I Heart Foods

Get Creative this month!

photo from pinchmysalt.com

photo from about.com

photo from walmart.com

photo from cutestfood.com

photo from makeandtakes.com

photo from molempire.com

photo from geniouscook.com

photo from slice.serioueats.com

photo from dianadessersts.com

photo from vegnews.com

photo by Amanda D.

Amanda's Heart Hotdogs

Photo by Amanda D.

Amanda's Heart Shaped Spaghetti

Photo by Madeline L.

Madeline's Heart Fruit Pizzas

Photo by Heather B.

Heather's Gluten Free Baked Valentines

Photo by Abby R.

Abby's Curry Chicken "Hearts" Pot Pie

Heart Dogs

Something fun for your little Valentine's.

Cut the ends from hot dog at a diagonal and place the cut edges together as shown. Spear the heart with two tooth picks. Add piece of cheese trimmed to resemble the end of an arrow.

I saw a variation of this in the February edition of Family Fun magazine. My kids LOVED it and its so simple. Happy Valentine's Day!

Oreo Truffles

 

This post is a re-make from one I did two years ago today. Since then I've added some more photos and more ideas of what to do with these Oreo Truffles or so I call them. I really don't know what the proper name is for these or who was the original creator. In fact, my story goes back to 2004 in my Spanish for Medical Care Providers class at ISU. A classmate of mine brought them and someone asked what was in them. She spouted out the words "1 package of Oreos, 1 package or cream cheese, and dipping chocolate". I quickly wrote it down and took one home with me to figure out how to make them. This is the way I figured out how and it has worked for me ever since. If anyone has a different way to make these, please let me know. 

Oreo Truffles

Grind a whole package of regular Oreo Cookies

(I have used regular, Mint Oreo, Golden Oreo, and Peanut butter Oreo).

You should have a dirt mixture now

Blend in one 8- once package of cream cheese to make a mud like paste.

Roll into any form you'd like.

Freeze for at least 1 hour (I make mine the night before)

Dip in chocolate or make what I call "naked style".

Remember to refrigerate all truffles made naked style or not. They will last longer and taste fresher because of the cream cheese.

 Here are more ideas I make Oreo Truffles for:

Holiday and Celebration Ideas:

Valentines Day- Mold into heart shapes, add food coloring to your dip to make pink or red hearts.

March- You can mold into Shamrocks and add green food coloring to dip.

Easter- Roll them into oval shapes and add any food coloring to dip.

Independence Day: Make stars with yellow or red and/or blue food coloring to dip.

Baby Showers: Make into balls and color the dip to make blue or pink.

Halloween: Mold and create: ghosts (use white chocolate or vanilla melts and pour onto truffle to make drape), witches (use dark chocolate and mold hats out of tootsie rolls, decorate face with confetti), pumpkins (color white chocolate or vanilla orange and use piece of candy as stump), spiders (while still fresh, press licorice legs into balls). You can freeze after the licorice is in place to hold it, cats (use naked or dipped in dark chocolate, add tail and whiskers with licorice, ears molded from Tootsie roll, and eyes with confetti), and monsters (be creative with candy and any colored dipping).

Thanksgiving: Turkeys dip balls in milk chocolate and use candy for feathers and face. Pilgrim hats are easy to mold and dip in chocolate.

Christmas: Snowman with three balls frozen together and dipped in white chocolate or vanilla, Santa clause with red hats molded out of red taffy and chocolate eyes, and Rudolph (dipped in milk chocolate, cinnamon candy nose, and licorice antlers).

I love making these truffles because you can use them for any event.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

There are many variations when it comes to chocolate covered strawberries. This variation is one of the easiest and best I have found.
16 ounces chocolate chips (whatever kind you desire).
1 pound washed and very well dried strawberries, stems on.

Melt chocolate over very low heat, stirring constantly until just melted and smooth.

Cool on wax paper until chocolate has formed a hard shell around the strawberries.

Enjoy!

FRESHLY BAKED VALENTINES

This recipe is so easy and oh so good! I found it in the February edition of Southern Living.
LEMON BUTTER COOKIES
1 cup butter
1tsp. lemon zest
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
Preheat over to 325 degrees. Beat butter and zest together, gradually add sugar, beating well.

Combine flour and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Shape dough into a disc.

Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with heart shaped cutter. Little hands are great for this step.

Bake for 12-14 minutes. Cool.

Decorate as desired. I used a butter cream icing which is equal parts butter and powdered sugar and whatever color you desire. Also for writing I used a icing gel pen.

