Who Doesn't Love Chocolate?

While you're probably reading this, we are on a plane to Atlanta. From there we head to Miami! We'll meet up with my mom, step-dad, little sister, little brother and his girlfriend. My mom and step-dad are taking all of us on a cruise! So starting tomorrow, that's where we'll be! Anyway, last weekend we had a date night (more on that next week!) and made some chocolate covered apples. Nothing too crazy, I just thought I'd show how we save a lot of money by making our own.
I also use Hershey's hugs as my chocolate. It's by far my favorite! And so so easy :)

Directions: 
1. Unwrap hugs.. this is the most time consuming part.. but totally worth it ;)
2. To melt the hugs, I use a measuring cup, just because it's microwave safe.
    I start with 30 seconds, then move the hugs around a little bit with a fork.
    After that, I do 15-20 second intervals, using a fork to stir it each time.
    I do this until the chocolate is all the way melted, it usually only takes me 3 times in
    the microwave total.
3. Slice your apples to whatever size you want! (T did this while I unwrapped the hugs :p ) 
4. Line cookie sheet with wax paper
5. Dip your apples in the chocolate and place them on the cookie sheet with wax paper.
6. Place cookie sheet in fridge to chill for about 20 minutes.
7. ENJOY! :) because after all, who doesn't love chocolate? 

Chocolate Covered S'mores Bars

You will need:

- Marshmallows

- Graham Crackers

- Chocolate Chips

- Chocolate (for dipping)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Next time I think I'll use mini marshmallows!  But these worked fine too :) 

Keep an eye on it though, you don't want it to burn :)

This makes it easier to dip  :)

I used Hugs because it breaks up the taste a little bit, but you can use whatever :) 

I melt my chocolate in the microwave, in 20 second intervals, stirring between each.

I've used this method on all kinds of chocolate though, and it's never burned. But just in case, keep an eye on it. 

Or have your Husband do it ;) 

It's less messy this way, and I like them better cold.. :P 

Enjoy :)

From: tipjunkie.com

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Items needed:

- marshmallows

- graham crackers

- chocolate chips

- chocolate for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Line cookie sheet

3. Place graham crackers down

4. Put marshmallows on half of graham crackers

5. Put chocolate chips on other half of graham crackers

6. Place cookie sheet in oven for 5 minutes

7. Remove from oven and place two halves together

8. Place in fridge to cool for 15 - 20 minutes

9. Melt dipping chocolate and dip s'more into it.

10. Cool in fridge before serving. 

Hugs and Pretzels

Dear Husband, I really don't think you understand how much I appreciate your support in everything that I do. I love you with all of my heart, and thank you for now, and for forever. 

Dear Dad, thanks for always having my back. You are the greatest.

Dear new friends, I love each and every one of you. Thank you so much for following me and joining in my journey. I cannot believe how many new faces there are around here, you guys are the best. 

Dear hugs and pretzels, you are super yummy, and really easy to make. Thanks for being great :) (recipe and directions below)

You will need:

- 1 bag of hugs

- 1 (10 oz) bag of pretzel snaps

- cookie sheet

- wax paper (trust me, it will make your life way easier!)

This part took me the longest.. but if you have a little Mommy's helper around, this is a great opportunity for that :) 

If you don't have wax paper, use parchment.. use something. It will make it so much easier to clean up :)

About half way through this step, preheat your oven to 300 degrees. I say half way, because your oven will probably preheat before you finish laying all of these out :P 

The tutorial I followed says two minutes, I put mine in for 1:45 minutes, and I think that might have been too long. But they were okay :P The tutorial said to let them sit for a minute so they could soften some more, mine were already soft, so I just moved to the next step.

Do this gently, just so they stick together :)

You don't have to do this, but it cools them down a lot faster, and honestly, I think they taste better when they aren't all melty.. is that a word? Probably not, but I'm using it anyway ;)

Now all that's left is to pop these off the sheet of wax paper and enjoy!

Inspiration: Cookies and Cups

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Items needed:

- 1 bag of Hugs

- 1 bag of pretzels

1. Unwrap Hugs

2. Line cookie sheet with wax paper

3. Preheat oven to 300 degress

4. Lay down pretzels and top with Hugs

5. Place in oven for 2 minutes

6. Place another pretzel on top of Hugs

7. Place baking sheet in fridge for 20 minutes.

Apple & Snickers "Salad"

Yesterday The Husband had a potluck at work. I've been waiting to try this recipe, so that's what we did :)

Now, I've seen this a few places on Pinterest, but most of them use cream cheese and powdered sugar, I really didn't find that necessary.. So I went with a simplified recipe :P 

You will need:

- 5-6 apples

- Bag of snickers, frozen (mini or fun size)

- 8 oz. container of cool whip 

(ours is 16 oz. because we made 2 batches)

**all photos are from the Husband's iphone at 5:30 am.. umm I was sleeping :P **

This is also when The Husband figured out a small baggie isn't big enough...

So learn from his mistakes and use the gallon size :P 

Add 8 oz. of cool whip, and mix everything together :) 

I know it looks a little weird, but it really is delicious!

Then we put it in Ziploc Tupperware so The Husband could take it to work :)  

Funny story time... When I woke up and went out to help him, he was in the process of trying to mix the ingredients in the Tupperware.. Let's just say it's good that I came out when I did. 

I mean c'mon husband, you need a big bowl to mix things in. He's lucky he's cute ;)

Everyone at The Husband's work loved it, and it was all gone! I'd say it was a hit :)

And it was so easy to make! Not to mention yummy!  

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Items needed:

- 5/6 apples 

- 1 bag of snickers, frozen

- 8 oz. container Cool Whip

1. Cut up apples into small pieces

2. Unwrap Snickers

3. Smash Snickers

4. Mix it all together

5. Chill and serve

Lunch Bag Popcorn

We also tried out something I've been seeing around Pinterest.

Popping Popcorn in brown school lunch bags.. and it totally works!

We used 1/2 cup of kernels because there were two of us. Then just pour it in a bag and fold over twice.

We put the popcorn in for about 3 minutes, but took it out shortly after two because the popping slowed down. We put salt on ours, but you could always eat it plain.

This can save some money over time if you're like us and eat a lot of popcorn. 

Have you guys ever tried brown bag popcorn?

What kind of seasoning would you recommend for popcorn?