Kiwi Trick

I love Kiwi.

I used to take a knife and cut off the peeling like you would a potato. Not horrible -- it worked.

Then I saw this method.

I laughed - I thought it wouldn't work.

I tried it.

Guess what? It TOTALLY works. It's super slick.

Here's what you do....

Cut off the ends of your kiwi (so it has a flat part to stand on and an open flat part on top)

Slide a spoon into the fruit really close to the skin and circle around....then pop your fruit out!

Cool 'eh?

I thought so.

Happy kiwi eating!

Jalapeño-Bacon Cheese Ball!

Wow. Make this.

If you like bacon (who doesn't??) and if you like cheese (again...who doesn't??) then you need to get this in your mouth ASAP.

For Easter yesterday I brought a Jalapeño-Bacon Cheese Ball with some fancy crackers to add to the appetizer spread.

It was my first attempt at a cheese ball. I thought it looked easy enough and had a cool presentation...plus I got to make a sphere! I was a little 'type-A/perfectionist' with the whole sphere deal...and it paid off! Finally - all my PLAYDOH skills were put to good use - I knew they'd come in handy someday!

Jalapeño-Bacon Cheese Ball
Adapted from BrownEyedBaker

Ingredients 
8 ounces cream cheese - room temp
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6-7 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
2-3 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
1 garlic cloves, grated
1 tablespoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon garlic powder

In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, cheddar, bacon, jalapeños, grated garlic, parsley and cumin.

I started with a spoon and quickly realized this wasn't going to cut it....I re-washed my hands extra good and got in there! Mix 'er up really well and then use your mad playdoh skills to form it into a perfect sphere.

On a big plate mix your pecans and garlic powder. ROLL your sphere around in the pecans - slightly pressing them in as your turn it.

Lay your beautiful-nut-covered-sphere on a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it up. CHILL for at least an hour (more if possible) to set.

ENJOY spread on some crackers! 

Notes:

*I BAKE my bacon in the oven - by far the best method! 

*I baked 12 pieces of bacon....and then ate 1/2 of them. Leaving me with the perfect amount. Totally planned. Or not... I like bacon. 

*I used 2 BIG jalapeños...I'm sure 3 normal/small peppers would work too! 

*I have a sweet microplane tool I use to grate my garlic...highly recommend it! If you don't have one you could easily chop the garlic too. 

*When not devouring the cheese ball store in the fridge. 

You're Welcome. 

Easy Homemade LARA Bars

I love easy.

I love healthy.

I love homemade.

Get where I'm going with this?

My sis-in-law introduced me to homemade Lara Bars! So simple. So delicious. After I saw her bars (which looked amazing!) I decided I wanted to join in the fun. Cue: Pinterest.

While rummaging through Pinterest I found a few promising recipes - they all looked very similar and very simple. *Remember I like simple?*

So I tried one. And I loved it. They were gone in 24 hours. My hubster recommended I make MORE next time! Yep, I will.

Here's the original recipe I used....

Homemade Cashew Cookie Lara Bars 
From The Inner Gourmet

NEED:

- 8 oz DATES
- 1/2 cup CASHEWS

DO IT: 

- In your food processor process your cashews till small (think ice-cream topping small). Set aside in bowl.

- Throw your dates in the processor and process till no chunks left. Add into bowl with crushed cashews.

- MIX. I got in there with my clean hands but I'm sure a spoon could do the trick too!

- Spray some plastic wrap and set your 'ball' on it. Fold over tops of wrap and then form into a block and set in fridge for 30 min to harden.

- Take out and cut into desired sizes. I was able to get 8 hearty snack sizes out of this batch (probably equivalent to 4 or 5 store bought bars)

- EAT! I stored mine in the fridge wrapped in wax paper so they were easy to grab and enjoy!

I did the math and with the dates and cashews I bought/used for these it came out to $3.38 for my EIGHT bars! Not too shabby....

I have some other variations pinned and begging to be tried....next up I think I'm going to try the Raw Lemon Lara Bar. It calls for Almonds, Lemon, Cashews and Dates....Mmmmmm.