Say it With Chocolate: HELLO!


Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Lindt Chocolate.  All opinions are my own.

Often times we meet people in the most random of ways.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we had something to just say “Hello” with?  These fun new chocolates from Lindt can do just that.  So the next time you’re in the grocery store at the check out line, you can just hand over one of these and say, “Hello!”

hello-lindt-chocolates

I’ve been remembering some of the most random times I’ve met a few people in my life:

From the time I met lifetime friends from what is known as the internet to the time I moved into my first college dorm room to the time I had a conversation with a person right in the grocery aisle to the first time we moved into our new apartment and our neighbors greeted us with a case of beer.  It’s in the those moments I wish I could have grabbed one of these to just say Hello!

Or the time I finally flew out to Los Angeles to meet my now fiance.  It would have been great to have handed over one of these chocolate bars when we first met in person.  Because, really, it was the first time seeing each other in person, and a great way to break the ice through all the nervousness.

Lindt-Chocolates

But next time, I’m totally prepared.  Just check out some of the flavors:

Crunchy Nougat

Strawberry Cheesecake

Cookies & Cream

Caramel Brownie

Salted Caramel

Coffee Blast

Dark Chocolate Cookie

Coconut Love

hello-chocolate

Coming in bars, mini size, and chocolate sticks making it work for any occasion.  I know these have instantly become my favorite snack item because hey, it’s chocolate!

And isn’t the packaging fun?  They’ve also created a fun video series that showcases the fun of Hello! Chocolate because really, it all starts with Hello!

Lindt Chocolate also has a fun contest taking place right now where you can win fun prizes. You can enter the sweepstakes every day for chances to win.

Chocolate-Sticks

Categories: Campaigns, Desserts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fall Recipe: Easy to Make Pumpkin Fudge


Now and again, I like to try something a little new.  When I ran across the Nestle Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chips I knew right away what I wanted to create with them, but I was curious with how the taste would turn out.

The other night I got right down to it, and decided to give it a shot.  Easy to Make Pumpkin Fudge:

pumpkin-fudge

BTW: I still need to get to fall decorating.  If you have any decorating tips, please send them my way.

Ingredients:

1 Bag Pumpkin Spice Chips

1 Can Sweet and Condensed Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 TBS butter

Pumpkin-fudge-yes-pleaseDirections:

In a medium saucepan, mix together sweet and condensed milk and butter.  Heat for a good 5 to 8 minutes until well heated.  Stir in Ground Cinnamon and Vanilla Extract.  Mix together.  Turn off heat, place on cold surface then pour in the Pumpkin Spice chips.  Stir until completely dissolved.  Pour mixture into muffin cups.  Refrigerate overnight.

A fun tip is to use muffin cups so that they are individual size servings, and then you don’t have to deal with the messiness of cutting the fudge.

 

Categories: Cooking, Desserts | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How to Make Flatbread Pizzas on the Grill!


Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Fresh&Easy. All opinions and story ideas are my own.

This past weekend we went camping down in Half Moon Bay.  A fun little Northern California Coastal town with plenty of beach line, scenic views, and ample places to camp.  I first discovered this a few months back when I made my trek up highway 1 from the Monterey Bay Peninsula and instantly fell in love.

I soon introduced this jewel of a place to my SO, and also one of his cousins.  When a new tradition was born this past August for every birthday celebration to go camping, this spot became a possibility to try out for future camping.  And this past weekend, with a birthday celebration in hand, we headed to Half Moon Bay.

Half-Moon-Bay

That’s the Half Moon Bay directly behind me after our morning hike to the beach from our campsite.

With that being said, when it comes to camping, my SO and I are beginning to try different meals when outdoors.  With a grill attached to our campsite, we soon began talking about what to bring.  Eggs, check.  Ham, check.  Pork Loins, check.  And then I had the brilliant idea of Flatbread Pizzas.  I’d recently found out about the On the Go Flatbread Pizzas from Fresh&Easy and knew this was the perfect time to try them out.

So I headed to my local Fresh&Easy in Napa to pick them up.  With 5 varieties to choose from: Prosciutto & Apricot, Chicken Florentine, The Sicilian, Tomato Balsamic, and Garlic.  Seriously, the perfect camping food.  You can just grab and go.

Fresh-And-Easy

We then headed down to our campsite in Half Moon Bay with the car packed up, our camping equipment in tow along with our pizzas, and so the birthday celebrations could begin.

On Saturday night, we headed to the local lounge area of our campsite and begin getting the grill ready.  Charcoals were burning, and my SO began to put the meat on first.  With the meat almost done we threw on the flatbread pizzas.  The pizzas really only take a good 10 to 12 minutes to cook before they’re done.

A key thing to know with pizzas, especially when camping is that they need to be cooked on a covered grill because the top also needs to be cooked through, not just the bottom of the pizzas.  So once the pizzas were on the grill we closed the cover and let them cook for 10-12 minutes checking on them occasionally.

flatbread-pizzas-on-the-grill

And just so you know, EVERYTHING tastes better on the grill including pizzas.  Flatbread Pizzas are perfect because they’re smaller pizzas, easy to carry with you and pack in the cooler, and the crust works wonders on the grill.

The finished result: Our Sicilian and Tomato Balsamic Flatbread Pizzas

flatbread-pizzas

And now for some pictures from the fun night of camping:

camping-half-moon-baycamping-fun

 

 

 

Categories: Campaigns, Cooking, Napa Valley, Northern California | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment