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Fun and Unique Easter Basket Ideas

*I received many of these items for free, to review*

So, we’re all stuck at home and trying to come up with some fun Easter plans for the kids! I’m working on an indoor scavenger hunt, and rounding up plenty of Easter Basket gifts that aren’t candy. Because kids, inside, with parents working, and lots of candy, just don’t mix!

B Nutty Peanut Butter

I have to admit, I opened these early and made snacks – check out these easy and fast snacks out here – because they’re so good! The little jars are perfect for kid’s baskets and the larger jars are for adults. Or just for me. I made the mistake of just grabbing a spoon and the Totally Toffee the other day, and I ate way too much! At least Peanut Butter is good for me, right?

This gourmet peanut butter is delicious and they have so many varieties, it’s easy to find one that will be perfect for your gift basket!

My kids love the Cinnamon Sugar Cookie peanut butter. They’re pretty sure that a little bit of this on a ritz cracker qualifies as dessert.

You can purchase directly from B Nutty’s website. And you can join their newsletter for 15% off a purchase.

Woodridge Snacks

I’m not sure that my kids will like these, but my husband and I are definitely enjoying them! The Sriracha Sticky Rice Chips are his favorite. He ate them all in one day and has requested more. So, guess what he’s getting in his Easter Basket!

The Mochi Rice Nuggets look suspicious, but they taste WAY better than they look. Just get a bag and try them. I opened them and was like “I guess I’ll take one for the team here” since I had agreed to test them (btw this was the first bag I tried, lol). They’re surprisingly good, and I love how crunchy and airy they are!

The Tempura Seaweed Chips have a decent crunch to them as well, but you can definitely taste the seaweed. If you love seaweed, you’ll love these, but as much as I try to like seaweed, it still always tastes really strong to me. Probably not my first choice, because the two rices are awesome! But they’re still pretty good, and if you just love seaweed snacks, you’ll definitely love these!

The Ginger chews are basically what I expected. They pack a lot of flavor, and probably not a snack that I’m going to sit down and just eat the entire bag, but one or two of these is perfect to finish off some snacking with. And with all the snacking I’m doing these days working at home, I need some snacks that are good for me.

Get 20% off your first order with code: WR20APRIL (expires April 30, 2020)Head on over to the Woodridge Snacks Website and order some tasty and order some unique and tasty snacks for those Easter Baskets you’re working on!

Choc Zero

First things first. This chocolate is sweetened with monk fruit extract instead of sugar. Meaning, that for chocolate, it’s quite low carb. So, if you’re gifting to someone doing a keto diet, you’re in luck!

I’m always skeptical of sugar free candies but I generally like monk fruit so I was willing to give this a try. It’s Delicious!

My favorite chocolate is milk chocolate and these milk chocolate squares are packed with real chocolate and perfectly sweetened without sugar.

I don’t always like dark chocolate but this dark chocolate almond bark is amazing! With all the stress of working from home, homeschooling, etc. lately, it’s nice to be able to stress eat some chocolate without feeling bad about it.

The white chocolate chips are amazing! As I expected, after trying the other 2 chocolates. I’ll be posting a recipe with them later. I’m way behind on recipe posting with all this craziness these days.

And, of course, the syrup. We’re eating so many pancakes with everyone home every single morning. This was such a fun treat for the kids. I’m thinking that they each need their own bottle of syrup for Easter this year.

Choc Zero can be purchased from their website, or from Amazon.

Unstable Unicorns

The first non-food item in my list, because I seem to have this thing for food in Easter baskets! I just couldn’t resist this game for my unicorn loving tween. This card game is a tad complicated, so definitely ideal for older kids. But once you figure it out, it’s so much fun!

We’ve spent hours this past week playing this game. It takes time to play, which is perfect for keeping the kids busy while we’re social distancing. If you have a kid who’s as in to unicorns as mine is, she’ll love this game! And with the hours upon hours of play time this card game offers, you’ll be glad you bought it.

