How To Make Oreo Cookie Balls

These Oreo Cookie Balls are de.lic.ious. and so easy to make! 

Here's what you need:

(1) package of Oreo Cookies (knock off brand works too)

(1) package of Cream Cheese (8 oz.), softened

(1) Block Melting Chocolate (I use Vanilla or Chocolate Almond Bark) 


Here's what you do:

1) Crush the cookies up. I dump them in a gallon Ziploc bag, seal it and then crush them - cuts down on mess. Then dump the bag of crumbled cookies into a mixing bowl and add a package of softened cream cheese. Mix to combine completely.

2) Roll the mixture into small balls and place them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Pop the cookie sheet in the freezer to firm them up for 10-15 minutes. This will help them to stay together when you plop them in the melted chocolate.

3) Melt chocolate according to directions on package. Dip cookie balls in chocolate and place on cookie sheet covered with wax paper. You can top your balls with additional crushed cookies or jimmies (aka sprinkles). Refrigerate and enjoy!

    

True Love

O.M.G. I am in love. Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai with Blueberry. You won't be sorry.

Homemade Oven-Fried Pertater Chips

Really, really yummy and really, really easy to make, I give you Homemade Oven-Fried Pertater Chips....

Here's what you need:

(4) Baking (Russet) Potatoes, washed, peeled and sliced as thin as you can get them
1/2 stick of butter, melted
Course salt to taste

Here's what you do:

1. Wash potatoes.  Peel potatoes. Slice potatoes as thin as you can. A mandoline would be realy helpful for this. I don't have one. Pat the potatoes dry between paper towels. Butter a cookie sheet (this is in addition to the 1/2 stick) or use non-stick cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the cookie sheet. With 4 decent sized potatoes you'll probably have enough for two batches.

2. Brush the potatoes with melted butter. Bake them in a preheated oven at 500 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle them with course salt (I use sea salt).

Before:

After:

They're not exactly real potato chips hence the "pertater", but they're definitely just as addicting!

Tuity Fruity Bananas

We struggle with breakfast at our house. The boys want toast every. single. day. I'm about to have a "Mommy Moment" with you, that moment where you bare your farfromperfect mommy soul to another mother, a mother you know (or at least hope) will understand.

There have been days, several of them if I'm being honest, where I've sent Sean off to school with as many as 6 pieces of toast in his belly. That's so much bread. Too, too much bread. Plus bread at lunch most days and almost always a starch with dinner. Somethings got to give with the damn toast.

My kids are hard to feed. In the morning anyway.

They both despise eggs, which throws a lot of traditional breakfast options out the window. Sean has always hated eggs. Sine the first time I tried to feed him scrambled eggs when he was just a little guy. He won't even eat homemade french toast because he knows the bread is dipped in egg. Daniel previously LOVED eggs, like really loved them...which was super exciting given that my first born wanted nothing to do with them. About a year ago, he suddenly decided he would no longer eat eggs under any circumstances. And that's been that.

Pancakes, waffles, french toast and anything else that would require the accompaniment of syrup is out on school days as we get our baths/showers in the evening before bed and my kids require soaking and scrubbing after consuming syrup.

They eat cereal, but only dry cereal in a bowl - no milk - and they only eat specific parts of different cereal. Only the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, only the certain colored squares in a box of Chex.

You get the idea. It's rough.

I've been trying to come up with new and healthier breakfast options for them and this one has been a big hit. 

It makes a great breakfast or after-school snack. It's fast, it's fun, it's nutritious and it's so easy that your kids can do it themselves.

Step 1: Pour cereal (we've been working with a big bag of imitation Fruity Pebbles) into a small plastic bag and seal. Let your child use their hands to crush up the cereal. Pour contents of bag onto a plate or in a bowl.

You can use any type of cereal you like.

Step 2: Have your child peel a banana and use a butter knife to cut it up into chunks. Dip banana chunks into cereal and get your breakfast on. You have the goodness and nutrition of a banana and the hint of sugary cereal deliciousness.

Crack For A Snack

Warning: Crack is dangerously delicious.

Here's what you need:

40 saltine crackers
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of light brown sugar
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

I said it was good, I never said it was good for you.

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange 40 saltine crackers on cookie sheet like so:

2. Put butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat:

As it starts to melt, it will look like this (and smell like Heaven on Earth):

Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil and then continue to boil for 5 minutes. Stir, fast and furious.

3. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture over the crackers and do your best to cover them evenly.

Put the cookie sheet into the oven and watch it like a hawk. You want to remove it just when it starts to bubble. It will take 4 or 5 minutes.

4. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips all over the top.

The chips will start to melt, use a butter knife to spread the chocolate all over the top.

5. Pop the cookie sheet into the freezer and leave it there for 20 minutes. The crackers will form one big sheet.

6. Break it into pieces and store in an airtight container. You'll think  it's good the first day...you won't want to live without it the second day. Enjoy!