Dreamy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Happy Monday - I'm so happy to see you today one hour earlier than usual this morning - did you remember to spring your clock forward yesterday?!

This weekend's weather was absolutely to die for. The days were warm and sunny and utterly fabulous. Did you have the itch to get outdoors and get some fresh glorious air into those lungs of yours??

Clearly Spring  really is right around the corner and I think that calls for some serious celebration!!

I was going to tickle your tastes buds with a healthy entree today, but yesterday I was having a little fun in the kitchen and I've decided that this is the perfect day for an easy peasy treat. Why should we wait for Fridays or weekends for a little indulgence? Mondays are totally treat-worthy too!

Dreamy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Makes 14 balls

These delicious little balls are a fabulous treat when you're craving something sweet. They taste like the inside guts of a peanut butter cup, with just a hint of dark chocolate. Store them in the freezer and take one out at a time for portion control because if they're sitting in your fridge and totally accessible, you WILL NOT be able to keep your fingers outta them!

2/3 c Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
1/2 c smooth peanut butter
3 tbsp Earth Balance (or butter), softened
1/2 c icing sugar
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 graham cracker crumbs

In a large bowl, cream together your peanut butters and Earth Balance.

Add in the icing sugar and then the graham cracker crumbs and mix well.

Shape into 14 1" round balls and refrigerate for 2 hours.

They are ready to serve. How easy is that?!

Clearly anything that starts with this is going to be fabulous, wouldn't you agree?!

Just dig in and get your hands dirty :)

These are set out on mini cookie sheet that's about 1/3 the size of a normal-sized pan.

Please excuse the turd like appearance of these little morsels. I assure you they taste waa-aayyyy better than they look :-D

Three for you.....

...and eleven, er one for me. 

100% PURE BLISS.

Note  - freeze.the.balls.so.you.don't.eat.them.all.in.one.sitting. --- just suggestin'.

Are there any little treats you like to keep around for a sweets craving that you just can't seem to kick?

Did you do anything fabulous this weekend?

Have a great day,

Andrea
xoxo

Our First Spring Weekend

Happy Sunday everyone!! Dare I say that Spring has finally arrived in Southwestern Ontario. We are having the most goregous warm weather. Instead of my usual recipe sharing, today I want to share some of my favourite things from the past 2 days.

Do you see the green in there---my flowerbeds are starting to come alive!

The dogs love the warm weather too.

I love seeing them rip around the backyard playing and wrestling and having a grand ol' time 

(here they're trying to work out the best place to dig their next hole <sigh>)

See the nest? They've almost knocked down some of the redneck crap decor on Derek's shed while building it. I hope it stays put! Hopefully I'll have some baby photos to share in the next few weeks.

Mmmm....cream puffs. I bought these as a birthday treat for Derek. We got them from an old school bakery that still has an old fashioned cash register! All of their recipes have been handed down over the generations and these cream puffs are hands down the best on earth. 

Hi. My name is Andrea and I'm a sprinkles addict.

Thanks to Jessica at How Sweet It Is for re-igniting my love of the sprinkle.

Vanilla cupcakes with pink sprinkles. So pretty.

Who cares if it's a boy's birthday?! One taste & he'll get over it. Thank you Betty Crocker :-)

The easiest peanut butter cookie recipe ever. I added chocolate chips ~ oh yeahhh!

I've made these twice in as many weeks and everyone loves them! 

Meet the Peach Bellini. We're going out for dinner with friends tonight for Derek's birthday and I'm hoping to have one of these because they have been on my mind for the past few days (I think the warm weather is creating cravings for frozen drink creations). He hasn't 'decided' where he would like to go to eat. I have made my suggestion although he'll go anywhere there's beer :-)

I hope you have a fabulous day!!

What was the highlight of your weekend so far?

Andrea

Chickpea & Feta Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Whew, I have had a super busy Friday and I couldn't wait to sit down and send you out a huge "TGIF", but I just noticed it's already Saturday! I've just now found a minute to sit down and put my thoughts down in writing. The dogs and I have been very busy getting lots of treats ready for a special husband/doggie dad's birthday. Well I've been busy baking and pushing cold, wet doggie noses away from the counters; the dogs consider themselves "quality control". We also had a somewhat successful photo shoot (pics to come later) and by successful, I mean that both dogs stayed in one spot much longer than our previous photo attempts. I was proud and they got rewarded with chicken weiners....it was a happy moment for all. 

Derek's birthday is coming up on Monday, but as you know I don't believe in doing a birthday, it's all about the birthday weekend in this house. Derek is working alot and we are quite busy, so I'm trying to fit in lots of treats and little surprises, so Derek still feels spoiled and is able to have a few moments through the next few days where he can bask in the birthday glow. 

As usual, as soon as I got home from work I quickly got busy doing ten things at one time and didn't get around to making dinner until after 8 p.m. I've been eating way too many carbs over the past few days, so I wanted to do a really good salad tonight and I wanted the salad to be quick and easy to whip together. This salad fits the bill - it's super easy to modify because you can use any veggies you have on hand and you could switch the chickpeas up for white beans if you prefer.

Chickpea & Feta Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Inspired by Vegetarian Times

This makes one large dinner-size salad or two to three side salads. This salad is delicious and filling and can be modified to include any veggies that you have on hand. Honey mustard is one of my favourite dressings and this one was so incredibly easy to make. It would also be amazing on a veggie wrap. To me, the combination of feta & honey mustard are a match made in heaven.

Salad
1 1/2 - 2 cups torn greens (I used romaine - spinach would also be yummy)
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 orange pepper, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
1/2 c. chickpeas
1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

Honey Mustard Dressing
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
pinch black pepper
pinch garlic powder (fresh minced garlic would also be great)

To assemble the salad, place the lettuce on a large plate. Top with your veggies, followed by the chickpeas and then finish off with a sprinkling of feta cheese.

Then make your dressing. Add all of the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk until well mixed.

Drizzle over the salad and serve.

Yum! This salad was very tasty. Derek was working, so I ate the entire thing myself. On the side, I had a slice of teriyaki marinated tofu. It was a delicious and satisfying dinner!

I know I've said it before, but I just have to say it again: I will never buy salad dressing again! It is just too darn easy to make your own and they are so much more delish!

Well, I think it's time to bid you all goodnight. My kitchen looks like a cake batter and sprinkles bomb went off and I need to get to work to hide the evidence before I head to bed so (a) Derek doesn't suspect anything; and (b) he doesn't find my goodies and eat them all before morning!

Have a wonderful night and a fabulous weekend.

What special birthday traditions do you have?
Do you also like to stretch out birthday celebrations over a few days - I personally think it's the only way to do it ;-)

Andrea