dinner last night was our dessert.  By far!  At the last minute I decided to make a change, which I think was for the better, but its hard to say for sure since it was only my first time making this.  So with that change, what was supposed to be "Chocolate Frosting Shots", quickly turned into "Chocolate-Coconut Mousse".  Changes like that seem to happen a lot in my kitchen.

If you're a fan of coconut and a fan of chocolate, this is definitely a dessert your going to want to try!!! A perfect medley of the two.

Don't judge a dessert by its picture.  Judge it because I am telling you that it's awesome!! :)

INGREDIENTS:

1 can Coconut Milk
1/2 C (approx.) Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 C cocoa powder
1/2 C powdered sugar
Coconut Flakes, optional.  (This is a serving suggestion that just popped into my head, wish I would've thought about that last night, dang it!)

DIRECTIONS:

Place the can of coconut milk into the refrigerator and leave it there over night.  Open the can (without shaking it).  Skim off the thick white content off of the top and place into a medium bowl.  (you can reserve the clear liquid to use for something else if you'd like).  Add equal parts of heavy whipping cream. (I eyeballed it, but it was about 1/2 cup.) Add the remaining ingredients and using a whipping attachment of an electric mixer, whip until thick like mousse.  Sprinkle with coconut flakes. ENJOY!

Buffalo Wings

 

 

 Man food at its best!  No Super Bowl party is complete without these! :)

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

2.5lbs. chicken wings/drummettes

2 TBSP veggie oil

1 TBSP kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 C Frank's red hot Buffalo sauce

Celery sticks (optional)

Ranch Dip (I'll try to get a recipe for this out to you soon!)

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Set a wire rack inside of a large foil lined baking sheet.  In a large bowl place the veggie oil, kosher salt and black pepper; add the chicken and toss to coat.  Then place the wings on the prepared rack and spread out in a single layer. Bake wings until cooked through and the skin is crispy, about 45-50 minutes. When finished, place the wings into another large bowl and pour on the Franks Red Hot Buffalo Sauce.  Toss to Coat.  Allow to sit a few minutes before serving.  Serve with celery sticks and Ranch Dip.  ENJOY!

 

 

 

 

 

Brownie Batter Dip

For our "Second Annual Kid-Friendly Super Bowl Party", we had to one up our most popular appetizer of the peanut butter ball with this Brownie Batter Dip.  It was a hit!! I personally, really enjoyed using the marshmallows as dippers.  So yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. Neufchatel cheese, softened
4 TBSP butter, softened
2C. powdered sugar
5 TBSP all-purpose flour
5 TBSP cocoa powder
3 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
 3 TBSP milk
 Mini Chocolate chips, for garnish (optional)
Pretzel snaps
mini marshmallows


DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, whip the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Next, add the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix until smooth. Garnish with mini chocolate chips, if desired. ENJOY!

Adapted from: stickafork.net

Clean Eating Granola

In high school, I lived off of McDonalds fruit and yogurt parfaits.  I ate one almost everyday for lunch my senior year.  Fast forward a year or two (or twelve!) and here I am, still eating fruit and yogurt parfaits, only a much healthier version! My version!

If your looking for a McDonalds granola knock off, this recipe is not it.  This is a clean eating granola recipe that tastes very healthy.  Its sweet without being overpoweringly sweet.  The granola goes great in a bowl with milk for breakfast or to use for any of your snacking needs! :)

INGREDIENTS: (for granola only)

3 C rolled oats
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C natural, unsweetened applesauce
1/4 C honey
2 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the oats and walnuts.  In a small bowl whisk together the applesauce, honey and cinnamon.  Add the wet mixture to the oat mixture and stir together until well incorporated.  Spread the granola mixture evenly over the prepared cookie sheet and bake for approx. 40-60 min. Stir every 10 minutes to avoid burning.  The granola is done when it feels dry and appears to be golden brown.  Cool completely before serving.  Store in an air tight container.  ENJOY!

To make a parfait like the one I made, use 1/2 C plain Greek yogurt.  Drizzle 1 TBSP of honey over the top.  Top with frozen berries (thawed of course, I like the Kirkland Signature three berry blend from Costco) and about 1/4 C of the granola.  I like to stir everything together really well before eating. 

Recipe from: thegraciouspantry.com

S'mores to go!

S'mores to go. :) Here is a quick and super simple snack that makes the whole family happy! Perfect for movie night.


One Part Golden Grahams
One part mini marshmallows
Half part chocolate chips

Mix thoroughly and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Raisin Granola Bars

So I was right.  The energy bites didn't hang around long. :)  So to compensate for our lack of snacks in the house I went ahead a tried this recipe for homemade granola bars.  I've had this recipe bookmarked for a few months now.  After bite #1 it had already earned a spot into my recipe binder.  Just like that!  The batch of bars has been in our home for a little over 24 hours now  and I'm embarrased to admit that they are more than half gone.  I can explain...anytime you cook/bake anything, you have to take a taste right?! Bar #1, Gone.  I needed a night time snack, so did the hubby (times two!).  The baby woke up at 2am for a feeding and gee I was SO hungry!. Bar #5 gone.  I needed one to go with my morning coffee.  And another for my mid morning snack.  I needed something sweet after eating lunch, then of course I needed an afternoon snack!  I got hungry while I was getting dinner ready too...Dominic took one in his school lunch today and I'm afraid to ask the hubby how many he ate.  So there you have it, my confession and your warning...they WILLl go quick!  :)

