Slow Cooker Chocolate Fondue (Slow Cooker Saturday)

Today is the second Saturday of January, and don't die of shock or anything, but I have the second Slow Cooker Saturday post of 2014 ready for you. 

Don't worry, I am not going to document every Slow Cooker Saturday in this fashion. Could you just imagine...

"Guys, it is the 22nd Saturday in 2014, good old May 31st and I have the 22nd Slow Cooker Saturday post of 2014 for you..."

Goosh. I can't imagine you would still be my friend if I did that. AND P.S., yes I did have to look up what date the 22nd Saturday of 2014 would fall on. I am a geek. You know it!

Today's recipe doesn't fall under the Sunday Dinner worthy category.

However, it does fall under the Yum and Yes, Please categories. This recipe also falls under the romantic Valentine's Day dessert category.

Who doesn't love themselves some chocolate fondue?

 No one I know, and I know like 30 people. Okay, maybe 50. Hehehehe.

Anyway, I like chocolate fondue. This Slow Cooker Chocolate Fondue is ridiculously easy. Ridiculous, I tell you. There are only 4 ingredients. The ingredients melt and morph together in less than two hours and then the chocolate fondue is ready to devour. I also found that it can set in the slow cooker on warm for several hours.

The fondue was so good that we demolished quite handily a package of strawberries in less than 10 minutes. Dipping them in smooth, rich chocolate will do that. The Hubs even found it quite delightful to use the angel food cake and the strawberry in one giant dipping and scarf down the two together. He was quite proud of himself for concocting that culinary creation.

Middle, upon finishing all his "dip-ables", decided the left over chocolate should not be wasted, and he tipped back the his bowl like a giant cup and drank his fondue. Awesome. I have four boys and they have boy manners.

Needless to say it was enjoyed by all.

This Chocolate Fondue is for sure a quick and easy recipe. Plus it is a yummy and fun dessert.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Fondue
adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Printable Recipe
 
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
pinch of salt

Combine the chocolate, cream, corn syrup, and salt in a 3 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 1 1/2 hours or until the chocolate melts.

Whisk the melted chocolate together until smooth. Serve with fresh fruit or angel food pieces. Can continue to warm in the slow cooker, but make sure to whisk often to keep smooth.

ENJOY!!

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Family Game Night Favorites

Have you all noticed that it has been particularly chilly as of late? Those of you in warm climates, feel free to not rub it in too much. Also, have you noticed that it isn't just chilly, it is at times impossible to leave the house. My brother and his fam were actually housebound.

So what should you do when you are housebound, everything is cancelled, and the mom your kids are stir crazy?

You should throw a Family Game Night. Or a Family Game Afternoon. Or a Family Game Just-Finished-Breakfast-And-Already-Stir-Crazy.

In light of all this chilly weather and the eminent case of the stir crazies, I thought I would share a few of our family's favorite games.

They are games for all age groups, because we are at that stage in our family.

The games can all be played by the whole family. The older kids can still enjoy the easier games, especially if they know they will get to play one of their games next. The younger kids can play the harder games if rules are adapted or good old mom and dad assist.

So without any more delay, here are a few of our family's current favorite family games.

1. Zingo: a fun spin on bingo, that uses cute pictures.

2. Clue: a classic, but always fun.

3. Guess What I Am: a guessing game. It includes caricatures cards in which 

you insert your face. This is pretty much hilarious.

4. Monopoly Empire: a much easier and kid friendly version of the original.

Plus, it is WAY shorter.

5. Memory: another classic. There are so many versions, you are sure to 

find one that fits any child's interest. 

6. Apples to Apples Junior: a really fun word game that will be sure

to get giggles trying to match words and/or people with a definition.

 

We really do love these games. Like I said, we play them often. Sometimes our three older boys will just go in a room and play one together.

Pop a bag of popcorn, whip out a family game, and you should be able to bond and solve the stir-crazies for at least a little while!

We are always looking for more game suggestions. I would love for you to share with me some of your family's favorite games.

Spicy Peanut and Pork Noodles

Right after Thanksgiving this year a funny thing happened.

Okay, so maybe not funny like HAHAHA gut bust funny, more like weird and unexplained funny.

Shortly after Thanksgiving I lost all and any desire to cook. To be honest, I also lost most desire to eat.

Nothing sounded good...EVER. The thought of cooking had similar effects to doing a downward dog position in yoga when you just want to curse your hamstrings for not being flexible enough. AND then you remember that this is yoga and you are supposed to be zen instead of cursing.

Basically food wasn't so much enjoyable. Then I started getting stomach aches every time I ate. Ack.

Don't worry, I still ate. I just didn't enjoy it. Good news is that I didn't pack on any holiday pounds.

I have no clue what was going on. I was sick off and on. I was experiencing higher than normal stress. AND just to clarify, I am absolutely NOT pregnant. Who knows. All I do know, is it really effected how I fed my family.

