Girls Night In with Fresh & Easy: Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Girls Night In

Girls night in isn't complete without chocolate! Let Fresh & Easy help you make quick and easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies. A brownie mix is topped with pre-made cookie dough for a delicious, chocolate filled treat perfect for andy girls night! About once a month I get together with a group of fellow homeschool moms for a Girls Night In.  My husband is completely intrigued by these gatherings.  He can't quite fathom the fact that we get together and pretty much just eat and chat.  The one rule is that everyone brings a snack to share.  Last month we had a travesty - everyone brought popcorn and no one brought chocolate!  So this time, I decided to be the one to supply the chocolate! I headed to Fresh &  Easy to find some inspiration for chocolate snacks. I shop at Fresh & Easy at least once a week.  I love the fact that their stores are small so they are quick and easy to get in and out of.   I count on Fresh ... [read more]

Peaches and Cream Mini Dessert

Peaches and Cream Mini Dessert

Peaches and cream mini desserts are a fun summer treat!  Peach gelatin is mixed with cream cheese, whipped cream and Del Monte peaches.  This delicious peach mixture is layered between mini vanilla cookies for a cool and refreshing peaches and cream treat. One of the things I look forward to most in the summer is peaches. There is nothing like eating a fresh peach! I love to make desserts with peaches, too, but I rarely do it because peeling and pitting them is such a time consuming chore.  When Del Monte offered to send me a variety of their canned fruits and vegetables to create a recipe with, I knew I wanted to make a peach dessert that didn't require all that peeling. Del Monte's canned peaches are packed at the peak of ripeness. With the same essential nutrients as fresh, Del Monte makes it simple to incorporate a full serving of fruits and vegetables into your recipe repertoire.  Del Monte can help add a creative twist to your meals and save you time in the ... [read more]

Chocolate and Cinnamon Nutella Cookies

Nutella Cookies

Nutella cookies sound divine, but adding in a touch of cinnamon to the chocolatey goodness just sends it over the top.  A basic cookie recipe becomes a very special treat when Nutella and cinnamon chips are added for a special touch.  Nutella cookies may just win over chocolate chip cookies! For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Family, Food and Fun written by the lovely Rebekah!  If you need cake ideas - Rebekah is your go to gal.  She has some of the most beautiful and delicious sounding cakes on her blog.  I am not much of a cake baker though so I decided to try Rebekah's pizza sauce.  Then I had a rough week and wanted cookies and Rebekah's  Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies looked perfect.  There is something therapeutic about methodically scooping and baking cookies. As I was getting the dough together, I stumbled on a bag of cinnamon chips which I normally use to make cinnamon chip scones. Cinnamon and chocolate is one of my favorite flavor ... [read more]

Frozen Pretzel & Strawberry Dessert

Frozen Pretzel and Strawberry Dessert #FreshNFruti

Strawberry desserts are perfect for summer barbecues and potlucks.  Strawberry Fruti Bars are blended with cream cheese and whipped cream and then layered over a pretzel crust.  After few hours in the freezer,  you have a refreshing pretzel and strawberry dessert. One of my favorite potluck desserts of all time is strawberry gelatin layered on top of a whipped cream mixture on top of a pretzel crust. I love the mix of salty and sweet.  So when Fruti Bars asked me to create a summertime cookout dessert with their Chunks O' Fruti  Bars, I decided to use their Strawberry and Strawberry Cream bars to make a frozen version of the pretzel and strawberry dessert. I purchased the Fruti Chunks O' Fruit bars at Sam's Club. Check out more about my shopping trip in my Google+ album!  It's always a chore to find freezer space for those large boxes from Sam's, but Fruti Bars helped me out - the 4 individual boxes fit perfectly in my freezer. Fruti Bars are all natural - no ... [read more]

Fried Ice Cream for a Crowd #SundaySupper

Fried Ice Cream

Fried Ice cream is one of my all time favorite desserts! But a deep fried ice cream recipe just seems like a bit much even for me.  So we're faking it instead.  A vanilla ice cream mixture is enveloped by a crunchy cereal crust creating an amazing fried ice cream look alike that is perfect for a Cinco de Mayo crowd! This week's Sunday Supper is celebrating Cinco de Mayo! I have quite a few Mexican recipes including refried beans, enchiladas, and even sangria.  But what I really want when I eat Mexican food is fried ice cream.   When I ran across this recipe on Pinterest, I had to try it.  I adapted the recipe to use homemade whipped cream and homemade chocolate sauce. The fried ice cream was a huge hit with my extended family.  My very health conscious sister complained that I gave her too small a piece.  Next time I'll add more cinnamon to the ice cream mixture - probably another teaspoon because it was hard to taste with the topping.   I also will give myself ... [read more]