Wrapping It Up!

If you find yourself buying “fancy” bags to wrap up your homemade goodies, I have something to tell you.  You are wasting your money.  Seriously…think about it.  Chances are, you are making something for your son or daughter’s class party or bake sale.  You spent some time making this masterpiece, so yeah, you want it to look nice.  But the packaging if often overlooked by little Tommy, who just wants to get to the treat.  He tears it apart, and the fancy packaging is now in the trash can.  That’s money well spent, right?

I made chocolate covered peeps for a recent bake sale at the Monkey’s school, and spent a total of $1 to package them up.  That’s right -- $1.  All you need is a box of sandwich baggies from the dollar store (plus some ribbon, which I had on hand, and you most likely do as well!).

Gather your supplies -- ribbon, sandwich bags, scissors, and your treat.

Cut the zipper seal off of the baggie.

Slip your treat inside the bag, and tie it shut using your ribbon.

The kids didn't care how it was packaged -- they just wanted the chocolate covered marshmallows inside.

These are cute, right?  I found Mickey Mouse shaped Peeps at Christmas.  I'm not sure why these were made specially for that holiday, because Mickey can be used all year round.  Believe it not, these were super soft five months after I bought them!  And, to gross you out even more, the package wasn't set to expire until October 2014.  Peeps are the new Twinkies...they will last a lifetime.  I wrote about making chocolate covered Peeps earlier this year if you want to try this on your own.

Until next time.....

Peep Pops

Today was the Monkey’s last day before Spring Break begins, so she wanted to bring in a treat for her class.  Nothing says Easter to me like a Peep, and what kid (or adult) doesn’t like chocolate.  This was a no brainer!

Supplies:

• Peeps
• Chocolate wafers
• Sprinkles 
• Lollipop sticks

This is the cruel part of the recipe – you need to…ahem….put a stick up the bunny’s butt.  Dab a little bit of the melted chocolate on the top of the stick, and then jam it up there.  You want to press the stick as far as you can without it coming out the other end.

So sorry Mr. Bunny

Melt the chocolate according to the package directions. 

Most people would dip the Peep into the chocolate, but I prefer the spoon method.  Hold the Peep over the chocolate, and spoon the chocolate over the treat.  Use enough chocolate to cover the Peep, and then gently tap the stick on the side of the bowl.  This will allow you to get rid of any excess chocolate.

You can “dress up” your Peep with sprinkles, or you can leave them “naked”. It’s up to you.  We left one naked because one of her classmates has a food allergy, and can’t eat anything with the color purple in it.  We didn’t want to not include her in on the fun.

Place the treat on to a piece of wax paper to allow the chocolate to set, which should take about 10 minutes.

Since she was giving these out to her classmates and her teachers, I wrapped them in a small bag and tied them with curling ribbon.  

The Monkey informed me today that we are known as the family that brings stuff in.  Does that mean I set the bar high for myself, and I need to bring something in for every holiday?  Or does that mean the teacher and the parents are getting ticked off at me?  I'll let you decide....

Until next time.....

Peep This!

The Monkey and I were at Target the other day for no particular reason, other than to look around and spend some money on things we didn't need.  I love checking out their seasonal stuff, especially this time of year because I think the Easter things are way too cute.

Like this thing...Peeps on a Stick!  The Monkey found this, and asked if she could get it.  I had no problem telling her no, because this cost $2 for four (1) Peeps.  That's $.50 per marshmallow, and that is C-R-A-Z-Y!!!   I explained to her that we could make our own, for much less money, and to own liking.  The snack in the store had four Peeps on it.  Why couldn't we make one with six Peeps on it?  That got her attention.

Here is what you will need:

• Packages of Peeps, in any color.  We used chicks because that's what the Monkey likes.  I actually like the bunny ones better!  You'll notice the multiple colors...that's because I let the Monkey pick things out.
• Lollipop sticks.  You'll notice we used bamboo skewers.  That's just what we had on hand.
• Wilton Favor Bags (which I didn't have on hand)
• Ribbon (which I also didn't have on hand).

Here's the tough part -- Take a Peep, and stab it onto the stick.  Stand back and admire your hard work.