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

If you have slightly younger kids who really want a card game too, but can’t handle the strategy required for Unstable Unicorns, you’ll love this game. Even my 2yr old tries to get in on it by slapping the pile randomly.

It’s super easy to play and fast paced enough that it keeps the kid’s attention easily. Between this game and the Unicorn game I’ve had my kids busy with card games for days! Definitely another great addition to your Easter Basket that will help entertain the kids.

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Cheesy Bacon Potatoes

potatoes

I love potatoes, bacon, and cheese! Side dishes just don’t get much better than this.

Cheesy Bacon Potatoes

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 pieces fresh cooked bacon broken into pieces, or 1/4 cup bacon bits
2 cloves garlic crushed
salt & pepper to taste

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of a 9X9 casserole pan.
  2. Peel and slice potatoes into thin slices. Mix potatoes with heavy cream, 1/2 cup cheese, garlic, and salt & pepper.
  3. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Top with 1/2 cup cheese and bacon bits.
  4. Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender

 

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Ham and Cheese Ore-Ida Totchos

Totchos My husband went out to dinner the other night with some co-workers so I thought it would be a good night to try out a newOre-Ida Totchos recipe with my Ore-Ida Tater Tots. The kids were skeptical at first but once they started eating, they all told me how much they loved it!

When my husband got home and saw the leftovers on the counter he asked when I was going to make it again because he wants to try it too. He thought it looked delicious!

These are super easy to make, and they make a great quick meal for the family.

Ham & Cheese Ore-Ida Totchos

1/2 bag Ore-Ida Tater Tots
1/2 lb chopped ham
1 cup grated chese
sour cream
handfull of bacon bits

1. Cook tater tots per package directions.

2. While tater tots are cooking cook/warm ham in a skillet on the stove. Add a little water to the pan if needed to keep the ham from sticking.

IMG_20160115_1802265843. Place cooked tater tots and ham in individual bowls (I like to make things per person because with little kids this is just easier)

4. Top with grated cheese, sour cream, and then bacon bits.

5. Enjoy!

It’s just like a ham and cheese loaded baked potato, just without the peel, so my kids will eat it all!

Want more Totchos recipes? Check out Ore-Ida’s website.

I received this product free from @Influenster for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own. #OreidaTotchos #contest

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Food Friday – Sautéed Squash

We love Sautéed Squash at my house. It’s so quick and easy to make. I’ll whip it up for lunch or an emergency snack. It’s soft so the baby can eat it (though, he has molars now so it’s not really a problem anymore).

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Sautéed Squash

1 large or 2 small squash – rinsed and sliced into rounds
1 Tbsp butter
Salt to taste
Parmesan Cheese

Place sliced squash and butter in skillet over medium heat. Add salt as desired. Cook, stirring frequently until squash is soft and lightly browned – about 15 minutes (if you use a nonstick skillet it won’t brown that much).

Remove from heat and serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

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Food Friday – Beets and Tomatoes

I had 5 giant tomatoes in my CSA box. 5. I love tomatoes. But they’re giant. No one else likes tomatoes, so when I cut one up I have to eat it all somehow. They’re delicious tomatoes and I’ve enjoyed them.

IMG_0830Tomato Basil Salad

1 medium size tomato or 1/2 a large tomato
1/4 cup cubed cheese – I used baby swiss
4 sweet basil leaves – broken in pieces

Slice tomato in squares, toss tomato, cheese, and basil together. Add a little salt, oil, or vinegar if desired. Enjoy.

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And I just had to show off a sliced tomato. Isn’t it delicious looking!

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Beets was a real stumper. I haven’t made beets since, well, ever. I’m not really fond of the taste ether so I haven’t eaten them since I can’t remember when. But, they came in my CSA box and part of the reason for getting a CSA is to try new things. I only had enough beets for 1 jar so I didn’t want to bother with canning just one jar. I decided to go with the refrigerator version.

