Tasty Tuesday--merci Chocolates Giveaway

Happy Tuesday! Today for Tasty Tuesday, I'm not sharing a recipe. It's better. I'm sharing chocolates! Have you heard of merci Chocolates? Have you tasted them? If not, you are surely missing out. These are amazing little chocolates. The folks over at merci gave me a box to sample and to give away!! How sweet are they?!

My husband and I had the lovely chore (wish I had more chores like that!) of taste testing these--my favorite is the Hazelnut-Almond. I think my husband enjoyed the Cream Truffle the best.

Each box of merci includes a delicious selection of rich, European chocolates made from the finest ingredients. Flavors range from Milk Chocolate and Hazelnut-Almond to Dark Cream and Praline-Crème and are truly scrumptious.  I love the cute packaging too--there are plenty little chocolates in the box--so you could easily gift the entire box or package it up into multiple gifts!

I love there message, too--a delicious thank you. Check out their website for more ways to tell someone thank you.

Check out their Facebook page too-- they have a really cool app, the Thank-You-Maker! You can send a friend a meaningful thank you, and in return receive a Buy One Get One Free coupon!

So, today is your lucky day, my way of saying thank you! I will be giving away a merci Chocolate gift package to one lucky CRAZYLOU reader!

It's simple to enter, simply leave me a blog post on who you would like to give a big THANK YOU to this holiday season!


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Tasty Tuesday -- Skinny Copycat Starbucks Chocolate Chip Frappuccino

It's the first day of October!!! I'm so excited. This means my No-Soda September is over. I tried. I really was hoping to kick the soda habit for good. But, I can't. I've been craving it for the last week of September. But, I do promise that I won't drink as much of it anymore. Whew...thank goodness! Oh, and this is my birthday month, so keep your eye open for a fun giveaway!

Do you love Starbucks? Well, I'm not a coffee drinker, so it's not my first choice, but my daughter is obsessed with that place. One of her favorite drinks to get at Starbucks is the Double Chocolate Chip Blended Frappuccino Creme. I've tried it. It's good and doesn't have an over-powering coffee taste. I could actually handle one of those. BUT...did you know a 12 oz. size is over 400 calories and has 17 g of fat? Now, I can't have one of those.
But, I found a skinny version that has been taste-tasted by my daughter, her friend and myself and we all think it is a good "skinny" version of the real thing. I've tweaked the recipe a bit because we thought the original one was too sweet.

Skinny Chocolate Chip Frappuccino
Adapted from Hungry Girl

Ingredients
1 pkt diet hot chocolate mix
4 oz warm water
1 Tbls sugar free chocolate syrup
2 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 Truvia Sugar Packets (or other sweetener)
1 Tbls Mini Chocolate Chips
8-10 ice cubes
Fat Free Whip Cream

Directions
Mix the hot chocolate and water together until completely dissolved. Pour hot chocolate, chocolate syrup, Truvia, chocolate chips and almond milk in blender. Blend on high for 45 seconds. Pour into a fun cup and top off with some whip cream! Sprinkle a few more mini chocolate chips on top to make super cute!!

Yum! Enjoy this lighter calorie version. According to Hungry Girl, it comes is at 135 calories, 4.5 g of fat! Now, this is something I can have!!

Tasty Tuesday -- PMS Cups (must try!!)

First off, let me say that these are amazing. They are perfect for someone that has a sweet tooth and can't be satisfied with a whimpy treat. I named these PMS Cups because, well, I think they are perfect for those ladies during that "time of the month" where you need a not-so-good for you treat! Be prepared, these are rich. But, topping it off with a scoop of ice cream could easily solve that issue!

I'm sure you've seen this concocation all over the internet and Pinterest. And it's worth sharing here, too. I used a variation of this recipe I pinned from Baby Gizmo and decided on my own little twist! Maybe this exists out there, but this was something new that I created in my kitchen.

PMS Cups
Makes 24

1 Roll of Prepared Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
1 Bag Full Size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
1 Box of Brownie Mix (prepared)

Spray muffin tins lightly with cooking spray. Add a small scoop (1 TBLS) (Norpro Stainless Steel Scoop, 1 Tablespoon, 35mm) of cookie dough and press into the bottom of each muffin tin hole. Place one Reese's PB Cup (upside down) ontop of the cookie dough. Spoon prepare brownie mix over the PB Cup, making sure to cover it completly but not filling the hole to the top.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree over for 13-15 minutes, checking to make sure they are evenly cooked. Remove and allow to cool about 3 minutes. Carefully, use a plastic knife and gently go around each muffin tin hole, releasing the cup. Allow to cool another 5-10 minutes before taking out of pan.

