Dill Pickle Dip

Happy Friday! :) I hope you've had a great week, and have something wonderful planned for this weekend. Whether it's relaxing, or getting out, I hope you live each moment to its fullest! :)

Today's share is dill pickle dip; I used the recipe I found at The Cutting Edge of Ordinary.

My stepdaughter loves dill pickles. :) She says she loves this dip; it was good! I did it exactly as the recipe said to, and got pretzels to dip in it.

I enjoyed it the first couple of times I ate it, but it never developed into a craving. :) But it was definitely a conversation-starter (I made it for a Stampin' Up! party).

OK, I'm outta here! :) Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED, my friend!

Review: Hershey's Spread with Almonds

 Good TUESDAY morning! :) I know I'm off my posting schedule, but I wanted to share this review, and I have a deadline to meet for reporting it. :)

I received this sample of Hershey's Spread with Almonds to review from Crowdtap. Opinions are my own. (As if you could stop me from sharing them! :D )

So, my assignment was to show five of my favorite snacks with the spread. One of them's a little more than a snack, but it is my favorite! :D

Overall, I like the spread. With some things, the almond flavor really complimented - like it was surprisingly good with the pretzel sticks. But most of the time, I felt like it was a little overwhelming. Probably because I'm used to Nutella - and almond flavoring isn't my favorite. :D

Here, I warmed about a tablespoon up in the microwave and drizzled it over salted popcorn. I really loved the combo of salty and sweet!

Of COURSE I loved it on strawberries. :D And the flavor also complimented the berries. But IMHO, you can't go wrong with chocolate and strawberries. :D

Here, I used mini Nilla wafers and banana slices to make snack sandwiches. :D Um, YUM!!!

Here are those stick pretzels and the spread. With my diabetes, you know I have to be careful with my carbs. I found that a little of this really satisfied my snack cravings!

And finally, here was a breakfast I did!!! :D It's stuffed French toast - I spread a thin layer of plain cream cheese on one side, and the Hershey's Spread on the other, made a sandwich, and did the egg wash and fried it up. WOW, was it rich - I needed the strawberries to cut through the richness, but it was SO GOOD - and FILLING!

OK, y'all, I'm outta here! BUSY day today! :D

Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!

Homemade "Nutella"

Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? Did you try anything new???

Today's share is a happy share. :D One of my dear friends in college, who grew up in Germany, introduced me to Nutella about 25 years ago. (Holey mackerel, did I just admit that?!?) :D Lately, I've been trying to eat less processed food; the chemicals can't be good for me, and if I can put better things into my body, then maybe it will start behaving better. :)

So - since my mom and I love Nutella so much! - I decided to try this recipe for Homemade Nutella Spread from Leite's Culinaria.

This is a YES, PLEASE! rating. I didn't run it through a sieve at the end of the process, because I didn't want to make all that mess and lose too much of the chocolate. :D It's not very grainy, so I'm good with that.

If I can figure out a good chocolate to use, that will help; we used Hershey's bars, because I don't want the wax that goes into chips for helping to hold their shape. But that's kind of expensive! The hazelnuts were some our dear friends sent Mom for Christmas a year ago that have been in the freezer, waiting for a reason to be used. :D (We're going back to hazelnutland - Oregon grows something like 90% of the US's hazelnuts!)

Try it! Oh, I also used grapeseed oil for the oil requirement; if you want to make it even better for you, try coconut oil. You could also use xylitol for the sugar - watch for that post later on. :)

Update: After a day of being nice and spreadable, this solidified. My mom is loving it still; I'd prefer it to not tear up whatever I'm trying to spread it on. There are lots of recipes out there right now for homemade Nutella; I may see if they have anything in them that might be added to this to keep it softer. It's still good - I think it would make great truffles. Just sayin'. :D
 
OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!!!

GIVEAWAY!!!! Biscoff Spread

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Because those few of you who actually READ this blog  allow me to justify my passion for trying new stuff, I want to give away a jar of this Biscoff Spread to SIX of you! (That MIGHT be every single one of you!!! :D )

To be entered to win, simply leave me a comment on this post. Tell me what recipe or review you thought most interesting and why. It's that easy. :) (If you're long-distance, I will do my best to get this to you quickly!) We'll pick a winner on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20. Please enter by NOON! :)

I won a 8-pack case of this from the company, so I'm sharing the love. :) We opened one, so I could let you know a bit about it. If you've seen Biscoff in the stores, you might have wondered about it. Or, you might have tried it - I first had a Biscoff cookie on an airplane. Biscoff cookies played a key role in this recipe I reviewed toward the end of the year. This spread tastes just like the cookies, except creamy! My mom said it tastes like gingerbread. :) It kind of does - the cookies are a type of spice cookie. The product is from Belgium. And the spread bills itself as "a delicious alternative to peanut butter" - but it's much sweeter, in my opinion. You have to try this stuff to understand how difficult it is to describe! LOL

Don't you want to try it? Don't you want to win? :D 

OK, I'm outta here. We're having a nice dinner with my parents tonight; I'm making dessert, which you KNOW means it'll get a review next week. :D Enjoy your day!!!!