Refrigerator Pickled Beets

3 medium sized beets
1 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic – peeled and sliced
Beet juice as needed

Wash beets well and remove tops and stems. Place in a pan of water and boil until fork tender (about 25 minutes) Remove from water, peel, and slice into rounds. Place in Mason Jar.

While beets are cooking, heat sugar vinegar, water, and garlic on the stove. Simmer 5 minutes then set aside to cool.

Pour sauce over beets in mason jar. Top off with beet juice (leftover in pan from boiling the beets) as needed to fill the jar.

Put lid on the jar and refrigerate. The beets will be ready to eat in 1 week. They will keep in the fridge for 1 month or so.

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Arla Dofino Cheese Review

Thanks to Bzz Agent I received a coupon to try Arla Dofino cheese for free! My family loves cheese and we really enjoyed trying out Arla Dofino. We actually liked it so much, we tried out several different varieties.

One of the cheeses we tried was the Jalapeno Havarti. The Havarti is pretty soft so it’s easy to eat as a snack with crackers. I don’t like most Jalapeno cheeses this way because usually the pepper chunks are too big. They were the perfect size in the Arla Dofino cheese. I also tried it grated up on chips. I spread the chips on a plate, grate the cheese on top, microwave for 30 seconds, and I have hot chips with cheese that I’ll dip in salsa. So delicious! And the Jalapeno cheese gave it an extra pop that worked great with the salsa.

I also made these little cracker bites with the creamy Havarti and bacon bits. I spread the saltines on a tray, put little slices of cheese on top, added some bacon bits, and cooked in the oven till everything was hot and melty. So delicious! They were eaten up very quickly!

For a tasty cheese tray, the round of Edam cheese was perfect. It has a great flavor, and it’s a great cheese to have out at a product, it looks like a premium product and it tastes great. Definitely getting another round of this for my holiday party this year.

I’ve liked every variety of Arla Dofino cheese that I’ve tried and I I can’t wait to serve some to my guests this holiday season.

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My Arla Dofino House Party

My latest party from House Party was for Arla Dofino cheese. Honestly, this has probably been my favorite house party so far! I got accepted as a host, sent out my invites, and reviewed the list of items I would be receiving. Insulated lunch totes and cheese. So, I’m expecting cheap lunch totes with the Arla Dofino logo, nope, they were nice Thermos insulated lunch totes in pink, blue, or black. Everyone who came to the party thought they were awesome. Sometimes at these house parties I have trouble giving away the favors (not everyone wanted wooden spoons at one party) but I had no problem getting guests to take these. Everyone needs a new lunch tote!

The cheese shipped directly from Arla Dofino, and I was really impressed with what was inside. Three different rounds – Gouda, Smoked Gouda, and Edam, two packages of sandwich slices – Gouda and Havarti, two triangles – fontina, and gouda, and five blocks of Havarti – Dill, Lite, Creamy, Smoked, and Jalapeño. There was lots and lots of cheese! I was expecting a couple of blocks so I was trying to plan what other things to serve with my cheese, but when my cheese arrived I realized that there was so much cheese, I could focus everything around the cheese.

We had a cheese tray, I cut the cheese in little blocks for easy eating. I did dill and cucumber sandwiches with the havarti dill, these were awesome! I made little cheese crackers with bacon bits on top, warmed them in the oven till the cheese started melting, these were gobbled up first. And the rounds, I set out on the chopping block with some cheese knives. I had pears and apples chopped in squares, and pepperoni and sausage as well as four different kids of crackers.

I’d never tried Arla Dofino cheese before – normally I purchase the store brand from the fridge section – and it was very delicious. Even the jalapeño cheese wasn’t overpoweringly spicy, it was just right. I’m always trying to figure out a good cheese try for holiday parties and after trying out all these cheeses, I now know what cheeses make the right variety cheese tray! Which means, I’ll be buying more when the holidays get here!

This was such a fun laid-back house party, everyone ate cheese, and hung out and chatted for hours.

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Private Selection Party Foods

I just loved this bzz campaign! You can go to bzzagent’s website to get into your own campaigns. I got to try all sorts of fun tasty foods from this campaign! My holiday party is coming up next week and I’m looking forward to serving some of Private Selection’s products to my guests.