TIPS:

• I do not recommend skipping the plastic knife step. It makes the removal process easily. I use this trick when I make the brownie covered Oreo's, too.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
• Don't try in a mini-muffin tin. They aren't pretty. They are still good, but they are very difficult to remove from the pan and once they are out--they look horrible. I'd still eat them because I know how yummy they are, but if you take them to a gathering, I'm sure they won't be chosen unless you pass them out yourself and swear they are tasty!!

To get a Printable version of this recipe, click HERE.

So, do you think you could handle that yummy dessert? Let me know what you "favor" during that wonderful time of the month!!

SKINNY, but Delicious Chocolate Cake

Low-fat and delicious--could it be so? I whipped this cake up for a celebration we had over the weekend. My mother-in-law's birthday is tomorrow, but we celebrated on Sunday. I know she watches her calories like I do, so I thought I would give this Hungry Girl recipe a try. Have you ever caught one of her episodes on the Food Network? Love the easy swaps she makes to cut fat and calories on everyday recipes. This cake was so simple, super tasty--what more can you ask for?

Low-Fat Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
1 box Devils Food Cake Mix (moist)
1 can canned pumpkin
Frosting (I used Chocolate Cool Whip Frosting)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine the cake mix and pumpkin and mix together. Don't add anything else. This batter will be very, very thick. Spread into a 13x9 cake pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, check the box to be certain you don't over bake. Check to see if the cake is done by inserting a knife into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, its done. Let cool. Frost and decorate as desired. I took my vegetable peeler to a chocolate bar and make little chocolate shavings all over the cake! According to the Hungry Girl website, the cake has 181 calories and a Weight Watchers value of 4, without the frosting and chocolate shavings.

Have you ever tried to make "skinny" recipes? I have a few more I'll be showing you in the upcoming weeks! And, have you tried the Cool Whip Chocolate Frosting? It's tasty! I could slather this on some graham crackers or on vanilla wafers! Thank goodness we have some leftover!

Have a great week!

Cindy

Tasty Tuesday--"Take 5" Pretzel Sticks

Happy Tuesday! Hope this week is off to a great start! It's cold and windy here in Northern Illinois! I'm so over winter! Today I am featuring a very popular sweet treat that I took to a Super Bowl party. It really was a "duh" moment when I realized that I never thought to put this combination together before. Originally I was planning on bringing chocolate dipped pretzel sticks because I know the kids like them, but when I was grabbing the pretzel rods out of the pantry, a bag of caramels appeared and the lightbulb went off!! I love Take 5 candy bars--they have every bit of goodness in them--sweet, salty, crunchy! YUM! So, why not make Take 5 Pretzel sticks? Thought it was worth a try and OMG--seriously, they are delicious. I dunno about you, but I've never had them before, never heard of them before--so if they are out there and I was blinded, so sorry--this was a new discovery for me and I'm glad it happened!

So, here is the quick and easy low down on how to make these bad boys! Melt your caramels according to the package instructions (I used an entire bagged of wrapped caramels). Pour the caramel into a tall, heat proof glass (this is a trick to get the caramel on as much as the pretzel as possible!!). Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and spray with cooking spray (caramel sticks to waxed paper!). Dip pretzel rod into the caramel and let drip over glass. Place on the cookie sheet. Continue until the caramel is gone or you run out of pretzels. (Side note: you may need to reheat the caramel during this process, try not to overcook the caramel--low setting, for only a few seconds at a time)

Chop a handul of peanuts to sprinkle on the finished pretzel rod and set aside. Once the caramel is set, melt chocolates. I used 1 bag of chocolate chips. Pour the chocolate into a tall, heat proof glass. Dip the caramel dipped pretzel rods into the chocolate. Let chocolate drip off into the glass. Replace the pretzel back to the waxed paper and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Let set. I covered mine and put them in the garage to firm up quicker. I couldn't wait for them to set to taste the ooey, gooey goodness I created!

Here it is:

Take 5 Pretzel Sticks

Ingredients
1 bag of pretzel rods
1 bag of wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1 bag of chocolate chips
handful of peanuts, chopped

Instructions
Melt caramel per instructions on bag. Pour the caramel into a tall, heat proof glass  Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and spray with cooking spray . Dip pretzel rod into the caramel and let drip over glass. Place on the cookie sheet. Continue until the caramel is gone or you run out of pretzels. (Side note: you may need to reheat the caramel during this process, try not to overcook the caramel--low setting, for only a few seconds at a time)

Once the caramel is set, melt chocolates. I used 1 bag of chocolate chips. Pour the chocolate into a tall, heat proof glass. Dip the caramel dipped pretzel rods into the chocolate. Let chocolate drip off into the glass. Replace the pretzel back to the waxed paper and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Let set.

So, who's with me--are Take 5's one of your favorites?


Cindy
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