Hot chocolate on a stick

are you looking for a last minute neighbor gift?  Loking for some new hot chocolate?
Try this:  I found this at Giverslog.com  Also at http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/

Hot Chocolate on a Stick
Yield: 10 cubes of hot chocolate (ice-cube-tray size)
(use 1 oz. hot chocolate on a stick per every 1 cup milk or cream)

Equipment:
Ziplock bags or piping bags
A double boiler or pan with a glass bowl that can sit over the simmering water
Some kind of chocolate mold, ice trays work great
Stir sticks or a bag of wooden craft sticks like I used (like these,available at any craft store)

Ingredients:
8 oz. chocolate (see note above), bittersweet, semisweet, milk, and white chocolate all work
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
pinch of salt

6 cups milk and 2 cups heavy cream if you plan to enjoy these right away

Method
(read a whole post about melting chocolate, including how to melt in the microwave, here)

1. If your chocolate is in a block, chop it into even-sized meltable pieces. Simmer a couple inches of water in a pan, then turn down the heat so the water is below a simmer. I like to remove the pan from the heat, but if you keep it on, keep that water below a simmer. Place glass or stainless steel bowl over the top to make a double boiler. If the bowl touches the water it’s alright, as long as your water isn’t too hot. Dump chocolate into the clean, dry bowl and stir as the chocolate melts. (If you are patient and let those chunks melt slowly, keeping them from getting over 90 degrees F or 88 degrees F for milk and white chocolate, the chocolate will stay “in temper” and will still be nice and pretty when it cools.)
2. Once the chocolate is 2/3 melted, with just some pieces of the chocolate unmelted, remove the bowl from the pan, dry the bottom with a towel and continue stirring until chocolate is fully melted. This is just one more step to keep the chocolate from getting too hot.
3. Add cocoa, sugar, and salt and continue to stir until combined. The chocolate will be thicker, almost as thick as frosting, but still glossy and smooth and very fun to stir. If it looks grainy or more like fudge and is difficult to stir, it’s possible you’ve accidentally gotten a drop of water in the mixture.
4. Scoop chocolate into a ziplock bag and clip off the corner.
5. Pipe the chocolate into your chocolate mold, tapping the mold on the counter to make sure all the chocolate settles into the mold. Add a stir stick and you’re done. The stir stick should stay upright without any trouble.
6. Let the chocolate cool either at room temperature or in the fridge if you’re in a hurry.
7. If you don’t like the look of the chocolate once it is removed from the mold, you can dip the cubes into a new batch of plain melted chocolate for a shinier finish (again, try to keep chocolate from heating over 90 degrees, or use candy melts, which will stay shiny and pretty even if you go above 90 degrees). This also lets you add sprinkles or crushed candy or just lets you dip in fun patterns. I like dipping at an angle into a different color of chocolate.
8. In order to enjoy these, heat up any combo of milk, water, half and half, or cream. I like 6 cups milk with 2 cups heavy cream. One ounce of chocolate on a stick should be melted into one cup milk or cream. So a standard ice cube-tray block, which is 3/4 an ounce, should be melted into a mug with 3/4 cup milk or cream in it.

How to store it: Chocolate will keep in an airtight container for up to a year. Don’t keep it in the fridge because it is really good at absorbing odors.

I used Ice trays from Ikea, and I stuck in a craft stick since I have a million of them.  ok, so only 1,000 but still...

Sweet "Heart" Pizza

What better way to celebrate this Valentine's Day then with fruit pizza. Take your traditional sugar cookies and make them individual fruit pizzas. My daughter's birthday was on Sunday and she was asked to bring the snack in her nursery class. I thought with Valentine's Day coming up, why not make it fun and something sweet to celebrate the two events. It was a big hit and there wasn't any left after. I usually make already cut out cookies and then decorate them but, this time I found an easier way.

Look how thick the crust is. I found that everyone seems to like it this way. This recipe makes a very soft crust.

Recipe for Sour cream Sugar Cookies. I have had this recipe since I can remember. I lady from my church gave it to me and I haven't used anything else since.

Ingredients:

1 cup Butter or Shortening (Butter flavored is great)

2 Eggs

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon of Salt

2 cups of Sugar

2 teaspoons of Vanilla

1 cup of Sour cream

4 teaspoons of Baking Powder

4 1/2 cups of Flour

Pre-heat oven @ 400 degrees

Mix shortening and sugar. Beat until creamy. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla, beat until smooth. Sift in dry ingredients. Mix to a soft dough and roll out to 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes. Cook for 6-10 minutes or until done.

For Fruit Pizza:

I press it out evenly on a greased cookie sheet and bake @ 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done.

Topping: Wait for cookie crust to cool (apox 15 min). In a medium sized bowl mix, 2 packages of (8 oz)cream cheese, 1/2 sugar, 1 teaspoon Vanilla. Blend until smooth. Spread all over crust and decorate with fruit.

My fast and easy way to make heart shaped pizzas is: After you smooth cream cheese mixture all over crust then, cut out heart shapes with cookie cutter and decorate with fruit individually.
Yes, there will be extra creamed cookies pieces. Just eat them or cube and serve with fresh fruit with whipped topping. Enjoy!

What fruit toppings do you recommend on fruit pizza?