Cooking with the kids: Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn

Today while doing last minute stocking stuffer shopping, I grabbed a bag of Kraft peppermint marshmallows. My kids love marshmallows, and I thought the peppermint ones would be really tasty in their Christmas morning cocoa. Once I got home, Angel saw there was a recipe on the back and asked if she could make it for everyone. I love letting the kids cook and create in the kitchen, so of course I said sure!

Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp salt

12 cups air-popped popcorn (6-8 Tbs kernels)

1/2 cup dark chocolate morsels

1 stick unsalted butter

40 mini peppermint marshmallows

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 275.

2. Add chocolate and butter into a microwaveable bowl and heat for 30 seconds at a time until melted completely.

3. Stir in marshmallows and heat for 15 seconds at a time until melted.

4. Stir in salt.

5. Pour over popcorn and toss until coated.

6. Spread out on a greased baking sheet.

7. Bake for 10 minutes, stir and bake for another 10 minutes until crisp.

8. Enjoy!

This would make a great treat for a party, or a gift for someone special on your list. Adding in extra marshmallows after the mix cools can give it some extra color and texture. The original recipe called for semi-sweet chocolate, but we are big dark chocolate fans over here, so we used that instead. If I hadn’t used all of our mint flavoring on fudge this week, I would have added in a bit more to the chocolate mix, as it wasn’t *quite* as minty as we would have liked. Still delicious overall though!

Comments

(Shhh.... Sneaky) Sloppy Joes

Want to bulk up a simple classic with some veggies? Try my Sneaky Sloppy Joes. Sauté some onions, garlic (two staples I put in just about any skillet dish), finely diced squash, finely chopped spinach. You can also add finely diced carrots, bell peppers of assorted colors, brocolli, and whatever else you can sneak in to the pan! I do all this before browning the ground turkey. Then, prepare as you normally would, whether your sloppy joe sauce is canned, enveloped, or made-from-scratch (c'mon!). I've been packing mine with extra veggies for over a year, and no one is none the wiser. Yet. (Please don't show this to my family... please?) This recipe is also posted under my Big Oven account. :o)

Getting Ready for the First Day of Kindergarten

Starting kindergarten is something I’ve gone through twice already with my own kiddos, and there’s definitely some things you can do to help prepare your kiddo for kindergarten, aside from simply ensuring they’re ready for kindergarten . Getting your child ready for the first day of kindergarten can help make the day, and your morning, go smoothly. Here are my best practical tips for making the first day of kindergarten a success! Getting Ready for the First Day of Kindergarten

100+ Sensory Table Ideas for Your Preschooler

As a preschool teacher, I’m always looking for ways to spice things up in my classroom, including new and fun sensory table ideas. Thankfully, an amazing coworker created a master list many moons ago, and shared it with me as I was starting out. Whether you’re a preschool teacher, or a parent of a preschooler, you’ll appreciate the diversity of a good sensory table. Sensory tables provide an opportunity for preschoolers to experience a wide array of fine motor skills, as well as some gross motor skills, all a sensory-rich environment. Don’t have a full-blown sensory table for your home or your classroom? Remember, water/sand tables make great sensory tables, too! Also, the sensory table ideas listed below can be mixed and matched for whole new levels of experience. Toss in tools to assist in manipulating the items in the table, such as cups and measuring spoons for pouring, tongs/kid-friendly tweezers, and scissors for snipping and cutting. Also, you...

Atlanta's Frugal Mom

Search This Blog