I will admit that these chicks look they were in a war, and they lost their wings.  To fix this issue (meaning to cover up the exposed marshmallow) you could apply colored sugar crystals.  Much like the bags and ribbon, I didn't have colored sugar on hand.  It really didn't matter, because as soon as these were finished, the Monkey ate them.

To give these away as party favors, or classroom treats (which is what she plans to do), you can wrap each skewer with the favor bags, and use pretty ribbon to tie things up.  When we make these for her class in March, I'll post some pictures so you can see how they turned out.

One happy Monkey

Instead of paying $2 for the store-made Peeps on a Stick, I paid $1.99 for one package of Peeps, which had 15 marshmallows in it.  I used skewers I already had on hand.  Using the items we purchased, and what we had on hand, we made 15 treats on a stick for $7.96.  That sure beats paying $29.85 for 15 Peeps on a Stick!

Until next time.....

Rice Krispies + Peeps + Chocolate = YUM!

Wouldn't you know it?  The baking bug hit me today, and I didn't have enough ingredients on hand to make cupcakes.  I sent my hubby to the store to get some things.  I didn't want the creative juices to go away, so I thought I would share with you another recipe using Peeps.

This is a fun, and very messy, recipe to do with your little ones.  Be prepared for the mess.

Okay....let's begin.

The ingredients are pretty easy.  You will need two boxes of Rice Krispie treats, eight (8) bunny Peeps (or 16 chick Peeps), melting chocolate, and sprinkles.

Remove the treats from the packaging, and place them on a plate.  Using your hands, flatten each treat so they are about one inch high (to be honest with you, I'm not sure why I flattened them in the first place.  Once I did, I realized they were a lot easier to work with).

Now it's time to commit murder.  If you are using the bunny Peeps, you will have to slice each one down the middle so you end up with two bunnies.  Hey....they are known to multiple quickly, you know).

Please forgive me, Easter Gods

Melt the chocolate according to the directions on the package.  Now comes the assembly.  You can either dip the top of the krispie treat in the chocolate so that it is covered, or you can spoon and then smear the chocolate on the treat.  I found that the spoon way was easier (and cleaner).

 
Take one of the bunny halves, and place on top of the chocolate.  Put the treat on top of wax paper, and top with sprinkles (Sprinkles are really optional.  I love them, and will put them on anything possible).  The chocolate sets pretty quickly, so you can enjoy these in matter of minutes.

A chick sitting on his nest

A whole tray of these would look cute on any table, and would also make a festive party treat, especially for school classroom parties.  I used the products that I had on hand, but you could use different color chocolate and marshmallows.

The best thing about this recipe is you can adapt it for each holiday.  Peeps are available all year long, so you can make these at Halloween using pumpkin peeps and at Christmas using tree peeps. 

Try these with you little Peep fans, and let me know how they turned out.



A peep wearing her Easter bonnet (Meg's creation)



One Dirty Chick

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Here is the dirty chick I am talking about.

Dirty chick....get it?  I love Peeps, and I especially love them dipped in chocolate.  Sure, you can buy chocolate covered Peeps in the store, but I don't like those ones.  You know why?  The sugar coating is missing!  You are basically eating a chocolate covered marshmallow.  Peeps are not simply marshmallows!  The sugar coating is what makes it a Peep.

These would make cute party favors, especially for classroom parties (guess what the 2nd grade is going to have in April?).

Dirty Chicks are super easy to make.  All you need are Peeps, melting chocolate, and wax paper. 

We used blue chicks because, well, it reminded me of a blue duck, and I've never seen a blue duck before (Did anyone get that movie reference?).  Be sure to follow the directions when you melt the chocolate.  If you overheat it, it will not melt properly and you won't be able to use it.   Take a Peep, and dip the bottom of it in the chocolate.  Gently shake the chick to remove the excess chocolate, and then place the Peep on wax paper.  That's it!  That's all you have to do.  Keep dipping the Peeps until you run out of either supply.  Once you are done, you should have your own little chicken coop.

Not only do I love chocolate covered Peeps...I also love sprinkles (because I have the taste pallet of a child).  I thought the sprinkles added a little more color to this sugar treat.

What do you think?