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C softened butter
1 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C white sugar
2 TBSP honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 C all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C quick-cooking oats
1 1/4 C crips rice cereal ( I used honey chex that I crushed)
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add the honey, vanilla and egg; mix well.  Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the butter/sugar mixture.  Stir in the oats, cereal, raisins and chocolate chips.  Press the mix into a greased 13x9 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled, cut into bars.

adapted from the Taste of home recipe for Chewy Granola Bars

Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Mug Cake

When it comes to cake, I have absolutley zero will power.  Whenever I crave sweets cake ALWAYS does the trick.  So when I found a recipe for a Mug Cake online I was very eager to try it!  It literally took me about FIVE minutes to prep, cook, and clean up my mess.  The recipe I found called for salted caramels, which I didn't have, so I replaced it with white chocolate chips.  I'm not sure if it was due to the amount of salt called for in the cake batter, but the combination of the chocolate cake and the white chocolate chips created a salty/sweet taste...delish!  My hubby and I shared the mug cake and still had some left over (which I plan to polish off just as soon as I'm finished posting this recipe!)

INGREDIENTS:
4 TBSP all purpose flour
4 TBSP sugar
3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
3 TBSP milk
1 TBSP veggie oil
a small handfull of white chocolate chips (maybe 1/4??)

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl combine all ingredients, reserve a few white chocolate chips to sprinkle on top.  Pour the cake batter into a regular sized coffee mug (I used an oversized because it seemed like a lot of batter, but I think a regular sized would've been fine.) Sprinkle the remaining white chocolate chips on top.  Microwave for 90 seconds.  Insert a toothpick onto the center of the cake, if it doesn't come out clean, microwave for an additional 30 seconds.  Be careful...the mug will be HOT! :)

recipe adapted from blogs.babble.com/familykitchen

Banana Chocolate Chip Biscotti

I made this recipe for the first time a few weeks ago.  My 7 year old son, Dominic, thought it was awesome that we were having "cookies" for breakfast! I told him not to get used to it ;-) Later that day, he told me "Mom, the cookies we had for breakfast...those were bomb!" (Thats how kids these days express their love for something...weird, I know!)  I was blown away by how easy these were to make! The banana flavor was pretty subtle, but enough to taste and compliement the chocolate well! I'm not much of a baker, so for me...they looked a little impressive too!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1/2 C mashed very ripe banana (1 meduim)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C mini semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a large cookie sheet.  Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with a spoon.  Beat in banana, vanilla and eggs until smooth.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide dough in half.  Shape each half into 10X3 inch rectangles on cookie sheet with greased hands.  (dough will be sticky).
Bake about 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool on cookie sheet for 15 minutes.
Cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices.  Turn slices cut sides down on cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and dry on top.  Turn cookies.  Bake about 10 minutes longer or until golden brown.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Recipe from: Betty Crocker Cookbook. Bridal Edition

No Bake Energy Bites

These little bites remind me of a granola bar, but in a ball form.  They were super easy and quick to throw together and most of the ingredients I already had in my pantry.  The recipe doesn't make a ton of balls (well I suppose it depends on how big or small you roll them, but mine were about 1 TBSP of mixture each).  My husband and son LOVED these!  I had some for a snack earlier today and they were FANTASTIC!!! Next time I plan to double the recipe.  :)

INGREDIENTS:
1 C oatmeal
1/2 C peanut butter or other nut butter
1/3 C honey
1 C coconut flakes
1/2 C ground flaxseed
1/2 C mini chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients together in a medium sized bowl until thoroughly combined.  Place the bowl in the fridge and allow to chill for at least a half hour.  Remove from the fridge and roll/press the mixture into balls.  These can be stored in an air tight container and can be refridgerated for up to one week.  Enjoy!

recipe adapted from smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com

Rocky Road Popcorn Balls

Suprisingly, my chocoholic son wasn't a big fan (but then again he hates popcorn!).  My husband said he liked them, but then later requested carmel popcorn balls.  I on the other hand loved these! They are fairly simple and its always a ton of fun popping popcorn on the stovetop!

INGREDIENTS
3 TBSP cooking oil
1/3 C popcorn kernels
1.5 C mini chocolate chips
2 C mini marshmallows
1 C salted peanuts (I used chopped raw almonds because I had some already, then I added a little salt to the popcorn)
cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the oil and popcorn kernels into a heavy, 3 qt or larger pan with a lid.  Cover pan and shake gently over medium high heat, allowing steam to escape from popping kernels.  Remove pan from heat when popping stops and carefully pour popped kernels into a large micro-safe bowl.  If desired, add a little salt.  Stir in the chips and marshmallows.  Place the bowl into the micro.  Cook on high until the chips and marshmallows get gooey, about 1 minute.  Toss with a wooden spoon, adding the nuts, if using, until all the popcorn is coated.  Spray your hands with cooking spray.  Grab enough popcorn mixture to fill the palms of your hands and form balls while firmly pressing the popcorn pieces together.  Place the balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  After forming all of your popcorn balls (makes about 1DZ.) place the cookie sheet into the fridge and allow to cool and harden completley, about two hours.  Store extras in fridge.