1. Greek yogurt – this yogurt had the little fruit cup on the side. It’s mine and my 4yr old’s favorite yogurt style. My favorite flavor is honey. Though, I am picky about which brand of greek yogurt I’ll eat. I was a little worried trying this since I generally only like name brand greek yogurts. I was really surprised. The private selection yogurt was delicious! We tried the cranberry and the strawberry yogurt. (I had coupons for 3 yogurts). I’m definitely buying these again.

Though, I do wish they had a variety with honey, since this is my favorite flavor. If Private Selection had a honey greek yogurt I’d be buying it every time I was at Kroger. I also don’t know of a good way to serve this at a party but I’m more than happy to tell my guests how much I liked it 🙂

2. Deli Cheese – I tried the smoked gouda and it was really good. I think the cheese is a little pricey, however, they have unique flavors. I love serving cheese when I host a holiday party! I usually do a cheese tray with 4 to 5 different cheeses and crackers. Private selection has some unique cheeses that aren’t really that expensive if you want something more than just swiss, american, or cheddar. I’m adding at least one Private Selection cheese to my cheese tray this year because it’ll give me some fun variety!

3. Crackers – I got to try the Classic Water Crisps. I loved the idea picture on the front of the box and it’s the cracker I’m designating for the soft cheese on my cheese tray. I’m going with a sharp cheddar cheese ball because I like the strong cheese with the mild cracker.

4. Coffee – Not as good as the coffee from the Green Mountain Coffee campaign that I had last month, but it’s still pretty tasty. Though the package in my bzzkit was a regular coffee and I probably won’t serve it to my guests in the evening, I’ll go try one of the decaffeinated varieties so I don’t keep anyone up all night.

5. Olives – I just love their olives! I like olives anyways but Private Selection olives are my new favorite. I tried the mixed olive jar just to see what I thought of them and they have the perfect olive taste and texture! I’ll get one of the stuffed olives for my party so guests don’t have to spit out pits. These olives are going to taste great with hummus, crackers, and my cheese tray! (or just on their own)

I’ll post pictures of my party, all our food, and our fun food creations next week. (if I remember to take pictures during the party)

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Mac and Cheese

Tried out my Progresso Recipe Starters Cheese sauce for supper last night – Thanks BzzAgent for letting me try this!

I used the Bacon Mac and Cheese recipe off of the Recipe Starters can and I substituted two cans of tuna instead of the bacon bits (since I didn’t have any bacon bits on hand). It turned out delicious, my kids, husband, and I all loved it!

It’s tough to find a mac and cheese recipe that we all like and this one was a success! I’ll definitely be making this one again!

The hardest part for me in making mac and cheese is getting my cheese sauce thick enough without burning it and the Progresso Creamy Cheese Sauce made this so much easier!

Progresso has some other great looking mac and cheese recipes on their website, and this delicious looking queso which I think I’ll try next time we have company over to watch football.

All in all, this recipe was a success and I’m loving the Progresso Recipe Starters sauces! Now, should I try the tomato, garlic, or basil sauce next? They all sound so good!

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Au Gratin Cabbage Recipe

I tried out a new cabbage recipe last night. I like cabbage, my husband doesn’t like cabbage, and the kids find cabbage too hard to chew up if it’s not cooked really well. So I decided to try a Cabbage Au Gratin and see how that worked out.
The girls and I loved this recipe. The baby ate two helpings! I got it off of All Recipes and made a few adjustments based on people’s comments on the site. My recipe is below and you can compare it to the original if you’d like.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups shredded cabbage
  • 1/2 cup grated carrot
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup lightly seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions

  1. In a large skillet with about 1 tsp oil, saute the cabbage, carrot, onions, and garlic for 7 minutes or crisp-tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a greased shallow 1-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over top.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. Be careful not to whisk too much or the cream will thicken. Pour over the vegetables and cheese. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.