Since I never wanted food or to cook, there was a serious lack of meal planning. There was a lot of breakfast for dinner, plain pasta, quesadillas, sandwiches, and take out. Basically if it was easy, that is what I made.

It was really sad. My Little Men didn't seem to mind, but I felt really bad.

About a week ago, I was making a basic list for the grocery store. You know things like milk, eggs, bread, etc. Out of nowhere I suddenly had the desire to make something. I gathered my to try recipe pile. I picked a recipe. I bought the needed ingredients.

I went home, and I made dinner. I actually made dinner and I enjoyed making it.

What I made was this delicious Spicy Peanut and Pork Noodles.

These noodles were SO good. For the first time in a long time I actually enjoyed dinner. I even ate them for leftovers the next day. The whole family loved these noodles. They are a little less peanut buttery than THESE NOODLES that we also love. They also have the lovely addition of ground pork. While the title of the recipe says spicy, they are just spicy enough. None of my boys had any problem eating them.

The recipe comes together really quickly. It is also really filling, which really helps me out with a houseful of boys.

I can guarantee this is going into our normal rotation. A normal rotation which I am trying to get back into effect.

Fingers crossed for the return of my appetite, normal meals, and LOTS more of these Spicy Peanut and Pork Noodles.

Spicy Peanut and Pork Noodles
peanut blossom

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 Tablespoon vegetable/canola oil
1 lb ground pork
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
4 green onions, green and white parts, sliced and divided
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste (or ground ginger)
2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 lb linguine noodles

Start water boiling too cook the pasta in. Cook pasta while preparing the rest.

Whisk the chicken stock, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Cook the ground pork until no longer pink. Add in the pepper flakes, half of the green onions, garlic, and ginger. Stir to combine. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Add in the sauce made earlier and the peanut butter. Combine completely. Once the sauce bubbles and starts to thicken turn the heat down.

Drain the noodles. Add the meat and sauce to the drained noodles. Toss to coat.

Serve topped with the extra green onions.

SO GOOD!
Enjoy!

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52 Reasons I Love You Printable (A Pinteresting Wednesday)

We have been married 12 plus years. That is a lot of married happiness right there. You know how in the first bit of marriage it is all ponies, glitter, rainbows, and lot and lots of....

...giggles...

More years follow. Some of the newness wears off. Marriage changes a bit, but change is good.

Marriage is work, but anything worth anything takes work.

Sometimes work is fun.

You know what is fun? Taking a little extra time to do something special for the person you love mostest. Or finding ways to let them know you appreciate them.

I have been trying a little extra hard to show The Hubs how much I love and appreciate him.

Which made this A Pinteresting Wedenesday project a no brainer. I had this Love Card Deck project pinned from DIY IYD to my Romantic Pin Board.

I made my own version along with a printable. Fifty-two Reasons I Love You.

I started with a red deck of cards. I prettied up the card box a bit with some stripped paper.

I made a printable using PicMonkey. The heart overlays are perfect for any love or Valentine's Day project.

Here is the printable for you. You will need to download it to your computer and then open it in a Word program. Make sure you shrink it down to about 3 1/2 by 2 1/2, which is roughly the size of a card box.

On each of the 52 cards of the deck, write reasons you love your spouse.

Just keep writing until you have a little message on each card.

Glue the printable onto the front of the card box.

All that is left is to put the deck of cards in the box.

Then you just deliver it to the lucky person.

I may or may not have left The Hubs this token of my affection on his pillow. Forget the mint. Fifty-two declarations of love and affection is way better.

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Family Cookbook

This Family Cookbook has been a year in the making. Last year I thought it would be fun to make an actual bound real book full of our favorite recipes and give them out as presents to family members.

As happens most Christmases, I bit of a wee bit more than I could chew and my cookbook idea got moved to the back burner...the way back there back burner.

This year I started early, because I really, really wanted to make this cookbook.

I used Blurb to create my book. They are a great website that helps you format books of all kinds. Seriously, any book you want to make you can. You simply download the software onto your computer, pick the format you want, and start creating.

For our Family Cookbook, I was able to use photos I had taken for this here blog and then I just typed in the recipes in. The hardest part of the whole thing was compiling and then narrowing down.

I chose a hardback book with a book jacket, because I kind of wanted  to feel a little legit. Just for a bit.

I totally love how it turned out.

I named it Just Another Day in the Kitchen. I know I am a genius!! Hahaha!

When I was going through all the recipes to make this book, I realized all the yummy food we have eaten.

Then I saw the pictures, and I realized how much I love food.

A Family Cookbook is a really fun thing to compile. You could use your recipes, you could use your mothers recipes, or recipes from everyone in the family. With a little bit of organization, over a year you could make all your favorite family recipes and take pictures. Then around Christmas time you have enough to make a recipe book.

This was one of the most fun presents to make, and I happen to know that the recipients of these cookbooks thought they were fun too.

I enjoyed this project, and I know you will enjoy making your very own.

I was in no way compensated by Blurb for this post.

I am just delighted with my experience and feel like I should share the love.

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